Your money or your life? Public support for health initiatives during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

While many Australians agree with the need for COVID‐19 restrictions and lockdowns, a vocal minority of citizens loudly voice opposition to government restrictions, characterised as impositions on ‘free speech’ and impacting the Australian economy. National data from the 2020/21 Australian Survey of Social and Attitudes and Tasmanian survey data enable an examination of those who support or oppose health initiatives aimed at minimising the impact of the pandemic. The majority of Australians believed government imposed restrictions were ‘about right’, although women were more likely than men to be concerned about the health implications of COVID‐19. Tasmanian data show that controlling for social background, those who prioritise the economy are less likely than those concerned about the health implications of COVID‐19 to wear masks in public, less likely to be tested in case they have to self‐isolate, less likely to check in, and less likely to be vaccinated. Alternatively, higher trust in university research, and trust in scientists as a source of information about COVID‐19 was positively associated with attitudes and behaviour designed to reduce the transmission of COVID‐19.

Disruption, Slowness, and Collective Effervescence: Children’s Perspectives on COVID-19 Lockdowns

“…It just felt like this is someone's business, this is someone's life, and a global pandemic has just -they're all open now, and they're all thriving, but it kind of just made me realise that local businesses are definitely going to struggle, and I feel like cafes, and like flower shops and news agencies and stuff like that, it's kind of really made me appreciate this is someone's livelihood, you know. (Violet, female, 15 years) Whilst Australia enforced some of the harshest lockdowns in the world, public support for these measures was quite high (Faasse & Newby, 2020;Tranter, 2022). Similarly, our participants agreed with the measures taken by state and federal governments.…”

“…Whilst Australia enforced some of the harshest lockdowns in the world, public support for these measures was quite high (Faasse & Newby, 2020 ; Tranter, 2022 ). Similarly, our participants agreed with the measures taken by state and federal governments.…”

Australian Politics and Policy

“…37 COVID-19 National Incident Room Surveillance Team 2021. 38 Goldfinch, Taplin and Gauld 2021Tranter 2022.…”

Public Health Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia: The Role of the Morrison Government

“…Importantly, framing of policy choices is likely to affect public perceptions [ 80 ], and so the continued public attacks by Commonwealth ministers, including by the Prime Minister, probably contributed to undermining the perceived legitimacy of state-imposed public health measures. Even though state public health measures were supported by the public [ 81 ], especially in Western Australia where the state government was overwhelmingly returned in the 2021 state election [ 82 ], Commonwealth government criticism weakened the social mandate for state public health measures. As a consequence, restrictions were lifted earlier than the public health evidence suggested they should have been, resulting in increasing infections and deaths, especially after the release of the National Plan in August 2021.…”