Dangerous for Daniel Andrews to point a finger during this disaster
As Melbourne goes into another lockdown, this time we can’t even console ourselves with the knowledge that everyone in Australia is in the same boat. But while Daniel Andrews seems to be pointing the finger of blame at Victorians, he needs to look at his own mistakes, writes James Campbell.
James Campbell
Don't miss out on the headlines from James Campbell. Followed categories will be added to My News.
This is a disaster. But I am sure you didn’t need me to tell you that.
Everyone listening to Daniel Andrews on Tuesday will have done a quick run-through in their mind about what it means personally, starting with the get-togethers and holidays cancelled, continuing through to the weeks we have ahead of us “educating” our children at home.
These are but mere irritants, of course, compared to what it means for the economy.
Many businesses which have limped through shutdown won’t make it through the sequel. Casuals and shift workers whose hours have only just started to rise will see them cut again.
Not only has international tourism disappeared thanks to the border closures, so have the interstate visitors that were meant to make up for their absence.
And even if the borders were open there’d be no reason to come here as everything — restaurants, cinemas, galleries and museums — are all closed.
Back in March, however unhappy we were about being locked up, we could at least console ourselves with the thought everyone in Australia was in the same boat.
Not this time.
Life is getting back to normal everywhere else while we are stuck in our homes during what the Premier delights in calling “inclement weather”.
Melbourne hasn’t had a shock to its self-image this big since the early 1990s. It will be interesting to see how we react.
As for who is responsible, it is hard not to agree with the Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien when he said Andrews seemed keener to “point the finger at Victorians instead of looking at the mirror and accepting responsibility for his government’s mistakes”.
He might not have actually used the word “blame” — he said “I’m not here to criticise or lecture Victorians” — but he might as well have.
What else is one to make of his statement that “every Victorian knows at least one other person who perhaps hasn’t been following the rules as much as they should have”? That would certainly apply to thousands of people who gathered in the centre of Melbourne, Premier.
The question going forward is, are we going to be as compliant as we were last time? It’s an open question.
Last time, not only were we all in it together, we could assume everyone who broke the rules would get the same treatment. The BLM rally shredded that unspoken contract with the public.
As he threatens us all with the full force of Victoria Police — backed up by the ADF — how he must be ruing his decision to give a wink to a rally swollen by Trots, who in any case, detest him.
It’s a disaster all right and it’s far from over.
READ MORE
MELBOURNE BACK IN LOCKDOWN AS VIRUS FEARS GROW
HOW MELBOURNE’S RESTRICTIONS AFFECT YOU