The Dan Andrews Report Card

Just so you know I’m not going to go easy on him.  Dan Andrews (DA) is a politician with a background in marketing.  He is a master of spin and manipulation so let’s pull back the veil of misdirection and see what he has really done under in.

 

First Lockdown

 

Victoria was the last state to release its lockdown measures and when it did it was the hardest and strictest in the country.  The first lockdown was absolutely necessary but other states with less strict measures managed to deal with the problem just as effectively so was the super strict lockdown really necessary?  The other point I want to make is why were we the last?  For days, Victorians were left in limbo as to what we were going to be able to do and not do.  Is it just me or does it feel like DA simply loves the spotlight and enjoyed the fact that everyone waited for him so he could politically grandstand?

 

Verdict – 3/10

 

Hotel Quarantine

 

What a debacle.  If you live in Victoria and haven’t heard the news you must be in a coma.  What you might not have picked up on is the skill with which DA has masterfully mitigated political damage with well rehearsed rebuttal and spin.  The political manoeuvring he has undertaken would have been enough to save Nixon from the Watergate scandal.  Sure, he set up an inquiry.  But, he kind of had to and it has been his go to answer for all questions regarding hotel quarantine, which is to deflect to the inquiry and avoid giving an answer.  And this inquiry has spent weeks investigating why the system failed.  An answer we already know and giving DA time for the rage to settle and the criticism to dissipate whilst failing to answer the questions that Victoria want answered.  Just for the record, hotel quarantine failed because we had low skilled, low paid and ill-equipped workers with zero chain of accountability being charged with hotel quarantine and the health of Victoria.  The questions needing answered are who’s idea was it to use private security, why it was considered the best alternative and who signed off on it?

 

Verdict 1/10

 

Testing

 

I have blogged about this before.  Click here if you’re interested.  Essentially, when we were in the dawn of the second wave the time for testing blew out to five days.  During the first lockdown we had three months to get our testing procedures as accurate and efficient and exhaustive as possible.  When it came to testing we should have prepared for the worst where community transmission was rife like we have seen in other countries.  We needed to aim for 50 thousand tests a day with a 24 hour turn around.  We couldn’t even manage 10 thousand.

 

Verdict 1/10

 

 

Contact Tracing

 

Just to be clear, this is not a critique of our contact tracing teams that have worked tirelessly and diligently through the pandemic.  This is focused on the DA involvement.  Firstly, with a five day turn around on tests, the contact tracers are on a hiding to nothing as they are starting five days behind.  But, where other states, like NSW, have managed to stay ahead of the curve Victoria has not.  Probably because they are under resourced and DA didn’t accept any federal or interstate help until it was too late.

 

Verdict 2/10

 

Second Lockdown

 

After it was clear that it was impossible to contain the second outbreak and there was too much community transmission to control we had to head back to the only measure that has worked for DA, lockdown.  If you thought the first lockdown was strict, you ain’t seen nothing yet!  No household visits, only groups of two outside of the house, only allowed out for one hour a day, nothing open but the pharmacy and supermarket open, not allowed more than 5 km from home and a curfew of 8pm.  We were threatened with police action and fines for noncompliance.  In some cases, people were virtually imprisoned in their own home.  Victoria was drowning and DA had his foot firmly on our head holding us under water.  The lockdown was necessary, but we, the people of Victoria, were made to feel like criminals.  Like we were the ones at fault when it wasn’t.  We also know that the Victorian chief health officer or the police did not request the curfew.  In fact they both said it was unnecessary.  So why do we have it DA?  The lockdown has worked but at what cost?  The economy is on life support and the community morale is at an all time low.  It could have been handled better. Way better.

 

Verdict 3/10

 

 

Communication

 

DA would have you believe that he has fronted up to the media everyday and answered all questions.  Well, he has rocked up everyday but has he really answered all questions?   You have probably heard him repeatedly say three things.  “I take responsibility”, “It is inappropriate for me answer whilst there is an inquiry going on”, and “I am simply focused on defeating the virus”.  Textbook political answers to deflect difficult questions and leave them unanswered.  

 

The other thing that has really annoyed me is the timing of his press conferences.  He is constantly late and his really big announcements have been constantly vague on the time of his speech.  On the 6^th of September he promised to make an announcement about the easing of restrictions.  He just didn’t tell us what time.  So, we waited all morning for the great and glorious DA to inform us for how much longer he would be suffocating us with restrictions.  You know what, I think he loves it.  I think he enjoys having all of our attention.  I think his only regret is that it is just Victoria waiting for him and not the whole country. 

 

Verdict 2/10

 

The Inquiry

 

Well the inquiry wrapped up yesterday and from Dans point of view it couldn’t have worked out better.  It bought him time for the rage of the people to soften and he wasn’t implicated and his personal inquisition was decidedly soft.  So let’s look at the facts.  The Honourable Jennifer Coate AO was appointed as the chair of the inquiry.  Was this a politically motivated appointment?  I honestly hope not but you can’t be sure.  She seemed to go surprisingly easy on DA and after three months we failed to get an answer to the number one question.  Who decided on Private Security for hotel quarantine?  At the end of the day, DA now has leeway to bury the whole thing, Jenny Mikakos got thrown under the bus and we didn’t learn anything.  What a complete waste of time.  

 

If we study what we know there are simply two alternatives.  Either DA told the truth or he didn’t.  If he did tell the truth and he doesn’t know who greenlighted private security it shows incompetent leadership and he should go.  If he lied he has either protected himself or others close to him that have made decisions that have lead to the deaths of almost 800 Victorians.  If that happened in the private sector someone would be going to jail.  Either way he should go.  This inquiry was a sham and did nothing more than serve the political needs of DA.

 

Verdict 1/10

 

Other stuff

 

During the pandemic we have really only had two big pieces of news worth mentioning.  First, branch stacking in the Victorian labor party.  DA is the head of the VLP and he has had the job for 10 years.  There is no way to deflect the blame, it all comes down to you DA, but I guess you are accountable for nothing.

 

The other piece of news was to silence victims of sexual abuse from speaking out.  Yes, you are the victim and your actions in the aftermath are suppressed.  Fortunately that legislation was removed but it just goes to show the incompetence of the Victorian government.

 

Verdict 1/10

 

Summary

 

Personally, I think DA is a very smart man and I refuse to believe that he didn’t know exactly what was going on.  I think he engaged private security to curry favour with the United Workers Union which was a solid political decision but clearly not in the interests of Victoria or Australia.  He has always played a solid political game and some people actually fall for his spin and think he has done a good job.  Even if he has successfully defeated the second wave, praising him is like rewarding someone for extinguishing a fire that they started or paying half a billion dollars to NOT build a road (Yes, DA really did that too).  As a final word I just want to say, Dan Andrews, you would better serve Victoria if you were on the dole.

 

Total 14/80

 

Civil Rights

 What are civil rights?  According to Britannica.com, civil rights are “guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics.”  In a democratic society they include the right to vote, the right to a public education, the right to public facilities and the rule of law.  The rule of law is extremely important as it identifies checks and balances in our political system and means that every citizen governed by the law is equal under it, including government, parliament and the judiciary.

 

Now, how does this relate to COVID 19?  Well, if you live in Victoria and you haven’t noticed, we have been in lockdown in some form or another since March.  Lockdown has essentially been a massive afront to our freedoms and it is important to debate whether our civil rights have been compromised.  Every lockdown measure is a potential infringement so let’s break it down.

 

·      Denial of assembly – Right now, we are not allowed to go to anyone elses house, be in public with more than one other person or congregate in public areas.  The right to assembly is to allow for lawful protest and groups to form strategy to challenge political leadership or influence policy in a lawful manner.  This may sound a little insightful or aggressive but it happens all the time.  The federal opposition is always holding the government to account and it is critical in a free society.  Imagine how scary it would be if the opposition was deemed to be unlawful and scrutiny of the government was an offence?  

 

However, we are fighting a pandemic and the virus loves a large group of people coming together which means a suspension (not a cancellation) of gatherings is a sensible approach but we do need to see an end to it.

 

It is important though to look at this from a compassionate standpoint.  Imagine you are elderly, have a variety of health concerns, live in an aged care facility and are completely cut off from your family.  The restrictions are there to protect you but would you really care.  You would not have many days ahead of you anyway and your quality of life would also be low and to top it all off you would be cut off from your family.  On your list of priorities spending time with the ones you love would probably be the number one and this basic civil right is being denied to you.  I believe it is perfectly reasonable to postpone political and menial social gatherings, but exceptions have to be made on compassionate grounds.  That is where we are really feeling it.

 

·      Border closures and 5km exclusion – As far as the virus goes, this makes a lot of sense.  If someone is positive you know that the have not been able to spread it outside a certain area allowing easier contact tracing and containment.  However, you can’t really call it freedom if you can’t go outside a certain area.  Realistically it is a form of incarceration we afford only to criminals.  It is an infringement of rights but probably necessary. 

 

·      Face Masks – I find this one a little ironic.  People who have demanded people should not be allowed to wear face masks (like a burqa or hijab) are now insisting that we do.  Realistically, you can really only demand that if you have the right to not wear a face mask, you also have the right to wear one.  The issue is should you be forced to wear one.  My view is that if face masks supress the transmission of disease it is a small price to pay.

 

·      Curfew – This one I believe is extremely contentious.  Victorians have had to be back inside their homes by 8.00pm.  This has also meant that everything that is allowed to stay open (which isn’t much) has had to shut at 7.45pm.  Granted, there isn’t much reason for most of us to be out but there is for some.  

 

I know a guy in the public service that has a critically important job.  He is a widower with two kids 16 and 10.  During the day when his kids are normally at school the 16 year old has had to look after the younger one.  Lockdown has meant his support network of family and friends is not available and as a result he has to do everything himself.  Normally he would try to get home from work, help the kids with homework etc, cook dinner maintain the household and when his youngest was in bed he’d do the groceries about 9.00pm.  Now he has to do the groceries on the way home from work meaning there is little to no time for his kids, he is exhausted and has no support.

 

What is most unsettling about this is why we even have a curfew?  It has come to light that it was not recommended by the chief health officer, nor did the police request it.  The premier has been uncompromising and unmoved on this issue and when it comes to the curfew has certainly earned his title of dictator Dan.

 

·      One hour out – Another controversial decision is that Melbournians are only allowed one hour outside every day.  Now this is okay if you have a big house with a garden but what if you live in a unit or apartment.  You can only get one hour of fresh air a day.  You know who else gets one hour of fresh air a day?  US death row inmates.

 

·      Denial of basic services – For the most part, essential services like water, power, garbage collection etc. have been maintained but other nonessential services, such as childcare, libraries and community services have been sadly lacking.  There was also the case where after some nasty weather, certain suburbs of Melbourne were left without fresh water and power for days.  Nothing was done to help the affected people.  At the very least, certain restrictions should have been eased so family members could help those in trouble and people could access safe drinking water and cooked food.  Every effort also should have been made to get the services back.  I cannot believe that in todays Australia while Victoria is in a state of emergency it took four days to fix the problem.  Completely unacceptable.

 

·      The right to health and safety – This is the right that the government dangles in our face to justify the lockdown.  Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely important but could be debated for centuries.  Public health and safety is the reason we have speed limits on our roads or smoking bans in our pubs and restaurants.  At the end of the day everyone has a different opinion and who is right is a question that will never be answered.  It is really easy to sit at home, be bored and complain about the lockdown but the 26 thousand+ people and the families of the 816 who have passed away due to the disease would probably think very differently.

 

The big question is what should we do?  Whether we agree with the lockdown or not, we all need to follow the rules.  We live in a democratic society and any adult has the right to run for office and be involved with the decision making.  We also voted for the decision makers so you have to respect their decisions and if you don’t like it, vote them out at the next election.  It is critical that everyone is compliant because the worst thing we could possibly do is whatever we want.  If everyone did whatever they wanted we would have a massive infection rate, deaths in the thousands and a health care system that would have been pushed past the breaking point and given that the Victorian government has displayed a huge lack of preparedness that would probably be much closer than you think.

 

I think there is one more thing Dan Andrews could do now.  After all, he has claimed responsibility and he is the one that has instituted all the rules that have attacked the very fabric of our freedom and given himself massive powers to do what is necessary by implementing a state of emergency for at least nine months.  His nickname “Dictator Dan” is justified and right now we don’t know when his reign is going to end.  He needs to confirm that once the crisis is over he will resign as premiere.  He has stated that he will not contest the next election, but that is over two years away.  If he resigns immediately after the crisis abates it will confirm that his motives are purely to see out the pandemic and not rule over Victoria with an iron fist.

 

It’s up to you Dictator Dan.

 

Stay well

The Judd Effect

The Judd Effect!  What is the Judd Effect?  Well, honestly I just made it up, but it is a really important problem that we need to address.  Just to inform you Rebecca Judd is an Australian model who is married to arguably one of the greatest AFL stars in the history of the game.  Recently, Rebecca Judd got a whole heap of flack.

 

In a since-deleted video, the radio host, took a swipe at Premier Daniel Andrews while plugging a product for her children from the comfort of her $7.3 million home.  If you want to read about it go here:-  

 

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/rebecca-judd-slammed-for-tone-deaf-dictator-dan-instagram-comment/news-story/6be27db42f3e89b0aebae7e563fa370d

 

What she has done is complained about the lockdown and people have whinged about her status and her lifestyle because “she has it easy”.  

 

I want to explore whether the criticism of Rebecca Judd is fair?  To start I want to start you off with a story of my own.  If you read my blog you will know I have had a variety of medical issues.  2006 was my low point but also the time I started turning it around.  One of the reasons I started turning it around was because I stared seeing a psychologist for depression.  I almost felt guilty when I explained my medical conditions and one of the reasons for this was because on at least three occasions when I had complained about my condition to friends, people had told me “Stop whinging!  Think about all the people worse off than you”. 

 

They were trying to help but they weren’t.  I felt guilty and it compounded my depression because I was bottling it up and I wasn’t talking about it.  But the psychologist told me I was perfectly valid to feel upset about my medical conditions and other people didn’t matter when it came to how I felt for me, when it came to me.

 

This was the biggest turning point for me in everything.  I had received validation for my own personal feeling.  It wasn’t fair and I finally felt justified in saying that.  Sure, there were people worse off than me but my feeling was valid, and I had every right to say so.  Once that happened, I started asking a different question.  What am I going to do about it?

 

You know what, like Rebecca Judd, I’m lucky that I do have a privileged background but I would have traded it all to be able to run.  Be able to walk without a stick for ten years.  Be the one to teach my kids how to ride a bike.

 

The question is, is what Rebecca Judd said so bad?  Every Victorian is hurting right now, and yes, some have it worse than others.  But is only the hardest hit and most effected Victorian allowed to complain.  Absolutely not!  You are all well within your right to say “This sucks.  I am bitter and resentful and that Dan Andrews is an @#$%* and a dictator and I am suffering because of it.”  If you haven’t done it, try it.  It is quite therapeutic.

 

Everyone is feeling it at the moment.  Black or white, rich or poor, male or female, gay or straight.  Sure, some are worse off than others but in that respect we are all in this together.  And give Rebecca Judd some credit.  She is playing by the rules and it is essential that everyone does or we will be in this forever.  As a last note, please don’t take this as a message to go easy on Dan Andrews.  What he has done right is superficial, what he has done wrong requires accountability.  Rebecca Judd deserves some credit for calling him out.

 

Until next time,

 

Stay well 

Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Best?

In my last post, I gave Daniel Andrews and the Victorian government a scathing rebuke of their handling of hotel quarantine.  Honestly, it was justified but I could have forgiven them for that if that was where the mistakes ended.  I mean, the NSW government led by Premier Gladys Berejiklian, severely bungled the Ruby Princess cruise ship outbreak but since then I believe their response to the pandemic has been the best in the country as they have managed small outbreaks effectively whilst keeping the economy open.  In stark contrast, the Victorian government kept making mistakes which only exacerbated the problem.

In this post I will outline what I believe is the biggest mistake made so far and relates to the heading, “Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Best?”  I know, everyone knows the saying is hope for the best but prepare for the worst but that is not what we did.  Before we went into the first lockdown Australia got lucky.  We knew what was going on in China but we were not sure how it was going to go spreading to other countries.  Australia could have easily got stung by this as we have direct flights to and from China and if we had been the first country to get badly hit we would be facing huge repercussions.  But, the virus chose Italy and Spain and we had the benefit of going into our first lockdown whilst the problem was relatively small.

And from there we enjoyed what seemed like the governments one and only weapon against COVID 19.  Lockdown.  For the best part of 3 months we stayed home, binged on Netflix and got fat whilst COVID cases diminished and we awaited freedom.  Doing what the Victorian government had instructed.  Little did we know, the Victorian government was leading by example and also doing nothing.

The government had three months to prepare for the worst and I actually got to experience first hand how badly they had failed.  Back in May, I personally knew two people who had been tested for COVID19.  Both results came back negative, within 24 hours.  Fast forward a month and Victoria is suddenly faced with the second wave.  Testing is ramped up and the government is congratulating itself on how many tests are getting done.  There is just one problem.  It took far longer than 24 hours to get the results back.

Now, how did I manage to experience this first hand?  Well, back in June one of my sons teachers had been tested for COVID19 and that test had come back positive.  My son was a close contact.  I do not know when the teacher was tested so I do not know how long he had to wait for his results.  What I do know is that my sons contact with the teacher happened on a Thursday.  We understand the school was informed on a Monday.  The school informed us via email that night but we didn’t read the email until Tuesday and we were not informed by the authorities until Wednesday.  If the school had not informed us we could have been letting my son interact with society for six whole days whilst being infected.  48 of these hours were since the teacher was confirmed positive.

Anyway, my son seemed remarkably nonplussed which was good but I was frantic.  What if he was positive?  What if he’s infected others? What if the rest of the family get it?  What if… What if… What if…  I had hundreds of questions and I had to wait over a day to get answers.  I also started trying to contact trace my sons whereabouts.  In the four days he had before notification, he had hung out with friends both in and out of school.  He had seen his grandparents and aunt and uncle.  I had taken him to have his hair cut and taken him for a hot chocolate and we also went to the supermarket.  If you think about it, that is only just more than one thing a day and if I remove his school friends from the equation that could be as many as 30 close contacts.  Anyway, I cannot say how long the gears were turning before our notification but I do know that the official contact tracing took two days.  This is way to long.  It needed to be the same day but this is not where the story ends.  

As soon as we find out that was son was a close contact we took him to get tested.  That happened on the Tuesday.  As he was a close contact we were told his result would be prioritised.  We got his “priority” results five days later.  Five days of worry.  Five days of concern.  Five days his close contacts could be running around the state unknowingly spreading the virus.  Luckily, the test came back negative.

One month later, I developed a sore throat.  Normally I’d think nothing of it but given the pandemic and the instructions from the authorities I went and got tested.  When I got there they simply told me that the results would take five days.  In five days my result came back negative.

My question is during the first lockdown we had three months to prepare.  Three months to streamline contact tracing protocols.  Three months to ramp up testing so why do our capabilities seem almost exactly the same on day one of the pandemic as they do now? In the absence of a vaccine or any effective medical treatment quick, accurate testing and fast, effective contact tracing should be our first weapon against the virus.  Instead it seems to be a strict lockdown that attacks our economy, our freedom and our civil rights that is our only effective measure against COVID19 in Victoria.

You might say though that staying ahead of the contact tracing is too difficult.  I’ll grant you, it is hard.  Even with 24 hour turnaround on testing contact tracers seem to always be chasing their tail but it is possible.  NSW have been effectively managing a small number of cases for weeks without letting it get out of control.  If the most populous state with the largest city can do it then why can’t Victoria?

Until next time, stay well :)

Ps.  Why does testing even need to be 24 hours?  Why can’t we get a test done in an hour or less?  How much easier would that make it for contact tracers?  As it happens, the Hunter Medical Research Institute are close to just that so why aren’t governments supporting it?  I will talk about this more when I give you my thought on the COVID19 vaccine.