Aussie Political Campaign Promises Medical iPads

The Labor Party in the Australian state of Victoria has turned to the iPad in its bid to appeal to voters. In a document describing the party’s plan to “put Victorian patients first,” Labor told constituents that it would hire more doctors and nurses, and that it would use AUS$12 million to equip every doctor in the state with an iPad.

“As technology evolves, so do the tools that our doctors need,” Premier of Victoria John Brumby said. “We will provide $12 million to buy iPads for every doctor working in Victoria’s public hospital system, so they have easy access to time-critical clinical information at a patient’s bedside.”

Australian site TheNextWeb first reported the Labor promise, and noted that the opposition party had promised simply to equip medical professionals with, “appropriate mobile technology.”

This marks the first instance that we’ve noted of Apple devices being used by a political party as a promise of a better life for voters. iPads have found ready converts with many medical practitioners, however; a major hospital in Ottawa, for instance, has embarked on a program to use iPads to give doctors instant access to health records and other live patient information.

Could this be the beginning of politicians calling for an iPhone in every hand, or an iPad in every lap?*

*No.

Dr. iPad, mate?