The aim of this petition is to bring to the attention of the NSW Parliament our concern at the current Government's proposal to place the running of our hospital into the hands of private operators.

However, I would like to correct the ‘cronies’ statement made by Goulburn MP Pru Goward about the protest at the Lilac City Festival.

The protest was organised by the NSW Nurses & Midwives Association and Goulburn District Unions. Nurses formed the majority of participants in the protest. We appreciated the support of Dr Ursula Stephens and her husband Bob at this event.

We had a silent protest. We only cheered twice to celebrate the Goulburn Achiever of the Year and to support the wonderful Lilac City Festival organisers.

We are hoping all those who are opposed to the privatisation of our Goulburn Base Hospital will join us on Saturday, October 8 at the Soldiers Club from 12.30pm to participate in a 'door to door' campaign to inform the community about the implications of such a privatisation.

I am at a loss to understand the complete indifference shown to Goulburn by the State Liberal/National Party. The list of changes to our town are long and make sad reading.

Our State Member for Goulburn electorate, the Hon. Pru Goward, seems strangely silent in Parliament in putting our case for improvements. Where else can we, the people, let our objections to what is happening to our hospital be known except in a public space when finally our State Member is visible? It is our right to let our views still be heard in public.

There was the fiasco with the improvement of the train timetable; the gutting of our TAFE; the ongoing case of dismissing teachers at the local jail and replacing them with counsellors.

While I agree the greyhound racing industry needs a major overhaul, the way this was bought in did not see Ms Goward making a stand for the people of her electorate as other Parliamentarians did.

Privatisation is the only explanation we are ever given, which takes the ownership of assets paid for by the whole population of NSW, and given to a minority to increase their wealth. We all realise there will be price increases with any asset sold.

Once sold, there is little or no governorship by the State over how and when they are provided. We desperately need a Government who will consider all in this State.

I am most concerned by the proposed closure of the Bourke Street Medical Centre: concerned that a minor ripple in the annals of health care delivery should merit front page coverage (Post, 5/10).

But firstly, speaking of minor politically initiated ripples, may I turn to the recent Census. I suspected that the Census would have some positive repercussions for Gouburn. There was every hope that the population of greater Goulburn would officially exceed 30,000 once again – with all the benefits that might bring – socially and commercially. We even thought Goulburn might get a Spotlight store at last.

Well, the results of the Census will be (with a grain of luck) available in five or six years’ time, but already the positives are flowing through!

Pause for a moment and consider the benefits the closure of the Bourke Street Medical Centre in a year's time might bring us.

I acknowledge at the outset that the basis for the expertise in the area of State-administered health care is simply that I have spent various periods in State-run psychiatric hospitals in NSW over the past 30 years.

Maybe my experience is limited, but it was always clear to me that that the most efficacious drug administered in those worthy institutions was nicotine. That settled us down like nothing else; but, of course, nicotine was cheaper then.

Getting back to the challenge at hand: the pros and cons of the Centre closure. Now, I've always thought that palliative care has a very limited future. Oncology is very much the poor bedfellow of liposuction – I might come back to that subject later. Euthanasia education springs to mind. Mental health, I've always found, is best dispensed at the end of a hypodermic (why are these disposable, by the way? That is so wasteful!) Anyway, the ABC has a week of mental health documentaries coming up, so that should go a long way to solving this one.

I would outsource the 21-bed Marian Unit on Gumtree in about 10 minutes; likewise the hugely overrated mental health facility Giles Court (see previous). Brain injuries are best left to that Charlie Teo guy and he can hardly be everywhere at once. He does have four kids to look after, remember.

Finally, hydrotherapy pools give off an unpleasant chlorine odour, and – holy Toledo – have you seen the public liability premiums they attract?

My advice is simple (as I'm often told): hospitals come and hospitals go, but the science of political expediency goes on forever. Hospitals may find themselves ‘shirt-fronted’ here and abroad, but in my experience they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get back to the business of caring for the community. Like teachers, I suppose. And public servants. Lots of us.