Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has backed down on his plans to extend Victoria’s state of emergency by 12 months.
A state of emergency gives police extraordinary powers to search, arrest and detain, was first declared in Victoria on March 16th and is due to expire on September 13th after many extensions.
Andrews initially wanted to change legislation so the state of emergency could be extended but was met with a furious backlash from the public and civil rights groups.
He eventually came to a compromise and has offered to accept a six-month extension instead of 12.
His compromise was also directly addressed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who asked him to reconsider his 12-month extension proposal.
The prime minister said it was “important to dispel any uncertainty and get clarity”.
“People are concerned that lockdowns would extend for another 12 months,’ Mr Morrison said in Canberra.
“I know that the announcement that was made by the premier the other day about that extension of the additional 12 months. I’ve raised our concerns with the premier about that. I did that directly. I know others have. I know Labor figures have.”
The Australian Medical Association made a brutal submission to the state parliamentary enquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The situation in Victoria has deteriorated dramatically. One senior AMA Victoria figure recently stated that it has been like witnessing a ‘slow car crash’,” AMA state president Professor Julian Rait wrote.
“[But] by far the largest problem in the past few months has been Victoria’s mismanagement of its hotel quarantine system,” Prof Rait wrote.
“It appears that flaws in Victoria’s hotel quarantine system may be the main driver of the high number of cases of community transmission currently occurring in Victoria.”
Morrison also addressed the “significant failures” over Victoria’s hotel quarantine failures.
“There have been significant failures there. And that has contributed significantly, overwhelmingly – almost entirely, I’d have to say – to the community outbreak we’ve seen,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the Victorian government feels as strongly about this as I do in terms of the impact it has had on the people of Victoria.
“They are now subject to the most horrendous restrictions that are regrettably necessary, as I said at the time. But … we can’t ignore what has occurred.”
