Covid Response To Take 20 Years To Pay Off

An independent review into Australia’s Covid response and its repercussions has found government “overreach”, that schools should have remained open, and lockdowns and border closures could have been prevented, as reported by The Australian.

• The review also looked at the fiscal impact and found that Australia’s federal government net debt rose to 28% of GDP this year from 19% in 2019 and that it will take more than 20 years for it to return to pre-pandemic levels assuming growth at its long-term rate. Total national debt, including state and federal, rose to four times its 2019 level.
• The report recommends that “fiscal policy buffers” need to be reinstated so that Australia has the fiscal resources to deal with the next crisis.