Shannon Deery: Daniel Andrews’ roadmap plan dogged by scandals
Daniel Andrews’ tough lockdown measures are working and the daily increase in COVID cases is trending down, but while this should be a good news week for the government, mounting frustration over the pandemic response is dogging the Premier, writes Shannon Deery.
Opinion
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Many desperate Victorian businesses and industry groups were left apoplectic following the announcement of Daniel Andrews’ recovery road map.
The promise of much-needed support did little to calm their anger after being told they’d be essentially shut for business for much of the rest of 2020.
So too did the prioritising of announcements at the weekend.
The first was to trumpet the news Victorian pooches could soon be taken to the groomers.
Then we got the news of the biggest rescue package of business support in the history of the state — $3bn in cash grants, tax relief and cashflow support.
But already there are fears that won’t be nearly enough among business and industry groups.
For the struggling hospitality sector, more than $500m will be dedicated to getting it back on its feet, and set up outdoor dining venues across metropolitan Melbourne. The Premier hopes this alfresco addition will remain a staple of the Victorian way of life for summers to come.
Still, many venue owners fear they won’t be able to survive.
Again, sole traders were left out in the cold with about one in 10 of the state’s 400,000 sole traders offered a measly $3000 lifeline.
Responses to the various business support rescue packages will add increased pressure on Andrews that shows no sign of easing this week.
His tough measures are working and the daily increase in COVID cases is trending down — as you would expect with people locked in their houses 23 hours a day.
Regional Victoria will this week take another step toward COVID-normal, and be virtually open for business. Metropolitan Melbourne, exceeding its set targets, will remain in limbo, with Andrews keen not to budge on the proposed opening-up dates.
Questions remain over many decisions made over Victoria’s lockdown, and the waters have been substantially muddied over just how much of the response was based on expert advice, particularly after experts behind the modelling used to justify the extended lockdowns said they wouldn’t have set such high thresholds for easing out of lockdown.
Still, Andrews won’t be swayed.
Instead he’s digging his heels in, the curfew won’t be lifted and the thresholds are unlikely to change. We’re in this for the long haul.
He has repeatedly pointed to Europe and the surge in case numbers in countries deemed to have eased restrictions too soon.
But should case numbers still be the main focus? New evidence is pointing to a significant trend in many European countries, including the UK, France and Spain.
According to the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, there is now strong evidence that while case numbers are increasing, deaths are not. In fact, the mortality rate is going down.
This has been attributed to a number of factors, including widespread wearing of masks, better treatment and preparedness and a build-up of immunity. In other words, we are learning to live with this virus, which some experts are now suggesting is not as deadly as once feared.
Pressure will increase on the government this week to buckle, and bring forward the easing of restrictions.
With parliament set to resume today, Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien has demanded a royal commission into the government’s pandemic response. It’s odd timing for such a demand.
The Australian Medical Association weeks ago called for the same, but has been largely silent on the issue since — perhaps an acknowledgment that there’s more at stake right now.
For O’Brien, or any Opposition leader, just what to call for and when is a tough balancing act. In the midst of the pandemic, he must simultaneously contribute to a sense of solidarity while fairly and squarely holding the government to account.
How much of an impact this actually has on a what is essentially a one-man government though is hard to gauge. Parliament has been shut down for most of the year and cabinet has been reduced to just eight members, with the Premier holding a strong majority inside that grouping.
The Opposition says a royal commission is vital and urgent.
Certainly getting to the bottom of the worst public policy failure in Victoria’s history is vital.
But urgent, no. Now is not the time to establish another inquiry.
Already there is a parliamentary inquiry underway, a board of inquiry probing aspects of our pandemic response, and a royal commission into Australia’s aged-care sector.
All focus now should be on getting to our COVID-normal, and helping the economy recover.
With numbers in freefall and expectations by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton we will easily meet out first target for opening up at the end of September, this should be a good news week for the government.
But with sole traders, small business, the Opposition, and even some frustrated Labor MPs on the warpath, that’s unlikely.
Shannon Deery is Herald Sun state politics editor