Losing our moral compass: Australia's inhumanity in dealing with Covid-19

It is sickening.

It is appalling.

It is inhumane.

Just when you think our federal government can't sink any lower morally in dealing with Covid-19, it does.

Our 9,000 fellow Australian citizens stranded in India are now threatened with a five-year jail sentence, a $66,000 fine, or both, if they return home during the temporary ban.

It reminds me of that scene in the film, 'Titanic', when the ship has sunk and officers in half empty lifeboats refuse to save survivors in the water for fear of tipping the boat.

Our political leaders argue that they are following advice from our chief health officers, as if it exonerates them from this inhumanity.

However, what it does is position our health leaders as also culpable. Possibly more so.

It seems a number of them have forgotten at times those crucial words in the Hippocratic Oath, 'I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings...'.

Australians need to ask themselves when and how, as a nation, we lost our moral compass in dealing with this pandemic. Most importantly, we need to understand why we urgently need to find it.

In early 2020 I personally became deeply concerned when hospital patients here with Covid-19 were dying alone, that is, without loved ones beside them.

Research at the time found that the new fear during Covid was not dying. It was dying alone.

We haven't experienced the overwhelming demand on our health services that Europe, the US, and now India have had to deal with during the pandemic. A key factor being we are large continent with a low population and density. It didn't make sense to me that our plentiful PPE (personal protective equipment) wasn't being utilised in an isolated room near an exit to prevent this tragedy occurring.

I therefore spoke to infectious disease experts who agreed that this scenario could be achieved in Australia. It was as if our leaders had blinkers on to what matters most in life, which is quality, with our close relationships front and centre.

It appears our federal and state government leaders have often stooped to gain political brownie points with their 'Keeping Australians safe' rhetoric. Or 'Keeping Queenslanders safe', or 'West Australians safe', and so on. Much of it has been divisive rhetoric, seemingly devoid of empathy and compassion, which has pitted many of our citizens against each other.

There have been numerous cases in our country since Covid-19 arrived on our shores where individuals have unnecessarily suffered immense trauma around restrictions.

The woman in her forties with end stage breast cancer who was not allowed to quarantine in her house by the sea.

A couple were prevented from taking their dying young son back to Queensland from Melbourne for them to be surrounded by family in his last days.

The young woman not allowed to see her father when he was close to death, or to attend his funeral.

On a broader scale, we have close to 40,000 Australians overseas wanting to come home, many feeling abandoned. Thousands in aged care facilities here were deeply distressed from not being allowed visitors for months on end. We've had mental health issues skyrocket in our communities.

Much of this trauma could have been prevented if individual solutions around restrictions were found through a humane lens. Leadership decisions lacking morality can cause severe harm to all ages in relation to emotional, mental and physical health, particularly for the younger, impressionable members of a society.

Our political and health leaders have a responsibility to uphold strong morals and ethics through the action they take, or don't take.

How a country governs itself also sends a clear global message which can have a widespread positive or negative impact. It is not surprising that many in our international community have lost respect for the 'lucky country down under'.

Australia has become a sick society in many ways by preventing contagion without a moral compass.

It is long past time to navigate our way to being a healthy, humane nation.