Re your post which included; "... if you were to have a heart attack in a rural area, you would have 30% less chance of survival because you would have to be transferred from Albury Base hospital to Melbourne because of lack of facilities ..."
I call Albury-Wodonga home & have worked in virtually every square metre of NE Vic. I offer the following insights into the electorate of Indi:
. One of my brothers had a heart attack a few years ago & was indeed flown from Albury to Melbourne for treatment!
. A normal appointment with my local GP means a wait of 3-15 weeks!
. Our local federal Independent candidate, Alan Lappin, who gained 6% of the vote at the last election could not get into the Q&A audience at Albury - at least 800 others were apparently preferred to him! On that same theme, he was required to remove a political sign during the election - Sophie Mirabella was not!
. Our former local federal MP, Lou Lieberman, built up strong support for the Liberal Party - he was respected for his advocacy etc.
. Sophie Mirabella inherited that electoral approval but has proven highly antagonistic & more representative of her own parliamentary aspirations than the electorate's needs - as per her opposition to the NBN. IMO she is a shocker - one rewarded by Howard & now by Abbott!
. The problems of substandard community infrastructure such as communications, health, education & even rail systems throughout NE Vic. rest with the our local MPs - all of whom have been either National & Liberal since Federation.
. Gough Whitlam's efforts to create Albury-Wodonga as a regional growth centre has had a greater positive impact on the Region than all other plans & initiatives combined!
. Indi is famous for the processing & integration of immigrants - from post WW2 to Kosovo & even Somalis! I can personally vouch for the fact that at least one Governor of Victoria did not even know Bonegilla existed - I showed him around it!
. As with other regional centres & despite the lack of resourcing, Albury-Wodongaalso plays host to families deemed at risk in the likes of Melbourne & Sydney - megalopolis refugees!
. IMO Crean was on the money with his comments about joining the dots but he needs to be understand the significance of different groups often having competing priorities. IMO Govt. should have benchmarks for the delivery of services to all communities which are then project managed on a greatest needs / cost-benefit basis - I doubt that Tony Wondsor's electorate was in that category!
. In 2008 I helped a local consortium of schools gain $13m in funding for a Trades Training Centre through the preparation of a compelling, broad community based application - without any support from our local MPs & despite significant interference from regional & state bureaucracies.
