Andrews can never redeem ‘worst premier’ reputation

It would be hard to imagine a more inappropriate and insensitive appointment to Orygen, the youth mental health body, than former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, arguably the worst and most incompetent premier in that state’s history (“Andrews new role an insult to the agony of parents”, 24/10). This man has left the state with massive debt, the shame of a cancelled Commonwealth Games, which will have lasting effects on the future of the Games, and the untold anguish and suffering of thousands of people resulting from his jackboot management of the Covid-19 pandemic. This appointment should be rescinded immediately.

Peter Jacobsen, New Farm, Qld

Peta Credlin’s article addresses the perplexing reason for Daniel Andrews’s appointment as chair of youth mental health service, Orygen. The former premier seems to be trying to atone for one of the greatest failures in public administration in Australia’s history.

The memories of Victorians are not that short that they cannot recall the destruction of both lives and livelihoods, and how much human heartache was generated through Andrews’s iron-hand attitude towards the management of a virus. In Melbourne, a city that endured the longest lockdown in the world, school students missed over 40 weeks of face-to-face learning, despite the fact schools were never the engine room of the pandemic. Citizens were treated like Communist bloc residents, with nightly curfews, or being forced to camp metres outside state borders when rushing to get home along congested highways.

Former chief health officer Brett Sutton boldly declared outdoor playgrounds to be certified death traps. The police force was weaponised, so as to punish reprobates for either watching a sunset, sipping alcohol from a keep cup, or posting a grievance on Facebook. Added to this mix was the sight of returned travellers rushing into hotels, all overseen by the former premier, who declared no knowledge of who booked and paid for untrained security guards to be recruited through WhatsApp and supervise hotel quarantine.

The leaders of Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland equally became intoxicated with their new-found powers. If Andrews genuinely wants to make a restorative difference, then my suggestion is he not only personally apologise to those families who had children either drop out of school or, tragically, end their lives during the season of Covid, but also offer to fund the school fees for siblings affected by the death of a loved family member whose welfare was crushed through the vain efforts of a bumbling state bureaucracy.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Peta Credlin brilliantly sums up our disbelief in former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews being appointed chair of leading youth mental health service Orygen. It’s not surprising Andrews craves credibility after his pandemic record and policies, which destroyed many small businesses and, worse still, ruined the education of many schoolchildren, including three of my own grandchildren. He seeks public redemption, but his reputation will forever be as the premier who bankrupted Victoria with record deficit, bequeathing our next generations with a debt-filled future.

Alan Chipp, Hawthorn, Vic

Peta Credlin should be applauded for highlighting the dreadful decision to appoint Daniel Andrews, chair of the youth mental health service, Orygen. As she rightly points out, the optics are appalling. By taking on the role, Andrews is only seeking to rebuild his tattered reputation, a reputation that hasn’t been enhanced by either his Australia Day gong or a bronze statue. On the contrary, his name will always be synonymous with long-term politically based incarceration and lasting mental anguish. Appointing Andrews to this position is akin to making a convicted pyromaniac the fire brigade commander.

Tom Moylan, Dudley Park, WA

Peta Credlin outlines the heartbreaking case of a bereaved Victorian family, trying to cope with the death by suicide of their young son, a consequence of Victoria’s inhumane lockdowns. To have Andrews appointed to a youth mental health service is insult to injury, to put it mildly. Indeed, the travesties do not stop there. There were more than 600 deaths in Victoria’s aged care and no one has been held accountable for that.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW