There have been hundreds of innovative changes in business operation and practice during the coronavirus that have enabled owners and operators to continue providing service rather than shutting their doors.

Post COVID-19, a compilation of these changes and coping strategies could make an interesting reading if added to our corporate knowledge.

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Anthony Keane (NT News 25/5) offers reassurance that Australian house prices have not, in response to COVID-19 dipped dangerously. For Darwin, with a loss in value of 25% over the past 5 years to the lowest median ($402,000) of any Australian capital city, that reassurance has little meaning. Major devaluation has already happened.

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Government spends money on promotions. Private enterprise reaps the benefit.

Government spends and privates earn on the basis of that expenditure.

Government government gives grants that should be loans.

The NRL and AFL have, by dint of herculean efforts and major modifications, gotten their seasons back on track. That’s great news for players (maybe not their families) and fans. But what happens to the rejigged seasons if COVID-19 intrudes into those competitions?

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The nine member Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission to be advised by the reconstituted “Team Territory” on how to make recommendations for its advice to work, sounds like organisational overkill. With established organisations clamouring to make their input, the danger is that the group’s function will be suffocated by process.

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It doesn’t say much for standards of comprehension and literacy when 1000 small business owners together with treasury and tax office officials confuse a basic form on staff numbers and JobSeeker entitlements.

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I wish the NT News would desist from publishing photos of celebrating groups where those photographed are ignoring social distancing requirements. The photos may be of happy people but an altogether wrong message about physical separation is being sent.

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Vanderlin Drive between Hibiscus Shoppingtown and Leanyer Recreational Lake is a repeat major accident waiting to happen. There have already been bad accidents on this stretch of road. The speed limit for most of this stretch is 80kph. It needs to be reduced to 60 in part to take account of traffic entering and leaving at Leanyer Drive and Patterson Street.

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I wonder whether people will change their attitude to saving money for emergency needs when COVID-19 finally gives way to somewhat more normal living. A realisation forced by the virus is that far too few people have savings they can use to help jn times of hardship. Government bailouts have in large part been required because of the Australian population’s penury.

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Paul Kelly, Australia’s Deputy Medical Health Officer held a press conference on the afternoon of May 20th and can’t see why states and territories continue to keep their borders closed. He can’t understand why states and territories with closed borders are reluctant to have people visiting from other states and territories around Australia.

Dr Kelly may not understandi, but thank goodness premiers, chief ministers, and others who have to do with setting policies on access, do.

At the moment, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and Northern Territory have closed their borders to people from interstate. New South Wales, Victoria and The Australian Capital Territory have open borders.

The ACT has open borders to its territory because of affiliation with New South Wales.

Dr Kelly has an ally when it comes to opening borders in Gladys Berejiklian the New South Wales Premier.

The Kelly/Berejiklian argument is that we are stifling Australia’s economic recovery by keeping our borders closed.

That is a case of putting economy ahead of the health and well-being of people. Victoria, and New South Wales are breeding grounds for COVID-19 cases. While some of those cases are infections of people who have returned from overseas, an increasing percentage are about community transmission and evolution of the virus within clusters. For travel to be free and unrequited between ‘infected’ states and those states and territories within Australia that are close to being virus free would be an absolute travesty..

I sincerely hope that Medical Officers who are giving advice and our leaders of states and territories are not unduly persuaded by the clamour of those who want borders to be prematurely opened.

Early opening could be deadly.

The hospitality industry wanting government to fund vouchers to be redeemed by people going out to eat and drink, is carrying dependence on taxpayer funded support a step too far. It is also an imposition on those who prepare their own food and cook their own meals in their home kitchens.

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Individuals and organisations constantly pressuring the government to relax biosecurity restrictions and border controls need to draw breath and take a cold shower. Barely a day goes by without the Chief Minister and Attorney General being bombarded on this issue. These controls have kept Territorians safe. We need to put the health of community ahead of the economy and making money.

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If airline companies do not adhere to social distancing rules for travelling passengers, they may well face legal action if virus free passengers contract COVID-19 while on flights. Talk of reintroducing flights is prematurely by many, many weeks.

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The proposal to fast track a new itinerant camp in Darwin “… in anticipation of a flood of remote Territorians returning to town once … travel restrictions are lifted” (Sunday Territorian 17/5) fills me with dread. For the most part, this ‘return’ will be to allow access to alcohol. We will be back to the social issues and disturbances created by itinerants before they were returned, at government expense, to their community homes pre the COVID-19 restrictions. Not a nice thought.

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So alcohol consumption in some quarters has reduced and imbibing venues have been closed. And would you believe, there has been a reduction in alcohol fuelled incidents against people and property. Even Blind Freddie knows that if alcohol intake is cut, then serious behavioural outcomes, fighting and crime will be significantly reduced. Excessive use of alcohol stimulates negative, hurtful and damaging social consequences

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Senator McMahon has absolutely no right to upbraid the Chief Minister over his handling of biosecurity restrictions. What he is doing is for the good of all Territorians and the lifting of restrictions will all be in good time. The Senator’s imposition is well out of line.

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I lack confidence in Territorians and people throughout the rest of Australia to self manage responsibly as coronavirus restrictions are relaxed and people are put on trust. My worry is that as things open up, the virus will impact big time in all states and territories. This is causing real anxiety. The irresponsibility and selfishness of some people is mind boggling.

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I think it is time to worry that as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed, that less and less attention will be paid to physical distancing. That could mark the beginning of a coronavirus outbreak in the NT. It may also result in COVID-19 spikes elsewhere in Australia.

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So alcohol consumption in some quarters has reduced and imbibing venues have been closed. And would you believe, there has been a reduction in alcohol fuelled incidents against people and property. Even Blind Freddie knows that if alcohol intake is cut, then serious behavioural outcomes, fighting and crime will be significantly reduced. Excessive use of alcohol stimulates negative, hurtful and damaging social consequences.

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A POINT ABOUT PRIORITIES TO PONDER

PEOPLE HELL-BENT ON WASTING GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

It’s amazing that people are crying out in alarm about how they will keep themselves financially afloat once JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments are reduced at the end of September.

Meanwhile the Territory yesterday (15/4) was reported as spending $4 million on alcohol as outlets opened for limited and qualified (alcohol with a meal) trade.

I think that those who have been gifted with government largesse through these payments, should have had that money put into a basic card and not into their bank accounts. That money should have been quarantined from expenditure on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.

That money was allocated with genuine living expenses in mind and was not a ‘gift’ to be squandered on non-essentials. The benefit was to help people with living expenses and so much of that money seems to be misappropriated.

Sadly, the squandering of this money is just one more example of how short sighted many people happen to be and how they expect that the government will ‘nanny’ them in times of pecuniary scarcity. Just one more example of the abrogation of self responsibility by those who should know better.

And guess what. They will continue to expect the government to bail them out of difficult times. They will expect banks to continue to go easy on loan repayments. They will continue to expect landlords to offer rentals concessions. They will continue to live like the grasshoppers in Aesop’s Fable.