Host of The Project Rachel Corbett has made the case that Sydneysiders would have preferred entering a stricter lockdown earlier to reduce the need for extended lockdowns.
Wednesday night’s episode saw the hosts discuss NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian’s decision to extend Sydney’s lockdown by one week, in an announcement which upset some but hasn’t surprised many.
“Now that you’re living through this lockdown, I’m going to make you speak for everyone in Sydney. Do you think Sydneysiders would like to see something stricter now?” Waleed Aly asked Corbett.
“I can only speak for myself, but I’ve always felt a bit on the wrong side of these people that are being spoken to,” she said.
“I feel like we’re being treated like delicate flowers who couldn’t possibly deal with a lockdown when, in reality, we don’t want to go into a lockdown that continually gets extended because we’re hemming and hawing about where we should be.
“I think everybody understands we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
“If something goes wrong, shut us the hell down and get us back to normal as soon as you possibly can. I don’t think there’s anything unreasonable in that.
“I’ve always been a bit surprised at this hesitation about being very black-and-white in Sydney, because I get there’s pushback, but you have to take the pushback to get a better result.”
Corbett’s answer came after they welcomed professor Billy Bowtell, a strategic health policy advisor at UNSW, onto the show.
The panellists mentioned comments from NSW Health Minister Brad Hazard, who conceded that the state may have to learn to live with the Delta variant of COVID-19 currently circulating if residents don’t listen to current medical advice.
Mr Bowtell said the message was “an enormous threat” that could confuse the general public.
With the NSW Premier making it clear the goal for locking down the state was to reach zero cases, Mr Bowtell explained that these conflicting statements from both Mr Hazard and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg could confuse the general public.
“It really is the most extraordinary thing that the Minister for Health and Treasurer could say,” Mr Bowtell said.
“I think people in NSW have every right to say, ‘What is going on? What is the objective of this lockdown?’ And to conjure threats that say, ‘If you don’t do what we say, we’ll just let Covid run…’ I mean, have we really come to this?
“I fully support the Premier and the Chief Medical Officer in saying the objective of this is zero Covid. If the Minister for Health and Treasurer have a different idea, then let them say it out loud and bring forth the evidence.”
Image: Channel 10
