'All in this together' ... Who 'counts' in pandemic preparedness and response in Australia?

Abstract

The Australian Federal Government’s COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and response failed to account for pre-existing disadvantages experienced by many people in Australia and exacerbated these inequalities. Despite assertions from government officials that ‘we are all in this together’, migrants and refugees were in many ways left out and consistently excluded from efforts to protect health and wellbeing during the course of the pandemic. Indeed, many have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 mortality and the raft of policy measures implemented to slow (or not) the spread of the disease. Such impacts on migrants and refugees and the government’s response policies can be situated in a broader policy context underpinned by neoliberal values espousing individual responsibility for one’s welfare, and a history of exclusion. Drawing on Jonathan Wolff and Avner de-Shalit’s (2007) theory of disadvantage, and grounded in the capabilities approach, I argue that the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was unjust and, therefore, a moral failing.

This thesis is built on three key arguments. First, I establish the importance of health for wellbeing to ground the argument that pandemic preparedness and response ought to protect the health of all people and take concerns of health equity seriously. Second, I challenge the assumption of the individual responsibility for health that underpins many aspects of the government’s pandemic response. Finally, drawing on discussions of political and social membership, I argue that this obligation ought to extend not only to Australian citizens and permanent residents but also migrants and refugees within Australia’s borders. Taken together, this thesis establishes a minimal argument that in pandemic preparedness and response, there is a moral obligation of the government to protect the health of migrants and refugees in Australia.