‘It’s critical that public servants aren’t activists and don’t frolic in partisan waters’

Too many Cooks: Victoria's deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen fights coronavirus and the culture wars.

Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer and alleged “woke lefty” Annaliese van Diemen likened Captain Cook to coronavirus in a morning tea break tweet, sparking calls for her resignation and eliciting close to 2000 readers’ comments. Paul stood tall:

“It’s essential that senior executives in the public sector act with integrity, impartiality and demonstrate leadership in often sensitive, difficult and contested matters. It is critical that public servants aren’t activists and don’t politicise public policy or frolic in partisan waters.

“There is also a fundamental responsibility to act in the public interest and senior leaders are remunerated for these weighty obligations accordingly. It’s frightening then if these comments aren’t seen to offend obligations as a senior public sector leader.”

Terry & Kathy tut-tutted:

“The most glaring mistake this lady made was to show her overwhelming ignorance of the history of her own country, embarrassing. The irony of her surname is not lost on history buffs.”

Richard’s reminder:
“Captain Cook neither ‘invaded’ Australia nor created ‘terror’. Indeed, his second landing in North Queensland to repair the Endeavour was notable, after initial tension, for how well he and his crew on the one side and the locals on the other got along.”

Michael mused:
“She is not a lefty. She is anti-authority and counter-culture and uninformed. Many from her standpoint argue that Cook invaded Australia and introduced Social Darwinism. Pity Darwin was not born until 1809 and his theories were not published until mid 1800s. 

“There can be no argument that colonisation of most countries by Europeans decimated indigenous populations and the same can be applied to Australia. But Cook was in fact a scholar and intellectual of his time and hardly an invader. Joseph Banks the botanist had more influence over the colonisation process but his name is never mentioned. 

“Dr van Diemen is presenting a very populist narrative that is uninformed and if you like ethnocentric. James Cook and Arthur Phillip were nothing like their counterparts of the early 1800s. Benjamin Franklin wrote about James Cook in glowing terms and considering the USA was at war with UK at the time that is quite an achievement.”

Sudden arrival of an invader from another land, decimating populations, creating terror. Forces the population to make enormous sacrifices & completely change how they live in order to survive. COVID19 or Cook 1770?

— Dr Annaliese van Diemen (@annaliesevd) April 29, 2020

Rob45 remarked:

“I can’t comprehend what was going on in the mind of an obviously intelligent public servant that compelled her to make a public comment like this in the context the worst economic disruption since the great depression. What was she thinking?”

Tony’s turn:

“I understand what van Diemen is saying, but as a public official she needs to keep these views out of the public arena.  In the same way as Israel Folau’s employers expected him to keep is personal views to himself.”

Brad was baffled:

“Well if you could explain it to me I would be grateful. My primary school recollection of history was that Cook arrived, mapped and left. Even if you believe the black armband version of Australian history it came with Arthur Phillip 18 years later.”

Caroline corrected:

“Cook was dead before Arthur Phillip arrived.”

John was jaundiced:
“She has a job for life. She works for the State of Victoria, gets well paid, has good superannuation and doesn’t have to worry about being retrenched or let go. Her knowledge of history is abysmal but ranks equally with many ill-educated products of schools in the last couple of decades where ideology reigns. I would hope she acquired more than a smattering of medical knowledge along the way but obviously lacks maturity or judgement. She is obviously poorly suited for a public role where her inadequacies become too evident.”

James smelled injustice:
“Dan Andrews keeps telling us we have to all have confidence in the health professionals and their advice. The posting of such views from Annaliese van Diemen clearly undermines that objective and would violate the states governments social media policy. Hence she should be stood down. A NSW minister was stood down for visiting his holiday house and this would seem to be more damaging that that incident.”

Ghengis was gobsmacked:

“We lived in Melbourne for a short time. My daughter, then in grade 3, was marked wrong on her homework for answering 1770 to the question, ‘in what year did James Cook land in Australia?’ It was 1788, according to her teacher.”

Not on, said John Drayton:
“Amazing (and frightening) that at a time like this a senior health bureaucrat has the leisure to broadcast her sophomore-level opinions.”

Rob raged:

A classic decision-making public servant, pontificating in fantasy land, at the wheel, sending tweets, while the average Australian battles on, and pays her wages.”

Jettison, said Julie:
“Frankly, I think we should just cut Victoria loose. They wouldn’t be missed by normal people.”

Logical reasoned:

“Isn’t that what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to do i.e. break up the Australian federation.  Why would we help them to do that?”

Dale doubled down:
“Reminds me of the young Victorian political advisor who publicly announced, about 18 months ago, that baby boomers are the source of all evil.”

Roberta’s reminder:

“And she was reprimanded for that. Let us see what happens with this one.”

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Glaring error: Don’t look directly at the sun, just the corona. Picture: AP

After Disinfectantgate and UVgate, some researchers said there was in fact merit in UV and sunlight being effective in mitigating the effects of coronavirus, not least through keeping vitamin D levels high, reducing the risk of extreme lung infections. David went defensive:

“While Trump is neither a scientist nor a medical doctor he is an entrepreneur. The US public and media should understand this. I have worked in therapeutic research for several such entrepreneurs, and sometimes their expansive, apparently ‘dumb’ questions, lead to great solutions.

“Well actually, hes not so dumb. There is at least one potential treatment for viral respiratory tract infections, based on a fairly common disinfectant. Not the exact molecule, but a closely related one. The mechanism of action has been published in the past (it works at the lung surface to disable virus as part of the innate immune system) and oral consumption of the related substance was found to be well-tolerated.”

Brett noted:

“Makes perfect sense to me. Any time I spend in the sun, without getting burnt, always makes me feel better. Morning sun in summer and and the winter sun in particular. Anything that feels as good as the winter sun on your skin can not be bad for you, and if its affect on your body chemistry is a good as its affect on your mood then somehow it must be good for you.”

Albert averred:

“Fascinating Stuff! Grandma of course was right. But I wonder when the medical profession will ever admit the intrinsic merit of what generations before us knew and applied to their daily lives.”

Tallulah was terse:
“People here commenting that Trump somehow got it right. Far from it. Trump said: ‘And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute ... and is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.”

“He did not say ‘just get out in the sun’. He was ridiculed for suggesting the ‘light inside the body’ and the disinfectant ‘by injection inside’ ideas as a cure.”

Rodney reasoned:
“Perhaps the statistics are better interpreted if we were told that there is an outlier sample of older people in care, in hospital or just inside. These people will have low vitamin D levels and these people are also more likely, in this current wave of COVID-19, to have died. Two of the biggest causes of their deaths have been other health issues and contact with staff and co-residents who were unknowingly contagious. The vitamin D study as reported does not tell us anything except that the most frail also have low vitamin D simply because of their residential lifestyle. The lack of the vitamin may not be contributing to their death.”

Let us out, said Lynne H:

“Sunlight, fresh air and weight bearing exercise is a natural way to combat depression. The walking on the sand is weight bearing rather than the swimming but swimming is good for cardiopulmonary health which will help you handle COVID-19. The sunlight keeps the calcium in the bones so this fights osteoporosis. Living by the beach and getting out there is good for health.”

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High noon: Chinese Ambassador and diplomacy gunslinger Cheng Jingye heads to the OK Corral. Picture: Kym Smith

Readers were overwhelmingly supportive of an editorial this week suggesting Beijing’s envoys were “loathsome cowboys” poisoning relations between nations that depend on each other, and that Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye has overstepped his role by threatening economic retaliation in response to the PM’s call for an investigation into coronavirus. Another Peter proclaimed:

“The Chinese need our iron ore and coal more than we need their cheap rubbish and their students.The west can no longer be kind to China and has to start regarding it as an active enemy, because the CCP is definitely no friend as past and recent actions clearly show.

“No more developing nation status to give it a massive economic advantage, no more tolerance of its massive IP theft, no more diplomatic approach to letting them get away with being the regional bully, and certainly no more unfettered investment in land, property, companies and strategic assets in Australia until Australian individuals and companies can do the same in China.”

Angela agreed:

“Trouble is that Beijing has sown up the votes of all the desperate Asian, African, South American and worked with Russia with the middle eastern countries to secure the votes in the UN to keep it a ‘developing’ nation.”

Simons said:

“One would hope that universities have learnt a sobering lesson from putting most of their eggs in the China basket. It may be necessary for a federal government to mandate a maximum China student enrolment. Prior to the pandemic some courses at group of 8 unis consisted of 95pc students from China — mind boggling!”

Praise from Peter:

“More editorials like this one, please. Most of the MSM too readily bow to China, and, as a democratic country, we cherish what we fought for.”

Ken’s perspective:

“It’s profoundly sad. I worked in Beijing for a relatively short time and the people — as opposed to the CCP government — were absolutely wonderful.”

Last word to Philip:
“One the best editorials for a while and simply because it was in defence of Australia about a wolf in sheep’s clothing. China has expanded its ‘Trojan Horse’ theory into practice in nearly every country in the world; of course most governments have been wined, dined and more to get where China wanted them.

“5G was going to be its final nail to control the world but they got caught by a bigger giant, the rest of the world woke up.

“A threatened world is different to one country being coerced or threatened. The ‘Trojan Horse’ was nearly in place and then the coronavirus slip up has brought their world crashing down. The quiet, loving friend is now aggressive and threatening.”

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