Victoria is doing this all wrong

Dear Reader,

As a Sydneysider, it's depressing to watch Victoria go into another lockdown. We feel for all Victorians, but frankly, it's kind of embarrassing how wrong their government keeps getting it. You'd think Daniel Andrews would understand by now how to manage something as easy as the coronavirus.

First of all, it's just madness that the Victorian government didn't wait until the virus was raging out of control across several suburbs before locking down. Daniel Andrews is going to look like an absolute fool when Victoria emerges out of lockdown after only a week or two.

If a lockdown only lasts a week or two, frankly it just proves that it wasn't necessary in the first place. Here in NSW, we waited until it was absolutely certain that our lockdown would drag on for months before we went there. Anything else is completely illogical. Why lockdown if you're intending to reverse course just days later?

After all, businesses need certainty, and by letting the virus take hold, the NSW government ensured that businesses have the certainty that its lockdown will go on for months. In Victoria, by contrast, businesses have no such certainty. Their lockdown might end in a week or two. Maybe even sooner. How can you plan around that?

Secondly, it is madness that if you live in Victoria right now, you can't walk into a Louis Vuitton shop and buy a handbag. The Victorian government's heavy-handed meddling in the definition of what constitutes "essential" services, and "non-essential" services, makes a whole lot of arbitrary judgements about what people need in life.

Here in Sydney, it is a well-established, almost religious, ritual that every tenth property you negatively gear, you must go out and purchase Louis Vuitton handbag. The restrictions in Melbourne mean that people who are negatively gearing their tenth property in the coming days will be denied their right to access high quality French fashion ware until after the lockdown. If access to French fashion ware is not "essential" then frankly, I don't know what is!

Finally, and possibly most importantly, what the hell is going on with Victoria's vaccination rates?! I mean, barely 10% of the population are fully vaccinated. The Victorian Government have shown a gross level of responsibility letting the Federal Government manage that process. Frankly, they only have themselves to blame for letting that happen. By contrast, you can hardly blame the NSW government for the slow vaccination rates, as that has always been the responsibility of the Federal Government.

To those in lockdown in Sydney, have a good weekend, and no doubt I'll bump into at some point in JB Hi Fi or Bunnings or Cotton On or Harvey Norman, or maybe even Gucci? To those in lockdown in Melbourne, just remember -- you're doing it all wrong.

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Regards,
Charles Firth
Chief Advisor to the NSW Government
 

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