Bernard, I can see no conclusion but ideological fanaticism. Even Howard had more pragmatism in his make-up.
I could rant like mad, but it would come down to the simple statement that the mix of politics, religion, and economic ideology is toxic. RC On 27/11/13 10:33 AM, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote: > Senate Estimates has just had a session reviewing the Department of > Health. One of the topics was eHealth and the Personally Controlled > eHealth Record. (see link to transcript, below) > > The Federal Health Minister, the Hon Peter Dutton, is quoted as saying: > > “While the previous Coalition government laid the foundations for > ehealth by getting computers into doctors’ practices, Labor > comprehensively messed up the next stage and has wasted over a billion > dollars in its failed attempt at the second phase - moving to personal > electronic health records” > > Meanwhile, this is from the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of > Australia' web site > > "Minister Fiona Nash, the Commonwealth Government’s Assistant Minister > for Health has decided not to continue ADCA's funding. This includes > core funding, along with all project funding, effective immediately. > Minister Nash's decision ignores previous undertakings and commitment > provided to ADCA in April 2013 about ongoing funding for ADCA to 2015. > ADCA was informed of this late yesterday, and was advised it was part of > the government’s budget deficit reduction strategy" > > It is reported that the Council has operated since 1966 on an annual > budget of $1.6 million provided by the Federal Health Department. > > The on going cost to the government of the maintenance of the PCEHR is > (according to the senate transcript) roughly "1.5 million a month" This > is only a fraction of the cost of the PCEHR, which has delivered not a > single health outcome. > > What kind of priorities does this government have? At the very worst > they could have waited until the PCEHR review reported in December > before axing the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council to save a miserable > $150,000 per month. > > This government has been in office for a very short period of time, but > the evidence is already mounting that they don't give a stuff about > evidence. They seem to be ideologically driven. They have decided that > cloud is the best solution and will be putting pressure on governments > to adopt as much of it as possible. Yet another technology driven policy. > > The Senate Estimates transcript is here > http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Festimate%2Ffdbc4df4-3e21-4c80-a905-44b3e703b991%2F0008;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Festimate%2Ffdbc4df4-3e21-4c80-a905-44b3e703b991%2F0000%22 > > _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
