Tuesday, 21 June 2022

 Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:47): On Saturday the Victorian government announced it would finally scrap COVID vaccination mandates for many workers. For some Victorian families this should ease months of real hardship; they will actually be allowed to earn an income again. But for others the experience of being ostracised from their community will have a profound impact on them for years to come and on our society. You may think we should be grateful for this development, but Victoria is one of the last states and one of the last countries in the world to end these cruel mandates. Victoria is still operating under a state of emergency, and all our democratic freedoms in this state are yet to be returned and there are still many people subject to COVID mandates. The government tells us to get over it and that it is over, but it is not over until the mandates are lifted and the state of emergency is ended. We will continue to fight until all Victorians have their rights returned to them.