Thread by @iMusing

Berejiklian opens with the weekly vax total. Meaning new case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths must be very bad again today.

Berejiklian says covid patients in NSW “will get the best health care on the planet”, a lie.

now she is announcing a conversation with the prime minister about getting more vaccines for NSW. We already knew that Sydney Liberals are strategising dose distribution based on their campaign priorities, but tbh I did not expect her to confirm these political facts.

vaccination status of people who have died, from DCHO Dr Gale. Nothing diverts these people from their #CovidComms. Nothing.

the deaths of people from covid are overwhelmingly concentrated in south western Sydney.

even Gale says the quiet part out loud today: the disease burden is overwhelmingly concentrated in western and south western Sydney. We know, Dr. The question is what will the government do differently to flatten the curve. The answer is nothing.

in fact the answer is less than nothing. Berejiklian does not care about people in western and south western Sydney. If she did we would see isolation accommodation and industry plans and income support established as a matter of urgency. She refuses to even NAME such measures.

the Premier is far more interested in signalling to wealthy parents who are paying tens of thousands of dollars in school fees while their children are at home than doing anything for precarious families in west and south west Sydney.

chief psyche is here again today. This political comms strategy of rotating cameo appearances does not engender trust imo.

asked about modelling, Berejiklian says “that’s dependent on the fact that everybody does the right thing”. Which is straight up non sequitur gobbledegook, in case you did not notice.

she also constantly gabbles about ICU beds and ventilators while lying by omission about doctors, nurses, orderlies and cleaners to staff those wards. She adds that people who stay home are safe. A thing millions of people can not afford to do.

“it doesn’t matter where you live, it doesn’t matter what your post code is”, says Berejiklian, a lie.

the only way to make sense of what Berejiklian says is to understand that when she says “our citizens” and “our people” - as she just did - she means her political base.

the hospitals in west and south west Sydney “are carrying the burden because that’s where the cases are at the moment”, she says, like the geography of disease burden across Sydney is some kind of random happenstance instead of a direct function of her political decisions.

case numbers not experienced before in Australia, says Berejiklian, a lie. WA and Tas and Qld have experienced zero case numbers before, for example.

some people who get sick are not getting tested, says Berejiklian. I wonder how that variable compares with, say, not making test and isolate payments readily available and widely publicised.

she is going to “give everybody the degree of comfort I have” says Berejiklian, a lie. She is at zero risk of catching covid and her job could not be less essential.

I mean obviously competent political leadership would be nice, if we had some. But Liberal Party politicians are not essential workers.

when you reach 70% double dose “you automatically do things differently”, says Berejiklian, a lie. The policy response to adult dose rate is not automated. She is in charge of it.

Q: what have you done to make sure vax programs at Aboriginal Health Services are culturally appropriate?

What have Coalition politicians done on culturally safe health service provision? Really? It is the AMS staff who do that.

“we are going to use locals”, says Barilaro. Genius.

Q: what is the contingency plan for shutting down schools every five minutes?
Berejiklian: vaccination.

from time to time there will be outbreaks in particular areas, says Berejiklian. Dead set. What “particular areas” would those be.

“our plans are all based on inclusiveness”, says Berejiklian, a lie. Or else their plans have failed. Given the known differential disease burden by post code.

“until the virus leaves the planet, particularly the delta strain”. Wtf is she talking about. Losing it.

the delta strain has thrown the whole rule book out the door. Other states will realise this, says Berejiklian with an incredibly grating nervous chuckle. She promises to make sure all states are infected with delta for the umpteenth time.

clearly Liberal Party focus groups are finding that voters think she sounds flippant. She keeps saying she does not “mean to sound flippant but”, which will reinforce the Berejiklian-flippant nexus. You would think a Liberal “death tax” Party politician would know that.

asked about prisons, the Premier flicks to DCHO Gale, who makes some reassuring noises about how we are taking care of outbreaks in our prisons, dear.

should pregnant women be a priority group?
There are multiple opportunities for pregnant women to get vaccinated, says Gale. Talk to your GP about getting access to Pfizer.
So exactly the same position as everyone else their age then.

she thinks “most of the state leaders and chief ministers are coming round to what we’ve experienced in NSW”, says Berejiklian, and she “is very optimistic about that”😳

Istfg. Can she hear herself.

“delta is here to stay and we have to live with that. Very last question” - Berejiklian.

final Q is on quarantine and she invokes the awkward “bringing aussies home” phrasing that even a bondi bogan like Morrison carries off better than Berejiklian can.

over two months into the late lockdown that is only working for the wealthy, and yet another hour of NSW Liberal Party #CovidCampaigning wraps up👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼

expanded, this was meant to say. Expanded AND PUBLICISED. Like the free ambulance for covid patients, she never, ever mentions these life saving measures for low income people.

https://twitter.com/iMusing/status/1433598343960096793