​​How Tas handled Covid: The verdict

New survey results reveal exactly what the people of Tasmania think of the state government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic — and how we compare to other states.

Tasmanians have given the Gutwein government a big tick for their handling of the Covid-19 epidemic in a new national survey.

Sixty-five per cent of Tasmanians who responded to the YouGov survey, conducted between December 27 and January 10, said the state had handled the crisis well – the second highest proportion of any state. One quarter (25 per cent) said it had been handled badly.

Residents of Western Australia were the happiest with the performance of their state in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, with an extraordinary 85 per cent approval rating.

Queenslanders also gave their state government a tick of approval, with a rating of 60 per cent.

Opinions were less favourable in NSW and Victoria, where the number of respondents who said the state had handled the pandemic badly approached the proportion who said it had been handled well.

In South Australia, opinions were more even, with 48 per cent approving of the Marshall government’s handling of the crisis.

Griffith University politics lecturer Dr Paul Williams said he was not surprised by the strong support shown for the state governments in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, but “everything has a shelf life”.

If premiers in those three states kept borders closed too long public sentiment could eventually turn against them, he said.

The survey results reflected the idea that politics tended to be more parochial in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, Dr Williams said.

“In Queensland that plays out as rejection of southerners; in Tasmania it’s a rejection of mainlanders,” he said.

Mercury journalist Kenji Sato receives his vaccination from enrolled nurse Ann Richardson. Picture: Chris Kidd

Many Australians have been surprised and incensed by some of the powers the state premiers have exercised during the pandemic, reviving longstanding debates about our federal system and whether three levels of government is one level too many.

Since the YouGov poll was conducted, has your view changed? Vote below:

Forty-four per cent of respondents to the YouGov survey agreed with the statement “Australia should have fewer levels of government,” although they were not asked which tier they would be happy to abolish.

A slightly smaller proportion – 41 per cent – said three levels of government served us well, while 16 per cent of people surveyed said they were undecided.

Flinders Uni lecturer Dr Rob Manwaring. Picture: Flinders University

Griffith University’s senior lecturer in politics Dr Paul Williams. Picture: Supplied

Flinders University politics lecturer Associate Professor Rob Manwaring said Covid-19 had “brought frustrations with federation to the fore,” but any change in this area would require constitutional change – and very few referendums to achieve this have ever succeeded.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott had sought to advance discussions about “streamlining” the federation when he was in power, Assoc Prof Manwaring said, but the discussions had ended with his prime ministership and not been revisited since.

Dr Williams said the survey results were a “snapshot of people expressing their disgruntlement” but it was unlikely state governments would ever be abolished.

“We’ve been talking about this for 100 years and it’s never happened,” he said. “The states are embedded in most chapters of the Constitution; it would be too difficult.”