Tom Minear: We need clear COVID policies or ScoMo must step in

The coronavirus pandemic has been our reality for almost a year, which is why some government decisions this summer have been so hard to fathom.

There’s no playbook for the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s what our politicians told us repeatedly last year. It wasn’t quite true — the Victorian government had a comprehensive pandemic plan and ignored elements of it — but we were willing to cut them some slack.

After all, the coronavirus has caused a once-in-a-century crisis, and there have been few safer places to ride it out than Australia. We shouldn’t lose sight of that.

But the pandemic has been our reality for almost a year, and with the vaccine expected to take until October to roll out completely, life is not going back to normal any time soon.

That’s what has made some government decisions this summer so hard to fathom. By now, COVID policies should be consistent and calibrated, not careless, confused or callous.

Australians have shown an admirable willingness to follow the rules. That patience and diligence will erode in 2021 if we are continually forced to bear the consequences of panicked changes.

While COVID-19 is wildly infectious, and new strains pose new problems, the basic public health challenge remains the same. And so it should not be too much to ask governments to be predictable in their decision-making.

This was the fault in Victoria announcing its NSW border closure at 3.30pm on New Year’s Eve.

The pandemic has been our reality for almost a year and life is not going back to normal any time soon. Picture: Getty Images

When an outbreak flared in Sydney before Christmas, borders loomed as a risk. Indeed, many Victorians — who I suspect did not need to travel — were screaming for the border to be shut sooner to protect our COVID-free state.

But in the final months of 2020, Daniel Andrews, Scott Morrison and the National Cabinet had promised a COVID-safe summer, with borders open so Australians could go on holidays and reunite with their families.

This was the context in which Victorians, after months in lockdown, felt encouraged to travel. Many were aware of the risks but judged that new restrictions would be proportionate and clearly communicated.

This impression was aided by the Victorian government detailing green zones and red zones in NSW, issuing tough warnings about Sydney specifically, and suggesting quarantine hotels would be available for travellers returning from hot-spots.

It was outrageous for that nuanced approach to be dumped in the final moments of 2020, giving Victorians just hours to return to avoid two weeks of home quarantine, and little more than a day to make it back before being locked out.

Mates who were drinking all day piled into cars. Stressed parents rounded up their kids and abandoned their holidays. Campers 10km over the border were stranded because they were in mobile black spots until January 2.

Daniel Andrews, Scott Morrison and the National Cabinet had promised a COVID-safe summer, with borders open so families could reunite. Picture: Getty Images

The danger was not the virus, but the chaos caused by the closure.

This week, Andrews tried to clear up the mess with a “traffic light” permit system for anyone travelling to Victoria. His rationale — “giving Victorians greater certainty when they travel” — was sound.

But why did it take months of confusion before such a scheme was created? And why, after all that time, did the state government still not get it right?

When the rules kicked in at 6pm on Monday, the permit application website wasn’t working, and there is still no information about how and why areas will be classified as green, orange or red zones.

Instead of encouraging confidence, the scheme creates the farcical situation where Victorians cannot leave their state without needing a permit to return. And if they are caught in a red zone, like those now in Sydney and Brisbane, it would actually be easier for them to travel home from London or New York.

Somehow, Melburnians trapped interstate still do not know when they will be allowed back, even as their government bends over backwards to bring in tennis players from COVID-riddled countries.

Other states have made equally ill-advised decisions over summer.

Scott Morrison appears to have judged that he will not be dragged into problems he cannot solve. Picture: Martin Ollman

Queensland went too far on masks, making it illegal to drive — in your own car, by yourself — without wearing one. In NSW, the government did not go far enough, taking too long to make masks compulsory in settings where social distancing was not possible.

Brisbane was plunged into a three-day lockdown after precisely one new case. It caused panic buying, business closures, cancelled weddings and all because the government suddenly ignored the proven testing, tracing and isolation plan.

And despite 37,000 Australians still being stranded overseas, the National Cabinet slashed incoming passenger caps, meaning travellers were bumped off repatriation flights.

The Prime Minister has largely steered clear of all this. Having lost some skin taking on Queensland and Western Australia over closed borders last year, Morrison appears to have judged that he will not be dragged into problems he cannot solve.

Politically, that’s understandable. The states wield the power on COVID control, and even their most rash responses have proven popular with voters not directly affected.

But if state governments continue to eschew predictable policymaking, especially on interstate borders, then Morrison must intervene. We are supposed to be a federation, after all.

Tom Minear is Herald Sun national politics editor

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