Politics With Michelle Grattan

With COVID cases surging in a new wave and half the winter still ahead, the news from Health Minister Mark Butler isn’t good. “We haven’t reached the peak of the wave yet,” he tells the podcast. “Case numbers are going to continue to climb over the coming weeks […] and as a result, hospitalisations are going to continue to climb as well.” The response, he says, is “a question of balance”. People accept “that wearing a mask does reduce transmission”, but “we’re not going to move into lockdowns. We’re not going to see very broad-based mandates or government orders.”   Health authorities, as much as political leaders, recognise that “to get a balanced community response, you need to have a mix of targeted mandates”. “We’ve had them all through the course of this year. So, for example, visitors to aged care facilities, to health facilities, public transport, aeroplanes – either where there is very high risk of transmission or where there is a population at high risk of severe illness.” “You will continue to