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Stop the mental health blowout, says Labor MP

Stop the mental health blowout, says Labor MP

Paediatrician and Labor MP Mike Freelander has called out overdiagnosis of mental health problems as the reason for an unsustainable surge in life insurance and workers' compensation claims at the same time as the insurance regulator has warned it is closely monitoring the prudential risks posed by ballooning payouts.
Freelander, who is expected to be reinstalled as chairman of a parliamentary health committee during the Albanese government's second term, said too many claims lacked an evidence-base, which meant many people were being over-compensated.
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Chris Minns says NSW govt 'wants to do better' on hospital emergency wait times after elderly man forced to sleep on floor
Chris Minns says NSW govt 'wants to do better' on hospital emergency wait times after elderly man forced to sleep on floor

Sky News AU

timea day ago

  • Sky News AU

Chris Minns says NSW govt 'wants to do better' on hospital emergency wait times after elderly man forced to sleep on floor

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has said the government "wants to do better" on emergency department wait times after an elderly man was forced to lay on the floor of a western Sydney hospital for at least 24 hours for a bed. A 2GB listener sent host Ben Fordham a picture of her 70-year-old father from the weekend curled up on the cold ground at Blacktown Hospital among other patients. The elderly man - Raymond - had arrived on Saturday afternoon due to pain and was told he would have to wait in emergency until a hospital bed was free. Close by, an 80-year-old man was also forced to lay on the floor. It was discovered Raymond had a life-threatening haemoglobin level when he was eventually seen by a doctor some 24-hours later, Fordham said on Tuesday morning. Raymond's daughter Hayley said her dad had called her numerous times wanting to discharge himself, saying he would be seen quicker in a small country town. Mr Minns described the photo of the elderly man on the hospital floor as "distressing" and insisted the government "wants to do better" for patients and frontline staff. Fordham reminded the NSW Premier he visited hospitals across Sydney late at night over two weeks in 2022 when he was in opposition and filmed videos for social media. He used those clips to campaign for more support for health staff. Asked what he has done since being in power for two years, Mr Minns said Labor is "putting more money into health than any government in the state's history". The Premier said the 10 point rise to 40 per cent of patients being treated during clinically recommended times was due to his government's actions including removing the wages cap, lifting investment to the health sector and removal of privatisation. "I'm not coming on saying we deserve a gold star, I've never said that. I recognise we have an enormous challenge in front of us. What I'm saying to you is it would be ruinous for the public health system to go back to the old (Liberal) model," he said. The government has announced investments at Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospitals where an additional 60 beds will be added amid the population boom in Sydney's west. There will also be $700 million injected into Bankstown Hospital, due to the rising cost of its construction, News Corp reported, and a rebuild of the facilities at Canterbury and Fairfield. Mr Minns is also hoping the federal government's election promise of 50 urgent health care clinics will encourage patients to steer away from hospitals unless its an emergency. "I'm not mucking around when I say this is the biggest investment in capital infrastructure for Western Sydney health in decades," the NSW Premier said. "As you can tell for Raymond and other people, it's well overdue... "We can't have a situation where a 70-year-old man or an 80-year-old man (where) the only relief that they can get is to crawl up in the foetal position on the floor of the emergency department. That is not good enough and I don't want anyone left with the impression that we want that to stand." Shadow NSW health minister Kellie Sloane said it was "pretty shocking" to see the photo of Raymond curled up on the hospital floor waiting for a bed. "This should not be happening. Patients at Blacktown sleeping on the floor because there simply is not enough beds. Decent people paying tax their entire lives and when they're at their most vulnerable and sick our system has let them down," she said. "It is one of the poorest performing hospitals in the west. It ranks 20th out of the 20 hospitals in terms of dealing with people coming into the emergency department."

Labor defends not calling ‘horrific' South Australia algae bloom a national disaster
Labor defends not calling ‘horrific' South Australia algae bloom a national disaster

News.com.au

timea day ago

  • News.com.au

Labor defends not calling ‘horrific' South Australia algae bloom a national disaster

The Albanese government has defended its response to the toxic algae bloom devastating South Australia's coastline, saying it does not fit the definition of a national disaster. A $14m funding request from the state government to combat the outbreak of toxic algae – which became known to authorities in March – was approved by the federal government this week. The bloom has caused significant damage to a variety of marine life, bringing industries such as tourism and fishing to a grinding halt, and leaving animal carcasses washed up on beaches within an hour of Adelaide. The Albanese government's response to the algae crisis has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with Nationals leader David Littleproud accusing Labor of being 'flat-footed'. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has repeatedly called for the bloom to be classified as a national disaster, claiming the response would have been much swifter had Bondi Beach been impacted and that current legislation was not 'fit for purpose'. 'This is a catastrophe, an environmental disaster and an increasingly a community disaster. I am disappointed (Environment Minister Murray Watt) stopped short of declaring a disaster,' she told the ABC on Monday. Questioned about Labor's response to the algal bloom on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said a 'legislated, formalised list of events' would have to occur for it to be classified as a national disaster. 'That doesn't change the fact that it's an environmental disaster. It doesn't change the fact that all eyes of the nation are on it,' he told ABC News Breakfast. 'That doesn't change the fact that for the people of South Australia, what they are seeing … carcasses washing up onto their beaches, it's absolutely horrific.' Mr Burke said what mattered was that Mr Watt was 'there on the ground' on Monday. 'The Premier of SA (Peter Malinauskas) made statements as well yesterday. We're working cooperatively,' he said. Mr Watt said on Monday the funding would be allocated towards both short- and long-term measures faced by South Australians, such as beach clean-ups, community awareness campaigns, and ongoing investment in scientific research. 'There will need to be some further discussions between ourselves and the South Australian government about exactly the details of how that funding is used,' he said. 'The reality is, we are in uncharted waters here.' Mr Malinauskas said it was important to recognise the unprecedented nature of the bloom, which had ballooned across thousands of square kilometres of ocean. 'We've never seen an algal bloom of this size and scale in the history of our country's coastline … I think it's reasonable to assume that it won't be the first incident of its type in this country,' he said. 'The type of investment that was announced yesterday will go a long way in better understanding how we can prepare and plan for these types of events into the future.' Mr Malinauskas told the ABC he wanted to be 'really clear' the bloom was a 'natural disaster'. 'There are over 400 different species of marine life that have been killed off or had deaths as a result of this algal bloom,' he said. 'It's been with us for a while (and) it's starting to affect various parts of the aquaculture industry here in South Australia. 'It's always going to be better if we have state and federal governments working collaboratively together and that's very much what Minister Watt demonstrated yesterday, which we welcome.'

Brisbane news live: Free flu jabs under cloud as people ignore $25m campaign
Brisbane news live: Free flu jabs under cloud as people ignore $25m campaign

Sydney Morning Herald

timea day ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

Brisbane news live: Free flu jabs under cloud as people ignore $25m campaign

Go to latest 'It only does any good if it's in your arm': People ignoring free flu jabs By The health minister has left a cloud over Queensland's free flu vaccine program, saying continued increases in flu cases and low vaccine uptake this year was 'very concerning'. Speaking from Greenslopes yesterday, Tim Nicholls said about 90 per cent of the more than 3600 influenza hospitalisations recorded this year were for people who had not received a vaccine. Loading About 6.13 million Queenslanders have been vaccinated for influenza since March, about 34,000 fewer than 2024 – and more than 400,000 fewer than three years ago – with Queensland Health reporting at the same time a 16 per cent increase in case numbers from the same time last year. 'We've made public announcements about [the free vaccine program], it runs on our public health messages, it runs on social media … it's been a very substantial news story,' Nicholls said. 'There really is no reason why someone is not aware that there is a free flu vaccine available … there is no reason not to get the free flu vaccine – it does no good in a bottle, it only does any good if it's in your arm.' Nicholls said the state was 'always happy' to review the $25 million vaccination campaign, but said he would wait until the end of flu season. 'It's not too late to get the free flu vaccine, it is available, [and] the investment has been made in it.' 7.30am Albanese dismisses suggestion that Xi meeting should be explained to Trump By Paul Sakkal Anthony Albanese has dismissed a suggestion that his ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, should explain to the Trump administration the prime minister's intimate meeting with Xi Jinping, details of which were revealed in this masthead. Host of the ABC's 7.30 program Sarah Ferguson spent the first portion of her interview with Albanese on Monday night asking about last week's lunch in Beijing. This masthead reported on Monday the pair discussed their upbringing and global outlook in a humour-filled discussion the Australian prime minister said had fostered 'an element of trust'. Asked if US officials had raised any questions about closer relations between Albanese and China's paramount leader, Albanese said 'No'. Here's a section of the exchange: Ferguson: 'Can I come back to that question of trust? Because I do think it's an unusual word that you've used, and I want to know what you think that that word means, apart from having a slightly advanced, developed relationship with him. Would he, for example, take a phone call from you in the event of a crisis blowing up over Taiwan to discourage him from invading or blockading Taiwan?' Loading Albanese: 'Well, that's a hypothetical which I'm not going to go into. But I have said before that anything that he has said to me has been fulfilled. There hasn't been any breaches of personal commitments that he has given to me. That doesn't mean he's agreed with everything that I've put forward – far from it. But I'd rather that than someone on an international level saying, 'Yep, we can do all that', and then doing the opposite.' Ferguson: 'So you trust him that, when he says something, he's going to keep his word?' Albanese: 'I have no reason to point to any breach that has occurred up to this point.' Ferguson: 'That's about the past, what about the future?' Albanese: 'Well, all I can do is talk about the past. I can just talk about facts rather than going forward – we don't know what it will bring. We know there are significant differences. China and Australia have different political systems. We have different values. We have our alliance with the United States which is very important.' 7.21am 'It only does any good if it's in your arm': People ignoring free flu jabs By Catherine Strohfeldt The health minister has left a cloud over Queensland's free flu vaccine program, saying continued increases in flu cases and low vaccine uptake this year was 'very concerning'. Speaking from Greenslopes yesterday, Tim Nicholls said about 90 per cent of the more than 3600 influenza hospitalisations recorded this year were for people who had not received a vaccine. Loading About 6.13 million Queenslanders have been vaccinated for influenza since March, about 34,000 fewer than 2024 – and more than 400,000 fewer than three years ago – with Queensland Health reporting at the same time a 16 per cent increase in case numbers from the same time last year. 'We've made public announcements about [the free vaccine program], it runs on our public health messages, it runs on social media … it's been a very substantial news story,' Nicholls said. 'There really is no reason why someone is not aware that there is a free flu vaccine available … there is no reason not to get the free flu vaccine – it does no good in a bottle, it only does any good if it's in your arm.' Nicholls said the state was 'always happy' to review the $25 million vaccination campaign, but said he would wait until the end of flu season. 'It's not too late to get the free flu vaccine, it is available, [and] the investment has been made in it.' 7.16am A hazy shade of winter The forecast for Brisbane today spells a cool day with a chance of a shower or two. A top temperature of 22 degrees is expected, with much the same for the rest of the week. But while today is about a 50-50 chance of rain, tomorrow is almost guaranteed to be wet. Here's how the week ahead is looking: 7.14am While you were sleeping Here's what's making news further afield this morning: Voters are lukewarm to any surprise reforms from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, clearly oppose change to the GST and want the Coalition to work more closely with the government to reach consensus on new policies rather than oppose them outright, a survey has revealed. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has assured her colleagues the Liberal Party can only improve on its disastrous showing at the May federal election. The Greens co-founder booted from the party at the weekend has hit back, accusing the organisation of becoming 'too weird and unlikeable' and urging the federal leader to intervene. Justin Flowers has $300,000 in the bank and he can't get a home loan. The 52-year-old, who runs his own graphic design business, had bought and sold a few properties, upsizing to accommodate his family of four. But he divorced, and he is now single and renting without hope he can repurchase. As her newspaper prepared to publish details of a bawdy birthday card Donald Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein, Emma Tucker's phone rang. The British editor then stood her ground in face of a furious US president. And political and international editor Peter Hartcher writes that Trump's original White House strategist Steve Bannon still insists the 'deep state' runs the world. And while Bannon has many questions, he has few answers. 7.03am The top stories this morning Good morning, and welcome to Brisbane Times' live news coverage for Tuesday, July 22. Today should be cloudy, with a top temperature of 22 degrees. In this morning's local headlines: Complications with a 'once in a generation' under-river infrastructure project are forcing officials to dump millions of litres of raw sewage and stormwater directly into the Brisbane River. A man has been jailed after a Queensland grandmother was killed and her daughter seriously injured when the stolen car he was driving crashed into theirs car at high speed and he fled. A banned e-scooter and e-bike company has returned to Brisbane streets – but not as you might expect, as the global micromobility hire company merges with one of its key competitors. Queensland authorities say they will investigate multiple reported crocodile sightings on the Sunshine Coast, hundreds of kilometres south of Queensland's 'croc country'. Fresh off his maiden starting appearance in Wallabies colours in defeat to the British and Irish Lions, Tom Lynagh will brace for a future in which he is pitted against his brother in an international club clash.

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