Diversified but should not be divided

Australia is now practically divided into two parts in terms of its strategies towards Covid-19. ACT, NSW and Victoria will be moving towards 80% double vaccinated in a few weeks. According to the national plan, these states will not be in lockdown and the international border will be opened for fully vaccinated visitors. “Living with the virus” will be the new Covid-normal norm for this part of Australia.

On the other hand, in 6 weeks time, all other states will still have less than 70% of people being fully vaccinated and it will be another few months that these states will achieve the 80% fully vaccinated benchmark. This in fact means that this part of Australia will be closed to other Australians and also remains isolated from the international world.

The federal government has no choice but to accept this as a reality as Prime Minister Morrison had indicated at an earlier time that we would ultimately be in the same stage even though not necessarily at the same time.

The path of facing the Covid-19 challenge is different for every country in the world and also different for every state in Australia. It is until now that we realize that states constituting Australia, though share a lot in common are so different among themselves. The society in Australia is also a very diversified one.

We have people coming from different countries settling in Australia especially after the 80s. CALD communities have become a significant part of Australia that cannot be neglected. In fighting the war with Covid-19, information has not been properly and fairly distributed into all CALD communities. As a result, some CALD communities have suffered more than others. It is time that Australia needs to address this important discrepancy.

Australia can no longer assume that we are a monoculture society. We are diversified and hence CALD communities needs should be addressed fairly. However, we are not divided. Instead, it is through supporting our common values and love for this country that we brought prosperity and richness to this country resulting in this treasured diversity.

Regards,

Raymond Chow

Publisher, BlessingCALD