Why public health in NSW is a disaster
Years ago, when I was a novice health reporter on The Newcastle Herald, I was attending the grand opening of a major piece of cancer treatment equipment at a local hospital. Because the NSW Government tends to be reluctant to spend money on populations outside the state capital of Sydney (unless a particular electorate suddenly finds its parliamentary representative influencing the balance of power) it has often been left to non-Sydney communities to fund their own capital purchases. Like most people in Newcastle I deplored the negligence of the government but was proud and delighted that…