In touch with our inner snitch

The real surprise, when a crisis comes, is how many people in democratic countries are willing to give up their freedoms for the greater good. Parliament has been suspended and New Zealand has moved into lockdown to minimise the effect of Covid-19 on the population. The overwhelming majority of New Zealanders tolerate such measures, or even welcome them, because the overseas experience has presented us with two options.

We compare the draconian response in China to the slow response in Italy or, worse still, the contradictory and even shambolic political response in the US, and recognise that the more draconian response is the only serious way to combat the crisis. We can be satisfied that the crisis is being taken seriously. Polling in advance of the lockdown showed that 93 per cent supported it.

Along with our isolation and distance from the source of the virus, a few things are in our favour. New Zealanders generally trust their governments and institutions, including the military and police, and there are few examples from history that might cause us to think otherwise. The 1951 waterfront dispute would be one example and the 1981 Springbok tour another.

Unlike those examples, the external threat posed to us all by Covid-19 lacks a political dimension, although a botched or conflicted response would cause it to become political. A cross-party committee with unusual powers, chaired by National, is an acceptable substitute for Parliament, and only Act MP David Seymour appears to oppose it.

Some might wonder if the crisis has even brought out a secret, nostalgic longing for life during wartime, for the sight of soldiers on the streets, emergency rationing and the nation coming together as one for daily updates from the authorities. In this case, the updates come every afternoon from Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who brings us fresh figures of Covid-19 infection rates and, more recently, recovery rates.

Such flirtations with wartime nostalgia are only possible while we still have moderate cases rather than fatalities and before the boredom of lockdown has fully sunk in. We may feel differently in a fortnight.

Law academic Andrew Geddis has pointed out that the powers contained in the Health Act 1956 were created in ‘‘the midst of New Zealand’s statist era when central government reached its apex’’. As Covid-19 has been called a quarantinable disease under the act, medical officers are given special powers enforceable by police. Disobedience of police could lead to arrest, prosecution and even imprisonment.

What might a Covid-19 police state look like? As Commissioner Mike Bush told Stuff, ‘‘We will be reminding people that if they don’t comply, they will endanger other people’s lives. Other people will die. That is good motivation to listen to the direction.’’

And while New Zealanders welcome enhanced policing during the lockdown, we must also police ourselves and others.

We all have to remember to tell off and dob in. While it may seem peculiar to us now, telling a neighbour to get off your front step is as important for the public good as taking a drunk person’s car keys off them or reporting a tourist driving on the wrong side of the road. If someone flouts the rules, the public can ring the non-urgent number 105 or 111 in an emergency, or email NHCCselfisolation@health.govt.nz. New Zealand must get in touch with its inner snitch.