Dear editor,
In a very united front, the Malinauskas Labor Party, the Nurse and Midwifery Federation, and the South Australian Ambulance Employees Association, each made strong claims that ambulance ramping would be the priority of a new government and almost guaranteed that it would be fixed when seeking government in March/April 2022.
The virtually mute reaction of the South Australian Ambulance Employees Association and the Nurse and Midwifery Association to ambulance ramping again increasing from the 5339 hours lost in July 2024, to 5555 in July 2025, is incredulous, given that they campaigned so vociferously on this very issue, while leading up to and throughout the state election campaign held in 2022.
Media reports, whether digital, electronic, or print, have headlined this concerning matter daily for well over 18 months, in a frenzied attack on the Marshall-led Liberal State Government, laying the blame squarely at their feet, despite ambulance ramping being a national and international occurrence.
Ambulances were regularly chalked to publicise the issue and media statements and emotional advertisements, highlighting its impact and inferring that it was due to the Marshall Government’s policies, which were released and aired incessantly.
To now read the article headlined ‘Nurses sick of corridor care’ (The Advertiser, July 17), I question the Nurse and Midwifery Federation’s sudden expression of concern when responding to these ever-increasing ambulance ramping levels, which are placing lives in danger.
I simply ask why they have taken three years to voice their concerns and have ignored the strategies that were employed when ramping levels were significantly lower?
Ian Macgowan, Ceduna
Nuclear proliferation
Dear editor,
The US and UK were in a race to develop nuclear weapons before the Germans (Heavy Water), and the Japanese also had some research.
Japan consecrated to biological weapons at Unit 731 Manchuria and vivisection plus on POWs and civilians.
Japan’s list of war crimes include the Rape of Nanking 1937 (est. 100,000 to 200,000), Burma Railway, Borneo Death March, the Philippines and not forgetting 343 missionaries in New Guinea, and anywhere they ran amok – both civilians and military.
President Truman had a difficult problem: blockade Japan and starve them, invade Japan with very significant military casualties or Nuclear bombs.
In the meantime both POWs and allied civilians continued to suffer.
Australian forces were in Borneo, a sideshow suffering casualties.
If selected with other imperial forces to invade Japan the Australian casualties would have been significant and seriously affected our post-WWII recovery.
Regrettably, nuclear weapons were developed and now they are spread to some very noxious regimes – Russia, China, North Korea, possibly Iran.
Their tests in Australia both harmed our environment and military, civilians and including indigenous. Maralinga won’t be forgotten!
America might be a mess under Trump but it’s a democracy and a “friend”.
Our relationship is important, but not as a sycophant.
We have come a long way since “all the way with LBJ”.
We need a strong defence force backed up by industry and be self-sufficient – unfortunately none of which we have after years of incompetent governments of both persuasion.
Peter Lock, Port Lincoln
