Empty promises seeking to override reality of healthcare

What is it about general practice medicine that induces left-wing governments to promise that it should be delivered at no cost to recipients (“GP reality slips out of pocket”, 22/7)?

General practitioners are, after all, highly trained professionals working at the coalface of medicine and are crucial for early diagnosis, which is critical to the treatment of diseases.

It is often asserted that Australians find it difficult to afford primary medical care, yet comparison with overseas travel, now regarded as a rite of passage by most young Australians, would suggest affordability is, in this instance, a matter of selective preference. About 11 million Australians travelled overseas in the year to June 2025, an increase of 32 per cent on the previous year.

Might the Albanese government consider subsidising overseas travel so Australians could better afford their medical care?

Bill Pannell, Dalkeith, WA

Ceasefire mirage

Australia has joined 27 other countries in urging Israel to stop fighting. The joint statement calls for an end to the war “now”. But this just encourages Hamas intransigence by those who want to play the hostage card to secure an Israel Defence Forces withdrawal and maintain exclusive control over the Gaza Strip.

It provides no incentive in negotiations for those elements in Hamas who wish to give up governing post-war Gaza, dismantle its military wing, join the PLO and uphold a two-state solution. The joint statement doesn’t pass the smell test: if we were talking about any other conflict, we wouldn’t be handing the terrorists any rewards. This statement merely pays lip service to releasing the hostages.

That Hamas welcomes the statement should tell us everything we need to know about how bad it is. Hamas has still not responded to the latest hostage-ceasefire offer. In other words, the joint statement we’ve just signed prolongs the war.

Anthony Bergin, Reid, ACT

Reform NDIS

As the parent of an intellectually disabled son whose care remains my lifelong responsibility, I am deeply concerned about the distorted public narrative surrounding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (“NDIS faces being shut down if costs not cut, Joyce warns”, 21/7). Increasingly, we hear politicians and commentators point fingers at participants, as if vulnerability equates to blame. This rhetoric is not only disheartening, it also is dangerously misdirected.

The real drain on the NDIS is the unchecked rise of opportunistic providers who exploit the system by charging outrageous fees for inadequate or unqualified services. Families like mine – dedicated, exhausted and doing the hard work of daily care – are left fighting through bureaucratic red tape while others profit handsomely from the supports meant to help us survive.

Yet the spotlight remains fixed on participants, not the profiteers.

What’s needed isn’t blame, it’s leadership. Cost regulation. Accreditation. Oversight. Ethical standards. The soul of the NDIS lies in its promise of dignity and support for people with disability. That soul is being eroded by corporate greed and public indifference. We need reform that restores the original vision: empowering participants, protecting public funds and holding providers to account.

Greg Donoghue, Mount Annan, NSW

Snowy cost woes

To me, as a former civil engineer with some experience in project cost estimation, Ted Woodley’s commentary piece on the Auditor-General’s audit of Snowy 2.0 pricing makes depressing reading to say the least (“Snowy’s fresh audit will fail unless it faces hard truths”, 21/7). In applying best practice in construction cost estimation, there are many unknowns in the process of building a credible estimate, especially for an underground project with variable ground conditions, but to get it wrong by a factor of at least three, combined with an over-optimistic revenue assumption sounds like carelessness. Had I submitted such an estimate, I wouldn’t have expected to keep my job.

Alistair Minson, South Melbourne, Vic

Warning of left failure

Greg Sheridan’s prescient commentary detailing comprehensively the ongoing war against the poor by the left deserves acknowledgment and praise (“Why does the left wage war against the poor?”, 22/7). Not only does he expose convincingly the failure of left-leaning governments, past and present, around the world because of their dogged addiction to their ideological stance in relation to just about everything, especially education, he also gives a stark warning about being complacent in relation to the initial euphoria of vast swathes of the population surrounding majority governments. Oh, for more modern-day prophets like Greg.

Mary-Eliza Rowan, Bentley, WA