Mixed messages as Gutwein escapes pandemic scrutiny

Government must be accountable over border closures, says Greg Barns

THE suspension of rationality that is the fawning over Premier Peter Gutwein’s COVID response needs to end. The reality of Mr Gutwein’s so-called leadership is far from stellar. All he has done is close down an island which is hardly rocket science. He makes announcements about border openings then backpedals a week later. His officials, according to a report in this newspaper on Friday, are aggressively targeting small businesses while the government sends a signal that the island is COVID-free. There is a disturbing lack of interest by the media and opposition in the debacle in the North-West that saw a major outbreak of COVID. And above all, Mr Gutwein has shown he thinks parliamentary scrutiny and accountability are optional.

There will come a day when the borders have to open. And that day has to be sooner rather than later.

This island economy relies on connection to the mainland of Australia. There is never enough demand, investment capital or skills for this micro economy to remain sustainable even in the short term. And while it is understandable that opening the border to Victoria at this time would be extremely foolish, it is hard to fathom delaying Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Mr Gutwein originally said border restrictions for South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory would end on August 7. A week later it was August 31. He said he relies on public health advice. But what is that advice? Is it made public? There is no explanation given. In a democracy if you want to restrict the free movement of people, government has to be accountable and that means saying a lot more than “I have been advised by public health officials”, end of story.

And what is the plan? Borders cannot stay closed forever. As Professor Dale Fisher, the Tasmanian trained head of Infectious Diseases at Singapore University Hospital told this newspaper onFriday, opening the border to all and sundry now would be “political suicide” and border closures “are popular because on face value it solves the problem of what could arise tomorrow, or next week, or next month.” But, he said, “how comfortable are people going to be if they are in this situation for a year?” How about Mr Gutwein and his public health advisers tell the community what criteria they are using to determine when borders will open and what steps are in place if there is no vaccine, or one that is not well used?

There is also mixed messaging from the Premier and his advisers. He smugly compares this state’s situation to Victoria and the clear message on one hand is that the island, by closing its borders, is COVID-free. But then we read government officials are harassing businesses about social distancing. On Friday the Mercury revealed WorkSafe Tasmania and Tasmania Police were still aggressively

pursuing compliance by businesses despite there being no cases and the island being locked off to the rest of the world. Tasmanian Small Business Council head Robert Mallett talked about “a restaurant in the state’s North where several uniform police and plain-clothed workers assumed to be WorkSafe came to inspect the business. He said the blitz had caused “grief, heartache and anger” in the hospitality sector” and said in some cases, officers had inspected businesses without introducing themselves, the Mercury reported.

As Mr Mallett rightly observed, “We set these COVID-ready rules in place some eight weeks ago now and it was fair enough because we had current cases in Tasmania. We’re now two months down the track … and in the absence of any genuine threat, you would think authorities would be taking a slightly softer approach to compliance, but that’s not the case and that’s really disappointing.”

Speaking of the NorthWest, why is no one asking about the debacle in April when hospitals were overrun by COVID. Professor John

Burgess, then state president of the AMA, a doctor’s lobby group, said on April 30 that an interim report “describes a vulnerable regional healthcare system that was overwhelmed by events and a broader governance and public health response that always seemed days behind the curve in its communications and interventions to crush emerging local outbreaks and maintain hospital services.”

Where is the final report? When is the last time any politician or media type asked the Premier about that mess? Or are they all drinking the

Kool-Aid out of cups marked “Gutwein Worship”.

Of course if parliament had kept sitting through the past few months, including its committees, some of the issues and questions might have been demanded and answered. But Mr Gutwein’s attitude to parliament is typical of his autocratic style. Scrutiny appears to be seen as a luxury in these times. COVID is the autocrat’s friend.