Coronavirus: No-go zones bring about a nation divided

WA Premier Mark McGowan has reignited the nat­ion’s border wars, criticising NSW’s approach to managing Covid.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan speaks during a press conference. Picture: Getty

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has reignited the nat­ion’s border wars, declaring NSW’s approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic was out of step with other states and an elimination approach to “crush and kill the virus” was better.

In a statement that drew immediate rebukes from business groups, criticism from leading economists and denials from other state leaders, Mr McGowan said there were “five states and two territories doing one thing, and one state doing something different”.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday further inflamed tensions with business groups as he implemented a ­traffic-light system for those seeking to enter his state.

Daniel Andrews on Monday further inflamed tensions with business groups as he implemented a ­traffic-light system for those seeking to enter his state. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Wayne Taylor

He also disavowed the elimination strategy, despite implementing one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world last year.

All Australians will need a ­permit to enter the southern state, with different zones experiencing different testing and quarantine requirements based on exposure to community transmission.

Frustrations are growing among business groups that continued restrictions and border closures, at a time when the nation is recording only a handful of locally transmitted cases, are unnecessarily retarding what has been a ­robust economic recovery from the worst downturn in close to a century.

Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said Victoria’s permit announcement was equivalent to a “permanent Checkpoint Charlie” at the border, and could lead to a “race to the bottom as other states imitate or try to outdo the Victorian approach”.

“While a nationally consistent approach to hotspot definitions and lockdown triggers would be desirable, the chasm between the states looks unbreachable, with some states adopting total elimination strategies,” he said.

Facing an election on March 13, Mr McGowan, who has implemented the toughest border restrictions in the country, conceded he had been pursuing an elimination strategy despite national cabinet last year agreeing on a suppression approach.

“The states and territories that want to eliminate the virus have the right approach,” he said. “The idea that you tick along with the virus and somehow that is a better model is wrong.”

Despite his West Australian counterpart’s claims, Mr Andrews said his state and others were following an “aggressive suppression strategy” and were “not looking to wipe this thing out … We have to live with it, and that’s exactly what we have been doing these last few weeks.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s spokesman said the Sunshine State had “always pursued a suppression strategy to manage the pandemic”.

Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack defended NSW’s handling of the pandemic, telling The Australian that WA should recognise the state’s role in quarantining many of the west’s residents when they returned from overseas.

“NSW has done the heavy lifting in facilitating the arrival of the overwhelming majority of returning Australians during COVID-19, including West Australians and that must be recognised,” Mr McCormack said.

“The way NSW has kept its economy open while keeping ­people safe has set the benchmark for pandemic management.”

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt’s spokesman said as long as Australians were repatriated and the country continued to trade overseas, there was an unavoidable risk of transmission.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian agreed that no state could completely eliminate the virus as long as international arrivals ­continued.

“The NSW position is clear, and completely consistent with national cabinet,” she said.

“The target is zero community transmission.

“As long as there are flights returning citizens to Australia, elimination of COVID-19 is imposs­ible. Every day we see cases emerge in hotel quarantine around the country, including in Western Australia.”

Ms Berejiklian again hit out at other states for closing their borders with undue haste and zero consultation.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian again hit out at other states for closing their borders with undue haste and zero consultation.. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“I would simply say to other state leaders — firstly, please talk to us in NSW before you close the border because we can explain to you the situation that’s going on,” she said.

“Sometimes when there is an unexpected breakout, you do have to see where it goes for 24 or 48 hours before you make a decision like closing a border.”

Business leaders slammed Mr McGowan’s push for elimination of the virus as “laughable”, while economists said trying to totally eradicate COVID-19 was impractical and would come at an un­acceptably high economic cost.

Mr Willox said “total elimination strategies only serve to crush and kill investment and job creation”.

While he welcomed the end of Brisbane’s three-day lockdown on Monday evening, he said Queensland and other states and terri­tories needed to take a more measured approach to future outbreaks.

“With many businesses now returning to full operations after the holidays, there is an urgent need for state governments to resist broad lockdown options.

“Localised actions against COVID-19, which have proven successful elsewhere, would be preferable to locking down entire cities.”

Business Council of Australia executive director of policy Jessica Wilson said the “best strategy is to manage outbreaks as they occur because we are going to have to live with this virus”.

She said a “stop-start” approach to the economy “would be job-destroying, setting the nation back and making the task of recovery a longer haul”.

“Knee-jerk restrictions and disproportionate, inconsistent reactions are confusing and confidence-sapping,” she said.

With consumption accounting for two-thirds of national economic output, giving households the confidence and capacity to continue spending in the year ahead was key to sustaining Australia’s economic recovery, JPMorgan economist Tom Kennedy said.

“At the end of the day the consumer is everything,” he said. “Without consumption, you don’t get a rebound.”

Household spending has powered the country’s faster than anticipated recovery from its first recession in almost three decades.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Monday showed retail turnover in November surged to be 13 per cent higher than a year earlier, as Victorian shops enjoyed their first full month out of lockdown and Australians spent big in that month’s Black Friday promotional sales.

Beside the GST-induced jump in 2000, it was the fastest paced year-on-year growth since 1989, the ABS said.

ANU professor and former Reserve Bank board member Warwick McKibbin said he remained in favour of a suppression strategy and adopting a national elimination approach to managing the pandemic would come at a “significant” cost to the economy.

“What’s really critical is that if you go for elimination, you have to shut off the country, and I don’t think that’s a valid approach — you need to keep the economy functioning,” he said.

Professor McKibbin said there needed to be greater co-ordination and information between states and territories, particularly given their different approaches to outbreaks.

“It’s very disruptive having these border closures with 24 hours’ notice,” he said.

“The gains from co-operation (between states) here are so substantial, we really do need better national leadership.”

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Jenny Lambert said suppression was the “right strategy for the economy and the only realistic one from a health perspective” but there needed to be greater trust across jurisdictions.

“We need to increase our international interactions, while at the same time managing the risk. We cannot shut ourselves off from the rest of the world,” Ms Lambert said.

Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chief executive Peter Strong said attempting to eliminate the virus completely would destroy the recovery.

“You would have permanent JobKeeper,” he said, branding Mr McGowan’s comments as “laughable”.

“There wouldn’t be any economic recovery, it would be a completely different world and businesses would have to become used to frequent lockdowns; it’s very hard to order stock and run a business in those conditions,” he said.

Mr Kennedy said an elimination strategy would “certainly be negative for growth”, assuming such an approach involved even stricter border controls, domestically and nationally, and more stringent mobility restrictions.

“It would be more punitive in the near-term, and if it (elimination of the virus) was successful, you could say it had long-term positive growth benefits, but that’s a massive ask as nobody has managed to do that,” Mr Kennedy said.