Senator drops in for a chat

MOST people who have spoken to Federal National Party Senator Fiona Nash in recent weeks highlighted the poor state of the health system and the ‘lack of detail’ in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s proposed ‘Health Revolution’, the Senator said in Grafton yesterday.

Senator Nash spent about an hour talking to Shoppingworld customers yesterday afternoon with Nationals candidate for Page Kevin Hogan.

The Senator, who is deputy leader of the National Party in the Senate and duty Senator for the electorates of Richmond and Page, is on a staggered tour of regional Australia asking voters to ‘Talk to Me’ so she can gauge public concerns.

She said most people had expressed concern Mr Rudd’s health plan lacked detail but on the surface appeared to make little difference to the current level of bureaucracy in the system, while others were also worried about the two-year delay before change was implemented.

“One fellow really put it well, he said ‘we need more beds and less desks’,” Senator Nash said.

“They are worried about hospitals and their local doctors and nurses being overrun.”

Mr Hogan said people were also expressing their dissatisfaction with Mr Rudd’s character and his lack of conviction citing his recent backdown on the Emissions Trading Scheme.

“This bloke said to me ‘Mr Rudd stood up and said this was the most important issue of this generation less than six months ago – where does he stand?’.”

Senator Nash and her family run a lamb fattening farm near Young.

“I’ve been there for 20 years. I grew up in the city but I always wanted to get out and live in the country,” she said.