Issues and Challenges

From time to time, we feature comments submitted by Nurse Uncut members to highlight what they have to say. Here’s one of these enlightening comments by Nearly Left on one of our past blog entries “The New Australia Health System – what’s in it for nurses?”

Gillard vs Abbott

I’ve read all of the above. Given the dates, some of what has been said is now either obsolete or in the process of ‘political promise’, given the forthcoming Federal election.

Some of what has been stated in the previous comments seem to be a touch ‘ill-informed’. by this, I mean, you can’t just go up to your Local MP and start ranting away about the Health system. You can’t rock up to the NSW Labour Council, and demand to speak with a campaign manager, and you most certainly can’t turn up to an Area Health Service HR office, and start carrying on about how your Nursing career has deteriorated over the past twenty years or so. ( at least two of those options will cause you to be taken away to a ’safe environment’ for some psych. assessment !! )

We will see change in the next few months.

Post the Election, no matter which major party is elected, some major changes in Health will occur.

As you know, if you have been keeping up with the ‘promises’, both the major Parties are planning big promises for Health. Not only Public Hospitals, but Aged Care, Private GP Practises, and aspects of funding and rebates etc.

Now, down to a little ‘ nitty-gritty’……

Labour ( PM Julia Gillard’s team ) have spoken about NURSES – numbers, workplace conditions, training, and funding.

Tony Abbott ( Liberal Opposition Leader ) has claimed, he will throw over $900M into Aged Care. Sadly, he couldn’t seem to think of using the word ‘Nurses’.

In his ‘infamous’ policy speech, he promised the world….. but didn’t promise anything to NURSES. No funding. No training. No wage rise. No workplace conditions improvement. It was all about spending on infrastructure and funding resources that will produce better facilities….. for PRIVATE providers. That is, he will fund bigger and better Nursing Homes, that will make more profit for those who ONLY exist to profit from the lives of our esteemed elderly in their final years of life.

Sadly, Mr. Abbott didn’t think that it’s the NURSES who actually care for the residents on a day-to-day basis.

It’s the NURSES in Aged Care who are paid up to $5. an hour LESS than Public Hospital Nurses ( No argument with Public Hospital Nurses intended here – of course you deserve your rate of pay ).

Mr. Abbott has not addressed this wage gap in any aspect of his Policy on Aged Care.

By contrast, Ms. Gillard has in fact acknowledged NURSES.

She will honour the former Rudd Administration promise to inject millions of dollars into TRAINING for NURSES. We will see improvements in Agreement negotiations ( replacing the former Awards ), and she knows who and what NURSES stand for.

Ms. Gillard received a standing ovation after her speech to the NSW Nurses Association Annual Conference of Delegates (on the Wednesday of the Delegates Conference, not the Friday general Professional Day ). She spoke of her recognition of the Nursing Profession. She encouraged all Nurses to continue the fight for recognition of our worth in our communities, and she vowed to continue the push for greater expansion of the Services provided by our more highly trained Nurses in areas such as GP Practises; Nurse Practitioners, and general workplace condition improvements.

However, it is the potential Abbott Govt. that poses the greatest risk to our Profession ( and many others )……. the spectre of WORKCHOICES.

Whatever the name – Never again !!

Mr. Abbott says he wouldn’t call it WorkChoices, but then Mr. Abbott has said a lot of things lately…….

On Saturday 21st. August 2010, think of what YOU stand to gain….. and what YOU stand to lose.

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Image credit: The Age

This post was brought to you by NSW Nurses Association