Coronavirus: Pain of authoritarian edicts too much to bear, says IPA

New rules to tackle the spread of COVID-19 that have made Australians ‘prisoners in their own home’ should be scrapped, IPA warns.

Police patrol Melbourne’s St Kilda Beach Foreshore after the beach was closed under new social distancing rules. Picture: David Geraghty

The “authoritarian edicts” that have made Australians “prisoners in their own home” should be scrapped, with the Institute of Public Affairs warning that the long-term costs of economic shutdown are too great.

More than 710,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past 10 days, without taking account of those whose hours and pay have been cut, the free market think tank has estimated.

“Many of the measures adopted by the national cabinet are sensible and should be left in place. But enough is enough. This lockdown as it currently stands must end,” said Gideon Rozner, director of policy at the IPA.

Scott Morrison, who chairs the national cabinet of premiers and chief ministers, has repeatedly warned that state government restrictions on freedom of movement and business shutdowns could last up to six months.

States have given police sweeping powers to fine anyone caught in groups of more than two people, or any individual outside their home without a good reason.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller on Thursday said the restrictions in the state could last until the end of June.

“The health impacts of ongoing isolation could very well cause far more damage than the health ­effects of the virus itself and Australia simply cannot afford to persist with these extreme measures for much longer,” Mr Rozner said.

“Weeks and months of isolation will have a profound impact on our mental and physical health, as will mass unemployment and a collapse in living standards.”

The federal government has unveiled an unprecedented series of business and worker bailout packages worth more than $200bn over the next year, including a wage subsidy of $1500 a fortnight to workers in businesses that have endured a 30 per cent drop in revenue.

The Reserve Bank has started a bond-buying, or quantitative easing, program to hold interest rates down, and offered $90bn of ultra-cheap loans to banks to help them prop-up struggling households and businesses.

The IPA’s remarks — the first by a think tank to be openly at odds with the national cabinet — came as the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, claimed its 27th Australian death on Friday.

The virus has infected more than one million people globally, and killed about 50,000, throwing the US, and parts of Europe, into turmoil.

“Australians can use their common sense to practise healthy practices and sensible social distancing,” Mr Rozner said, calling for the reopening of bars, churches, community sport and restaurants with “limited occupancy”.