Yesterday was the day the consequences of the lockdown suddenly got very real for many. Firms have been closing and laying people off since the outset of the quarantine but this has mostly been happening out of the public eye. The mass closure of a number of iconic New Zealand publications by Bauer Media, however, has really hit opinion-makers where they live.

The government is inflicting massive economic damage on the country for the greater good of eliminating the virus. It is ruining families in the hopes of saving lives. That is the right thing to do. But it better not screw it up.

So the terrible optics of the government’s own health minister appearing to flout the lockdown rules so he could go trail biking requires a swift and public response.

What was he thinking, driving his sign-written van several kilometres to an abandoned car park? Quite possibly he wasn’t thinking at all. That would be understandable given the guy surely has been working round the clock since the emergency began.

But here’s the thing: if there isn’t some kind of severe response, every person who thinks the quarantine is an unjustified overreaction is going to be emboldened. If called on it, they’re going to be able to say that even the health minister does it. It’s the perfect rationalisation for pushing the envelope about what is and is not permissible.

You see the problem? If you don’t, try to imagine how you would react if it was a National government and the person involved was Jonathan Coleman or Michael Woodhouse. Be honest with yourself.

I am sure that David Clark is a clever, humane and well-intentioned guy. Axing him over this probably isn’t fair. But government ministers can’t be the only ones exempt from having to accept the unfair consequences of this lockdown.

What’s fair about the Listener closing as a result of it not being essential due to being a weekly publication? What’s fair about butchers and bakers being denied an income while supermarkets make a killing? A lot of unfairness has become necessary of late.

Clark, a Presbyterian minister with advanced degrees in philosophy and theology should at least be equipped to understand why unfairness is the inevitable consequence of the fallen world in which we live. And unlike all the other people being laid off, he will at least continue to be generously remunerated as an MP and Associate Minister of Finance.

For the common good, an unmistakable message needs to be sent.