Michael McGuire: Federal government is to blame for quarantine failures

Morrison’s obsession with his own job security is actively harming the country, writes Michael McGuire.

If you were looking for a group of people to organise a chook raffle, you’d be loath to include anyone from the federal government. Indeed, you’d probably ask the dead chooks themselves before desperation made you turn to people such as Scott Morrison, Greg Hunt, Richard Colbeck or even Christian Porter.

It’s been noted before, but when it comes to the nuts and bolts of running the country, the Morrison government is some way off being considered competent.

The national motto on Australia’s coat of arms may have to be changed from “Advance Australia’’ to “I don’t hold a hose, mate’’.

And again, as has been noted many times, there is not the slightest chance that any of the incompetents will actually pay the price with their jobs.

The previous high-water mark for government uselessness was, of course, losing a $1.2 billion class action over the Robodebt debacle, a scheme concocted by the combined brain power of Morrison, Porter, Stuart Robert and Alan Tudge.

Robodebt, a scheme found to be illegal, caused untold and unnecessary hardships and stress to more than 400,000 Australians. The government sailed on.

It is generally agreed Australia has come out of the Covid-19 crisis better than most. The government did well to provide the necessary funds to support people through programs such as JobKeeper and JobSeeker.

The actual hard work of suppressing the virus was carried out by state governments, such as South Australia, which closed borders, implemented lockdowns, carried out mass testing and treated sick people.

The actual hard work of suppressing the virus was carried out by state governments, such as South Australia, which closed borders, implemented lockdowns, carried out mass testing and treated sick people. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

The main responsibilities left to the federal government were then quarantine and vaccination – and to look after the vulnerable in the aged-care sector.

The government has been all over the shop on quarantine since the pandemic started. It has refused to accept responsibility for quarantine, with the states stepping up in its absence.

While hotel quarantine might have been acceptable as a rushed response in the early days of Covid, the time is long since past for Morrison to take federal control and establish safe and secure quarantine arrangements for returning citizens and travellers.

The latest breakout in Victoria has, like every other community breakout, started in hotel quarantine – this one from an SA medi-hotel. It’s hardly surprising. Hotels were never designed to be quarantine centres, especially not for months at a time.

The question is why the Prime Minister refuses to do the obvious for the good of the country. What’s holding him back? Is it purely politics? Does he think if he accepts responsibility then he will be blamed if anything goes wrong? And he doesn’t want that with an election not far away.

Scott Morrison is a purely political animal. Picture: James Allan/Getty Images

Morrison is a purely political animal. If he has a driving ideology, an overriding vision for where he wants to take Australia, it’s well hidden.

He must believe not being Anthony Albanese is enough to win that election. And from a purely political calculation you can see the sense in that. Albanese is terrible.

Labor keeps throwing up rotten leaders, such as Albanese, Bill Shorten and Kevin Rudd. But, if that’s the case, Morrison’s obsession with his own job security is harming the country – as we can see from the vaccination debacle.

Here in Australia, the basics are beyond us.

The vaccination rollout is one of the slowest in the world, the number of aged-care residents vaccinated is unknown and not all aged-care workers are vaccinated.

There has been no decent marketing campaign to spruik the benefits to the vaccine-wary.

Last week, Health Minister Greg Hunt told those aged over 50 that if they were worried about the AstraZeneca vaccine then they could wait until later in the year when there would be more Pfizer and Moderna available.

This week, we had Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack telling Australians the vaccine rollout was “not a race’’, in the way that someone who is coming dead last always does.

Perhaps this latest outbreak in Victoria will change their minds.

Perhaps it will put a rocket under their casual complacency. But you wouldn’t bet on it.