Victorians have been put through an economic disaster orchestrated by a man who has no business being in charge of a small village, let alone an entire state. This is the same man who pathologically refuses to be held accountable for his actions, and a man who quietly tried to sell out his state to China (remember that Belt and Road deal?). He is a man who has been accused of being a bully, and whose political actions resulted in the bullying of Victorian citizens leading to some of the largest protest movements in the state’s history.
Many believe that Andrews put power and money in front of the people he was elected to serve. He turned government, an institution created to serve the people, into a system where the people must serve politicians. To his great shame, he allowed unelected health bureaucrats to overstep the boundaries between providing advice and dictating policy, to the detriment of all Victorians.
Worse, he allowed state authorities to cross unthinkable lines between health and liberty. He used the police force to enact some of the most authoritarian policy in this nation’s history, shocking not only Australia, but our peers around the world. For a prolonged period of time, he made protesting illegal. He presided over a situation in which heavily armed police used excessive violence and force against Victorians. People were hurt and others were treated like criminals for opposing unconscionable and unreasonable directions.
The Labor Party and its supporters insist that this was all for the common good. But there is absolutely nothing ‘good’ about what transpired in Victoria. People’s lives were used as political fodder while Orwellian slogans – such as ‘staying apart keeps us together’ – were strung up in the streets. We witnessed a living society embrace the catch-cry ‘freedom is slavery’ with scores of Labor trolls suffocating social media with the #FreeDumb hashtag, demonising liberty as idiocy.
Every time someone in the press actually did their job and questioned Victorian Labor over its behaviour, the Victorian government and its representatives refused to provide a straight answer. Instead, they beat around the bush, using tired old lines as though they were reading from a script. Journalists who manage to push against the tide were harangued or even cast out for doing so. How can there be accountability if the press are kept at arm’s length?
When it finally came time to face the music at an IBAC inquiry regarding the handling of Covid, Victorian Labor ‘forgot’ what had happened. Everyone who had suffered at their hands were made to listen to a chorus of ‘I do not recall’. It was as if the entire government had come down with a case of collective amnesia.
Melbourne is a shell of its former self. Many Victorians are still dealing with the fallout of the way the government handled Covid. They will likely be doing so for years, even decades, to come. Others will never recover.
And yet Victorian Labor have faced no consequences for their actions. A few of its members are conveniently retiring from politics, likely to end up in cushy executive jobs, as is typical of expired politicians. But the rest remain where they are, free from accountability.
Well, elections offer the public a chance to bring home a reckoning – a punishment – for what has transpired.
This week, Victorians have the opportunity to vote out this wretched hive of villainy.
This week, Victorians have the opportunity to hold ministers personally accountable for their actions.
I will admit, the Liberal opposition isn’t exactly the strongest and they certainly have problems too. But Matthew Guy’s Liberals are not half as bad as the current rabble who occupy Spring Street.
There are other options too. Victorians could vote for a minor party that better aligns with values pertaining to freedom and civil liberties. Maybe it’s One Nation. Maybe it’s the Liberal Democrats. Maybe it’s someone else… Just as long as it’s not Labor, the Greens, or any other Independent or minor party who put themselves ahead of the people throughout the last few years (that includes Andy Meddick and the Animal Justice Party and Fiona Patten and the Reason Party).
Victoria, the Labor Party has ruined your state. Ruined your lives. Turned your home into a nightmare. What was once home to the most livable city for years fast became the most authoritative state in Australia, a state talked about and avoided by travelers. Victoria was the state that became the laughing stock of the world, lauded by media overseas for being the equivalent of China or North Korea.
The last two and a half years have demonstrated that Daniel Andrews is not fit to be the Premier of Victoria and that the Labor Party is not fit to govern. If it is so easy for them to slip into an authoritative state, imagine just how much worse it could get under another four years of the same tyrants who have learned nothing and feel no shame.
Victoria, this is your moment. This is your time to shine. Daniel Andrews has had his day. This government has had its time. They put many of you out of a job, now it’s time for you to do the same to them.