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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-29 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:28): 'See it quickly, isolate it quickly, respond to it quickly.' These words are from Barack Obama's 2014 prediction of another pandemic. As Australia turns the tide against COVID-19, we must consider how to prepare for the next pandemic and how to rebuild after this one.

In preparing for future pandemics, Taiwan demonstrates the immense value of central disease control bodies. Additionally, the former commonwealth department of post-war reconstruction shows how we can effectively coordinate reconstruction efforts after COVID-19's defeat.

Taiwan exemplifies how a central disease control body can bolster responses against future outbreaks. Taiwan, which has only some 400 confirmed COVID-19 cases, despite having similar population levels to Australia, has its own centre for disease control (CDC). Taiwan's CDC has been instrumental in the country's world-class COVID-19 response, including by quarantining suspicious cases, proactively seeking new cases, educating civilians and negotiating with regional and overseas governments.

Despite the obvious potential health benefits of a central disease control body, it is baffling to learn that Australia is the only OECD country without one. While the Australian Medical Association saw an urgent need for an Australian CDC, its 2017 call on the federal government to establish one fell on deaf ears. From the Plague of Athens to the Spanish flu, history shows outbreaks can and will wreak havoc on societies. The federal government must admit the unfortunate but inevitable omnipresence of infectious diseases by creating a central disease control body.

Our own COVID-19 response was commendable, but it can definitely be better in the future. When COVID-19's threat became clear we closed our borders, implemented social distancing and gave the public clear and timely information. Broadly, South Australians have successfully risen to the challenge as the state's curve continues to flatten. SA Pathology has used the pandemic to demonstrate its immense value to our community as it deployed its stockpile of masks and testing reagents, which have been vital to winning this unprecedented battle.

Nevertheless, Alan McLean, a senior lecturer in healthcare management at Flinders University—and who has worked on emergency plans for the swine flu epidemic—notes that in 2005 Australia invested significantly in preparing for a flu pandemic. However, mask fit training and testing was eventually reduced in South Australia in the interests of cost cutting. He believes deaths of healthcare workers could be blamed on poor training in the use of PPE. McLean warns that the first health programs axed amid fiscal pressures tend to regard safety, quality, prevention and preparation. Indeed, the devastation COVID-19 has inflicted shows that we do not need another crisis to understand the value of long-term investment in public health. While our response to COVID-19 was effective, there are tough but important lessons to be learned.

Finally, it is imperative that we assess specifically how to make Australia bounce back stronger and better than ever. If we are at war with a virus, then we need a post-war economic recovery plan. History shows that governments are more than capable of steering the economy in the right direction after major crises. Established in 1942, Australia's department of post-war reconstruction leveraged the brilliant minds of aspiring young economists to determine how to transition from our war economy while improving our living standards.

Headed by then treasurer Ben Chifley and Director-General, Herbert Cole Coombs, the department envisioned an ambitious post-war Australia. Its policy goals included maintaining full employment, protecting low income earners through housing programs, bolstering local manufacturing and stimulating economic growth through immigration. Post-pandemic recovery should not be left until the last minute. The state and federal governments must lead the charge in charting a way forward after COVID-19.

While our COVID-19 response is commendable, the pandemic adds to the important learning experience that is history. To quote the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 'We learn from history that we do not learn from history.' Now is not a time to continue trends of forgetfulness. Hence, I urge the state and federal governments to seriously consider establishing individual disease control agencies and to begin planning for a post-pandemic recovery.

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