Mr Morrison says the specific targets will be 'a scientific number' to be determined by the modelling process. It's hardly the sort of scenario for the second half of 2021 that a prime minister who'd been thinking he might be able to go to the polls in the next few months on the back of the success of his pandemic management would like to be contemplating. In case anyone hasn't noticed, this actually involves going backwards on the road to opening up the economy again, not forward, not to mention the considerable hardship it will cause separated families. ( AAP Image: Joel Carrett)īut the invisible asterisks that were last week attached to "net zero, preferably by 2050" have now materialised next to more or less every stage of the strategy outlined by the PM on Friday.įor starters, there's the not-at-all-small price to pay for even being able to claim we are really in stage one of effectively closing our borders for the next six months - not just to the thousands of Australians trying to come home but to all the skilled workers and potential university students who are so desperately needed - by halving traveller caps. The number of people allowed into Australia every week has been halved until at least next year. So it was a shame that, just a few hours later, after National Cabinet, what the public actually got was no magic numbers, and certainly no package to "get to the next level". The package the public deserves needs a consolidated agreement from all of us." "Australians have been patient and that has helped us achieve what we have achieved to protect lives and livelihoods.
The PM went on to tell the public via his favourite mouthpiece that it was important to sketch out the benefits of having a vaccinated population: "What does it mean and what can people expect in terms of restrictions and movement," he was quoted as saying. Catch up on the main COVID-19 news from December 18 with a look back at our blog. In the prime ministerial pandemic lexicon - which has included "proportionate measures", "escalating threats", "flattening the curve", "targeted, measured and scaleable plans", "the other side", "the road out", "uncharted territory", "fighting the virus and winning", "getting Australians home by Christmas", and of course "national vaccination allocation horizons" - the idea of "magic numbers" did seem to reflect the zeitgeist of where the Prime Minister, if not the rest of us, finds himself now. Finally freed from quarantine at The Lodge and heading off for a (virtual) meeting of National Cabinet, Scott Morrison told The Australian on Friday morning that it was important to consider the "magic numbers" at which vaccine thresholds could be set.
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