Commenting on the story: ‘No time to pee’: Junior doctors build unpaid overtime case against SA Health

About time. Has been going on for decades since I was a junior doctor in mid 80s and before. Completely unacceptable. – Dr John Meegan

This practice has been in place since I was a junior medical officer 45 years ago, but with the changes in work conditions has become far more salient.

Many specialist trainees whom I mentor complain that they are told not to bother claiming overtime as it will not be paid. The persons who sign off on their pay sheets are indeed often involved in the process of their appointment to training positions in the future, and this dichotomy provides them with the power to make or break the trainees’ futures.

Those in  power are also being pressured from above to reduce costs, and by restraining those staffing costs, tend to rise well above others in administrative positions faster. It is about time the that clock punching came into the equation again, then there is an independent record of hours worked.

A trial of this process to bring the medical officers in line with the rest of the employees was abandoned very quickly after it was discovered that the doctors’ wages under that system were 20% more than before. As I recall there were two fortnightly cycles so managed, then a reversion to the old method of timesheets. It is way past time to ensure that our future medicos are treated with respect by their employers. – John Taylor

Commenting on the story: New $80m aquatic centre site revealed

The ‘elephant in the room’ regarding this park lands decision by State Labor is the content of its survey held in June.

Labor has been silent about the explicit results (about 900 responses). The party has instead overlaid this ‘public response’ with the results of a limited, 12-person ‘community reference group’, which subsequently met and dutifully followed the implied guidelines and kept their responses restricted to a park-lands-only solution.

One question in the June survey allowed respondents to reject all three park lands options and nominate sites elsewhere. Immediate release of full results of the June survey would allow Labor to avoid suggestions of a non-transparent process, deliberately crafted to get the ‘endorsement’ that Labor wanted. Premier and Lucy Hood, will you immediately release full particulars of responses to the June survey? – John Bridgland 

Commenting on the story: Ex-Liberal staffer awarded $650,000 damages payout

Until the politicians are held personally accountable for their behaviour and responsible for these payments, their behaviour is unlikely to change. – Keith Gillard