Victorian Premier DanielAndrewsMP is “not a tyrant” but the state government is not an accountable democratic system according to The Australian’s Greg Sheridan.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is “not a tyrant” but the state government is not an accountable democratic system according to The Australian’s Greg Sheridan. Mr Sheridan said state government accountability is real problem in the broader political culture in Australia. “It’s true of all states, but it's worst of all in Victoria”.
He pointed out how the Victorian parliament is currently not sitting, the premier is not answering questions with regard to the botched hotel quarantine due to an ongoing judicial inquiry, and the ABC does not provide enough scrutiny on state governments. “He’s under no pressure from the mechanism of democracy,” Mr Sheridan told Sky News host Alan Jones. “Because they’re on the centre-Left and the pro-woke side of things, they’re not really getting beaten up by the ABC on a daily basis”.
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.
Daniel Andrews 'should lose his job for his incompetence' | Sky News AustraliaVictorian MP Tim Smith has called for Premier Daniel Andrews to lose his job for his 'incompetence' as the state's borders shut and Melbourne returns to stage three lockdown.\n\n'We're the only state in the country who has been put back under lockdown because Daniel Andrews completely failed to manage hotel quarantine,' he said.\n\n'He got bouncers in to do the job every other state got the ADF to do.\n\n'Now we're in a situation where businesses are being closed and the place has been turned into a ghost town.'\n\nMr Smith said he agreed with the Andrews government's response to the outbreak but pointed to Mr Andrews' failure to fine protesters as a catalyst to the surge in cases. \n\n'It is somewhat ironic the Jobs Minister for some reason was given control of hotel quarantine and gives it to private security guards that are represented by his union,' Mr Smith said.\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
The ‘real virus’ affecting Australians is the ‘draconian response’: Alan Jones | Sky News AustraliaThe rest of Australia should not be associated with the “incompetence of the Victorian government” amid the prime minister claiming “we are all Melburnians now,” according to Sky News host Alan Jones.\n\nVictoria has recorded another 165 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours taking the state’s total active cases to just under 900, with 41 people currently in hospital.\n\nThe Victorian government has returned Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire to stage three lockdowns, as a result of the sharp increase of community based transmission.\n\nIn response to the burgeoning crisis in Melbourne, the prime minister declared “we are all Melburnians now”.\n\n“We are not part of, nor should we be identified with, the incompetence of the Victorian government,” Mr Jones said.\n\nHe said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has once again got his “hand out to Canberra” for more taxpayer money to 'fund this incompetence'. \n\nTreasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed on Tuesday night the lock down will cost the economy six billion in the coming weeks.\n\n“As a result, Victoria is sending a quarter of the national economy back into recession,” Mr Jones said. \n\n“I think the real virus affecting all of us, may well be, the draconian response to all of this.”\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
Taxpayers shouldn’t be liable for Daniel Andrews’ ‘litany of failures’ | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Peta Credlin says federal taxpayers should not be on the hook for JobKeeper for Victorian businesses past September just because Premier Daniel Andrews put 'untrained bouncers' in charge of quarantine hotels.\n\nVictorian Premier Daniel Andrews has warned if the state is not successful in driving down the number of COVID-19 cases, Melbourne could be in lockdown for more than six weeks. \n\nVictoria has recorded a massive 165 new cases of the novel coronavirus since yesterday, with 40 people now in hospital and nine in intensive care.\n\nMr Andrews confirmed there are 477 cases of community transmission, 932 active cases of COVID-19 across the state, with many of the recent cases being traced back to the hotel quarantine facilities.\n\nThe Prime Minister confirmed plans are being drafted for another phase of JobKeeper-style support for struggling sectors beyond September.\n\n“Why shouldn't the Premier be forced to fix his own mistakes and shouldn't Victorian businesses be entitled to compensation for what are a litany of failures?” Ms Credlin said.\n
Read more »
Pressure mounts on Andrews govt over controversial security guard links | Sky News AustraliaPressure is mounting on the Victorian government to come clean on why it hired security officers, instead of using police or the army, to lockdown quarantine hotels.\n\nThe Andrews government has so far shielded \titself behind a judicial review to avoid answering tough questions about the debacle. \n\nThe Coalition is pointing the finger at a cosy relationship between Victoria’s unions and its Jobs Minister Martin Pakula.\n\n“The National Union of Workers recently merged with United Voice who are the union that represents all the security guards,” state Liberal MP Tim Smith told Sky News.\n\n“So it is somewhat ironic the jobs minister in charge of hotel quarantine gives it to security guards that are represented by what is now his union.”\n\nFederal Liberal MP Tim Wilson told Sky News “you have a state government who is more interested in making sure companies that hire their union mates took precedence over the health of Victorians.”\n\nMore than 60 COVID-19 cases are linked to outbreaks amongst security guards from two Melbourne Hotels.\n\nMr Pakula refused an interview with Sky News.\n
Read more »
Andrews is ‘kicking the can down the road’ regarding hotel quarantine concerns | Sky News AustraliaLiberal MP Katie Allen says Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is not facing accountability over his government's bungling of the COVID-19 hotel quarantine regime.\n\nPressure is mounting on the Victorian government to come clean on why it hired security officers, instead of using police or the army, to lockdown quarantine hotels. \n\nThe Andrews government has so far shielded itself behind a judicial review to avoid answering tough questions about the debacle.\n\nMs Allen told Sky News host Chris Kenny that Premier Andrews is “kicking the can down the road” with the judicial inquiry.\n\n“This is not about finger pointing, this is not about ‘heads must roll’ at this moment,” she said.\n\n“It’s about making sure that we know what went wrong with quarantine”.\n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
Andrews govt 'put Labor interests ahead of the public health of Victorians' | Sky News AustraliaLiberal MP Tim Wilson says the Andrews government was more interested in fulfilling internal interests of the Labor Party than protecting the public health of Victorians. \n\n“You had a state government who was more interested in making sure that companies that hired their union mates took precedence over the public health of its citizens,” he said in reference to the bungled hotel quarantine operation. \n\nMr Wilson said the Victorian government and Premier Daniel Andrews were “all power and no accountability”, and told Sky News “this is why people are so angry, because they have done the right thing and the state government has not”. \n\n“Essentially he’s broken the contract between the people of Victoria and the state government,” he said. \n\n“Under the contract, it was up to every Victorian to make sure we didn’t see a spread of the virus, only to see that the group supposed to be responsible for enforcing the law and making sure there wasn’t a spread, was ultimately the key participant in spreading it. \n\n“That’s why people are so angry, because it does seem pretty clear to everybody that there’s a direct link between the internal interests of the Labor Party and the state government at the expense of the public health of Victoria.” \n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »