Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:15): My adjournment matter is for the Premier. On Monday the Premier announced we will be wearing masks at least until the end of the year and maybe into next year. This is deeply disturbing. The face mask mandate is made under the state-of-emergency powers. This statement is proof that the government has no intention of winding back its extraordinary powers when the public health crisis subsides and their excruciating, clandestine goal of elimination is achieved, a goal which many believe is unattainable.

Victorians should be extremely concerned about their government’s insistence on retaining the powers it has accumulated during a crisis. The masks mandate is problematic for a number of reasons. In regional Victoria it is often nonsensical. A gathering of workers in a field on a farm in the blistering hot sunburnt country should not be forced to wear masks. A gentleman walking alone on an empty country road with no person in sight and no COVID-19 case within hundreds of kilometres should not be forced to wear a mask. A couple bushwalking or hiking in the Grampians in the summer heat should not be forced to wear masks. Even in metropolitan Melbourne in many circumstances masks are unnecessary.

The federal Department of Health says where there is low community transmission of COVID-19, wearing a mask in the community when you are well is not generally recommended. The community transmission of COVID-19 is now low in Victoria. Face masks should become voluntary across the state. Victorians should be encouraged to be responsible for their own welfare and that of their fellow citizens, particularly in high-risk environments, but continuing to mandate them is wrong and unjustified.

By all means ensure the best available masks are provided to health workers who appear most at risk. If masks are not working in the government health system, why does the government force citizens to wear them? Many people have legitimate reasons for not wearing masks but are singled out for abuse and threatening comments while this government insists on wasting police resources having them implement the Labor Party obsession with fining Victorians. Masks should be optional, as they are in the rest of the country. The action I seek is for the Premier to remove the face mask mandate in Victoria.