Susie O’Brien: Generation-defining arrogance behind Victoria’s second wave

This second round of lockdown will be tough, but people need to stop trying to make up their own rules. This is not lockdown lite, writes Susie O’Brien.

Don’t blame Daniel Andrews for Victoria’s COVID catastrophe.

That’s what he wants you to do. That’s why he keeps telling you “the buck stops with me”.

The Labor Party wants to concentrate blame on Andrews so he can be replaced before the next election with a cleanskin minister who’s stayed out of the limelight.

This is why it’s important we look at the role played by ministers and departmental officials.

This has been a generation-defining display of incompetence, arrogance and ignorance, not only by Andrews, but Jobs Minister Martin Pakula and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.

Not one member of this mob deserves to be in power after this.

Their appalling and neglectful handling of hotel quarantine is the primary reason Victoria remains locked down with rising coronavirus case numbers, while other states open up. Their tacit approval of the Black Lives Matter protest didn’t help.

The health department’s poor management of outbreaks — as seen in the issuing of texts wrongly telling people to end self-isolation — is also to blame.

I understand many people are angry.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Getty

Parents looking down the barrel of five weeks of soul-sapping home schooling are angry.

Teachers worrying about the safety of their schools are angry.

Business owners who have shut their doors once again, fearing they may never reopen, are angry.

But we must not let our anger stop us from doing what is right.

We didn’t cause this, but we can make it much worse if we don’t properly follow lockdown rules.

There are worrying signs people aren’t abiding by the rules so strictly this time around.

We are scared, but we’re also tired and disillusioned.

When lockdown started last time, people stuck to the rules.

There was little traffic on the roads, and people largely kept to their homes. With case numbers low, isolation was a bit of a novelty.

We were willing to do what we were told so we could get back to normal. Now we feel betrayed by our politicians and health officials, and some are using this as an excuse to flout instructions.

On Monday we learned $200,000 worth of fines for breaking lockdown rules have been issued to people partying in and around the city.

And more than 800 people have been caught trying to bypass border declarations by lying about where they have been.

This time around a feeling of despondency has set in, and some people aren’t doing what they are told to do. With weeks ahead of us, people are making their own rules.

Some of my friends last time around were in total lockdown. Now I see them making up their own rules. It’s lockdown lite.

Around me, there are kids having friends over or playing in groups. Grandparents seeing their grandkids. Adults having drinkies on the quiet. Streets are busier than the first lockdown — a sign that more people are out and about than before. Shops are busier than they should be.

It’s not good enough.

We shouldn’t be asking: can we do this or that? We should be asking: should we? Should we have a few drinks with friends after a game of golf? Should we pop down to the holiday house to keep an eye on things? Should we let the kids have a sleepover with a few mates?

No, no and no.

Of course, the lack of consistency in some rules hasn’t helped. Last week people were told to stay at their principal place of residence, but if they were on holidays, they could stay there.

This meant places like the Mornington Peninsula were inundated by Melburnians wanting to be on the coast when the lockdown kicked in.

It wasn’t against the rules, but it was against the spirit of the rules.

There is no doubt Daniel Andrews and his government have let us down. But the electorate will take care of Andrews and his cronies at the next election.

With four or five new outbreaks every day, it feels like the noose is tightening around us.

We’re being told now that lockdown will last “as long as it needs to”. Let’s make sure there’s no chance of stage four lockdown, not only because it would be social and economically devastating, but because it would signify the virus has overrun our state.

Luckily, we can still turn things around, and it’s up to every one of us to do whatever we can to get this deadly menace back under control.

SUSIE O’BRIEN IS A HERALD SUN COLUMNIST

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