Enough is Enough!

When did the Covid Policy in Australia change?

On March 13, 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the Australian Policy on Covid Management would be to "Flatten The Curve."

His speech advised against "large non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people". Prime Minister Morrison said, "It is getting ahead of this to ensure that we can minimise the impact on your health and we can ensure with confidence the ability for people to be accessing the health services that they and their families will need."

"The Prime Minister said the aim was to slow the rate of transmission, not to stop it."

That was on March 13, 2020!

The Federal Government said it would not close schools, universities, or public transport; however, pools, galleries, bars, nightclubs, and parks "could be closed."

That plan didn't go too well, with all but public transport being closed.

Handshakes were discouraged, and the silly elbow bump was introduced.

Is this not the same elbow that has been encouraged to cough and sneeze into as well?

We were also to avoid gatherings indoors that involved shouting, singing, or dancing. Yet we saw Parliament reopen, where they shout as well as sing and dance about each other. And if there was ever an indoor arena with a lot of hot air, this is the one!

Remember, "Flattening of the Curve" was first introduced on March 13, 2020.

Since that date, we have had many ups and downs, however other than three significant authorities' errors, the Australian infection and death tolls are negligible.

Newmarch House in Western Sydney had an infection rate of 71 cases and recorded 17 deaths.

The Ruby Princess had 663 confirmed cases (not accounting for those infected once infected passengers were permitted to leave the ship) and 28 deaths.

In Victoria, Premier Dan Andrews (Mr. We have the best tracing program in Australia) has had 20,471 cases and 820 deaths due to Hotel Quarantine mismanagement.

These three mismanagements have accounted for 775 of the 909 deaths in Australia! Had it not been for mismanagement, Australia would have less than 134 deaths from a population of 25,684,020 or LESS than 0.00052% of the Australian population.

Even with the mismanagement, the death rate in Australia is only 0.0035% of the population.

Let's look at that percentage from another angle to give a perspective of how small it is. It would be the same as someone who earns $100,000.00 receiving 0.0035% of their wages; the wages received would be $3.50. If you were lucky enough to reach I million per year (I wish), the wages would become $35.00.

As tragic as any death is, you can see this is a tiny number.

And flattening the curve was a great response. The Prime Minister went further and closed international borders and halted cruise ships for six months. Eleven months down the track, we still have closed borders and no cruise ships. I accept that many countries have not fared as well as Australia, and I accept that the international borders need to remain closed, at least to high-risk countries, for some time to come. However, was there ever a need for internal border closures?

More on that later.

Let's look back at May 5, 2020, when the Prime Minister announced that "Australia must make workplaces coronavirus-safe and flatten the unemployment curve."

In this press release, the Prime Minister acknowledged that at that time (May 5, 2020), there were up to 1 million Australians who have lost their jobs entirely.

More than 5 million Australians were on the JobKeeper payment, with a further 1 million seeking work or JobSeeker payments.

One million have raided their superannuation in order to survive, and the PM also acknowledged that covid restrictions were costing the economy 4 BILLION dollars each week.

The PM also mentioned in this statement of May 5, 2020, that "We need to get 1 million Australians back to work."

Even at this early stage, the Government was talking about restrictions easing. In May….2020!!

Here we are in February 2021, and we STILL have border closures; we STILL panic at one or more locally acquired cases. Surely by now, our hospitals and medical staff have had time to prepare; surely by now, we MUST acknowledge that we have "flattened the curve." If so, why do we still have border closures?

As a nation, the Federal Government has been dictated to by State Premiers. QLD Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk, WA Premier Mark McGowan, and even to some extend, SA Premier Steven Marshal have closed borders to other Australian States. NSW has only once closed borders, and that being with Victoria when the Victorian Government not only dropped their bundle regarding quarantine and contact tracing but also locked themselves in. The second harshest lockdown in the world, some have called it, and for what?

Again, as things opened up, Dan decided because there were 8 cases in Victoria, a state with 6.359 million residents, that they should lockdown again.

Western Australia is no better; they had one case (That's right, ONE case) and locked down 2 million people. For one case!

South Australia has had two lockdowns of significance, and NSW had one very poorly managed one, starting in Avalon on the Northern Peninsula of Sydney. An area with only three roads connecting it to the rest of NSW, yet the NSW Government could not keep this lockdown secure, with residents visiting family and friends, even going to the city for Weddings. Three roads. Three police cars, six officers to secure the entire area, yet NSW failed at managing this.

I acknowledge that the states have a constitutional right to lock down borders under certain circumstances, but the roller door that has become QLD is a joke.

With Anastacia Palaszczuk claiming the brilliant management of Covid in her state, she ridicules NSW for the numbers they have had; how many of those who tested positive in Hotel Quarantine in NSW were QLD citizens?

When NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro suggested travellers should quarantine in their home state or territory, WA Premier Mark McGowan indicated that the suggestion was "silly, counterproductive, and "not actings as an Australian"

Who is he kidding? Is closing his STATE border acting as an AUSTRALIAN?

McGowan also complained that his state was (only since October) taking more returned travellers per week than NSW per capita. "WA is now accepting 1000 returned travellers per week compared with NSW 3000", however a media release by the Prime Minister on February 5, 2021, stated that WA is only accepting 512 per week.

SA 530 per week, Victoria was accepting 1310 per week (this has been temporarily suspended due to the latest panic by the Andrews Government, forcing additional numbers on to other states to cover for his once again, failed attempts at managing Quarantine) QLD is accepting 1000 per week, and once again, NSW holding up the team, taking 430 PER DAY! (3010 per week)

Of course, taking overseas travellers returning to Australia will certainly increase Covid numbers for the state. One reason I believe QLD and WA, and other states have been reluctant to accept returning international travellers.

The most surprising statistic I have seen to date is a report from the ABC on figures obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which compared the doctor registered deaths

From January 1 to October 27, 2020, compared to the average deaths over the past five years for the same period.

The results were most interesting, with all certified deaths, including those from COVID-19, in this period for 2020 being 116,345, and the five-year average pre-COVID-19 being 117,484. To save you reaching for your calculator, that tells us that deaths from January 1 to October 27, 2020, were 1139 LESS than the average deaths over the previous five years. LESS!

Yet we are panicking?

I agree; this number is undoubtedly a result of government policies, but will the mainstream media PLEASE tell this story as it is?

It has been several months since we have had a death in Australia from COVID-19, a duration that suggests we have achieved the "flattened curve" and that we are getting much better at treating this illness.

So why are we still closing domestic borders?

Why are the media still presenting horror stories?

Why does ONE case cause a lockdown of 2 million people?

Why does a "cluster" of 17 people force Melbourne to lockdown, potentially putting the final nail in the coffin of many businesses in that state who had ordered up big on perishable supplies for a weekend celebration of Valentines' Day?

Why are we, the public, so compliant and so conditioned to accept that the Government and the Media are giving us all the facts in the least emotional way?

If you look at the world death numbers in their number form, they are terrifying. 2.2 MILLION deaths!. That is a horrific number, and I mean that. It is tragic, and if you are related or in any way connected to just one of those 2.2 million, it is all the more tragic, but the less emotive method of reporting would be to say that 0.03% of the world population has died.

It puts things into a clearer perspective, but of course, it doesn't "sell" the news and does not help governments get the fear and accompanying compliance from the community.

Let's return to my earlier comments on Border Closures within Australia.

Though it appears they do have the power to close borders, should states have the power to disobey the Federal Government's will to inflate their local political ambitions? With QLD and WA either just had or just about to have their state elections, is it a coincidence that they have been the states less likely to let other states enter?

If section 109 of the Constitution is not enough for the Federal Government to force states into keeping borders open, they could make it a condition of continued Federal Grants, but will our Prime Minister do that?

Of course not, because he prefers to have a buffer between him and Covid numbers, much like the failure to administer aged care facilities or incoming passengers' quarantine across international borders.

The Prime Minister has been swift to remind us that the decision to hand over quarantine responsibilities to the states was made at the first National Cabinet meeting on March 13, 2020.

The meeting was held in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the National Cabinet was formed (replacing the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) as the primary intergovernmental forum and then formalised (May 29, 2020).

Was this an efficiency measure, or was it a further buffer zone between the Federal Government and the Covid numbers?

The Federal Government holds the sole responsibility of closing international borders. Should it not also have the sole responsibility for those entering through those closed borders, and how best they are managed in the interest of the nation.

But no, this responsibility was given to the States to administer.

I believe that it is time for the Government(s) of Australia, State, and Federal, to stand as one. To open all domestic borders with a guarantee that they will remain open and allow local economies to recover from what has been a gross overreaction to a situation that we have, as a nation, had under control for a considerable time.

Why have we not permitted "domestic" cruises? For example, depart Sydney return to Sydney, no stops in between. 50% capacity, no buffet, etc. There is the capacity, the cruise lines have their systems in place, yet there has been no approval from the Government. What is that?

Our economy has suffered enough damage. jobKeeper is about to end, personal and business bankruptcies, unemployment, are all about to skyrocket. Mental Health, suicides, all facing an increase. Come on Australia!

The curve has been flattened.

With just 41 active cases in Australia, zero cases in intensive care, 14 cases in hospital from a population of nearly 26 million people, it is time to open our domestic borders and return our lives to normal.

To use an Australian term "It's about bloody time!"