24/3/20
The fall out from the 'Stage One' measures announced earlier this week are starting to show. Thousands of people in hospitality lost their jobs as pubs, cafes and restaurants shut down. The Centrelink website crashed and photos of the lines outside Centrelink offices dominated the news.
Friends tell me today about losing their jobs, having their hours cut, of hundreds of people applying for one job, of not being able to find work. While jobseeker benefits have doubled, for many that might not be enough.
I grew up during the recession of the late 80s/early 90s, and while I experienced that as a kid, I still have some very clear memories of being poor.
My big kid asks why some people are still going to work. We talk about how the boss of Australia or the boss of Victoria could tell everyone to stay at home and only let the people with the most important jobs go to work.
So many people can't go on leave until there is a mandated shutdown but a mandated shutdown won't happen until predicted infections rise too high.
Despite watching the pandemic unfold in countries who are "ahead" of us, our politicians seem to be dilly dallying on taking decisive and fast action. Which is what every country "ahead" of us has said is necessary to slow infection rates. It's predicted there will be 10,000 infections in Australia by next week.
Things feel bleak today.