The wheels are starting to fall off the ‘pandemic panic wagon’: Peta Credlin

Sky News host Peta Credlin says the wheels are starting to fall off this “pandemic panic wagon” with each new failure of the hotel quarantine systems under state Labor governments.

“No one should ever underestimate just how hard the politics have been played by all governments in dealing with this pandemic,” she said.

“State Labor premiers have clearly decided that presenting themselves as virus slayers is their best path to popularity – which explains their tendency to lockdown whole entire cities and states at the first sign of a virus outbreak.

“It makes them look strong and electorally to date, it’s worked.”

Early on in the pandemic “we might have forgiven” state governments over a few mistakes, but “not 12 months on”.

According to Ms Credlin, mistakes now are “not about a new virus”, but rather “old fashioned incompetence”.

“Last March, when the quarantine system was first put in place, the states insisted they should run it,” she said.

“Indeed Victoria’s Dan Andrews boasted that hotel quarantine was all his bright idea – until failures in his system killed over 800 Victorians.”

The Labor states now, 12 months later, are citing the Constitution, which makes quarantine a federal government responsibility.

“Yes it does, but – and this is a big but – only if the feds choose to take it up, and so far running hotel quarantine has always been up to the states,” Ms Credlin said.

“If we’re going to start quoting the Constitution, I’d also make the point that the Constitution makes border control a federal responsibility, yet that hasn’t stopped the states slapping their own border procedures on travellers, both international and interstate.

“Wouldn’t it be good to see state governments putting as much effort into making their quarantine systems as strong as they can be, as they’ve put the effort into playing the politics of COVID, for all it's worth.”

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