Victorian MP receives death threats ahead of pandemic laws fronting parliament

An anonymous person has sent a disgusting letter to a Victorian MP who is publicly supporting the government’s new pandemic laws.

A progressive Victorian MP who is openly backing proposed pandemic laws has received disgusting death threats and a used condom in the mail, ahead of politicians debating the laws next week.

Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick said his family had been threatened with being shot and his children kidnapped after it was revealed he and two other MPs had consulted with the government on the Bill and agreed to support it.

The controversial bill would give the Premier unprecedented powers to declare pandemics for three months at a time, allow the Health Minister to sign off on public health orders and pass down harsh fines and jail time for those caught recklessly disobeying rules.

Mr Meddick said threats towards his family and office had escalated dramatically during the pandemic.

“I welcome feedback and thoughts, but not like this,” he said.

“Lately, my staff remove their passes on their way in to work so they can’t be identified. We are strong and so is my family, but it is impacting us.”

Andy Meddick MP has seen abuse towards his family and office skyrocket.

The Victorian government’s pandemic bill has been publicly condemned by the opposition, industry and the public, with protests igniting across the city in recent weeks. Picture: Tim Carrafa

In a post shared by his chief of staff Georgie Purcell, an anonymous person enclosed a used condom inside an expletive-laden letter questioning why Mr Meddick was supporting the bill.

The letter’s author threw cruel, transphobic insults at Mr Meddick’s family, while insinuating they hoped he would catch a sexually transmitted disease.

“This is just one of many letters sent to our office this week,” Ms Purcell wrote.

“Some are threatening, some are sick – all of them are wrong. My boss puts on a brave face, but I’ll say it: we’re struggling.”

This is just one of many letters sent to our office this week.

Some are threatening, some are sick — all of them are wrong.

My boss puts on a brave face, but I’ll say it: we’re struggling.

Everyone has the right to voice opinions to pollies. But not like this. #SpringStpic.twitter.com/C29GqDbYBB

— Georgie Purcell (@georgievpurcell) November 9, 2021

The Victorian government’s pandemic bill has been publicly condemned by the opposition, industry and the public, with protests igniting across the city in recent weeks.

A second Victorian upper-house crossbench, MP Fiona Patten, who is also supporting the bill, was forced to close her office last month after masked vandals unleashed on the building.

Ms Patten also temporarily quit social media after sustained abuse and said she regularly received threats.

Footage online has also shown Premier Daniel Andrews, as well as Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Covid-commander Jeroen Weimar being heckled and sworn at by protesters.

⚠️ LANGUAGE WARNING ⚠️

Brett Sutton
I don’t think you will ever walk a Melbourne street alone pic.twitter.com/NzbpWBOlVC

— Dee (@_Dee_1982) November 9, 2021

The bill is due to be debated in the upper house next week after it was passed by the Legislative Assembly.

The legislation has already secured the votes of Ms Patten, Mr Meddick and Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, with the government now only needing the votes of three independent MPs for it to be passed.

But Victorian barristers have urged the government to halt the laws passing through parliament, with members of the Victorian Bar strongly opposing the legislation.

In a submission to the Victorian government, barristers called supervision over the minister’s proposed powers “grossly insufficient” and that language about what a pandemic meant needed to be objectively defined.

“The essence of the Victorian Bar’s concern is that the Bill seeks to take powers that were intended to be used for a very limited period of up to six months in an unforeseen emergency, and to entrench them as the ordinary method of dealing with pandemic diseases over extended periods,” the Victorian Bar wrote.

“The Victorian Bar urges the government to delay the introduction of the Bill into the upper house.”

Mr Andrews last month said he was not open to making amendments to the bill.

[e-mail]

Premier Daniel Andrews has been called a dictator over the new pandemic laws. Picture: Luis Ascui / NCA NewsWire