With the exception of your comment about politicians being 'old...

With the exception of your comment about politicians being 'old men who feel threatened' - given that Annastacia Palusczuk, Queensland Premier has been just as bad as Mark McGowan in WA, and not much better than disastrous Daniel Andrews in Victoria, you are very much on the ball.

The response of all Australian State Premiers except Gladys Berejiklian in NSW has been disproportionate. Huge job losses for months - still apparent in tourism and to some extent in hospitality, particularly accommodation, and aviation/other passenger transport - plus cuts to earnings for casuals, businesses that have closed or will do so once JobKeeper ends as it has to (unaffordable for Federal Government) mean that the measures to 'fight COVID-19' are far worse than the disease is in Oz. Remember all those epidemiologists who predicted we'd need tens of thousands of ICU beds in major hospitals? They're still being listened to far too much by parliamentarians and the media. The only one who's consistently sensible seems to be Prof Peter Collignon from the Australian National University.

But resumption of international travel isn't just up to the Federal Govt. Foreign governments need to give us the green light. Will there be quarantine imposed, and will some favourite stopovers like Singapore, Hong Kong or Manila be prohibited, making travel more expensive through being restricted to airlines offering nonstop flights? Also, will quarantining be necessary upon our return to Oz?

I can't see most international travel resuming in 2021. so SYD income will continue to suffer.

And sudden border closures like SA to Melburnians from late last night (about eight hours' notice!) make many including me reluctant to travel interstate from Melbourne by any means of transport: air, rail or driving. Who wants to have to spend days or weeks interstate that one didn't plan?