Looking Forward Episode 86: Australia's Coronavirus Endgame

Scott Morrison’s mid-year plan for a COVIDSafe economy is back on track having been derailed by Victorian bungling, but with vaccines uncertain and international borders closed, what is the outlook for Australia’s coronavirus Endgame? Can services like education and tourism ever rejoin king coal and iron ore as the foundations of our prosperity, at least any time soon? Why would any business invest when Governments can shut you down at any time?

Scott and Chris are joined by Andrew Bushnell to answer those questions and also focus on our first COVID State election in Queensland, which also looks like a post-economics election, with ballooning debt and public service payrolls barely even mentioned (except by the IPA!). It’s the clerisy’s business model at work…

And the other election coming up is in the USA – and it seems Trump’s comeback has made it once again too close to call (except by the panellists). The call is made on Florida and the Latino vote. Both candidates played to their strengths and strategy but only one can be vindicated.

Culture picks (53:28-1:05:43) look at streaming services La Révolution and the disappointing Brave New World, while the coverage of the AFL Grand Final gives Bushnell a chance to wax lyrical about Richmond FC.

Show Notes:

‘Enough is enough’: Gladys Berejiklian calls for states to open borders, pull their weight on hotel quarantine; Jodie Stephens

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/enough-is-enough-gladys-berejiklian-calls-for-states-to-open-borders-pull-their-weight-on-hotel-quarantine

Budget 2020: When will Australia re-open its borders?; Mosiqi Acharya

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/budget-2020-when-will-australia-re-open-its-borders

Still the Sunshine State? (IPA Review)

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-review-articles/still-the-sunshine-state

New IPA Research Proposes Models For A Queensland Upper House

https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/new-research-proposes-models-for-a-queensland-upper-house

Culture Picks:

Brave New World (TV Series 2020)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9814116/