Premier Daniel Andrews’ biggest test is yet to come
Premier Daniel Andrews has done his job well throughout this time of crisis but society can no longer be held to ransom by COVID-19. From Monday, Victoria must start getting back to work and that’s when the real test begins, writes Jeff Kennett.
Opinion
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This will be my last column before Premier Daniel Andrews makes some decisions next Monday that will start our return in Victoria to a more active social and commercial life.
I think our leaders — both federal and state — have done a good job in dealing with an unprecedented situation.
Importantly, they — and the community — will have learnt a great deal from how we handled this challenge, when confronted by future such events. For, be assured, there will be future such events.
When we refer to conflicts in the past, we have talked about military conflicts. Future battles for territory, resources and religious dominance can now be waged on the development, release and control of viruses.
On Tuesday, the United States had recorded more than 69,000 deaths because of coronavirus. The US’s death toll in nine years of fighting in the Vietnam War was 58,220. Worldwide more than 248,000 people have sadly so far lost their lives to COVID-19.
We do not know for sure how COVID-19 started. Was it a natural virus that took flight or was it man-made, accidentally released or worse? Without downplaying the answers to those questions, the battlefield of the world has changed — it is smaller and borderless.
We have, in part, learnt how to deal with the arrival of a virus for which there is no known antidote and which has closed borders and restricted our movements. We have also seen the ramifications of those actions on our economy, and the way governments have acted to support society by borrowing unprecedented sums of money that have pushed debts skyward.
How effective those government programs will be will not be known for some time.
What is clear now is that from next Monday, Victoria must start getting back to work for both social and economic reasons. We cannot allow COVID-19 to do any more damage than it already has.
We now know how governments must react if an outbreak of the virus occurs in a meatworks, or a nursing home
But society can no longer be held to ransom by COVID-19. Society must fight back quickly but responsibly.
We are fortunate that the mining sector has kept functioning under controls, which has generated employment and income for the country. The construction industry has remained at work, providing thousands of jobs. Of course, our frontline army of medical professionals and other essential services have been working, albeit stretched to the limit.
Working from home has become the new norm, but that has not stopped our unemployment rate soaring.
So next Monday, May 11, must clearly signal Victoria’s reawakening. Premier Andrews has consistently used the phrase, “I know this is not popular,” in his defence of the restrictions he has imposed. This has nothing to do with popularity, it has everything to do with doing the job you were elected to do — lead.
And he has done it well. But the biggest test will be how he leads us in peacetime or, better expressed, how he leads us and Victoria back to a cosmopolitan lifestyle.
In short, Daniel Andrews’ real test of leadership starts on Monday. It is often easier to lead in a crisis. In the case of COVID-19 it has meant closing down society and spending money.
But now, because of our understanding of COVID-19, the war is over, and although there might still be skirmishes to address, the challenge to rebuild our economy, our society, must take precedence.
The risks to the living will be much greater unless we return to a meaningful life as quickly as possible. Just ask the Salvation Army. Just ask any unemployed adult trying to lead their children to a better place.
That said, I hope Andrews succeeds in winning the peace, because if he does not the ramifications will be profound.
There is a great deal of goodwill being extended toward our leaders. Let us hope they are astute enough to lead us back to an exciting place, and that false pride does not result in a fall — for them or us.
The world has changed. Our future looks very different to what it did four months ago.
I hear so many of my generation saying we have lived through the very best of times, but they are worried for their children and grandchildren. That only makes the decisions we make today that much more important. Such decisions determine our assessment of leadership.
Onwards and upwards fellow Victorians. We have done it before and can do it again. Walk tall.
Jeff Kennett is a former Premier of Victoria