Coronavirus: Morrison’s MPs turn their guns on hapless Premier Daniel Andrews

As Victoria deals with a disastrous second virus wave, the pushback from the Morrison government against Daniel Andrews has begun. Picture: Mark Stewart

The careful pushback from the Morrison government against the Andrews government has begun.

While Scott Morrison has been doggedly determined not to criticise the Victorian Premier and the state Labor government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, especially the disastrous second wave after the failures of hotel quarantine in Melbourne, his colleagues are beginning to demand answers and explanations.

Anthony Albanese and federal Labor have blamed the Prime Minister and the federal Coalition government for the devastating economic and health impact of the thousands of new coronavirus infections.

Labor has accused Morrison of “dithering” and being “indecisive” over aged care, job support and paid pandemic leave. The Opposition Leader and his colleagues have accused Morrison of being responsible for deaths in Victoria and a worse economic downturn.

Federal Labor has not criticised Daniel Andrews’s handling of the quarantine, health care or economic lockdown but declared it a “national problem” that is Morrison’s responsibility.

Coalition MPs and Ministers, particularly in Victoria, have detected a shift in sentiment among their supporters – initially supportive of bipartisanship – towards demands Morrison lay the blame for the outbreak on the Victorian government.

Federal MPs are particularly incensed since the Andrews’ government wanted to close federal MPs offices – including the offices of the Treasurer and Health Minister during a pandemic – as non-essential services.

Josh Frydenberg has spoken strongly for the first time about the “crisis” in Victoria and the emotional toll on the Victorian people.

“What happened in quarantine were significant failures that cannot be repeated,” the Treasurer said on Sky News on Friday.

“The emotional toll on Victorian families, on young women trying to home school their kids and hold down a job at the same time; on grandparents; on businesses that have had to close their doors with millions of people uncertain about their job future – they’re the real issues.

“I’ll let Daniel Andrews explain what happened on quarantine, that’s for him to explain, that’s for him to account for. But there’s no doubt there’s been mistakes made,” he said.

Peter Dutton said the quarantine breaches in Melbourne had not happened in other states and they were “failings around hotel quarantine arrangements in Victoria.”

On Thursday Melbourne-based Assistant Treasurer, Michael Sukkar, said the Victorian government had to explain what had gone wrong.