A petition has been launched by the Leader of the Victorian Nationals to strip former Premier Daniel Andrews of his Companion of the Order of Australia after he was outrageously honoured for his contribution during one of the most controversial periods in our political history.
You can sign the petition here.
Instead of accolades, Victorians have been calling on the government to open a Royal Commission into alleged abuses of power and violations of human rights. ‘Dictator Dan’, as Mr Andrews was nicknamed during this period, made a remarkable number of heavily criticised decisions which saw the rapid expansion of State power. Victoria did not make trending global news because of how wonderful Mr Andrews was, Victoria was headlining broadcasts for cruelty unbecoming of a democracy.
The handing out of awards (not only to Mr Andrews, but to former WA Premier Mark McGowan) felt like a slap in the face to the millions of people left ruined – emotionally, physically, and financially – by pandemic health orders.
Former Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett added:
‘To my knowledge, not only has Mr Andrews not done any eminent community service, but he has also abjectly failed any objective test on the matters for which he received the recognition.’
The comment was no doubt a dig at the language of the award bestowed on Mr Andrews for, ‘eminent service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development’.
No one likes it when the government showers awards on politicians, they like it even less when those politicians have a controversial impact on the lives of residents.
Peter Walsh, leader of the Victorian Nats, called the award ‘inappropriate and unjustified’ and that ‘under no circumstance’ should Mr Andrews be allowed to keep it.
‘We are all still paying the price. Melbourne was left floundering in lockdown for a total of 262 days – the longest in the world – under Mr Andrews’ draconian laws … Victorians have been left to pick up the pieces, now burdened with record debt because Mr Andrews couldn’t manage money.’
He has since asked the Governor-General, David Hurley, to revoke the honour.
Mr Andrews quit as Premier shortly after the pandemic, managing to avoid the fallout from the Covid era. The people of Victoria have no such luck, watching on in horror as the current Labor regime slogs them with the Covid Debt Repayment Plan featuring extra land taxes and payroll taxes to claw back all that ‘free money’ used to keep people quiet during the lockdowns.
Mr Walsh is not perfect either. He repeated the ‘get vaccinated to reopen’ line which people complain added to them taking vaccines they did not want. ‘Victorians need to know that if they do the right thing and roll up their sleeves and get the jab, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel but the Premier can’t even guarantee us that,’ he said. But at least the Nats consistently fought against permanent legislative changes (the Pandemic Bill) and lobbied for lockdowns and restrictions to be lifted. They disappointingly supported vaccine passports, but then asked for them to be ended early at the risk of ‘creating two classes of people’. The former Deputy Nationals Leader Steph Ryan even had the courage to say this all the way back in 2021: ‘Daniel Andrews has given no justification for keeping long term restrictions on unvaccinated people. It is morally wrong for the government to continue these restrictions, creating two classes of citizens with epidemiologists say it is not needed.’
The difference is, the Nationals are not asking anyone to shower them in awards.
Reading through press releases from the Covid years, it is impossible to see how any authority might consider handing an award to Mr Andrews.
Not only should this award be revoked, the government must do as it promised during the election campaign and open a Royal Commission. Far from burying the mistakes of Covid, awards validate the decisions made during the Covid era. It puts a big green tick on the overreaches of power and infringements upon rights. That cannot be allowed to stand.
