Wisdom for the Scoffers

and plenty of doses to go round

An interview last week by Dr John Campbell with Australian journalist Alison Bevege caught my attention. It showed a Forest of the Fallen installation set up around the site of a new mRNA factory to be built in the heart of Sydney.

I was out at Macquarie University during the week and the site is on the university campus. I had to take a look for myself. It’s at the far end of the large campus. The Macquarie site was originally set in bushland, and has some nice green areas.

I found the site of the proposed mRNA plant and I took a photo literally as the last trees had been felled to be carted away. I find it a bit depressing when trees have to get chopped down for no good reason.

Alison has written an excellent, well researched, article here:

GOLD RUSH: Australia spends millions on mRNA factories all over a nation that can't even produce IV drip bags

Alison also points out the contradiction of building a facility for technology, of questionable benefit to the country, when at the same time there is a worldwide shortage of intravenous saline bags, which we can’t manufacture in Australia.

This is a topic of importance in terms of resilience of the country. In the uncertain times we find ourselves, where we need to invest in complex military equipment because we fear foreign threats, at the same time Australia has little or no capability to manufacture essential products, that will definitely be needed if we get into a scrap.

In this article from one year ago, it points out that Australia has 59 days’ worth of storage of fuel stocks. This article has some more details of where we find ourselves in terms of fuel security. We have a very limited capacity to refine fuels. The major refineries have all shut down and we rely on imported fuel. The push for renewable energy is a barrier to investing in local fuel refineries. However, one would think that it has to be recognised that there is going to be essential equipment that will still rely on fuels in years to come, eg backup generators, large construction vehicles, and it is going to be a very long time before they are replaced with alternative energy sources. I can’t see batteries powering tanks, ships or planes for some time to come.

There is a worldwide shortage of medical saline bags and of course Australia doesn’t manufacture these on shore. I suspect it’s partly because of our relatively expensive workforce compared to the countries that do manufacture it. If we were to go to war, I suspect saline bags might be useful.

Dialysis patients being cut back on treatment

Two weeks ago, it came out that there are not enough resources to treat all dialysis patients in Western Sydney (ABC article breaking the news here). Patients have had their dialysis time cut back potentially leading to adverse consequences.

This had to come out as if it needed whistleblowers to make the public aware of this. It has taken numerous doctors banding together to write to the NSW State Health Minister to make them aware of this. One has to ask what the Health Department actually does? One would think that they are in constant consultation with the field to know what is going on and what are the needs. Apparently, the State of Tasmania had alerted of this problem eighteen months ago.

Important to note that Saline is an important component of dialysis.

But new technologies like mRNA appear exciting, from a research point of view. It leads to new jobs for which we can potentially compete on the world stage.

Australia has big challenges ahead and has an extreme lack of ability to think at a system level.

This interaction (6 minutes), in a Senate Committee, by one of the few Senators in Australia questioning behaviour of the health authorities, Senator Gerrard Rennick, is worth looking at to understand what we are dealing with.

We spent $18 Billion on COVID vaccines for 300 million doses. Senator Rennick asks why we bought the number of doses we did?

…when if every Australian got 2 doses that would be only 50 million doses. The important point is that this purchase was made at the time the public were told that two doses only were required to protect from COVID with near perfect effectiveness. A future Royal Commission may shed some light on this decision making and the timings.

The bureaucrats don’t seem to know where the 18 Billion number comes from! This one wants to know “the context of what was put forward”.

Senator Rennick:

“You can’t have it both ways, you can’t say two doses of the vaccine is effective and then go out and buy 12 doses costing extra billions of dollars.”

Bureaucrat:

Senator, I do think we have to be careful about recreating the past, in the present…so that was a precautionary approach.”

Senator Rennick:

That’s a new line I’ve not heard before: “we have to be careful about recreating the past.” Is that double speak for: “we stuffed up and don’t want to be held accountable?” As for the precautionary approach, I don’t seem to recall too much precaution was being taken when people were reporting injuries. Gaslighting yes - precaution no.

Ha, reminds me of being “unburdened by what has been”. In the middle of the video you can see the disdain the bureaucrats have for the questions and they stuff around with no intention to show accountability.

My take:

“In the context of what was put forward”, “being careful about recreating the past”, the uncertainty and inaccuracy with which the health authorities did any calculations for important items, which they now don’t know where they came from

One wonders what else they have miscalculated?

Final Thoughts

This is the situation we find ourselves in. We are working out next steps following the disappointing report from the Excess Mortality Inquiry. There is much work to be done and I am launching into an important project, for which there are some expenses.

I am going to turn on subscriptions for this substack, all funds for which will go to the project. Several readers have generously already made pledges.

I realise that a lot of substacks have recently recently seeking subscriptions because they have probably dropped off as now everyone is fatigued from the last 3 years. There are also so many good writers and it is impossible for people to fund all the one’s they find useful.

I’m not going to change the access to the articles, but I am thinking that we could have a zoom call for paid subscribers once a month to delve into detail on data topics. I’ll do that for an Australian time and overseas times.

Wisdom for Scoffers

In the readings for today on Father Dave’s Sunday service, a verse from the Old Testament (Proverbs 1 verse 22) on Wisdom caught my attention:

“How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge”

It’s a relevant passage from long ago (Proverbs 1: 20-33). It made me think of the “scoffing” bureaucrats.

We will provide them with some knowledge.