Daniel Andrews slammed as protesters fined but law-breaking spreaders escape scot-free
Premier Daniel Andrews has once again defended a decision to not punish virus spreaders who defied lockdown rules, doubling down on the move after being slammed for his “double standards”, which were labelled “as toxic as this virus”.
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Premier Daniel Andrews has been accused of double standards after 21 anti-lockdown protesters were fined on Saturday but not one fine was issued to coronavirus spreaders who broke lockdown rules.
Police cracked down on law-breakers and conspiracy theorists who met in the bayside suburbs of Elwood and Elsternwick on Saturday, arresting 16 people after sending in the air wing and mounted officers.
But Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said people were sick of the government’s pandemic “hypocrisy”.
“Andrews shouldn’t be protecting those who spread the virus while fining others … Labor’s double standards are as toxic as this virus,” he said.
“It’s a disgrace that Labor has locked up innocent Victorians under a curfew while those who break the law and spread the virus get off scot free.
“This is the same Andrews hypocrisy that saw teenagers fined for learning to drive while 10,000 Black Lives Matter protesters were ignored.
“Victorians have lost confidence in Andrews and Labor. The double standards they apply show they govern for their friends, not for all Victorians,” he said.
On Saturday, Mr Andrews defended the decision not to fine any of the 34 people, largely from the Afghan community in Casey, who spread the virus after breaching rules to visit other family members’ homes.
Mr Andrews said the virus spreaders were not fined because it might stop them from being “full and frank” in contact-tracing interviews.
“I’m happy to concede that might seem a counterintuitive point. Perhaps we would all feel a bit better if they got slapped with a fine, but the value of the information that allows you to take one test result and then find the 33 other people who’ve got it, is much more than $1652,” he said.
The Premier on Sunday stood by the decision not to fine the rule-breakers, saying it could jeopardise contact tracing efforts.
“If you fine people for telling the truth, how do we reckon contact tracing would go?”
Mr Andrews asked.
He expressed frustration and anger at families that had broken lockdown rules, but said the “truth was worth everything”.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Saturday said people visiting each other in their homes had become a key concern of health authorities, with the risk of transmission 20 times higher when people are indoors together.
Mr Andrews said retrospectively fining people for breaches identified through contact tracing would lead to “stigma” and non-co-operation.
Earlier in the same press conference Prof Sutton — who has worked in Afghanistan — gave an impassioned apology in the Farsi language to members of the Casey cluster. He said he had not meant to single out members of the Afghani community.
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