Off the Record: Liberal and Labor sing same tune on Keith hospital
The Liberals’ Labor echo on Keith Hospital, plus whatever happened to i360, the voter-harvesting technology that was supposed to give the Libs the edge? And fight, fight, fight. Tom Koutsantonis spars with ex-soccer player Bruce Djite.
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In this week’s Off the Record, the words that connect Health Minister Stephen Wade with his Labor predecessor John Hill, plus whatever happened to i360, the voter-harvesting technology that was supposed to give the Libs the edge. And fight, fight, fight. Tom Koutsantonis spars with ex-soccer player Bruce Djite
Old is new again at Keith
SOMETIMES when you examine politics it’s hard to conclude there is much difference between Liberal and Labor. The real difference is between being in government or being in opposition.
Take the case of the Keith Hospital. Which is currently trying to prise more money out of the state government.
The argy-bargy in recent weeks about the funding of the hospital in the upper south east has pitted Health Minister Stephen Wade against Labor health spokesman Chris Picton. Naturally, Wade, holding the purse strings of government, is urging the hospital to live within its means. Picton believes it’s a terrible thing the private hospital says it’s at risk.
Sample quotes from Wade: “The Keith and District Hospital is not a public hospital; it is not run by the state government.’’ And: “ I would encourage KDH to adjust the level of services it provides, at least in the short term, if it is not able to fund all the services it currently delivers.’’
Now let’s wind back to 2010 when Labor’s John Hill was Health Minister and that year’s state budget cut $366,000 in funding. That decision sparked years-long protests including the time then Brisbane Lions player Jack Redden, born at Keith hospital, brought along mates such as Jonathan Brown, Luke Power, Daniel Rich and Ash McGrath for a protest, pictured left.
Sample quote from Hill at the time: “We have to prioritise our spending on public patients in public hospitals.’’
And: “They need to think about what can be offered and what can be afforded,’’
Then there are the quotes from the opposition, whoever it was at the time. Liberal health spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith in 2011: “You cannot take funding away from a district hospital like Keith and expect people to survive.’’
Labor health spokesman Chris Picton in 2019: “If this hospital were to close due to lack of funding from the Liberals it would be a massive hit to health services in the region.’’
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
360 going around in circles
IT was hailed as the kryptonite that spurred the South Austrailan Liberals to their first state election victory since 1998.
The hi-tech i360 platform was said to harvest voters’ social media feeds and other publicly available records, pulling them together in a neat package so Liberal candidates could more effectively woo voters.
But hopes of taking the United States-founded software package national have been dashed because of an intergenerational rift within the national Liberal Party.
In SA, the platform was championed by state Liberal director Sascha Meldrum and Premier Steven Marshall’s former chief of staff James Stevens, now the Sturt candidate.
Marshall, who as a former business executive favours evidence-based data analysis, was said to be enamoured too.
But the Liberals nationally are wedded to Feedback, a program developed in the 1990s by an arm of the party called Parakeelia.
Critics argue Feedback lacks the grunt of i360, in particular because it does not have social media capabilities.
The SA and Victorian Liberals used i360 at their state elections last year. The SA branch won a historic victory but the Victorian Libs suffered an epic defeat.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was thought to be tech-savvy and interested in adopting i360 nationally. But the Liberals were too focused on internal bloodletting, which led to Turnbull’s replacement with Scott Morrison, so the latent push for a national rollout never got off the ground. The SA Liberals adopted i360 about 18 months before last March’s election and, along with the Victorian branch, about $1.2 million has been spent on the program. American billionaires Charles and David Koch formed i360 about five years ago to help the Republicans combat Barack Obama’s highly successful data-driven campaign.
White line fever for an old footballer and the MP
THERE’S an old saying that says politics and sport should never mix. Obviously, Off the Record believes that is a load of old rubbish. Thankfully it would seem Labor hardman Tom Koutsantonis and ex-Adelaide United player Bruce Djite seem to agree.
The pair had a disagreement on Twitter after Koutsantonis questioned if the Liberals would fund the world game in the upcoming state budget.
Djite chimed in, with “I would hope they continue to support and enhance much needed facilities.’’ Ending with the somewhat patronising: “I must say, I do truly appreciate your love and commitment to football over many, many years.’’
Koutsantonis fired back, pointing out the Liberals had, according to him, cut many Labor football programs. Ending with: “Listen Bruce it’s okay to be a Lib but stop pretending they fund football.’’
Djite, a striker who scored 30 goals in 129 games for the Reds, is a friend of well-connected Liberal fellow traveller Ian Smith. Koutsantonis is also on the edge a little at the moment with his beloved Liverpool in a close fight for its first league title in 30 years.
PM keeps journos in the dark
They have become part of the political landscape during Federal election campaigns. One bunch of journos and camera operators tag along with the PM and the Opposition leader as they tour the countryside — generally marginal electorates.
A host of minders are on hand to run a tight ship and keep journos on the buses guessing at all times — even taking to turning off the flight trackers on planes.
However, PM Scott Morrison’s media team took it to the next level in Adelaide this week. Local journos were not to know where the PM would be due to fears journos would tip off protesters. Most local news crews discovered ScoMo was in the Adelaide Hills with Mayo candidate Georgina Downer as it unfolded on TV screens.
All very strange indeed considering the best way to find the location of the last stop was to listen to the chants from unionists seemingly armed with better intel than the journos on the bus.
— Matt Smith
Dead wrong
DEPARTING Defence Minister Christopher Pyne was in France for Anzac Day and proudly tweeted how he gave the dawn service address at Villers-Bretonneux. “I spoke of Arthur Blackburn VC,’’ he wrote. Before saying how Blackburn “like over 60,000 Australians in the First World War, he didn’t return home.’’ Which came as a surprise to acclaimed author Andrew Faulkner, who wrote Blackburn’s biography. “He didn’t return home???” he replied. Blackburn died in 1960. Pyne later amended his tweet.
Doctor Jim
THE state’s top public servant, Jim McDowell, went back to the future this week and became an honorary doctor.
The Premier and Cabinet Department’s chief executive was awarded the doctorate by the University of South Australia, for his services to education.
It was something of a homecoming. McDowell was UniSA chancellor from 2016 until last year, when he was appointed to head Premier Steven Marshall’s department.
McDowell also is an Adelaide Football Club board member and a St Peter’s College governor.
Hard sell
REPORTS in London suggest Kadina boy Lynton Crosby may join forces with Tory leadership hopeful Boris Johnson, who is one of the contenders to replace Prime Minister Theresa May when she inevitably quits due to the shambolic Brexit process.
Crosby’s guru status was badly damaged after being involved with May’s disastrous 2017 election campaign, and there had been reports the party was trying to distance itself from him, but he helped Johnson on his successful London mayoral campaigns in 2008 and 2012
Battle to save animals on the brink at Outback reserve
Conservationists are battling to save animals at an Outback reserve from the effects of the worst drought in recent memory, and have received a funding boost to redouble their efforts.
Country tradie to face court over incomplete work
A country tradesman will face the Elizabeth Magistrates Court over allegations he was not licenced and refused to refund money to clients.