A single ‘voice of truth’ from governments and health authorities is critical during this crisis | Julian Rait

My father recalled the unsettling lack of clear advice when the Spanish flu penetrated Australia. We shouldn't repeat this mistake

My father came late to parenthood. Born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1909, he was almost 50 years old when I was born. Like many, he left Tasmania to pursue a career in Melbourne; in his case it was science then medicine. He survived the Great Depression. He served in three wars, including being in Darwin during the second world war when it was bombed. Subsequently he enlisted in the RAAF and worked in two further wars as a military doctor. When he retired from the RAAF, he worked in the Victorian Department of Public Health and Hygiene as a public health physician.

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