John Singleton Advertising, full page ad for Western District Health Fund, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 2, 1986, p. 11.

HEADLINE: I got sacked for telling the truth about Medicare.
SECONDARY HEADLINE: This is the truth.
BYLINE: John Singleton
PHOTO OF VICTIM AT WORK BEFORE SACKING: Picture of John Singleton behind Radio 2KY microphone, wearing headphones, in sound booth.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE: Image of excerpt from letter giving reasons for Singleton’s sacking. The letter has numbered points. We only see #3, which reads as follows:

3. Medicare
You have raised on a number of occasions the issue of Medicare and in all instances seem to present an unbalanced view, which is contrary to the policies of the Labor Council of N.S.W.

On every occasion your commentary as to the current dispute between the visiting Medical Specialists and the Federal Government concerning the operation of Medicare has also been in conflict with the policies of the Labor Council of N.S.W.

In all instances you have presented a view which is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of your contract with the station.

4. TAB Scratchings

You have repeatedly interrupted or made adverse remarks either before, during or after the T.A.B. …

LONG COPY:
Our hospitals are sick.
Medicare might be great in theory. But ultimately all you get for nothing is nothing. Every day the media reports how Medicare is and will continue to be a disaster. Similar plans have failed in Great Britain and Canada, and the same thing will happen here. You only have to look at the waiting lists at hospitals to see that.
Our doctors are sick of it.
Doctors need incentives to work harder, just like the rest of us. Doctors refuse to be treated like slaves, and do exactly what they are told, when they are told. Just like the rest of us. Without the co-operation of doctors, Medicare will not work. Cannot work. And is not working.
And you’d better not get sick.
If you can’t afford or don’t have private health insurance, all you can do is hope for the best. Hope you don’t have to wait in casualty for four hours. Hope there is a doctor there.
Hope that the doctor who treats you and your child in an emergency has been out of medical school or off the boat for more than 10 minutes. If he is a competent doctor, hope he hasn’t been working all night. Hope they can have you x-rayed that day or at least the next.
Hope that the hospital has the bed, the facilities and the experience you need. Hope they can find a theatre to set your fracture or take out your appendix that day. Hope that your kid never needs speech therapy. Or physiotherapy, or a chiropractor, none of which are covered by Medicare.
Is this good enough for your family?
A smashed knee sold me on Western District.
I used to belong to one of the big two medical funds.
I switched to Western District out of loyalty. They advertised on my radio programme, so I supported them.
I didn’t think about it until a smashed knee put me into hospital.
Well, they paid for my ward and hospital costs, I expected that.
But what I didn’t expect was $50 per day compensation (now increased to $60 per day) for not being able to work while I was in hospital.
What other fund would look after you like that, at no extra cost?
If I wasn’t a member, I wouldn’t write this ad.
I believe that Western District is friendlier than any of the bigger medical funds.
No other fund can beat them for range of services or price. They try harder to look after you, because they’re a smaller fund, and your business is important to them. I am a member of Western District, and I entrust my family’s medical security to their care.
Complete peace of mind, less than two lousy bucks a day.
Western District Medicover, with dental, optical, physiotherapy, speech therapy, overseas illness costs, chiropractor, naturopath, and many more benefits Medicare ignores will cost you $6.40 a week for a family.
For only $9.80 a week your family gets hospital cover.
Can you afford to be without this kind of protection?
[The long copy continues …]

[For more fierce neglected Australian political writings on healthcare, see this collection.]