EXPOSED: The three 'hopeless mistakes' NSW made in its response to the state's Delta outbreak which now threatens the entire country - and why we need to forget 'Covid zero' and just get jabbed
- NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham has slammed the state's Covid response
- He said the limo driver who started the outbreak should have been vaccinated
- Mr Latham also said 'ring of steel' and stronger policing should have featured
- He said Covid zero is a 'pipe dream' and the goal now should be 'herd immunity'
The NSW government made three crucial mistakes leading to the state's disastrous coronavirus outbreak, according to Mark Latham.
The state One Nation leader said the government should have made sure quarantine workers were vaccinated, put a 'ring of steel' around Sydney and more strongly policed lockdown in western Sydney to stop the virus spreading.
In an interview with Daily Mail Australia after the state recorded another 344 cases on Thursday, Mr Latham said Gladys Berejiklian's government got its Covid response 'hopelessly wrong'.
West and south west Sydney (pictured is Bankstown on Thursday) has a large proportion of families who speak foreign languages at home and thousands of insecure workers who need to move around for their jobs
Mark Latham said policing in south west Sydney needs to be stronger to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Pictured: A policeman and solider in Bankstown
The outbreak began on June 16 when an unvaccinated airport limo driver tested positive after probably catching the virus from US freight aircrew before spreading it around Bondi.
Mr Latham said the outbreak could have been stopped at its source if officials had made the sure the driver, who turned down a jab, was vaccinated.
The government later tightened health orders to require designated airport workers, quarantine facility workers and transport providers to be jabbed.
'We're all talking about mandatory vaccinations now but why weren't these people mandated,' Mr Latham said.
The initial outbreak in Bondi was largely snuffed out but the virus transported into west and south-west Sydney where it spread rapidly.
The area has a large proportion of families who speak foreign languages at home and thousands of insecure workers who need to move around for their jobs.
Most of Sydney's cases are being recorded in south-west Sydney. Pictured: Bankstown
The outbreak began on June 16 when an unvaccinated airport limo driver (pictured) tested positive after probably catching the virus from US freight aircrew before spreading it around Bondi
Ms Berejiklian repeatedly said 'compliance' with the lockdown rules was a major problem and Mr Latham said police should have enforced the restrictions better.
'We needed hard, intensive policing in places like Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland,' he said.
Mr Latham claimed the government - which denied an offer of help from the Army on 7 July - was reluctant to put more boots on the ground in case it was accused of unfairly targeting culturally diverse areas.
'All of that was a missed opportunity because of wokeness,' Mr Latham said.
Asked why western Sydney would need stronger enforcement than the wealthier east and north, he said: 'Middle class people working from home are more likely to comply.'
On Thursday Ms Berejiklian revealed that Police Commissioner Fuller will ask for extra powers to enforce the lockdown rules in a meeting with the government on Friday afternoon.
Victoria Police and ADF personnel are seen at work at a roadside checkpoint near Donnybrook in 2020 in what was know as Melbourne's ring of steel
'If the Commissioner comes back tomorrow and in the following days and says he needs X, Y and Z, of course we will consider those,' she said.
Mr Latham said this late move 'seems to be an admission they got it hopelessly wrong'.
'The horse has bolted. Many people will be asking where the f*** has the Police Commissioner been for past seven days if he's not already at the top of decision-making,' Mr Latham said.
The One Nation leader also slammed the government for not implementing a 'ring of steel' around Sydney to seal residents in the city with road checkpoints to prevent the virus spreading to the regions.
Parts of the Hunter, central west and Northern Rivers regions are in lockdown after infected people left Sydney and visited.
One Nation leader Mark Latham (pictured) slammed the government for not implementing a 'ring of steel' around Sydney
'A ring of steel around Sydney would have stopped people who took it into the Hunter and beyond, Mr Latham said.
'People in the Hunter were screaming for it, they could see people from Sydney who had been allowed out.'
Ms Berejiklian has said a 'ring of steel' is too difficult and resource-intensive.
'Unless you have literally a police officer outside every single household… a ring of steel does not prevent Delta from seeping out,' she said earlier this week.
Mr Latham said if new restrictions are imposed then they must be proven to work to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
'I just hope they don't impose any stupid rules like limiting exercise,' he said.
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'There's not been a single transmission outdoors, the issue is not exercising in the park or at the beach, the problem is indoors, visiting family, and cash economy type activities.
'That's where the emphasis needs to be.'
He also said the aim to reduce Covid-19 cases to zero is a 'pipe dream' and 'not a practical objective.'
'The objective now is herd immunity, through vaccination or natural immunity.
'Anyone talking about Covid zero now is on another planet,' he said.
St Paul's Church in Burwood, Sydney runs a parish pantry staffed by volunteers who prepare and give food to those in need of assistance during the lockdown
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