Locked down and living with it: Victoria backs Dan Andrews in Newspoll

A majority of Victorians, and two-thirds of voters across the country, support Daniel Andrews’ handling of the second wave.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has held open the possibility that restrictions would be lifted faster than originally anticipated. Picture: Ian Currie

A majority of Victorians have backed Daniel Andrews’ management of the second COVID-19 outbreak, with two-thirds of voters across the country also rating the state’s lockdown as “about right”.

The Australian’s Newspoll shows 62 per cent of voters in the state agree that the Victorian Premier has handled the crisis well, despite hotel quarantine failures and mounting criticism from the business community and medical experts over the prolonged Melbourne lockdown.

Separately, 61 per cent of voters around Australia, including 57 per cent of Coalition voters, say the ­restrictions, which have locked Victorians at home and prevented them from travelling interstate, were appropriate.

Mr Andrews on Monday held open the possibility that restrictions would be lifted faster than originally anticipated after the state recorded just 11 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours.

“Let me be clear — if circumstances change, if we find ourselves ahead of schedule, not for one day but in a manifest sense, common sense always guides us,” he said. “We will look at what sits behind the numbers and then we will have to make a judgment.”

 

Approval for Mr Andrews’s handling of the pandemic among Victorian voters remains at the same level as July, when the poll was last taken, but is a significant fall from 85 per cent in April.

The lockdown, including a ban on travelling more than 5km to go shopping or exercise, came into place on August 2.

But more than one-third of voters — 35 per cent — in the state think he has handled the pandemic poorly. Mr Andrews’s net satisfaction slid from 58 per cent in April to 27 per cent in September.

Queenslanders have also backed Annastacia Palaszczuk’s handling of COVID-19, with 68 per cent saying she is doing well, although this is a fall from highs of 81 per cent in July.

Voters in both states have also endorsed Scott Morrison’s handling of the pandemic, with 77 per cent in Queensland and 71 per cent in Victoria rating the Prime Minister’s performance as “well”.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Burleigh Heads. Picture: Attila Csaszar

Victoria recorded two deaths — a woman in her 80s and a woman in her 100s — on Monday, with the toll since the start of the pandemic at 763. There are 92 ­people in Victorian hospitals. NSW had four new cases, with Queensland reporting one.

The support for the two leaders among voters in their states comes amid a shift in national sentiment on restrictions, with 39 per cent of voters around the country now more concerned about harm to the economy and mental wellbeing than the risk of higher infection.

 

That is almost double the 20 per cent of voters who held that view in July. However, 56 per cent of voters remain concerned that moves to ease restrictions were too quick, risking the virus spreading further and more infections. That is down from 76 per cent in July.

The shift in mood towards a more rapid lifting of lockdowns was spread across the political spectrum but was more pronounced among Coalition voters, with 45 per cent concerned at moving too slowly compared with 51 per cent worried about moving too rapidly.

In July, these numbers were 24 per cent to 72 per cent respectively, according to Newspoll.

Voters across the country were less supportive of the Queensland Premier’s hard border closures, which continue despite low numbers of infections in NSW, with 53 per cent saying the level of restrictions were about right and 37 per cent saying they should be relaxed.

The Newspoll of 2068 voters nationally — including 1211 voters in Victoria and Queensland who were asked questions about their own premiers’ performances and management of the virus — was conducted between September 16 and 19.

 

Nick Coatsworth, the federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said the low number of new COVID-19 cases in Victoria could prompt reconsideration of the roadmap out of lockdown. “If they continue down into single-digit territory, there is no doubt they will be provoking some thought on behalf of the Victorian government about the roadmap and when restrictions can be lifted.

“But we need to sound a note of caution … the effort that Victorians have gone to so far, the incredible effort, could easily be undone. And we don’t want that to happen.

“The Victorian public health unit has learnt so much, and demonstrated improvements in the test, trace and isolate system that can give Victorians confidence of that extra firepower to keep COVID-19 under control into next year.”

He said the curfew was “never debated or discussed within the (federal health advisory ­committee)”.

 

Melbourne is expected to come out of the tightest lockdown next Monday, although the city will remain under a curfew from 9pm to 5am. Residents will be allowed to leave home only for a small number of reasons, and exercise or socialise for just two hours a day.

Hospitality will remain takeaway or delivery only, and only essential retailers will open, under the current plan.

That plan, which has been criticised by epidemiologists as “very challenging”, allows for the lifting of the curfew only on October 26 — and only if there is an average of fewer than five new cases a day over a fortnight and fewer than five cases with an unknown source.

This month, The Australian reported that epidemiologists including World Health Organis­ation adviser Dale Fisher, had questioned why there was a five case threshold for easing restrictions. “There are not many countries achieving that and there is usually a significant price to pay,” Professor Fisher said at the time.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino on Monday gave school camps in regional areas of the state the green light to reopen after the government accelerated the timeline for the reopening of rural schools last week.

Despite the fall in coronavirus cases, Victorian health authorities have faced a fresh outbreak among five households who visited each other’s home in potential breach of the city’s lockdown rules.

Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services said of the 11 new cases on Monday, six remained under investigation.