Frydenberg pressure helps call time on Victoria lockdown

Daniel Andrews has buckled to common sense and pressure from Josh Frydenberg to bring forward an end to the world’s longest lockdown. The modest easing of restrictions from Monday is recognition that long-suffering Melbourne residents have started to tune out and no longer listen to their leader. The absurdity of modern life in what once was rated the world’s most liveable city is confirmed by news that uniformed police have been reduced to checking takeaway cups to ensure they contain coffee, something necessary for the drinker to remove a mask. With NSW pushing ahead with a return to schools for students from Monday and international travel from New Zealand’s South Island restarted, the momentum finally is towards normalisation.

Determination by new NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to push ahead with opening is challenging the federal government and other state leaders. Queensland has criticised Mr Perrottet, with its Deputy Premier, Steven Miles, accusing NSW of abandoning the national plan for the Covid crisis and ignoring health advice. But with NSW moving ahead to open international borders from November, the pressure is on the Sunshine State to do better with vaccinations.

The decision by Mr Andrews to bring forward an easing of restrictions in Victoria followed a scathing intervention by Mr Frydenberg. The federal Treasurer said Victoria’s sharp seven-day lockdown was now in its 73rd day and the commonwealth has been providing financial assistance to Victorian households and businesses at twice the level of the state government. More than $45bn in direct economic support had been provided, including Covid Disaster Payments of up to $750 a week to more than 700,000 Victorians. Mr Frydenberg said the doors of small businesses had been locked for the better part of 18 months and while jobs were created last month in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, more than 120,000 jobs were lost in Victoria alone.

Despite the easing of restrictions, Mr Frydenberg said it defied logic that residents of Sydney could travel around 900km to visit Melbourne but a Melburnian could not travel more than 15km to see their own family. Mr Andrews announced that the Melbourne lockdown would lift on October 21 after the state is expected to meet the 70 per cent double-vaccination target. Eighty per cent double vaccination is expected to be reached on October 31, five days earlier than predicted, while the number of Covid-related hospitalisations is expected to be less than feared.

The Burnet Institute is predicting 63 per cent fewer hospitalisations when Victoria’s cases peak than it forecast less than a month ago, and 45 per cent fewer deaths between now and the end of the year. The institute said the acceleration in vaccination rates explained the disparity.

Mr Andrews said he “could not be more proud of our community for coming forward and making these decisions to protect themselves, to protect the people they love, and to protect all of us against this global pandemic”. The changes announced on Sunday bring forward freedoms that had previously not been expected until the state reached 80 per cent double vaccination, but the new liberties still do not put Victoria on par with NSW. At 70 per cent double vaccination, Sydney shops are open, hospitality numbers are uncapped, cinemas are open and no masks are required outdoors. In Melbourne, only outdoor retail is permitted, hospitality numbers are capped at 20, cinemas and pools remain closed and masks must still be worn outside. The Andrews experiment with a short, sharp lockdown has failed and the excesses of control will leave a lasting legacy of financial and emotional stress from which his state will take years to recover.