Mr BLACKWOOD (Narracan) (09:53): The distress, confusion and now absolute despair being felt across my community because of the way the Andrews government have chosen to handle the COVID response is gut-wrenching. My staff have been besieged with phone calls, text messages, emails and Facebook posts from members of our community crying out for help. They have done an amazing job to provide information, referrals and advocacy over the past almost two years, but the pressure they have been under recently could have been avoided if the Premier had insisted that the COVID directions were consistent, unambiguous and easy to understand. The enormous anger expressed by those who have chosen to exercise their right to choose not to get vaccinated could have been avoided if rapid testing had been deployed in our frontline health settings for our teachers and our year 12 students and in aged care. We would now not be facing a shortage of educators and nurses, paramedics and health support workers if they had been given an option and could have remained employed. Our small businesses would not feel let down again and have to adjust to last-minute changes about vaccination requirements, some in hospitality choosing not to open because it is just too hard and they cannot get staff.
Despite imposing the toughest restrictions in the nation and Melbourne suffering the longest lockdown in the world, Victoria has recorded more COVID-19 cases, deaths, job losses, mental-health distress and school days missed than any other state. The Premier’s COVID response has failed, and now he wants us to support his pandemic bill. Why would we hand more power to the man who got us here in the first place?