The IPA With You: Recent Episodes
The Institute of Public Affairs
The IPA‘s Gideon Rozner and Evan Mulholland take a look at coronavirus news, views and research, and what it all means for you.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has almost single handedly dragged Australia kicking and screaming out of Australia’s Covid-Zero mindset. Evan Mulholland hosts 'The IPA With You' and checks the archives for all the warnings of doom and gloom from the supposed experts. Did "the modelling" add up?
The IPA's Dr Bella d'Abrera joins the discussion to discuss what freedom has been like in Sydney.
Evan Mulholland breaks down the top 5 most ridiculous health directives given by governments around Australia throughout the pandemic. From don't be friendly with your neighbours to don't watch sunsets, you do not want to miss this.
Gideon Rozner joins Evan to discuss Victorian Labor's corruption scandal.Join the mailbag segment at www.ipa.org.au/withyou
The world is judging Australia's coronavirus response, the verdict is not good. Evan Mulholland hosts 'The IPA With You' to discuss the headlines internationally Australia's COVID lockdowns have received.
Joining Evan is Director of Consumer Issues at Americans for Tax Reform, Tim Andrews, to discuss how the reaction to the Australian experience has been in the United States.
Evan Mulholland hosts ‘The IPA With You’ to dissect the experts and the media's failed predictions. We take a look at the mainstream media gushing over Daniel Andrews’ “go hard go early” lockdown approach, and how it all came crashing down to earth with the end of the COVID-Zero elimination strategy. The Project, the ABC, the experts all criticised the NSW governments “lockdown light” but now that Victoria has overtaken NSW case numbers, were they really so bad? IPA Research Fellow Cian Hussey discusses the experience in Western Australia and joins our regular mailbag segment. Read the IPA's report from September 2020, Medical Capacity: An Alternative To Lockdowns, which called for the next of the elimination strategy here: https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/research-papers/medical-capacity-an-alternative-to-lockdowns To join our mailbag segment, email getintouch@ipa.org.au
Evan Mulholland hosts The IPA With You to discuss how the media is lying to you. The mainstream media are attempting to delegitimize and smear protesters as "right wing extremists". They are full of contradictions. We expose the the lies of the media and the political elites.
Evan speaks to Dr Bella d'Abrera about why our fundamental freedoms like the right to protest are so important. To join our mailbag segment, email getintouch@ipa.org.au
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ends daily press conferences. The media complains but shouldn't we care more that the Parliament is suspended? Vaccine Passports have been torn up by the UK government. Why is Australia going the other way? The IPA With You co-host Gideon Rozner joins Evan Mulholland to chat about these issues and to join our regular mailbag segment where we hear from you, your stories from these lockdowns and about the path out. To be part of The IPA With You, share your story at getintouch@ipa.org.au
It’s been a long, tough road – but it looks like Australia’s coronavirus nightmare is finally coming to an end. The grotesque apparatus of state coercion that is Australia’s coronavirus response is being dismantled.
But while we may have some freedoms back, we have not been given justice. The villains who have done this to us still have their jobs and positions of power, as the victims rebuild their lives.
What can we learn from this terrible chapter in Australian and world history? And how can we prevent it from happening again?
We talk to Sanjeev Sabhlok - the former Victorian government official who resigned in protest over the coronavirus response - about his new book, The Great Hysteria and the Broken State.
Sanjeev’s important book is available for purchase here: https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/The-Great-Hysteria-and-The-Broken-State--Sanjeev-Sabhlok_p_403.html
It turns out that people have become so terrified of the coronavirus, that they’ll live through absolutely anything, and then ask for more.
Recent elections in New Zealand and Queensland gave sweeping majorities to incumbent governments that campaigned hard on lockdowns and border closures. And increasingly, it looks like coronavirus panic has affected the US election result as well.
We talk to legendary freedom-fighter Daisy Cousens, who explains why we should still be optimistic despite the likely return to the hard-left Democrats to the White House.
After seven months, two lockdowns, 696,000 job losses, a $1.9 billion dollar decline in private sector wages, a 77 per cent rise in calls to Beyond Blue and 117 of those wretched press conferences, Melbourne is out of lockdown.
But this is not over. We are still in a ‘state of emergency’, and many businesses will struggle to turn a profit with punitive patronage limits.
We also talk to Sky News Melbourne Reporter Gabriella Power about the possibility that Victoria’s third-rate contact tracing system and why it may plunge us into a third lockdown.
We thought carefully about how to talk about the subject of today’s episode, but there is really no easy way to discuss it.
Four newborn babies have died in the last month, allegedly because coronavirus restrictions meant that they were unable to be airlifted from Adelaide to Melbourne for specialised medical treatment. This follows the death of an unborn child in August after the mother was prevented from travelling from northern NSW to a hospital in Brisbane.
What kind of a country have we become? Why have we allowed these awful tragedies to happen for the sake of ‘keeping us safe’?
We also speak to writer and political commentator Alexandra Marshall - from her vantage point in regional NSW - for an outsiders’ perspective on what you’re saying about Victoria’s endless lockdown.
Six weeks ago – when Dan released his convoluted, unworkable and unscientific ‘roadmap to reopening’, we said that it wouldn’t last. After suffering from not one but two failed lockdowns, we predicted that Victorians just wouldn’t stand for it and that Dan would either have to backflip on his ‘roadmap’, or he wouldn’t last long.
And sure enough, over the weekend he started to crabwalk away from his original plan, bringing forward the easing of restrictions. But once again, small business have been left out and hospo workers are still being unfairly punished.
Presumably, Dan was trying to distract from the ongoing controversy over hotel quarantine. It didn’t work.
We also speak to Nick Russian, a legend of the hospitality scene who is running for Lord Mayor to Bring Back Melbourne.
The Premier has been humiliated overnight with the shocking revelation that his cruel and extreme coronavirus restrictions aren’t based on ‘the best medical advice’ at all. No, we’re not talking about Dan this time, but Mark McGowan over in Western Australia. For over six months, McGowan has kept the gate into WA shut, claiming that’s what the ‘medical advice’ is telling him.
But the WA Premier was humiliated this week with the appearance of WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson before an inquiry of the state parliament. Robertson said that his advice has been to relax border restrictions – to allow for things like family reunions. He’s even floated the idea of scrapping quarantine requirements for people coming from states with no community transmission, saying that WA could open its border to almost every state in the country.
We speak to political commentator and patriotic West Australian Caro di Russo about the fallout from Robertson’s revelations, and why Mark McGowan has been allowed to get away with his cruel and unscientific border closure for so long.
And finally, we turn back to Victoria briefly with a recap of federal minister Alan Tudge’s takedown of Dan Andrews overnight.
If Dan Andrews gets his way, we may never, ever be out of lockdown.
But don’t take our word for it, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said it himself over the weekend. When asked whether the case numbers on Dan’s roadmap are achievable, he shrugged his shoulders and said: ‘Who knows?’
Yet his Premier still won’t give any indication of when shops, cafes, restaurants – and the hundreds of other small businesses that have been sent to the wall by this lockdown – will be able to reopen.
We catch up with IPA Director of Communications Evan Mulholland for his take on Dan’s ongoing political nightmare.
We’ve won the battle against Dan’s coronavirus ‘omnibus bill’, but the war to liberate Victoria goes on.
As we told you last month, this is the bill that created what we called the ‘Dan Stasi’ - the power to appoint anyone – including union officials and Labor Party activists – as ‘authorised officers’ who would have the right to arrest and indefinitely detain you – without trial or right to appeal – if they thought you posed a ‘risk to public health’.
But this is not over. All we’ve done is make sure that the situation in Victoria doesn’t get worse. But as Victorians well know, the situation is already very bad.
We speak to one of the key players in defeating the omnibus bill, Liberal Democrat state MP David Limbrick, who talks us through what’s changed, why the LDP will still vote against the (amended) omnibus bill, and what we can do to help the fight for Victoria’s freedom.
It’s official – Shutting Australia down for the sake of the coronavirus has Australia heading towards a trillion dollar debt.
The coronavirus sent the premiers went off on a race to the bottom – a perverse competition to see who could close the most businesses and destroy the most jobs in the name of ‘doing something’ about the virus.
And Scott Morrison made it known that the feds would pay for it all via JobKeeper and sundry other big-ticket spending items.
Now, the tab has landed, the bill is due, and Australia is so deeply in debt that our great grandchildren will struggle to pay it off.
In this budget night special episode, we are joined by IPA Director of Communications Evan Mulholland and Research Fellow Cian Hussey to talk about the great monstrosity that is the ‘coronavirus budget’, what it means for Australia, and what it means for you.
It’s time to come out and say it - Lockdowns do not work.
That’s just one finding from our research paper released this week, Medical Capacity: An Alternative to Lockdowns, by IPA Associate Asher Judah and Director of Research Daniel Wild.
We talk to one of the report’s authors, Asher Judah, who explains why the government has gone from trying to ‘flatten the curve’ to pursuing a de facto elimination strategy, and sensible alternatives to lockdowns.
Read the full report here:
https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/media-releases/modelling-finds-covid-elimination-strategy-equal-to-entire-health-defence-education-and-welfare-spend-combined
As expected, Dan’s long-awaited appearance at the hotel quarantine inquiry on Friday was a masterclass in spin, evasiveness and political theatre. But one upshot of it was that Dan put the blame on Jenny Mikakos for the program’s failure.
Throwing Mikakos in front of the proverbial bus triggered a chain reaction that made for a shocker of a weekend for the government. Mikakos spectacularly resigned on Saturday morning, damaging Andrews on her way out. Sunday’s ‘reopening announcement’ turned out to be a fizzer, failing to take media attention off the Mikakos story. And then on Monday, Victorian Labor MPs started attacking Dan anonymously in the media.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Dan is finished.
We also speak to friend of the show, NewsCorp National Personal Finance Writer Sophie Elsworth and get her take on the weekend’s events, and why small businesses should yet again feel totally betrayed by Dan.
Bonus content from episode 13 of The IPA With You. Gideon Rozner's full interview with Prue MacSween, responding to your questions.
Hotel quarantine hearings this week sounded less like ministers of the crown and top public officials theoretically running the state of Victoria, and more like the cast of The Hangover, trying – and failing – to piece together the sordid details of what happened.
Nobody knows what went on. Not Police Minister Lisa Neville, not Jobs Minister Martin Pakula. Not their departmental secretaries. Not the Emergency Services Commissioner. Not the head of the Premier’s own department.
But spare a thought for Jenny Mikakos. As revealed by an explosive letter released this week, even the Health Workers Union reckons she’s not up to it!
We also take a look at your letters and messages, joined by Verve Communications Director and political commentator Prue MacSween. Find out more about Prue and Verve Communications at https://www.vervepr.com.au/
If you think things are bad in Victoria at the moment, you should be really worried about the new Dan Andrew Stasi.
Under a bill before the Victorian government, Andrews could soon appoint anybody he wants as ‘authorised officers’ under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act. That means that union leaders, Labor Party officials and neighbourhood spies could soon have the power to detain you indefinitely without trial.
We talk about what Dan’s Stasi bill could mean for you, and what can be done to stop it.
We also speak to IPA Director of Communications Evan Mulholland, who comes on to share some brighter news from the free and democratic state of New South Wales.
Support Zoe Buhler’s legal defence fund here: libertyworks.org.au/freezoe
Bonus content from episode 11 of The IPA With You. Gideon Rozner's full interview with Dr. Tom Cade, one of over 500 doctors who recently wrote an open letter to Daniel Andrews, warning him about the health consequences of a prolonged lockdown.
They tell us to ‘listen to the science’, but who are they listening to?
As community opinion - including large swathes of the medical profession - turns against Australia’s response to the coronavirus, we look at ‘expert’ predictions made earlier this year, and how they have panned out.
Who is actually making these decisions? Are these lockdowns and border closures really based on ‘the best medical advice’? Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve learnt that major decisions like hotel quarantine and curfews have not been made by Brett Sutton, but health department bureaucrats.
We also speak to Dr Tom Cade, a Victorian obstetrician who was one of over 500 doctors who recently wrote an open letter to Daniel Andrews, warning him about the health consequences of a prolonged lockdown.
WARNING: This episode contains graphic and disturbing footage.
‘Police overreach’ doesn’t adequately describe what is happening in Victoria anymore. What we saw over the weekend is police brutality. We look at police raids at the Queen Victoria Market, and the shocking episode in which someone seeking urgent mental health care was run over and stomped by Victoria Police
.But police aren’t just suppressing our basic freedoms - they’re reaching for our wallets as well. Around $280,000 in fines were issued at the Queen Victoria Market on Sunday alone, with total revenue raised by police stretching into the millions.
It’s a windfall that the Premier sorely needs, as the Victorian economy enters freefall. We take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of Dan’s ‘business support package’ over the weekend.
We are also joined by Assistant Editor of the West Australian, Jenna Clarke, who shares her thoughts as we answer some of your emails and messages.
Links:
Nine News, Twitter
https://twitter.com/9NewsAUS/status/1304899087586791425?s=20
@thespeaker2018, Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheSpeaker2018/status/1305017869130821632?s=20
Erin Pearson, Twitter
https://twitter.com/epearson_3/status/1304964282266710016?s=20
Evan Mulholland, Twitter
https://twitter.com/evmulholland/status/1305355887368835078?s=20
Ashleigh McMillan, Simone Fox Koob and Erin Pearson, ‘Police arrest 74 and fine 176 after Vic Market protest’, The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-arrest-74-and-fine-176-after-vic-market-protest-20200912-p55v1z.html?fbclid=IwAR0829ckZKTGZcMcLO1lbCMAO_NPw1SDA7zWR0rv4bjUzoC8zjkKXunXTzs
Luke Henriques-Gomes, ‘Victoria police issue almost 20,000 fines for Covid-19 breaches during pandemic’, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/26/victoria-police-issue-almost-20000-fines-for-covid-19-breaches-during-pandemic
Kathryn Bermingham, ‘Victorian Government announces unprecedented $3 billion support forbusinesses’, news.com.au
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/victorian-government-announces-unprecedented-3-billion-support-for-businesses/news-story/d538477a6f590baf3ec67ad1a921aea9
Net debt to GSP, Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office
https://www.pbo.vic.gov.au/files/HYBU2019_netdebt1.png
Noel Towell, Michael Fowler and Sumeyya Ilanbey, ‘State debt set to hit $60 billion as virus crisis deepens’, The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/state-debt-set-to-hit-60-billion-as-virus-crisis-deepens-20200804-p55ij4.html
Bonus content from episode 9 of The IPA With You. Gideon Rozner's full interview with Jims Mowing franchisee Shane Cocks, discussing the Victorian lockdown.
They may be ‘standing with Dan’, but will Dan be standing for much longer?
This week Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton confirmed that Melbourne’s curfew was not supported by medical advice, and Police Commissioner Shane Patton has said that he wasn’t even consulted about it. So why is it there? Whose idea was it? And what was it meant to achieve?
Victorians have gone well past breaking point now - the anger in the community is white hot. Daniel Andrews plays his politics hard, but even he can’t defy political gravity forever.
We also speak to Shane Cocks, a Jim’s Mowing franchisee whose business has been destroyed by this lockdown.
Links:
Luke Cooper ‘Tensions between Scott Morrison, MPs and Daniel Andrews near boiling point over Victoria's lockdown exit plan’, Nine News
https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-victoria-melbourne-lockdown-restrictions-daniel-andrews-scott-morrison-greg-hunt-tensions-covid19/5a806d6d-b325-4a3a-af47-b02188dd2d2a
Phillip Coorey, ‘Federal Labor fears heat over Victoria’s lockdown’, Australian Financial Review
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-s-anxiety-levels-rise-over-lockdown-20200909-p55tr4
Patrick Durkin, ‘Melbourne mayor urges Andrews to abandon elimination’, Australian Financial Review
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/melbourne-mayor-urges-andrews-to-abandon-elimination-20200908-p55thb
Fiona Buffini and Hannah Wootton, ‘Business lashes Victoria’s extended lockdown’, Australian Financial Review
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/victoria-s-lockdown-likely-to-be-extended-20200906-p55srw
James Campbell, ‘Boss of company set to make vaccine slams Daniel Andrews’ ‘map for misery”’, Herald Sun
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/boss-of-company-set-to-make-vaccine-slams-daniel-andrews-map-for-misery/news-story/b926887226cb32091b81e0fc56e9c42b
James Campbell, ‘Future of Dan Andrews on everyone’s lips’, Herald Sun
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/james-campbell-future-of-dan-andrews-on-everyones-lips/news-story/557258e1b0dc84f147b1529fb7a26c19
Frank Chung, ‘Brett Sutton says he did not recommend Melbourne curfew’, news.com.au
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-victoria-brett-sutton-says-he-did-not-recommend-curfew/news-story/43e246ebaf7e5a63286084209d0f0291
Michael Fowler, Simone Fox Koob and Paul Sakkal, ’Police did not request Victorian curfew’, The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/i-was-never-consulted-police-did-not-request-victorian-curfew-20200910-p55u7j.html
Bonus content from episode 8 of The IPA With You. Gideon Rozner's full interview with Luca Lorusso, the owner-operator of Cafe Latte in Hawksburn, Victoria.
Daniel Andrews promised a ‘roadmap to reopening’, but his ‘supercomputer’ delivered a dead end. When will restrictions actually be lifted, if at all? And what does it mean for you?
And when this is all over, what kind of city will we inherit? Thousands of businesses have closed their doors permanently since March, and this lockdown extension may finish the rest off. Our bars, cafes and restaurants have been hit particularly hard - Governments across Australia have used them as a punching bag since day one.
We talk to Luca Lorusso, a veteran of Melbourne’s hospo scene, who may not reopen after almost 30 years running a successful café and restaurant. Luca tells us about what the lockdown has done to his and many other businesses, and the way in which turning a profit in the food and beverage trade was hard even before the pandemic - largely because of government interference.
There has never been a more important time to talk about small business in Australia. If we don’t do something to take the pressure off, there may be none left.
Links:
Victorian government, ‘Roadmap to reopening’
https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/Victoria-roadmap-for-reopening-how-we-live-Melbourne-Metro.pdf
Cian Hussey, ‘260,000 jobs destroyed by Daniel Andrews’ roadmap’, Institute of Public Affairs
https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/media-releases/260000-additional-jobs-destroyed-by-daniel-andrews-roadmap
Jon Faine, ‘Don’t listen to the naysayers, Dan’, The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/don-t-listen-to-the-naysayers-dan-20200907-p55t3g.html
Ian Royall and Nathan Mawby, ‘“Road map to nowhere”: Victorian businesses slam Daniel Andrews’ lengthy plan to ease restrictions’, The Herald Sun
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/don-t-listen-to-the-naysayers-dan-20200907-p55t3g.html
Hannah Wootton and Patrick Durkin, ‘“I’ve got no hope”: Road map a death knell for restaurants’, Australian Financial Review
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/i-ve-got-no-hope-roadmap-a-death-knell-for-restaurants-20200906-p55st0
Hannah Wootton, ‘“The CBD is dead” : Prolonged lockdown will kill Melbourne's heartbeat’, Australian Financial Review
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-cbd-is-dead-prolonged-lockdown-will-kill-melbourne-s-heartbeat-20200907-p55t4b
Alanah Frost and Hannah Moore, ‘Victoria’s COVID-19 target not achievable, experts say’, The Herald Sun
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/victorias-covid19-target-not-achievable-experts-say/news-story/1c7bbc51fcb6a2f8776a2a3dbe7b1cf1
A Facebook video of a pregnant woman being handcuffed in front of her children has gone viral both in Australia and overseas. Zoe has since been released on bail and is looking at a sentence of up to 15 years. How did we get to the point that somebody can be treated like this over a Facebook post?
We chat to Sophie Elsworth for her reaction to Zoe’s ordeal, what she makes of Daniel Andrews’ mooted ‘roadmap to reopening’ to be revealed on Sunday, and whether there will be any bars and restaurants left in Melbourne when - or if - this lockdown ever ends.
And we hear from a proud IPA member who reached out to thank us for backing Zoe.
Links:
Zoe Lee, Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/lilzoelee/videos/10158502844469137/
Natalie Brown and Natalie Wolfe, ‘Coronavirus: Pregnant Victorian woman filmed arrest’, news.com.au
https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/coronavirus-pregnant-victorian-woman-filmed-arrest/news-story/cdd5dd3ed140416489c1925e4e6aef8d
Morgan Begg, ‘Victoria Police Potentially Acted Unlawfully In Allowing Black Lives Matter Protest: Legal Advice’, Institute of Public Affairs
https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/victoria-police-potentially-acted-unlawfully-in-allowing-black-lives-matter-protest-legal-advice
Violent scenes in outer Melbourne over the weekend show that Victoria Police are getting serious about anti-lockdown protests. Is this a necessary measure to restrict mass gatherings, or an unacceptable limit on our civil and political rights? And why didn’t we see the same police response months ago during the so-called Black Lives Matter rallies? Are the police picking and choosing which form of speech is acceptable and which isn’t? We hear from libertarian activist and political commentator Topher Field about the various protest movements floating around online. Are they really the ‘tinfoil hat brigade’ that the police claim? Plus we hear from one of the many Victorian mums frustrated with lockdown measures, and talk about what effect they’re having on our children. Links: Cassie Zevros, 7 News, Twitter https://twitter.com/cassiezervos/stat...
Suzan Delibasic, ‘Dandenong’s drug and crime crisis back in the spotlight as businesses close’, Greater Dandenong Leader, 10 March 2020 https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/s...
Jack Paynter, ‘Dandenong protest: Police vow to arrest and fine anti-lockdown marchers‘, The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/brea...
Brianna Travers, Herald Sun, Twitter https://twitter.com/briannatravers/st...
@awakeinaus_, Twitter https://twitter.com/awakeinaus_/statu...
Joey Riordan, ‘Police threaten to jail Sam Newman over “illegal” protest plan’, 7 Sport https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/police...
Brianna Travers, ‘Black Lives Matter protest will take place outside Parliament in Victoria‘, Herald Sun, 3 June 2020 https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vic...
Rachel Baxendale, ‘Black Lives Matter protest linked to tower cluster’, The Australian, 15 July 2020 https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...
Reports this week suggest that a coronavirus vaccine may be ready for approval by the end of the year. But will it work? And what will happen if it doesn’t?
We hear from doctor and health policy commentator Dr Joe Kosterich, who gives his insight into a possible COVID-19 vaccine means, and what we should make of the optimistic headlines.
Then in another example of police overreach, we hear from a Victorian who was visited by the police after a neighbour complained about him and his housemate listening to music after 8pm.
Links: Dr Joe Kosterich, Dr Joe Today https://www.drjoetoday.com
International Society for Infectious Diseases, ‘Undiagnosed pneumonia - China (Hubei)’, 30 December 2019 https://promedmail.org/promed-post/?i...
Coronavirus vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca trial could go to regulators by end of 2020’, ABC/Reuters https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-2...
Stephanie Dalzell, ‘Australia locks in coronavirus vaccine deal to produce Oxford University-AstraZeneca candidate if approved‘, ABC https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-1...
Aaron Patrick, ‘Why a coronavirus vaccine may never be found‘, 3 April 2020, Australian Financial Review https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and...
John Kehoe, ‘McNamee “stunned” by Andrews’ power grab’, Australian Financial Review https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and..
Former Premier Jeff Kennett calls Daniel Andrews a ‘megalomaniac’, and he may have a point.
This week Daniel Andrews has announced that he intends to amend the Public Health and Wellbeing Act to extend the limit on emergency powers from six months to 18 months. That means that the unelected Chief Health Officer, not the parliament, could be issuing directives like stay-at-home orders and business closures until September 2021. Can anything be done to stop it?
We take a look at whether parliament will agree to give Andrews his extension, and what the numbers are looking like in the upper house. And we hear from a new IPA member who takes issue with what we’ve been saying about coronavirus restrictions. Does he have a point?
Links: Victorian Legislative Council, Member contact list: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/ima...
James Bolt, ‘Australia has returned to being a convict nation’, The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...
The Hon Jeff Kennett AC, Twitter https://twitter.com/jeff_kennett/stat...
Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic), pages 200-202: https://content.legislation.vic.gov.a...
Chip Le Grand and Sumeyya Ilanbey, ‘“We can’t keep living like this”: COVID-19 state of emergency opens political divide’, The Age https://www.theage.com.au/politics/vi...
Anthony Piovesan, ‘Claims Premier Daniel Andrews “lied“ as defence Minister contradicts statements no ADF support was offered to Victorian hotel quarantine’, The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/brea...
Richard Willingham and Joseph Dunstan, ’Victorian coronavirus response scrutinised as Parliament meets against health advice’, ABC https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-0...
A car crash interview with South Australian Health Minister Stephen Wade proves, yet again, that we are not ‘all in this together’. Why is the Marshall government rolling out the red carpet for overseas students but punishing Australians stranded on the ‘wrong side’ of the border?
But we also need to start talking about the closure of Australia’s international borders. While we can accept it was right to limit international arrivals to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the way in which the border is being managed is causing serious issues for many Australians. Both citizens and permanent residents need permission to leave, and most do not get it. And Australians overseas have been left stranded by Scott Morrison’s ‘cap’ on Australians coming home. All that plus your emails. If you want to share your story, email us at getintouch@ipa.org.au.
Links: Chris Kenny, ‘SA Health Minister fudges COVID-19 infection numbers’, Sky News Australia/YouTube https://youtu.be/vVZCK0cmun4
Catherine Heuzenroeder, ‘Pinaroo loses local health clinic as COVID-19 border closure splits local community’, ABC Riverland https://www.abc.net.au/news/abc-local...
COVID-19 and the border - Leaving Australia’, Department of Home Affairs https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/le...
Caitlin Fitzsimmons, ‘“On par with North Korea”: Three out of four requests to leave Australia refused‘, Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life...
Vanessa Brown, ‘Scott Morrison looks to slow international arrivals to stop COVID-19 spread’, news.com.au https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel...
Jane Doulman and David Lee, Every Assistance & Protection: A History of the Australian Passport, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default...
How did so many of our most fundamental rights and freedoms disappear in less than six months? In the words of Ernest Hemingway: Gradually, and then suddenly.
Victoria Police announce that drones will be used to enforce the lockdown, spying on Melburnians in parks, beaches and possibly their own backyards. And worst of all, it barely gets a mention in the media.
Daniel Andrews plans to extend Victoria’s ‘state of emergency’ indefinitely, but first he’ll need to recall parliament. Will he get the numbers in the upper house? And what does it mean in terms of when these restrictions are finally lifted?
In our new interview segment, we hear from Sky News Melbourne Reporter Gabriella Power. We ask her about the mooted extension to the Victorian government’s disaster powers, and what it’s like to be in the room for the tawdry showmanship that is the premier’s daily press conference.
All that plus your emails, and as always you can reach out at getintouch@ipa.org.au to tell your story.
As Australian governments threaten livelihoods and liberties in response to the coronavirus, who's standing with you?
The Institute of Public Affairs presents The IPA With You, a new daily coronavirus podcast, hosted by Director of Policy Gideon Rozner.
We'll be bringing you all the essential news, views and IPA research, as well as hearing from mainstream Australians who have been affected by coronavirus restrictions. In the first episode, we look at the ongoing scandal surrounding Victoria's botched hotel quarantine program, explore the identity politics that affected government decision making, and talk about how the public sector is still growing as the NSW government threatens more business closures.
We also share the stories of two Australians struggling with lockdowns and border closures. To share your story about life under coronavirus restrictions, send us a message at getintouch@ipa.org.au