The bulk billing rebate needs some urgent attention

I would love to ask the Albanese government why the GP's part of the Medicare payment has hardly risen in the last 10 years. Please do something about the low compensation rate for me just seeing a doctor.

BULK billing has operated in different forms since it originated in 1975. At that time the average visits to GP was about six times a year; it is now in excess of 20 visits a year.

The GP in 1975 was the key to the system, with specialists more an adjunct. But as the population has aged, this has consequently seen visits and operations escalate dramatically both in cost and number.

The bulk billed fee is about $40 a visit for a consultation depending on length of time and service provided. A GP practice has tended to develop as a vehicle for referral to specialists and prescriptions. The sustainability of the system is dependent on our GPs.

It has become much more lucrative, as much as ten times more money, to be a specialist. As a result, there are as many specialists as GPs. In my view the system has developed more as a curative system than a preventative one. If we want more prevention, we need GPs paid more with a lot less reliance on referrals and prescriptions.

My solution is to refine the GP schedule to reflect what we want to achieve: less illness, with early intervention from GP, rather than an emphasis on more patient consultations.

The Holden Kingswood worked well in the 1970s and '80s, but like everything, it came time for some serious redesign. It's time to revisit Medicare to align it to the health issues of today, not the 1970s.

WHEN will the so-called powers that be put a stop to vegetable and grocery price gouging from Coles and Woolworths? It has become blatantly obvious to intuitive shoppers that most products have been reduced in either size, content or both, over the last 12 months or so.

I picked it up straight away, shocked at the new size of 75 per cent of my favourite foods as they shrank right under my nose as it were. At first it was a tiny amount of product shrinkage every week or so, then the big push was on, with manufacturers probably receiving less upon delivery. Then we the poor shoppers would be forced to either shop more or buy double.

To make matters worse, the price is rarely reduced. It has often increased. What I find bewildering is how they got the chickens laying smaller eggs, as twice now I have purchased a dozen of what I thought were Extra Large Eggs (as the labelling on the carton said) only to find the size of each egg in the carton was bantam sized. With meat, one would have to take out a loan to eat cutlets or lamb chops. Like I said, these are shocking rip-offs and rorts from companies that we would have once trusted. I find this all absolutely disgusting.

SO the outgoing chief executive of Woolworths, Brad Balducci, throws in his reported job of more than $6 million a year with a payout reportedly upwards $24 million. Hard times, hey? This is while the average Australian earns a little over $1 million in their lifetime.

Something is wrong people are struggling to pay bills and feed their families. What happened to prices down, down? Yes I know that was the other brand, but something is clearly wrong maybe the shareholders don't agree with me. I don't know what else to say; but something is wrong.

As a Ward Four councillor, and fellow Wallsend resident I would like to thank Debbie McIntosh of Wallsend for her feedback on the City of Newcastle's responsiveness to maintenance requests ('Report it, and see it get fixed', Letters 20/2).

I'm pleased to hear that council crews are getting the job done quickly and professionally. Like Ms McIntosh, I would urge residents and ratepayers to report issues they notice, in the knowledge that it will be allocated as soon as possible to the relevant area within council.

For ease of reporting City of Newcastle has an app that you can download to report issues you see so it can be addressed by council. This is a far more effective way of bringing something to City of Newcastle's attention, than whinging on social media.

I WAS just watching Richard Marles announce the additional ships required for the Australian Navy. It's a shame something like this wasn't done in the late 1980s and early '90's when Newcastle had the best ship -building facilities in the country. That is now a lost art on the east coast of Australia. It would be great if it could start up again.

WHAT'S "sad", Mark Olsen of Eleebana, is that the site for the Supercars races was a residential suburb that has existed for at least the past century and a half and has already long been under stress due to its location. I've got an idea: find a proper race track for your Supercars or better still, ask your neighbours what they think about transferring it to Eleebana. You might also consider the long term hearing problems, especially for children, which the NSW senior medical officer admitted was a serious health issue.

ONCE again, the illustrious lord mayor of Newcastle has managed to shrug off a challenge. Now it's up to the voters of Newcastle. I'm not holding my breath.

DAVID Jennings "Batteries can go the distance" Letters 19/2, is right, lithium-ion batteries are potentially 95 percent recyclable. But then so is just about everything else on the planet. It is just the cost and energy required to do it that is the problem. These batteries would require more energy to recover them than the total amount of energy you got out of them in the first place. Why would you do it? That's battery dreaming. Let's face it, it's not going to happen soon.

How good was it to see our positive Prime Minister in town last week? And congratulations to him on his engagement. So much for our very negative leader of the opposition. Has anyone ever seen him smile? We do not need Peter Dutton leading this country.

SO Albo and Jodie getting married is considered a political ploy by Clive Jensen? Maybe Barnaby Joyce should consider it. Oh wait, he tried that.