Constant lockdowns hurt society’s most vulnerable

The disparity between school closures due to Covid outbreaks between the states in Australia couldn’t be more graphic. Compared with students attending all levels of education in Victoria losing a disproportionate 24 weeks of classroom study (over 2020-21), children in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory so far have been deprived of only one solitary week.

Having spent over three decades of my working life in Victorian primary classroom teach­ing, my entire concern now is for the overall welfare of students like my primary-aged grandchildren. My concerns are not solely focused on their deprivation of face-to-face academic instruction but, more significantly for the long term, psychological ramifications of their loss of peer group socialisation and interaction (“The political divisions over Covid will leave lasting scars”, 20/7).

While experts such as former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth have continually reassured us that it is perfectly safe for our children to be taught at school and that far fewer children are affected by Covid-19 than the elderly, the ill and other high-risk groups, Victorian authorities stub­bornly continue to lock down our educational facilities. Put simply, all students ought to be immediately permitted to return to class, with relevant Covid safeguards and hygiene protocols man­dated. Data confirms minimal Covid transmission between children and their peers, or with adults. Currently, the combined Covid lockdown populations of Victoria and NSW exceed a staggering 11 million. With no publicly declared Covid release dates for lockdowns either state and with no logical health reason to restrict our children’s and grandchildren’s developmental learning and socialisation, why do educational establishments in both states remain indefinitely closed?

In Australia, there is purported to be liberty and justice for all, however both do not appear to be equally distributed throughout our nation, particularly when it comes to educational opportunity.

Lyle Geyer, Essendon, Vic

I was saddened to hear of the death last month of Edward de Bono, regarded as the authority on the skill of thinking. He introduced lateral thinking, and thinking “outside the box”. In his book Simplicity he praises the finding of a simple solution but warns of the danger of a “simplistic answer” to a complex problem by “simpletons”. Treatment of the corona­virus is challenging many governments and producing varied responses. The competing claims of education, industry and the health departments are being heard. The cost to the economy is still to be discovered, but the damage to social wellness is evident.

A question de Bono asks is: “Who benefits from any decision?” We may ask: Are decisions being made for political benefit or being wisely determined for the overall benefit of our nation? Times of crisis test the integrity of each person by their responses. It will be seen if our leaders have been thinking wisely or if we are being led by “political simpletons”.

Frank Lowry, Wandana Heights, Vic

It is not only the Morrison government but the federation itself that is threatened by cynical and opportunistic premiers. When the Prime Minister formed a national cabinet it seemed like a statesmanlike measure, but the premiers have turned it into a situation where the commonwealth pays the bill while they act without restraint. Public fears actually reward them for disproportionate and often arbitrary action, while the PM is punished for perceived inaction, with the federal contribution ignored or downplayed. Labor premiers have weaponised the situation to engineer the downfall of the Coali­tion in Canberra. It is the division of powers under a federation that hobbles the commonwealth, unlike national govern­ments in Britain and New Zealand, where the latter is leagues behind Australia in its vaccine rollout with the Teflon image of Jacinda Ardern untouched.

John Morrissey, Hawthorn, Vic

It is time everyone stopped pushing the lie that a highly vaccinated public will be able to return to life as it was before Covid-19. The virus will be with us for years, and even with 80 per cent vaccination we will be living alongside illness, hospitalisation and death (“New Delta dawn: not free until kids get jab”, 20/7). That’s the discussion that needs to had with Australia.

Ian Porter, Subiaco, WA