I was interested to read in today’s Courier-Mail (pg 29) that Queensland Premier Peter Beattie considers it “immoral” for a national as wealthy as Australia to rely on developing nations to provide its medical workforce.
The Premier was referring to what I am told is a growing reliance on overseas trained doctors for rural and regional Australian hospitals.
The Premier was supported by AMA Queensland president Steve Hambleton, who according to the newspaper report, said “We are now getting some of our doctors from very poorly doctored nations … That’s not fair. We should be a net exporter of medical expertise, not an importer.”
This is exactly how I feel about forestry issues. How can a country with as many trees as Australia import hardwood from Indonesia and Malaysia? How can the Greens rally against the Tasmanian forestry industry and turn a blind eye to the imported teak furniture displayed in every second furniture store?
For my all my posts at this blog on forestry (beginning with this one) click here and scroll to bottom to read about the lock up of the Pillaga-Goonoo forests in north-western NSW earlier this year.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.