Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has COVID-19 daily briefing sayings on repeat
Tuning into the daily press conference has become a ritual for Victorians. But Sophie Elsworth says it’s also become a punishment as we’re forced to listen to Daniel Andrews.
Opinion
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Are we right to go?
If you immediately think of Premier Daniel Andrews when you hear these words you’re not alone.
It’s how he kicks off his press conferences without fail each day as millions of Victorians tune in while under house arrest.
On the phone to a colleague the other day she uttered, “we’re all in this together”.
She was calling from Sydney so it had nothing to do with Victoria’s never-ending lockdown but those words are ones Victorians know all too well.
It’s what Dictator Dan has said on repeat for months on end now, and words that won’t be forgotten when Melburnians are finally released from being prisoners in their own homes.
Under the premier’s dictatorship a whole bunch of “Danisms” have been wheeled out at his daily briefings that many of us have become all too familiar with.
Here’s some that has stuck firmly in the minds of many of us.
“Let me be clear”.
“It’s been very challenging”.
“We can’t pretend this is over”.
“This virus doesn’t discriminate”.
“I am very grateful to those Victorians who are doing the right thing.”
I’m putting money on the Premier’s favourite word being “challenging”. Throughout this entire crisis he has wheeled at this word at any opportunity.
But one sentence I’ve noticed has been popping up more frequently is this: “You can’t ignore the data and the science”.
Ah sorry, yes you can Premier.
There’s no data or science behind having a 9pm bedtime, it’s simply about making the lives of police officers easier.
It was a captain’s call by Chairman Dan to implement this strict bed time on more than five million Melburnians despite less than 1000 infections (70 per cent of which are linked to aged care).
“If you have even the mildest of symptoms please come forward and get tested,” Premier Andrews has said over and over again.
If Victorians haven’t got this message by now they’ve surely been living under a rock.
And let’s not forget this one, coronavirus is regularly described by the Premier as the “wicked enemy”.
And if anyone dares criticise the Premier his response is so predictable, “Well they are entitled to their view.”
While many Melburnians are eager to flee what was once the world’s most liveable city, this comment from the Premier was one that certainly won’t be forgotten, particularly by those across the border.
“I don’t want to be offensive to South Australians, but why would you want to go there?”
Well Premier, I can think a million reasons why.