Sydney unravels as divisive leaders try threats and pleas

The problem with the NSW government is that they are legends in their own lunch box.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has displayed divisive and sanctimonious hubris towards other states. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Every Australian must send those in the Greater Sydney lockdown their strong support.

At this time, the people of NSW need clarity, consistency, reassurance and truth. They do not need a government that puts out mixed messages and vague instructions, and is publicly riven with division over whether to knuckle down or open up. They especially do not need a health minister who looks ready to let the Covid-19 virus rip through the community.

For even hardened observers, last week marked a low point in our national politics. At the end of it though, Scott Morrison released a four-point plan for Australia’s exit from the Covid era. NSW took part in the crafting process of this plan and, like all other states, signed up to the outcome.

In phase one of the plan, all states and territories would work to continue suppression of the virus while vaccinating the population. This phase means lockdowns are accepted as painfully necessary and preferable to letting the virus spread.

In phase two, we would continue to use lockdowns as a last resort. In phase three, we would start to manage Covid like all other infectious diseases. This was the stage where we would all be learning to live with the virus, and in phase four the virus would be treated like the flu.

Alongside this planning context, it is apparent the current lockdown isn’t working too well. At the end of a press conference on Wednesday, a frustrated Brad Hazzard dropped a bombshell. People in southwestern Sydney were not doing as asked, the NSW Health Minister said, and “I think at some stage, if the individuals don’t hear (NSW chief health officer) Dr (Kerry) Chant’s message and don’t respond, then at some point we’re going to move to a stage where we are going to have to accept that the virus has a life which will continue in the community”.

A new strategy of “learning to live with the virus” would be taken, regardless of the fact hardly anyone was vaccinated. This announcement sent shockwaves throughout the country. That evening, on the Ten Network’s The Project, University of NSW adjunct professor and strategic health consultant Bill Bowtell expressed it well: “What on earth would possess the Minister for Health to say such a thing, or give him the right to determine that, for the people of NSW … Is that the future, really, that we’re being threatened with?”

The next morning, AMA president Omar Khorshid said instead of giving up, NSW must redouble efforts and resolve. “We do not have high levels of the population vaccinated yet. We are nowhere close to herd immunity. If the outbreak in NSW is not dealt with, then we will see borders around Australia closed.”

Indeed, if this “let it rip” policy is followed, NSW citizens will find themselves pariahs and locked out of the rest of their country.

By this time, Hazzard was backflipping on his comments, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was back to pleading with people to do the right thing, West Australian Premier Mark McGowan was threatening a permanent hard border and Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley, when asked, refused to rule it out.

The problem with the NSW government is that they are legends in their own lunch box. Since this pandemic began, they have told the entire country how good they are at Covid management. At the daily press conferences, the Premier has displayed divisive and sanctimonious hubris towards other states.

Now that some real pressure is being applied, the cracks are showing. Forces within NSW cabinet want to ignore the national plan, lift the lockdown now and let the cards fall where they may. There are those in the media who have pushed for this approach from day one. Could it be their wish may be granted?

When Victoria went through its long lockdown last year, it knew nothing then about the virus compared with what it knows now. Yet what it achieved in the end was incredible. Victoria suppressed the virus and just recently did it again with the Delta strain in another two-week lockdown.

At the time it wasn’t easy, but we Victorians did it for ourselves and for you; we did it for our state and for the nation. And if we have to, we will do it again and again until, as Premier Daniel Andrews has said, every eligible person has been offered a vaccine. But after this time all bets are off because “it’s on them if they don’t choose to get vaccinated … We wouldn’t be having lockdowns to protect people who weren’t prepared to protect themselves”.

As the AMA president said: “Lockdowns, when complied with, work. Victoria has beaten back Covid through lockdowns and come out the other side stronger and safer. Sydney can, and must, do the same.”

The NSW Premier is right to tighten the lockdown settings; hopefully cabinet unity will emerge and community compliance will occur.