By ERWIN CHLANDA
Managers of COVID-19 the world over, pretty well, operate on the basis that transparency about their measures is a key factor in their acceptance by the public.
In the NT the authorities stubbornly stick to the opposite.
Here is the latest effort, beginning with a media release by Tourism NT: “The Northern Territory Government has [last Friday] announced that when borders open to interstate travellers on July 17, any arrivals from a suburb or local government area that has been declared a coronavirus hot spot will be required to undertake mandatory self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Hot spots will be identified by State or Territory Governments, or by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, and listed on coronavirus.nt.gov.au
“In addition to the information currently provided on the border arrival form, arrivals will be required to declare if they have been in, or travelled through, a hot spot within the last 28 days.”
We asked the government’s Covidmedia at 10.52am on Sunday: “How will the NTG verify these statements by the travellers, or their failure to declare?”
We requested a reply by noon yesterday – not a peep out of them.
So we are likely to be faced with two types of people travelling to the Territory:-
• The good guys who avoid the hots spots or front up for a two-week quarantine.
• The not so good guys who cheat, traverse hotspots but not telling: How will the NT Government catch them – a reasonable question in this life-and-death situation.
We also asked how many NT public servants have been stood down without pay as a result of COVID-19 – like hundreds of millions around the world who are now without a job and income.
Same response as above – zilch.
What does “travelled through” mean?
[ED – Well, as in travelled through a town, city, community, suburb and so on. Hope this helps.]
Mr Gunner is somewhere in Alice today but only the true believers will get to see him.
“Same response as above – zilch.” Zilch about sums him up.