STATE politicians have continued their hysterical response to Coronavirus – instead of easing their approach as the germ became better understood.
Rather than “flatten the curve” and “protect the vulnerable”, as was their initial intent, elected officials have instead acquiesced as public sector bureaucrats flattened the economy and protected their own careers.
The first wave of general lockdowns in early 2020 was forgivable, given the number of unknowns.
RUINED
Having learned by mid-2020, however, that COVID-19 fatalities were in-line with annual flu deaths and that the average age of those impacted was 85-years, a new, more targeted response was required.
This didn’t happen. When a second wave struck, the politicians allowed even more severe lockdowns to be imposed on their citizens. Businesses were closed – many never to re-open – schools emptied, borders secured, Christmas ruined and millions were imprisoned in their homes.
Such a response draws comparisons to cancer treatment – where in trying to destroy the disease the cure comes dangerously close to killing the patient.
Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith said the Andrews Labor government “hadn’t learned a thing” about how to deal with the virus.
With barely 40 active cases, he said, the wheels were again falling off.
“We have massive queues of people to get tested, Victorians locked out of their own State, and Australians from other States locked in quarantine without warning or cause, and in some cases under false pretences,” Mr Smith wrote in The Australian newspaper yesterday.
“We had been reassured by Daniel Andrews that all lessons had been learned from the largely useless Coate inquiry,” he wrote.
“Make no mistake, they haven’t.
“Our tracking, tracing and testing regime is still a terrible circus, with the long-awaited return of public servants to the CBD having been delayed by a further week, putting more pressure on CBD small businesses that have been doing it tough for so long.
BRUTAL
“The federal government has changed the words of the national anthem to ‘one and free’. The irony of that decision being made while so many Australians are locked up, locked out and severely inconvenienced by State governments will not be lost.”
Tony Abbott’s former chief of staff Peta Credlin was equally brutal.
In an opinion piece in The Spectator magazine, Ms Credlin said Australians had a right to be furious.
“With the partial exception of the steady Gladys Berejiklian, the premiers kept aspects of the lockdown going for months longer than necessary,” she said.
“It was as if, having finally found their way back into the spotlight, they were determined to stay there by making, and then flexing, innumerable rules which their police could then ostentatiously enforce against ordinary citizens.
“Far from showing Australians at their best, it’s been a year that exposed the latent authoritarianism in officials, and the conformism and timidity of citizens.”
Ms Credlin said it was clear State governments needed to be kept in constant check.
“Every Australian voter’s resolution should be to pay much more attention to those we elect to State parliament.
NOBODIES
“State governments run public schools, public hospitals and public transport. They approve and still largely fund infrastructure.
“They’re in charge of planning and police. They’re still the level of government that has the most impact on our daily lives.
“State politics, in other words, is too impactful to leave largely in the hands of unscrutinised nobodies.” PC
The primary, most basic, and most important rule when managing a crisis is to have one central point of control comprising a Crisis Director and Team operating from a Crisis Control Centre. Australia has always followed that rule when managing crises such as floods, fires, earthquakes etc. However, in the case of COVID-19 (or Wuhan-flu as it should be named) our central government has been stymied by States and Territories running their own shows; we have effectively had 9 points of control instead of one! It’s no wonder it’s been such a debacle especially when 3 of those States have morons like Andrews, Palaszczuk and McGowan trying to manage something that is very clearly well beyond their capabilities.
Cliff Reece
Principal (Retd.)
Crisis Risk Management
There’s no doubt that this latest Covid virus is a nasty one.
But still, our Governments’ responses have been over the top, with Victoria by far the worst. There is absolutely no reason to shut State borders, with up-to-date testing able to provide a fairly good entry yardstick.
And what really annoys me is that I’m sure China hasn’t run up any gargantuan debts!