Rita Panahi: Queensland shuns gold standard to follow Victorian strategy

One wonders whether in 10 or 20 years we’ll look back at this period of collective hysteria and wonder just what happened.

What a shambolic mess we’ve created in Australia by allowing public health officials and gutless politicians to adopt an unofficial eradication strategy against a virus that will never be fully eradicated, even after most of us are vaccinated.

At this rate, it’s hard to see how we will ever return to normal and allow Australians to travel freely in their own country, let alone travel internationally.

Yet the panic-stricken response that sees entire cities shut down over a handful of cases remains largely popular among the media and to a lesser extent, the public.

One wonders whether in 10 or 20 years we’ll look back at this period of collective hysteria and wonder just what happened.

How did so many across the world deliberately destroy so many lives and livelihoods by locking down healthy people instead of the very old and infirm?

And how many people terrified of COVID-19 — so terrified that they have skipped cancer screenings and other vital medical appointments — are aware the virus has a 99.3 per cent survival rate, according to a definitive study carried out by Cambridge University.

Easter was going to deliver a miracle of sorts for many Brisbane businesses who were barely hanging on, instead the city is in lockdown. Picture: Dan Peled

Lockdowns have had a staggering impact on businesses.

For Australia the COVID-19 threat has been very different to much of the world, given we are an island nation that closed our borders last March.

But it’s clear more than a year into the coronavirus crisis, we’ve learned little about how to handle small outbreaks without causing widespread economic and societal harm.

Premiers from Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia continue to react hysterically to any threat level by shutting their borders and imposing harsh restrictions rather than having a proportional, targeted response.

The one obvious exception is NSW, which learnt from its early mistakes and put in place sound contact tracing and QR code processes to ensure it could manage outbreaks without imposing draconian lockdowns, statewide mask mandates and other illiberal measures.

NSW’s nuanced response has set the gold standard but it seems Queensland would rather follow in Victoria’s flawed footsteps.

That spells disaster for the state’s tourism sector, which has been hit hard not just with international border closures but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s penchant for state border closures.

A whopping one in seven Australians were expected to holiday in Queensland over the Easter period. My family was going to be among them except demand was so strong we couldn’t find any decent accommodation and booked for June instead.

Easter was going to deliver a miracle of sorts for many tourism operators who were barely hanging on but now that recovery lays in tatters.

The three-day Brisbane lockdown is expected to cost upwards of $2bn but the impact will last far longer, according to Flight Centre co-founder Graham Turner.

“There is one word that can describe it, it is sheer lunacy,” he said.

Australia’s tourism sector is in grave danger with thousands of businesses and jobs in jeopardy due to repeated border restrictions and lockdowns.

Palaszczuk has no confidence in her state’s contact tracing and simply shuts down her capital city after every outbreak. Picture: Dan Peled

Queensland Tourism chief executive Daniel Gschwind believes the lockdown will deliver “a devastating blow to businesses” at the worst possible time. He fears many will be forced to shut their doors permanently after the latest setback.

“Cancellations are coming in big numbers from all sectors of the tourism economy,” he said. “Jobs will be shed and skills will be lost to the industry.”

How are people expected to book a trip interstate, pay for airfares, hotels and car hire, when panicky premiers can at any moment order border closures and require 14 days of self-isolation?

Not only will holiday-makers fear their trip being cancelled, but they cannot be confident that once they travel they won’t be locked out of their home state or required to submit to self-quarantine.

But far from admonishing these destructive overreactions from state leaders, Scott Morrison has again stood with them.

National cabinet continues to operate as a protection racket between the federal and state governments with neither willing to criticise the other. That lack of scrutiny is hardly ideal for democracy or transparency.

The Prime Minister’s backing of the Brisbane lockdown is at odds with his government’s policy encouraging Australians to holiday in their own country. The $1.2bn tourism support package unveiled by him earlier this month, providing about 800,000 half-price airfares, was supposed to keep the local industry alive.

Queensland was the major beneficiary of the package but that plan cannot succeed if Palaszczuk has no confidence in her state’s contact tracing and simply shuts down her capital city after every outbreak.

Meanwhile, NSW continues to be the saviour of the side, ensuring the economy is firing, taking the bulk of overseas arrivals through hotel quarantine and showing there is a better way to manage the COVID crisis.

It’s amazing what can be achieved with competent leadership.

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