Former Treasury economist Sanjeek Sabhlok says Victoria was pandemic ready
Premier Daniel Andrews has been accused of abandoning the state’s pandemic plan by a former Treasury Department economist, who quit his job in protest over the government’s virus response.
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Daniel Andrews has been accused of abandoning Victoria’s pandemic plan as the government scrambled to deal with the increasing COVID-19 crisis.
Former Victorian Department of Treasury economist Sanjeev Sabhlok says the change of course and implementation of “barbaric” restrictions had ultimately harmed Victoria on an unprecedented scale.
Mr Sabhlok quit his job in protest over the government’s handling of its pandemic response last month.
In a speech to the Samuel Griffith Society on Thursday Mr Sabhlok said the government was prepared for the pandemic and had a good plan in place.
“Pandemics can be, and are, fully anticipated. It is possible to contemplate all pandemic scenarios and prepare for them in advance,” he said.
Mr Sabhlok said Victoria’s pandemic plan, published in March, focused on greater protection for elderly people.
He said it was widely known from mid-February that the risk of dying from COVID-19 was skewed towards at-risk groups including the elderly.
Victoria had factored that into planning by a commitment to “ramp up risk reduction activity [for] at-risk groups”.
“But the moment things started heating up, Daniel Andrews abandoned our laws and our approved pandemic plan and implemented untargeted, society-wide lockdowns which violate the basic principles of risk management,” Mr Sabhlok said.
“For the past six months Mr. Andrews has focused on the low-risk population of Victoria instead of on the high-risk groups.
“I have been shocked over the past few months to find that I now have to fight for my own basic human rights in Australia.”
Mr Sabhlok said extended restrictions on movement, curfews and failures of governance were worse than what he experienced in his native India.
“It feels in my case like I have gone from a frying pan into the fire,” he said.
Mr Sabhlok, who worked for the Treasury for 15 years, said policy implementation was generally consultative and transparent with ample community engagement.
But he said the state government had abandoned those principles and called for a return to the state’s original pandemic plan.
“This will inevitably mean that the barbaric human experiment called lockdowns, along with any associated unnecessary restrictions, must be immediately lifted and all borders opened up,” he aid.
“These recommendations … are not a plea to let it rip.
“Instead, public health guidance and recommendations should be issued for voluntary compliance.”
Mr Sabhlok said the focus of the government’s response should now focus on protecting the elderly.
He has called for a risk-based approach to private industry and targeted quarantines of a short, medically approved duration.
The government was contacted for comment.
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