Gladys Berejiklian described herself as courageous this week for going out on a limb and putting a number on when life in NSW could return to some sort of normality. That magic number, according to the Premier, is 80.
Berejiklian says 80 per cent of the adult population needs to be fully vaccinated before Fortress Australia can be reopened and life can resemble pre-COVID times.
Shooting for 80 per cent: Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday.Credit:James Brickwood
As Sydney faces a third week of a lockdown that Berejiklian insisted would never happen again, her magic number is causing significant angst within her own government. Ministers say 80 per cent is not government policy and out of reach (although Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has also publicly referred to this number).
One minister puts it bluntly: “We will never get there. We should be aiming for the majority of adults. So 50 per cent, nothing higher.” Another says 80 per cent has never been presented to cabinet.
Australia, with just 7 per cent of adults fully vaccinated against COVID-19, languishes at the bottom of the league table among advanced economies.
Even England, where face masks will not be mandatory in any setting from July 19 and all social distancing rules abolished, has not hit 80 per cent. Berejiklian’s number seems optimistic at best, unrealistic at worst.
While vaccination supply is out of her control – it will improve in the coming months when the number of Pfizer doses arriving significantly increases – what Berejiklian can control is her government’s strategy for dealing with the virus, and any subsequent variants.
The extended lockdown, which Berejiklian says is a direct result of the highly transmissible and unpredictable Delta variant, shows the government is intent on an elimination strategy. Living with COVID is no longer the primary goal.
After a lengthy (and at times tense) crisis cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the government emerged with a consensus position, or at least one it maintained publicly. The Sydney lockdown would be extended by a week. Schools needed to be closed and, much to many parents’ worst fears, term 3 would start with online learning from home.
The extension was not unexpected. Berejiklian had stressed earlier on Tuesday that she would provide an update on Wednesday and with cases still circulating in the community, it was evident that Greater Sydney, as well as the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Central Coast and Shellharbour, were not to spend the weekend out of lockdown.
There would have been great unease in the crisis cabinet meeting later in the day. The major safety net of JobKeeper, which kept businesses afloat last lockdown, no longer exists. NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet optimistically asked his federal counterpart, Josh Frydenberg, to consider reinstating it and was met with a swift rejection.
The government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in support measures for businesses hit by the lockdown, but that support is likely to have minimal benefit. Small businesses will fold.
Immediately after the extension of the lockdown was confirmed at Berejiklian’s daily 11am press conference on Wednesday, industry groups expressed their dismay. The NSW Australian Hotels Association’s chief, John Whelan, said: “Today’s lockdown extension is particularly hard to take when we are seeing the world open up. We appear to be going backwards – with community vaccination still months away at best.”
And some of Berejiklian’s ministers have misgivings about the government’s strategy and direction. So do two of her senior MPs, the parliamentary secretary for health James Griffin and Kiama MP Gareth Ward, who have pleaded with the Premier to release their electorates from lockdown.
Griffin, the MP for Manly, had to endure the northern beaches lockdown over summer. But with no cases of COVID-19 in this outbreak, he wants his electorate to be spared from restrictions. “Given our geography, easing the stay-at-home orders in Manly and the northern beaches to allow free travel throughout, the resumption of business and other activities (where appropriate) would be highly desirable,” Griffin’s letter, sent on Tuesday, says.
Ward’s language was stronger. He said when decisions about public health orders were made, “not only should the reasons be explained but evidence should also be provided”.
He vehemently opposes Shellharbour and Wollongong local government areas remaining in lockdown. “It makes no sense to limit individual liberty, damage business and cause hardship for families when there is no overriding and greater public health reason for doing so.”
Berejiklian has stressed there needs to be timelines to work towards, and she is right. However, in identifying her magic number in an attempt to set a target, it has rankled cabinet colleagues and highlighted the gulf between Australia and much of the rest of the world. Rather than providing hope, it has presented what feels like an insurmountable task.
Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-07-07 19:00:00Z
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