UPDATED: The Finocchiaro CLP Government has announced a $10 million “support package” for St John Ambulance to recruit more paramedics amid a crisis situation with the ambulance provider, which comes while the government has pledged to expedite negotiations on a new five-year service contract that expired in January, while the union says the latest cash injection is not near enough to fix the problems.
St John ordered a “code white” two times in a week for the Darwin region earlier this month as ambulance operations were plunged into a “critical system failure”, meaning demands on the provider could not be met, which created a high likelihood of harm to patients.
How many users of the St John Ambulance services actually pay tax? Actually earning an income and paying more tax into the system than they take out of it? What is the percentage?
We’re a “collective” where some people pay a whole lot into the system while others do nothing but take from the system.
We need a better balance.