I appealed for help to Nicolle Flint MP on 8 March 2022. It was a waste of effort. The only person in any official capacity who tried to help was Senator Griff, who got nowhere. Flint had no interest in doing the job we Australians were paying her to do.
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Margaret in Seattle, Washington State, USA on the 10th of September 2016.
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Margaret and I in Seattle, Washington State, USA on the 10th of September 2016.
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Appeal to Nicolle Flint MP
This Table summarises the correspondence I sent to local member of Parliament Nicolle Flint MP in March 2022. Flint completely ignored me. She did not seek re-election at the Australian elections in May 2022 and had stopped pretending to do anything to earn her salary at least as early as March 2022.
Letter Details | Length of Correspondence | How Sent | Date of Response | Length of Response | What Did Response Say? |
Email dated 8 March 2022 | 3 pages | Email to Nicolle.Flint.MP@aph.gov.au>; sent at 5:53pm on Tuesday 8 March 2022 | No reply ever received except an automatic response saying no one was ever likely to read my email | 2 lines | No one was interested |
Email dated 9 March 2022 | 2 lines | Email to nflint@aph.gov.au sent at 5:37 pm on Tuesday 8 March 2022 | No reply ever received | Zero length | No reply ever received |
Typed note summarising visit to HCF Marion on Tuesday 8 March 2022 | 3 pages | Email to nflint@aph.gov.au sent at 1:53 pm on Wednesday 9 March 2022 | No reply ever received | Zero length | No reply ever received |
Email dated 11 March 2022 | 3 pages | Email to nflint@aph.gov.au sent at 5:37 pm on Wednesday 9 March 2022 | No reply ever received | Zero length | No reply ever received |
As I left HCF Marion on 8 March 2022 after having been lied to by the Branch Manager Rachael Harwood, I remembered a patient at the Patient Support Meeting on the 7th of March had appealed to Nicolle Flint, Member of Parliament for Boothby. Flint had apparently tried to help her and Flint’s electoral office was close to Marion shopping centre. I decided to make my own complaint to the one already made to Flint.
I called in at Flint’s office immediately after leaving HCF Marion. I spoke at length to an extremely pleasant, sympathetic and competent lady at the main counter. She then spoke to an unnamed supervisor. The counter assistant returned to me crying. She had been told no help was to be given to me.
After returning home, I wrote an email directly to Flint at her official government email address imploring her to help. I sent the email at 5:53 pm that day. I received a computer response saying it was unlikely that anyone would ever read my email. I had wasted my time visiting the electorate office and writing my email.
The email that I wrote to Ms Flint recounted the story of Margaret’s cancer diagnosis, the treatment by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the exercise medicine that Margaret had been receiving from Lift. I recounted the story of the refusal of HCF, Teachers’ Health and NIB to obey the law, my “letter war” with HCF, my attempts to persuade the Ombudsman to intervene, the attempts by Senator Griff to persuade the Minister for Health to intervene and the efforts that she had already made on behalf of one patient of Lift. I said that I hoped that in combination with Senator Griff, she might be able to achieve something.
My email to Flint of 8 March 2022 is available through the link attached to this Blog.
Amongst other things, I said this to Ms Flint.
My own aim is to try and ensure that people who have cancer and who have private health insurance, should get what they think they are paying for. They should have the opportunity – like Margaret – to live perhaps a little longer with a little more quality. If the health funds are permitted to continue acting the way they currently are, this ideal will never happen. I believe that the combined assistance of you plus Senator Griff directly with the Minister for Health, has the potential to make him realise the importance of bringing an end to the current circumstances. What I specifically seek is an urgent meeting involving me, you, Ms Whiting and Senator Griff. At this meeting, we will provide you with complete documentation as to what has happened and how the law has been breached. One factor in the development of this situation is what I believe to be misconduct by Ms Penny Shakespeare of the Department of Health. I believe that Ms Shakespeare has given the Minister misleading information and that she has encouraged the health funds to break the law. I will elaborate on this if we ever get to meet.”
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I never received even a formal acknowledgement of my email. Flint was grabbing her retirement money and had no interest.
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On Wednesday 9 March I typed up detailed notes summarising my visit to HCF Marion on 8 March. I sent these notes to Ms Flint at 1:52 pm at her second, less publicly known official Parliament House email address. The Notes of my visit to HCF Marion clearly demonstrate wilful unlawful action by HCF. I hoped that once Ms Flint read them, she might intervene.
I never received even a formal acknowledgement of this email.
My Notes of my visit to HCF Marion on 8 March 2022 are available through the link attached to this Blog.
My notes.
Email to Griff and Flint.
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At 5:37 pm on Friday 11 March, I resent my 8 March email to Ms Flint’s second, less publicly known Parliament House address.
Dear Ms Flint, I tried to send you this email on Tuesday 8 March 2022 and all I got was an automatic reply saying in essence, no one would bother read the email. The matter is VERY important so I am trying to send it to you again at this address.
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Once again, I received no reply at all from Flint. Her days in Parliament were coming to an end and she obviously had no interest in giving any help to the Lift cancer patient who was her constituent, or to me and Margaret.
I am aware that another cancer patient who was a constituent of Nicolle Flint wrote to her seeking help on the 14th of April 2022. She too was ignored.
I was bitterly disappointed by the refusal of Flint to become involved. Was there no one in any official position who was interested in stamping out the unlawful exploitation of cancer patients by the health insurers? It seemed that the answer was simple. With the sole exception of Senator Griff, no one in any official position was remotely interested in helping.
I did not waste any more energy trying to get Flint to help.
