Premier DanielAndrewsMP has admitted the curfew in Melbourne was imposed upon the public in a bid to help Victorian police enforce a distilled set of lockdown rules.
Premier Daniel Andrews has admitted the curfew in Melbourne was designed to help Victorian police enforce lockdown rules. Criticism of the curfew in Melbourne arose after an exchange between Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Neil Mitchell on radio station 3AW where the Professor revealed the curfew in the state wasn’t based on his advice.
“I was consulted on it, but it was a separate decision-making pathway,” Professor Sutton said. Responding to questions at Wednesday’s press conference, the Victorian Premier said Police asked for the “clearest simplest set of rules” and the curfew had been introduced in response.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Andrews’ non-medically advised state curfew is ‘another serious concern’ | Sky News AustraliaLiberal Senator Sarah Henderson says the revelations which revealed Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ curfew laws were not based off medical advice 'is another very serious concern about the Victorian government's management of this issue'. \n\nIn an exchange between Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Neil Mitchell on radio station 3AW, Professor Sutton revealed the curfew in the state wasn’t based on his advice.\n\n“For quite a long time I have been questioning whether the Victorian government has been able to justify all of the emergency restrictions,” Ms Henderson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.\n\n“It’s now clear that this curfew was not imposed based off medical expert advice, including from the chief health officer.\n\n“This is another very serious concern about the Victorian government’s management of this issue.”\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
Then health minister Andrews allegedly stopped swine flu testing in 2009 | Sky News AustraliaThe Australian’s Gerard Henderson says Daniel Andrews is allegedly responsible for the decision in 2009 to stop testing for the flu outbreak along with the lack of investment in testing infrastructure.\n\nThe ABC’s Dr Norman Swan said on Tuesday, in 2009 during the swine flu pandemic, Victoria “stopped testing because their public health system couldn’t cope with it, and not a lot was invested after that”.\n\nMr Henderson told Sky News host Andrew Bolt, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was the health minister for three years during that time, but nobody in the media has reported it.\n\n“If Dr Swan was right and that decision was made … then this was done when a very strong minister like Daniel Andrews was the minister for health and dominating the department, so it’s on his watch,” he said.\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
Andrews ‘secretly changes COVID strategy’ from suppression to eradication | Sky News AustraliaNationals Senator Matt Canavan says there has been a “secret change in strategy” in Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ approach to managing the coronavirus.\n\n“Effectively the Victorian government adopted a strategy of elimination,” he told Sky News.\n\nIn Victoria’s newly released roadmap to recovery, the Andrews government requires the state to record zero cases for a 28-day period in order to transition to a COVID normal level of function. \n\n“Why would you be going for that target when we’ve all been saying we should be flattening the curve and we need to get our health system up to scratch”.\n\nMr Canavan said Victoria’s roadmap to recovery was “kind of friendless” and was not being backed by most public experts or the business community in the state.\n\nThe Nationals Senator said the Victorian Premier needed to explain “why he has chosen certain thresholds” and he needed to release the modelling supporting his plan.\n\n“It just seems completely crazy to set these very low thresholds before people can get out and about in Victoria”.\n\n“If Dan Andrews wants to stick with Dan Andrews plan, well Dan Andrews should be sent the bill. The bill shouldn’t be coming to Canberra and all Australian taxpayers”.\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
Andrews suggests restrictions could be eased sooner if Victorians 'stay the course' | Sky News AustraliaVictorian Premier Daniel Andrews says there have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in regional Victoria overnight, triggering hope those regions outside of Melbourne will soon be able to ease restrictions. \n\n“I am very pleased to be able to say there are now just 82 active cases in regional locations,” he said. \n\n“It is important to stay the course and we are confident we will reach our target, in terms of the 14-day average”. \n\nThe Premier also announced the state recorded eight new coronavirus deaths overnight with 55 new infections.\n\n“Six of those eight deaths are linked to aged care-out breaks, there are 238 Victorians in hospital, 22 of those are receiving intensive care and 13 of those 22 are on a ventilator,” he said.\n\nThe new figures marked the fourth consecutive day of the state reporting less than 100 new cases in a 24-hour period. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
Epidemiologists ‘sceptical’ of Andrews’ modelling | Sky News AustraliaSky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell says many epidemiologists are sceptical of the University of Melbourne modelling that underpins the Victorian government’s COVID-19 response.\n\nMr Clennell said Victoria could refine its modelling and raise the minimum number of cases required to ease restrictions. \n \n“To base these threshold decisions on a generic model is really troubling to me,” Deakin University Epidemiology Professor Catherine Bennett said.\n \n“I don’t know why we’re not using our own data to get much more precise about what’s going on in our community.”\n \nUniversity of Melbourne Epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, who did the modelling, said the model could be beaten.\n \n“If we do our contact tracing better than we did three months ago, the contact tracers may be able to hold the case count without it going up again as badly as our model suggests,” Professor Blakely said. \n \nDoherty Institute Professor Jodie McVernon said five cases per day was a tough threshold to reach. \n \n“Five cases occurring in the family of a healthcare worker who are all at home in quarantine is not the same as five mystery cases in the community, and we have a target for zero of those which NSW is currently not achieving,” Professor McVernon said. \n \nMeanwhile, Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician at the Australian National University, said Victoria had raised the bar to re-open too high and contact tracing in the state has yet to get its act together.\n \nImage: Getty\n
Read more »
Daniel Andrews 'obsessing over all the wrong things' | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Chris Kenny says Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews 'is just wrong for this task' as he engages in micromanaging while obsessing over all the wrong things in his bid to stem the spread of the virus. \n\nMr Andrews announced on Sunday tentative dates for the easing of restrictions, should new case numbers remain low.\n\nThe Melbourne metropolitan area will continue with its stage four lockdowns until at least September 28.\n\nWhile the curfew facing parts of the state will be slightly eased to 9:00pm and people will be allowed to exercise for two hours per day.\n\nMr Kenny said the roadmap 'leaves a curfew in place until the end of October; by that time Victorians will have been forced to stay home, overnight, for three months”. \n\n“This is reckless, this is madness, it hurts people, and it all happens while the deaths continue to occur, not in the broader community, but almost exclusively in aged care facilities, where the precautions and focus should have been more intense, much earlier.\n\n“Victoria needs someone who can look at the big picture, make the big calls about balancing the costs and benefits, risks and rewards of a virus, a health system, a society and an economy.”\n\n'Not someone fussing over skate park rules'. \n\nImage: Getty
Read more »