Coronavirus: Kids’ pain disproportionate, says magnate Kerry Harmanis

Kerry Harmanis has called on governments to loosen border controls, move away from lockdowns and increase transparency around health advice.

Mining magnate Kerry Harmanis. Picture: Colin Murty

A West Australian mining magnate­ has broken a decade-long media silence to slam the respons­e of governments across the country to the coronavirus pandemic, warning that measures introduced to fight the virus are scarring a generation of Aust­ralian children.

Kerry Harmanis, who made more than $500m after he sold his nickel mining company at the height of the last mining boom, told The Australian he was deeply concerned about the powers and controls wielded by state governments since the outbreak began.

He called on governments nation­wide to loosen border controls, move away from restrictive lockdowns and increase their transparency around the health advice that is shaping their decis­ions, and slammed the actions of “shortsighted, unimaginative and ultimately selfish leaders” who were dividing the country.

“The hard border closures have — apart from the overwhelming economic cost — creat­ed immeasurable and unnecessary­ suffering, increased suicide, domestic violence, self-harm, family separation, destruction of community and much more, with a total loss of livelihood and wellbeing for so, so many,” Mr Harmanis said.

Since making his fortune with the sale of Jubilee Mining in 2007, he has established a foundation teaching mindfulness and medit­ation to school teachers. He said it was clear anxiety levels among children were rising dramatically.

“The social and mental issues that have been created out of all this are terrible, we are going to be paying a big price for that,” Mr Harmanis said. “And the kids’ suffering is inordinately dispropor­tionate to what the problem is.”

His comments came as fresh data from the Kids Helpline showed a 39 per cent surge in the number of lifesaving interventions by the group since March. The service has made 1194 “duty of care’’ interventions — where emergency services were engaged — between March and the end of August, up from 857 in the same period a year ago.

Mr Harmanis said that while the uncertainty during the early months of the crisis had required governments to take dramatic steps, those measures needed to be reconsidered as the understanding of the virus improved.

“Where and what is the medical and scientific evidence and the constitutional basis that has justified governments’ right to shut us off indefinitely from our families, loved ones, businesses, livelihood and the general amenity of our great country?” he asked.

He said the lack of evidence to support Victoria’s contentious introducti­on of a curfew, and the inability of that state’s government to explain why private security­ guards were installed at quarantine hotels, were indicative of the flawed decision-­making processes.

Instead, he said, the response to coronavirus should be tailored towards better protecting the most vulnerable. “Yes, COVID is a killer like many other things and we must deal with it responsibly and in perspective.”

While WA’s hard border has proved hugely popular among West Australians, it has started to come under increased scrutiny from business leaders.

Richard Goyder, chairman of Woodside Petroleum, Qantas and the AFL, continued his critic­ism of the border restrictions this week, telling Perth radio station 6PR he was concerned the “overreach” of governments would lead to higher rates of youth unemployment and mental health issues.

“There has to be a change in the political leadership as well, which says we’ve done really well to get to where we’ve got to but now we’ve got to move forward and we’re well-equipped,” he said.

Mr Goyder said “locking us down is difficult but leading us out is more challenging”.