Daniel Andrews and his Upper House Ministers are stonewalling the release of sensitive advice and briefs behind key public health directions, including the imposition of a curfew.
The Upper House on Tuesday 1 September ordered the government briefings and advice on the 152 health directions issued between 18 March and 20 August be delivered to the Chamber by 15 September.
The Upper House separately ordered this week that advice and briefings on the imposition of the curfew in metropolitan Melbourne be delivered to the Chamber on Friday 18 September.
Andrews and his Upper House Ministers are clearly covering their own tracks as the Government has failed to live up to either order of the Legislative Council, instead stalling for more time.
It is time Andrews came clean on the basis for each and every one of his health orders. The Andrews Labor Government is required under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to weigh the impacts and proportionality of each and every direction or order.
Why won’t he release this obviously important background information? Honesty and transparency would build trust and confidence that the decisions are based on proper information and proper appraisal of the risks and benefits.
The Liberal Nationals are separately fighting a Freedom of Information battle for the release of similar information – requests the Andrews Labor Government has bitterly and trenchantly fought.
Victorians have lost confidence in the Andrews Labor Government and its culture of secrecy and cover-ups.
Comments attributable to the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, David Davis:
“I say to Daniel Andrews: If you have nothing to hide, you should have nothing to fear. If your decisions are soundly based, the reasons and documents will stand up to public scrutiny.
“Decisions like Andrews’ harsh imposition of a curfew, we now know, were not arrived at through health advice nor in response to a request from Victoria Police. The Victorian public deserves to know on what advice these decisions were made, and the Parliament has so ordered.
“The earlier orders should have been backed up by proper documents which explain in full why the Andrews Labor Government made many of the decisions it did on hotel quarantine, Stage 3 and Stage 4 restrictions, the closure of retail premises, the closure of whole industries and mandating mask wearing, reversing earlier positions on masks.”
