The Budget Review (Australia) – Part I

18.05.2011

In a recent arts review of a locally-based theatre production of Moliere’s The

Invisible Invalid, a play about a wealthy aging hypochondriac who decides to wed
his daughter to a young doctor in the pursuit of free health care; I riposte with “note
to Baby Boomers.” Unbeknownst to me, at the time, was the impending grasp I
would shortly endure after stumbling upon the televised budgetary monologues of
the Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan (revealing his alternate identity as this
nation’s Treasurer) with the starking realization that there will never ever be free
health care in Australia again!

But fret not, mon friend (or shall I say, mon personnes âgées: non, non, non…it is
not your time to go, not just yet anyway :) When aligning our national health
reforms against other comparable Western countries, with two in particular are: on
the right, most notably, the recent controversial National Health Scheme’s Shake-
Up by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who is currently attempting to
“modernise” (or shall I say, privatise) their national health system by handing over
£80bn of health spending to family doctors predicated by the looming forecast of
£20bn gap in health costs due to an aging population; and on the left, against the
Obama’s encompassing reforms to the US national health model, who managed to
unite all states (hand-in-hand) to deliver a more “communal” approach to health
reforms, which includes extending greater coverage of the existing health insurance
scheme to allow greater accessibility (so as to lift the Federal Poverty Level [FPL])
and by tightening regulations in the insurance sector to reduce the deficit by US
$143 billion over 10 years. Comparatively speaking, against our better halves and
particularly since the reintroduction of dental services and the lucrative supplement
for mental health services from this year’s budget, ours is not looking too shabby.

However, point withstanding, ours could look so much better.

To put it mildly, this year’s federal budget indicates a close to 40 per cent boost in
public funding for Infrastructure Australia (IA). And as part of the nation’s building
program, there is also an additional supplement of up to AUD $36 million
(disseminated over the course of the next four years) on predicated projects, which
include the existing National Broadband Network (NBN), the Queensland’s Moreton
Bay Rail Link, the Western Australia’s Gateway Project, the Victorian Western Ring
Road Upgrade, and the duplication of the Pacific Highway in New South Wales;
against the timeline of what the Treasurer (a.k.a. the Deputy Prime Minister)
described as the “first ever national construction schedule” in his bid to improve
investment confidence for superannuation funds and other investors.

On top of his lucrative offer for confidence boosting, this year’s budget also
indicated that there is a whopping sum of AUD $558 million allocated into
(undoubtedly, an off-shore monetary processing center ;) a National Workforce
Development Fund to enhance workforce participation and accessibility by those
who, he described as, “untouched by the dignity of work.” 

But Minister Swan, we could do more.

With an accompanying AUD $3 billion Budget healthcare funding package on

hospitals and healthcare services including, mental, dental, and associated
healthcare services for aging, disabilities, teen pregnancies/mums and those living
in rural and regional parts of the country; there is still one thing, one teeny weenie
thing missing in this perfect plan of yours that could wrap up all this confidence
boosting with a pretty red bow.

Are you ready…wait for it…I’m calling it: Confidence Building Insurance
Scheme (CBIS).

The concept behind CBIS is to provide every Australian worker the opportunity to
build their lives with confidence. Structurally speaking, CBIS is the marriage of
Super Trusts with Health Insurers – perhaps regarded as the “yin” and the “yang”
for an Australian worker. It’s just the kind of trust every Australian families needs to
ease the growing pains of the rising costs of living. By simply amalgamating the two
to create insurance conglomerates that can house comprehensive and all
encompassing coverages customised for every Australian worker to access a range
of entitlements including work (such as bereavement, maternity, sick and carer’s
leaves); training (such as associated costs with educational resources and training);
and health (such as healthcare costs associated with mental, disabilities, dental,
and even pharmaceuticals), even if it is by means of increasing mandatory
contributions by a small fraction to accomplice its related costs and provisions; it
can still and by no small measure, undoubtedly provide all the confidence building
any dignified Australian worker could possibly ask for.

Alternatively, by offering super trusts incentives and/or concessions to merge with

appealing private health insurers to develop CBIS for all Australian workers; it will
not only increase their revenue but can possibly, triple, if not quadruple, their
investment confidence and not just for super but for the lives of many, many
Australians.

Minister Swan, call this concept a gift card, if you may, for you and every other
Australian to treat themselves to a trip at the day spa (obviously, all expenses paid)
for a chance to pause, even just briefly, in our busy and demanding working lives so
as to relax and unwind; to ease the worries of day-to-day existence so as to take a
step back and gain a better perspective on matters that really matter.

So you see, Minister Swan, what CBIS offers is just the kind of confidence your
Budget is really looking for in all Australians.
Sally D’Souza is a social commentator on issues relating to politics, arts and culture.

For the record: She was the culturally and linguistic diverse (CALD) representative on the
ACT Ministerial Council for Women and ACT Domestic Violence Preventative Council. Former
President of the Multicultural Women’s Advocacy and the ACT representative of the National
Immigrant and Refugee Women Association.

She holds a Masters in Creative Writing from Canberra University, a Graduate Diploma of
Community Cultural Development and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and (Comparative)
Religious Studies.

She is also known (mainly among her friends) as the “Twitter Girl” for her witty remarks
about current political, cultural and social issues.