An open letter to Australian Heads of Government

My dear Premier,

I have attached an open letter to you, the prime minister, your fellow premiers and the chief ministers urging you to open the economy as soon as possible. The letter is signed by 30 economists, lawyers, public intellectuals and business people. It includes Hon Campbell Newman, former premier of Queensland, Professor Paul Frijters from the London School of Economics, and an advisor to the UK government, and Professor Gigi Foster, named as Australia’s best young economist.

The signatories believe that the loss of life through the indirect effects of the lockdown far outweigh the savings in premature deaths achieved by it. While I believe most of us would have accepted the initial lockdown when little was known about the COVID-19 virus, as more information became available the bias in policy should have moved much more strongly towards reopening the economy.

COVID-19 is likely to be a trial run for further similar pandemics, and will probably return again itself. We therefore make some policy suggestions as to how our governance systems could be improved to make for a more dynamic policy process which accurately weights the total risk to life, taking account of health and other considerations.

We hope this letter is useful to you and contributes to a vigorous debate which leads to improved health outcomes for the whole community.

Yours faithfully,
GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR PROGRESS