THE political posturing and point-scoring of state premiers and health officials during the coronavirus pandemic has been, at times, sickening.
And the childish jabs across state borders from these so-called leaders seems to be ramping up at a time when we still need to unite.
Right now, Victoria is the state other premiers are thumbing their noses at amid an increase in new COVID-19 cases.
But when our own premier Dan Andrews makes comments like: “I don’t want to be offensive to South Australians, but why would you want to go there?”, it’s little wonder they’re lining up to take pot shots at our current situation.
Sections of the metropolitan media have also stoked state-to-state rivalries through this pandemic with parochial headlines and columns.
A column in The Advertiser in Adelaide described Victoria as the “state with the gloomiest weather, worst virus outbreaks and most overrated coffee”, which prompted a Herald Sun response headlined: “Hey SA, we just don’t care because we have the ‘G’.” The NT News tweeted: “Dear Victoria, get your s**t together.”
Then there was the Sydney radio announcer who slammed Essendon footballer Conor McKenna as a “typical” Victorian after his first, positive COVID-19 test. Never mind that he is Irish or that a later test was found to be negative.
I’m not sure what our state politicians and some sections of the media believe they are achieving with this ill-advised parochialism.
If it’s meant to be funny, it’s missing the mark. Kids in the schoolyard have sharper wits.
What’s always been required through these extraordinary times is mature leadership, not stone-throwing across the borders.
And that is particularly important in places like Sunraysia, where a political action like shutting down the NSW-Victoria border would have such dire consequences.
Fortunately, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this week that closing her state’s borders was not on the cards.
Sunraysia sees itself as one community, with people living and working on opposite sides of the Murray River.
Just like Albury and Wodonga, a border closure is impractical and something we can’t afford.
While Victoria, or more specifically suburban Melbourne, has seen a spike in cases over the past week or so, the “crisis” still needs to kept in perspective.
Remember, back in March before hysteria took hold, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this of COVID-19:
“It is a more severe condition than the flu, but for the vast majority … around eight in 10 is our advice, it will be a mild illness and it will pass. However, for older Australians and those who are more vulnerable … it is a far more serious virus and that is our concern.”
Somehow, that simple message got lost along the way, and the states have only added to our confusion since.
The alarmists predicted anywhere up to 150,000 Australians would die from the coronavirus, yet the reality is that Australia’s total number deaths just ticked over the 100 mark this week.
Our state leaders need to stop treating this situation like a political game.
State pride is one thing, but the majority of Australians care about our country more.
We understand that any new clusters will be traced and acted on quickly to control the outbreaks.
We understand that tighter restrictions will be the new normal for some time to come yet.
But the name-calling and point-scoring between states needs to stop, or everyone will forget to play by the rules.
State rivalries belong in sport, where it is just a game.
