Premier Daniel Andrews needs to ditch the ring of steel and 25km limit

Premier Daniel Andrews need to stop micromanaging Victorians’ lives and pull down the ring of steel, Sophie Elsworth argues.

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Premier, enough with the power trips.

It’s time for the ring of steel to come down and with that, ditch the absurd 25km rule too.

After months of keeping millions of Victorians locked up in their homes, Premier Daniel Andrews, the master of micromanaging, needs to stop messing with Victorians’ lives.

Dividing this great state up has gone well beyond a joke.

With about 100 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria there’s no good reason to leave Melbourne locked up and five million naughty Melburnians segregated from the rest of the state.

And let’s face it, there’s zero “data and science” behind many of these decisions made by this fumbling state government.

I’m confident the Premier’s supercomputer doesn’t spit out critical information that says, “split this state up, keep the city slickers well away from the country folk and make their lives as miserable as possible”.

In the past week, Dictator Dan has said the hard border dividing Melbourne from the rest of the state could be removed some time in November.

But when it comes to the Premier and his timelines, I’m sceptical.

I’ve written off seeing my parents, my brother and his family for the rest of the year at their homes in central Victoria because if I have low expectations, I won’t be left disappointed.

The 25km rule is again proof that the Premier and his sidekick, the under siege Chief Health Officer Prof Brett “who knows” Sutton, just make this stuff as they go along.

I want to see the robust evidence that says Victorians are more likely to catch COVID-19 if they are further than 25km from their residence.

The state government’s disastrous announcement earlier in the week by Jobs Minister Martin Pakula to allow hundreds of horse owners to attend the Cox Plate was living proof how out-of-touch the Labor government and its crisis cabinet really is.

How could this decision pass the pub test in the first instance when there are strict limits on funerals and religious gatherings across the state?

Within hours of the announcement, Pakula did a backflip.

As the Premier keeps saying, the decisions he and his government make aren’t about being popular.

Funny that because the outrage from this Cox Plate decision was what prompted the backflip, not health reasons.

It seems to me the Premier and his ministers are making this stuff as they go along and dragging more than six million Victorians along for the torturous ride.

A celebration for many will be when this great state opens back up again, freedoms are returned and Dan’s depressing daily pressers come to an end.

@sophieelsworth