Global catastrophe created by so-called experts and their bungling
The real catastrophe from the COVID-19 global pandemic has been the mishandling by so-called experts who advised political leaders and provided a convenient cover for economic missteps that will take generations to recover from, Piers Akerman writes.
Opinion
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- Pandemic reveals sheer scale of Labor incompetence
- Heads must roll over Victoria’s botched quarantine
The coronavirus created a global catastrophe — not so much in terms of deaths but in terms of the governmental responses.
The infection fatality rates (IFR) have actually been relatively low measured against previous pandemics.
Unless you’re old — aged 80 or over — with the usual comorbidities (haven’t we become familiar with a lot of new words over the past eight months?) you’re pretty safe.
The understanding and management of the disease has accelerated from an almost zero base to the point where the Morrison government’s Budget is making the brave assumption a vaccine may become available within the next 12 months.
I think any potential vaccine will still be in the testing phase and more energy should be put into treatments rather than vaccines.
While the number of deaths globally is not insignificant and deservedly received universal sympathy, the statistics clearly show that the great majority of victims died within months of their normal life expectancy.
The real catastrophe has been the mishandling by so-called experts who advised political leaders and provided a convenient cover for economic missteps that will take generations to recover from.
Framed from that realistic perspective, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have committed the nation to a prudent recovery strategy that rests on the private sector being given assistance to rebuild.
The coronavirus recession here and abroad was a response to a threat that was initially concealed by the Chinese Communist Party then overblown beyond proportion with scary — possibly faked — footage of people collapsing in the streets of Wuhan, where the virus may have jumped from a bowl of bat soup into the community.
Or it may have escaped from poorly protected virus laboratory, depending on which social media rumour factory you favour.
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The “we’re all in this together” mantra tested by Mr Morrison was instantly smashed by the Labor Premiers of Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. They never sang from the same hymn sheet Canberra endorsed. The government has largely avoided Labor folly of picking winners — think the GFC and the lethal pink batts program — but with the folly of the French submarine contract and Snowy Hydro 2.0 on its books, it hardly needs more waste.
The lure of free childcare bait offered by Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is pure snake oil on steroids.
Government funding for selected programs only generates profits for suppliers. If such a program would be adopted, childcare operators would jack up their already eye-gouging fees.
It would also come with greater government interference and there are already hundreds of semi-literate childcare staff delivering politically correct versions of Aboriginal and environmental narratives that don’t match the facts.
This shameful indoctrination of infant minds should be addressed before more funding is made available.
The Opposition’s plan for even greater subsidies for unreliable so-called renewable energy is a blatant bid for the votes of ignorant inner-urban Greens.
The Hunter’s Labor representative Joel Fitzgibbon has lost the fight for his electorate’s workers, who well know that the nation is reliant on coal for energy and export dollars and will be for decades to come, not the message Labor presents to its city supporters.
Coverage of this year’s delayed federal budget has had to fight with the US presidential race for attention but, stripped of the stunts beloved of morning television hosts, it laid bare the bones of the two main parties strategies for the next election.
The Coalition believes in private enterprise and the will of Australians to build their own futures, Labor still thinks a central government controlled future is the answer.
As Mr Morrison reminded the ABC’s Sabra Lane last week “8 in 10 jobs are in the private sector, Sabra. So the private sector always drives the economy. Always. That is what we always rely on. That’s what people, majority, rely on for their incomes and their livelihoods. Whether they’re employed themselves or running their own businesses, self-employed or elsewhere throughout the economy. So it’s always essential that the private sector has the incentive to invest, to have that confidence and to go forward”.
Of course, if you work for “their ABC” and have just voted a 2 per cent pay rise for yourself, why wouldn’t you think the taxpayers owe you more?