Is there anyone in the community, or in business, who actually understands the new lockdown rules announced by Scott Morrison last night?
Ten mourners for a funeral but five people at a wedding (two weddings for a funeral?).
You can’t get your nails done — by the original face mask wearers — in nail salons, but you can get your hair done.
Outdoor exercise classes are OK but outdoor play centres aren’t.
Food markets? OK. Food courts? No.
Schools remain open but no kids’ birthday parties or BBQs, please.
And essential workers should continue going to work. “If you ask me who is an essential worker? Someone who has a job,” said Morrison. “Everyone who has a job in this economy is an essential worker. Every single job that is being done in our economy with these severe restrictions that is taking place is essential.”
To steal another movie reference, you keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.
Above all, “stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary that you go out” says Scott Morrison.
But shopping malls remain open, albeit without food courts to sit down at. And this morning, Telstra spammed everyone with a government message that said “stay home if sick” (just in case you were wondering). So should we go out or not?
OK, sure, we’re in an unprecedented crisis, and the government’s graduated response approach has necessarily complicated its messaging.
But last night was shambolic. There appears no rhyme or reason to the radically different approaches adopted for marginally different cases. Nor were they explained effectively by Morrison or by Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy.
This is immensely difficult and they’re undoubtedly doing their best while working very hard for long hours. They deserve our support regardless of your political views. But the stakes are too high to stuff up.
Morrison chided a journalist — miscreant Andrew Probyn yet again incurred the prime ministerial wrath — for using language that would “cause unnecessary alarm among parents” when Morrison was the one simultaneously saying stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary and telling people to take their kids to school.
Murphy insisted “there is no evidence that we have major transmission amongst school children” but also insisted teachers with chronic diseases “shouldn’t be in schools”.
The one thing we thought we could count on from Scotty From Marketing was good communication.
It’s been the basis of his success as prime minister.
But now that he has to communicate nuance — and policy measures that have literally been drawn up by committee and therefore suffer from inconsistency, arbitrariness and hair-splitting — his communication skills have vanished.
He has to explain not just the measures but the rationale for the measures — rather than simply insisting that it was what the National Cabinet had devised.
At this point, the graduated response approach is becoming redundant. We’re as near as damn it to full lockdown. Who doesn’t believe we’ll reach that point in the next week?
Maybe, by some stroke of mathematical luck, the curve will “flatten” (anyone else fed up with that phrase?) in the next couple of days, and Morrison’s approach will be vindicated.
I hope like hell that turns out to be right. But governments are creating widespread confusion. The AIGroup’s Innes Willox issued a pointed media release this morning calling for a proper definition of essential services, in contrast to Morrison’s “you’re essential, and you’re essential and you’re essential! We’re all essential!” act.
I thought Morrison’s graduated response made sense. It doesn’t seem to any more. And it always relied on Morrison and all his colleagues leading the states and territories being able to accurately and effectively communicate what they were doing and why. There’s been precious little of that in recent days.
If the government was listening willy-nilly to Facebook warriors, shock jocks, teachers, the Group of Eight, or GP medicos, and not to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee who are taking advice from epidemiologists and experts in viral disease transmission, I could almost understand the views in this article, typical of some commentators who mysteriously know more than everyone else. (Fran Kelly, Barrie Cassidy et al, I’m thinking of youse?).
I know journos and commentators have to very quickly get on top of a topic, merely in order to keep earning a living, but I wonder if you ever retire at night and ponder quietly to yourself, ‘How is it that I, who have been in this game albeit for at least 25 years, apparently know far more than actual experts?!’ and come to the conclusion, that that is not actually a viable position, something must be wrong, and work out, perhaps it’s…you? (that’s wrong)
Yup.
Bernard, is this the best possible use you can make of the privileged platform you have at this time?
Of course there will be inconsistencies if you look hard enough. Don’t you think the PM would love to come up with his own clear simple directions and tell the States, unions, business and special interest groups to like it or lump it?
I listened yesterday to a “journalist” complaining about the lack of consistency in one question and in the next complaining about the lack of consideration for groups and regions with special needs.
I have heard other journalists mis-use their press passes to ask the PM their own personal “have you thought about …?” questions – as if the PM’s advisers have not already thought about the idea – let alone if a press conference is the right place to present the idea if it really might fly.
As the PM shot back to one of the nit-pickers yesterday “You’re the journalists, your’re the communicators, get with the program to help communicate it.”
KT…Last time I heard about our hopeless PM, he had NO qualifications in medicine…let alone infectious diseases. Therefore, he doesn’t even understand what he is burbling on about.
So…far better that he do a PM Hawke and STOP with the gibberish he is spouting at the so-called press conferences.
According to Dr. Bill Bowtell, the guy in charge of the fight against HIV/Aids, the politicians bowed out of the whole scene and let the experts run the show.
It is a tragedy that we still do not have a Centre for Disease Control in this country…somewhere a detailed plan could be formulated and then communicated to the general public by those who DO know what they are talking about.
So far, Sooty from Marketing has only managed to confuse everybody, and since he doesn’t have the trust of the masses, very few are doing what is needed to beat this very dangerous virus.
And closing down the Federal Parliament is the bitter end…they will be able to get away with ‘executive orders’ without any scrutiny at all. Sound familiar??!!
What do you expect CML, a little more research before posting would not go astray.
How a person who was sacked from leading Tourism Australia by his then Minister, in the LNP he now leads as Prime Minister, defies comprehension.
How undignified that the likes Dr Bill Bowtell & others brilliant in their field have to suffer the likes of this failed marketeer in trying to get their vital messages across.
Let me help :-
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2019/06/08/fresh-documents-morrisons-sacking/15599160008252
Ian…I subscribe to the Saturday Paper, and am well aware of Sooty the PM’s background.
Not sure what your point is??!!
Why not mention it then & give extra weight to some good points you raise?
I must have grown up in a different era when constructive criticism was encouraged, not derided ?
Agree with the thrust of the article. There have been many inconsistencies in the Governments announcements – which creates doubts in peoples minds or allows them to be creative in their thinking about what to do and not do. I have a partner who is 70 still working in schools – because her government employer requires her to attend. To me a great inconsistency and potentially a huge risk for her ( and me as well). Messages should be simple , clear and enforceable. Forget all this “fine tuning” . Even if it means bringing forward closure events. We are all in the same boat.
“If you’re in a job it’s an essential job” says Scotty (from Marketing).
Then all the politicians shut down parliament and bolt for the hills.
The biggest crisis in Australian history and nobody running the country!
TALK ABOUT INCONSTANCY.
It’s a lot harder when you can no longer say it’s all Labor’s fault.
Yes ! that’s I would suggest part of the problem government want to take all the accolades, but when they’re being asked about things that went wrong on their watch, their not willing to accept responsibility, all it takes is a mea culpa & admit things haven’t gone the way they expected, but good clean politics is something that is proving to be the most elusive of beasts…
This may be one of the biggest lessons to be learned out this as we move into the unknown, that will last for the next how ever long…
Our PM’s communication skills are at their best when he’s using fear as a political weapon. Beyond that, he has never been any good at outlining or explaining policy, because he is not interested in it.
Scotty should’ve bunkered down last weekend & polished some punchy slogans we peasants could easily comprehend.
The problem is that Scotty is now confused & conflicted about his target market because Covid-19 doesn’t play by rules. Ergo he’s not sure exactly what he’s selling -or to whom – or if there’s anything in it for Liberal donors.
Punchy slogans? That was two PMs ago.
Here’s one for Scotty, gratis: How bad is Corona?!