The COVID blame game isn’t always fair

Not surprisingly the extra top-up doses in June aren’t given again in July. That didn’t stop the acting Premier digging the boot into the Commonwealth. To complain that supply is falling off when it simply means your top-up isn’t being repeated is not cute. It’s cheap and pathetic. Even more so when you don’t mention that in July GPs will have a 45 per cent increase in available vaccines.

My guess is if we did a national poll asking which state you would move to now if you had to move, Victoria would not come out well. That wouldn’t be a comment on the lovely state of Victoria or its people. It would be a lack of confidence in the government.

The best question to ask COVID complainers is: “Which country would you rather be in?” We can always point in hindsight to things that could have been done better. It’s important to do that. It’s equally important to acknowledge what has gone well.

Just look at the infection rates and deaths in so many other countries.

Who knew early on that the AstraZeneca vaccine would have the side effects, albeit rare, that it has? Who knew cases of those side effects would hit the headlines as though they were daily occurrences? We all expect that with that kind of coverage some will be a little slow in coming forward to have the jab. Others might be a bit slow because they feel we are safe in Australia.

Hopefully the NSW experience will show all of us that even with a state government that has long had its act together in dealing with COVID-19, the risks are still there.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Renee Nowytarger

Being in government isn’t a tea party. Problems come out of nowhere. The situation keeps changing because of outside forces. Tough decisions have to be made.

You’ll be pilloried by someone whatever you do. Accepting responsibility is a big part of the job. Gladys Berejiklian might not have realised it at the time but her comment amid revelations as to her personal life that “I stuffed up” won her hearts across the nation.

With NSW facing another wide lockdown some will query why it didn’t happen earlier. Berejiklian is right to follow advice. A lockdown shouldn’t happen out of panic, it should be on good advice. Ministers and especially leaders always know their decisions will be scrutinised. As they should be. Some people will always dwell on how they would have done something differently. And if those people had the responsibility to make the decision, they’d have people saying the same thing about their choices.

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The Victorian government seems to want to be in power but just doesn’t want to accept the responsibility that goes with it.

Just as governments should accept responsibility, so should we.

When we don’t do the right thing, when we stop washing our hands, when we don’t use sanitiser, when people break the rules something inevitably goes wrong. And some poor minister will get the blame.

If you didn’t know that at this point the Commonwealth has vaccinated about 41 per cent more people than the states and territories put together, you might ask yourself why.

Amanda Vanstone is a former Howard government minister and a regular columnist.

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