The weather has been great these past few days. Today was a little hot, but manageable. So far, the temperature has been in the mid to high 20′s. Over the past few days I have been showing a friend from Korea around Australia. She came over for a few days and has stopped in Melbourne. I have been giving her the full tour and it has been fun because I have missed some of the sights too. Yesterday we took a trip to Wilson’s Promontory and Phillip Island. Gwen got to see and touch some Kangaroos and it made her holiday.
I can’t really understate just how beautiful the countryside is. To look at some parts, after living in a city for so long really takes the breath away. Besides the country, also the city of Melbourne is beautiful at night, with the warm summer air just cooling enough to make a stroll beside the river a wonderful tonic for a year of polluted air. If I inhale a deep breath I can smell the flower blossom or the freshly cut grass… instead of the smell of garbage or raw sewerage. Observe some of the beauty that my country has to offer:
So here I sit, just chilling out. For some annoying reason I’m having trouble with my internet again, so I can’t get this out as I’m writing it. Oh, if only I had broadband. It’s not that Australia doesn’t have the technology because it does. It’s just that I’m not prepared for all the installation costs involved for my short stay. And that leads me to my beef of the day.
During my stay I have had to visit some doctors due to this sinus problem and also visit some tourist attractions to show Gwen, my guest. I realised that just about everyone here is trying to extract money from me as fast as possible. My first beef is with the health system in my country. I have three main beefs about this.
Firstly, to see a doctor, any doctor, for just a few minutes costs $50 up front. It used to be that one produced a Medicare card and swipe swipe, no problem. Now, I have to pay, then get a “refund” at the Medicare office. Only thing is, the refund was only $30. So I effectively paid $20 to see my doctor. This would be perfectly acceptable and I think this is a reasonable price to pay, but for fact that I am still using the Medicare system. Supposedly, in Australia we have a public healthcare system, but now we must pay for it too. I don’t understand. In Seoul, I saw a doctor for $30, no healthcare. He was expensive. In Daejeon I saw one for $5 (it was a quick visit). My point is, first how can a 15 minute visit cost $50? I know doctors are important pillars of the community, but $200/hour??? Another visit to have some scans on my head cost $180 for about 10 minutes of shots. Thankfully, there was nothing upfront or delayed, it was all covered by Medicare. However, the bill is somewhat exorbitant considering the length of the visit.
Second, why do they make it necessary for everything to be done first by a GP (forcing you to see one every time, even if you KNOW that you need a different doctor or a specific recurring medication). For example, a girl who takes a birth control pill is forced to return to see her GP every time she needs another box. Perhaps she’ll get one repeat for the prescription, but that’s it. This does nothing to encourage birth control among younger people or the lower income levels. God knows some of them need some control. Another example is specialists. When you have chronic sinusitis and your nose is blocked and you’ve received a diagnosis from two different doctors, maybe it’s time to see an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. What did the friendly doctor I saw at the clinic say to me? “Wait a minute cowboy, you need to see another doctor because I’m not your regular doctor and he needs to give you the referral to see the specialist.”
And finally, just to make it clear: I have no problem paying for my visit. I can see how this system works better to discourage casual swiping of Medicare cards. Some people are hyperchondriacs, and visit the doctor for every little thing. No, my real complaint is aimed at the system itself. Supposedly when you ask a politicial or sympathizer to the current big government system we live under, why are taxes so high in Australia? the usual response is that we must pay for big budget items like roads, schools and medical cover. Now, we are paying for some aspects of Medical coverage for ourselves. Is there some likelihood of taxes decreasing? I doubt it. Consider this. I’ll use Korea as an example only because I’ve been there for a year and it’s the only other society I’m the most acquanted with. In Korea, taxes are 3%. My monthly salary while a teacher was 2,000,000 Won or around $2,000. Of that $2,000, about $60 was taken out as tax. Now, in Australia we have a tax rate of around 33% which give or take a little due to thresholds would remove about $500 from my pay each month. In Korea I had roads, public transport and other infrastructure. I didn’t have or need schools, nor did I have any health cover. Yet I survived ok. Yes, I visited the doctor occasionally, but did it total $440 per month? No way.
Not only that, things cost more in Australia through hidden taxes. I’m not a smoker but in Australia, cigarettes cost $10 compared to $2.50 in Korea. Why this is interesting is because supposedly this high tax on cigarettes is supposed to be compensating for the extra loading on the health system that smokers take. Yet we still pay more for our healthcare. There are high taxes on alcohol too, on cars, on all luxury items. Daily items cost more, a soda can cost twice as much here for only a few more mls. Almost everything you buy will cost more, notable exceptions are rice, bread, milk and meat, which are understandably high due to the small size of Korea and lack of farming space. Then there are the tourist places…
I’d say don’t even get me started on them, but you aren’t here to tell me that. For the pleasure of seeing some penguins walk up a beach and go into their nests, they charge $16. That’s for one person. What do they provide? Some concrete to sit on and some rangers to tell you what not to do. It may be suggested that the fee enables the rangers to protect the little animals and provide a safe environment to observe them in. My simple calculations put the nightly figure at $3200 at least. What were they feeding them? Pickled caviar from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean? Did the little penguins slip into their diamond studded robes and sleep on the finest silk from China? No, they walked their little butts into their dirt caves and slept. End of story. Supposedly from all the taxes collected there is a budget for Conservation. Supposedly there is a lot of money made from the overpriced gift shop and cafe. So where are all these dollars going? And that is just the Penguins.
Rant over. But on the lighter side, there really is some beautiful scenery to be had at no cost at all. Just driving over the countryside and seeing the rolling hills of green grass is amazing. It’s great to live in such a clean and beautiful country. I just wish the people running it would go away.
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