Thursday, 23 June 2022

 Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (17:36): (2012) I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Premier. I use this last sitting day before the winter recess to raise the issue of mandates and the continuation of mandates. I have been of the very strong view for quite some time that there is a gross breach of civil liberties occurring when a government forces people to have medical treatment against their will by coercion. It seems to me that that is the last thing that any government should be doing. It is bullying. It is wrong. And it is something that, as I say, I do not believe any government should be involved in, and I do not believe that, as Victorians, we should have to accept that sort of appalling behaviour.

Premier, the fact of the matter is that there are many people in this state who are still suffering because of these mandates, because they cannot work—they are not allowed to work. They can work, but they are not allowed to work. And, Premier, you are the one who is not allowing them to work, and that is just not good enough. It is quite ludicrous. The fact of the matter is that we have somewhere around a 98 per cent vaccination rate, as I understand it, and the vaccine anyway does not actually stop you from catching COVID and does not stop you from passing it on, so I am not even sure why we would be forced to have this vaccine apart from the fact that you, Premier, say that we have to. That seems to be the only reason. It seems to me that the continuation of these mandates is a form of punishment for those who will not do as they are told, those who will not bow down to the power of the Premier. And again that is something that I do not believe is acceptable in any free and democratic state, although it is probably debatable as to whether Victoria is still a free and democratic state at this time.

What I am asking the Premier to do is to remove all mandates—very simply, remove all mandates. It is just ridiculous that they continue. There is no sense in having the mandates continue, so why doesn’t the Premier just do the job that he is elected to do and give the people of Victoria a fair go, allow people to get on with their lives and give them back the freedoms that they have lost as a result of his actions. I ask the Premier to, tomorrow, if he is not too busy removing ministers, remove these mandates to ensure that people are allowed to get on with their lives, to work and to pay their bills, their mortgages, their rent, whatever it may be.