Daniel Andrews’ impossible choice is a burden his detractors will never experience

Daniel Andrews will this morning make an announcement that will impact all Australians. But the Premier can’t win, no matter what he says.

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There has perhaps never been such a void between decisions made by those in power and decisions made by those who have none.

Here’s a nice illustration:

On Friday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was hammering out the details of an announcement that will impact all Victorians.

Shortly, he’ll deliver those details in a speech that will be watched around the nation — an update on what comes next for Victorians who have suffered through some of the harshest lockdown measures anywhere in the world.

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Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews arrives for a daily briefing last week. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The choices he makes are literally life and death. Such is the burden of being Premier of Australia’s hardest-hit state during a once-in-a-century pandemic.

On the other side of politics, Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick is trying to wake up all the babies in Melbourne.

His team issued a press release on Friday afternoon urging all Melburnians to … wait for it … “bang your pots and pans” and “beep your horns” at 8pm as a show of defiance against the Premier and his “authoritarian behaviour”.

His colleague, Liberal MP Tim Smith is reminding voters in Kew why they backed him by debuting a face mask with the word “DANDEMIC” printed on it.

On the surface, it’s petty stuff. But it’s indicative of a wider attack on the Premier that has nothing to do with his failings in hotel quarantine — failings he says he will take full responsibility for.

It’s about creating noise — literally in Mr Limbrick’s case — and being, well, just very negative.

Just an update on how Victoria is going, we've got David Limbrick urging people to bang pots and pans at 8pm as a show of defiance. If this wakes up my baby... @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/w8PjZqjZpN

— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) September 4, 2020

Liberal MP @TimSmithMP has a mask with the word “DANDEMIC” printed on it. @10NewsFirstMelb #springst pic.twitter.com/7adi8uFK7g

— Simon Love (@SimoLove) September 2, 2020

Mr Andrews is this morning expected to outline the road map out of stage four in Victoria. It will include details about when Victorians can see their families again, when they can travel outside the 5km lockdown radius and when they can reopen their businesses, if doing so is still viable.

The decisions he makes will be informed by the state’s health officers, medical experts and epidemiologists. And there is no room to get it wrong.

“These are some of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made in 20 years of public life,” he said this week.

“The tolerance for getting it wrong is incredibly low. It will count for nothing if we open up too soon. I don’t get the luxury of doing what’s popular.”

What’s popular at this stage is hard to quantify.

There are a growing number of Victorians who have served their time in lockdown and want the state to open up again, whether coronavirus case numbers are low enough to justify doing so or not.

Such a move would be popular with construction workers — CFMEU Victorian Secretary John Setka has already written to the Premier and his Chief Health Officer demanding 300,000 workers be allowed back on the job.

It would be popular with Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, a man charged with pulling Australia out of a recession.

But it is a move that would be unpopular with the majority of Victorians with a relative in aged care or a loved one on the front line.

And if it’s too soon, Victoria can say hello to a third wave. And there will be no more appetite for lockdown then. Gone is the enthusiasm and adrenaline that fuelled the first lockdown. It was whittled away during the second lockdown.

And there is a genuine possibility that reopening now is too soon. A report by the Grattan Institute this week entitled Go For Zero recommends easing restrictions only when Victoria reaches NSW-levels — roughly 20 new cases a day. And we’re not there yet.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will deliver a road map for Victoria on Sunday. Picture: DNCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

It says Victoria, NSW, and Queensland could eliminate the virus if Victoria endured a further eight weeks of lockdown. Not very appealing.

So we wait for Mr Andrews to step up to the lectern as he has done every day for months now. He’ll have an update on how many more Victorians have tragically lost their lives overnight and some news about what to do next.

And whatever he says, one thing is certain. He will have divided Victorians. He can’t win either way.