GP’s Down Under

I’m not a Facebook fan and had deactivated my account. But GP’s Down Under is a closed group and has become a valued forum for both the practical and political in Australian general practice. This was my initial post there after reactivating my account and joining.

Facebook post 27/7/26

I’m Gavin, a GP/ED SMO type person based in Far North Queensland, and I’m a bit reluctantly standing for the RACGP presidency. I’m concerned we are missing some urgent issues outside our core work and concerns which will swamp any incremental changes the College may achieve. The College website has a link to my candidate statement, my intro video, my CV and my website so feel free to have a read.

TL;DR: I’m not trying to sell myself to College voters but trying to introduce some ideas and a sense of urgency into the election mix and wondering if we as a profession are up for using our trusted status and moral authority to have an impact beyond our consulting rooms and Colleges.

The mid-length version:

We are in extraordinary times – our largest ally is fighting or supporting endless wars, rolling back the rights of women, deporting immigrants, erasing indigenous and black history, dismantling environmental protections, and criminalising antifascism (which may be all you need to know).

Happily, none of this is on the agenda here. Our politicians and public servants are not obeying in advance, there is no chance they see their current roles as job interviews for lucrative positions in the colonial administration of the new empire, anti-immigrant rhetoric isn’t spreading like a bad rash, and we are steadily sorting out how to deal with our past and present relationship with the first nations inhabitants of this amazing continent and its islands. Or not.

Yes, there are a lot of threats to general practice as we know it but I fear these will only be amplified under any future Australian government which abandons the ideals of fairness and democracy in favour of a free for all pursuit of money and wealth concentration.

I’ve plenty to say on hot GP issues such as the role of pharmacies, the impact of LLM’s, Medicare shenanigans, growing conflicts of interest between practice owners and other GPs, etc. So ask me. But while these are important, we can’t afford to lose sight of the big stuff.

Things we could do together as a College might include:

·      Proactively advocating for full spectrum women’s health

·      Resisting attempts to stifle criticism of any government which ignores international law

·      Standing up for our own immigrant members and calling out hate speech against those less privileged

·      Refusing to stand by while we are led towards a war in our region.

And not to forget the need to strengthen relationships within the College (ideally via a sortition-selected advocacy council of ordinary members), and joining with and encouraging other Colleges and professional associations.

So, take a look at the candidate information on the College website, maybe have a bit of a read outside the box, ask difficult questions, and above all get out and vote.