Shannon Deery: New pandemic law, but long road to recovery

Victoria’s pandemic bill will be put to the test when the 640-day state of emergency ends — but there’s a long road ahead for us.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews first declared the state of emergency in March 2020. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Victoria’s long-running state of emergency will end this week, after 640 days.

It has been in place continuously since March 16, 2020, allowing the enforcement of many of the restrictions we have endured in our bid to combat Covid-19.

Almost two years on, many of them seem hard to believe.

Mask mandates, six lockdowns, restrictions on who we could visit and when, and bans on leaving our homes.

It’s threatened fines for visiting parents, locked Victorians out of the state, and stopped grandparents from meeting new grandchildren.

It’s been illegal for business owners to open their doors, for employees to go to the office, and for kids to play in parks.

Golf, hiking, fishing, tennis and even kicking a footy have all been banned at one time or another.

At one time there was even a short-lived “bonk ban” that was quickly overturned.

It’s been a long road.

When he declared the state of emergency in March 2020, Daniel Andrews said it was vital to “contain the spread of coronavirus as much as we can”.

“Make no mistake, the next few weeks and months will be tough for everyone, but we’re doing what is necessary to protect Victorians,” he said.

Going to the playgrounds was among the activities banned during lockdown. Picture: David Crosling

No argument here.

But who could imagine it would last the next 21 months? And now beyond.

This week a pandemic will be declared in Victoria instead, and for the first time the state’s
new pandemic-specific legislative framework will be put to the test.

The new legislation shifts the responsibility for declaring pandemics and issuing health orders from the chief health officer to the Premier and Health Minister.

So instead of previously faceless bureaucrats implementing lockdown measures, it will now be the domain of elected officials answerable to their constituents.

The laws should also ensure greater transparency and accountability so lacking in current state of emergency provisions.

Still, the government will have virtually unlimited capacity to restrict movement, ban public gatherings, close businesses or order quarantine requirements as required.

The power to declare a pandemic will exist even if there are no cases of a specific disease in Victoria for a period of time.

For weeks before they were passed by parliament the proposed laws were subject to fierce and widespread community debate.

Mass protests loudly voiced opposition while MPs, lawyers, human rights experts and civil rights groups all raised concerns.

It’s good that they did.

Independent MP Adem Somyurek dramatically intervened. Picture: David Crosling

Because it forced the government to significantly wind back aspects of what could only be described as bad law, drafted in secret with the help of three friendly crossbenchers. It was this surreptitious, behind-the-scenes drafting that sparked much of the community backlash and suspicion.

Rightly, Victorians were concerned about the deemed necessity to keep secret negotiations about laws which will have the ability to so profoundly impact their lives.

If not for the dramatic intervention of former minister Adem Somyurek, who dubbed the laws “dangerous” and vowed to oppose them, many other concerns would have been left unaddressed.

Ultimately, the government was forced to agree to a raft of amendments to secure enough support to push the laws through.

They included the creation of an independent panel to review detention orders and the removal of harsher aggravated offences for breaching pandemic orders.

A new cross-party parliamentary committee will also review pandemic orders while new independent processes will review pandemic declarations and detention orders.

The committee will be made up of two Labor members, two Coalition members, and two crossbench MPs, who are yet to be announced.

It is an important oversight mechanism that should engender confidence the new legislative framework won’t be abused.

Confidence is one thing Victorians need after almost two years of pain.

Polling out today shows a massive lack of confidence as we head into 2022.

There is a sense of pessimism with fears around the cost of living and mortgage insecurity emerging as key concerns.

Will anything tangibly change with the introduction of the new laws this week?

Not really.

At a minimum, the government will be forced to release more public health advice than it previously has to justify pandemic-related decisions it makes.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out, given the vehement opposition until now in releasing anything resembling proper and detailed public health advice.

One thing that certainly won’t change is the prospect of further lockdowns.

It will likely continue to be a major factor in big life decisions such as starting a new job or business, or moving home.

It will surely influence big business decisions like investing in Victoria, too.

So while things seem as normal as they have for almost two years,
it seems real recovery is a long way away yet.

— Shannon Deery is Herald Sun state politics editor