The wheels are fast falling off Dan Andrews’s clown-car dictatorship. Another high-ranking head has rolled, bringing the axe one step closer to the premier’s own neck; the public tide is inexorably turning against lockdowns and even Andrews himself is tacitly admitting that his extraordinary lockdowns have been a failure.
But that doesn’t mean he’s about to give up any of that sweet, sweet absolute power he’s become accustomed to.
When Andrews admits that it is “mathematically impossible” to achieve his “road map” to reopening, that’s both an admission of failure and a grim determination to hold on to dictatorial power.
There are renewed calls to end Victoria’s harsh lockdown after Premier Daniel Andrews admitted it might now be be “as good as it will get”.
Under Premier Daniel Andrews’ road map to recovery, the state required an average of five cases over two weeks to move into step three – but as of this morning, the metro Melbourne average was double that at 10.
Speaking at his daily press conference on Sunday, Mr Andrews said it was now “mathematically impossible” for Melbourne to reach its goal to easing restrictions as previously hoped by this weekend.
And yesterday, he repeated that message, telling reporters the road map to recovery will likely be overhauled.
In other words, the lockdown hasn’t worked, Andrews knows it hasn’t worked, but he’s going to try to extend it anyway.
“If we open up right now, then it will be almost impossible for us to keep this thing contained and every jurisdiction in the world that’s done it has had that same challenge.”
[…]Mr Andrews insisted his government was committed to seeing out the coronavirus crisis[…“W]e’ll have more to say to that end on Sunday.”
Having got a taste of absolute power, governments rarely let it go easily. Especially not socialists like Andrews.
In case anyone doubts Andrews’s determination to cling to dictatorial power, he has reiterated his self-serving claim that “case numbers are too high to open up now”.
Meanwhile, a public who’ve long been frightened into submission are finally reaching the end of their tether.
Australians are running out of patience with state imposed border closures and strict lockdowns with almost half of all voters now claiming governments are moving too slowly and causing unnecessary damage to the economy and mental health[…]The number of people now supporting a faster return to lifting restrictions, still in place across Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, has more than doubled since July when peak concern was sparked by Victoria’s second wave outbreak.
The mood against continued restrictions is fairly evenly distributed across all age groups, but significantly, those aged 65 and over – the group most at risk from the virus – are slightly more concerned that governments are moving too slowly to free up their citizens.
The wheels are fast coming off Dictator Dan’s little clown car. The BFD. Photoshop by Lushington Brady.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the botched hotel quarantine regime that’s wholly responsible for Melbourne’s outbreak is creeping ever closer to the premier. Despite the endless litany of denials and sweeping amnesia in Victoria’s government, the pins are starting to fall. First, health minister Jenny Mikakos resigned in disgrace (while admitting nothing), now Andrews’s most senior public servant has quit.
Victoria’s most senior public servant, Chris Eccles, sensationally quit on Monday after it was revealed he had telephoned the state’s top police officer at the height of deliberations over the failed hotel quarantine system — contradicting his evidence to the hotel quarantine inquiry.
Eccles will almost certainly be just the first public servant and politician to be found to have misled the inquiry. Eccles quit his post in haste after being forced to hand over his phone records to the inquiry and his lie was found out. He’s not alone: a raft of senior public servants and the premier himself have been asked to submit their phone records to the inquiry.
Even if Andrews and his cronies manage to slither unscathed from the Coates inquiry, there are a Worksafe inquiry and class action lawsuits already rolling.
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