ADULTS BEHAVING BADLY

There are two events that will determine our survival and what we are made of. One is financial survival and the second is how we behave during these challenging times. The emptying of shelves in our supermarkets coupled with aggressive behavior by some including stampeding over a 13 year old in Perth belies belief. There is no shortage of food including loo paper as Australia produces enough food for 75 million people and Australia's population is 25 million. The problem is that the supermarkets cannot keep up with demand so much so they have to put on additional staff due solely to excessive hoarding.

Even is your favourite brand is unavailable, will the sky fall in if you need to choose another brand? Producers and manufacturers cannot simply ramp up production in seconds. If the behavior i have seen in recent weeks is the Australian way then i have little confidence in our ability as a national to move forward. It does not say much about us. I thought we were better than this. It is time to care for our neighbours, the elderly and those less fortunate than ourselves. It is time to stop judging and show ourselves as a nation that is mature, well behaved and shows some empathy. It is time to stop listening to fake news including the nonsense regarding conspiracies There has been pandemics before such as the Spanish Flu in 1919 killing tens of millions of people. It is time to show a good example to our children, leadership and strength. Don't you think the dreadful behaviour by adults in supermarkets scares our children and what message do we send. I hear people say how badly behaved our children are today and they need the stick. Well how can we expect better behavior from our children when adults are behaving badly. The reality is that people will die, people will lose their jobs, and many businesses regardless of size will go to the wall. It is as the PM rightfully says, worse that the GFC as no one knows how this pandemic will end and with what consequences other than it will be very bad for most. So with that in mind, how about showing a little kindness and moral fibre and unite to fight the invisible enemy. Listen to the updates from State and Commonwealth governments. ANNE NALDER Founder/CEO Small Business Association of Australia.