Close The Commonwealth Chequebook
Victoria’s fourth lockdown has been predicated on the assertion that, according to Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, this strain is an "absolute beast" and it is spreading “in settings and circumstances we’ve never seen before”.
An infectious disease expert, Professor James McCaw, has refuted Mr Sutton’s claim and said that “there is no epidemiological evidence that this virus spreads faster".
Infectious diseases physician, Peter Collignon said that he hasn’t “seen any evidence that this is really behaving differently to other strains that we’ve had before” and that “the language being used with, I think a relative lack of evidence, is inducing a level of fear that is not warranted.”
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur said, “This lockdown needs to end.”
“The premise upon which 6 million Victorians have had their lives, livelihoods and liberties destroyed, has been discredited, so there is no excuse for why the Victorian Government cannot handle this small cluster the same way other states have managed outbreaks, particularly NSW.”
“If Mr Sutton’s claim was true, why would there be only 3 new cases today with over 300 exposure sites and 57,000 tests. Clearly, it can’t be moving that fast, let alone faster than in previous waves.”
“Mr Sutton claims that this strain can be transmitted via mere ‘fleeting contact’, yet no cases have arisen from a positive case boozing up and down Chapel St for 7 hours in likely shoulder-to-shoulder settings.”
Acting Premier James Merlino said "If we let this thing run its course, it will explode. We've got to run this to ground because if we don't, people will die."
“This fearmongering from the Acting Premier is a disgraceful way to treat Victorians and is merely a method of terrifying the population into obeying his extreme edicts.”
The Treasurer told 3AW this morning that an announcement on financial assistance for Victoria will be announced later today.
Mrs McArthur said, “You break it, you buy it – the Victorian Government should bear the cost of its own incompetence.”
“The Federal Government must not provide cover for irresponsible state governments and incentivise these draconian lockdowns.”
“And now we find that the medical evidence on which they claim these edicts are based is being roundly discredited.”
“States must stop embarking on lockdowns as a first resort with the unjust expectation that the Federal Government will serve as the financial safety net.”
“Isolated lockdowns may be necessary if the hospital system is being overwhelmed. After 15 months of living with this ‘beast’, the Government should have ensured that the health system is well and truly up to scratch. In any case, it appears that there are less than a handful of COVID patients needing hospitalisation.”
“How can we expect a miner in WA, a farmer in NSW or a tourism operator in Queensland to pick up the bill for the recklessness and ineptitude of Victorian Labor Ministers and fear-mongering CHOs?”
“If the Federal Government does cave to the demands of Tim Pallas, after he appallingly attacked and blamed them on Sunday, every single dollar that it costs federal taxpayers should be deducted from Victoria’s GST allocation.”
“This lockdown must end, the Commonwealth chequebook must close, and Victorian Government Ministers must resign.”
3 June 2021