Gladys Berejiklian resisted calls to lock down the whole of Sydney and New South Wales on Friday and instead shut down four local government areas, preserving freedom for at least seven million Australians.
Throughout the pandemic the NSW premier has tried to keep businesses open and the economy functioning while her counterparts in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia have repeatedly shut down their entire states over just a handful of localised cases.
And after 22 new cases of the India Delta variant were recorded on Friday, the head of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, again demanded the whole of Sydney be locked down – even though there was only one person in ICU.
His call was duly picked up and given prominence by several of Australia’s biggest news websites, many of which have consistently run a pro-lockdown agenda throughout the entire pandemic.
But Ms Berejiklian showed a determination to stare down the hysterical pro-lockdown advocates, earning her comparisons to former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who was known as the Iron Lady for her uncompromising leadership in the face of pressure.
The lockdown applies to residents who live or have worked part-time or full-time in the hotspot suburbs (pictured) in the past two weeks
Aaron Henderson-Smith, Emergency Nurse, conducts a COVID-19 swab test at the Rushcutters Bay mobile covid testing clinic on June 25
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The premier steadfastly stuck to her proportionate approach, imposing stay-at-home orders only on the worst-affected areas: Woollahra, Waverley, Randwick and the City of Sydney.
The lockdown still takes in almost a million people – including about 500,000 who work in the CBD – but millions more have been spared, for now.
The premier’s approach is in stark contrast to the Victorian government.
In a move that cost Victoria $125million a day, Acting Premier James Merlino locked down the whole state on May 27 over just 26 cases, all of which were in Melbourne.