COVID-19 is a global security crisis that requires a rethink of debates about ways to keep Australians safe and prosperous, the author of a new report says.
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Former federal public servant Allan Behm said in a new report from think tank The Australia Institute that national security now involved governments defending the health of citizens from pandemics.
Mr Behm, head of the institute's international and security affairs program, said pandemics and other disasters including those linked to climate change were an existential threat to individuals and communities.
"While health and climate disasters have not yet led to the destruction of nations, the spread and lethality of the coronavirus has driven the global economy into recession, causing significant unemployment and economic insecurity," he said.
Citizens affected by lockdowns were wondering why their governments were slow to recognise the risk and to take preventive measures, he said.
When governments around the world used "stop-gap measures" lacking consistency and coherence, citizens felt insecure and fearful as a result, Mr Behm said.
"It is little wonder that their trust in government erodes substantially."
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The coronavirus as a global phenomenon demanded international cooperation if it was to be contained, treated and eradicated, Mr Behm said.
The unprecedented and devastating bushfires of 2019-20 across Australia were also not a singular event, he said.
"They are part of an enduring pattern of climate change-induced events that will continue to impact on Australia for decades, if not centuries, to come," Mr Behm said.
"That is why climate change and all its associated effects - drought, rising sea levels, soil salinity, oceanic acidification, rising sea and land temperatures - constitutes a threat to the nation's long-term security."
Security was not just freedom from threat of foreign invasion but required governments to uphold opportunity, resilience and well-being for citizens, he said.
"As communities everywhere are beginning to discover, 'security' has as much to do with clean air, clean water, reliable food supplies, opportunities for children, freedom from ethnic or racial violence, the ability to live a fulfilling life, personal and economic security in the face of the consequences of climate change, such as bushfires. In other words, security is about individual and community well-being," Mr Behm said.
However, government spending and legislative responses still focused on military hardware and security agencies, he said.
"The security of the state, as distinct from the security of individual citizens, tends to dominate the security policy domain."
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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