OPINION: Jason Shields
MILDURA residents have been freed from some of Daniel Andrews’ shackles, but make no mistake, we remain on strict parole.
While the Victorian Premier spruiked yesterday’s easing of restrictions for the regions as “such good news”, in reality it comes as too little, too late, for many local businesses.
So many have already closed, others are on their knees, and the restrictions that remain will continue to hamstring economic recovery.
He needed to go further. A lot further.
But, as has been the case since this pandemic began, the Premier’s lockdown measures remain out proportion to the dangers of COVID in regions like Mildura, where there have been next to no cases.
As prominent Geelong football identity Billy Brownless joked on Triple M on Saturday, “places like Mildura don’t even know what COVID is”.
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper spoke on national news at the weekend, urging the Victorian Government to let Mildura go straight to the “last step” of its roadmap out of lockdown.
That last step would allow for up to 50 patrons inside hospitality venues, rather than 20.
It would also allow adult sport to resume, which is so crucial from a health point of view, and should never have been taken away in the first place.
But this “third step” keeps the reins on tight.
For instance, the beauty industry can open again, but only if therapist and client wear masks. How can any facial work be done? The bureaucratic restrictions remain crippling.
And we can still have only five people from another “household bubble” in our homes, meaning a family of six has to choose one to leave behind. It’s distraction politics.
It’s clear Daniel Andrews’ four-step roadmap is keeping the society he controls in check by offering them breadcrumbs along the way.
We got a few crumbs in regional Victoria yesterday, which he hopes will keep our hunger for freedom at bay.
At this stage, he will make us wait until there are zero cases across the state before we get our next reward.
Hopefully that crazy target changes, but we’d be silly to hold our breath.
So, after months of madness, today is a good day in that we get some of our freedom back. We can munch on our breadcrumbs while watching our kids play at the park again. That’s a baby step forward.
But is allowing 50 people to be seated outside going to be really practical in a month’s time when temperatures in Mildura soar?
Of course it won’t.
No, we will just have to keep begging our Premier for a little bit more.
