Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (22:44): (1574) My adjournment matter is for the Premier and concerns the gaping divide between Victoria and New South Wales as our northern cousins begin their journey towards freedom and recovery while Victorians continue to languish under the yoke of this increasingly incompetent government. New South Wales enjoys many things that Victoria does not, such as the Sydney Opera House, Mount Kosciusko or even the Blue Mountains. Clearly we can add competent government to this list. Yesterday New South Wales, with a 70 per cent double-vaccination rate, began opening up their economy, releasing millions of their citizens from 106 days of lockdown and giving much-needed relief to thousands of struggling businesses. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet was quoted yesterday as saying:

I see it as a day of freedom. It is a freedom day.

Imagine that: a premier that actually celebrates—and actively celebrates—the burgeoning freedom of their citizens, rather than regularly berating them or blaming a different population group each day for the abject failure of their own government’s pandemic response. In stark contrast with the citizens of New South Wales enjoying their freedom by sitting in pubs, cafes and restaurants, the long-suffering people of Victoria have to put up with rumours abounding that the Andrews government may delay their measly easing of restrictions even further.

Having learned nothing from the example provided by New South Wales, the Victorian contact-tracing regime appears just as hopeless as when this government killed 801 people following their quarantine catastrophe—something I am happy to remind the Premier about in case he does not recall. With Victoria in day 70 of a seven-day lockdown and recording 1466 new locally acquired cases in the last 24 hours, compared to 360 in New South Wales, it is difficult to say what is more ridiculous—this government’s assertion of a ‘short, sharp lockdown to flatten the curve’, now in its ninth week, or its repeated assurance that it has the situation in hand.

The Victorian people are looking across the border and seeing a state enjoying the fruits of their hard-won freedom, guided by a government that is willing to invest in the freedom of its own people. Comparing this to our own situation surely is a recipe for despair. So the action I seek is for the Premier to take a leaf out of Premier Perrottet’s leadership manifesto and return freedom to Victoria, specifically any local government area that reaches 70 per cent double vaccination.