Jeff Kennett: Victoria has challenges but Daniel Andrews is the real disaster
Premier Daniel Andrews declaring Victoria to be a state of disaster is an insult to the 99.9 per cent of residents who have willingly complied with his restrictions while losing their jobs, businesses and economic security. The real disaster is the government he leads, writes Jeff Kennett.
Opinion
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I take strong issue with the Premier declaring Victoria a state of disaster.
I will continue to comply with all that is asked of me, as will the vast majority of Victorians.
However, what an insult this is to the 99.9 per cent of Victorians who have willingly complied with Daniel Andrews’ restrictions, while losing their jobs, businesses and economic security.
What is an indisputable disaster is the government that Andrews leads.
Its collective mismanagement has put Victoria in this position.
In using the word disaster, the Premier blames us all. He reduces the standing of the state around the country.
Yes, Victoria has some challenges but in the main they have been caused by the Andrews government and his gang of eight’s gross mismanagement of the quarantine of people arriving back to Victoria from overseas.
Yes, if the Premier wishes to declare a state of emergency to bring into play the reserve powers for our police force and other agencies to address the spread of this virus, that is his call.
But a state of disaster? No sir!
Since 1992, Victoria has had almost 30 years of economic prosperity. Regardless of the politics of those in office, we have been a community of unprecedented opportunity.
That period of stability, of growth, ended this year, for no other reason than the Labor government’s hubris that led to Victoria now being subject to curfews. A situation none of us would have contemplated, even as recently as January.
Many readers, like me, will remember when interest rates hit 17 per cent in 1989, when the global financial crisis knocked us around in 2007, or the bushfires that left many families devastated.
But Victoria got through all those challenges. We will get through this challenge eventually, with one major difference. Many Victorians will remember 2020 as the year their opportunities shrunk or disappeared. Our young will remember 2020 as the year their education was disrupted.
For others, 2020 will be the year they lost their jobs or businesses, or the year a loved one died. 2020 has and will become a defining year in our memories.
But no matter how disruptive or challenging, Victoria is not a disaster. We have a proud history, a multicultural community, great strengths in science, research, business, the arts, and much more.
The Premier’s use of that word reflects his thinking; not mine, not yours. Certainly not the people who have approached me over the last two days to say how much they object to being described as part of a state of disaster.
Let us go back a step. When the coronavirus arrived in Australia, the challenge was to flatten the curve of infections to ensure our hospital system was not pushed to breaking point as we had seen happen overseas. This approach also gave us time to equip our hospitals in case they needed to treat an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The community responded well during the first lockdown. We did what we were asked to do — we shut businesses, we cancelled events, we stayed at home and we flattened the curve. Our hospitals were rapidly prepared.
Then came the government’s mishandling of the Cedar Meats cluster and worse, the totally inexcusable foul-up of the administration of hotel quarantine.
These failures were not the fault of the Victorian public. They were the fault of the Victorian government. It is the current government that is the disaster. It is the government that has so overwhelmingly failed its duty to keep us safe. Now of course, the Victorian public pays the price.
Let us assume we all comply with the Victorian government’s most recent edicts. What happens in six weeks if there are still outbreaks, when there are still deaths being attributed to the virus? Will the Premier blame us again? Will he insult our intelligence? Will he extend the selective lockdown?
I suspect the answer is no to a further extension. He can’t afford to extend the closure of Victorian businesses now in place. He will have to manage the virus.
For I see no evidence of a Plan B. This latest shutdown is the last bullet in the reactive arsenal of the Victorian government.
While other state and territory governments have been proactive in managing this virus, ours has been merely responding.
Our lives have been materially changed by the coronavirus — our health and hygiene measures, our workplaces and practices, and our trust in the ability of our schools and aged-care facilities to protect our children and elderly relations.
Thirty years of prosperity ended in six months. Sadly, for some, it will have stopped them in their tracks.
Our Premier, in describing our situation as a state of disaster, has in one way consigned us all to a position less than we are worthy. Certainly, he ignores our resilience and our proven ability to bounce back.
It took us seven years from 1992 to get Victoria back into fighting shape but, together we did it. It will take us longer this time, in part because of massive government debt and the reality that many of our young people will move outside Victoria to seek jobs. Our population will shrink. We must produce the energy to keep young people here and to rebuild Victoria.
I say again: I will do, and I encourage every Victorian to do, as Premier Andrews asks us.
Victoria, Victoria. Heart of my heart. Stay strong, stay brave.