We then had the Prime Minister and Minister Peter Dutton, both former Immigration Ministers, calling for compassion and humanity after a daughter was denied entry to Queensland to attend her father's funeral due to, ironically, tough border controls as a result of COVID-19.
Their plea for common sense was warranted, but not without a level of hypocrisy.
There has been no better example of a debate that requires compassion than that of asylum seekers and refugees across the world.
Read MoreTwenty-twenty is akin to wartime where we ask leaders to bring us together, to help them fight the good fight. From bushfires at the start of the year to a health pandemic and subsequent global recession, it is difficult to recall a time where references to British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, have been more prevalent. But it makes sense.
In a crisis we need a familiar face to reassure us that everything will be ok. To look us in the eye and, with compassion, tell us what we don’t want to hear.
Read MoreThe US instructed either "put distance between yourself and other people", or six feet (182.88cm), the World Health Organization and Singapore chose one-metre and, underpinned by 1930's research, New Zealand went for two metres along with the UK who after finally falling for the metric system soon realised that it was easily explained with, "Och, just stay six feet apart - the height of your bairn, or wee'un, or littlin, or lad or lass..." affectionately used well after such descriptors should have lost relevance.
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