Bob Katter Says He’d Like To Make A Few Points About Medicare Reform Because Look It’s Obviously Very Bloody Important That We Make Sure Australia’s Health System Doesn’t End Up Being Privatised Like Those Shiraz Swilling Bastards Did To Qantas And Commbank And Telstra And Every Second Bus And Train South Of Bundaberg But What I Am Mostly Concerned About Is The Fact That Our Hardworking GPs Are Being Demonised As Grifters And Con Artists Especially Those Poor Buggers That Get Sent To The One-Horse Towns I Represent I Think It Goes Without Saying We Are Lucky To Have Them And Culturally Much Richer For It I Mean There Was No Way I Was Ever Going To Meet Someone From Iran Until Dr Afshar Got Sent Out To Cloncurry On Placement Next Thing You Know I’m At His Place Having Dinner With His Wife And The Tin Lids Bloody Good Tucker These Persians Make Oh And That’s Another Thing It’s Important To Remember That They Aren’t Arabs They Are Completely Different Other Kind Of Middle Easterner And That’s Probably Not Worth Talking About Because I’ve Found Niche Geopolitical Facts Like This Aren’t Of Much Interest To Anybody In Mount Isa In Fact It’s Basically Good Manners To Not Ask Someone What Their Religion Is Or Where Their Grandparents Came From Unless I’m Dealing With Blackfellas Because It’s Important To Know Who’s From Which Mob For Political Reasons In Case I Put My Foot In It And Start Running Down Someone’s Cousin Without Knowing The Family Tree But Where Was I Oh Yeah Back To Medicare See The Thing That The Liberals Constantly Allow Themselves To Forget Is That Sacking Public Servants To Make Room In A Budget Is The One Thing That Will Turn Queenslanders Into Radical Labor Voters So If Dutton Wants To Match The Government’s 9 Billion Dollar Commitment He’s Gonna Have To Find The Money Somewhere Else Because If Even One Receptionist Loses Her Job To Peter Dutton’s Political Ambitions Than You Can Guarantee The People Of The North Will Make Sure He Gets The Campbell Newman Treatment Which Means His Career As Leader Will Be Over Faster Than A Second Marriage In Noosa This Isn’t Left Or Right This Is A Uniquely Queensland Brand Of Politics Where The Average Voters Sympathise With Any Man Or Woman Staring Down The Barrel Of Retrenchment Purely Because Some RM-Wearing Legislator Has Decided They Make For An Easy Punching Bag It Doesn’t Matter Whether They Are The Most Lazy Can-Kicking Environmental Bureaucrat Or A Lowly Traffic Controller Because The People Of Queensland Will Defend Their Right To Stay In That Job Until They Are Ready To Buy A Caravan And They’ll Defend Them At The Ballot Let’s Get That Straight It Honestly Astounds Me That This Former Fortitude Valley Policeman Has Forgotten How Much Queenslanders Value The Sacred Art Of Bludging Because Let Me Tell You I Spent A Bit Of Time In The Post-Apocalyptic Inner-City Suburbs Of Brisbane During The Early 1990s Heroin Boom And I Can Tell You The Coppers Were Doing Not Much But Drinking Piss And Punting On Fixed Horses So Do Not Suddenly Get High And Mighty About Whether A Public Servant Is Worth Their Salary Plus Super Ya See It’s This Kind Of Demonisation That The GPs Are Also Facing And I Personally Welcome A Cash Injection That Allows Them The Resources To Bulk Bill Any Patient That Walks In Their Doors Mind You I’d Be Keen To See Medicare Expanded To Include The More Unusual Forms Of Medicine That I’ve Blokes Out This Way Subscribe To Namely Those Magnets And Copper Bracelets No Lie I’ve Seen Limping Men Who’ve Had Their Bodies Broken By Wild Bulls Suddenly Get A Bit Of Spring In Their Step Because Of Whatever Those Metals Do To Their Aching Joints The Problem Is You Can Only Buy Them From The Sandalwood Hippy Types And That Requires A Fifteen Hour Drive To Eumundi Or Nimbin And Another Thing I’ve Always Been Big Believer That Putting Vicks Vapour Rub On The Soles Of Your Feet Will Stop Even The Nastiest Cough But It’s The Type Of Healthcare That Is Often Dismissed As Witchcraft Look Don’t Get Me Wrong I’m A Big Believer In Getting Your Shots And I Also Believe That Whoever Invented Vaccines Is Smarter Than The Unkept And Overweight Men That Accost Me In The Street About Mandates But I Don’t Wanna Kick That Beehive Right Now I Just Want To Make Sure That There’s Enough Money Going Into The System To Ensure That Every Town Gets Their Own Non-Arab But Still Brown Muslim Doctor Because I Can Bloody Tell You That Nobody Else Out This Way Knows How To Identify A Nasty Freckle Or A Funny Lump

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As both the major parties begin making their pre-election commitments to Medicare reform, The Independent Member for Kennedy has also thrown in his two cents. See Bob Katter’s brief but insightful comments in the headline above.