Summary: THE FOCUS GROUP “Dissolving faster than an Aspirin” - but is it quick enough? Abbott govt plunges in the polls - even Newspoll. Labor regains winning lead. “Block supply” - should they? Can they? Will Labor and the Greens commit to undoing Hockey’s budget wholesale, or is the best we can hope for that the biggest whacks get toned down, and Australia still descends into a nastier place to live? AFR: “Don’t dismiss the double dissolution theatrics” Abbott suggests that if his cuts are blocked we’ll lose our AAA rating. This is promptly contradicted by the rating agency in question. ALRIGHT THEN WOULD YOU BELIEVE… Hockey then declares that if Labor blocks any of his measures they’ll cause the raising of interest rates. Which, remembering in 2012 he thought low interest rates indicated a “weak economy”, seems to suggest he thinks Labor blocking the budget will strengthen the economy. Even Campbell Newman thinks they might have gone too far. Health $100 to see a medical specialist. Good luck if you’re a poor person who needs to see a psychiatrist each week. Co-payment to drastically hit indigenous population and the National Aboriginal Health Community Controlled Health Organisation is still waiting to hear what will happen to its 150 medical centres. Co-payment to seriously undermine vaccination in Australia and put those who cannot vaccinate for medical reasons at serious risk when those diseases return. Hockey tells Q&A he “thought very carefully” about the copayment but because “Australians visit doctors, on average, 11 times a year. 11 times a year” it was necessary. As we discussed in a recent SW, the correct figure is under 6, so the question is does Hockey know he’s lying, or does someone need to tell him and he’ll rethink the copayment? (AUDIO at about 13 minutes in) Also, if he thought so hard about it, why didn’t he even consider the costs to the system from people delaying treatment? Then Hockey suggested (AUDIO at 22:40) that his plan to fund Medicare is pretty much dependent on finding cures for dementia and “Alzheimer”. (” If we do not find the cures, if we cannot help to find the cures for dementia and Alzheimer’s and mental health and cancer, then the system is going to blow out in costs over time.”) Cutting the hospital funding agreement. Sunday: Abbott claims “”We’re not talking about next week or next month or even next year; we are talking about changes in three years’ time”. Today: Abbott admits that $1.8bn in hospital cuts begin 1 July. Health Minister Dutton’s plan inspired by trip to the doctor. Maiden writes: “A personal epiphany accompanied a visit to a GP last Christmas. He needed an injection of cortisone to soothe severe pain in his shoulder… “I thought for someone on an income like mine I could have been charged $10 or $20” he said.” So naturally he imposed a fixed fee that applied to everyone regardless of income. Also the mad ideological basis: “You can’t afford to give everything away for free”. It’s fundamentally about making sick people pay for being sick. $20bn “medical research fund” slammed by researchers who note it comes with $80m cut from co-operative research centres, $111 from the CSIRO and $75m from the Australian Research Council. Prof Ian Frazer, whose team developed a vaccine for cervical cancer, advised Abbott it needs to be more broadly focused or it won’t work. That Amgen company Tony advertises for won’t be getting any of that public money, will it? Education “Training” exemption to the “we’ll kick you off to starve” scheme actually a cruel Catch-22 - they’ve upped the fees, and you don’t qualify for subsidy unless you’re already on the NewStart you can’t get on until you e
