Not sure if I'm a whinger but happy to throw in a few suggestions as I'm firmly of the view that the federal government is missing in action.. They may be limited in what they can compel but there's no limits on how they can help.
1. Massive advertising campaign to get everyone on the same page re COVID. Not recorded messages telling people what to do but well presented, engaging campaigns. The recent NB wedding fiasco is clear proof that the message has not been sold. It was a wedding, not a drug run. If it was felt to be socially inappropriate, no-one would have been there.
2. Clear definition of hotspots and rapid shutdowns of same. SA showed the way to go. Premise may have been found to be false, but the reaction was first class. Stop everything and assess the situation. In the SA case, shutting the whole State was extreme but this is where discussion should happen. Federal compensation should be available to those affected.
3. Engage a large number of skilled persons to deal with exemptions to the rules, compassionate and otherwise. Bottom line is that if people can genuinely show that they do not present a risk, why restrict them? Current situation is everything goes through standard State bureaucracies who just repeat basic policy and have have no authority to do anything apart from repeat basic policy. There's a need for a Federal body to provide consistent assessments
4. Get rid of hotel quarantine. It's fundamentally flawed and has been the basis for too many leaks. Hierarchy of controls, in diminishing order, is elimination, substitution, engineering, administration and PPE. Hotel quarantine is relying on the bottom two. The failures reflect this.
There's a few off the cuff suggestions to hopefully stimulate discussion. The current situation is a mess. What was acceptable in March is looking shabby the following January. Why are emergency powers still being used?
Nutwood you have spent too long out of
Tasmania.To your points.
1.I don't watch too much TV when here but I see numerous ads from the Tasmanian government re what to do re preventing
Covid.There are also some from the Commonwealth.
2.The Commonwealth Government does have a clear definition of a
hotspot.All but 1 State agreed to it but wouldn't put it into effect at the National
Cabinet.That said the Tasmanian and NT governments do take it into consideration with their border
conditions.Gold medal goes to the NT though as when case numbers dropped they eased the restrictions.
Tasmania does use the hotspot definition as of
now.You only have to go into compulsory hotel quarantine if you arrive having been in the Northern Beaches in the last 14 days.
They then list the other NSW LGA areas that have had cases as areas of moderate risk.Arrivals having been in those areas do have to quarantine for 14 days but can do it at a private
residence.So you can still visit granny as long as she lets you stay with her.
Queensland would come next with this outbreak though the implementation of their exemptions and checking of same appears to be a bit of a shambles.
The other States are basically totally ignoring the hotspots definition.Though at least SA this time has carved out the area around Broken Hill as being OK to travel.
3.it is the States that are putting up the barriers so it is up to them to have compassion when looking at
exemptions.As I have related several times Tasmania does a very good job in this
area.When I have supplied a medical report backing the granting of exemption it has never been denied and that included 4 cases from Melbourne at the height of their
lockdown.They just had to quarantine for 14 days at their relative's
house.They were checked regularly to ensure that is where they stayed.
QLD on the other hand has shown absolutely no compassion.
4.Not going to
happen.Even less reason to trust people who swear that they are going to stay isolated at
home.At least with hotel quarantine there is a chance that the idiots will be caught.
