Michael Stutchbury rightly laments the state of policymaking in Australia (“Can our prosperity survive a year of political madness?”). His catalogue of recent ad hoc policy announcements (“junk policy”) is a compelling indictment of political leadership at state and federal levels. But it also represents an absence of policy process.

Until COVID-19, Australia could at least point to the Council of Australian Governments as an important instrument of policy development. COAG included all states and territories and local government. It met in person annually with leaders and senior bureaucrats. It followed a considered and themed agenda, reflected also in ministerial councils and the deliberations of the Productivity Commission and Infrastructure Australia.