One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts calls on the Prime Minister to immediately release COVID-19 modelling upon which the government bases its planned six-month hibernation of Australia.
“We can’t let this debilitating economic slow-down go on one day longer than it needs to, yet right now the government refuses to share vital information with the Australian people,” said Senator Roberts.
He added, “The data continues to show that we are passing peak COVID-19 infections, yet rather than offering people and businesses an economic recovery plan, the Prime Minister simply repeats his chorus line saying Australia could be closed for six months.”
Strong leadership making the tough and unpopular decisions does not need to remove hope from people for when lives can return to some normality.
Senator Roberts urges the Prime Minister to ensure rigorous wide testing, with strict isolation of the sick and vulnerable, allowing the healthy to return to work as soon as possible.
The Government has instead chosen to isolate the huge majority of healthy people, when data strongly suggests that with effective testing, all we need do is isolate the sick and protect the vulnerable.
“We can’t have massive swathes of the economy hibernating without any idea of the indicators that will trigger a re-start.
Business owners and families need to make decisions around how long they can hold out and not be left in limbo.”
The Prime Minister has a duty of care to show the evidence to justify business closure for up to six months, and the indicators he will use to trigger a change in strategy.
“No other country is promising to close its economy down for six months and healthy Australians would rather go back to work than to receive partial wage subsidies.”
Taiwan’s approach to COVID-19 should be used as a template, to primarily focus on and avoid a health crisis, and in that way avoid an economic crisis.
Taiwan managed the virus with a clear priority on people’s health using rigorous temperature testing and hand hygiene practices, isolating those in danger and allowing the economy to keep running.
Senator Roberts added, “Taiwan with less than 260 people infected and only 5 deaths is a stunning example of how to manage the virus – putting people’s health as first priority – so that healthy people continued working and the economy barely blinked.”
Considering that about seventy-five percent of all COVID-19 cases in Australia are from people who travelled overseas or had direct contact with those travellers, the current arrangement of forced quarantine for overseas travellers should see a decline in cases within weeks.
Once we are assured of people’s health we can end this debilitating economic slow-down and give people what they need: real hope through a plan for the next step, economic recovery.
