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    Health, Aged Care, Medicare & Disability Support

    Home Policy Spotlight Health, Aged Care, Medicare & Disability Support

    The Immorality of Medicare

    By
    Lionel Orellana
    -
    0

    In May of 1973, a year before the first incarnation of Medicare became law, the Australian Medical Association sent a letter to its members warning about the dangers of socialised medicine. They were concerned about the “interference by governments in the relationship between doctor and patient“[1] and highlighted key freedoms that they said should be protected:

    • No barrier separating the patient from free choice of specialist or hospital.
    • Minimum intrusion between doctor and patient by governments.
    • Freedom and opportunity to practise on a fee-for service basis without threat of coercion or compulsion.
    • Freedom to provide a personal service based on personal responsibility within a system based on quality rather than quantity.

    They were concerned about the
    “interference by governments in the relationship between doctor and patient“

    The AMA abandoned these goals long ago and now merely lobbies Governments for favours. But 50 years later, their worst fears have become a reality: an impossible melee of item numbers, rules and coercion stands between Australians and their doctors.

    Consider the case of Dr. Andre Leong in WA. Dr. Leong was harassed for billing a series of item numbers more frequently than other GPs. His training and experience (including leading a medical team in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami) prepared him for performing operations that most GPs do not. Other doctors frequently referred patients to him to perform these procedures. He stood out and was subjected to lengthy audits and investigations until ultimately forced to stop billing these items. He retired altogether shortly after. There is overwhelming community support for him online.

    Dr Andrew Leong. Audited and then forced to stop practising particular medicine in which he had expertise.

    47% of GPs report they either avoid providing certain services or claiming certain rebates due to Medicare compliance fears, while 61% report that the complexity of Medicare is something that worries them outside their workday. [2] Many choose to under-bill, fearful of compliance action, claiming 20-minute consultations despite spending up to 45 minutes with a patient. This pressure on doctors to quickly finalise a consultation is a common experience for patients.   

    Some doctors are fed up: ‘We have had enough of the coercive control, of the abusive relationship that is Medicare’[3], they protest. To add insult to injury, doctors are constantly accused of rorting The System. It is no surprise there is a shortage of GPs.

    The situation with mental health is even more depressing. The number of hoops you have to jump through, and the fight you have to put up, can make anyone give up and surrender to their daemons. In a way it is reassuring when you realise that GPs, psychologists, psychiatrists, and nutritionists are all as confused and perplexed by The System as you are. I once spent 3 hours on the phone with Medicare, explaining to them the difference between related mental health items, the corresponding mental health plans, and the review process of these plans. All to convince them to pay me the refunds they were supposed to. It is absurd, demoralising and abusive.

    It ought to be so simple. You go to a doctor (of which there would be many more), you pay, you receive the care that is right for you, and you form lasting relationships with your healthcare providers. No man in the middle setting arbitrary barriers and obstacles.

    If we really are an egalitarian society that genuinely cares for the less fortunate, why would anyone think that without the Government we would just leave people to die on the streets? Despite losing half their income to the different levels of Government[4], Australians still donate generously to charity.

    Not-for-profit organisations like the Little Company of Mary, which run the Calvary Hospitals, demonstrate society’s responsible concern. But like all monopolistic predators, Governments react to competition by trying to shut it down. That is the case with the Calvary Hospital in Canberra, now subject to a hostile takeover by the ACT Government. What then is the opportunity cost of this socialised experiment? How many foundations have not been created, how many research labs, how many hospitals?

    And yet, calls to protect “our health system” are made repeatedly with a quasi-religious fervour. Protecting The System takes precedence over any individual’s best interest. It is the main reason why, for example, bringing your parents from overseas to live in Australia can cost up to $70k. Their old age is too big a threat to The System. The (involuntary) contributions you have made to fund it matter very little.

    The overriding of your individual best interest by a collective abstraction which the Government claims to represent was in full display during the pandemic years.

    It is clear that protecting The System is more important than going to see your dying mother, your job, your business, your wedding, your graduation, your first big gig; anything meaningful in your life can and will be sacrificed on the altar of the collective good.

    Medicare, the crown jewel of Australia’s universal healthcare system, is an immoral, ruthless, conniving partner that manipulates Australians into paying for and celebrating their own abuse.    

    Please support the Calvary Hospital at www.savecalvary.com.au.

    [1] https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110709423?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FC%2Ftitle%2F11%2F1973%2F05%2F14%2Fpage%2F12209327%2Farticle%2F110709423

    [2] https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/racgp/health-of-the-nation-investment-needed-to-secure-t

    [3] https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/a-kick-in-the-guts-frontline-gps-respond-to-medica

    [4] https://www.taxpayers.org.au/submissions/the-cost-of-tax-finding-the-total-tax-burden-for-a-resident-of-victoria-australia

    Retaining The Bargaining Chip of Indemnities For Vaccine Companies

    By
    Kenelm Tonkin
    -
    4

    Should we legislate to stop a government offering indemnities to vaccine manufacturers?

    This was a matter which came before the Senate last week in a private members bill.

    Some of the reasons given for the Bill were:

    • “Companies work for shareholders first and it is profits that motivate their decision and actions. People should always be put before profits”;
    • “Indemnification has created an incentive for risk-taking in the pharmaceutical industry which is not aligned with the fundamental principles of medicine. Where indemnity exists, it is human nature to take larger risks, whether it be a conscious decision or subconscious, the outcomes are poor”; and
    • “The pharmaceutical industry has a taste for your money.”

    Vivid language for the impressionable mind!

    The most amicable and well-meaning of senators championed the cause with a rousing speech. A personal friend of mine adroitly negotiated it behind the scenes. It was a case study in politicking, and even attracted the support of one Libertarian state division.

    Then with the support of all but Labor, it went to committee for investigation and so will become news again soon. Yes, the centre-right crossbench attracted the Greens and even Senator Thorpe for a moment.

    What is not to love?

    Against such a juggernaut of consensus, this simple libertarian fig farmer has his misgivings. Have sympathy for me. It’s in my DNA to search for a principle.

    We libertarians are fond of paraphrasing John Stuart Mill’s 1859 Harm Principle with phrases like “live and let live, as long as you don’t harm others.”

    We are not so persistent in reminding our parliamentary friends that the Harm Principle requires that we ‘weigh such harms.’

    The great horror of the last 3 years was that our leaders did not do this. Ignore psychological damage to infant school children plastered with a mask. Ignore the cheap, unhealthy food on the dinner table of a family with dual incomes lost to mandates. Ignore the evaporated life savings of ‘non-essential’ small business owners. Ignore the suicides and mental health flair-ups caused by lockdowns. Ignore the business collapses.

    It was one flu-like covid-19 harm, all other harms be damned!

    One must weigh the harms.

    The problem with the Bill is that it applies a blanket ban and fails to weigh harms.

    Just say the next virus is more potent. Let’s say it’s Ebola or something with a 50% mortality rate!

    In the end, we need politicians who apply John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty in full. Live and let live as long as you don’t harm others. When there are competing harms, weigh them and choose the least harmful option.

    I want our government to have the same commercial tool as any private sector party. Indemnification, or the transfer of risk, is used by outdoor adventure operators, mining equipment hire companies, and many others. Why ban the government?

    As a libertarian, I prefer my government to be able to transact like the private sector.

    As a libertarian, I prefer my government to be ready to act in the case of genuine pandemic threat. As established, I want the government to potentially offer indemnity to vaccine providers in the case of emergency.

    And as a libertarian, I want politicians who’ll use skilled negotiators so offering indemnity won’t be necessary.

    Further …

    As a libertarian, I’m unimpressed by populist attacks on free enterprise, especially pharmaceutical companies which keep us alive. As a libertarian, I’d be more curious to know why anyone believes a vaccine company should absorb near sovereign-level risk for a government intent on releasing vaccines before they pass the government’s own safety standards. As a libertarian, my focus is on that government maladministration, not the vaccine company.

    As a libertarian, I’d prefer my government weren’t both umpire, with its TGA vaccine approval processes, and player, being the acquirer and dispenser of vaccines. I’d prefer to eliminate this conflict of interest.

    As a libertarian, I’d like to rollback government from healthcare delivery, replace tired old public hospitals with private hospitals, and to protect charities which run hospitals.

    And as a libertarian, I’d prefer our allies in parliament did not run adrift philosophically into the dangerous and choppy waters of the anti-capitalist. I am left in little wonder why the Greens and Senator Thorpe kept the Bill alive.

    I believe the correct approach for a libertarian here is to vote against the Bill. In our current system, the Government needs to make it easy for vaccine production to occur in the event of a genuine calamity.

    Our government already has one hand tied behind its back running a socialised system. Let’s not tie the other one by banning the free-enterprise bargaining chip of indemnities.

    Go Where You Are Treated Best

    By
    Damon Hayhow
    -
    2

    ‘Go where you are treated best’ is the tagline of entrepreneur, Andrew Henderson, founder of the business Nomad Capitalist. Andrew and his team help entrepreneurs, retirees and others move their lives out of countries like Australia to countries where they will be treated best. It is a business that has being growing exponentially in recent years.

    When I first heard Andrew speak those six words during the earliest days of the Covid sham, it hit me like a power-slap from Mike Tyson. What the hell was I still doing in Australia? For years I thought I had been fighting to build small businesses. But I had not; I could do business just fine. I had a bunch of great products and services in an interesting niche. I liked my customers, and my customers liked me. The fight was against the suffocating cancer of Australian government bureaucracy, and I was exhausted by it. The reality was Australia no longer treated me well, let alone best.

    The history of the human race is a story of people escaping horrible governments. 

    “We crush many a dream around [here]” was proudly proclaimed to me by an officer of Melbourne’s Stonnington Council when I applied for a permit to open a simple, small business. He also bragged how new laws rendered thousands of commercial properties “completely unlettable”. Sadly, the only thing shocking about his statements was his candor. His malicious and malignant attitude towards honest citizens, small business operators and the future success of the country was what I had come to expect from Australian bureaucrats.

    Being an unwilling participant in an abusive relationship with local government was only part of the problem. The bigger problem was the direction of the country as a whole.

    The absolutely disgusting and immoral human rights abuses orchestrated by the Victorian Government, media and law enforcement during the Covid sham was not an aberration. Nor was the Victorian public’s willing complicity. It was unequivocal proof of the direction society had been headed.

    So what is a patriotic Australian supposed to do? Vote? For whom? Protest? And get shot with rubber bullets or sprayed with mace for not supporting the Government-approved message? Exercise your free-speech online? And get arrested in your home, in front of your kids, even if you are pregnant? Or have your government-permission to practice your profession cancelled? Or have your bank accounts frozen? 

    Australia does not have a bill of rights. You have no legislated right to free speech or right to protest. The Government could not care less about having signed the international treaty for human rights. Their Covid shenanigans proved that unequivocally.

    When democracy has been hijacked, like it has been in much of the so-called “free world”, your most powerful option is to vote with your feet and go where you are treated best. If enough people leave, the people and government left behind will be forced to change, to stem further losses and attract good people back. If they do not change, the country will fail as their beliefs and policies were destined to anyway.

    The fight was against the suffocating cancer of Australian government bureaucracy, and I was exhausted by it.

    Unfortunately, for most people leaving is not an option. The nature of most people’s vocations, businesses, finances and/or families makes leaving all but impossible. There will always be people who have no option but to stay and fight against bad governments. But that does not mean staying and fighting is noble; in most cases throughout history, staying to fight your own government has been a terrible option.

    For the few people who can move their lives and business elsewhere in the world, they owe it to themselves and their country to go where they are treated best. It is not weak or cowardly, as many jealous people will say. Nothing is harder than leaving family and a lifetime of friends, to face the uncertainty of restarting life in a new country. But it can be the most patriotic thing you can do; not to mention cathartic, enlightening and positively life changing. 

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    A country is not its government. Being so disgusted and disillusioned with a government that you move says nothing about your feelings toward the country or its people. The history of the human race is a story of people escaping horrible governments. 

    Australians are lucky to be welcomed all over the world. Wherever you go, you will always be Australian (or whatever nationality you are). If you go where you really are treated best, you will almost certainly be more financially, emotionally and spiritually successful than you could have been under the current government in Australia. 

    Nomad Capitalist has a website. I recommend taking a look at it.

    No Headspace Evidence

    By
    David Leyonhjelm
    -
    0

    Is there a pandemic of mental illness among young people? Is almost one in two young women affected by mental illness? 

    In an opinion article in The Australian, Patrick McGorry, a celebrated psychiatrist, 2010 Australian of the Year and recipient of an Order of Australia Award for his services to youth mental health, claimed this was so.  

    McGorry quoted a paper in The Lancet Psychiatry, of which he is lead author, to argue that mental ill health in young people (defined as 12 to 25) is a silent public health crisis threatening the lives and futures of a whole generation. 

    He says youth mental health has been steadily declining over the past two decades, and suffered a major deterioration driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken to contain it, and its aftermath. In addition, he says intergenerational wealth inequality, student debt, insecure work, unaffordable housing, climate change, and social media have contributed. 

    The prevalence of mental illness is highest among 18-24 year olds and decreases with age

    It has now “entered a dangerous phase”, he says, with a 50 per cent increase in “diagnosable mental health conditions among 16–25 year-olds since 2007” He believes governments have a responsibility to “wind back harmful policy settings and regulate powerful private forces.” 

    This will take time, he admits, and suggests a more immediate solution is to “reimagine and strengthen” the youth mental health program he pioneered known as headspace, “buttressed by a new specialised, multidisciplinary platform of community health care”.

    This is obviously a campaign for additional public funding of his pet project, a classic case of special pleading. There are hundreds like it, ranging from childhood cancer to aged care. Libertarians tend to dismiss special pleading out of hand, on the basis that it is simply a call for increased government intervention using taxpayers’ money. 

    But most people are not libertarian, and there are legitimate questions: is the situation as McGorry describes? If so, is it any business of the government, and are his solutions appropriate? 

    There is something inherently dubious about a claim that almost half of all young women are suffering from mental ill health. It is certainly not my experience. While it is true that the Covid measures were both painful and unnecessary, is the current generation more mentally fragile than the generations that experienced world wars or the threat of nuclear war? And why should fear of climate change be causing more mental ill health than Ehrlich’s predictions of an overpopulation catastrophe?  

    As for the other factors nominated by McGorry, when has it ever been different? Indeed, the only new element in his list is social media. While it is true that being abused and insulted by strangers online is new, it seems a stretch to suggest it is causing a lot more mental ill health. 

    Patrick McGorry

    What’s needed is evidence relevant to McGorry’s claims: an objective definition of “diagnosable mental health condition”, plus data on the number of cases. 

    His article in The Australian and the Lancet paper had neither. Furthermore, despite the paper being a review of multiple sources, it did not cite any data that substantiated the claims. 

    One source it listed is an Australian study, the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2020-2022. It reported that 42.9% of people aged 16–85 years had experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life. However, it is entirely based on what respondents told interviewers face to face. 

    Moreover, its definition of mental disorder includes not only illnesses such as depression, psychosis and eating disorders, but also anxiety and substance abuse. In other words, if respondents indicated they felt anxious, or had overdone the substances, it was likely to be classified as mental illness.  

    Youth mental health has been steadily declining over the past two decades, and suffered a major deterioration driven by the COVID-19 pandemic

    Current understanding of mental illness is roughly where our understanding of infectious diseases was a century and a half ago – the causes are not known, and there are no cures. In many cases it cannot even be objectively defined. Almost everyone experiences anxiety in their life, but obviously not everyone characterises it as mental illness. 

    Current therapy involves talking about it (technically known as psychotherapy) and medication. These can be helpful, just as measures to reduce a fever helped with infections prior to the invention of antibiotics, but most cases recover irrespective. This is shown by the fact that the prevalence of mental illness is highest among 18-24 year olds and decreases with age. 

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    Indeed, perhaps the best treatment for most so-called mental illness among young people is time. Like pimples and adolescence, they grow out of it. Puberty blues is not merely the name of a movie. 

    What is abundantly clear is that the picture painted by McGorry cannot be substantiated. His long-term solutions are progressive claptrap, while he offers no evidence to show that his headspace project is making a difference and deserves additional government funding. Indeed, if there was such evidence it would probably attract philanthropic support.  

    If there is a sound argument for the government involving itself in youth mental health, McGorry does not offer one. It is not just libertarians who should be sceptical.

    Got something to say?

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    No, Men are not OK

    By
    David Leyonhjelm
    -
    2

    As a society, we generally do not like to talk about suicide. And when we do, we tend to avoid a key issue – why do so many men take their own lives, and why are so many of them middle-aged?

    The statistics are stark: of 3,249 Australians who took their own lives in 2022, 2,455 were males. That’s more than the number of women dying from breast and cervical cancer combined. 

    Close to nine Australians are taking their own lives each day, of which seven are men. The overall suicide rate was 12.3 deaths per 100,000 population but for men it was 18.8. 

    The absolute highest rate is among men aged 85 or over (32.7 per 100,000 versus 10.6 for women), but the next highest is middle-aged males (45-59) at 32.6 (versus 8.8 for women). These rates have also increased over the last decade. 

    By contrast the murder rate, at less than 1.0 per 100,000, has been declining for decades, while deaths from road accidents (4.6 per 100,000 people) are also trending down. 

    Society has many champions speaking up for women, children, Aborigines, gays and lesbians, but precious few for men.

    Someone taking their own life at 85 probably has a reason we can understand; there are downsides to life at that age. But men in middle age have many years of active life ahead of them. They are often at the peak earning stage and are obviously somebody’s son, brother, husband, partner, father or grandfather. That so many are killing themselves is a tragedy of enormous proportions. 

    And yet, while we hear plenty about youth suicide, blamed on everything from NAPLAN tests to sharing dick pics, and indigenous suicides, for which incarceration rates and white supremacy are supposedly responsible, when it comes to apparently normal middle-aged men taking their own lives there is stony silence. 

    The reasons for the high rates are not well understood. Even the common assumption that it is a mental health issue is probably wrong. Mental health has become a growth industry, with the problems of everyday life increasingly medicalised, but certainly no worse among middle aged men.

    To the extent that the causes are known, they conflict with current narratives about the place of men in today’s society; that masculinity is toxic, all men are responsible for domestic violence, all men are potential rapists, and society is patriarchal. Indeed, unless they are indigenous, men are blamed for just about everything wrong with the world.  

    To the extent that there is evidence, it appears family and relationship breakdown may be a major underlying factor. Statistics show men live longer and happier lives when they are in a committed relationship. 

    That goes some way to explain the suicide rate among men affected by separation or divorce, particularly with children involved. Not only can they be made liable to pay child support that leaves them unable to support a new family, but false allegations of violence and sexual misconduct are routinely used to deny them access to their children. 

    Close to nine Australians are taking their own lives each day, of which seven are men. 

    But there are obviously other factors too. If they work with women, men are at constant risk of accusations of bullying if they disagree. If they stare, it is sexual harassment. If they work with black or brown people, practically anything can be interpreted as racist (although they can never be victims of racism themselves). If they employ women, paying them less than men is misogyny, irrespective of the roles or hours worked. 

    Increasingly, men risk accusations of rape and the onus to prove consent, years or decades later.

    It is likely most men take their own lives because they believe they are failing. There are many reasons for that belief, but failure as a bread winner is probably the main one; protecting and providing for a family is hard-wired, notwithstanding the claims of radical feminists that it is social conditioning. So when men lose their job, fail at business or are simply unable to meet expectations, they suffer. The all-time highest rates of suicide were in 1930 during the Great Depression, when unemployment was huge.  

    Libertarians believe in self-ownership and accept suicide is a matter of personal choice. But that does not preclude encouraging a different choice; indeed, it is arguably a moral obligation. The question is, how to do that? 

    Society has many champions speaking up for women, children, Aborigines, gays and lesbians, but precious few for men. It needs more of them. 

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    We need more people making the case for lower taxes and less red and green tape, so there is less unemployment and fewer business failures. We need more who refuse to judge others on the basis of gender, race or sexual preference. We need more who defend the role of masculinity in strong, brave and selfless men. And we need more who insist that children need their fathers. 

    There’s something we can all do, and we might just save a life.

    The Myth of Speed

    By
    David Leyonhjelm
    -
    8

    We are constantly told that Australia has a huge road toll. Every holiday break and long weekend there are reports of how many people were killed, amid inferences that this is a major and growing tragedy.  

    Equally constant is the assertion that the underlying cause is speeding. There is a never-ending campaign, complete with gory advertisements warning of lifelong injuries, telling us to slow down. The message never varies – below the speed limit is safe, above the limit is not. Indeed, we are told that even 1km/hr above the speed limit increases the likelihood of serious injury and death. Vacuous journalists blame speed for almost every accident they cover. 

    And should we fail to heed the message there are speed cameras, aerial monitoring, highway patrols and double demerit periods to remind us.  

    In reality, driving on Australian roads is safer than it has been for over fifty years. Road fatalities, both absolute and relative to the population, have been steadily falling.  Whereas in 1970 there were 3,798 road fatalities, equal to 30.4 fatalities per 100,000 people, in 2022 there were just 1,194 fatalities, a rate of 4.6 per 100,000. 

    Nobody wants to increase deaths and injuries on the roads

    Most of the decline occurred prior to 2000 following the introduction of seat belts, improved road design, vehicle safety upgrades such as disc brakes and impact resistance, and limits on drink-driving. 

    But it has continued up to the present time: in the decade to 2012 the rate of deaths relative to population decreased by an annual average of 4.2%. In the ten years to 2022 it fell by an annual average of 1.9%. 

    The bottom line is, Australia’s road toll is a fraction of what it once was and continues to fall. Fewer people die in road accidents than from the flu or Covid. And yet, rather than celebrate this success, government perpetuates the fiction that things are bad and getting worse. Moreover, despite quite minor changes to speed limits over the period (slight increase on highways and slight reduction in the suburbs), it insists that excessive speed is the primary culprit.   

    All this while most of Europe, which has overall higher speed limits than Australia, has lower road death rates. That includes Germany, where there are no speed limits on major autobahns. 

    Responsibility for this myth lies with the National Road Safety Strategy, prepared every few years by transport and infrastructure bureaucrats from the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. For many years it has led a crusade with the broad aim of significantly reducing road trauma, resulting ultimately in zero deaths and serious injuries (which it defines as anyone admitted to hospital, irrespective of seriousness or the length of stay), by 2050. 

    It argues speed is a key element in all crashes, and that this necessitates lower speed limits and additional enforcement. State governments, which collect tens of millions in speeding fines, dutifully go along with it. 

    Equally constant is the assertion that the underlying cause is speeding.

    While very high speeds can obviously lead to more serious accidents, the data shows that deaths occur at any speed. Indeed, achieving zero deaths and injuries from road accidents is only feasible if everyone walks (even then, some would die of heart attacks). That would clearly be unacceptable to the community, which implicitly accepts a certain level of deaths and injuries as the price of convenient travel.

    The elevation of speed limits to icon status is both dishonest and absurd. Those responsible for setting limits, road safety experts and traffic engineers in the public service, are determining the trade-off between convenient travel times and the road toll for the entire community. If speed is truly the demon we are led to believe, they are essentially deciding how many people should die.  

    If this all sounds familiar, with memories of recent events during the Covid epidemic, that is not surprising. The gross overstating of a public health risk; a determination to mitigate that risk without regard for economic or social consequences; an assumption that the public are not competent to make their own decisions about bearing that risk. It’s all the same. 

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    As with Covid, it amounts to a classic case of gross bureaucratic overreach. It is the public, not bureaucrats, who ought to determine the trade-off between travel convenience and the road toll. (There is even an internationally recognised method of achieving this, known as the 85th percentile formula.) It is the public, not public health bureaucrats, who should decide whether the road toll warrants greater priority than other causes of death and disease. 

    Nobody wants to increase deaths and injuries on the roads, but a risk-free society is not a rational public health objective. Road users are not sinful children and should not be viewed as a source of government revenue, and public health bureaucrats should not be allowed to play God.

    E-Scooters: A Two Wheeled Burden?

    By
    Meaghan Whyte
    -
    2

    Since approximately 2016 there has been a rapid increase in personal and for-hire electric scooters (e-scooters) in cities around the world. Over 600 cities now have e-scooter for-hire services and, globally, the electric scooter market is valued at more than AUD $49 billion and growing at 10% per year. In Australia, there was an 800% increase in e-scooters from 2016 to 2021.

    However, there are serious concerns regarding e-scooter related injuries.  

    The Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset has released figures regarding e-scooter riders seeking emergency care in hospitals: 502 in the 2022 financial year, then 958 in the 2023 financial year; nearly a twofold increase year on year. Victoria introduced its e-scooter trial with 2500 rental scooters in Melbourne, Port Phillip, and Yarra council areas in February 2022, and legalised  private e-scooters on public roads in March 2022.

    Despite the minimum riding age being 16 there have been 193 presentations by children below this age over the past 3 years. Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Victorian chair Dr Patrick Lo has stated that 3 children presented in one week with a brain haemorrhage, brain swelling and a broken neck. 42 unfortunate pedestrians have also been treated for e-scooter-related accidents.

    Mortality due to e-scooter traffic accidents was 9.2%.

    Queensland has released similar figures. In that state, e-scooter injuries admitted to hospitals were as follows: 279 in 2019, 877 in 2022, and 801 by September of 2023.

    In Western Australia there was a 386% percent increase in hospital admissions in the year July 2021 to June 2022. There was a 200% increase in injuries between 2017 and 2022.

    A study by the University of California San Francisco found that in the US, e-scooter-related injuries and hospital admissions increased by 222% from 2014 to 2018, climbing above 39,000. Hospital admissions expanded by 365%.

    Severe Injuries, Lack of Helmets

    The study “Comparison of Injuries Associated With Electric Scooters, Motorbikes, and Bicycles in France, 2019-2022”, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), looked at 5,233 e-scooter injury patients. Mortality due to e-scooter traffic accidents was 9.2%. The risk of severe traumatic brain injury, 26%.

    In a study done by University of California San Francisco, electric scooter injuries included fractures 27%, contusions/abrasions 23% and lacerations 14%. Most concerning, almost one third reported head trauma. 

    The study “Characteristics of Electric Scooter and Bicycle Injuries After Introduction of Electric Scooter Rentals in Oslo, Norway”, published in the JAMA, found that e-scooter injuries often occur at night, to young adults, who aren’t wearing helmets, and have a high blood alcohol reading. Dr Sarah Whitelaw, an emergency doctor in Victoria, echoes this sentiment. She said in addition, riders were often travelling at high speeds.

    In Australia, there was an 800% increase in e-scooters from 2016 to 2021.

    Economic Burden

    In the US, UCLA research reveals that the healthcare cost of e-scooter injuries increased from $6.6 million in 2016 to $35.5 million in 2020.

    Doctors in New Zealand reviewed data of surgeries on injured scooter riders from October 2018 to February 2019. Adding up costs including anaesthetic, theatres, staff, implants, time in hospital and lost income, each injury averaged $19,282 NZD. Over $400,000 was spent in less than five months. 

    The study “The impact of electric scooters in Melbourne: data from a major trauma service” published on Wiley, looked at e-scooter injuries admitted to Royal Melbourne Hospital from January 2022 to January 2023. 247 riders and 9 pedestrians presented for treatment. 33% of riders were wearing helmets at the time of incident. 50% reported head injuries. Hospital cost totalled $1.9 million, and median cost was $1321.66 per patient. 

    According to the hospital’s website, “The Royal Melbourne Hospital is part of Australia’s public health care system and offers hospital care to any Australian resident under Medicare arrangements.” This also applies to the 696 other public hospitals across Australia many of which would be treating e-scooter injuries, paid for by the taxpayer. 

    Solution

    The question for libertarians is not whether to restrict or ban e-scooters, which is what authoritarians prefer, but how to move the financial risk and economic burden of injuries from taxpayers to e-scooter riders.

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    One potential solution is to establish an insurance requirement for both rental and private e-scooter owners. Purchased by riders, this would function like first-party and third-party car insurance. In the event of an accident, the insurance would cover resultant medical costs. 

    Consistent with the concept of personal responsibility, this approach would shift financial liability to individual riders and decrease reliance on public healthcare funds. It might even become a model for managing other health risks.

    25 Provocative Predictions For 2024 From The World’s #1 Political Observer

    By
    Kenelm Tonkin
    -
    0

    GOVERNMENT OVERREACH

    1. Habeas corpus will not be restored in Australia.
    1. The Australian Federal Budget will be in deficit and expenditure will increase on the previous year.

      Correct: “A deficit of $28.3 billion is forecast in 2024–25.”
      Source: Statement 1: Budget Overview. Page 2.
      https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs-1.pdf

      Correct: Forecast expenditures for 2023-24 and 2024-25 are $691,070,000,000 and $734,518,000,000 respectively.
      Source: Statement 6: Expenses and Net Capital Investment. Page 233.
      https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/index.htm


    ENVIRONMENT

    1. There will be at least 7 tropical cyclones or severe tropical cyclones in Australia.

      Correct:
      Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone Anggrek. 10-25 Jan 2024.
      Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone Kirrily. 12 Jan – 5 Feb 2024.
      Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Lincoln. 14-25 Feb 2024.
      Category 4 Severe Tropical Cyclone Neville. 4-24 Mar 2024.
      Category 4 Severe Tropical Cyclone Megan. 13-21 Mar 2024.
      Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone Olga. 4-11 Apr 2024.
      Category 2 Tropical Cyclone Paul. 9-12 Apr 2024.
      Source:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%9324_Australian_region_cyclone_season

    STOCK MARKET

    1. Woolworths’ revenue will be lower in the March 2024 quarter than in the March 2023 quarter.

      Incorrect: Federal Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, called for a Woolworths boycott because it would not stock Australia Day paraphernalia. I incorrectly thought this extraordinary interference with the market might suppress sales below the same quarter the previous year. However, revenue for the 2024 March quarter was $16,800,000,000, higher than for the 2023 March quarter which was $16,338,000,000.
      Source: Page 2.
      https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20240502/pdf/0634t0t80r8xxq.pdf

    HEALTH

    1. There will be 10 or less global cases of wild polio.

      Pending: As at 25 May 2024, there have been two cases of wild polio globally, both in Pakistan. Watch this space for more updates.
      Source:
      https://www.who.int/news/item/08-04-2024-statement-following-the-thirty-eighth-meeting-of-the-ihr-emergency-committee-for-polio#:~:text=Sudan%20and%20Sudan.-,Wild%20poliovirus,samples%20to%20date%20in%202024
    1. For the first time, 33% or more of the Australian population will be obese.

    SOCIAL TRENDS

    1. The sale of sex dolls will increase in Australia.
    1. In at least one month during 2024, social media platform X will attract more than 450 million monthly users.

      Correct: On 24 May 2024, Elon Musk announced X achieved over 600 million monthly active users.
      Source:
      https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/elon-musk-x-now-600-million-monthly-active-users/717078/ and https://backlinko.com/twitter-users#twitter-monthly-users
    1. Mount Barker SA will have a larger population than Busselton WA, Orange NSW, Bowral NSW, Dubbo NSW, Nowra NSW or Bathurst NSW.
    1. At least 25% of Australians will attend church monthly.
    1. Less than 50% of Australians will use TV as their source of news.
    1. Pet ownership in Australia will grow to more than 70% of all households.

    SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

    1. Space X’s Starship will successfully reach orbit. 

    ECONOMICS

    1. The number of new incorporations will decrease in Australia from the previous year.

      Pending: In 2022-23, there were 406,365 business entries in Australia. We are waiting for the 2023-24 number
      Source:
      https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/counts-australian-businesses-including-entries-and- exits/latest-release
    1. Cash transactions will decrease below 17% of total transactions.
    1. Australian coal exports will increase from last year.


    ELECTIONS

    1. The ALP-Greens Coalition will be returned to government in the ACT General Election.
    1. The Country Liberal Party will win the Northern Territory General Election.

      Correct: The CLP won the election on 24 Aug 2024.
      Source:
      https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/country-liberal-party-promises-new-chapter-after-northern-territory-election-win/cwyuz1x0a
    1. The Liberal-National Party will win the Queensland State Election.
    1. Barring court-affirmed election fraud, a diagnosis of ill-health, imprisonment or assassination, Donald Trump will win the US Presidency.


    GEOPOLITICS

    1. In 2024, China will neither invade Taiwan by land nor impose a naval blockade.
    1. The United Nations General Assembly will pass at least three resolutions concerning Israel and Australia will vote with the United States.

      Pending: UN Security Council Resolution 2735 adopted 10 June 2024.
      Source: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/165/11/pdf/n2416511.pdf
    1. There will be no resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.
    1. At least two international borders will change.

      Correct:
      1 Jan 2024. Republic of Artsakh reintegrated into Azerbaijan.
      1 Apr 2024. Puntland announces independence from Somalia.
      Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_border_changes_(1914%E2%80%93present)
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    DEATHS

    1. At least two of the following people will die: Ray Lawler, Sophia Loren, Julian Assange, Patricia Routledge, Tom Hughes, Jimmy Carter, Mike Carlton.

      Pending: Ray Lawler died on 24 July 2024.
      Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Lawler

    SUMMARY
    Correct: 5
    Pending: 19
    Incorrect: 1

    The Everyday Libertarian

    By
    Nicholas Samios
    -
    0

    In today’s politically charged atmosphere, evangelical libertarians often stray into polarising debates around topics like firearms or drug legalisation. Is there a subtler, more effective approach?  

    I suggest the “everyday libertarian mindset”. It involves reframing common complaints and concerns through the lens of smaller government and individual liberty.

    I often hear myself responding to complaints about government by saying “that’s why we need guns”.  When I say this, libertarians “get it”.  But this phrase causes our “normie” friends to switch off.

    Smaller government policies can foster the development of diverse and innovative energy sources, including nuclear power

    How about a more congenial conversational pivot:  “That’s why we need smaller government.”

    Picture this: A friend laments Australia’s low productivity. Instead of delving into a heated debate about employment policies, you respond calmly, “That’s why we need smaller government.” This simple phrase opens the door to a discussion about the role of government in the economy and the importance of prioritising individual liberties over interventionist agendas.

    Here are some instances where the everyday libertarian mindset shines:

    1. Healthcare costs: Rather than blaming the system for rising healthcare costs, discuss how government regulations inflate prices and limit choice in the healthcare market. Advocating for smaller government and increased competition can give individuals greater control over their healthcare decisions and costs. Would there be a shortage of doctors, hospitals, and other services if the government got out of the way? 

    2. Education quality: When concerns arise about education quality, highlight how government monopolies limit choice and innovation in education. By advocating for school choice and decentralising control over education, parents and students can access a wider range of educational opportunities tailored to their needs.

    3. Bureaucratic red tape: Encountering bureaucratic red tape or inefficiency? Emphasise the need for smaller government and streamlined regulations. By reducing the size and scope of government, individuals and businesses can navigate processes more efficiently.

    4. Personal freedoms: Discuss personal freedoms and civil liberties, emphasising the importance of limiting government power to protect individual rights. Smaller government leads to less intrusion into citizens’ lives and greater respect for individual autonomy.

    Rather than blaming the system for rising healthcare costs, discuss how government regulations inflate prices and limit choice in the healthcare market

    5. Publicly funded broadcasters: When discussing the publicly funded government broadcasters, such as the ABC and SBS in Australia, consider the implications of government involvement in media. Point out that taxpayer-funded media outlets compete with the private sector, which do not cost taxpayers anything. By advocating for smaller government and media independence, individuals can support a diverse and free press that serves the interests of the public rather than political agendas. Encourage exploring alternative funding models, such as private sponsorship or subscriber-based models, to ensure journalistic integrity and freedom of expression.

    6. Nuclear energy: Discuss the lifting of the ban on nuclear energy in Australia. Smaller government policies can foster the development of diverse and innovative energy sources, including nuclear power. Advocate for a free-market approach to energy production, where individuals and businesses have the freedom to pursue cleaner and more efficient energy solutions without burdensome government regulations hindering progress.

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    I find the phrase “that’s why we need smaller government” easy to apply to almost any situation.  Any mistake a government makes – “that’s why we need smaller government – less for these people to stuff up”.

    By incorporating these instances, we illustrate how the everyday libertarian mindset can be applied to a wide range of issues, promoting smaller government and individual liberty in everyday conversations. It’s about sparking thoughtful discussions and planting seeds of libertarian principles in the minds of others, one conversation at a time.

    The Covid Precursor Everybody Ignored

    By
    Damon Hayhow
    -
    1

    You May Be Shocked To Learn This

    Imagine the Australian government weaponising an engineered health crisis to rob citizens of their freedoms and destroy businesses. Then imagine the public fully supporting the government’s grotesque overreach, parroting the government’s pseudoscientific propaganda and even pimping the dubious chemical cocktail disingenuously offered to solve the crisis by the same people who sponsored it.

    You may be shocked to learn this did actually happen, several years before the Covid scamdemic. The health scare in question was the skin cancer epidemic supposedly caused by commercial sunbed operators.

    You probably barely remember the crisis because, well, who really cares about sunbeds? The attitude of most Australians was that people who used sunbeds were narcissists. But the solarium ban seemed to open pandora’s box. Australia’s famous sense of humour soured. Australians started calling for more and more activities to be restricted and regulated. The government eagerly obliged, increasing its rate of law making by almost 30%.

    Just as it was omitted that more than 90% of people who caught Covid had mild to no symptoms.

    The propaganda formula for selling the solarium ban was an early prototype of the formula we saw employed for Covid. It also showcased the components used in the great climate scam and many of the other liberty-leeching cons being perpetrated by governments around the world.

    Like Covid and climate change, the propaganda began with nonsensical, reality-bending lies. Suddenly, what people had known for millennia was said to be wrong. “Tanned skin is damaged skin”. “A tan does not protect from the sun”. Until this, a tan was known to be a natural adaptive process that protected skin from burning in the sun. Sun damaged skin was not golden brown; it was red and blistered.

    Next came the hysterical fear-porn based on largely irrelevant, cherry-picked statistics. “Two of every three Australians are expected to develop skin cancer”. “More than 1,200 Australians will die of melanoma this year”. Conveniently omitted from the discussion was that only 0.5% of Australians used solariums. Obviously, 130,000 people using sunbeds cannot significantly contribute to 15,000,000 people developing cancer. So the relevant statistic was redacted, just as it was omitted that more than 90% of people who caught Covid had mild to no symptoms.

    Then came the extraordinarily abnormal, non-representative case studies. With the solarium ban, one 26 year old girl died of melanoma. With no evidence, she claimed her cancer was caused by just 20 solarium visits. Over 1,200 other Australians died of melanoma that year, but none mentioned using a solarium. 130,000 other Australians used solariums without dying of melanoma. Yet this one girl was plastered all over the TV, internet, radio and newspapers as the obvious proof of the danger of solariums.

    You probably barely remember the crisis because, well, who really cares about sunbeds?

    Next was the absence of any genuine science. No study actually showed that solariums cause skin cancer or that skin cancer rates were higher in solarium users. No study showed that prohibiting commercial solarium businesses would reduce skin cancer. The Queensland legislation even acknowledged that the sun was the primary risk factor, and the sun was not being banned.

    There is strong evidence that suggests a strong link between skin cancer and a dietary imbalance of essential fatty acids (EFA’s). The average Australian diet reflects this imbalance. It is also directly responsible for epidemic levels of heart disease and diabetes, costing billions of dollars in healthcare and lost productivity. Any serious discussion about public health, including skin cancer, could not ignore Australia’s nutrition. But, like Covid, there was no place for any discussion that contradicted the dominant narrative and predetermined course of action.

    Finally, just like Covid, the solarium ban featured a product so awful it needed a government sponsored con to sell. Fake tan was the solarium ban’s equivalent of the Covid vaccine, and the climate con’s carbon credits. In virtually every story covering the solarium ban was the sales pitch for the ‘safe and effective’ fake tanning products that would ‘save lives’ from the dangers of sunshine and solariums. It was as blatant as it was shameless.

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    Now that almost a decade has passed, we can fairly assess the government’s success in reducing skin cancer by banning solariums. More Australians are now diagnosed with skin cancer than before, the rate of skin cancer has increased, and more die of melanoma. In other words, the government failed as dismally as basic logic and math predicted. The forcible closing of over 400 small businesses, the dozens of prosecutions, the thousands of hours and tens of millions of dollars spent on propaganda and legislation all achieved absolutely nothing. Nothing except the pointless erosion of freedoms of citizens.

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