CLA will significantly scale down public health departments and decentralise healthcare.
Licensing authority – The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) will no longer have a monopoly. It will no longer be the sole licensing authority for the medical profession, and nor will any such agency be controlled by government. Other licensing bodies will be permitted. Each of those licencing bodies will determine who to admit as a member and the standards they should adhere to and so on. Hospitals in turn will decide whether to accept an agency’s members. The funding of such agencies should be transparent – people want to know in advance whether any party has a vested interest in the healthcare administered to the population and so funds the regulator or association to achieve its business objective.
Medicare – We need better management of the Medicare system to rein in costs. We need to discourage people from visiting a GP every time they have a headache, get a common cold, need a ‘sick leave’ note or need medication prescribed. With that objective in mind: A CLA government will encourage the development of Ai diagnostic tools and if necessary, invest in the development of it. In addition to diagnosis, this tool should set out alternative treatments and state the appropriate medication. Medicare will no longer cover visits to GPs for sick notes and adults will have the ’right to try’ whatever medication that want to – so prescriptions will not be necessary. Buying such medication ‘over the counter’ should be conditional on that sale being recorded on the patient’s ‘My Health Record’ – so that any excessive use of medication will raise a ‘red flag’ and when such is triggered no further such medication may be provided without a prescription written by a GP. Medicare will only fund a one-hour session with a psychologist or counsellor every 6 months – the purpose of which is to get a treatment plan.
The Drug Regulator – The Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) will lose its monopoly on determining the safety and efficacy of medication. Other bodies will be permitted to also provide that service. No bureaucrat or body will have the authority to dictate what medication one can take, what doctors can recommend or what pharmacists may sell. Those should be decisions for them to make. Individuals should have a ‘right to try’, GPs the right to recommend, and pharmacists should have the right to provide. The GPs and pharmacists will in turn rely on their associations and insurers in this regard – because they won’t want to face the likelihood of a damages claim for recommending or providing harmful medication.
Pharmaceutical immunity – Under no circumstances should government grant immunity to providers of medication, as it did with the providers of the mRNA vaccines.
Abortions – The underlying principle is the abortions must be safe, legal and rare. Unfortunately, they are not rare in Australia. A staggering number of abortions are performed annually in Australia, some stating it to be in the region of 80,000 to 90,000. This appears to be a very poor reflection on our society. We, as a society, need to take greater responsibility for our decisions. CLA will nevertheless permit early-stage (1st trimester, up to 9 weeks) abortions. Under CLA, later stage abortions will only be permitted where the health of the mother is at risk, or the baby will be born with major physical or mental impairment.
Gender transitioning – CLA will prohibit gender transitioning surgery for minors and prohibit puberty blockers.
Hospitals – CLA understands that the waiting times at triage are excessive. Hospitals need to enlarge such facilities and increase staff numbers. Triage also needs to be for those who expect to need surgery or hospitalisation – so those needing ‘patching up’ or some medication should be directed to a nearby 24-hr clinic, should one exist. CLA also understands that many, especially those on ‘struggle street’ prefer going to a public hospital over a medical practice, because it is free. If Medicare covered the entire cost of a GP visit, there would be less pressure on hospital triage. Under the current system, that would be unaffordable. Government needs to reduce the need to visit a GP. If pharmacists were permitted to provide medication without a prescription, many would go to a pharmacy before a hospital. If GPs lost their monopoly over blood tests, many would arrange those directly.
Chronic diseases – An CLA government will fund research into probable causes of chronic diseases and specifically investigate the extent to which (if any) vaccinations and the use of toxic substances in our food chain are contributing to chronic diseases. We cannot leave this research to individuals or entities – including universities – funded by the pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical industries.
The WHO – A CLA government will exit the World Health Organisation or at least ensure that we are under no obligation, legal or moral, to abide by its decisions or recommendations.