We are not really all in this together…State Premiers say that we are… we are not!
Cranky Lizard reckons, however, that there are a couple of myths to kick into touch before the main subject is broached:
First Myth: Cranky Lizard says, in a loud, clear voice, that the Prime Minister of Australia has not given anyone the coronavirus disease, has not closed any state borders, has not closed any international borders and has not stuffed up the vaccine rollout. The manufacturer could not deliver quickly enough on the Commonwealth government’s order – it was so big.
As hard as is it for some, because, to their personal disgrace, they have turned or have attempted to turn this pandemic to their political advantage, reality indicates that they have to accept the fact that the Prime Minister has acted in the nation’s best interest in all decisions that he has taken. Cranky Lizard reckons that the communication with the Australian public from the Prime Minister’s Office could have been and should have been better. It is surprising that it isn’t!
Second Myth: The role of the electronic media in these matters has been appalling. Cranky Lizard sees a scare campaign being conducted about vaccines. The Astra-Zenica (AZ) vaccine has worked around the world. It is a successful and impressive vaccine that works. For reasons that probably equate more to ‘viewer’ numbers rather than professional integrity, television news bulletins have run story after story about blood clots and premature deaths. Any sensible observer concerned about the truth in public life would soon see that the information is spectacularly skewed against the AZ vaccine.
The reality is that the vaccine works. And it will save you from the worst effects of this vile disease, the existence of which was first reported in Wuhan in the People’s Republic of China. Coronavirus-19 is not like the flu; it is a severe and destructive disease with long-term effects upon humans which are not yet fully understood. You do not want to be infected with this disease - vaccination will protect most people.
Cranky Lizard notes that more humans have died as a result of running over the cord of their electric lawn mowers than have died from the side effects of AZ vaccine, according to statistics from State Health Departments in the USA.
So much for the myths and the cynical minds that run with them hoping to gain some personal or political advantage from a situation which is having, and will have, substantial long term effects on this nation. The matter of us “all being in this together” is just cynical political nonsense, portrayed by state premiers and their bureaucrats in an attempt to perform an act of confected ‘leadership’.
Small business operators in the cities and the urban regions surrounding our cities have suffered immense financial and personal hardship, as have their employees. The hospitality industry, in particular, has carried an onerous burden.
Public servants at all levels of government have not lost employment or pay packets; this is not a statement of envy – it is a statement of fact! And it is of no fault of people employed as public servants, it’s just the way it is!
Instead of babbling about being “all in this together”, Cranky Lizard suggests that state premiers and their health bureaucrats clearly indicate difficulties and troubles suffered by large parts of our community, and, if nothing else, at least acknowledge the problems.
Young Australians have paid a terrible price in terms of their education, with education streams and essential examinations disrupted, postponed or even cancelled altogether. School teachers, in particular, have shouldered a significant burden of the education disruption issues and Cranky Lizard recognizes that.
Even younger Australians have been denied the social and fundamental advantages of primary schooling, having been forced by lockdowns, to remain at home and be involved in ‘homeschooling’ - however that happens.
Quite clearly, there are apparent and unequal loadings on the burden individual citizens in our community have to carry.
Examples of lack of commonsense, morphing into nonsense hover around our border regions; citizens living in one street and having their place of work in another street cannot move freely from one to the other because of the sheer bloody-mindedness of bureaucrats or inexperienced police.
A recent example, known to Cranky Lizard by first-hand experience, is an example of how bureaucracy can spin out of reality into farce very quickly.
A person known to Cranky Lizard arrived from overseas into Sydney and entered the quarantine system. Prior to departing from Hong Kong, that person had been fully vaccinated with Pfizer and had passed the required departure tests.
No problems so far.
After completing the quarantine system in Sydney, the person was required to travel to Queensland for business reasons. So, being very aware of internal issues in Australia, advice regarding the safest way to get to Queensland was sought from NSW Health. They were advised that they should leave quarantine, go directly to Sydney Airport by cab/Uber/private vehicle, stopping nowhere en route and fly directly to Queensland. They were issued papers and passes to that effect.
Suffice to say that Queensland Health were concerned about the arrival and were about to commit the person to a further period of quarantine. After much discussion, paper-shuffling and “this is Queensland” stuff, the two Queensland bureaucrats discovered that the person was fully vaccinated anyway! So entry was granted, and off the person went into Queensland.
This little drama is really not important except for the example it provides into the rampant parochialism which has invaded our nation. It also demonstrates how easily a simple process can be twisted and turned to suit the mood of egos on a particular day.
For months, Queenslanders have been told, by the state premier, that all decisions regarding the policies of containment, quarantine and lockdown are taken on the advice of senior health bureaucrats, one of whom is about to become the state’s next Governor.
We now know that that is not quite the case and that extensive polling, carried out by contracted organizations, to determine how Queenslanders feel about specific health policies, have been in place, and the results of the polling have been used by the government to decide health policy in conjunction with health advice.
So it appears that the ‘holier than thou’ announcements about health policy are not so divine – they are a cocktail of what people will accept and ‘put up with’ as well as health advice.
Cranky Lizard points out that all governments have the opportunity to question the community about some issues and there is nothing sinister in that at all.
But why keep it a secret? And why mix it up with ‘health advice’? Only your Queensland government member can tell you the answer to that!
The Victorian government is still conducting a ‘maypole dancing’ competition over who is responsible for the deaths of over 800 Victorians.
It is an uncontested fact that many of those people who died were senior Victorians living in aged care premises. They died of the coronavirus which escaped into the community of Melbourne as a result of flaws in the Victorian government’s health quarantine system. Although, if you watch the press conferences and read the evidence of the “enquiry” conducted into this large-scale industrial accident, you will see that no one, absolutely no one, from the premier through all the various department levels in Victoria, can remember anything!
Cranky Lizard will not let them forget this, nor should anyone else!
Cranky Lizard also points out that – despite all the posturing, shouting, and finger-pointing of state premiers – they would not have been able to manage their situations without the timely and far-sighted assistance of the Commonwealth government in the form of the Job Keeper payments and the payments to employers to protect people’s jobs. That is, the jobs outside of the public service.
Cranky Lizard is not making any political points in this matter, merely stating facts.
Coronavirus mutations have probably not finished with us yet. There are probably more to come. They may be deadlier, they may be not!
Whatever form they take, we all know that we are going to live with this vile disease for many years and that the effects upon our long-term community health are not fully realized.
Cranky Lizard speaks in a loud and clear voice that governments can expect the community to act responsibly and follow clear, sensible directions – and that the community will do that!
In turn, it is incumbent upon the government to be honest and open about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Cranky Lizard invites governments to remember that we are not sheep and we shall not be herded into various zones without good reasons that are clearly explained; we shall not accept rubbish from the media published by the government; we shall not meekly follow nonsense directions from puffed-up bureaucrats embarking upon ego frolics, and we expect that the burdens that fall upon various members of our communities, unequally, are acknowledged, and reasonable attempts are made to address those inequalities.
Enjoy your days, remain vigilant and protect each other when you have to. This is a human problem, not a political competition.
Comentários