Green shoots suggest a rebound

The national cabinet meets on Friday amid tentative signs that Australia is rebounding from the dual health and economic crises that have exacted a terrible toll. The release on Thursday of better-than-expected labour market data was encouraging. While it is far too early to rejoice at the addition of 111,000 new jobs and a better unemployment figure than anticipated, Australians are entitled to draw some comfort from these results. There are also signs that the curve of infection is flattening in Victoria, where failures in quarantine led to rapid community transmission of the virus and one of the harshest lockdowns in the world.

These are tough days for our nation. As Scott Morrison lamented after the national cabinet last met, it has felt as though our commonwealth was beginning to fragment. When the Prime Minister was re-elected by his so-called quiet Australians last year he resolved any doubts about his political skills. Yet not even his most ardent admirers would have seen him as a man of destiny who would be required to steer Australia through what is arguably its greatest peacetime crisis. His ill-advised vacation in the midst of the summer bushfire season cast serious doubts over his judgment under pressure. But as the national cabinet convenes, every member is entitled to draw some comfort from the health and economic data. Federal and state leaders, at times, have been found wanting in their response to the current crisis. But on the evidence emerging this week there are glimmers of optimism. There seem to be green shoots of economic recovery and signs that containment of the virus in Victoria is being achieved. Every Australian, regardless of political affiliation, will wish the national cabinet every success. There has been enough recrimination. There has been enough cheap parochialism. Friday’s meeting appears to coincide with a pivotal moment in Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders, state and federal, must recapture the spirit of shared sacrifice and shared belief in this lucky country and renew their commitment to capitalising on the encouraging metrics emerging.

Amid the tensions of the week, Australians have been nostalgic about that glorious spring of 2000, when we hosted the Olympic Games. The best of the nation was on display: generosity and national pride untainted by jingoism. No Hollywood writer could have scripted Cathy Freeman, a proud First Nations woman, flashing up the home straight to claim gold in the 400m. She had already lit the Olympic flame, lighting a spark in the heart of every Australian.

In the intervening two decades we have not lost those innate Aussie qualities. We are at our best when we turn towards one another, not against one another. This crisis has strained our goodwill, our patience and our faith in our institutions of government. Putrid tribalism in the form of identity politics and impulsive Twitter rantings have undermined our civic discourse. Yet the centre has held. We may well be at a turning point. State and federal leaders need to step back from the brink to which they rushed a fortnight ago and recapture that spirit of 2000. The spirit of two decades ago rather than two weeks ago is required.

As shown by the catastrophic collapse of the New Zealand economy, with unemployment almost double that of Australia, there is nothing inherently better in unitary models of government than our federation. Despite the Twitterati’s sneers at Mr Morrison and Josh Frydenberg, they have performed admirably. They have built on foundations that are the legacy of the best policy setting of both major parties in the reforms to our economy since the float of the dollar in 1983. Australians will watch Friday’s deliberations with hope mingled with trepidation. It may not be the beginning of the end of this crisis. Let us hope it is at least the end of the beginning.