From the same article:
National unity has fractured on twoother levels. One is at the national political level. Until now, federal Laborhas been constructive and co-operative. Its help was essential in allowing theParliament to pass the $84 billion economic support bills in a single day thisweek.But Labor leader Anthony Albanese was unimpressed with some ofthe Morrison government's antics. Undertakings made and not honoured. Laborwill continue to be constructive in its approach to the crisis. But thegovernment can expect it to be much more vocal in objecting to governmentpolicy, and more insistent in proposing alternatives.
Labor, for instance, is pushing thegovernment to do what Britain, New Zealand and a raft of other countries aredoing – pay wage subsidies to employers. This is a key incentive to keep peopleemployed. It is a very good idea that Morrison and Josh Frydenberg need toimplement.
The cost – social, economic and political – ofthe coming wave of unemployment will be monstrous otherwise. Morrison's objectionis that it would require new delivery mechanisms. This is an excuse, not areason. Employers need incentives to keep workers employed until the viruspasses. This is the best way.
Labor, like most of the premiers,also thinks Morrison needs to move more swiftly to a total lockdown of people'smovements to halt the virus. "We say you have to put health first or theeconomic cost and the health costs will be higher," says Albanese.
The third level on which national unity has collapsed is on thehealth advice. Already under strain, expert support for the government's policychoices all but collapsed this week. Outside the government's own officialmedical committee, the weight of medical opinion is now converging on the needto move to a sweeping lockdown.
And it just so happens that as unityfractures at all three levels – federal with state leaders, federal Labor withLiberal, and any sort of consensus of medical opinion – it is all shifting inthe same direction.
The premiers, federal Labor and the preponderanceof medical opinion are coalescing around the idea that Australia should giveurgent priority to a national lockdown of people's movements to stop theepidemic's spread. The Morrison government is increasingly isolated.
If Morrison is fully convinced, onthe basis of hard evidence, that he is on the right course, he needs topersuade the rest of the country. If he isn't, he needs to move. And quickly.
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