FOR A BETTER NEW NORMAL
The coronavirus pandemic has challenged the nation and the world. It has caused loss and suffering from deaths and hospitalisations to the disruption of livelihoods and freedoms curtailed by restrictions designed to stop the virus’s spread.
As Premier Peter Gutwein noted in his CEDA State of the State address on Wednesday, the economic challenge will endure after the health crisis has passed.
Another of Mr Gutwein’s observations also rings true, the crisis has been a time to show some of our institutions at their best. It goes beyond the superb response of our health workers, our emergency services professionals and volunteers, our public servants and defence personnel who have been on the front lines of this emergency. Mr Gutwein highlighted the state’s information technology sector as a good example of responsiveness in helping education continue and to ease the disruption to business. And as he noted, out of the crisis the institution of a national cabinet has enabled political leaders to put aside their ideological differences and unite to pursue the national interest. How refreshing that our politicians can show themselves capable of reaching consensus and charting a commoncourse.
We have learned more than this from this crisis. Barriers once thought insurmountable have tumbled. We have learned to work from home instead of the office and to videoconference instead of fly to meetings interstate. We are travelling locally and supporting local business more than ever. Retailers have moved online, educators have found new ways of working, our agriculture industry is adapting to changes in its workforce. None of these changes has been without difficulty, but as a state, we are adding “nimble” to our resumes, right next to“resilient ”. Government has learned to respond decisively too. Tourism boss Luke Martin observed in this newspaper recently that he had been surprised at how swiftly government could act when it wanted to. If only it was always thus.
No institution or populace can operate permanently on a crisis footing. It is unreasonable to expect anything of the sort. It is fair to expect that, at some point, the public and private sectors will revert to some semblance of normality. As a small state, we need to hold on to the lessons we have learned. This crisis has been a historic event, unparalleled in our lifetimes. It is critical that what positives we can find are salvaged from the havoc it has wrought. We have learned new ways of thinking, living and working, lessons that have at times been difficult and costly. This may be the starkest challenge Tasmania faces this century, but it is not the only one.
Issues from the global to the local, from climate change to traffic congestion, will require smart and flexible thinking and urgency of action. Having shown a penchant for fast learning and quick action, we have the right to demand our new normal be better than our old.