It makes perfect sense that the New South Wales Health Minister would describe unvaccinated people as “self-entitled and indulgent”. He knows all about self-entitled and indulgent.

Brad Hazzard lives securely on a six-figure salary while every day commanding time on television to berate people who are locked in their homes and unable to earn a living because of his government’s edicts.

Indulgent? You bet.

The former schoolteacher scolded citizens yesterday, telling them: “Not getting vaccinated is actually self-entitled and indulgent in the extreme in the middle of a pandemic. Go and get vaccinated and be fair to the rest of your community.” 

If Hazzard wants to be ‘fair to the rest of the community’, he might agree that those making the decisions should also be affected by them. 

But, of course, they are not.

State politicians around the country have given themselves hefty pay rises whilst putting those they represent out of work because, you know, “we are all in this together”.

Hazzard deems most jobs to be non-essential, unlike his own.

He insists that it is too dangerous for most of us to go to our offices, but that his chauffer really must drive him to his.

And he demands that we wear masks everywhere while he removes his own, the moment he thinks he is out of camera shot.

Self-entitled? Absolutely.

Hazzard uses his daily press conference to demonise anyone who has concerns about the vaccine as “wackos” or “crackpots”.

Typically, he rants and riles against the public whilst flanked by a senior member of the NSW Police Force. And indulge him we must because he’s entitled, you see.

But protesting the NSW government’s wacko curfews or crackpot vaccination passport thought bubbles is an indulgence you don’t have.

Try it and police are entitled to drag your non-essential ass to the lockup, which is exactly like being at home, except without internet, which is exactly how home is when the kids are all doing online (not)learning, leaving zero bandwidth for you to fight Covid by watching Netflix.

Anyway, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said just last week that people are entitled to protest the lockdown when the lockdown ends.

That’s seriously what she said, prompting fears that ‘wacko’ is an airborne virus from which no one, not even the Premier, is immune.

A frustrated Hazzard recently lamented that “you can’t legislate against stupidity”.

Well, no Minister. But it does seem that you can elect it.

Stupid is imagining that you can hector and heckle and bully and berate your way to an 80 per cent vaccination rate. 

If mass vaccination is the way out of the Covid quicksand into which we have sunk, the minister’s manner is entirely counter-productive. 

Someone needs to tell him that the harder he pushes the jab laggards, the harder they’ll push back.

Cut the curt headmaster routine. Stop the name calling. Quit the impatient huffing and puffing.

Tell people who are worried about the jab that you understand their concerns.

Explain, reexplain and patiently explain all over again – if you need to – why people can trust you and why they can trust the medical process.

It’s a lot easier to bring people with you than it is to drag them behind you.

“I had questions about the efficacy, not to mention the long-term effects of the jab. But that was before the health minister came on TV and labelled me an indulgent wacko crackpot which I immediately recognised I was. Now I’m doubled jabbed and enthusiastically anticipating a never-ending series of booster jabs,” said no-one ever, except in the overly indulgent wacko crackpot imagination of the self-entitled Health Minister.