Legacy of Andrews’ lockdown will be felt for a generation ... citizens deserve to know why

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media in Melbourne yesterday. Picture: AAP

Were millions of Victorians subjected to one of the world’s most extreme Covid-19 lockdowns for health reasons or for the political expediency of Premier Daniel Andrews? This is the uncomfortable question that must be answered following the release of documents under Freedom of Information legislation as a result of persistent inquiry by Victorian editor Damon Johnston. Thanks to good journalism, we now know Mr Andrews spent millions of taxpayer dollars surveying community attitudes to his daily Covid-19 pronouncements and was emboldened to continue with harsh measures because the results showed there was support.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton (L) looks on as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne in October 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

Some people may argue that this is what representative government is all about, leaders who listen to feedback. But the opposite can be true. It should be no surprise that a captive audience constantly fed a diet of fear will reward those who say they are offering protection. This is the stuff of cults. It reflects a Stockholm syndrome where hostages will sympathise with their captors.

Strong leadership in a pandemic is not about being self-serving. It is about being able to make difficult decisions that maximise freedoms and opportunity, and are for the benefit of everyone. The evidence from Victoria is that draconian lockdown measures did not result in better health outcomes.

The number of deaths was higher in Victoria than elsewhere, and the cost to taxpayers was higher also. The lasting memories of Victoria’s response to Covid-19 management are of bureaucratic incompetence, political evasion and a police force that lost touch with the public it served. Officers were forced to impose unreasonable demands on ordinary citizens and to use pepper bullets, flash bombs and other weapons and tactics to quell protests in ways that were out of all proportion to the threat posed.

We now know that Labor-aligned research company QDOS was a key part of Mr Andrews’ political strategy throughout the pandemic. The FOI documents that the Andrews government fought tooth and nail to keep secret from the public until after the state election in November last year prove that during the 112-day lockdown in 2020 to combat the second wave of Covid-19 that killed more than 800 people, the Premier’s hand-picked $2m political strategist was monitoring how people were rating his performance.

Premier Daniel Andrews during a daily COVID-19 press conference in July 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Matray

That research was fed back to the government’s Covid crisis cabinet in “cabinet in confidence” briefing notes, as was additional research on how Victorians felt about the curfew, a 5km travel limit, the metro-regional split and other restrictions.

The FOI documents brush aside any pretence that Victorians were being controlled on the basis of health advice. In fact, they were being denied freedoms and stripped of their ability to make a living on the basis of what polling was telling the Premier about his own performance and the restrictions. The fact health advice was merely a convenient political cover is further demonstrated by the reality that when public sentiment changed, political leaders were quick to say it was them, not health bureaucrats, who were calling the shots.

This is how it should have been all along. But the decisions should have been on the basis of what was best for everyone, including the mental health of vulnerable youth and the small-business owners who were forced to suspend trade and watch a lifetime’s work waste away, rather than the mob’s impression of the Premier’s style. Unlike public servants who maintained their income and increased their leisure time by working from home, business owners and the self-employed did not rate enough of a mention or political consideration.

The legacy of Mr Andrews’ lockdown measures will be felt for a generation as people struggle to recover from the financial and emotional toll it imposed.

This is why it is important to explore fully why actions were taken and whether alternatives were even considered. Given the actions of all state governments and their preparedness to play politics with Covid and the Morrison government over health funding and other financial support measures, it is important that a proper inquiry is held into all aspects of the pandemic response. The determination of this newspaper to uncover the truth about Mr Andrews’ political strategy and the obstacles that were placed in the way of those efforts adds a vital piece of information to the puzzle. Citizens deserve to know why they were forced to surrender liberties, and what was achieved in return, if for no other reason than to stop the same mistakes from being made in the future.