Results tagged “Current Issue”

In Australia's postwar decades, close to half a million children across the nation were raised as state wards, foster children, or "Home Children" - in orphanages and children's homes. Tragically, many thousands suffered emotional and physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect in this sort of care. Most are now middle-aged or older, but still carry painful memories and unresolved issues.
On Monday (November 16) at 11am, a historic moment will take place in Federal Parliament when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will formally apologise on behalf of the nation, to the generation known as the Forgotten Children, as well as more than 7000 former child migrants.  Leonie Sheedy is the president of CLAN - the Care Leavers of Australia Network. We spoke to her earlier this year about some of the things that this generation suffered... Now she's Canberra preparing to attend tomorrow's apology, and she joins me now.

Nearly a month after their boat was first intercepted in Indonesian waters, finally there is some progress with the Sri Lankan asylum seekers holed up on the Oceanic Viking. This week the Australian government offered them resettlement within 12 weeks, as well as English language classes and financial support, if they disembarked in Indonesia and were found to be genuine refugees. As a result, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been attacked from all angles - the Opposition says he has crumpled and is sending a message that Australia is a pushover in the area of border protection; Yet refugee advocates say his approach still lacks compassion
Meanwhile, this weekend two more boats have been intercepted on their way to Australia, with two Afghanis from one boat being shot and wounded while trying to escape.

Let's hear your thoughts on the topic.

• Do you think it's good that the Sri Lankans, after more than a month of stalling and negotiating with governments, are finally starting to see some progress in their bid to find asylum?

• The Government can't seem to win whatever stance it takes on asylum seekers- Opposition says he has failed to protect our borders by taking a more compassionate approach than the previous government; Yet refugee advocates say his approach still lacks compassion and plays on Australian's fears. What do you think of the government's approach?

• Compared to the rest of the world Australia sees a very small number of refugees arriving on our shores, most by plane. Do you think this fear of being swamped by boats of asylum seekers is unfounded? Is the government over-playing on this fear?

• Or do you think tough rules to protect our borders are justified?

Senator Barnaby Joyce caused quite some debate this week, when he suggested that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's salary should be tripled to a million dollars.  The suggestion came as the government accepted a 3 per cent pay rise for all federal politicians. Senator Joyce reckons politicians' pay packets should equal those of business leaders, in order to attract good people into the job. But a lot of politicians disagree - including Mr Rudd, who says he's perfectly happy with the $340,000 a year that he's on.  Stephen Jones, the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, spoke to us this week about the wages different MPs earn - from backbenchers on $130,000 to cabinet ministers on $250,000. He also pointed out that departmental secretaries earn almost double what their bosses (cabinet ministers) earn. Their salaries are around $440,000.

Let's hear your views on how much politicians get paid...

• The Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said paying MPs more would cause them to lose touch with the ordinary community. Do you agree? Should politicians pay packets remain at a modest level?

• Stephen Jones explained that even Cabinet Ministers get paid less than their own department heads. Do you think that's fair or not?

• Some politicians think a pay rise is in order; Liberal MP (Mal Washer) thinks that freezing their pay would eventually lead to "halfwits" being attracted to parliament, as all the talented people are taken up by jobs that pay well... What do you think?

• Maybe there should be better incentive to enter the tough world of politics. I'm sure there's many men and women in the corporate and academic sectors who could do very well as a politicians, but aren't prepared for the pay cut that comes with it... Maybe if the pay was comparable to that of the business world, more talented people would be attracted into the job.

• What do you think of the Prime Minister's pay packet of $340,000. Is that enough? He says he's not interested in a million dollar pay packet, but of course he's going to say that... Do you think the man in the top job should get paid more?

• Is modest pay a good deterrent for people who would get into politics for the wrong reasons, or is it just keeping good talented

This week the ethical standards of the pharmaceutical industry were called into question by the federal government. The parliamentary secretary for health, Mark Butler, has called for better standards of conduct between pharmaceutical companies industry and medical practitioners. In particular, a crackdown on the culture of gifts and favours that medical companies give to doctors in promoting their products. There's strong debate across the medical industry over whether it's really a big problem or not.

Dr Ken Harvey is a senior researcher in public health at Melbourne's La Trobe University, he's also the director of an organisation called MedReach, and an expert on the topic of drug prescriptions; He joined us this week to shed some light on the inner workings of the health industry.

Id' like to hear your thoughts on this issue, and how the relationships between Medical Companies and doctors may affect the pills and potions you ultimately buy and use.

DISCUSSION POINTS

• When your doctor recommends a certain medical treatment or drug, have you ever wondered or questioned why they are recommending that particular treatment?
 
• Or are you confident in your doctor and trust that their advice is best? Many doctors form long term relationships with their patients and their families, and are very trusted.

• If you're a doctor or medical practicitioner I'd like to hear from you too. Have you ever felt pressured or influenced to promote a certain drug or therapy?

• Do you feel that accepting a gift or a lunch or something similar, would influence what doctors recommend to their patients?

• Are you confident that pharmaceutical companies have patients best interests at heart?

Dr Ken Harvey recommends the following websites for further information:

http://www.nps.org.au/

http://www.nps.org.au/consumers/ask_an_expert/contact_a_pharmacist/medicines_line

http://www.tg.org.au/