Our mental health system is broken

Lisbeth Latham

Yesterday, I arrived home from a month in hospital. Today, I opened an invoice from Ambulance Victoria for ~$1200 for the cost of transporting me from my home to a public hospital, where they tried to discharge me, because “they didn’t think it was in my interest to be hospitalised”, “they didn’t know what was in my interest, but hospitalisation wasn’t”. It had been my fifth trip to an Emergency Department this year, the previous four, including the one the day prior had been “unsuccessful” despite telling the nurse, “if you send me home I will kill myself”, however this visit, unlike the previous four, was “involuntary” as when I rang the mental health triage and was told “you refused assistance yesterday”, I hung up saying “I will just kill myself then”. So, they called the police and an ambulance was sent because while me saying “I’m really scared I will hurt myself and need help” failed to elicit the support I was seeking, the hanging up provoked a response, of two police cars and an ambulance.

The $1200 was a shock, I don’t have to pay it, my insurer will, but if I wasn’t insured or wasn’t a member of Ambulance Victoria, I would have been hit with a $1200 invoice because the system failed me when I asked politely, and only responded when I escalated.

To add insult to injury, once I was admitted to hospital, I was told very quickly that there was nothing they could do for me because the public system is not equipped to deal with people with borderline. I would need to go private if I wanted assistance that would help me. Which was something I was able to do, at a cost of ~$16, 000 to my insurer, but millions of people in Australia do not have that option. Our system is broken, it fails people who desperately need help and just rejects them and adds insult to injury.

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France: NPA's Olivier Besancenot calls on all anti-capitalist forces to "act collectively"

Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Pierre Duquesne
l'Humanite

"I would be annoyed to make the umpteenth unitary call," warned Olivier Besancenot. Yes but here it is: the radical left resembles, in the aftermath of the Europeans, a "field of ruins". This is why the spokesman of the Parti Nouveau Anticapitaliste (NPA) on Sunday called "all those camps the resistant to Macron and to the far right" to act and to be heard "together". He invites the militants of France Insoumise, the Lutte Ovrière, the libertarian organizations, the Générations, the Communist Party, the anti-fascist organizations, the ecologists, the district militants, the syndicalists and all those who find themselves "intuitively in a space both anti-capitalist and internationalist policies" to "collective action". "What we miss is not a captain, a coach. It is to act together, " urged the spokesman of the NPA. As for the RN (National Rally [Marine Le Pen's new party]), "the worst enemy of the working class", its strength is explained above all by "the weakness of the left forces".

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France: The urgency of building an anti-capitalist and internationalist alternative

Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste
Tuesday, May 28 2019
The results of the European elections confirm the political crisis in France as in Europe: 50% abstention, votes for the extreme right very high, government parties globally discredited but which safeguard their electoral capital. Against capitalism, for social justice, there is still a voice for the world of work.

The extreme right threatens 
As in 2014, the National Gathering comes first, based on the rejection of the European Union to deflect anger in the field of racism and the struggle of all against all. 

With its associates in Italy, Belgium or Hungary, it embodies a mortal danger: that of the fiercest competition between the countries, with the dramatic consequences that would ensue for the popular classes, for women, for immigrants, and for all democratic and social rights.

Government parties save their seats
Although completely disavowed by the mobilizations of these past months, Macron and LREM managed to limit the damage. Similarly, in Germany and the Spanish state, the right or the PS are maintained although their policies have also been rejected by the people. These forces will dominate the future European Parliament, which shows once again the undemocratic nature of these institutions.

These formations are like ramparts against the extreme right. But it is the policies they lead, of social rights, privatization, contempt against the working classes, which actually feed the extreme right.

The Greens scored high on growing environmental concerns and mobilization for climate justice. With around 30% of the vote, the left parties are globally at their lowest, paying for their participation in liberal policies, particularly in the context of the European Union, their division and the difficulties of social mobilization that are struggling to win.

Fight, debate, build 
The economic, social, ecological crisis will continue to grow stronger and the choice to make is more and more clear: is the far right taking more and more space - up to the taking of power? - because the government parties will not stop the far-right's progress, or will the world of work manage to overcome its weaknesses to build a real alternative to liberal and/or nationalist policies?

It is futile to want to arrange the system. We need a radical left, independent of the institutions, anti-capitalist and internationalist, for the revolutionary break with the system, whose centre of gravity is the concrete defence of the world of work.

 There is an urgent need to build a political representation for all the exploited. Without denying the disagreements that exist, by the discussion and the confrontation of the points of view, we want to work for the unity of our social camp, to be able to unite to act against the government, against the repression, for our social demands, democratic and ecological. It is already possible to coordinate so that the struggles win together instead of losing one after the other. For these mobilizations, to this work of construction, urgent and necessary, the NPA intends to do our all to play our part.

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UNISON seeks peaceful resolution in Venezuela

Statement by UNISON
6 February 2019

UNISON has called on the government to promote dialogue to foster a peaceful solution to the Venezuelan crisis, instead of stoking tensions.

The UK has joined a number of countries, including Germany, France, Spain, the US, Canada and several Latin American countries, in endorsing Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan opposition leader and president of the national assembly, who has declared himself interim president of Venezuela.

UNISON is concerned at the escalation of international interference, including the possibility of military intervention, in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.

The union vehemently rejects a militarised solution to this crisis; the people of Latin America have not forgotten the history of US-backed military rule in the region.

UNISON believes that Venezuelans need to resolve their differences through constructive dialogue and democratic processes, without resorting to violence.

International intervention risks intensifying existing political divisions and inflaming tensions that are the consequence of the severe social and economic crisis facing the country.

UNISON calls on the government to abstain from seeking regime change and intervening in the sovereign affairs of Venezuela. Instead, the UK should promote stability through constructive dialogue with the international community.

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CUPE Statement on the situation in Venezuela

Canadian Union of Public Employees
January 25, 2019

On January 23, Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan opposition leader and president of their national assembly, declared himself to be the interim national president of Venezuela.

The Canadian government was one of the first governments in the world to declare support for Juan Guaidó. In doing so, they have chosen to side with a self-declared leader over President Nicolás Maduro, who was duly elected by the people of Venezuela. They have also chosen to side with Donald Trump and US foreign policy.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) rejects any attempt by the Canadian government to interfere with the democratic processes and sovereignty of the Venezuelan people. Given the history of US involvement in the region, the actions of Guaidó have all the signs of a coup d’Etat. We warn Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against playing any role in bringing about regime change in another country.

The people of Venezuela have the right to determine their economic and political future. CUPE believes Canada has an important role to play in the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, by providing humanitarian support. We also believe Canada should engage with the international community to foster dialogue and peace between the elected government and the opposition.

CUPE offers our solidarity to the Venezuelan people.

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Workers Uniting: Our Statement on Venezuela's Unelected President

January 25, 2019

Workers Uniting joins the democratic trade unions of the Western Hemisphere, represented in the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, in condemning the US-led recognition of an unelected opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as president of Venezuela. Workers Uniting also condemns the actions of the governments of the UK, Canada and other countries that have slavishly followed the US lead.

Over the past 20 years the US has endeavoured to destabilise Venezuela with economic warfare and a financial blockade in their attempt to assert its influence and control over the oil, gold and mineral-rich country. These actions, which clearly violate international law, now culminate in the recognition of an unelected opposition leader as president of the country - effectively a right-wing coup attempt.

Workers Uniting strongly condemns the US threat of military action and its attempt to add Venezuela to the list of state sponsors of terrorism in order to justify such action.

The problems and difficulties that exist in Venezuela must be resolved democratically by the Venezuelan people, free from outside coercion. We encourage the international community to follow the initiative of Mexico and Uruguay to promote a new process of inclusive and credible negotiations with full respect for the rule of law and human rights.

Workers Uniting is the global union - representing more than two million workers in Canada, Ireland, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States - formed by UNITE the Union, the United Steelworkers, and the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores Mineros, Metalúrgicos, Siderúrgicos y Similares de la República Mexicana (Los Mineros).

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Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns the coup attempt in Venezuela

A statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)

COSATU condemns the imperialist attack fostered mainly by the United State government, under the helm of Donald Trump, to overthrow the constitutionally elected government through a coup d'état.

Venezuela has, for while, been at the receiving end of multi-forms of aggression and economic sabotage spearheaded by the US. The most recent aggression comes after the US refusal to recognise the legitimate electoral process that took place in May 2018. This despite the fact that everything was done in accordance with the laws and norms that govern the Venezuelan electoral system.

COSATU stands firmly in solidarity with the people of Venezuela in their struggle to assert their national independence, right to self-determination and justice. We implore Venezuela to never surrender the rights of its People and the resources of its territory to the will or caprice of foreign powers.

The federation also calls on the governments of the world and all progressive forces to speak out and wage a fight against the United States of America. This is the time for strengthened solidarity networks in defence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in ensuring that their self-determination and their own kind of democracy prevails.

We offer our solidarity to the leadership of the Bolivarian revolution led by President Nicolas Maduro, who is under attack from the imperialist forces and their internal rightwing agents.

Issued by COSATU

Sizwe Pamla (Cosatu National Spokesperson)
Tel: 011 339 4911
Fax: 011 339 5080
Cell: 060 975 6794

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