Today, I will look beyond the unedifying spectacle of our federal and state governments pointing fingers at each other for the failure of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out to reach its planned target.
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This is regardless of the recent and belated decision to restrict the AstraZeneca vaccine to older folk.
Firstly let's see how this woeful failure played out.
State and federal health ministers traded blows after it was revealed only a fraction of the four million COVID-19 vaccinations that were supposed to have been delivered by the end of March had been administered.
"A totally unnecessary and destructive slanging match," wrote columnist Tony Blakely. It was initiated by the federal government, with blame laid on the states.
The four million-dose target was initially set by the Prime Minister. This was the first in a series of own goals scored by ScoMo and Co. The PM is also guilty of overpromising. He would do well to remember the old adage of "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst".
He's also presumably oblivious to his responsibility as treasurer for the savage cuts to public services.
Contrast this sorry spectacle with the Greens' plan for the safe, efficient rollout of COVID vaccines across Australia as early as possible in order to protect our health system and vulnerable members of our community.
Labor's opposition health spokesman Mark Butler told The Saturday Paper the delays meant Australians were being left to pay the cost of a "chaotic" roll-out.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud scored his own spectacular own goal when he pointed the finger at state governments, accusing them of stockpiling doses.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard pushed back, saying the federal government should take responsibility. This spat marked the end of a COVID-19 truce between all levels of government.
In other words, the National Cabinet system, which worked relatively well during the dark days of 2020, had broken down, due almost entirely to federal government intransigence.
More recently, ScoMo has shown he can't take criticism by engaging in another slanging match - this time with the EU over the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines.
Given that the federal government is a champion of the deregulated capitalist economy, it is surprising that it hasn't woken up to the reality that the opening of our economy is dependent on people getting jabs in their arms. So what went wrong?
"I think it would have probably run more smoothly if we had harnessed the usual systems we have for the annual influenza vaccination program," said Professor Julie Leask, a social scientist and vaccine specialist.
"Now is not the time to be changing systems that work." The usual system was to use state and territory systems for distribution. Another own goal.
Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, takes us to the heart of what went wrong: "The problem is due to decades of cuts to the public sector, which had shrunk its organisational capacity."
Australia's management of the virus granted the country the time to plan and prepare. Much of that seems to have been squandered.
Our relative success in containing the pandemic has encouraged complacency. Very dangerous complacency, as the failure of the vaccination system demonstrates.
The chair of the Australian Medical Association's Council of General Practice, Dr Richard Kidd, says the issue was also one of communication, with governments needing to prioritise clarity and transparency around stock levels in order to build public trust. "There needs to be transparency around that" he said.
In contrast, the government has tightly controlled communications and vaccination data.
What updates we got had no detail about the number of doses distributed across the country.
Contrast this with the daily press conferences by state premiers when the pandemic was at its height.
We got accurate figures and specific details day by day. So we suffered a federal government focused on governing by spin through media releases and press conferences, when what was needed was the sensible use of existing systems.
Hardly surprising when the federal government is preoccupied with spin to bolster its election prospects.
As a consequence, transparency is in short supply.
The old illusionist trick of smoke and mirrors is Scotty from Marketing's stock in trade, after all.
