Legislative Assembly 5 October 2021
Mr MORRIS (Mornington): Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula have now been locked down for 246 days. By the end of the month it will be 267 days, not far short of half the time since the pandemic started in March last year.
This is a record that no-one wanted, a record that is entirely the responsibility of the Premier and the government he leads.
The strategy to keep us safe has totally failed. 873 Victorians have died of the virus out of an Australian total of 1346. Almost two-thirds of Australian deaths from coronavirus have occurred in this state.
Not only are 873 Victorians dead, the government has totally failed us when it comes to vaccinations. We trail New South Wales badly. They have left us in the dust.
The only way we are going to beat this virus is by getting every eligible Victorian vaccinated. That is a core responsibility of the government, and they have totally failed.
Every single day I get emails from people who have reached the end of their tether. Our community needs certainty, and it needs hope. We are getting neither from this government.
All we get from this government is spin and distraction. Every single day a new group is blamed. Every single day it’s someone else’s fault. Every single day there is a new reason why it’s not the government’s fault.
It’s time for the Premier and his Cabinet to take responsibility for the carnage they have caused in the last two years.
Any government has one key task to perform: to keep its community safe. By that measure alone the Andrews government is a complete and abject failure.