We are facing threats on all sides

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured in 2019, are two leaders who have been laid low by COVID-19. Picture: Getty Images

Pandemics may cause untold misery for their unfortunate victims, but they are a boost to incumbent politicians. No one is interested in what oppositions have to say in times of trouble. Oppositions can talk but they can’t do anything.

During the past 12 months there has been a pattern of incumbent governments being returned with comfortable, increased majorities. I have just watched a press conference from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. She was on top of her brief. She looked and sounded like the one in charge. In times like these, premiers occupy the commanding heights and ­opposition leaders seem more ­irrelevant than usual.

At the moment it is only premiers and health ministers who people want to hear. From the time of writing, gatherings of 20 or more are forbidden in NSW, as is singing and dancing at indoor venues. This must be a huge disappointment for brides who have been planning their big day for a year or more. To them the decision might seem harsh or over the top but most of us will accept it as prudent and sensible. For the immediate future, fun will be somewhat frowned upon. Even the Taliban would agree with Berejiklian, given their well-known views on the evils of singing and dancing. But unlike what happens in Taliban territory, anyone caught flouting the law will not be shot.

Both British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron have been laid low in the past by COVID and will be in the forefront of those urging their citizens to get the jab. No doubt the idiots who campaign against vaccinations will again be out in force but their brand of lunacy has lost its lustre as the rest of the world ­values sanity over hysteria.

The task of vaccinating every Australian is a massive one but it can be done. As a nation we are open to mass vaccination if convinced that the threat is large enough for governments to embark on such a program. The chilling daily reports of the numbers of the dead from wealthy Western countries like Italy and Spain should be enough to spur us on.

Having better underlying health in our population can help ensure we will not be overcome by the virus, but it will not give us immunity. The COVID bug is tough and resilient and will not go down without a hell of a fight.

In the US, thousands of hospital beds remain empty as the expected surge in COVID cases has been far short of what was predicted a few months ago. So far, the COVID threat we anticipated in Australia to be a very big deal has proven to be a fizzer. We are not dropping like flies to its symptoms in a way other nations seem to be doing. As I have been saying ever since I became health minister in 1993, that if you are going to get sick, then get sick in Australia. We have the best health system in the world and second best hasn’t rounded the turn yet.

With a veritable army of doctors, nurses and pharmacists all permitted to vaccinate us, the process should not require more than a few months to complete. We will be on top of this virus before any other country in the world. Our isolation is a big help because even without COVID, embarking on a 24-hour journey to Australia from Europe or the US is a daunting prospect.

The airline industry has suffered mightily from the effects of COVID. Countless numbers of airline employees have been laid off. Thousands have lost their jobs locally as Qantas was forced to downsize in a hurry. Workers in travel-based industries have been looking over their shoulders for some time in fear of the axe. It is highly doubtful their anxieties will fade away in the near future.

Sadly, this has become an age of concern. From the bellicose threats from China to the march of COVID through Europe, we are given things to keep us awake at night. If we are serious about playing any serious role in our own defence then we need to forget about our anti-nuclear past. Putting up conventional submarines and expecting to compete on an equal footing with nuclear submarines in wartime is no more than wishful thinking.

We need to start spending more on defence despite how much this might annoy the critics. We have to reassure the Americans that while there will still be a heavy reliance on them coming to our aid in times of peril, we are still capable of doing some of the heavy lifting. Trying to build submarines in Australia is a noble cause but in the modern world it is fraught with danger. We can’t ­afford delays and while I have no sympathy for the former defence minister David Johnston — who said we couldn’t “build a canoe” — I do think our construction is too slow and a vast improvement would be necessary should building subs here become a policy. And yes, that means the unions would have to play ball as well.

The Trump years should have taught us a lesson. An isolationist US president could consider the Pacific an unnecessary burden and decide to withdraw. Australia would then be in a real pickle.

Australia would be expected to carry the burden of ensuring that all Pacific island citizens were vaccinated. The prospect of trying to ensure all the citizens of Papua New Guinea were vaccinated would be a logistical nightmare in itself. Such a program in Africa, with so many dysfunctional counties, would be near impossible. In the hard politics of the real world, the African poor are easily discarded. While we are unlikely to have another Biafra disaster, Africa will still throw up real difficulties for those Western nations still wedded to helping people rather than regimes.

Gunboat diplomacy is no longer possible and many of these countries witness changes of leadership from general to general without ever being consulted via a ballot box. Sadly, I can’t see that changing any time soon.