00:00Silent cities, shops shuttered and hospitals overwhelmed.
00:09Generations changed by a once in a century pandemic.
00:13The striking conclusion I think from this report though is that right now we are arguably
00:19worse placed as a country to deal with a pandemic than we were in early 2020.
00:24The report finding Australia's response to the pandemic drove a large decline in public
00:30trust.
00:31Many of the measures taken during COVID-19 are unlikely to be accepted by the population
00:37again.
00:38Delays in the vaccine rollout, prolonged restrictive public health measures and ultimately cost
00:44$31 billion.
00:46And the report said some of those measures like school closures and lockdowns must be
00:52used carefully.
00:53Because of the strength of the public health response, a lot of people felt they didn't
00:59trust what government was doing.
01:01Heavy handed restrictions also amounted to a lack of compassion according to the inquiry.
01:07That's something acutely felt by Richard Smith whose wife was in an aged care home.
01:12His family was unable to see her for months.
01:15The distress was not only felt by the residents but by the family to see the distress that
01:21their loved ones were going through.
01:23But despite all the issues, the report stressed Australia fared well compared to other nations.
01:29We saved lives and we saved livelihoods and I think Australians should be proud.
01:34One of the recommendations has already been acted on, funding a centre for disease control.
01:40An opportunity to lay a foundation for Australia's future pandemic preparedness.
01:45The toughest decisions on lockdowns, school and border closures and vaccine mandates were
01:49made by the states and territories and weren't directly covered by this inquiry.
01:54But even so, it was highly critical of poorly justified and disproportionate approaches
02:00to restrictions across the country.
02:02With goodwill deeply eroded, the report plants serious doubt about whether a less trusting
02:08public would even follow better targeted rules in the case of another pandemic.
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