The Magazine of St Aloysius' College • 'Men for Others' • Issue XLVII ...

2020 Summit, Canberra 19 and
20 April
Two Old Boys recently took part in the 2020 Summit
held in Canberra. Michael L’Estrange (SAC 1970) who
is the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade, and Dr John Kramer (SAC 1971), representing
Rural Doctors, spoke at the event. The following report was
written by Dr John Kramer.
Well, how do you sum up an event such as this?
It’s never been done before in Australia and was
producing a variety of responses before it even
started. However, for this participant and, I suspect, for the
large majority who attended, it was an utterly stimulating
occasion. It left me with a strong sense of optimism for the
future of Australia.
My detailed impressions were formed mainly through
involvement in the stream entitled, Towards the Future of
Rural Industry and Communities. This was one of ten streams
which addressed key areas such as Health, the Economy
and Indigenous Australia. I also spoke with a number of
“summiteers” during the session breaks and attended the
various plenary sessions, which were a mixture of panelstyle
interviews or personal viewpoints from selected
speakers, some live and some pre-recorded. All that was
interesting, but the heart of the exercise was in the individual
groups where we could get to know each other on a much
more personal level and to work cooperatively on our areas
of special interest.
Each session was co-chaired by one expert and the
current relevant minister. In my case it was former Deputy
Prime Minister and National Party Leader, The Hon Tim
Fischer, together with Agriculture Minister, The Hon Tony
Burke MP. I sensed that the current ministers had stepped
back from their portfolio and left most of the active
management to their co-chairs. I never felt constrained as
to what ideas I might bring forward and how they might
be presented to the group. The major limitation was time,
Tim Fischer and John Kramer at 2020 Summit, 19 April 2008.
not goodwill or opportunity. We worked in various sized
groups, ranging from the full group of 100 down to sub
–groups of around 25 which divided further downwards to
groups of 5-7 to consider specific issues.
The combined group met on a number of occasions.
The venue was the Opposition Party Room. This led to the
incongruous sight of Tim Fischer and Tony Burke co-chairing
the meetings which took place in a room where photos of
Liberal Party Leaders from Sir Robert Menzies to Brendan
Nelson adorned the walls!
And so to the issues: these were many and varied, and
there were many that were considered by other groups as
well as mine. Rural Health is a major concern to all rural
residents, so I found ready ears for my message of enhanced
support for rural GPs and families to better recruit and retain
them. I emphasised the need for the spouse/partner of the
GP to be considered as well. Their employment needs must
be seen as of equal importance, along with issues such as
education for children and suitable housing.
The major national health problem was clearly indigenous
health. This is best illustrated by the seventeen-year gap in
life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous
Australians. Extinguishing the gap was cited by the Prime
Minister, Kevin Rudd, as an immediate priority for Australia.
Few, if any, would disagree.
The Rural Group learnt a new phrase which seemed
to resonate with most. “Easy Entry, Gracious Exit” is the
term coined by NSW Rural Doctors’ Network CEO, Dr Ian
Cameron, another 2020 Summiteer, to describe the process
by which a pre-determined entity such as a Division of
General Practice and Local Government, takes responsibility
for all aspects of practice management. This frees the GP
up to see patients only and attend to related duties. The
doctor has no need to locate premises, hire or fire staff, do
BAS statements and so on. They have guaranteed locum
relief together with adequate recreational and study leave.
When the time comes to go they can depart in an orderly
manner with the worries of self-replacement removed. This
could well become the model of General Practice in most
parts of rural and remote Australia. Regional Australia
would perhaps continue with the existing model, although it
should be noted that the “corporates” are taking an interest
in these towns now.
One issue which I felt obliged to highlight was the
parlous state of the Pacific Highway on the North Coast
of NSW. I travel on it daily and pass an ever increasing
number of crosses marking the sites of fatal accidents. Only
two weeks ago two semi trailers collided between Coffs
Harbour and Woolgoolga. One driver was killed, either by
trauma or incineration, or both. The Highway was blocked
most of the day and long diversions were mandatory. The
only positive was that B-Doubles were sent back to the New
England Highway for the day. Such accidents are regular
events. At the current rate it will take until 2020 or longer to
achieve the required divided dual carriageway and town
bypasses from Newcastle to Tweed Heads. How many
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