Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Members statements
Member conduct
Member conduct
Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (12:54): ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept’. So said Premier Daniel Andrews what seems like a long time ago. Victorians now know that the government, the Andrews government, has no standards at all. The contemptuous references by the Premier to one of his own members very publicly was eclipsed by the Treasurer the following day, when he was trotted out to the media to publicly question that member’s mental health, a disgraceful attack on a relatively new member, a woman of Indian heritage, by those who should uphold standards of decency in this state. Sadly they do not.
Charges of misogyny have been laid against the Premier, but this was disputed by a Labor member who said of Daniel Andrews, ‘He’s no misogynist. He hates everyone’. That may be so, but it does not excuse the despicable treatment of Ms Vaghela by some of the most senior people in this state. I have to wonder what has happened to EMILY’s List. Where have they got to during this particular scandal? There, after all this, is an organisation with zero credibility. It has been shredded, totally shredded. The Premier and the Treasurer should both apologise for such disgraceful behaviour. Victorians—every Victorian—deserve better.