Mourning The Loss Of Decency And Sense
Despite wintery conditions and no community transmission of the Coronavirus – large numbers of mourners will be forced to gather outside funeral venues until the end of the month.
Currently, family and friends are required to maintain the 2-square metre rule inside funeral venues.
It has forced venues to proceed at only 50 per cent capacity.
In the Victorian Parliament this week, the Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, urged the Government to lift the restrictive rules.
“I’m pleased to see the Victorian Government has taken note, but this remains a pathetic response,” Mrs McArthur said.
“The whole way through this coronavirus response, the Andrews Government has taken an extreme response to people’s private lives, and in this case, their deaths.
“Rules around visiting dying relatives, one-person visitation rights, and 10-person limits at funerals, marked the inhumane approach.
“Even today, the unnecessary and cruel restrictions continue to hurt families experiencing loss and grief. These density rules continue for another three weeks.
“It means that mourning families are surrounded by largely empty pews, while crowds gather outside in all sorts of conditions – distant and unable to provide strength to their loved ones during this vulnerable time.
“The most disgusting part of this are the double standards.
“Mourners and war veterans are counted and divided – while football fans can reach tens of thousands without any issue.
“Comedy Festival fans are also afforded more rights than grieving communities,” Mrs McArthur said.
From 28 May, density quotients will be lifted for small-to-medium sized venues, allowing up to 200 people per space. ‘COVID marshals’ will be required to make sure the government’s QR Code is being used.
However, the density rules still apply for bigger indoor venues of more than 400 square metres.
“This is an ongoing handbrake on the economy’s big contributors.
“It does nothing to get Victoria back to normal but says plenty about the Government’s lack of confidence in its own contact tracing,” Mrs McArthur said.
8 May 2021