Mefloquine info sessions in Townsville next week
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Information sessions in Townsville next week will address the services and support available to current and former members of the Australian Defence Force concerned about mefloquine.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Dan Tehan said six information sessions would be held in Townsville over three days from 13 to 15 December.
“The sessions are open to current and former ADF members and their support networks,” Mr Tehan said.
“The information sessions have been developed by the DVA–Defence Links Steering Committee in consultation with other Department of Veterans’ Affairs forums, including the Ex-Service Organisation Round Table and the Younger Veterans – Contemporary Needs Forum.
“Staff from DVA, the Repatriation Medical Authority (RMA) and Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service (VVCS) will run the sessions, which will comprise formal presentations and Q&As.
“The Townsville outreach program will cover a range of topics, including how to lodge a claim with DVA, the role of the RMA, the Statements of Principles regime, comprehensive GP health assessments, mental health treatment, At Ease resources, and support available through VVCS.
Minister Tehan said multiple sessions would be held over the three days so that as many people as possible who are interested in attending could come at a time that suited them.
“Staff from participating agencies will also be available to provide one-on-one assistance with claims enquiries and to arrange mental health support for anyone who may need it.
“All material provided to attendees of the outreach program will be available online, supplementing current information on both DVA and Defence websites.
“A review of the information sessions will inform DVA’s ongoing consultation with the community.”
The information sessions will be held at the Townsville VAN Office – 1st Floor, 520 Flinders Street, Townsville on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, 13 December 10.00am–12.00pm and 5.30pm–7.30pm
Wednesday, 14 December 12.00pm–2.00pm and 5.30pm–7.30pm
Thursday, 15 December 10.00am–12.00pm and 12.00pm–2.00pm
Attendees are asked to register by emailing their name and the session they wish to attend to mefloquine.outreach@dva.gov.au or telephone (07) 4722 3347.
For more information, visit www.dva.gov.au/mefloquine
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This is just a re-printed government press release. Have you thought about interviewing any of those affected, to get the real story?
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/pm-must-support-diggers-used-as-drug-guinea-pigs-writes-army-officer-stuart-mccarthy/news-story/2361e81f35fc6ba052cb92087f967fa1
Sorry James, I don’t have the resources to follow up on stories.
This is a privately owned and operated site where news, information, features, photos, video etc that I feel are relevant to my audience (whom I have come to know over 14 years) are curated, and filtered through my particular set of taught/learnt ‘journalistic principals’ (and, yes, I am using one man singular language to describe how this web site operates).
In fairness, the above story is not actually a direct copy and paste of Dan Tehan’s press release. I carefully edit these things to suit CONTACT’s ‘reporting style and preferences’. Most of it is subtle, like removing Dan Tehan from the first line and introducing him in the second – removing irrelevant, gratuitous and blatantly political BS – for example a whole line that said “The information sessions deliver another Turnbull Government election commitment,” Mr Tehan said – though some might argue that this line might possibly hint at the level of bias the information sessions may have been subjected to.
Generally, I also remove other shite such as ‘The Honourable’ etc (though I will say Mr Tehan doesn’t use this, but most others do – for example Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP and Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne).
By the way – I can’t read the article in the Herald Sun you linked to, because it’s protected behind a firewall I have to pay a monthly subscription fee to get through. It’s that subscription fee, the tonnes of advertising and the general resources of News Corporation that gives the Herald Sun the resources needed to follow up on stories. That said, though, I don’t think the Melbourne-based, profit-driven Herald Sun would give a rats arse about mefloquine (or Aussie soldiers) if there wasn’t a government-bashing opportunity in it or some other scandal-based newspaper-selling ‘angle’ to be whipped up. Proof of point – I note that the Herald Sun or another, more closely ‘interested’ News Corporation newspaper, the Townsville Bulletin, didn’t actually follow up after the information sessions either. I’ve searched both newspapers’ web sites and there’s no stories on this subject posted after the Townsville info sessions.
I also note (from the headline of the story in the Herald Sun hyperlink you sent) that the Herald Sun article was actually written by an Army officer – not a Herald Sun journalist. If you are intimately concerned with this subject, then I invite you to write your perspective here in comments, or as a letter to the editor in the magazine, or submit as a personal blog in our Blog Spot – you could even win a Leatherman Skeletool RX Rescue.
The bottom line is, while I am actually more interested and sympathetic to this and other military issues than News Corporation is, I don’t have the resources to follow up on stories myself – but I do have this web site/magazine/FaceBook etc here with an open invitation for you or anyone else to communicate through.
I look forward to hearing from you.