CREDIT where credit is due.
The two major political parties love trading blows on a regular basis.
Ask each of them and they will tell you that the other has never come up with a good idea.
Usually, the one-liner clichés are thrown out dispelling the virtues of the opposing camp’s idea.
But not MacKillop Liberal Government backbencher Nick McBride who has thrown his weight behind Labor’s health pledge to the region and has called on his own side of politics to match funding for our health system here in the Limestone Coast.
As you could imagine, the Liberal Party in Adelaide would be furious at Mr McBride’s comments.
His comments would alienate himself from the Liberal Party leadership and create a political wedge within the Liberal Party ranks.
So does it matter? Probably not.
It’s well known within Liberal Party circles that Mr McBride already has a strained relationship with the Premier – so he has nothing new there.
On the other hand – there would not be a reasonably minded person in the region that would not support additional funding for upgrades to our health system – so no votes lost for Mr McBride locally, in fact, probably a nett gain.
Fairly simple local politics.
Although, looking at the bigger picture, Mr McBride needs to recognise that it’s his own team that is lacking in pledging additional funding to the Limestone Coast for health services.
Mr McBride’s honesty is to be commended but he needs to take that fight to Adelaide.
He would only be preaching to the converted locally; it’s the Adelaide-based politicians that need salvation.
With the election officially starting this week, with the Writs being issued this coming Saturday, we can be confident that before March 19 there will be plenty of debate about health services in our region.
