Why Victorian government wants to blame you for lockdowns

The Andrews government has blamed Victorians, nebulisers and a “beast” for its botched COVID response. Here’s who and what it’s pointed the finger at through four lockdowns.

Victoria has endured four lockdowns, the most of any state during the pandemic.

Throughout each, the Andrews government has been fast to point fingers at

who – and even what – is to blame, but very reluctant to take any responsibility.

LOCKDOWN 2

SECURITY GUARDS

Soon after it was revealed that the virus had leaked out of Victoria’s disastrous hotel quarantine program, Premier Daniel Andrews pointed the finger at the security guards. He said they had been “carpooling” and may have spread the virus — before it ran rampant across the city — by sharing a cigarette lighter. But no government minister or official has taken responsibility for the decision to hire security guards to man the hotels, rather than police or the ADF.

A WICKED ENEMY

When the signs of a second wave emerged, an early uplift in positive cases failed to trigger immediate restrictions. But as daily numbers hit the hundreds Premier Daniel Andrews began to describe the virus as a “wicked enemy”.

“It is so wildly infectious. It moves so fast. It’s cunning in some respects where people can be infectious for quite some time and not know it – not have symptoms or, if they have symptoms, they’re so mild,” he said on July 14.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at a COVID press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire

RULE BREAKERS

After announcing the second lockdown, Mr Andrews blamed the restrictions on badly-behaving Victorians.

“Each of us know someone who has not been following the rules as well as they should have,” he said on July 8.

VICTORIANS IN ISOLATION

Premier Daniel Andrews hit out at more than 800 people who he said weren’t at home when they should be self isolating. But it later emerged that under a loophole in government regulations, they were allowed out of their homes to exercise.

Martin Foley. Picture: Getty Images

FAMILIES

Once the virus escaped hotel quarantine, it spread at an alarming rate through Melbourne’s suburbs. Public health officials and the Andrews Government pointed to large family gatherings. “It is pretty clear that behind closed doors when one family comes together in large numbers, they are not practising social distancing.” – Mr Andrews said in June.

LOCKDOWN 3

NEBULISER MAN

A return traveller — then in intensive care — was blamed for the virus again breaching hotel quarantine after he used a nebuliser. A he-said, she-said war of words broke out with the government saying the device was banned but the man denying he snuck it into the Holiday Inn. A leaked report last month revealed that although the use of the nebuliser helped spread the virus to workers, the man himself was likely infected within the hotel during the swabbing of an infected patient with the door open.

THE UK STRAIN

To justify its circuit-breaker lockdown in February, the state government pointed to the UK variant of the virus as a strain that spread more quickly. Mr Andrews said the virus was smart, faster and more infectious — although it never escaped the “three rings” of contact tracing. “In short: this hyper-infectious variant is moving at hyper-speed,” he said.

LOCKDOWN 4

THE BEAST

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton labelled the new Covid-19 strain circulating in Melbourne as a “beast” and warned “many people will die” if it was allowed to circulate unchecked. A day later, after officials were criticised for running a scare campaign, he conceded that it was not as infectious as another Indian variant.

Acting Premier James Merlino has repeatedly blamed South Australia for our fourth lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Health Minister Martin Foley has been quick to point the finger for the current outbreak at those across the border. He referred to it as the “South Australian quarantine outbreak” three times in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s press conference. “The genomic sequencing has confirmed that the case is directly linked to the South Australian hotel quarantine outbreak.” On the day that Victoria was first plunged into lockdown, Mr Merlino also said: “The reason why we are dealing with this outbreak … is because of a hotel breach in South Australia … That is not a criticism, it’s just a fact.”

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Mr Merlino came out swinging at his federal counterparts on Sunday for failing to support Victorian businesses and workers struggling through another lockdown. Despite the federal government saying it was up to states to manage the economic impact of short lockdowns, the state called for more support now JobKeeper has ended. But it was Treasurer Tim Pallas who ramped up the attack.

Mr Pallas accused politicians in Canberra of shirking their responsibilities, labelling the situation “nothing short of a disgrace”. “You name it, the Commonwealth has found a way to find somebody else to blame because they don’t like taking responsibility,” Mr Pallas said.

QR CODE USE

The issue of QR codes has been hotly debated, with the government’s single-use program only becoming mandatory on the day Victoria was plunged back into lockdown. But lax Victorians were shamed for failing to check-in at venues, including the Curry Vault restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD, after people potentially exposed to an infected man could not be easily traced. Acting Premier James Merlino announced tough fines for businesses and warned complacency in the public had become a “serious challenge”. “The issue of compliance in recent times has been a real issue that we’re tackling,” he said.