Coronavirus; Fast or slow, lockdowns sap hope

In a tale of two state government responses, 33 per cent of Victorians believed the restrictions imposed on them were an ‘extreme response’, compared with 17 per cent of those in NSW.

Blacktown, Sydney during lockdown. Picture: Supplied

Just 9 per cent of Victorians believed their Covid restrictions should be stricter over the past month, compared with 48 per cent of their NSW counterparts.

The statistics came from marketing analytics and strategy advisory firm Forethought’s monthly Mood & Pulse report, which has surveyed 20,000 Australians on the pandemic response since March 27, 2020.

In a tale of two state government responses and their reception, 33 per cent of Victorians believed the restrictions imposed on them were an “extreme response”, compared with 17 per cent of those in NSW.

The majority of Victorians – 58 per cent – believed their restrictions were a reasonable response, compared with 35 per cent of people in NSW.

While Melbourne is in its third lockdown since May, battling active caseloads which have never exceeded 205 over that period, NSW only went into a statewide lockdown over the weekend, amid a record 466 cases on Saturday and 415 on Sunday.

The survey also found that trust in the Andrews government has trended downward all year, with Victoria’s trust-in-government rating now the lowest of any state, at 4.8 out of 10, compared with NSW at 5.7.

Western Australia has the highest rating at 6.9.

Emotional wellbeing has also taken a huge hit in the lockdown states, with 44 per cent of survey respondents in NSW saying life is worse than this time last year, and 43 per cent in Victoria saying the same – despite Victorians contending with a second wave and 112-day lockdown last year.

Victoria’s 43 per cent in July is up from 26 per cent in May.

Forethought chief executive Diane Shelton said the results in Victoria were “particularly concerning given how much of 2020 the state spent in lockdown”.

“It seems that for an increasing number of Victorians, hope is on the wane,” Ms Shelton said.

“It remains to be seen whether the state’s declining emotional state will be damaging politically for the Andrews government.”

Meanwhile, a separate survey of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry members found 45 per cent supported mandatory vaccination as a condition of employment, while 29 per cent supported mandatory vaccination for some professions.

One third were providing time off for staff to get vaccinated.