Coronavirus: Without the usual media scrutiny, the virus crisis is distracting us from all manner of evil

JENNIFER ORIEL

COVID-19 is a pandemic that is devastating countries around the world. The rapidly deteriorating global outlook is consuming the media as it seeks to satisfy the need for reliable news and analysis. In such a climate, people can behave badly without the usual degree of scrutiny.

Before COVID-19, the press might have scrutinised the Victorian Labor government for rejecting the royal commission into the bushfire disaster. The Greens might be criticised for demanding more welfare money after having rejected welfare that works. There would be more interest in the declining influence of independent MPs after years of minor players riding high on anti-establishment sentiment. And the Chinese Communist Party would not be enjoying praise for containing a virus with the same oppressive instruments that enabled it to spread — state and political correctness.

There is a pew in limbo reserved for journalists who write worthy stories; the articles that should be read but lack popular appeal. Like a toupeed widower on Tinder, worthy stories can sit on the periphery. And in this climate, a column without COVID-19 is very worthy indeed. The situation suits politicians who would ordinarily be held to account.

The CCP is brimming with such men of state. It is desperate for good PR after its central role in creating the pandemic was exposed. It is using classic propaganda techniques to redirect criticism and revise history. It is the bully that plays the victim to avoid accountability. CCP officials are sowing post-colonialist conspiracy theories to distract people from the party’s chief role in ­making COVID-19 global.

In Africa, it is creating a common enemy to keep the spotlight off China. The US is the CCP’s public enemy No 1. The party is manipulating public opinion through media channels whose affiliation with the Chinese government is not disclosed.

In recent weeks, the CCP has gone from denying the existence of the virus to rewriting history. In this parallel universe of CCP propaganda, it is the “victim of Western racism”, the target of a hostile press and the Mother Teresa of the COVID-afflicted world.

Yes, the communist state has been hit hard by the virus as a ­result of its party-before-people ethos and deep-rooted indifference to humanity. Rather than address root causes, it has launched a campaign to cover them up.

In Belt And Road News, the Chinese government was praised for bringing COVID-19 under control and showing “global responsibility”. Apparently, the CCP is sending “tonnes of medical supplies” and experts to Italy because “a friend in need, is a friend indeed”. Try not to laugh.

Italian virologist Giorgio Palu views the relationship rather differently. The former president of the European and Italian Society for Virology told CNN that political correctness played a role in the Italian disaster.

He said “a proposal to isolate people coming from the epicentre, coming from China” was framed as racism against Chinese people. The borders stayed open, the virus poured in, and it spread quickly.

The World Health Organisation is holding the PC line. It ­continues to lavish praise on the Chinese government and denounce valid criticism of the regime as stigmatising. It is a joint exercise in propaganda that ­offends common decency.

In recent days, the WHO has praised China for agreeing to supply face masks that are in short supply. So, is the CCP providing the face masks for free as a kind of reparation for its gross mishandling of the pandemic? Is it providing test kits to nations at no cost? Or are we witnessing the development of a truly obscene deal where the CCP could profit from the very pandemic it unleashed?

The Chinese government is not averse to turning a profit from problems of its own making. It is the worst greenhouse emitter in the world but demands billions in other nations’ money for supposed climate mitigation. It denounces the US for colonialism but is pioneering new forms of colonial power through the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the closed society of the CCP, there is no mechanism for people to hold politicians accountable. The one-party state denies the free press and suppresses political opposition.

It has sent US journalists in China packing because they ­revealed the CCP’s role in the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet it lectures other nations on solidarity, multilateralism and international co-operation.

Despite the CCP’s atrocious behaviour, Victoria’s socialist Labor government signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative. Premier Daniel Andrews ignored criticism from Labor and Coalition colleagues in Canberra. He dismissed federal government warnings about the national security threat posed by the BRI.

More recently, the Andrews government rejected the royal commission into natural disaster management. While Western Australian Labor Premier Mark McGowan and Queensland Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk have agreed to participate in it, Andrews has opted out. Instead, he wants a Victorian inquiry, led by Inspector-General of Emergency Management Tony Pearce.

State Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has questioned the inquiry’s independence. Speaking to The Australian’s Rachel Baxendale, he said Pearce’s advice had led to ­Andrews “walking away from the [last] bushfire royal commission’s targets on planned burning”. The green-left ducks for cover whenever accountability is on the agenda. Greens MPs continue to propose billion-dollar policies even as COVID-19 threatens to saddle the nation with intergenerational debt. They are demanding $1bn for a Save Creative Australia project. They want another $2bn for the not-for-profit and community sector.

Earlier this month, Greens leader Adam Bandt criticised Scott Morrison for “only pledging a third of the Rudd government’s $52bn stimulus”. Only?

Despite calling for solidarity amid the COVID-19 crisis, Greens politicians are making partisan politics of the global pandemic.

The party has accused the ­Coalition government of attacking healthcare and welfare “while propping up their big-business mates”. Who do the Greens think will pay for their totally righteous multibillion-dollar welfare plan, the freelance artists guild of “creative Australia”?

The COVID-19 panic is justified and understandable, but democracy will suffer if we stop speaking truth to power and holding the powerful to account.

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In these troubled days we need to cut red and green tape for the sake of the economy

PETER GLEESON

DESPERATE times call for desperate measures and we are indeed in uncharted waters as the coronavirus kills people and ruins the global economy. Now is not the time for the faint-hearted or weak, whether it be quarantining your family from the ravages of the virus or protecting your company, business or simply your job.

Bold, decisive leadership is not only required but mandatory. When it comes to conventional policy, at all levels of government, we need to throw the rule book out. We need to approve private investment and trust people to do the right thing.

This is real. This virus kills and unless we get it under control it has the potential to not only wipe out a lot of people, but torpedo wealth. The middle class will be no more.

 We can't die wondering. To ensure we don't finish up in a 1929-style Depression, Federal, State and local government needs to be bold, creative and innovative in their decision-making, starting today.

Big government infrastructure projects must be fast-tracked to keep people in jobs. There is only a certain amount to be gained from the generous Government stimulus packages. They are designed to protect businesses through the tough times, a bridge to ensure they come out of this nightmare with the capacity to continue.

Serious question marks will be placed on thousands of small businesses in coming days, weeks and months. Resilience is required.

There are obvious parallels with the challenges that occurred during wartime as the Government tries to keep society functioning. Within that context, and in the spirit of taking big and bold decisions to keep the economy afloat, it's time for a fundamental change to the way we approve development

There are hundreds of projects in Australia right now that are caught up in the green and red tape of bureaucracy. They are mired in red and green bureaucracy, either to keep some fat cat in a job or for political reasons.

We don't have the luxury right now to be playing politics on development. We can't be refusing cashed-up developers the opportunity to create jobs and sustainable long-term prosperity because some Greens or Labor hack are anti-development.

For example, why should a development company like the Walker Corporation be stopped from spending $2 billion on a massive project on Brisbane's bayside because a group of local greenies don't want it in their backyard?

That project has been on the Redlands council books since 2007. If we don't approve major develop-ments right now in this country, in six months time the developers may not be there to fund projects.

Local, state and federal Government should form a taskforce with the explicit aim of going through every medium to large project to streamline the process to get them approved. Some have battled environmental and planning road blocks for years, frustrating cashed-up developers ready to proceed. That doesn't mean giving developers the green light to ride roughshod over conservation and environmental protocols. If they break the law during construction, whack them with multi-million dollar fines.

But we need to trust them to get on with the job. The game has changed. Let's approve these projects now and get the ball rolling. Most developers want to do the right thing by the environment because it adds value to their project. Doing it the way we have always done it — forcing developers to go through an antiquated, protracted and costly Environmental Impact Assessment — is not the way to go forward in the New Coronavirus World.

There are dozens of developers in Australia with the cash to begin projects now and help us stave off double digit unemployment in coming months. It could provide an immediate $50 billion stimulus to the economy and keep tens of thousands of tradies working.

Deloittes boss Richard Deutsch appeared on my Sky News-Win show a few days ago and I asked him what was the most important thing for companies and business leaders as they ride out this unprecedented health and fiscal crisis.

"Keep the mechanics of your company going ... you have to keep the business afloat and that means doing everything possible to keep the fundamentals going," Deutsch, who has 11,000 staff, said.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Every tier of government needs to take the hand brake off development projects. Now is the time to show some ticker and throw convention out the window. The country's future depends on it.

From the Brisbane "Sunday Mail" of 22.3.20






Coronavirus Australia school closures: What's happening in every state

Some Australians schools are closing early for the holidays, others are going online for a few weeks. Here’s what is happening in each state or territory.

States and territories around Australia have declared their varying stances on school closures despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday announcing “children should go to school”.

He said the health advice from the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee had not changed. “I do not want to see our children lose an entire year of their education,” Mr Morrison said.

He said “all leaders” had committed to reopening schools at the end of the school break, or Easter holidays, “subject to the advice” of the AHPPC.

“If parents choose to keep their children home from school, parents must be responsible for the conduct of the children and to ensure they adhere to the social distancing arrangements in place,” Mr Morrison said.

“Parents must be aware that while the majority of adults who contract COVID-19 have mild forms of the virus, the elderly or those with comorbidities can have more significant symptoms.”

NEW SOUTH WALES

In contrast to the prime minister's stance, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday morning urged parents to "keep their children at home".

She said 30 per cent of parents had already made the choice to keep their kids at home and the state government feels it is “the best course to follow” in regards to the state health advice.

Schools in NSW will be staying open from Tuesday for children of "parents who have no option".

“For practical reasons, in NSW we will be encouraging parents to keep their children at home,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters. “However I want to stress that for parents who have no option, for parents who are workers, that have no option, the schools will remain open. No child will be turned away from school.”

VICTORIA

Victoria has already acted, announcing it was bringing forward Easter holidays to Tuesday. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared the state’s plan prior to Sunday night’s national cabinet meeting.

On Monday morning, he said term two is scheduled to begin on April 14, “unless I have medical advice not to proceed with term two at school”.

“I'm not making that announcement today," he said.

"We have taken the decision, and the Chief Health Officer of Victoria is completely comfortable and supportive of this, to bring forward the school holidays and to spend these precious days without kids at school to plan for remote, flexible, distance learning in the evident that we need to move to that way of teaching and learning."

This means by Monday afternoon, Victorian students will be on a three-week break.

QUEENSLAND

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said schools were open on Monday and "will remain open" until the last day of term on April 3.

But parents can choose "whether or not they wish to send their children to school".

She said if this decision is made, parents have three responsibilities – to advise the school their child or children won't be attending to ensure the wellbeing of students, to continue with online learning materials available on the education department's website, and to ensure the students practise social distancing.

"The responsibility for children not going to school will be solely with the parents and carers … and we ask that they adhere to these requests," she said.

She urged parents and children to stay off school grounds if they are sick.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

ACT schools will close on Tuesday as teachers plan how to keep classes operating during the coronavirus pandemic.

But Chief Minister Andrew Barr today said they will remain open to students who "absolutely need to attend".

"What we are endeavouring to do is (see) the school population, the number of students who would physically need to go to school each day, would be considerably less so we can space them out more," he told ABC Radio.

Term two is due to commence on April 28.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australian schools are set to remain open for now with a view to helping slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Premier Steven Marshall said the message from health experts was very clear. “Send your children to school. If we do this we will slow the spread of the disease,” Mr Marshall told radio 5AA on Monday.

“But having said that, there are some parents who would like to have their children out of school.”

Mr Marshall said schools would also need to provide more flexible learning options for parents who believed they could supervise their children and look after them at home.

Term two is due to commence on April 27.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WA Premier Mark McGowan on Monday said schools will remain open until the end of term one, finishing April 9, but they will "relax the law and provide parents with choice" whether to send their children to school.

"I have always said that closing schools is a last resort but I understand many parents are concerned and want to keep their children home at this time," he said.

"It is for that reason that we will relax the law and provide parents with choice.

"If parents decide not to send their kids to school, we will not enforce the law that requires you to do so. But I stress, if parents do decide to keep their children home, parents must abide by all other laws and that includes all new social distance, social distancing rules that have been introduced."

Many non-government schools will provide access to online and distance learning while in the public system, parents and students will have access to resources to see out the remainder of the term.

Term two is due to commence on April 28.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Territory schools will remain open for now until the school holidays, starting on Good Friday on April 10.

But Chief Minister Michael Gunner today said from Tuesday, “and for the rest of this term, the decision to send kids to school will be a choice for parents”.

“I know a lot of parents are feeling anxious right now during these times. I trust parents to know what is best for them and their kids,” he said.

“If you want to keep kids at home for the remainder of this term, that's okay. But they have to be at home.”

Term two is due to commence on April 20.

TASMANIA

In addressing the topic on Monday, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein acknowledged "there has been much community angst" regarding schools.

"Tasmanian schools will remain open for the time being," he said.

"We recognise the incredibly important role that our schools play supporting the education and wellbeing of Tasmania's children and young people and the advice of the AHPPC is unchanged on this matter."

However, he said parents and carers can keep children at home from Wednesday, March 25 if they wish.

Term two is due to commence on April 27.

More HERE 







The soft power of education

Education has long been accepted as a way of building Australia’s soft power.

When we say soft power, we’re talking about the use of “positive attraction and persuasion to achieve foreign policy objectives” rather than the military and economic might of hard power. And education has “the ability to influence the behaviour or thinking of others through the power of attraction and ideas”.

In the 1950s, Australia made international education part of its foreign policy when, as part of the Colombo Plan, it funded scholarships to bring the future leaders of Asia to study in Australia.

The Australian government saw the benefit of “the body of people in Asian countries which is gradually built up with an intimate knowledge of Australia and, it may be hoped, some affection for this country”.

If we work on this criterion, the Colombo Plan can be considered a real success.

By 1985, the Colombo Plan had brought over 20,000 students to Australia — many of whom went on to work in key positions across Asia, giving Australia a soft power connection.

In Malaysia, alumni include a minister for trade, a chief minister and a renowned architect. A quarter of Mongolia’s current cabinet studied in Australia.

Australia’s Foreign Policy White Paper points to the soft power effects of study in Australia: “Many foreign government and business leaders, including heads of state, ministers and CEOs, have studied in Australia and understand our institutions, values and perspective on the world. This is a significant asset for Australia.”

It also outlines the efforts being put into an Australia Global Alumni program to leverage these connections.

But the picture is now more complex for at least four reasons.

* A smaller budget

First, Australia is no longer investing sufficiently in funded study to Australia to have large-scale impact.

The Colombo Plan’s successor, the Australia Awards, has become the victim of funding cuts. In 2016, it was reported that around 3500 scholarships, fellowships and short courses were funded.

Four years later, there are only 1982 Australia Awards.

Additionally, research tells us that Australia’s investment in diplomacy, development and trade is now at its lowest level ever.

On top of this, other countries have been investing more. In Laos, for example, Australia offers 30 scholarships, while China offers 1000.

* Self-funded student experience

International education is a significant business: it is now Australia’s third biggest export.

The vast majority of international students in Australia are fee-paying (which was true even during the Colombo Plan). In 2019, there were more than 750,000 international students in Australia including 25,000 secondary school students.

Whether these students add to Australia’s soft power depends crucially on whether they have a positive experience in Australia.

The worst-case scenario is that they speak mainly to other overseas students, don’t form friendships with Australians and leave having formed few connections or perhaps even negative views about Australia.

It’s up to schools and universities to be aware of this and work to ensure students feel welcome and at home during their time in Australia.

* Getting Australians into the region

Australia’s old model needs to be updated to take into account the effect of Australia’s new outbound program to take Australian students to the Indo-Pacific, known as the New Colombo Plan.

Launched in 2014 by then Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop as one of her signature initiatives, the New Colombo Plan aims to get young Australians to study and work in the region, rather than heading to traditional destinations like the US and Europe, as “a rite of passage to benefit us all”.

According to Julie Bishop: “Our country will benefit enormously from having young ambassadors from Australia who have an understanding of and an insight into the region that only comes from living, studying and working there.”

The New Colombo Plan takes Australian students to the Indo-Pacific region. Picture: Shutterstock
The scale of the New Colombo Plan — by the end of last year 60,000 young people had been funded to live and learn in 40 countries — suggest there is likely to be a significant soft power ripple effect.

Having thousands of young people serve as unofficial ambassadors for Australia in the region is likely to have a positive impact, particularly when the New Colombo Plan shows two of the hallmarks of best practice in public diplomacy: genuineness and mutuality.

* The global classroom

New technology means that coming to study in Australia isn’t the only way that education can have an effect.

Global organisations like ours are operating a number of intercultural learning programs, aiming to link our classrooms to the world.

The Asia Education Foundation’s school partnership program, Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue Growing Engagement or BRIDGE, has been operating for over ten years, establishing more than 500 school partnerships across 21 countries.

Funded by the Australian Government, it fosters these important people-to-people links through establishing relationships between students, teachers and school communities — helping teachers to open their classrooms to the world.

Intercultural learning lets us explore our differences and similarities through empathy and critical discussion.

It’s about relationships where both groups change and respond, forming cultural connections, rather than one-way transmission. It helps build global mindset and intercultural capabilities through learning together in a cross-cultural setting.

There are an estimated 750 million youth across Indo-Pacific aged 12 to 25, compared to 4.3 million young Australians. So, it’s essential that this generation must be able to develop deeper understandings of culture, communication, and connection.

The original Colombo Plan was small but precisely targeted and achieved the aim of creating significant long-term soft power benefit.

It provided a foundation for Australia to build rich contacts with the nations around us.

But today’s challenge is to update our model to include the many ways that education impacts on Australia’s image and influence in the region. And education remains one of the best ways to build soft power — creating bonds of affection as well as a deeper and more enriched intercultural understanding of the world.

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 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here