To me it has exposed a far more dangerous reality.
Cities the size of Melbourne are simply too big to allow.
Nothing more can be said. That's the single greatest learning from the whole thing. If we can't control pandemics in cities of 5 million people then quite simply we can't afford to have cities of 5 million people because next time the pandemic may well be far more deadly than this one has
thus far turned out to be. That is the lesson which needs to be learned.
Now I'm not suggesting we take 2 million people from each of Sydney and Melbourne and shoot them, that's not at all the sort of thing I have in mind, but with planning regulations, taxes and government playing an active role as a developer I'm very sure that a major new city could be established in Australia and in an orderly manner the population of the big two reduced. Such a plan would need massive buy in from the states and the public but now's the time, the proverbial iron's red hot to make bold decisions.
Even if government does nothing I do think we'll see a limited move away from the big cities. Have a look pretty much anywhere that real estate is discussed and there's not exactly too much enthusiasm for either of the big two cities right now, the sentiment definitely favours smaller places. Many won't act but no doubt some will and my thinking is that even if we do see a return to "business as usual" it won't be with the same growth trajectory for Melbourne in particular, this whole thing's too big to be quickly shrugged off.