Community health hits back
By Jeremy Smith
MELBOURNE — Chanting "Save our community centre" and "Fuck Kennett, not health", a spirited rally of 150 people marched through the streets of Collingwood on June 16. Proposals by the Victorian government to cut 80% of the Collingwood Community Health Centre's budget have met an angry response by workers at the centre and the community as a whole.
Of less than $2 million that Kennett wants to cut from the community health budget, $1 million has to come from Collingwood's share. Many in Collingwood feel that this will discriminate against the elderly, migrants and working-class people.
Rod Hudson from the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) told the rally about the importance of the centre to health in the area. One of Melbourne's oldest suburbs, Collingwood has the highest death rates in Victoria, is first home to many recently arrived migrants, contains 28 different ethnic groups and is among the five poorest areas in Australia. The centre caters for clients across the metropolitan area.
Lindsay Tanner, the Labor member for Melbourne, noted that the cuts would turn the centre into an outpatient wing for hospitals. He said that he and others were trying to set up a meeting with Senator Graham Richardson, the federal minister for health, to discuss a possible Commonwealth takeover of responsibility for community health.
Rally organisers promised a future public meeting involving residents from Fitzroy, Carlton and Collingwood to discuss directions for the campaign.