I really wanted to start this year with some positives and talk about what an improved and developed plan we had with Covid given all our experience now, and all we’ve seen unfold from overseas. 

But sadly, that’s not the case. 

This whole thing has a Groundhog Day vibe about it. 

I mean, how come we’re still, as we go into our third year of this pandemic, still being reactive and responding on the hoof. 

It beggars belief that lessons have not been learned, plans have not been made, preparations have not gotten into full swing. 

We are behind on RAT kits, way behind, it’s woeful, it’s the vaccine rollout all over again. We have no greater ICU capacity than when we started, in fact suggestions are we even have fewer ICU beds than when we started. We have not bolstered our health workforce, we have not advanced our tragic and cruel MIQ system, we have not boosted enough people or jabbed enough children, because again, we were too slow with our vaccine rollout.  

It just all feels so repetitive, doesn’t it? 

Why can’t they learn the lesson? Why is the Government so slow on the uptake? Why’d they take an elongated holiday when they should've been planning and sorting and preparing? 

Why are they so allergic to the private sector and reticent to include them more? Are they afraid of the private sector? Or are they just so arrogant now they think they know best, better than any established business? 

Most importantly, why are we still asking these questions? How can all the same mistakes still be made? If you hear from the Government, when they’ve bothered rolling back into the office from the beach, they’ll tell you they’re world leading. 

They’re faultless, blameless, it’s all perfect, we should be so proud of them. The fact they’re still peddling this crap and still in self-congratulatory mode also worries me.  

It’s delusional. They’re backwards focused. 

 “We shut the borders in 2020, we did so well..” it’s all backward thinking, it’s two-year-old news. We are living in the here and now. How many businesses look at KPI’s or performance reviews and go, “Oh well it’s a bit of a mess at the moment but two years ago was really good.”  

No one does that, because it’s not real. It’s not relevant, it’s not honest. So why should we be expected to buy into that tosh from our government? 

Our Rapid Antigen Testing situation is embarrassing, our MIQ lottery is embarrassing, our hermit mentality is embarrassing, our lack of vaccination coverage for children and booster coverage is embarrassing. Our Covid response looks antiquated and fear driven, and stale. But if you listen to this Government and it’s cheerleaders, we should be over the moon about it. 

The disconnect here is actually beyond embarrassing, it’s tragic.