The coronavirus pandemic is a fast-moving crisis, but there are many opportunities for long-term investments that will pay off over its duration. The Australian government should immediately create a body to identify, lead, fund and …
Australian hospitals are running short of medical gear and those shortages will worsen. Masks, gloves, gowns, cleaning equipment and ventilators are just the obvious ones. We need to get creative urgently, and we can. In …
An unprecedented threat demands an unprecedented response. Rarely, if ever, have governments had to shift into crisis-management mode as quickly as they have in the past few weeks. So far, the focus has been on …
It’s easy to focus inwards during times like this. Families take care of loved ones and governments take care of their people. But another crisis created by the novel coronavirus is looming. Over the coming …
To look forward, without unseemly guesswork, requires an element of looking back. I am not a virologist or epidemiologist; my 38 years in specialist medical practice was as a consultant general physician and diagnostician. Twice …
Against the backdrop of an escalating war of words between Washington and Beijing, and the Chinese Communist Party’s broader campaign to rewrite the history of the Covid-19 outbreak, the attempts by multiple Chinese diplomats to …
The frenzy outside a local butcher’s shop was electric, as sharp-elbowed women forced their way through the door, where dozens were already packed to the counter thrusting their purses, seeking the butcher’s attention. One pushed …
The coronavirus sweeping Australia and the rest of the world will reshape our ways of life for many months, if not years. It has already changed what we can do, who we can spend time …
Communities play an essential role in reducing the impact of disasters. In Australia, we saw this in the recent unprecedented bushfires, when neighbours helped each other to battle flames, evacuate the vulnerable, and feed and …
We will see many things that frighten us as we walk along the various threads of the coronavirus pandemic. But whether it’s about panic shopping, closed borders or social distancing, it will be the leadership …
The new national cabinet the prime minister has formed with state premiers and territory chief ministers will need to grow quickly in reach, speed of action and composition to get ahead of the rapidly unfolding …
Toilet paper shortages, profiteering from hand sanitiser and empty shelves in supermarkets. Thanks to Covid-19, governments in most industrialised nations are preparing for shortages of life’s necessities. If they fail, riots over food may be inevitable. Some wonder …