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Reflections on quarantine life from a lawyer
Australians need to expect more from their governments, writes Henry Cornwell.
Henry Cornwell
Australians show great courage in the face of adversity that happens to other people. As Tony Abbott once said, “s--t happens.”
Fair play. Two weeks at the intercontinental won’t hurt me. And it’s nothing compared to what others are going through. But I worry about those with young families or underlying medical conditions, especially mental health ones. And I worry about what the collective ambivalence to the measures says about our declining expectations of government.
When sentencing, judges often remark that depriving a person of their liberty is the gravest step a government can take. So they treat it as a last resort. The Australian public, by contrast, seems to accept that the government had no other choice. Are we really that lacking in imagination?
Notoriously suspicious of authority and proud of our freedoms, we, of all people, should know there is an extensive menu of policy options between doing nothing and locking people up. Hong Kong and Singapore, for instance, are tracking new arrivals. Hardly ideal, but better than a fortnight without fresh air.
We should also be wary of empty theatrics. But for the need to make up for Ruby Princess “disembarkle”, there would be no forced quarantine. Forced quarantine has the appearance of decisive action, but is no more than an authoritarian shrug of the shoulders. More of the same ineptitude, this time with an iron fist. It will do nothing to flatten the curve. Either the government’s early dithering and failure to communicate doomed us from the start, or the Australian public has pulled it off, notwithstanding one sunny day on Bondi Beach.
Speaking of which, our spaces look crowded because they weren’t designed for social distancing, not because Australians are taking the piss. The Bondi incident was the government’s failure, not ours. It was 30 degrees. People were cooped up in sweltering apartments, often without air conditioning. Then, as now, it was acceptable to head to a public space for air. Unfortunately, everybody had the same idea at the same time. Our state and local governments should have anticipated that. They had all the information at their disposal. They could have closed the beaches, or asked people to consider the timing of their visit. They didn’t. That’s on them, not us.
We need to stop blaming one another for our governments’ failures, and to stop rewarding poor performance with lower expectations.
By the way, the shelves aren’t bare because of a tiny handful of hoarders, they’re bare because supermarket supply chains weren’t prepared for the overnight disappearance of the hospitality industry.
So take it easy on one another, but not the government. Enjoy the coming fortnight, and try not to feel too sorry for me. Relish your daily walk, but keep a safe distance. And, avoid Bondi Beach.
Henry Cornwell is a lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and a Master of Public Policy student at the London School of Economics. He is currently in quarantine following his studies in the UK.
