The second US president, John Adams, said: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
Since June, and the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, 553 Victorians have died from COVID-19.
Doherty Institute medical director Ben Howden told the Victorian inquiry led by judge Jennifer Coate that 99 per cent of COVID-19 cases genomically tested in the state could be traced to the hotels quarantine fiasco.
To put this in perspective, since March 659 Australians have died with the virus — 87 per cent of them Victorians. It is largely a Victorian crisis, but its consequences resonate across the Murray River and beyond.
In July, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant confirmed all new cases of coronavirus came from outside NSW and were linked to Victorian strains.
As The Australian editor-at-large Paul Kelly told Sky News Sunday Agenda: “The performance of the Victorian government in terms of a failure of public policy, a failure of public administration, is certainly the worst we have seen from any state in terms of its consequences for the state and national economy, it’s the worst we’ve seen in the last 50 years, and that’s a very big statement.”
Fault doesn’t lie with public
When you consider that every other state managed its hotel quarantine responsibilities adequately with the assistance of the Australian Defence Force, while the Victorian Labor government refused its help, it completely undermines Daniel Andrews’s rhetoric that the second wave was the public’s fault.
Andrews was still trying to convince Victorians this week that the second wave was caused by “large gatherings in the home”.
NSW has had a significant advantage despite making mistakes, most notably with the Ruby Princess. The NSW government learned from this — its contact tracing team has been outstanding while Victoria’s remains poor.
In thousands of cases Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has no idea, where and from whom the virus was contracted. So we remain locked down.
Federal Treasury estimates that by December about 60 per cent of JobKeeper’s 2.24 million recipients will be in Victoria. The hit to the national economy from Victoria’s lockdown is up to $12bn. It is estimated household spending is down by 30 per cent in Victoria; around the rest of the country it is one-tenth that
The Victorian parliament is sitting this week. For the lower house, it’s our first sitting in months. The purpose of this session is for Labor to extend its state-of-emergency powers for six months. It appears to have passed the upper house supported by the Greens and two almost unknown crossbenchers. The opposition opposed Labor’s extreme power grab.
This is arrogant overreach. Never has individual liberty been so restricted — a curfew, no AFL grand final, limits to exercise, borders closed. More important, it indicates Andrews has no confidence his government can get the virus under control soon.
Andrews has yet to detail any plan on how Victoria can reopen its economy while living with COVID-19, other than shutting down the state with every outbreak. Andrews has told Victorians that he will provide a road map this Sunday, only after significant pressure from the federal government, business and the state opposition. Why the delay? Why the melodrama? Victorians deserve a plan out of lockdown now.
What is the average minimum daily virus cases or total active cases that will trigger Melbourne moving back to stage three? When can businesses reopen? When can children go to school? This is cruel and debilitating for singles, families and businesses. It is so bad it may undermine confidence to invest here for years to come.
Let’s pray COVID-19 cases continue to decline, then let’s rebuild Victoria. Then the Premier and his jobs, health and police ministers must take responsibility for their failings and resign.
Tim Smith is a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.