Locked down with Daniel Andrews’ incompetence

I left Sydney to join my family in Melbourne, and now I’m stuck in lockdown because the premier can’t admit that he badly failed the nation in managing his quarantine, writes Mibenge Nsenduluka.

• ‘It’s tough, it’s a strain’: PM’s virus warning

Here we go again. Just weeks after finally getting a taste of freedom we’re back to square one and, somehow, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has us all convinced that’s it’s our own fault — and so the gaslighting begins.

I began lockdown living in Sydney wishing I was with my family in Melbourne, where COVID-19 cases have been lower.

Now, after temporarily relocating to Melbourne and with the NSW-Victorian border closed, I find myself trapped in the nanny state and considering that perhaps NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian isn’t so bad.

The tale of two cities has never been truer.

Journalist Mibenge Nsenduluka has found herself trapped in Victoria.

Premier Dan Andrews will lock down the Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire for 6 weeks from midnight Wednesday.

As my relieved friends and colleagues in Sydney ease back into ­relatively normal life, anxiety-ridden Melburnians are flocking to Coles, Hunger Games-style, clutching onto rice and toilet paper for dear life.

So how did this happen?

One thing we can all agree on is that our politicians have let us all down.

As I listened to Andrews’ appalling press conference on Tuesday afternoon announcing the six-week lockdown  due to a spike in new infections, I felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

It reminded me of the time Berejiklian tried to shift blame after Sydney’s infamous Ruby Princess cruise ship debacle.

Like Berejiklian, Andrews was evasive and unapologetic as he blamed the general public’s “sense of complacency” for the disaster that will force the reclosure of already struggling businesses and worsen the economic damage.

“Each of us knows someone who has not been following the rules as well as they should have,” Andrews said, gazing aloofly at no one in ­particular.

“This is not over and pretending that it is because we want it to be over is not the answer. It is indeed part of the problem.”

Passengers returning to NSW could face mandatory hotel quarantine at their own expense under the NSW Government’s latest proposal. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Remarkably, he did not immediately mention criticism surrounding his possible mishandling of the hotel quarantine program.

While Berejiklian and other states employed cops and ADF troops to­ ­enforce social distancing, the ­Andrews government went rogue and used poorly trained private security guards.

On Wednesday morning, perhaps under the advice of crisis managers, Andrews did a slight 180 and took some accountability for the mess in Melbourne during an appearance on Sunrise.

He was also adamant that the ­second  wave  was not caused by Black Lives Matter protesters. “… I apologise to Victorians for the ­predicament we now face but we must  stick  together  and focus on the things we can change, the things we can do, over the next six weeks,” he said.

So with my life in the slightly warmer Harbour City on hold for now, I’m forced to adjust to the harsh, cold reality of life under Big Brother-style Premier Andrews, where carrying ID when you collect takeaway pizza to avoid “significant penalties” is the new norm.

So, as I sit trapped at home in ­Victoria, I have to wonder, as the ­Andrews government holds us all ­accountable, who is holding the Premier accountable?