Anna taking an unscientific approach to NRL grand final
If we’re going down the non-sciencey path of crowd counting at the NRL, why not decide this instead by star signs, writes The Daily Telegraph.
Opinion
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According to various border-closing state Premiers, their restriction decisions are always guided by medical science. So what’s the science behind Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s decision to reduce the crowd at Sunday’s NRL grand final?
In response to another day of single-figure Covid cases, Palaszczuk announced the sellout crowd for Sunday’s all-Sydney showdown between the Panthers and Rabbitohs would be slashed by 25 per cent.
That means a crowd reduction of 13,000, from 52,000 ticket holders down to 39,000.
This doesn’t seem very scientific. It seems more like something pointless the government is doing to display resolve.
Worse still is the unimaginative way the numbers will be cut. Those who bought early tickets will be rewarded while those who bought last-minute tickets will miss out.
If we’re going down the non-science path, why not decide this instead by star signs?
The government could simply announce, perhaps in The Daily Telegraph’s horoscope, that Librans, Geminis and Sagittarians were in for a really unlucky Sunday. Or the government could try a reality television approach. Just set up cameras around Suncorp Stadium and film NRL fans competing with each other to be first through the gates.
To jazz things up, a range of Total Wipeout-style obstacles might be arranged around the stadium perimeter. This action might be more exciting than the grand final itself.
Of course, certain insurance and liability issues would probably rule out these particular plans – in which case Queenslanders could compete for entry by battling against each other in a 52,000-person spelling bee.
Imagine the pressure as obtaining a grand final seat rests solely on the correct spelling and definition of “synecdoche”.
Or, for that matter, if “hotdog” contains a hyphen. (Spoiler alert: in some Queensland eateries, it actually does.)
All of these options are at least as scientific as a random 25 per cent crowd reduction.
Science is apparently very flexible. Many observers feel that a Brisbane lockdown will kick in soon after crowds leave Suncorp Stadium.
If that happens, we will know that science had little to do with the crowd reduction call.
GIVE SCHOOLS THE SAME RULES AS PUBS
Since the very beginning of the pandemic, the rules created to protect us from Covid have sometimes been dramatically inconsistent.
Some of those inconsistencies remain. In NSW, for example, under certain conditions greater numbers of people may soon be allowed to attend events inside rather than outside.
This is despite outdoor venues offering increased protection from the spread of Covid.
And now, with the NSW government’s decision to reopen schools for kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 12 students from October 18, Years 2, 6, and 11 on October 25 and remaining grades from November 1, another inconsistency becomes clear.
Under the Berejiklian government’s timetable, normal schooling will recommence a full week after the reopening of shops and pubs.
Thousands of NSW families are no doubt dismayed by this, having become exhausted by months of home schooling.
Their puzzlement is shared by Australian National University epidemiologist Professor Peter Collignon, who also notes compelling medical reasons for earlier school reopenings.
“Bars and clubs are still a bigger risk for spreading Covid than our schools,” Professor Collignon said.
“So it is inappropriate for them to open before schools, especially because they are not as essential. Just in priority of opening things, schools are more important than bars and pubs and clubs and, in my analysis, a lower risk and more of an essential service.”
Additional factors boost the argument for bringing school reopenings further forward.
Children are more resistant to Covid. The risk of them becoming ill by attending schools and being in each other’s company is small.
This is among reasons why Australia’s former deputy chief health officer Dr Nick Coatsworth believes children should not have to wear masks when they return to school.
“It would be my hope,” he said, “that by term one at the latest next year, you would not see a mask in the classroom.”
We can argue about masks at another time. So far as schools go, NSW has spoken.
The Daily Telegraph’s latest poll shows 79 per cent of 1263 respondents want schools to reopen at the same time as pubs.
That’s game over, you would hope, for inconsistent closures.
ENERGY ISSUES THE ULTIMATE RUBIK’S CUBE
Reducing carbon dioxide levels while still maintaining a strong and reliable power supply is a Rubik’s cube puzzle many have not been able to solve.
The challenge is to introduce sufficient renewable energy sources to a power grid in order to bring down overall emissions while at the same time not losing any stability.
Yet the NSW government now declares it is well on the way to reaching this aim.
New projections to be released on Wednesday show NSW is on target to reduce emissions by 47 to 52 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030.
So that’s one part of the challenge scheduled to be met. And on the reliability side, the government is also confident.
“Legally we are required to have enough dispatchable power in the system to meet demand on a once in 10 year heatwave day, plus two of our biggest energy units at any one time,” Environment Minister Matt Kean said.
“Our forecasts for short term show there is enough electricity in the system to meet that.”
Obviously, there are additional elements to the future energy puzzle.
As was again made extremely clear during this year’s Upper Hunter by-election, there are additional social and political aspects to consider.
Again, the state government and Matt Kean are confident.
The Environment Minister said projections showed the state could “do its bit” to reduce emissions “without damaging our traditional manufacturing and mining sector”.
A win/win situation is vanishingly rare in the emissions debate, but the government believes it can pull this off.
In fact, it could be a win/win/win. That is because along with massively cutting emissions and maintaining traditional industries. Kean anticipates significant consumer savings.
“Our emissions reduction target assumes continued expansion of coal mining in NSW, they assume continued growth in the agricultural sector and a huge reduction in electricity prices,” Kean said.
“It’s not one or the other. We’re doing both.”
Obviously, 2030 is less than a decade away. These projections are not attached to a time when nobody will still be around to account for them.
They are big calls on which much now rides.
GLADYS A WINNER AGAINST DAN’S INCOMPETENCE
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday revealed a range of freedoms that will be granted once NSW reaches the 80 per cent double dose vaccine target.
It’s quite a list, and compares well with plans from other states – which are not really plans at all, in any proper sense.
Among other reduced restrictions, double-vaxxed NSW residents will from magic Monday be allowed to host up to 10 visitors at home, join groups of 20 in outdoor settings and enjoy community sport.
And from December 1, all of NSW will gain unlimited rights for house visits and outdoor gatherings, plus be able to attend hospitality venues at a one person per 2sq m density.
So far, so good. But these advances are only impressive by comparison with other states.
Outside Australia, advances have been much faster and more liberating.
The Berejiklian government could accelerate matters by, for example, pushing for progress on rapid antigen testing – which is delayed by health bureaucrats and Therapeutic Goods Administration inertia.
Those three-minute tests could help open venues way ahead of the government’s arbitrary December 1 schedule.
Yet the state government appears content, in regard to rapid antigen testing, to let things drag along.
Just as well for Premier Gladys Berejiklian that interstate counterparts keep making her look good by comparison.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, for example, is presently battling a controversy entirely of his own creation.
Back in April 2020, Andrews announced that Victoria would benefit from a “massive $1.3bn injection to quickly establish an extra 4000 ICU beds”.
Those beds might be placed in existing facilities, Andrews said, or they might end up in a brand-new super clinic.
Such a venue could be “one of the biggest intensive care units in our country, perhaps anywhere in the world”.
That was 18 months ago. Now Victorians, trapped by months of lockdowns, restrictions and curfews, are beginning to ask: So where are all these ICU beds?
Andrews appears not to have any answers.
Against that level of competence, Berejiklian will always win. But NSW deserves more than just being less compromised than Victoria.
JAMIE DURIE PROPERTY STOUSH A CLASSIC SYDNEY STORY
It’s the perfect Sydney story.
The great Northern Beaches Council property stoush has it all: money, property, fame, bureaucracy and ecological anguish.
At issue is celebrity gardener Jamie Durie’s plan to build a six-storey mansion on a waterfront plot in Avalon.
To complete the build, Durie would have to demolish the original 1960s four-bedroom cottage presently at the site.
Some neighbours worry that the size of Durie’s mansion development will dwarf their own smaller homes and block sunlight and views.
But the bigger problem for many is that Durie, ambassador for Planet Ark’s National Tree Day, also wishes to remove 17 native trees – specifically seven spotted gums, two broad-leafed white mahogany, five forest oak, one grey gum, a Christmas bush and a grey ironbark.
Cue the outrage.
Neighbour John Sheehan wrote in his objection that the application should be refused by council because it is “likely to have serious and irreversible impacts on biodiversity values”.
The Avalon Preservation Association’s Peter Mayman said it “would overwhelm its environmentally sensitive block”.
The Pittwater Natural Heritage Association fears the effect upon canopy trees. And actors Brendan Donoghue and Amanda Maple-Brown say construction would be “a tragedy for native wildlife”.
If this building ever does go ahead, it’s a safe bet that Jamie Durie won’t be invited to any Avalon street parties.
This dispute in a large-scale version of similar property battles that have taken place likely since Sydney’s very foundation.
That is why so many will be fascinated by this conflict and deeply invested in the outcome. For much of property-obsessed Sydney, this is their equivalent of the NRL grand final.
Ask your friends about this story and you’ll find that most have already taken sides. Those in the pro-development camp will be on Team Durie.
Those opposed will be among the sizeable ranks of Sydney’s nothing-new lobby. And then there will be many who simply enjoy a good showdown involving a celebrity.
There is no telling at this point how long the dispute will continue, whether it may go beyond council to court or who may eventually prevail.
But it will be deeply intriguing to watch.
The Daily Telegraph, printed and published by the proprietor, Nationwide News Pty Ltd A.C.N. 008438828 of 2 Holt St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, at 26-52 Hume Highway, Chullora. Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor, Ben English.
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