Overall, Australian governments managed the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic well. Border closures and state actions, such as lockdowns, averted 18,000 deaths in 2020 and 2021.

This came at a cost in terms of separation of families and friends because of border closures, disruption to schooling and economic activity, and individual stress.

The public supported these measures and thought state governments had managed the pandemic well. Support for the Commonwealth Government was also high until mid-2021 when the bungled vaccine rollout caused support to plummet.

Now, we are in the grip of a fresh COVID-19 wave. Hospital systems and ambulance services are under severe strain — not just because of an increase in patients but because the virus has decimated their own workforces.