Australia's third-largest state - Queensland - was clocking up a similar number of new Covid-19 cases to New Zealand - at least if one adjusts for population sizes.
That has changed in recent days and lockdown restrictions have eased there accordingly.
Bernadette Hyland-Wood, a global change scholar at the University of Queensland's School of Political Science and International Studies, says the key to the apparent turnaround is clear communication.
She told Morning Report producer Stacey Knott there was good support for lockdowns and vaccine rollouts.
