India’s humanitarian disaster

As Indians gasp for oxygen and die in crowded streets and at the gates of overcrowded hospitals for want of ventilators, other treatments and vaccines, Australia must continue to be as generous as possible to our Commonwealth and Quadrilateral Security Dialogue allies. We are well placed, as Health Minister Greg Hunt says, to help with ventilators and oxygen. The initial package of supplies Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday was a substantial start. It includes 500 ventilators, oxygen concentrators and tanks, 1.5 million masks, goggles, gloves and face shields. Even India’s nemesis, Pakistan, has offered help.

Calamitous as the crisis is, it provides some insight into what full-blown biological warfare might look like. It is a sharp reminder of the importance of strategic policy and alliances, strong defences and a healthy balance of power to encourage stability and peace.

Difficult as it will be, especially for Australians in India, the Prime Minister’s announcement on Tuesday of a pause on flights from India until May 15 put our nation’s safety first. The move will affect about 500 prospective passengers on two commercial and two repatriation flights, and others booked on indirect flights. No exceptions were made, including for our star cricketers. When flights resume, passengers will be tested before being allowed to board. It is a tough, pragmatic decision, consistent with Australia’s approach since the outset of the pandemic when we closed the border to travellers from China. It implies no disrespect or cold-shouldering of our Indian ally. The 9000 Australians in India who have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to come home, including 650 who have registered as vulnerable, will be distressed that they will have to wait.

That level of demand to return and the nature of the voracious “double mutant” B1617 COVID-19 variant indicate, even with vaccines being rolled out across the world, the pandemic has a long way to run. Some premiers, especially Western Australia’s Mark McGowan, Victoria’s Daniel Andrews and Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk, want the Morrison government to commission new custom-built quarantine facilities for returning Australians. Such calls suggest lack of confidence in hotel quarantine arrangements. The Morrison government has been expanding the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory from 850 to 2000 beds. And building new federal facilities makes sense, especially if Australia is to welcome foreign workers and students in the foreseeable futures as vaccination rates increase.

But if and when federal facilities are built, states, which are responsible for delivering healthcare, are best placed to provide the staff, equipment and expertise to care for those in quarantine. As NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says, states have been tasked with managing quarantine since the start of the pandemic and must ensure their systems are as strong as possible. NSW, to its credit, has shouldered the lion’s share of the burden. It is “not healthy to have these blame games” when COVID outbreaks occur, as Ms Berejiklian says. Political squabbles must be taken out of the picture.