Andrew Bolt: Daniel Andrews turns Victoria into police state

Daniel Andrews claims his way is right and everyone else is wrong and sends out an army of troops to quash any resistance. He has turned our beloved Victoria into a police state.

I am disgusted, frightened and ashamed by what I saw on Saturday. Premier Daniel Andrews has turned my beloved Victoria into a police state.

I watched as a line of police rushed up to a woman who seemed well into her 70s and had an Australian flag tied around her neck as she calmly stood in a Richmond street.

This woman posed no threat to a living soul.

She was certainly not a virus threat. She and others at Saturday’s anti-lockdown protest were in the open air, and an Irish study suggests just one in a 1000 infected people catch Covid outdoors.

Nor was she a physical threat, certainly not to police. A woman that age? Of that slight build? Just standing there?

A woman is hit with pepper spray. Picture: Jason Edwards

But – go see the video – a burly police officer, towering over her, gave her a huge shove. She fell backwards, hitting her head on the road. As she lay stunned and helpless, two police leaned over and sprayed her full in the face with pepper spray, and walked off.

The woman rolled onto her side, and was still, but a line of police – some of the 2000 sent to crush any demonstration – walked right by her, not checking whether she’d been seriously hurt.

Note: This violence was done in the name of “public safety”. Your safety.

But that is a lie. This elderly woman was assaulted by police not because she was a health hazard – she wasn’t – but because the Premier is furious that people won’t follow his insane commands to follow “The Rules”.

But why should they? Andrews will this week break a world record that will make us an international horror story.

On October 4 he will make Melbourne the city locked down the longest – a total of 246 days.

And Andrews on Sunday made clear he won’t just break the record but smash it.

His new “road map” to freedom is a fraud – a promise to keep Melbourne locked down for a least a month more.

The woman was knocked to the ground and doused with pepper spray. Picture: Jason Edwards

That means that of all the leaders of the world, national or state, democrats or dictators, Andrews is the only one who has locked down his capital city for more than eight months, stopping people from visiting their parents, and children from going to school or playing with friends.

You can’t set a record like that and claim your way is right and everyone else is wrong.

If there was a clear link between “The Rules” and stopping Victorians from dying, you might just possibly excuse Andrews for sending out an army of police to quash any resistance, like a Tsar sending in the Cossacks.

But many of “The Rules” Andrews has set are pointlessly cruel.

Why has he imposed a curfew?

Why limit outdoor exercise?

Why ban children from face-to-face learning when not a child in Australia has died of this virus?

Premier Daniel Andrews is about to smash the world lockdown record.

Why did Andrews ban even playgrounds, skate parks and golf?

Why ban people from drinking wine outside, but allow a Coke?

What kind of sick mind even dreams up rules like that?

And – above all – why ban protests against this madness? That is the last straw.

On Saturday, Andrews even shut down public transport into Melbourne for hours to try to stop protesters from gathering in the city.

And don’t buy the spin of his tame police commanders.

They said they had to stop the protest to prevent a potential “super-spreader” event, but that’s another lie: Andrews still can’t point to a single person getting infected at any protest in Australia.

Saturday’s protesters obviously knew it was a lie, too.

They also thought it was worth protesting for their freedom despite the risk of fines, arrest, assault and a face full of pepper spray.

I know, a few were violent, and I hate that.

It’s very wrong that they hurt police, but I fear we’ll see more violence unless Andrews stops turning this virus panic into a civil war.

Consider: He’s locked these protesters in their homes for months, and when they dare protest he’s sent police to block them, spray them, and fine them $5000 if police can catch them. You’re surprised things turned physical?

How ludicrous. Just let the protesters march – just let the police serve the people, not the Premier – and the only hurt will be to Andrews’ pride

But turning a march for freedom into a brawl sets up a war that I fear will get worse, when every week of Andrews’ lockdown adds to Melbourne’s despair.