I condemn federal Labor Victorian MPs including Corio MP Richard Marles, Corangamite MP Libby Coker, Ballarat MP Catherine King and Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters who have failed to say one word about Premier Andrews’ dangerous Pandemic Management Bill.
This Bill threatens Victorians with the loss of many fundamental rights and freedoms; yet local federal Labor MPs are disgracefully missing in action.
If this Bill is passed, the Premier and his government could impose unprecedented controls over the daily lives of Victorians. The Executive could arbitrarily detain any person without recourse to the courts, contrary to the rule of law.
The Bill would also allow the Premier to renew a pandemic declaration every three months, indefinitely, opening the door to the government imposing almost any control over our lives with almost no parliamentary or judicial oversight.
As some of the state’s most eminent barristers have contested, the state government would have a “blank cheque to rule by decree”, conferring extraordinary powers that are almost impossible to challenge.
If Labor gets its way, the penalties imposed by this Bill are massive – up to $90,000 in fines and two years jail for public health breaches which could be for something as simple as failing to wear a mask.
These draconian laws are backed by the extreme left – the Reason Party, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party. This is one more reason why a Labor-Greens alliance federally poses such a risk to nation.
This Bill cannot and must not be passed.
If the Andrews Government proceeds with these most dangerous laws, a Matthew Guy government has vowed to repeal them.
31 October 2021