Talking Politics

[Nico]

Thank you for answering in such detail. My GP has started charging $75 for a face to face consult ($41.40 rebate). He is yet to charge me for Telehealth, but I am expecting that to change at some point.

In the past I have switched GP’s when they have started changing extra for consults, but I trust my GP and I will be staying put for now. That may change if I do find another clinic locally that bulk bills. I will add that this medical centre has multiple GP’s on site as well as a dentist and psychologist.

I do have a question though… If you are claiming that you were profitable enough without having to add extra charges, and freezing charges had no impact on bulk billing, then why are we seeing more and more clinics with extra consult charges?

You said there are less GP’s coming through. So larger clinics are struggling to find staff? Is that what it is? Or are larger clinics just getting greedy?

SIA is a chain of clinics all over Melbourne, including one around about a 10 minute walk from where I live. They charge $76 for a consult (plus the $41.40 rebate) if you pre-book. No extra charges for walk ins. But for walk ins they can’t promise you will get seen immediately. Who has the time for that?

Assuming SIA have the same business model at every clinic, do you think they are being fair or greedy?

Thanks Ian and sorry for the late reply.

It ultimately comes down to the clinic's philosophy, and preparedness to work a bit harder. There's a bit of left and right in me. I'm a capitalist, but I also believe in Australia that access to health care shouldn't be dependent on the size of your bank account. It was also a business decision for us opening in solely a private fee regional town. It's hard to compete against a clinic charging $0. We also didn't want to be one of those clinics where you get a knock on the door at the 19 minute mark saying if you stay longer, you'll be charged the long appointment rate. A bit grubby.

As mentioned previously, it's supply and demand. Oversupply of GPs means lots of competition, so one way of differentiating is to bulk-bill. An undersupply means clinics can do whatever the *smile* they want. I spoke to a couple of accountants who specialise in medical and they encouraged us to change to private billing, but it never sat right for us.

Hard to say about SIA...I guess they don't need to BB in today's climate, and if they're making good coin, why change.

I hope this answers your questions.

 

[IanG]

If that's the case, as frickenel alluded to, why did Cain/Kirner sell the State Bank?

State bank was riddled with debt due to its finance decisions but was sold by Kirner, reducing the significant debt off the governments books before Kennett took over.

 

[Sintiger]

State bank was riddled with debt due to its finance decisions but was sold by Kirner, reducing the significant debt off the governments books before Kennett took over.

One word ...Tricontinental and maybe two others ..Australian bank

The state bank decided it wanted to be a merchant Bank and got badly burned and then decided it knew more than anyone else and bought the Australian Bank when it was already in big trouble.

Banks loaned like drunken sailors in the 1980s and when interest rates exploded they hit trouble. Tricontinental had from memory debts of $1 billion plus written off which was a shed load of money in those days.

Not sure who the state governments were during that period but it came to head under Joan Kirner.

 

[TigerMasochist]

Not sure who the state governments were during that period but it came to head under Joan Kirner.

Didn't Joan legalise pokies in Vic to bring in another massive revenue stream for the govt around that same time? Buggered up all them pokies bus trips to the border in a big hurry n shoved a bunch of pokies pubs n clubs on every street corner for everyone to shovel their shekels into.

 

[Sintiger]

Didn't Joan legalise pokies in Vic to bring in another massive revenue stream for the govt around that same time? Buggered up all them pokies bus trips to the border in a big hurry n shoved a bunch of pokies pubs n clubs on every street corner for everyone to shovel their shekels into.

I can't recall if it was Joan to be honest, it may well have been.

I hate the pokies but the state government was in a difficult position because all the Victorian towns on the Murray were being left behind by their twin cities on the other side !!

But yeah, not sure the Pokies brought anything good except maybe revenue for the state at the expense of the gamblers

 

[Nico]

One word ...Tricontinental and maybe two others ..Australian bank

The state bank decided it wanted to be a merchant Bank and got badly burned and then decided it knew more than anyone else and bought the Australian Bank when it was already in big trouble.

Banks loaned like drunken sailors in the 1980s and when interest rates exploded they hit trouble. Tricontinental had from memory debts of $1 billion plus written off which was a shed load of money in those days.

Not sure who the state governments were during that period but it came to head under Joan Kirner.

Cain/Kirner were in power from April 1982 to October 1992

 

[Sintiger]

Cain/Kirner were in power from April 1982 to October 1992

Not sure how, why or when the state bank got into tricontinental?
That was the period after which the term “merchant bank” meant charletons.

 

[TigerMasochist]

One word ...Tricontinental and maybe two others ..Australian bank

The state bank decided it wanted to be a merchant Bank and got badly burned and then decided it knew more than anyone else and bought the Australian Bank when it was already in big trouble.

Banks loaned like drunken sailors in the 1980s and when interest rates exploded they hit trouble. Tricontinental had from memory debts of $1 billion plus written off which was a shed load of money in those days.

Not sure who the state governments were during that period but it came to head under Joan Kirner.

The old Pyramid Building society was another one that went belly up during this era n cost Victorians plenty. Then of course it was all topped off by the Keating recession we had to have n so many businesses n people were financially crippled. Interest rates up around 17% to 19%, *smile* horror show.

 

[DavidSSS]

The old Pyramid Building society was another one that went belly up during this era n cost Victorians plenty. Then of course it was all topped off by the Keating recession we had to have n so many businesses n people were financially crippled. Interest rates up around 17% to 19%, *smile* horror show.

The dumbest thing about the Pyramid debacle was when Rob Jolly guaranteed their money would be safe at a demo in front of parliament house. He should have come out and told the demonstrators to go down to Geelong where the Pyramid head office was. Apart from the fact that regulating Banks is not a state matter, Pyramid was a privately owned building society, should not have been trying to pay ridiculous interest rates and was not at all the responsibility of the state government.

On the State Bank, it was ideology to sell it, the ALP are privatisers too. They should have told the State Bank to continue its good work and avoid the speculative crap that was happening in the 1980s - not the role for the State Bank. I reckon the management of the State Bank were to blame but the Cain/Kirner government were also remiss in not reeling them in.

DS

 

[frickenel]

You've clearly "done your research", but it looks like you are just spreading unsubstantiated propaganda.

Brodders unfortunately it's you spreading propaganda and i know that for a fact, and i don't say that with any pleasure.

Some time ago, from memory it would have been about 18 months back, i was talking to someone i knew from my time at the March Airforce Base. Yes, i got this second hand, but he's pretty high up in the base now and not prone to *smile*.

He mentioned a guy he knew who does courses for people they consider potential future generals in the armed forces over there. The courses only have 6 to 8 people in them. This guy was describing some of the errors taking place in the Ukraine / Russia conflict and how badly it is going for the west (it is going a lot worse not than it was then).

At the conclusion, one of the female students asked him how he knew it was going so badly over there. He said to my contact that it astounded him that the western propaganda extended into our own armed forces.

Around 6 weeks ago, i had a call from a friend from 32nd Street Navy Base. I don't wantt ogo too much into my past other than to say i spent 1986 in both these bases working as a fitness coordinator. Most of my time was in the March Airforce Base in Moreno Valley, southern CA. I'd spend 2 to 3 days a week at the 32nd St Navy Base. I wan't in their armed services at all. I was training with the guys, sparring with them, that sort of thing and teaching calisthenics. As a boxer, almost all of my training was calisthenics, which my coaches hated as they waned me sparring as they said i wasn't gettin genoguh time in the ring to keep my range and timing good if i met someone that seriously challenged me.

This call came at a bad time as i was in a trade and mindful of getting out before 10am their time because Jerome Powell was about to get up and make a statement and the markets usually tank when he stands on a podium. I got distracted and lets just say that didn't go too well for me.

Anyway, he tells me that 32nd Stree Navy Base had been hit by a terrorist attack from two illegals who'd come over the border (both middle easterners). There's nothing in the media about this, but from what he told me, all the southern bases are on high alert because of whats happening with the border. Apparently these two clowns came through the Norman Rd gate which is on dry side. If you don't have a pass, you have to go to your left (assuming it hasnt changed in 37 years ), into an inspection bay, basically a painted piece of concrete inside the entry gate. They drive towards it, sort of neander a few seconds then gas it for the security gate, and hit it that hard that they both die. As i said, i was there in 1986 so it might have changed, but i'm surprised they'd be able to pick up enough impact speed to kill themselves as from memory it's only about 40 or 50 yards to the security gate. I didn't ask him, but in the back of my mind i wonder whether they lit the car up.

Even in my time there if you didnt hav a pass, no matter how well they knew you, they really went over your car.

 

[toothless]

Look at the 86 billion dollars of weapons left behind in Afghanastan. Why do you think they were left there?

To keep Russia, China, & Israel out?

 

[RoarEmotion]

The way governments and the bureaucracies estimate costs of projects is fundamentally flawed, always has been. I think where it gets highlighted in Victoria is the scale of the build and so the blowouts are large.
To me it’s a bureaucratic problem but is tied up with politics and the need to get costings done fast and to fit into a budget envelope. At a federal level the best example right now is the snowy 2.0 which has blown out enormously as well from the original costings under the previous government.
Politicians will always blame each other but the costings are done in the departments not by politicians and history tells us that almost every major project across the country blows out in cost.
It is a major issue but it keeps on happening over and over again. I haven’t been involved with projects in the $billlions but I have been in $100 million plus ones. You always want a big contingency in the costings and I reckon this is one place we always fail because they inevitably get under costed.
It’s a crude measure but I always think with these major projects add 25-50% contingency and you might be safe but the pollies want to keep the numbers low and deal with the fallout later, or hope for the best! I reckon all of them do it.

Good summary of this issue here.

You really should know what a project will cost when you fully commit in most cases (after spending maybe 5-10%)

What you don’t know you don’t know combined with what you know you don’t want the approver to know makes this almost inevitable.

Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It - Freakonomics

Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It - Freakonomics

freakonomics.com

 

[frickenel]

To keep Russia, China, & Israel out?

I very much doubt that.

Why would that be good for the US? There's no money in that.

I was going to go on a lengthy rant but i won't as a lot of it would be irrelevant to your comment toothless, but i will maybe create a new thread and touch on the topic. It's ust so large and all of the information is out there now, proven not conspiracy. It's sort of the dirty underbelly of the CIA that nobody talks about because if you do as a journalist then you're not in the inner circle getting news bites from them, which in reality is propaganda bites.

 

[toothless]

Why would that be good for the US?

Strategic reasons more so than anything I'm guessing. If the belt and road initiative continues to spread across the globe, I cant see how that is conducive for America. With all the talk about America's supposed crumbling empire and a multipolar world order being a good thing, I assume America needs to utilise its power in order to counter that?

John Mackinder wrote: "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world." Could it be in part, the Ukrainian war is a subtle push from America to flex its muscles for further dominance? 2 military bases in Ukraine would really add salt to the wound of Putin... Pax Americana?

There's no money in that.

There's plenty of money in drug trafficking. Afghanistan has historically produced 90% of the world's total illicit heroin.

 

[Tigaman]

Looking down the track the West leaders might be something to be concerned about with Albo Trudeau Starmer Trump holding our interests in their political leanings.

 

[bigwow]

State bank was riddled with debt due to its finance decisions but was sold by Kirner, reducing the significant debt off the governments books before Kennett took over.

SBV lent millions to John Friedrich and the National Safety Council, secured by assets that didn't exist, (except on paper, and in John Friedrichs head), this combined with the Tricentennial Merchant Bank schemozzle killed off the SBV, leading to 'merger' with CBA, who couldn't afford it, hence the share offerings.