That the Australian government now recognises that the pandemic is not over is a positive development, and a major shift from the attitude of the previous Morrison government. A National Cabinet meeting has just decided to reinstall and extend the $750 support payment that ended on 30 June till 30 September.

This is better than nothing. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to meet the need. Only those forced to lose at least 20 hours week will get it. Many will miss out. There is a failure to recognise that many have been already forced into part-time work because of the lack of full-time jobs.

Getting in the way, is the pressure coming from the corporate sector and blinkered economists pushing in the opposite direction. They insist that more money in the pockets of ordinary Australians is bad for the economy.

Paul Guerra, the of the head of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has just announced that it is important to end support as soon as possible to prevent the rise of debt and damage to the economy. He speaks on behalf of the Chamber’s members. This position is not an isolated one in the corporate world. It is echoed around the country and from related political circles and think tanks.

They are wrong on two counts.

Continuing stagnation of wages and an even more dramatic fall in the value of social security payments is evidence that contradicts too much money on the pockets of ordinary Australians is putting costs on business. Rather than this, it is the increase in the volume of profits as a handful of the biggest corporations increase their monopoly control over the economy and allows them to charge higher prices that is leading to distortions and economic instability, and a continuing rise in debt.

A relative impoverishment of a large part of the population has created and pushed along an environment doing away with secure full-time jobs and their replacement by insecure, casual, and part-time work. This adds its own damage to the economy.

The graph below reveals the disparity between profits and wages rising since 2001 till 2021. It continues today.

As telling as the above is, it does not show the full story. Not all business share equally. Australia’s economy is among the most monopolised in the world. Monopolies can undercut and use other non-competitive ways to take a larger share, and the only way to counter this is through anti-monopoly legislation, something that Australian governments are loath to do. Yet, this is important to reversing the damage to the economy and society.

Secondly, government outlays to support those in need is said to create public debt. It only does so thanks to the shortage of revenue from the falling wages share and the massive scale of corporate tax evasion. A glimpse into the scale of this was revealed in WikiLeaks’s Paradise Papers exposure. Increasing wages and clamping down on tax evasion would soon take care of this.

Failure to take the proper measures in dealing with the pandemic harms the economy through more workdays lost and less capacity to spend, which affects small business most of all.

Funding for the health system to overcome the pressures of the pandemic has been far from adequate. Under resourcing and under staffing have left exhausted wealth workers, which has short-term and longer-term implications. Thousands are leaving because they can no longer cope, and the health system will be left diminished for a long time to come.

This is unless Australia’s governments do something about it.

Both the federal and some state governments have decided to increase funding for hospitals and the recruitment of new staff. It is a small start in the face of what is required. Nevertheless, it does signify something of a shift in government attitudes, and a recognition of the importance of placing this highly on the priorities list.

More could be done to confide in Australia and win trust. Combatting the pandemic should be a community effort. Not just a government one. Tasking this on means creating an army of volunteers to help wherever they can and giving them support. There are all sorts of non-medical roles they can play. A team effort is far more likely to build support for needed measures and far less likely to cause resentment from sections of the community.

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Unions have met and discussed how to react to the ongoing health crisis and deepening economic crisis being felt by working people. Those they represent include health workers and others contributing o the wellbeing of the community. If employers and the government fail the call for an urgent response, industrial action is on the cards.

The unions are not alone. They are part of the growing community dissatisfaction over how the Morrison government is managing the pandemic and the economy. Morrison and his gang have turned their backs on the battlers who are losing incomes and getting sick.

When Omicron arrived, we were told that it is mild and will not have a serious impact. It proved to bring more hardship, illness, and death. And the support systems to help people in these tough times are inadequate at best. Even health care workers are often being left high and dry, despite their efforts for us all putting them in harm’s way.

There is a sense across Australia, that the damage is here for the long haul. Omicron has shaken the confidence that Australia is on top of the pandemic. People are too scared to go out and stay home when they can. Consumer spending has fallen sharply, as the economy falters and incomes to fall behind.

Photo from Gavin Coote/ABC news

Now the government has moved to hand the distribution of the rapid testing kits (RATs) over to the private sector and force people to pay exorbitant prices. Profiteers have hoarded an already inadequate supply, forcing the cost of a single kit through the roof. Up to $100 has been paid for one.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and its affiliates point to the failure of the government to prepare the health system and community and have agreed to approach employers for risk assessments and safety plans, with unions and health and safety representatives.

New measures are needed in the workplace. Free RATs must be provided, they argue, and employers must cover the cost while a price remains, and employers must supply ungraded masks and ensure adequate ventilation.

Business groups have rushed to oppose these measures. The Australian Industry Group, for example, has stated its opposition to free RATs. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has joined in, by claiming that strikes are wrong and calling on Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese to stand against the unions.

Preparations are being made for responses on the job win the union demands. Stop works and banning unsafe practices has been mentioned. Unions are calling on the community to join them, and work for a union-community alliance to force a change in government direction.

Doing this will provide a tremendous opportunity to build alliances involving thousands of Australians and extending the response from the workplace out into the community. When this happens and is organised properly, change it makes a huge difference.

This is what put an end to John Howard, his government and unpopular WorkChoices law that attacked jobs and rights at work. A similar alliance had rallied around the Maritime Union of Australia, fighting to remain on Australia’s waterfront in 1998.

In 2022, the situation is even more serious. As important as this is, it is not just about Covid. The Australian economy is in trouble, wages as loosing their share of the nation’s income, and the proportion of the workforce in insecure work continues to grow.

The pandemic has shown the necessity of government intervention to protect citizens’ livelihood and wellbeing, alongside the generation of community participation.

Instead of this, the Morrison government is delivering more pressure on Medicare, inadequate provision for the health system, contributing to the unaffordability of housing, and continuing to attack those on social security. They are walking over basic human rights and moving towards big brother government.

Defence of workers and the community in the pandemic is part of the bigger battle to make Australia a decent place to live in.

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A survey by the Australian Institute found that 72 percent of respondents said that rapid Covid tests should be provided for free to everyone. This includes two thirds of those who vote for the Liberal and National parties.

This answer confirms what we already know. Australia is unhappy about how the Morrison government has dealt with the pandemic.

By acting late at the when the pandemic first broke out, taking away the early financial support for those not able to go to work at the beginning of 2021, messing up the vaccine rollout, and now, the shortage of testing kits and allowing them to be privately sold at up to $100 each, have not gone down well.

More damage has been created by Scott Morrison’s continuously handballing responsibility to the states and failing to put together a proper national plan. How can the spreads of infection be properly contained without this?

At the beginning, Australia was prepared to give Morrison as lot of scope. From then, trust has been whittled away.

Anyone living in Australia must have noticed that the arrival of the Omicron variant has increased the level of uncertainty and fear. Few now believe that the end is around the corner, and wonder how many more variants and at what cost in lives and health?

More than half of the respondents to the institute’s survey agreed that governments have failed to adequately plan to deal with the pandemic over the last two years.

“Rather than lecturing Australians about taking personal responsibility, these polling results are a wake-up call for the prime minister that many people feel let down by government,” said the Australia Institute’s deputy director Ebony Bennett.

She added, “Empty supermarket shelves and businesses empty of staff and customers show the reality is that there can be no healthy economy without healthy people.”

“Rather than lecturing Australians about taking personal responsibility, these polling results are a wake-up call for the prime minister that many people feel let down by government.”

It is clearer than ever; Australia needs a different approach. One that takes on board a multifaceted approach. Vaccines can only be part of the answer. Everyone must be guaranteed enough income to survive, medical and other essential workers must be properly looked after. More must be invested in our health services, so they can deal with the challenge. There must be sufficient testing teams able to be quickly mobilised to new breakouts of infection to stop their spread. More specialised medical facilities must be quickly constructed. Effort must be put into building community trust for working together.

Only an all-round approach will overcome this threat, which now looks like being around for years.

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