QCCL Opposes Extension of Covid Emergency
On 4 March 2022 the QCCL made its submission[1] in relation to the legislation to extend the Covid emergency until 31 October 2022. The QCCL opposes this extension.
“The actions of the Premier on 3 March when she told everyone to stay home on the basis of a weather forecast argue strongly that this government has become too used to micromanaging people’s lives. It must stop.” says QCCL President Michael Cope.
“The QCCL accepted that while there were no vaccines or effective treatments for Covid, a state of emergency was necessary to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed. However, by definition, a state of emergency must come to an end the moment circumstances justifying its existence cease to exist. Otherwise, it is not an emergency” says QCCL President Michael Cope.
The Public Health Act, gives the Chief Health Officer, an unelected official, extraordinary draconian powers, from what we can tell, the like of which have never been seen in Queensland before
“The government has yet again failed to tell us what criteria it will use to decide that the emergency is over. The only justification given is that it needs flexibility, particularly to deal with the situation that might arise because of a combination of flu and Covid”.
There are 2 problems with that proposition.
“The first is that covid is not going away. It’s going to be around for years, on that basis, the government is going to need this flexibility for an indefinite period. That is entirely unacceptable. The flipside of the so-called flexibility is an unjustified straitjacket on the liberty of Queenslanders”
Secondly, there have been repeated assurances from both the current and former Chief Health Officer, not to mention the Premier, that the health system has been beefed up to be able to cope with the Covid situation.
“It is the Council’s position that the circumstances justifying the state of emergency have ceased to exist, with widespread vaccination and highly effective treatments. If because of a combination of flu and Covid or because there is a more dangerous variant, the hospital system comes under severe threat, then the government should declare a new state of emergency.”
“The current state of emergency should come to an end so that should the government say that it is necessary to have a new state of emergency, it is required to justify the decision to the public” says Michael Cope.
The average life is between 70 and 80 years. In other words, we have now deprived people of 1/40th of their full life This does not just apply to the elderly. Children and young people are being deprived of a chunk of their lives which they will never get back. Children and young people have missed out on social activities in school, dating, clubbing and other rites of passage. Older people missed out on hugging their grand kids and simple things like going out to movies or that dream overseas trip.
Quite simply it’s about people’s lives and in those lives covid is a risk, but not the only risk
The case of the immunocompromised is often raised. However, they can obtain benefit from vaccination, though they need more shots than everyone else, we now have highly effective treatments and of course those people can continue to wear masks and should not be ill-treated for choosing to do so.
“With the vast majority of the population vaccinated in a way which is overwhelmingly effective at preventing serious illness or hospitalization and effective treatments, including the Pfizer one which is 89% effective, it is time to allow people to make their own assessment of how they want to spend their time and the risks involved”.
“To assist people in assessing the risk to themselves and others, the government should make available free rapid antigen tests to all those who want one.”
For further information contact Michael Cope President QCCL on 07 3223 5939 during office hours and at all times on 0432 847 154
8 March 2022
[1] Found here https://www.qccl.org.au/newsblog/l42g11i5qmg4tf98wt03i299gj9i3v