Matt Smith: SA ahead of the curve but a U-turn spells disaster | The State
New ground rules have been established to get Australia back on the right track but a look around the world shows how even small mistakes can still spell doom, writes Matt Smith.
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When Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 2020 would be the toughest year in many Australians’ lifetimes he was not wrong.
Mr Morrison, in collaboration with state and territory leaders, this week started to establish the ground rules for what is hoped to be the exit strategy from the personal and economic crisis prompted by COVID-19.
It provides some hope, but it has also highlighted the difficult balancing act that has confronted political leaders across the country.
And it is a challenge that will continue for some time yet.
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall has consistently reminded us that we are lucky to be living where we are. It is of course tempered by the fact that people have lost their lives and thousands have lost their livelihoods courtesy of this nasty and insidious virus.
But he is correct when he speaks with confidence of striking the right balance.
In Tasmania, police helicopters have been flying over holiday zones looking for city slickers who are not supposed to be there.
A New South Wales man was arrested for eating a kebab when he was supposed to be exercising.
A Melbourne learner driver was fined more than $1600, which was later dropped, for getting a driving lesson from her mum.
A Perth man will spend a month in jail after he repeatedly snuck out of government-imposed isolation to visit his girlfriend.
Television news bulletins have regularly shown images of police in the eastern states monitoring public spaces, looking for rule breakers.
In SA, the situation has been very different.
During the week Mr Marshall has been desperate to thank South Australians for their behaviour over the Easter long weekend.
He was right to do so – it was a really important time, and a significant test, for the state.
Amid calls that he should introduce intrastate travel bans, including some repeated calls to ban travel to Kangaroo Island, Mr Marshall stood firm.
He was nervous about the threat of South Australians flocking to key holiday hot spots, in regions that are ill equipped to cope with an outbreak.
Unlike in West Australia – where 15 geographical boundaries were created, and residents made to stay within them – Mr Marshall put his trust in South Australians to do the right thing.
It was a big call, and one that could have seriously backfired.
But the good behaviour on display by South Australians, and Mr Marshall’s carrot instead of stick approach, means we can live a more relaxed way of life when compared with other states.
Mr Marshall has indicated elective surgeries, that were in the main banned a month ago, could restart soon.
Rules around competitive sport and outdoor areas like playgrounds are also expected to be relaxed sooner rather than later.
Promising data shows each day dozens of people are recovering from the virus as fewer and fewer positive tests are recorded in the state.
The results will increase calls for SA to relax restrictions even further, and even be a guinea pig for the country.
That step can only be taken with complete confidence.
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There are awful examples all across the globe that show the impact COVID-19 can have when governments have not struck the right balance.
Even locally, new Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein could explain how it can all go awry awfully quickly.
The taekwondo black belt has received kudos for his “tough on COVID-19” measures including an early lockdown of the island state.
But in the blink of an eye, he is closing down two hospitals and putting 5000 residents in self-isolation after a cluster exploded, and more than 80 of Tasmania’s 165 cases of coronavirus were linked to a single regional hospital.
It is also worth turning attention to the United Kingdom where the death toll is more than 13,000.
Sweden, that was last week put up as a poster child for herd immunity, has more recently worked out the wrong approach can be devastating. On Thursday 130 people died in Sweden from COVID-19.
In the US, an estimated one in seven residents have found themselves unemployed.
More than 30,000 deaths have been recorded – including 11,000 in New York City alone.
Still not convinced?
Look at nypost.com for some sobering updates.