Jeff Kennett: Forget Freedom Day, Dan must give us a way out

Victorians don’t want a Freedom Day, we need a plan that opens our society — and if Dan Andrews doesn’t give us a clear path, more people will ignore his rules.

Congratulations to the Melbourne and Western Bulldogs football clubs on reaching the AFL grand final.

It’s a remarkable achievement for both clubs, given the challenges of the year, particularly for the Bulldogs, given the travelling they have had to do over the past few weeks and restricted practice time in Adelaide.

It is very disappointing for the members and supporters of both clubs that very few will be able to attend in person. They could have done so if the government had been flexible and allowed the fully vaccinated to attend and to be subjected to a rapid test before entering the MCG.

It would have been an incentive for more people, especially younger members of the community, to have had the vaccination, therefore, meeting the government’s objective of achieving 80 per cent of all eligible citizens as soon as possible.

Oh well, opportunity lost yet again. Which brings me to the matter of words and language.

The Premier is still lecturing us all, yet a better approach might be to encourage.

Recently he said those who do not elect to be vaccinated would be “locked out” of certain venues and activities. He could have equally and more effectively said those who elect to get vaccinated “will be rewarded” by being allowed into certain venues and activities.

Fans could have gone to the grand final if the government had allowed the fully vaccinated to attend. Picture: Getty Images

He followed that by saying we could find ourselves with 18,000 cases of Covid if we don’t do as he says. Why does he try to scare the community all the time? Surely just repeating the message about the advantages of vaccination would have been more appropriate.

Sadly, there has been very little reward for those who are fully vaccinated. We are told we will be informed of the pathway out of lockdown this coming weekend.

The first question I want answered is what is the definition of the Premier’s target of 80 per cent of all eligible people vaccinated? Is it all adults or all people over 12 and is it one or two shots?

Whatever the definition, if we are still having dozens or hundreds of new cases a day when the target is reached, will the current lockdown metro Melbourne is enduring be lifted?

Will fully vaccinated people be able to return to a more normal life? To attend venues where the staff of those venues are fully vaccinated?

Unless there are significant relaxations of the restrictions, as the weather gets warmer more people will sadly ignore the rules that are in place.

The public is becoming increasingly resentful of these.

One thing is sure, our children must go back to school for term 4. The pent-up damage to their social and educational development is already the greatest cost of these lockdowns, together with business failures. The government must work out how it is going to allow that to happen.

Sadly, the evidence from overseas is increasingly telling us being fully vaccinated will not prevent people contracting the virus and passing it on to others.

Certainly, those fully vaccinated will not suffer the same consequences as those not vaccinated.

We are hearing of a new strain called the MU variant that is supposedly more infectious than Delta and Covid-19 when it first arrived. In some countries they are moving to booster shots already. So we must learn to live with the virus.

Premier Daniel Andrews must start rebuilding confidence in the Victorian community. Picture: David Crosling

We live in an ever-changing world. But the restrictions on personal freedoms, the simplest joys of not being able to meet family and friends, even in small numbers, is particularly harsh, when all might be fully vaccinated.

Then we have the issues that are emerging in our northern suburbs.

They suggest for cultural or language reasons we have not communicated well enough with those communities, yet the whole metropolitan area and until recently the state was being held to ransom when most cases were confined to one, albeit large, area.

The damage being rendered on so many in the community is compounding, mentally, physically and financially.

I feel very sorry for, but at the same time grateful to, our health and emergency service workers. They are carrying a very heavy load, and at great risk.

So this weekend becomes very important in starting to give the community confidence to plan. We do not want a Freedom Day. We need a plan that opens our society.

That is why the Premier next Sunday must answer the question about the definition of 80 per cent, and at what level of new cases of the virus will he guarantee that there will be no more general lockdowns. Or the threat of another lockdown being imposed overnight.

Once we are able to travel again there will be a massive exodus from the state. Picture: Ian Currie

One thing I can assure the Premier is that once we are able to travel again there will be a massive exodus from the state. Never have so many people told me that once they can, they will join those who have already left permanently.

These fall into two categories, those who are young and with few ties who don’t want their employment opportunities and sense of fun, of living, put at risk again. And those more mature, who have been successful in business, or want a more predictable lifestyle.

Right now, Victoria is a closed shop, with a declining population.

In 10 days we will be reminded again, as we watch the AFL grand final, invariably in our homes, without friends, that we have lost another major event for the second year in a row. On top of everything else we have lost.

This weekend, the Premier must clearly start rebuilding confidence among the community. If he fails to do that, sadly more of the community will ignore his decrees as spring turns to summer and better weather embraces us all.

Over to you, Mr Andrews.