Coulton's Catch Up - May 16, 2023

Far West students visit Canberra

I had some fabulous visitors at Parliament House last Wednesday morning. A student group, all the way from the Broken Hill School Of The Air, as well as Tibooburra and White Cliffs, joined me to learn more about our government.

These students were so curious and asked many questions — they are a tribute to their teachers and parents. I shared with them part of my story, which started in farming, and made the point to them that they too, could one day be a member of parliament — the future is theirs!

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Meeting with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association

Last Wednesday afternoon, I met with the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) of Australia to discuss the work they do in advocating for access to education for rural and remote students. The ICPA has done much to ensure children and young people in isolated areas have the telecommunications and support the need to access educational materials and receive necessary schooling.

If a family is out droving, their kids still need to get their schoolwork done as they move across remote locations. The ICPA helps families like this — I commend the work they do and I was glad to sit down with them and discuss.

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Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, expresses concerns

National president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Dr Fei Sim, met me in Canberra last week to raise concerns around recent changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to allow 60-day dispensing of medications.

The PSA is the only national peak body representing all of Australia’s 35,000 pharmacists, working across all sectors and locations, including in our towns and hospitals. Some of their concerns regarding this change include: the viability of many pharmacies; medicine shortages; wastage of medications: and medicine misadventure.

We discussed risks posed to our elderly, who may be more likely to experience confusion around daily dosages when they have access to twice as much medication. I continue to have concerns around the potentially-negative impacts of this change in the electorate of Parkes.