Posted by Jim on September 12, 2010
The Government neglect of health in the Wide Bay electorate was one of the key issues in the Greens campaign and nowhere was this more evident than the long and arduous trips public patients have to make for treatment and tests. In some cases, these journeys are round trips of between 450 and 500 kilometres.
The Fraser Coast Chronicle ignored media releases on this issue even when Jim McDonald submitted a media release on the trips that Maryborough dialysis patients had to make to Gympie for treatment. Two days after the media release The Fraser Coast Chronicle published its own story ignoring the policy issues raised by the Greens. The release was published as a letter in The Gympie Times on 26 June 2010. The Gympie Times had published the original story on this neglect of dialysis patients in Maryborough.
We are pleased to report that the Queensland Health Minister,Paul Lucas, has now announced that $5 million will go towards six new renal dialysis chairs at Maryborough hospital.
Not before time. But this is a patchwork effort. Health reform in Wide Bay needs a holistic approach and so far there is little more than rhetoric and catch-up on health issues evident in the electorate. Let’s hope that the Federal Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, can get quickly onto regional health issues in general and the unsatisfactory position in Wide Bay.
The Federal Health Minister might have some sympathy in her considerations for the fact that Maryborough Hospital no longer has a maternity ward and expectant mothers are required to travel to Hervey Bay. This is ludicrous treatment of the people of Maryborough. Reform should ensure that regional cities have proper health facilities. The Queensland Minister’s statement shows no recognition of the importance of comprehensive local hospital services for the city.
Jim McDonald, Greens spokesperson, Wide Bay electorate, 12 September 2010
Posted by Jim on August 19, 2010
1. The Greens stand up for what’s right, not just what’s easy. Whether it’s protecting the environment, introducing universal dental care, opposing the war in Iraq or advocating for refugees to be treated humanely, the Greens are driven by values, not polls.
2. It’s the Party everyone’s heading to. The Greens are the third largest political party in Australia, with five national Senators, 21 State MPs and more than 100 local Greens councillors already playing a positive and constructive role across Australia. More than a million Australians voted Green in 2007, and we’re the fastest-growing party in the country.
3. Break the deadlock in the Senate between the Government and the Opposition. Last time the Government of the day also got control of the Senate, and we got WorkChoices. This weekend, the Opposition could easily win control of the Senate, which would deliver Australians nothing but three years of deadlock. We deserve a Senate that will work for us and deliver strong, sensible action – not just spin.
4. Provide future generations with clean air, clean water and clean soil. The Greens will tackle climate change by putting a price on carbon for big polluters in the next term of government. It’s time we created new clean energy jobs and started investing in the economy of the future.
5. Make legislation better. When the Coalition tried to block the stimulus package that kept Australia out of recession, the Greens passed it with added environmental and small business benefits. The Greens will do the same thing to improve the mining super profits tax – to ensure Australians get a fair share of our resources.
6. The Greens have vision. When Bob Brown first spoke to the Senate about climate change 14 years ago, his Labor and Liberal colleagues actually laughed at him, and now that they finally understand the magnitude of the issue, we’re laughing at their attempts to address it. The Greens are also the only party working to end all forms of legal discrimination against Australians based on sexuality. The Greens focus on what’s right for the next generation, not just the next election cycle.
7. Not Steve Fielding. The power to scuttle legislation currently rests with Steve Fielding, who refuses to accept the science of climate change and have views out of touch with most Australians.
8. An environmental party – and much, much more. The Greens stand for much more than just cutting carbon pollution, securing our water supplies and protecting our environment. Think better public schools, more funding for hospitals and fixing our broken mental health system. The Greens also drive great new ideas, like building high-speed rail between Australia’s major cities, which is now gaining momentum but would never have gotten up otherwise.
9. For a more powerful vote. Another Labor or Liberal candidate will just vote the way they’re told. With the Greens, every vote is a conscience vote. If you’re disappointed with Labor but don’t want Tony Abbott, you can send a powerful message to Julia Gillard. And if your Greens candidate doesn’t win, your vote will simply go to the next candidate of your choice at full value.
10. Bob Brown. A genuinely decent politician and the most experienced party leader in Parliament.
From Larissa Waters: Vote 1 for Queensland in the Senate
Posted by Jim on August 13, 2010
Green Candidate’s response to Coalition promise to pledge $125,000 to support the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee riparian tree planting program:
I welcome Mr Truss’s initiative to support the wonderful work done by Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee, but it could be a matter of too little too late. As well as the ecological vandalism from the State Government pipeline, the Mary River faces major threats from open-cut coalmining at Tiaro, the beautiful Munna Creek and Aldershot. Mr Truss has been silent on protecting the Mary River from the inevitable impacts on groundwater and aquifers on the health of the Mary River. The proposed mines will also threaten the heritage of the internationally recognised Great Sandy wetlands at the mouth of the Mary River.
While the promised funding would assist the work of the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee, Mr Truss commits nothing to protecting the Mary River from environmental disaster arising from coalmining.
Comments published in an article in the Noosa News, Friday, 13 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 12, 2010
The Queensland Government’s proposed sale of Queensland’s railways to the coal industry will be the death knell for passenger rail services in regional Queensland, says Jim McDonald, the Greens’ candidate for Wide Bay.
“High speed rail for both freight and passenger services should be an essential element in State Government climate change and population planning. A coal cartel will ruin the future of our rail system if Anna Bligh and Andrew Fraser get their way.
“The Brisbane – Cairns route needs a rapid rail system as much as the Melbourne – Brisbane corridor, especially for the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay, to service a rapidly growing population and take trucks and passengers off the Bruce Highway.
“Federal and State Governments need to take serious steps to develop a standard gauge system in Queensland that will deliver frequent, rapid passenger and freight services to Maryborough, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast. Queensland lags the rest of the world in efficient rail transport because of the limitations of its narrow gauge rail system.
“The State Government should investigate selling off part of the rail easements to private interests to fund modernisation of the rail services that belong to the Queensland taxpayer. Instead, under Ms Bligh’s and Mr Fraser’s plan, passenger timetables will be affected by the coal industry’s priorities.
“The Government’s focus should be on fast rail, which will be an economic boon to the region in a low carbon future. A fast train plan could provide hundreds of jobs in Maryborough and Gympie if the State Government had a commitment to regional development and ensured that the rolling stock continued to be manufactured in Maryborough, instead of exporting the industry to China.
“High speed access to South-East Queensland markets will do as much to stimulate local industries and small business as the National Broadband Network.”
Dr McDonald said that the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese should include South-East Queensland and EDI Rail in the feasibility study for high speed rail.
“This is what the Greens mean by green jobs. Rail will always be more efficient and less polluting than motor vehicles. And it would provide jobs in the region. We need to think beyond existing frameworks. A high speed rail system would form a significant component of a low carbon economy in the region.”
Jim McDonald, Media Release, 12 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 8, 2010
When I looked at the Arts policies for the 2007 Federal election, and Peter Garrett’s arts policy was the only other policy out there apart from the Greens’ the first thing that struck me was that it was about funding established companies and organisations to visit the regions on tours with mostly one night performances and travelling exhibitions.
When, just before the election date, the Liberals came out with an Arts policy, it was more of the same.
Jim with supporters after the regional arts launch at The J, Noosa
My opponent’s party, which claims to have special relevance for the regions, doesn’t have an arts policy at all, let alone a regional arts policy. In fact, their platform doesn’t even contain the word, “Art” except part of the word, “part”.
We have a broad appreciation of the Arts. We mean, as the Queensland Regional Arts and Culture Strategy 2010–2014 defines it, the visual arts, music, dance, writing, craft, theatre, media art, design, public art, events, festivals, exhibitions, community cultural development and preservation of knowledge, stories, heritage and collections.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Jim on August 7, 2010
Click on the following image to access The Greens How to Vote Card for Wide Bay:
Greens How to Vote Card: the voter decides preferences
Jim McDonald, Greens candidate for Wide Bay
Posted by Jim on August 6, 2010
High speed rail in Australia could be a real boon and provide hundreds of jobs in Maryborough, says Greens candidate, Jim McDonald. He was responding to an announcement on Thursday by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government of a feasibility study for the Newcastle-Sydney corridor.
“As Minister for Regional Development, Mr Albanese should include EDI Rail in the feasibility study he announced.
“It’s indicative of the lack of long-term strategy in Labor or the Coalition that Mr Albanese spoke only of NSW. Green’s leader Bob Brown has been talking about a national high speed rail strategy for years.
“The Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast regions would benefit economically from a reliable, regular fast rail system. And it would reduce traffic on the Bruce Highway. Brisbane would only be a two to two and a half hours from Maryborough.
“This is what the Greens mean by green jobs. Rail will always be more efficient and less polluting than motor vehicles. And it would provide regional jobs. We need to think beyond existing frameworks. A High speed rail system would form a significant component of a low carbon economy in the region.”
Media release, Jim McDonald, 5 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 5, 2010
The restoration of funding for joint surgery by the Queensland Government is a welcome announcement, said Dr Jim McDonald, the Greens candidate for Wide Bay. He was commenting on a report in yesterday’s Sunshine Coast Daily [that the Queensland Government had allocated $1 million to the hospital for joint surgery].
“However,” he said, “The fact that funding had not been available for a year and a half illustrates that the health system urgently needs reform to adequately service the region. Noosa needs a better arrangement than stop-and-go funding of medical procedures for public patients.
“The Federal Government’s takeover of health was announced by the former Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, with great fanfare, but it was short on details. One decent reform measure would be to review the conditions that are presently listed as elective surgery. The definitions of what is ‘elective’ hide the true nature of waiting lists – the real suffering of public health patients.
“Joint surgery should not be regarded as elective. It can be extremely painful and when it is, it severely affects the patient’s quality of life in the degree of pain experienced and their mobility. If the patient with joint pain is working, it will affect an employee’s productivity. There are, therefore, other hidden economic costs in the failure to adequately and consistently fund the procedures.”
Dr McDonald said that he had had hip replacement surgery at Noosa Hospital 22 months ago. “The pain was excruciating at times and I was hobbling around like an old man before the operation. If they experience the effects that I did, then public patients on the Noosa waiting list have been put through hell for the past 18 months.
“If I am elected I will be urging the removal of joint replacement surgery from the list of conditions for elective surgery and ongoing funding for the necessary joint surgery program at Noosa Hospital.”
Media Release, 4 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 4, 2010
There will be two meet-the-candidates sessions in the southern part of the electorate next week on Tuesday 10 August and Thursday 12 August. The first, organised by the Cooroy Chamber of Commerce, will be held at the Cooroy Hotel as follows:
Meet the Candidates evening
5.30pm for a 6.00pm start
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Cooroy Chamber of Commerce
Cooroy Hotel
38 Maple Street, Cooroy
Entry is free
The second occasion where voters can meet the candidates is organised by the Noosa Residents and Ratepayers Association. This event will be held at the Noosa Heads Bowls Club in Lanyana Way Noosa Heads.
Meet the candidates
6.45pm
Thursday 12 August 2010
Noosa Residents and Ratepayers Association
Noosa Heads Bowls Club,
Lanyana Way,
Noosa Heads
So far, there are no arrangements for similar opportunities for voters in the other major towns of Wide Bay. This is unfortunate as the 2010 election is one of the most important in recent times.
Jim McDonald, Greens Candidate for Wide Bay, 4 August 2010
Posted by Jim on
River pollution from a coal mine in NSW south of Sydney confirms the concerns that the Greens have for the prospect of coalmining in the Wide Bay electorate.
The Greens candidate for Wide Bay, Dr Jim McDonald, said that an independent water quality report by researchers from the University of Western Sydney has shown contaminated water from an underground coalmine near Appin is flowing into the Georges River, south of Sydney [Sydney Morning Herald 4 August 2010]
He said that the report concludes that the levels of contamination are toxic to aquatic life. These are the real threats faced by proposals that would turn the Wide Bay electorate into another Hunter Valley.
Proposed open-cut coalmines at Tiaro, Munna Creek, which flows into the Mary River, and the Colton Coal Mine near Maryborough will affect the ecosystems of the Susan River and Saltwater Creek, Munna Creek and the Mary River itself.
The potential damage to the Mary River and Hervey Bay eco-systems of mine run-off on will affect the farming economy along the river system, the tourism industry in Maryborough and the world listed Great Sandy Straits wetlands reserve at the mouth of the Mary River. It will undermine the viability of the Great Sandy Biosphere, which aims at sustainable development in the region.
These dangers, the effect on regional agricultural productivity and the tourism industry, the effect on community health of coalmines, and the need to stimulate industries in a low carbon economy are the compelling reasons why the Greens oppose coal mining in the Wide Bay electorate.
Media Release, Jim McDonald, 4 August 2010
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