The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, December 3rd, 2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request.
**************************************************** Health & education: Keep them public Despite widespread opposition to its Medicare and Higher Education Bills, the Howard Government has tried bullying, lying, and threatening universities - every dirty trick in the book - to ram through its unpopular, regressive, anti-people program. It tells whopping lies about being committed to Medicare as it attempts to buy the votes of a few wavering Democrats or independents who hold the balance of power in the Senate. by Anna Pha Both Bills have a number of features in common. They have the aim of taking the public health system and public universities further down the track towards privatisation. Bulk billing and free education are being replaced by user-pays. There is a front door for the wealthy to buy their way into a private hospital or public university and a back door with a long queue for the rest. As a result, universal access is being replaced by access according to ability to pay. In addition to user-pays there is greater reliance on corporate funding and private provision of health and higher education as they are treated as commodities to be bought and sold on a deregulated market place. In line with other areas, the Government is gradually winding back its responsibility for the funding and provision of these essential services. Education package Teaching and non-teaching staff and students united in national action, closing universities across Australia on October 16. They opposed the Government's plans to allow universities to increase fees by up to 30 per cent and open up more full-fee paying places; its attempts to force universities to employ staff on individual contracts; and other measures to interfere in university governance at the same time as further deregulating the education "market". Failing to gain the support of Labor, Greens, the Democrats or the four independent Senators, Education Minister Brendan Nelson recently proposed some amendments to the package which did not alter its major thrust. These were not accepted. Then on Friday last week, he returned with the offer of a few crumbs for Indigenous students, students with disabilities, poor students from rural backgrounds and disadvantaged students and other relatively minor changes relating to the repayment of HECS debt. But the key issues such as increasing fees, increasing the number of full-fee paying students and making new funding conditional on the imposition of individual workplace contracts, remain. The four independents voted for the Bill on Monday, but attached a number of important conditions to be met before they would agree to support its expected return to the Senate on Tuesday this week. Medicare package At this stage the Medicare legislation has been sent to the Medicare Select Committee (for a second time), in effect delaying further consideration of the Bill until next year. The Committee has been charged with inquiring into the Government's "Medicare Plus" package, including the pathetic $5 incentive to doctors when they bulk-bill children and concession card holders and the recruitment of overseas doctors. The Committee is to report back by February 11, 2004. Health Minister Tony Abbott is still determined to get the package through before the end of the year and is pushing the Senate to reverse its decision. **************************************************************************** ******************* . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]