Patrick Carlyon: Easter coronavirus rules a hard egg to crack
When Victoria Police issued a $1652 fine to an L-plater for breaching coronavirus restrictions, most people thought a cop had overreached. As we struggle with this ongoing hibernation, kindness and wisdom would go a long way, writes Patrick Carlyon.
Patrick Carlyon
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Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy this week delivered some unexpected light relief.
“I’m told because (the Easter bunny) is a solo operator and an essential service, he or she will be allowed to continue to operate,” Murphy said.
But is this wise? The bunny hops from house to house, after all, and could double as a lethal spreader. Might the Easter bunny be queuing up at Centrelink next week?
In recent days, petty overreaches have instilled an absurd edge to official controls on what we do and where we go. There is a growing sense that people are being punished as well as protected.
This Good Friday feels more desolate than the days when movies and football were banned. And almost everyone accepts that.
Yet some of the things you can do seem more likely to spread the coronavirus than what you cannot.
Applying the Couch Test (in lieu of a Pub Test), the kinds of questions people raise include:
Why can dozens of people go to Bunnings when only 10 people can attend a funeral?
Why can’t you go fishing in the middle of nowhere when you can go to a store and buy a handbag?
Why would police set up roadblocks to interrogate families, as suggested, on the Great Ocean Road?
The new rules have sprung up swiftly and most Victorians have tried to abide by them. Policy on the run is always fraught, and there was bound to be confusion.
The forced separation of couples who live apart (the “bonk ban”) — a policy announced and abandoned within hours — muddled the best efforts at understanding.
At least there was a (misplaced) logic to that aborted edict. Other missives seem harder to justify. For there is no rebellion afoot. People are trying to do the right thing.
Walk down a suburban street and people cross the road at the sight of you.
A woman resisted her natural instinct to return an errant football at the local park the other day.
“We probably shouldn’t touch each other’s balls … ” she yelled.
“Maybe that came out wrong.”
Women have been fined for having a dinner together in a private home — that a neighbour dobbed them in reiterates the community support for such extreme controls.
Bikies have been fined for hanging out together in a Sunshine West clubhouse.
These seem like isolated incidents. And we can understand police patrols on beaches when people swarm like flies.
Almost all Victorians have volunteered to give up everyday liberties. But some restrictions don’t make much sense.
Why can’t someone play golf or go fishing by him or herself?
Victoria Police command was mealy-mouthed about quashing the $1652 fine for L-plater Hunter Reynolds. It didn’t admit what most people thought — that a cop had overreached.
Two days later, the zealous cop could take credit for a kneejerk new policy. Until then, no one had thought to ban driving lessons between parents and their kids for the obvious reason that it poses no threat to anyone else.
Discretion would go a long way, along with kindness. More telling than whopping fines issued at three times the rate of NSW would be updates on the number of warnings given. This might show a job done well and with wisdom.
Authorities, have done a sterling job of not losing the crowd. The numbers and the models are far flatter than first feared.
Premier Dan Andrews has found his niche as a leader in adversity. But leaders must be mindful, given the winter of discontent ahead, that they do not lose the hearts and minds.
Social distancing and isolation will not end until a vaccine comes about. The quoted estimates of 12 to 18 months are described by the international scientific community as optimistic.
This hibernation is going to go for a long time. Most of us do not relish jigsaw puzzles.
People will only get crankier. “Essential” may need to be redefined to embrace mental wellbeing. Denying harmless pleasures like road trips will seem more and more mean-spirited.
The enforcement of rules ought to reflect the goodwill and co-operation shown by almost every Victorian. Restrictions on liberty need to be measured in the long months ahead, lest Santa gets fined for coming down the chimney.
Patrick Carlyon is a Herald Sun columnist