Diagnosis clear. Prescription Unwritten
Wishful thinking and self-interest dominate discussion on this topic amongst Australian doctors, in their organisations and by the media’s political commentators. The large elephants in the room are ignored, while attention is focussed on minutiae of interest only to affected minorities in the population and in the profession. These elephants need to be acknowledged if there is to be any realistic appraisal of what is likely in the future.
The largest African elephant is trumpeting loudly that no nation can afford to provide first-class health care to all of its citizens. He is not heard because we do not want to hear him. What he is saying goes against all our ingrained egalitarian democratic principles.
The enormous flapping ears of the second African elephant are trying to tell us that there is a world-wide shortage of doctors and nurses. Medicine is no longer a profession which appeals to many bright young people in this IT age. The feminisation of the medical workforce has…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins