The presentation by Honorary Member, Dr. Alan Finkel AO, at the Rotary Melbourne Zoom meeting on Wednesday 3 June was a major highlight of the 2019/20 Rotary Year.
Alan was artfully introduced by Honorary Member and Nobel Peace Laureate Dr Tilman Ruff AO, who noted Alan's incredible breadth of capability drawn from his experience as a high-tech innovator, scientist, engineer and leading academic.
Alan treated members and guests to a detailed presentation on how he has brought science and research-based evidence front and centre in their response of all Australian Governments to three vital policy areas:
Alan reminded us of the fears of policy makers that the Australian health care system could have been overwhelmed with a lack of adequate numbers of emergency beds, medical professionals and ventilators. He acknowledged that Australia had the benefit of learning from early experiences in Europe and North America in designing its own response and this has worked very effectively, to the relief of all.
The number of ventilators in emergency rooms has been increased over 3 months from around 2,000 in February to more than 7,500 units now. This was achieved by releasing reserves, strategic purchasing offshore, and mobilising existing and new medical equipment manufacturers.
He praised the efforts of a major public service task force which drove mobilization of this response. He outlined the valuable insights produced by the Rapid Research Information Forum which brings together the best minds and institutions in answering specific questions to inform policy, ranging from tracking the spread of COVID-19 infections, vaccine developments, therapeutic treatments, through to trust in Governments as the major driver of Australia achieving a 40% adoption of the COVID-Safe app.
Turning to disaster response Alan noted that while the 2019/20 Black summer devastated 17 million hectares, compared to ½ million hectares in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the number of fatalities was just 33 in 2020, compared with 173 on Black Saturday. Clearly, lessons had been learned.
Alan provided a sneak-peek on the report his committee on the Bushfire response will deliver.His inspiring outline of the recently announced Government’s Technology Road Map holds promise that in future Australia can be a “clean energy” exporter.
His summary of his learnings from several months of crisis response noted unity of purpose of governments and business in using what we have learned in the crisis response as the foundation for building a better Australia.
Alan then generously spent a further 20 minutes dealing with our questions. This summary just touches the surface of an extraordinary presentation. If you missed it or want to view it again, click this link to the Rotary Melbourne YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiElUQHXfDmMNb1h7BzAtdebwi32gRWsj
A huge thank you to our Hon Secretary Reg Smith for providing this summary which as Reg highlighted "just touches the surface of an extraordinary presentation."
Thank you Tilman for your note of appreciation which reads:
"Many thanks for the honour of inviting me Kevin, a privilege to introduce Alan, and thanks to you, Jo and Reg for superb organisation and managing the tech so seamlessly.
A real opportunity we have to encourage governments to respect evidence as the essential basis for good policy and follow expert advice on all crucial issues, which Alan is providing real leadership on – thank you Alan!
All the best
Tilman"
