The Australian’s Australian of the Year: Nominee Brendan Murphy is public face of nation’s plan to contain coronavirus

Brendan Murphy would never describe himself as one of the most powerful people in Australia but that is who he became in 2020 as he advised on how to respond to COVID-19.

Brendan Murphy was Australia's chief medical officer from 2016 to 2020 and is now Department of Health secretary, with 40 years’ experience in the health system. Picture: AAP

Brendan Murphy would never describe himself as one of the most powerful people in Australia but that is who he became in 2020 as he advised Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt on how to respond to COVID-19.

While chief medical officer, the 65-year-old effectively became another member of the Morrison government’s national security committee and of national cabinet, using the trust he had built up over more than three years in the role to influence our leaders’ decisions.

Paul Kelly, Professor Murphy’s deputy for six months before taking over as Chief Medical Officer, said his colleague was an extraordinary listener and repeatedly took decisive action as the battle to contain the coronavirus rapidly changed around them.

“The key moment I remember was on February 1 last year when he and I had a conversation early in the morning after what had emerged overnight — the virus had got out of Hubei (province) and was circulating freely in China,” he said. “That was the first significant decision to close our border to China.

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“I never thought anyone would make that decision. That was 10am. By the afternoon, he was briefing (federal) cabinet … He had to convince cabinet, to talk through what the pros and cons were.

“That decisiveness, doing it because it’s right, that was the key component on that day.

“It was the same for many similar conversations over the months after that.”

Mr Hunt said the decision to close the border to China was “perhaps the most important moment in the entire pandemic”, with Professor Murphy and government using imperfect information to make an early call that had significant economic and human consequences.

Australians got to know Professor Murphy well as he fronted the cameras, sometimes daily, alongside the Prime Minister at the height of COVID-19.

“It was January 20 when he notified me that it appears there was human-to-human transmission in Wuhan and this looked like a disease that was potentially significant,” Mr Hunt said.

“The WHO hadn’t called it as a disease of pandemic potential but he was looking to sign it off tomorrow. My response was, ‘If you believe that, you have to call it as you see it’. That was over 10 days before the WHO called an emergency declaration.”

Professor Murphy became known as a problem-solver among his peers and was able to convince reluctant state chief health officers it was in the country’s best interest to close the international border.

Government insiders believe his pivotal role in almost every major decision to combat the coronavirus has potentially helped save thousands of lives.

His leadership in managing the pandemic has earned him a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year Award.

Now Department of Health secretary and the chair of the COVID-19 vaccines taskforce, Professor Murphy is leading the country’s efforts to procure vaccines and immunise most people by the end of the year.

Professor Murphy was also involved in the building of Telehealth, bolstering Australia’s hospital systems, bringing respirators in, backing Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton when he believed Melbourne needed to go into lockdown and even getting Chief Scientist Alan Finkel into Victoria to help boost the state’s contact tracing abilities.

“Brendan’s frank good nature just inspired confidence in the Australian people,” Mr Hunt said.

“He was the medical leader Australia needed at the time we needed it and in the way we needed it. That came from a lifetime preparation in academia, in medical practice, in medical administration, in government, but above all else it was his character and his reassurance which shone through.”

His leadership in managing the pandemic has earned him a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year Award.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Thursday, January 21.