It’s the last week of what feels like a marathon run and I fell before the finishing line.
It’s election eve in Australia and I’m sitting upright at a computer writing words for the first time in almost a week. A combination of pain from a non occlusive thrombus in the right radial artery (translation: blood clot in my right forearm) an allergic reaction to medication and a virus of the head-spin inducing variety have kept me from the things that have held me together for the past year – basically sitting at a computer writing words.
Because it is the eve of an election that is being largely fought on the issue of health funding, I wanted to write about Medicare. I wanted to tell you the story of how the public health system has caught me and my family every time we’ve fallen. Like, when my son’s birth turned into an emergency situation, from which he eventually arrived safely into the world, or about all the times my kids needed urgent medical attention and were able to get it, without delay and without cost. Or how, in the last few weeks when I have witnessed the health system up close, every test – even those using expensive, cutting-edge equipment – was covered by Medicare. And the care I have received has been mostly excellent.
I even had a bulk-billed home visit from a doctor on a Sunday. If I lived in New Zealand, that visit would have cost $400. I can’t even begin to imagine how much such a thing would cost in the US, thousands maybe? The US health system is the stuff of nightmares.
As much as I wanted to write about that, and have in the past written love letters to Medicare, it’s really a universal story here in Australia. I bet everyone reading this can think of a time when possession of that little green card meant you could get the care you needed, without it costing the earth. You don’t need me to convince you that Medicare should be saved, do you? And, tbh, I think that Australians are so passionate about protecting Medicare that vote to save it.
What people are talking about though is a people powered movement that has been steadily growing in the last twelve months. It has been dubbed by The Australian newspaper as a "secret army" and the subject of many illuminating media stories* about a campaign involving people talking to one another. The people in that movement have set up market and street stalls, knocked on doors and made phone calls - oh so many phone calls – they’ve literally had thousands of conversations. Each week, more people have joined in.
Watching a movement grow is very special and it’s been a brilliant campaign to watch and to work on. The campaign organisers around the country and the team at campaign HQ are some of the finest people you could ever meet. I’m inspired by their stamina and drive, and their tenacity and creativity. They've literally given their all and I know I'm not the only one that doesn't have much juice left in the tank. But still they carried on, week in week out, facing greater adversity as the looming election grew closer - the tales of chicanery and bastardry at early voting centres have been toe-curling.
I’ll be watching the results very closely tomorrow night. my ears pricking and my pulse rate raising a little every time there's an update on the results in the thirty-odd seats the campaign touched. Good luck one and all, the Build a Better Future campaign team.
