Two days later Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly wrote a letter to Health Minister Mark Butler saying explicitly:“I do not believe that there is sufficient public health rationale to impose any restriction or additional requirements on travellers from China.”
Kelly outlined in detail why special measures were not required:Australians have high levels of vaccination,can readily access emergency treatment if they suffer severe illness and are currently enjoying summer.
Yes,Kelly acknowledged,other countries such as the United States,United Kingdom and Japan have introduced testing rules for arrivals from China. But they are all experiencing a Northern Hemisphere winter - an especially risky time for COVID transmission.
It was compelling,well-reasoned advice tailor-made for Australia’s particular circumstances. Yet the government ignored it,announcing a new testing mandate for travellers from China just 24 hours later. Albanese’s pledge to follow expert advice was dumped into the bin like a bundle of smelly prawn shells after Christmas lunch.
It is politicians,of course,not expert advisers who ultimately have to weigh up various factors (health,economic,social) and make the tough public policy calls. The remarkable thing about this decision is that the government has been more restrictive than its top health adviser,whom you’d expect to lean to the cautious side. (Admirably,Kelly’s advice was made public,albeit with no fanfare on the Department of Health website.)