Sky News Australia

We should not underestimate the number of people who have a vested interest in “keeping the madness” of COVID-19 going for “as long as possible,” says UNSW Economics Professor Gigi Foster.

“There are so many entrenched interests now,” she told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

Ms Foster said there are people, groups, organisations, businesses, and governments who have their “snouts in the trough” of COVID-19.

“That’s what we’re seeing,” she said.

“Someone like me, maybe someone like you, certainly many people who don’t have much skin in the game haven’t been making money hand over fist or haven’t been going up in power because of COVID, they might want to have things open as soon as possible for the benefit of themselves, their families, and even all of Australia.

“But many business leaders, many people who are in particular positions of power where they’ve seen their power and their money just multiply during this period, do they want this rollercoaster ride to end? Of course not.

“That’s one of our big problems right now.”