Saturday marked the worst day in New South Wales since the pandemic began, with 319 locally acquired cases recorded, as well as five deaths. Those in the Armidale local government area in the state’s Northern Tablelands were also plunged into a one-week lockdown, after two cases were found in the regional area.
If you had been watching the state government’s 11am press conference with Health Minister Brad Hazzard, you wouldn’t have heard this news until you sat through a lengthy preamble that lacked clear focus.
Hazzard wanted to talk about the “good news”, namely the rates of vaccination across the state and that Year 12 students from hotspot areas will have access to the Pfizer vaccine at Qudos Bank Arena this week.
These messages about vaccinations are very important to get across to the community, and should be prioritised at each press conference. But to only mention the deaths of five citizens as an afterthought after more than 11 minutes had already passed, markedly lacked respect for these individuals, their grieving families, and the wider NSW community.
Indeed, it was quite clear that Hazzard almost completely forgot to mention the deaths. There was also no sense of urgency relating to the Armidale lockdown, which was only mentioned ten minutes into the press conference.
Joe O’Brien, a presenter on ABC News, put it plainly when he tweeted a note to the NSW government about prioritising respect for the community.
“Note to NSW Govt. Be upfront, honest and clear with us,” he said.
“Start with paying your respects to those who have died and telling us how many more there have been. Tell us how many new cases have been detected and how many have been in the community while infectious. Then other clear messages.”
Note to NSW Govt
— Joe O’Brien (@JoeABCNews) August 7, 2021
Be upfront, honest and clear with us
Start with paying your respects to those who have died and telling us how many more there have been.
Tell us how many new cases have been detected and how many have been in community while infectious
Then other clear messages
What Hazzard did make time for, was calling out members of the community for flouting lockdown restrictions.
“We have the toughest lockdown in the country at the present time. What is not happening is people are not complying,” he said
“If people don’t comply, the community will continue to suffer.”
The contrast between Hazzard’s approach to delivering the press conference and that of Berejiklian, who was absent on Saturday, was stark.
At a time when clear public health messaging in New South Wales is needed, getting to the point quickly is essential – as is offering authentic condolences to grieving families who have lost a loved one.
Building respect and trust between governments and the community during this outbreak should be front and centre at every press conference, and Hazzard’s abysmal form on Saturday did a disservice to every person in NSW now living through their seventh week of lockdown.