Statement by the CC of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) on the government’s
response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED US. THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED US.
Coronavirus was brought into Australia by travellers from other countries, yet for weeks
they were simply allowed to get off planes and ships without any government screening,
at most being told to self isolate for 14 days. The onus was put on the individual traveller.
This did not work. The government’s inaction has led to the virus spreading throughout
the country and people dying.
Why were travellers from Europe and the U.S.A. (who have contributed to 75% of our
imported cases) not quarantined much earlier on, given the early signs of cases being
imported from the U.S.A., including prominent Hollywood actors and Peter Dutton? The
government was complicit in further endangering peoples’ lives by its complete
mishandling of the docking of the Ruby Princess cruise ship at Sydney.
Where has our government been in the need to protect frontline health workers with PPE
and resources, including ICU beds and ventilators, now with the looming health crisis? It
has many questions to answer.
Under what law can the government shut down Parliament for six months and hand over
decision-making to a group of business magnates? The government has no concern for
the people, and every concern for the financial and corporate world.
The CPA reiterates our more comprehensive list of demands in our statement of the
16th of March, 2020, and calls for a stop to all profiteering from the people’s suffering
during the emergency. The bankrolling of the private sector -the multinationals must
stop. Instead, guarantee the essential areas of the economy by nationalising the health
system, the banks, Qantas, the supermarkets and other essential services like Aged
Care and Child Care.
Military Spending.
COVID-19 represents the biggest threat to Australian security in living memory. To
properly defend ourselves, we need the full resources of the military defence budget to
be used to defend the people against the virus.
We must turn the submarines into ventilators, into hospital beds and into personal
protective equipment for our frontline workers.
We must turn the strike fighter jets into building surge capacity in our hospitals for the
looming crisis in the health system.
Now is the time to use our taxes more wisely. It is not the time to spend them on military
“toys for the boys”. Taxpayer’s money is needed to feed and house the people, and to
ensure that they get the healthcare they need, when they need it.
Our government has failed us. They did it during the firestorms that raged across
Australia. They are doing it now with COVID-19, but this time we will not accept a
Government that leaves us alone “with buckets and hoses”.
We need a people’s government.
Communist Party of Australia, CPA
Central Committee,
April 2020.
