Focus Groups
Many doctors are concerned that an overcrowded world will be unhealthy, unhappy and hungry; we must not allow Australia to make this mistake.
In Australia our concerns over the effects of a growing population are just part of our concerns for the health of all our patients. For these reasons Doctors for the Environment Australia has a population policy which explains the links between population and health.
It is fairly obvious that the present rate of population growth in Australia has imposed considerable strain on existing health services in terms of trained personnel, finance and administration. Any increase in population must be constrained by the rate at which services can be maintained.+
Continue reading "Science, not vested interests, must shape population policy" »
I am a huge fan of political truisms. Love them. Let me take you through a few.
Red tape is always a bad thing. No matter that a lack of appropriate regulation caused the global financial crisis. Red tape is bad and must be disposed of. On the other hand, frontline services are always a good thing. Regardless of inefficiency or incompetence we simply can’t cut frontline staff.
A further example of unambiguous evil in the political realm is “polls”.
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Euan Robertson says:
A good point, and really where the commentators earn their stripes. The polls immediately after the change to Gillard were very positive - suggesting that the public at least did not regard the move unfavourably. But a good commentator would have cautioned against reading too much into it. See for… Read more »
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Euan Robertson says:
Nothing to do with me - added by one of the graphics folk at The Punch. There is no hidden message and I would suggest you not take it too seriously - it gave me a giggle. Read more »
Our Prime Minister has joined the bandwagon complaining that this is a focus group- driven election - but isn¹t this the way of the Wiki? After all, books have been written about how the wisdom of the masses provide a more compelling truth than the voice of authority.
In an era when communications is moving from the broadcast model of a central voice of authority to the interconnectedness of Facebook, surely focus groups and polls are a legitimate driver of public policy.
It seems that with its group of 150 to guide the nation on climate change Labor is about to put the theory to the test, while the Coalition has long aligned its bearings to the fears and prejudices of the focus group room.
Continue reading "Gillard dumps focus groups, focus groups will like that" »
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Joe says:
I wonder if Labor have done any focus group work on Gillard’s affair with minister Emmerson. I hear he left his wife and children for her. What a disgrace. Is this realy the type of woman we want as PM? Read more »
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Steve says:
@Lizzie says: Wrong The record for the records sake Lizzie…. Whenever there is political debate on here there are always plenty of Liberal supporters keen to champion how great they were at eliminating debt. I don’t consider many of these people to be well informed. Here is an extract from… Read more »
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