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"What Women Want"

Once again it is election time in Australia. The current Government, in power for 11 years, is fighting for its life, as Australians appear very ready for a change. Although our economy is booming and all the economic indicators are very favourable, the real issues are not maintaining our prosperity by backing the current team, but seeking solutions for our ailing health, education and environment. The Government has trumpeted an $11 billion surplus this year as a measure of its success, but the voters want this spent on better resources for our hospitals, more funding for State run schools, making university education cheaper for students and infrastructure and support for alternative energy projects.

The health care system is being especially targeted for action by both parties. Labour has put midwifery into its policy plans and has signalled that it will include midwifery in the Medicare schedule, making it possible for midwives to be paid for their services through our public health system. This will be a big step towards making independent midwifery a viable option for both midwives and parents, although the issue of insurance is still to be resolved. There is still no insurance company willing to offer professional indemnity insurance for midwives, so the only practical solution would be for the Government to extend their own employees insurance to cover midwives. This would make it possible for independent midwives to get insurance, but it may come with strings attached, putting restrictions on the kind of care that a midwife could offer. All of this is to be revealed once the election is over.

To keep the pressure on politicians of all colours and the raise awareness of these midwifery issues (and others of a similar kind that affect women), Justine Caines has launched a political party called “What Women Want”. Justine has been a consumer activist around birth issues for a number of years, chairing the Maternity Coalition and lobbying hard to achieve many of the reforms that have occurred hard in recent years. She has had 5 home births (producing 6 children) and is an articulate and intelligent protagonist for better services for women across a range of issues. She herself is standing for a Senate seat in NSW, and her party has nominated candidates for a number of lower house seats, especially in Queensland, South Australia and NSW, all in areas where the Government hold a tenuous lead.

The campaigning has gone on all year, and although an actual date has not been announced, the election must be held before Christmas.

Posted by andrea at October 05, 2007 07:19 AM