Opinion: Will we ever get the truth on Covid-19 in Queensland?

In spite of all the meetings and advice from all the experts on Covid-19, it seems that nobody ever thought to write anything down, writes Mike O’Connor.

Politicians rejoice in the addiction of the masses to their smartphones and social media’s constant stream of mindless trivia which is slowly reducing the consistency of the national cerebrum to that of porridge.

What happened yesterday is quickly forgotten, the appetite for temporary and immediate sensory stimulation which does not require even the faintest flicker of intelligence insatiable.

I settled in with a glass of vin ordinaire a few days back to watch a television news bulletin. The first five minutes featured video footage of a warehouse fire in which nobody was injured, followed by several minutes of dashcam footage of a two-vehicle collision in which nobody was injured. The latter was replayed several times for the benefit of those who might have dozed off or gone to the kitchen to get more potato chips. Ten minutes into the bulletin and there was still nothing that could remotely be considered as news, but hey – great vision!

Those fortunate few who, in spite of the best efforts of most mass media to destroy their intellects, might recall that a few years ago we went through something called Covid-19.

Civil liberties were trashed, there were draconian lockdown proclamations, government by imperial decree, borders arbitrarily closed, livelihoods destroyed and untold emotional distress inflicted on innocent citizens – surely you must remember.

At least 3561 Queenslanders remember, which is the number of people who recently petitioned state parliament to release the advice chief health officer by Dr John Gerrard and his predecessor Dr Jeannette Young, she of the pearl necklace, provided to then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk that led to the vaccination mandates and movement restrictions.

The petition called on the parliament to direct Premier Steven Miles to release “medical advice used to enforce the Covid-19 mandates that would discriminate people on the basis of their Covid-19 vaccination status, isolate our most vulnerable from their families and force Queenslanders to have Covid-19 vaccinations that appear to have increasingly alarming safety and efficacy statistics”.

Current chief health officer John Gerrard and his predecessor Jeannette Young

This is advice that the premier repeatedly declared, hand on heart, was that upon which she based decisions such as forcing Queensland residents to live in their cars on the Tweed Heads side of the NSW border, refusing permission for grieving families to visit dying relatives and declaring Queensland hospitals were only for Queenslanders. Ah, those were the days!

Given the lengthy time frame over which these restrictions were imposed and the countless media briefings attended by the premier and a sombre faced Dr Young declaring variously that she was “worried,” “very worried” or on one memorable occasion which set this columnist’s heart aflutter, “very, very worried”, you might reasonably think that there would be a mountain of material lying about which related to the advice given to the government.

Apparently not, for according to Health Minister Shannon Fentiman, no such documentation exists. Really?

“Queensland’s chief health officer issued public health directions to manage the spread of Covid-19 throughout the community, including requirements for Covid-19 vaccination. In making these public health directions the chief health officer relied on advice from a variety of sources.

“Specifically, the chief health officer met daily with doctors, epidemiologists, infectious diseases specialists and public health experts about Covid-19 and the extraordinary and emergency measures necessary to protect public health,” she said.

In spite of all these meetings and advice from all these experts, it seems that nobody ever thought to write anything down. How extraordinary.

How wonderful it must be to be blessed with a memory that does not require you to keep a record of the input which was received, according to Minister Fentiman, from “a variety of sources”.

You might also think that sitting up there in vice-regal splendour at 168 Fernberg Rd, Paddington, Dr Young, richly rewarded by the premier for her tireless efforts with the governorship of our fair state, might be able to produce a record of her frank and fearless advice. Alas, not a squeak so far from the big white house on the hill.

You might also wonder why, if the government was only following the medical advice which seems to have magically disappeared, it felt the need to spend $500,000 on polling to assess how its actions were affecting its popularity and whether rather than acting on medical advice, Palaszczuk’s actions were driven purely and simply by political considerations with scant regard for the cost in human suffering.

The truth is out there somewhere, but will it ever surface?