Dingo bytes

Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle has called on both the 
Federal Government and the opposition to commit to ensuring women 
living in rural and remote communities in Australia can access 
safe and sustainable care when giving birth. The Australian 
College of Midwives and the Council of Remote Area Nurses of 
Australia have supported her call, saying that maternity wards 
have been closed in at least 40 rural towns in recent years. In 
the Northern Territory the Midwives Registration Board has 
recently restricted the practice of community midwives to 
government services that provide indemnity cover. This has lead 
to many communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, not 
being able to access midwifery services.

* * *

The NSW Government has come under fire after a series of 
community forums run by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity 
Commission. Government services are struggling to provide acute 
care or early intervention services to the mentally ill. One 
Central Coast couple blamed inadequate services for the suicide 
death of their 19-year-old son who was released too early from a 
Gosford mental health unit. Other cases heard by the Commission 
include a man who was refused admission to two mental health 
units in Sydney and committed an assault on a police officer in 
order to receive help. The NSW Police Association told one forum 
in Sydney that this was a regular occurrence that had been known 
to a NSW parliamentary inquiry in 2002 but no action had been 
taken.

* * *

Sydney University has increased fees for full-fee paying students 
claiming that it is "significantly undercharging". The increases, 
which will take effect in 2005, will force students to pay fees 
of up to $6500 more per year to obtain a degree. The University 
of Newcastle is also entering the full fee market next year and 
will charge up to $12,760 per year for students to complete an 
arts degree. At present Australian universities are allowed to 
enrol up to 35 percent of their Australian student intake as 
full-fee payers after filling all HECS places. Apparently the 
Labor Party has said that it will bar universities from enrolling 
local students in full-fee programs if elected at the federal 
election. We shall see.

* * *

CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: This week's hog is former Australian 
Broadcasting Authority Chairman David Flint who wants to see 
changes to Australia's defamation laws. The cash for comment 
advocate says that though controls on the content of news and 
information are "necessary" his preferred path is self-
regulation. In other words he wants to prevent people who believe 
they are slandered and defamed from suing the media monopolies. 
He even paraphrases Milton Friedman, saying that "when entering 
the marketplace for acceptance full and free discussion exposes 
the false". Of course, in Flint's world everything, including the 
right to dignity and privacy, must always end up in the 
marketplace.