It’s time to pull together and forget political pointscoring

I AM angry, and disappointed, to read in the GCB (25/3) that Destination GC CEO, Annaliese Battista, has slammed the Prime Minister for not going far enough and shutting down the country.

Has Annaliese not being paying attention at all to the frequent media conferences given by the PM, treasurer, and chief medical officer? I thought the media conferences explained clearly, and rationally, why the War Cabinet had not yet made the call to completely shut Australia down.

The Cabinet members have to walk a very fine line between considering the severe health risks the virus poses to the public, including the mental welfare, and psychological effect it will have on people, plus also the massive economic cost to the country.

Using inflammatory statements to the media such as “death by a thousand cuts” is ridiculous, does nothing to help the situation, and is frankly beneath someone holding her position.

It is a time for us to all work together, pull together as a community, support each other, and listen carefully to what the War Cabinet are telling us, support their decisions and believe that they are making the best choices for Australians at this time, under immensely stressful circumstances.

Slamming our PM, or sniping at him from the sidelines (yes, this includes you, Rudd and Turnbull) is disgraceful, and remember the War Cabinet is made up of all of the state premiers, chief ministers, the federal opposition, the government, medical experts, education experts, emergency services etc. Scott Morrison is merely the spokesperson for the decisions being made by this forum of leaders – these are not decisions being made by the Liberal party alone.

If the War Cabinet believe a full lockdown of Australia is the only option left, then I am sure they will issue this, but for now if we keep our distance from each other, use the recommended hygiene methods, stay home where possible, then maybe we can beat this virus without closing the entire country and crippling the economy any more.

Suddenly everyone is an expert (just like climate change) on the virus and what to do next. I have run my own successful small business for 25 years now, and yes it is very scary. My business turnover and income has now dropped to zero. I am married with two young children, and our family is deeply concerned by coronavirus, but we should heed the advice we are being given as they have a lot more information and data than we do.

Please stop the political pointscoring and inflammatory remarks, as they certainly are not helping anyone.

T BRIEN, HOPE ISLAND