Given how dreadfully useless our MSM is I like to make a point of linking to other blog sites for actual thinking, research and argument. To that end here is some material from Australian economist Jim Rose, and his blog Utopia.
In this article he takes a comparative look at how Australia and New Zealand are coping with the Wuhan Bat Soup virus, NZ locked down, Australia is social distancing.
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That data from Google Mobility for April 17 gives the lie to the claim that the Australian “lockdown” is similar to ours. In every major category from Retail & Recreation to Residential, the NZ figures are tougher than Australia’s – often vastly tougher.
Yet both nations are tracking similarly for the virus. As Rose said:
With many sections of media screaming for tighter lockdowns, as they sung the praises of New Zealand’s PM Jacinta Arden, insisting that Australia must follow New Zealand‘s lead; closing hardware stores, shutting down the building industry, banning takeaways (so you couldn’t even get a coffee) and hairdressers – our PM had to make a decision.
And he stood firm, stating ‘’every worker is an essential worker’’ as he rejected imposing a New Zealand type lockdown that many were calling for.
Several weeks later, we now see that Scott Morrison was right…
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If our PM had of followed NZ, as many ABC types where calling for – we’d have a million more at least unemployed, and we’d be tens of billions more in debt.
No wonder I’m not seeing any more Facebook/Twitter or blog postings and comments filled with snark and mockery about the stupid, Right-Wing, Conservative, Christian PM of Australia – “ScoMo” and “Scotty From Marketing” as the snide had it in the early days of April.
And what will they be saying about the comparison in a few months time when the Australian economy has got up off its knees in better shape than us?
Meantime, while I had not looked into what Australian medical experts were saying it seems Rose has that also:
Peter Collignon (one of Australia’s leading infectious diseases experts) said the latest data showed New Zealand, with a population of 4.7 million, had about 20 new COVID-19 cases a day compared with Australia, population 25.5 million, averaging about 50 a day.
He said the good news was that both countries had managed to reverse the curve, but while New Zealand had imposed more draconian “level four” lockdown measures, Australia’s less stringent approach appeared to have been as effective.
“New Zealand has been locking everybody in their houses, there’s no going to Bunnings, and there is no evidence they are doing any better,” Professor Collignon said.
“I actually worry that what may be happening in New Zealand is if you come down too hard, people stop complying as much as they should.’’
The blog followed this up with an interesting comparison of Australia to Sweden in terms of “lockdown”.
There’s actually not as much difference between Oz and Sweden in terms of mobility reduction as there is between Oz and NZ.
And of course the more locked down you are the tougher it is to get out of it, which brings me to one of the key insights of the infamous Spanish Flu of 1918.
No Minister 