YOUR SAY: Political point scoring creates division over Voice result

Given the anti-Labor conservative voting history of electorates like Farrer and Parkes, did he expect any other result from the non-Indigenous population than an overwhelming "no" vote?

He targets PM Albanese's Labor government that has been in government for 1.5 years. He forgets that the Coalition has been in power for 21 of the past 27 years and in that time the gap has widened and the Indigenous affairs budget has blown out with little accountability. Like the NDIS, the blowout in costs and lack of accountability didn't just happen in the last year.

Anthony Albanese has consulted with Indigenous leaders and communities over a long period. I do not remember any Coalition member attending the consultations at Uluru or the Garma festivals. They only showed an interest in the Uluru Statement when they saw a political opportunity to regain some relevance after very poor polling.

Given that over 2.5 million Australians didn't vote in the referendum highlights the level of apathy or lack of effort in researching the issues. The level of misinformation reminds of the reaction to the Mabo decision. ("They're going to take our farms and backyards.") Instead many people followed the right wing conservative elites at Sky or News Corp. I would suggest that many Coalition representatives have spent little time in the Indigenous communities in their own electorates.

As for being the most divisive issue in our history, I suggest the Vietnam war and the conscription issue, the 1975 dismissal or the republic referendum as far more divisive issues. The result of this referendum will only remain divisive while right wing conservative elements use it for political point scoring and cannot move forward.

It is very disappointing to see that those committed to providing a modern regional hospital seem to have fallen very short of the mark. Many attended the briefing provided by NSW Health earlier this year where we were told that the issues of additional ward beds, extra services transferred from Wodonga hospital, parking, and others relating to this upgrade would be fully covered by the detailed plans which were to be released before the end of 2023.

As well we were told that this upgrade would cover a likely population growth for the foreseeable future for this region.

The unexplained plans released this month are a juvenile attempt to fulfil what we were told some months ago.

The citizens served by Albury hospital, in Albury-Wodonga, Tumbarumba, Finley, and other outlying centres deserve better.

It is no wonder that state governments cannot budget reliably when a plan such as this appears. We have a Farrer, state government representative and state Ministers for Health.

It is time for their leadership in personally being involved to obtain a responsible approach to this issue regarding meeting the public health needs for this region now, and in the future.

MORE COMMENT

Once again the frustration at a lack of action on a replacement for Albury base and Wodonga hospitals has reared its head.

While the 'Neros' in the Victorian government go back to their drawing boards and 'fiddle' with yet another disastrous design attempt for a suitable complex, citizens are conjecturing how some of those dollars that were flushed away over the 'never were' Commonwealth Games might have, in conjunction with the NSW state government, provided funding for the project to proceed past the 'pie in the sky' phase.

How the present building with its many faults and design flaws can even be in the running to be modified is beyond comprehension, despite some recent, and not before time, modifications to the emergency department.

The list of its defects - poor original building design, cramped and difficult working conditions for staff, depressing, noisy, crowded wards with lack of privacy for patients, poor suitable toilet and other facilities for visitors, lack of space for workers in ancillary departments, continuing over-extended parking areas - the list goes on.

The enormity of an 'on-site' modification with its attending structural and spatial difficulties, together with the environmental impact of the disruption and noise that it would necessarily entail, defies description.

The basic stumbling block now is the Victorian Labor government, let's keep that in mind at the next election.

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