Minister forgot to tell Defence about Op COVID-19 Assist
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Defence’s daily update on COVID-19, which was updated at 9am this morning, makes no mention of the new Operation COVID-19 Assist announced by the minister in a press release at 6.10am.
CAPTION: Australian Army soldier Private Claude Allan from 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, guides returning passengers to their hotel rooms in Sydney, as part of the government’s COVID-19 response. Photo by Corporal Chris Beerens.
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The minister’s press release also says there are already around 570 ADF members providing support, while Defence’s update to the Australian public issued three hours later says 400.
Defence’s daily update also still contains the errors we pointed out yesterday, indicating a chronic lack of attention to detail or fact-checking.
The point here is – what’s the point of having a daily update on their web site if it’s so woefully out of touch with reality that the information simply cannot be trusted.
While it may be 1 April, this is no joke.
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You have to conclude that the minister is doing her thing, and defense hq is doing its thing and the troops on the ground are just following orders.
I have no argument Brendan. I don’t even believe my own (click-bait-to-attract-readers) headline. Of course the minister ‘told’ or ‘asked’ the ADF about this – probably days in advance. It might even be the ADF’s idea, agreed to by the minister.
The real point is, the minister told the general public at 6am on 1 April, but the ADF didn’t tell the public in their ‘Daily Update’. Even as I write this at 9.30am on 2 April, still nothing from ADF.
My overall point is that the ADF is giving out very little information at all, and the information they do manage to push our way inaccurate, incomplete, not up-to-date and therefore untrustworthy.
And that is not a good PR policy in a crisis situation (and damaging to their long-term credibility).
…and polar opposite to their massive PR effort during Operation Bushfire Assist, just two months ago.