WA needs to end this heart-breaking separation

I am a West Australian living in Perth and enjoy the freedoms that come with a COVID-free state. I feel fortunate. Nevertheless, when I read of Mark McGowan’s 91 per cent support rating (“West versus the rest: ‘we know best’”, 5-6/9) I am a little incensed since no one has asked me for my opinion.

That our Premier flatly refuses to entertain our Prime Minister’s request for states to plan for a border reopening by Christmas is arrogant and uncompromising. After all, he would have nearly three months to prepare.

Why should I care? I, and every one of my friends, have family members living interstate or overseas. I know too well that technology enables regular visual and verbal communication with loved ones, but nothing beats the physical hug, the spontaneity of sitting together and chatting over a cup of coffee or glass of wine. For me, the separation from family interstate has morphed into a dull heartache of missing and being “there” with my siblings, my nieces, nephews and cousins.

Please, less politics and more common sense.

Dr Susan Roberts, South Perth, WA

It is time to talk about medical mass hysteria. The Australian daily death toll from COVID-19 for those aged under 70, to the nearest single digit, is (drum role please) zero. For those doing the maths, there have been about 40 deaths in six months, which averages closer to zero than even one death per day.

Plan A (which was trashed quickly) was to follow the World Health Organisation’s general guidelines on pandemics (based on the influenza virus). Not recommended are contact tracing, quarantining of exposed individuals and border closures. Only in exceptional circumstances would you consider workplace closures.

Plan B (also trashed) was to have a short lockdown so that the hospitals wouldn’t be overloaded.

Plan C seems to be wreck the economy and have a totalitarian state. The cure looks worse than the complaint.

May I suggest Plan D — just target solutions for nursing home residents and the aged and leave the general population to volunteer to do simple measures?

Should we laugh or cry about the sanity of our political leaders?

Dr Malcolm McRae, Surrey Hills, Vic

Considering the daily deaths from the pandemic still occurring in Victoria, mostly from aged care facilities, I was surprised to read that the number of deaths of Australian nursing home residents was almost 1000 less for the first seven months of this year, from 33,383 to 32,398 (“Nursing home deaths down”, 5-6/9). Increased influenza immunisation rates and better community infection measures are thought to be behind the reduction.

While most of Victoria’s 515 deaths from aged care facilities were reported from August, following Victoria’s hotel quarantine fiasco, the broad numbers still show how well Australia has fared minimising the virus toll and, importantly, how effective basic hygiene, social distancing and hyper-contact tracing can be without closing down large parts of the economy.

The numbers also confirm that on a risk versus benefit comparison, the West Australian and Queensland premiers are clearly placing political opportunism ahead of national economic recovery by refusing to agree to the national cabinet proposals on border openings.

Judging by the economic destruction throughout Asia (“Pandemic exposes cracks in the Asian century”, 5-6/9), the region will need an economically strong Australia to assist in economic recovery and to help avoid social catastrophe.

Ron Hobba, Camberwell, Vic

It is time Australians had a good hard look at what their Federation has become. In 1889 Sir Henry Parkes had the vision that a national government would strengthen the country and in 1901 his vision became a reality. It was appropriate in an era when communication was slower and people and goods rarely left their own states.

What we have now is a shambolic waste of money. The pandemic has shone the light on our over-governance and the flaws in the old model of Federation. We seem to have regressed to being individual little fiefdoms that don’t allow the federal government to govern.

Yvonne Crane, Killarney Heights, NSW

Can anyone think of any area of government that logically should be handled at state level rather than by a two-tier national and greater metropolitan/local government?

David Cowie, Middle Park, Vic