This week, Queensland’s premier Annastasia Palaszczuk announced her resignation, marking the end of the reign of Australia’s pandemic premiers.
In the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders of the states and territories became household names.
Listen to the episode with political journalist Andrew Probyn here:
The nation tuned in daily for their press conferences, their policies (and personalities) were the topic of dinner table conversations and they often found themselves splashed all over the internet in the form of TikTok dances or memes.
In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with veteran political journalist Andrew Probyn about the big moments for the pandemic premiers.
“We have simply not seen anything like that, we had prime time TV devoted to what would in any other circumstance be pretty damn boring press conferences, but these were press conferences that affected everyone,” he said.
“It affected every element of our life and suddenly we were all listening to the premiers and the prime minister, and even the chief ministers as to what the new news would bring in terms of change to all of us.”
So then, what Mr Probyn thought overall about Australians’ repones to the way the pandemic was handled?
“I think Australia, in the broad did a pretty good job,” he said.
“I mean, Australians did a pretty good job. And what we discovered is that this nation that has a strong convict history is actually pretty good at following rules.
“Who would have thought?”
To hear all of Mr Probyn’s thoughts on the legacy of the pandemic premiers, listen to the episode of The Briefing.