on 20-03-2015 08:17 AM
Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh shifts position on previous support for a GP fee
Labor's shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh was once a strong supporter of a compulsory fee for visits to the doctor - a policy now slammed by the opposition as a “GP tax” that would hurt the community’s most vulnerable.
But in a 2003 Sydney Morning Herald article Dr Leigh, then a PhD student in economics at Harvard University, argued a Medicare co-payment was “hardly a radical idea”.
“As health researchers have shown, cost-less medical care means that people go to the doctor even when they don't need to, driving up the cost for all of us," Dr Leigh and co-author Richard Holden wrote.
“But there's a better way of operating a health system, and the change should hardly hurt at all.
“As economists have shown, the ideal model involves a small co-payment - not enough to put a dent in your weekly budget, but enough to make you think twice before you call the doc."
Dr Leigh argued the fee should be enough to deter “frivolous GP visits”, but not enough to limit genuine preventive care. The fee should apply to everyone, including pensioners, except those who are chronically ill, he wrote.
Dr Leigh, who has opposed the proposal in media appearances over recent weeks, told Fairfax Media: "Since 2003, a lot has changed in the health care system, and I've changed my view on co-payments.
“A GP co-payment was originally a Hawke government proposal led by Brian Howe, a member of the Left faction,” he said.
“As long as it is applied fairly across the community, a co-payment is a perfectly valid policy measure. If Andrew Leigh, before he had to toe the party line, recognised that then I welcome his contribution to the debate. I respect Andrew Leigh as a sensible economist.”
On Saturday, Dr Leigh, a former professor of economics at the Australian National University, distanced himself from an article he wrote in 2004 supporting fee deregulation for universities – another policy opposed by Labor.
Yes, it’s the very well respected ALP whey-faced Dr Andrew Leigh who virtually declared his previous books and speeches as mere works of fiction. This brings into sharp focus Dr Leigh's economics degree.
on 22-05-2015 12:30 AM
It doesn't surprise me that Labor are rife with criminals and sex offenders. I could name a few, some dead now and some in jail.
Didn't John Roberts resign because he wrote letters of recommendation for Man Monis the killer terrorist?
on 22-05-2015 09:08 AM
A little light entertainment for this wet and cold morning. It will warm your heats. It has bee posted before but I think it needs to be posted again...lol
Poor Bill! "I Believe" he is doomed, "I Believe" he will be replaced before the next election, "I Believe" Labor made a huge mistake in changing the rules to suit Rudd and now we will see the contortions of Labor trying to rid themselves of him.
http://www.2gb.com/article/bill-shorten-won%E2%80%99t-be-pm-%E2%80%93-ben-fordham
on 22-05-2015 09:50 AM
I've always thought from the get-go that he was only keeping the seat warm for someone else to take over come election time. He'll probably be the next ALP leader to get knifed.
Trouble is there's really no-one else in the ranks that could do any better.
on 22-05-2015 11:31 AM
FINALLY A LABOR COST CUTTING MEASURE !
Bill Shorten sees a flier on a bulletin board that reads, "Cruise -- Only $5."
He goes to the address on the flier and hands the receptionist $5.
...The receptionist nods to a burly man reading a newspaper.
He walks over to Bill Shorten and knocks him unconscious.
Later Bill wakes up tied to a log floating down river.
To his right, he sees his blonde sidekick Tanya Plibersek.
"Do you think they're going to serve food on this trip?" Bill asks.
Plibersek replied, "They didn't last year."
_________________________________________
on 22-05-2015 11:47 AM
Any more news on Micheal Danby?
on 22-05-2015 11:53 AM
@idlewhile wrote:Any more news on Micheal Danby?
If you google him, all sorts of interesting things come up.
on 23-05-2015 09:07 AM
Pity it wasn't the Costa Concordia
on 23-05-2015 11:41 AM
@idlewhile wrote:Pity it wasn't the Costa Concordia
I think the ALP under Mr Shorten is just as sunk, lol.
on 23-05-2015 11:51 AM
@icyfroth wrote:
@idlewhile wrote:Pity it wasn't the Costa Concordia
I think the ALP under Mr Shorten is just as sunk, lol.
He's driving the doomed ship of Labor to ground.
Labor is a failed political party here and in the UK, they just haven't woken up yet, their ideology is not suited to the 21st century but they have no idea what they can stand for so they revert back to type, class war rhetoric and populist cant.
Arguing with a leftist on here is an exercise in self flagellation.
on 23-05-2015 01:21 PM
@idlewhile wrote:
@icyfroth wrote:
@idlewhile wrote:Pity it wasn't the Costa Concordia
I think the ALP under Mr Shorten is just as sunk, lol.
He's driving the doomed ship of Labor to ground.
Labor is a failed political party here and in the UK, they just haven't woken up yet, their ideology is not suited to the 21st century but they have no idea what they can stand for so they revert back to type, class war rhetoric and populist cant.
Arguing with a leftist on here is an exercise in self flagellation.
might as well argue with this: