‘Building back better’ became a common refrain as NSW emerged from extended lockdown. To make it meaningful, policy responses need to be based on a proper understanding of what has actually happened during the pandemic. That involves acknowledging a truth that virtually dares not speak its name, that the spread of Covid-19 into regional New South Wales was largely a product of the illicit drug trade. Understanding why and how this occurred points in the direction of much needed social policy.
As mayor of my region during the western NSW outbreak, working closely with the state in ensuring services were delivered, I gained insights into the spread of Covid 19 that are far from apparent in much of the media and public health messaging. The western NSW outbreak has been significantly defined by race, class and illicit drug abuse. It is no coincidence that these three factors that also help define the face of incarceration, ill health and social disadvantage in western NSW. Our outbreak started from a drug dealer doing an illegal trip to southwest Sydney for a stash of drugs to sell. The virus jumped first from this ‘patient zero’ into the vulnerable Indigenous community in west Dubbo and quickly spread in all directions and as far west as Wilcannia and Broken Hill.
Since then, it has infected thousands of people, many living in cramped social housing estates. Many people have been killed, including Indigenous people with underlying health conditions.
Ultimately the Australian Defence Force saved us, getting our vaccination rates in the Orana/Far West from the lowest in the state on 1 August to now well above state average. Modelling shows how drastic our death rates would have been but for lock down and mass vaccination.
An absolute constant has been the role of the out-of-control illicit drug trade in spreading the virus from town to town and crowded house to crowded house. The intransigent non-compliance by segments of the community has been a major source of frustration and ultimately exasperation for the health and policing authorities.
'Treating people with substance addictions as criminals for minor possession matters is fundamentally contrary to health outcomes and common sense.'
I spoke to a fellow western mayor recently who told me his small locked down community was literally being held ransom by an entrenched culture of drug use spreading the virus.
Much the same occurred in Dubbo, while most of the community was locking down, drug seekers