Public patience is snapping

Brisbane-based federal Labor frontbencher Graham Perrett is unapologetic about participating in Saturday’s Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane. He says he took “every precaution possible … stayed at the back and as far away from people as possible”. Not that far, and he had plenty of people behind him, pictures show. Mr Perrett’s participation, like that of Greens senator Janet Rice and Victorian Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick, is an irritant to those who resent the “one rule for some, another for the rest of us” aspect of the protests and how they were handled. If Mr Limbrick was fishing for kudos when he said he “knew personally there were risks for me” but “I thought it was important”, he is out of synch with voters. The hypocrisy and incompetence of state leaders, irrespective of the importance of indigenous justice, is snapping public patience after three months of sacrifices and with years of financial struggle ahead. “Any further enforcing of social-distancing laws will simply be a joke!”, was how one reader, John, summed up the situation online.

Businesses have had enough, for good reason. Gold Coast restaurateurs have floated the idea of putting up banners and staging a “protest day” in the hope they would not have to turn diners away from empty tables. In Sydney, Sal Navarra, chief executive of Navarra Venues, will reopen the company’s wedding venues to “any numbers” next month after the government allowed 15,000 to 20,000 people to gather last weekend. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has pleaded for public patience, insisting there is “no excuse” for “anybody thinking they’re above the health orders”. That was not the case on Saturday, however, as police stood by while thousands behaved as though they were “above the health orders”.

This pervasive double standard did not deter Victoria Police from closing Mornington Peninsula pier on Monday over concerns fishermen were “not observing social-distancing requirements”. Nor were they jammed in like sardines, like the weekend protest crowds. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was back into his panic-mode persona on Tuesday, warning “We are nowhere near the end of it (coronavirus).” So was Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Unmoved by a giant billboard installed by Gold Coast LNP member Michael Hart declaring “planes equal jobs … open the borders”, Ms Palaszczuk has thwarted the AFL’s plan to have fans attend this weekend’s games. The federal government’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Nick Coatsworth, has brought a more realistic perspective to the subject of footy crowds. The issue, he said, was a large number of people coming together, then dispersing across cities. But he added: “You can be a little more controlled in a stadium than you can in a protest.” Ms Palaszczuk’s refusal to accept that her government’s closure of the state’s borders has hurt tourism companies — a claim outlined in documents filed in the High Court — can hardly be taken seriously.

Given their apparent fear of COVID-19, it is incomprehensible that state leaders did not act effectively to prevent Saturday’s demonstrations, or have barriers erected to spread out crowds, or insist on fining those who broke social-distancing rules. If, as expected, national cabinet delays the wholesale easing of COVID-19 restrictions in response to the protests, the fiasco will have a hefty price tag. It could cost the national economy more than $1bn and prevent tens of thousands of people getting back to work. Alongside public indignation, the fact coronavirus cases have topped seven million worldwide, with a death toll of 400,000, puts Australia’s situation in a sobering perspective. The conscientious efforts of business and households have placed us in a strong position to embark on economic recovery. But the states’ lack of control of the protests has marred that spirit of co-operation.