Covid 19 -

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by russellw

I'm not wasting my breath on smoo and his attitude toward the elderly - I'm sure the Karma bus will take care of that in time.

I actually think Daniel Andrews has done a decent job under trying circumstances and I'm far from being a supporter. He has always addressed the media and issues calmly and even though the quarantine fiasco has been almost as bad as the NSW Health Department handling of the Ruby Princess (just in case those in NSW having a dig have forgotten) the leader of the party can't be held responsible for every public service balls up otherwise we'd be swapping them on a daily basis.

Below is the comparison of total active case rates per 100k of population for NSW and Victoria over the last 3 months.

Disagree. This fiasco pretty much lies with Dan Andrews screw ups. First he was too ****weak in stopping the protests. He was saying on the radio this morning he told people it wasn't a good idea to do it, but if he had of gone in with a tough stance of we are banning anyone from protesting, and anyone caught will face the consequences, then there was a fair chance it wouldn't have happened. His weak approach basically emboldened the protesters because they knew they would get away with it.

Then the hotel security debacle also falls on him. He was offered ADF personnel to do security, but he refused that and instead hired untrained, dodgy private security who couldn't have possibly done a worse job. And even now, Dan refuses to say why he made this decision. Just used weasel words about how there is an enquiry into it now ie. drag that on for months and bury the outcome later on, to remove himself from blame.

The protests also had a physcological effect on the rest of the population, who saw what was going on and just said stuff it, why bother sitting at home in isolation when it's ok to attend mass gatherings which the government allowed.

It starts at the top, and he has made some stupid mistakes that have basically caused the current problems. And yes, he can and will be held to account for his mistakes. The media is already turning on him.

[russellw]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

It starts at the top, and he has made some stupid mistakes that have basically caused the current problems. And yes, he can and will be held to account for his mistakes. The media is already turning on him.

You are entitled to your view but the last sentence sums it up doesn't it? I listened to Karl Stefanovic ripping in to Andrews this morning and it's a sad reflection on our society that a nobody who doesn't even have the credentials to be called a journalist (presenter or talking head being more accurate) has a platform from which he can help shape public opinion and pour scorn on someone else.

Under the old 'Westminster' rules you'd have been correct in saying that the titular 'head' should take responsibility for the actions of those below but the reality these days is (at worst) that would be the minister responsible for the actual department involved and (in practice) even that rarely happens.

Unless, of course, you'd like a dictatorship in which case then you'd be right.

It doesn't matter what you are running these days; a company, a State or an entire country.You take advice from those around you on policy and process decisions and then devolve responsibility for implementation of those to the people who are employed for their expertise. Of course, where that tends to fail in the (largely) protected public service is that it's a lot easier to hide not just incompetence but the individuals practising it.

I'm not saying that all the decisions even at the policy level have been right but nor are they as easy as they seem from the cheap seats. As you rightly pointed out the 'advice' to not ban the BLM protests was controversial at best although it's a balancing act when you know that (1) they are going to go ahead anyway and (2) your only option as a Government is to send in the police to arrest what could well have been 30k people. I can absolutely guarantee what public opinion (well to be accurate the media opinion) would have been if we'd seen an all-in stoush between protesters and police. Basically, it's a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

The quarantine fiasco is a different case. While the implementation got shunted off to some obscure Government department that we'd mostly never heard of, I'm sure the mandate came down to them with some provisos like (1) you can't use the police (2) it's got to be cheap given that we are paying for it and (3) it must be in situ yesterday. None of which is usually a great recipe for good decision making.

Let's not forget that NSW also used private security guards to police their hotel quarantine and that's also presently under scrutiny as well after their case numbers have started to climb again.

[Work Horse]

Personally I have found it a "breath of fresh air"(Covid free!), the way our political leaders have come together to deal with the pandemic in a bipartisan manner. Who would have thought a year ago, witnessing how tribal politics was becoming in this country(around the world), that our leaders state and federal would be meeting regularly and agreeing with each other on the best way forward for the country as a whole. The PM and Premiers of all stripes standing next to each other at press conferences to show support.

It has been pointed out from the beginning; we are all in this together, it's not over until we have a vaccine, eradication is very difficult/impossible (look at NZ), infection numbers would rise once lock down measures were relaxed.

Melbourne has again taken a bullet for the rest of the country. This is what can happen when there is a breach in hygiene protocols at quarantine hotels at the same time restrictions are relaxed. Other states are now restricting the number of daily arrivals from overseas. The public in the rest of Australian need to look at Melbourne and continue with; hand washing, social distancing and all the other measures asked of them to save them from the situation we find ourselves in Melbourne.