Shambolic Covid response puts Victorians back in jeopardy
It is hard to believe we are potentially racing to yet another lockdown caused again by politicians and bureaucrats being caught unprepared and reacting in a chaotic way to play catch-up in a mess of their creation.
Victorians have suffered more than any other community as a result of a draconian lockdown caused by the mismanagement of hotel quarantine arrangements. We all suffered socially, financially and mentally as we were prevented from going about our normal lives.
While the Coate inquiry into the government mismanagement was deficient in many respects, it did demonstrate the shambolic mismanagement that has been the hallmark of the Andrews style of government. Once a decision is made, no matter how glaringly bad it is, Daniel Andrews will not budge. He would rather throw everyone else under a bus than accept the ultimate responsibility.
It is easy to forget that it was the Andrews government that wasted a billion dollars on a freeway desperately needed by the community but canned because he wouldn’t change his mind, regardless of the compelling reasons to the contrary.
Andrews’ refusal to back down on his government’s decision-making in the period leading up to the hard lockdown led to confusing and frankly stupid decisions such as, for example, that Victorians couldn’t fish nor play golf. But we could all run and cycle around the Tan without masks and breathe and spit on anyone who came within cooee.
The NSW northern beaches cluster was recognised as a major problem as far back as December 18. By December 20 it was growing exponentially with the announcement of 30 new COVID cases locally in NSW and 28 linked to the cluster. By then there were 68 cases linked to the cluster. Now, yes, with hindsight we know there was a significant problem and that it most likely would flow to other states. But given Victoria’s manic paranoia about dealing with clusters and its history of mismanaging contact tracing, one would have thought the government and Department of Health and Human Services bureaucrats, by December 20, would have been all over this potential disaster in order to manage any potential outbreak in Victoria. At the very least, to avoid yet another public humiliation.
What could have been done? A lot. The government should have ensured DHHS had all the resources during the Christmas holiday period to ensure there was more than enough testing capability. The same with contact tracing. Those on leave should have been warned that leave could be cancelled and they may be required back at work on short notice. A backup plan should have been prepared so additional workers from the federal government and states not affected could be brought in to assist if needed.
Finally, the Victorian government as early as December 20 should have made it mandatory at the very least that any person who visited the northern beaches from December 11 and was returning to Victoria would need to self-isolate for 14 days and have a COVID test immediately on return to Victoria and again on day 12 of the period of isolation.
What do we get instead. No planning but a totally shambolic response at the last moment. A call giving all Victorians in NSW 24 hours to return. They must have a test and then self-isolate. And then what? The rush to return home (coupled with draconian consequences if not heeded) overwhelms the police at borders. Queues are horrific and police decide to let people through by just flashing driver’s licences rather than questioning them. And when they return, Victorians find there are insufficient testing facilities. People wait for up to five hours in long queues and many testing centres close due to the overwhelming demand.
This will have severe repercussions for the community. Many people will simply elect not to be tested until days later, hoping testing capacity ramps up. And the test results themselves are delayed because, as one DHHS person explained, we are in the Christmas period. COVID stops for no one, not even Santa Claus.
All of this could have simply been avoided with good government and planning. But as we have seen with this government, the words “good” and “plan” are not on its radar.
This does not augur well. I hope Victorians will stay the course and, despite the frustrations caused by disruption to holidays and long queues, be patient, get tested and self-isolate.
Where is Dan Andrews in all this? He is having a holiday. Well, dear readers, before you lambast me and say everyone is due a holiday, he worked so hard during the hard lockdown and he deserves it, just think of this. He caused the hard lockdown. Further, he didn’t need to be in front of us every day during the hard lockdown like the friendly jailer. He could have taken a break when things had turned and then been fresh to deal with a real emergency. Not Dan. Once he makes up his mind to do something he never changes it. If he were prime minister in 1915, I hazard a guess our troops would still be on the beaches in Gallipoli.
Francis Galbally is a Melbourne businessman and company director. As a lawyer he was involved with royal commissions into the Victorian police force, the meat industry, Builders’ Labourers Federation, and the Painters and Dockers Union.
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I have previously said the Andrews government is the worst that Victorians have seen. We have yet another example of the Victorian government kicking an own goal and demonstrating yet again how incompetent it is.