Coronavirus Australia: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews must shed his nanny state skin

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions on Monday morning.

The Andrews government’s response to the health crisis has been dynamic but the strategy on the economy appears cautious, piecemeal and possibly even lethargic.

Nothing concrete on schools on Monday, nothing to give short-term hope to the multi-billion dollar hospitality sector.

Or nothing much at all on how the government plans to use its powers and mandate to help inject life into a slaughtered economy.

Dan Andrews was fundamentally clear on what his strategic policy strategy is, adopting a three word slogan. Safe. Cautious. Appropriate.

But his chief health officer was emphatic on Monday in stating that he has no problem with schools opening before the end of this term.

It seems particularly strange that the government wouldn’t have prioritised education in Monday’s announcement, given the sector is in crisis and the clear implications for the economy and community wellbeing.

Parents and children have been nuked by weeks of home schooling, having been told initially by Andrews that students needed to be at school.

Then he changed his mind.

There is now no health reason, if we believe the CHO, not to act swiftly on schools.

The only possible explanation is the spin cycle; that Andrews wants to be able to spread out his announcements over several days to make the government appear more active.

Surely we are past this stage?

The broader relaxation of restrictions involving limited sport and greater social contact will be embraced by the community but it’s hard not to question some of the logic.

People have been able to gather in their thousands at large retail outlets over the last two weekends but for weeks people haven’t been able to seek comfort in the safety of a national park.

A quiet Melbourne city skyline during the COVID-19 pandemic, pictured at what would normally be a busy evening peak. Picture: Mark Stewart

The biggest challenge this government will face is whether it has the capacity to be nimble enough to deal with the economic crisis.

Victoria has become so bogged down in red tape nonsense that Andrews must urgently focus on shedding his nanny state skin.

Andrews has shown with his aggressive infrastructure agenda that he has the capacity to lead from the front for the good of the economy.

But the early signs as we tail out of the pandemic are that he thinks that somehow it will work if we walk out of the crisis.

It won’t.

He needs to show taxpayers an aggressive road map that is both optimistic and achievable, without blowing up the health campaign.

It will be difficult but by no means impossible.