O Mark Carroll President Police Association of South Australia
Opinion
Respect, support and co-operation – a twoway street A
ustralians have responded to authority and leadership and flattened the curve in this COVID-19 pandemic. We have accepted the imposition of what some might have considered a police state. Australians would ordinarily have rejected isolation and social distancing, the closure of pubs, and the cancellation of sports fixtures. But we didn’t. I suspect this is because, in part, we have granted our leaders the authority to lead us through this crisis. We recognized the need to let the tall poppies stand, and most of us accepted the need for mutual respect, support, and co-operation. This COVID-19 pandemic represents the most significant disruption to our lives since, perhaps, World War II. Some early success, however, has given us a sense of victory in the battle and the expectation that our freedoms will soon be restored. But epidemiologists and other medical experts are at pains to stress that this pandemic is not over. If the COVID-19 caseload rises again, restrictions could be quickly reimposed. That will again test Australian leadership and our willingness, as a nation, to submit to authority.
Like our national leaders, our police and other emergencyservices personnel ask for community understanding and acceptance, particularly if the government extends the current restrictions.
Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous, have a well-deserved reputation for thumbing their noses at authority. That distaste, and our refusal to kowtow to our leaders, goes all the way back to colonial Australia and its convict origins. In World War 1, the Australians who enlisted in the AIF took our national disregard for authority onto the international stage. They won high praise as fighters, horsemen and, above all, loyal mates but had a dislike of uniforms, drills, marching and parades. Australian soldiers understood that somebody had to give the orders, but they were not about to take them from anybody they did not respect. This is in our national DNA. Leadership extends beyond our elected representatives. It comes in many forms. The chief medical officers, the front-line health workers and our police are just some of the other leaders we look to in troubled times. They are the obvious ones but there are leaders everywhere, right through to the supermarket team leaders who enforce social distancing and stand between the checkout operators and irate shoppers.
Police officers, as they enforce the rules and regulations drafted by elected leaders, continue to go tirelessly about their role, protecting the community. Like front-line health workers, police officers don’t have the luxury of social distancing. And cops often lack PPE and cannot stick to rigorous hygiene protocols. They frequently have to engage physically with, or be in close proximity to, members of the public who might well be COVID-19 carriers. This naturally leads to the anxiety associated with not knowing what they are taking home to their families at the end of each shift. Like our national leaders, our police and other emergency-services personnel ask for community understanding and acceptance, particularly if the government extends the current restrictions. The COVID-19 pandemic is not likely over yet. To emerge at the other end of it, with our social fabric in good order, we will need to respect, support, and co-operate with one another. It’s a two-way street.
June 2020
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