Australia's COVID-19 response eroded public trust so deeply people might not accept restrictions like lockdowns during any future crisis. That's the finding from an independent inquiry which hailed courageous decisions taken by leaders at the outset of the pandemic but said cracks started to emerge as the crisis wore on.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00Silent cities, shops shuttered and hospitals overwhelmed.
00:09Generations changed by a once in a century pandemic.
00:13The striking conclusion I think from this report though is that right now we are arguably
00:19worse placed as a country to deal with a pandemic than we were in early 2020.
00:24The report finding Australia's response to the pandemic drove a large decline in public
00:30trust.
00:31Many of the measures taken during COVID-19 are unlikely to be accepted by the population
00:37again.
00:38Delays in the vaccine rollout, prolonged restrictive public health measures and ultimately cost
00:44$31 billion.
00:46And the report said some of those measures like school closures and lockdowns must be
00:52used carefully.
00:53Because of the strength of the public health response, a lot of people felt they didn't
00:59trust what government was doing.
01:01Heavy handed restrictions also amounted to a lack of compassion according to the inquiry.
01:07That's something acutely felt by Richard Smith whose wife was in an aged care home.
01:12His family was unable to see her for months.
01:15The distress was not only felt by the residents but by the family to see the distress that
01:21their loved ones were going through.
01:23But despite all the issues, the report stressed Australia fared well compared to other nations.
01:29We saved lives and we saved livelihoods and I think Australians should be proud.
01:34One of the recommendations has already been acted on, funding a centre for disease control.
01:40An opportunity to lay a foundation for Australia's future pandemic preparedness.
01:45The toughest decisions on lockdowns, school and border closures and vaccine mandates were
01:49made by the states and territories and weren't directly covered by this inquiry.
01:54But even so, it was highly critical of poorly justified and disproportionate approaches
02:00to restrictions across the country.
02:02With goodwill deeply eroded, the report plants serious doubt about whether a less trusting
02:08public would even follow better targeted rules in the case of another pandemic.