It truly has been an extraordinary time since we last came together in Geelong, back in 2019. The title of my speech that time was ‘Lumps, Bumps and Waves’. Well, since then, we really have taken our lumps, seen an enormous bump, and come to dread additional waves (of the pandemic)! The human, social and economic costs of this pandemic have been huge.
The outcomes have diverged wildly from expectations. There really was no rulebook for understanding how the pandemic would play out. The possibility of a pandemic was certainly contemplated by governments, and the relevant policymakers did formulate scenarios and plans in case one emerged. But things didn't turn out like those scenarios and plans.