In a cracking story, The @canberratimes has obtained a damning report on Scott Morrison’s bungled CovidSAFE App.
The Doherty model, & the PM’s reopening plan, relies heavily on ‘optimal testing, tracing, isolation & quarantine’.
Given that, this report is a must read 🧵👇
Some highlights of the report’s findings.
The report was finalised in March 2021, so doesn’t include the Delta out breaks.
But it’s clear that the CovidSAFE app was completely useless to contact tracers in the Victorian second wave.
It didn’t find a single close contact.
This was shortly after Scott Morrison described the CovidSAFE app as providing ‘protection’ like ‘putting on sunscreen’.
The report was clear that the technical limitations of the way that the government decided to built the app meant that it was ‘not able to be used effectively’ register contacts in unstructured environments like spectator events.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister was telling Australians this:
The report paints a damning picture of the app’s efficiency, with more than half of the tiny amount of contacts that it did register ‘false close contacts’ that wasted the time of contact tracers.
Meanwhile, even after the government received this report, Stuart Robert was telling Australians this:
Most damningly of all, while the Doherty Report’s modelling relies on ‘optimal testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine’, this report, completed in March of 2021, tells the Morrison government that it’s “crucial” to explore options to improve the CovidSAFE app’s performance.
Instead, as usual, instead of action we get more spin from the Morrison govt.
Even when optimal TTIQ is crucial to the delivery of the Morrison govt’s safe reopening plan, against all evidence to the contrary, they still won’t even concede that the app needs to be fixed.
It’s no wonder that after rushing the release of the CovidSAFE App, the Government delayed undertaking a legally required review into its effectiveness by 15 months then refused to release it to the public canberratimes.com.au/story/7351322/…
After 8 long years of Coalition government has decimated their front bench, this is what we are left with - Stuart Robert as the Minister with responsibility or cyber security.
A thread of the Master of Disaster’s tech policy highlights 🧵👇
What is going on inside the Morrison Government on cyber security policy? The short answer is after eight years it’s a complete mess. The long answer is too long for a tweet, but I spoke on it in Parliament this week 👇🧵 parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpd…
The Morrison Govt has been so engulfed by its own sleaze and scandals it’s been distracted from this important national security issue in the face of the Hafnium and SolarWinds campaigns.
When the Exchange vulnerability became public:
-The Defence Min. was on leave
-The Acting Defence Min., also the Min. for Women, was in hiding from the media.
-The Asst Defence Min. still hadn't received his charter letter 3 months after his appointment. theaustralian.com.au/nation/politic…
An impressive effort from Sussan Ley in her #qt Dorothy Dixer just then, telling the Parliament that the Morrison Govt would ‘soon’ be introducing an Online Safety Bill.
That would be the Bill that was debated and passed through the House of Representatives last Sitting Week.
It shows really commitment to the Morrison Government’s “always be announcing” ethos.
Continuing to do forward sizzle announcements for things that have already occurred really is impressive.
The Online Safety Bill that Sussan Ley promised would soon be introduced is currently in the Senate awaiting further amendments from the govt and a second reading debate there.
Last month, the PM held a dramatic press conference to warn that a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor” was targeting organisations across Australia.
The purpose the press conference was “to raise awareness of this important issue and to encourage organisations... to take expert advice and implement technical defences to thwart this malicious cyber activity.”
The evidence we heard highlights serious and on-going issues with Commonwealth entities’ compliance with mandatory cyber security measures and the lack of accountability and transparency that enables it.
Believe it or not, there have been five ANAO reports on Cyber Resilience in Commonwealth agencies in the last six years and three JCPAA inquiries?
Why?
It’s a problem and there’s not much evidence that it’s getting better.