It’s time for Premier Daniel Andrews to ditch the 5km rule
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews must ditch the ridiculous 5km rule and let Melburnians get back to enjoying this great city, Sophie Elsworth argues.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Opinion: It's time for the Premier to ditch the 5km rule.
It’s been two months since Daniel Andrews rolled out this tough restriction that has kept more than five million Melburnians confined to their own suburbs or those next door.
As Jodi Grollo, dubbed “Karen from Brighton” famously said when she was trotting around the Tan back in July, “Well, you get sick of walking the same streets … I’ve done all of Brighton”.
She made a very good point — many people are over hanging out in their suburbs 24/7.
Just last week she said she’d had a gutful of the Victorian Premier and said she was heading north.
“Such a shame because I really love Melbourne,” she said in her video.
Right now there’s fewer than 300 Victorians with COVID-19 and still this stringent rule stays put.
Melbourne has its infamous “ring of steel” around it so surely for Melburnians to mix and travel from one side of the city to another can’t be that deadly.
Leading epidemiologist Catherine Bennett blasted the limitation and said there was no health reasons why people should remain within such a tight radius.
But Premier Andrews is sticking to his guns and has reiterated the rules are all set behind “data and science”.
He said “it’s about reducing movement”.
I’m sure if he could have his way Victorians would be locked in their homes 24 hours a day.
This power-hungry Premier is loving ruling Victorians’ lives and dictating to them at every turn what they can and cannot do.
Let Melburnians move freely again — it’s so important for people’s mental health.
Many Victorians want to see their family and friends again and not everyone has the luxury of having those closest to them living within a 5km radius.
The ring of steel is bad enough for many of us who can’t see country folk, whether it be family or friends.
I haven’t been able to see my parents in central Victoria since June and I’m certainly not alone.
Being locked in Melbourne is bad enough, but being locked in our suburbs is an overreach of the control this incompetent state government has over our lives.
If the Premier was so focused on our movement, then he could have turned his efforts controlling hotel quarantine and we wouldn’t be where we are now.
So Premier, let Melburnians get back to enjoying what was once a wonderful city, please.