Let me start by saying this. In terms of pandemic management, geographical segmentation is a really smart idea. Preventing people from moving from area to area is a really smart idea in controlling the spread. This means that any outbreaks are contained to a specific area and therefore are much easier to control and also keep people outside the area safe.
Australia has done this but we have not done it well. Our primary form of geographical segmentation is the states. In this post I’ll go on to explain why this is a bad idea and potentially even dangerous but first, to give some context, a little history lesson. Why did the states set up the way they did?
Originally, there was one colony, Sydney, and this had jurisdiction over all of Australia which back then was known as New South Wales. Over time, new colonies were set up and given the distance between them and the fact that even any meaningful communication between all of them could take days, each colony was given it’s own jurisdiction. Way back in the 1800’s it was essentially a huge land grab by each colony to control as much land as possible and long and the short of it was the state boundaries were born with each area being responsible for its own governance. In all the research I have done for this I not once found anything that has said that the state borders need to be set up with pandemic management in mind. As a result, it is a really bad idea.
First, the states are too big. I’ll use Victoria for the example. At the start of the second wave, all of Victoria were under the same restriction and the only closed borders were on the borders of Victoria. Melbourne had the outbreak. The fact that Melbournians were aloud to travel to rural Victoria spread the virus around the whole state. If the border had been placed around Melbourne from the start, rural Victoria would have been able to safely go about their business with only minimal restrictions and those close to state borders would have been able to travel to other states too. This would have also allowed us to keep more of the Australian economy open and keep our communication links unincumbered which at this moment would be critical.
Secondly, the borders where they lie have caused an absolute nightmare for many border towns. Essentially, communities such as Albury-Wodonga or Tweed Heads-Coolangatta have been split down the middle cutting people off from family, friends and essential services. These towns sprung into existence on the border because there was a strategic economic advantage to do so but, they have evolved into single communities. Dividing them like we have makes about as much sense as drawing a boundary down the middle of other country towns like Ballarat or Dubbo. The only reason we accept it is because they lie on state borders but the virus doesn’t give a hoot about state borders so neither can we.
Lastly, also in regards to border towns, there are two reasons that the borders are actually unsafe. First, in order for the border towns to be able to function correctly all they allow local traffic. This means that the virus would be allowed to gradually spread up to the border town, the local traffic takes it across and away it goes. Secondly having the borders right through the middle of these towns means there are far more roads to police and far more traffic to monitor. So much so, that the border towns do not have the manpower to manage the border crossings on their own so they have to bring in police from other areas. The busy border then becomes much more than a barrier to the virus, it becomes a genuine potential hazard point and the police bought in from other areas of Australia could be infected and inadvertently end up taking the virus back to their home towns.
There is an answer to this. What we need is a federal response to this crisis, not a state by state response. If this was the case we could make boundaries where they would be most effective for managing the pandemic. After all, the virus does not care about our borders, the only thing it cares about is spreading and existing. It is not discriminatory and it is not sentimental which means we can’t be either.
Until next time,
Stay well :)
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