Rita Panahi: Andrews’ appalling overreach crushes Melbourne again

A curfew and crackdown on low-risk outdoor settings is an appalling overreach by the Andrews government, which has no solutions beyond ever stricter lockdowns.

The imposition of a curfew on more than five million Victorians is an appalling overreach by the Andrews government.

It is a measure designed purely to assist police, no matter how it’s dressed up as health advice.

Likewise, the decision to crush more of our remaining freedoms by closing low-risk outdoor settings, such as playgrounds, skate parks, basketball hoops and outdoor exercise equipment is an unjustifiable measure that punishes innocent people, particularly youngsters, who have done nothing wrong.

To borrow a phrase from Premier Dan Andrews, these are “shitty choices”.

Victorian youngsters have missed out on more schooling and vital social development than children elsewhere in the country, and these restrictions will only inflict further isolation and mental harm on a cohort that’s at the lowest risk of Covid-19.

We have already seen a 184 per cent increase in suicidal ideation among Victorian youngsters, according to Kids Helpline data released in June.

Daniel Andrews is clamping down harder on Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

How much more harm are we willing to inflict on this age group?

Victorians were assured by Premier Andrews that we would avoid an extended lockdown by going “hard and early” but on Monday he extended Lockdown Six for a second time while announcing a raft of new restrictions.

The latest Victorian guidelines, which come into force from 11.59pm on Monday, will also restrict outdoor exercise to two adults from each household.

So, a household of four adults can be indoors together, where the virus is most likely to be transmitted, but they can’t go for a walk together outdoors while masked. Sounds sciencey.

We are asked to blindly follow this advice despite ample evidence from Australia — and around the world — that outdoor transmission is a minuscule issue.

The 9pm curfew will likely see bigger crowds in supermarkets due to reduced trading hours. That phenomenon was observed the last time we had a curfew.

Police Commissioner Shane Patton. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

Chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton, described as a “catastrophist” by some within Labor, continues to exercise dictatorial powers.

On Monday, as the premier announced that Lockdown Six would be extended to at least September 2, Dr Sutton claimed “we have been successful five times”.

What a truly bizarre way to look at the destructive lockdown lunacy that has inflicted such widespread societal and economic harm on the community, not to mention the impact on non-Covid health issues.

We are told that transmission is occurring in households and workplaces and yet we are cracking down on people in parks and kids in playgrounds.

Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton promised a “huge blitz” and scolded Victorians for misbehaving.

“We’ve seen in parks people who you’d all describe as normal law-abiding mum and dads, with their kids, sitting around drinking some beers without masks, not adhering to CHO guidelines,” he said on Monday.

Mark that as a top-ten contender for most absurd things said at a press conference this year.

Who among us expected to hear a police commissioner harangue people for sitting with their kids in the fresh air and having a sip of beer?

Under the Victorian guidelines removing your mask to drink alcohol is prohibited but you can remove it to drink coffee.

The numbers show that outdoor transmission is not a significant issue, indeed outdoors in the fresh air, sunshine and socially distanced from others is the safest place to be and yet the latest measures focus predominantly on outdoor restrictions.

Melburnians have suffered through six lockdowns, and are about to notch up 200 days of stay-at-home orders, but our political leaders have no solutions beyond ever stricter lockdowns, irresponsible scaremongering about hospital systems being overrun and further assaults on our freedoms.