Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Statements on reports, papers and petitions

Department of Health

Documentation on the making of pandemic orders implemented on 22 April 2022

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17:13): I rise to speak on the documents tabled under section 165AQ of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 in relation to the making of the pandemic orders implemented on 22 April 2022. There is really no surprise in any of the orders. This is just simply more of the same restrictions that we have had to put up with from this government in the last two years. There is no science to be seen, no real medical advice, nothing to say why the government is still hanging on to the last little bit of power that they have got in the way of mandating workers and not allowing all workers to go back to work. Under the act the Minister for Health has to ensure that all of the relevant documents are published on a department internet site within seven days. The minister also has to ensure that the same documents are tabled in Parliament within four days of the orders coming into force. They were tabled on 25 May. That is over a month since they came into effect and five sitting days after they came into effect. The minister could have had the documents published on the internet within a week but chose to take nearly four more weeks to table them in Parliament. This demonstrates the contempt that this government has for the Parliament and process.

In looking at the documents themselves, there are some contradictions. In the record of the meeting with the chief health officer, which is the minutes of the meeting, the minister states:

I note that cases are currently plateauing …

and goes on to say that:

… it may be appropriate to consider further easing of Orders given that plateau.

Again, in paragraph 33 of the minister’s statement of reasons he says:

The advice provided by the Chief Health Officer is in consideration of the current plateauing of cases …

Yet in paragraph 51 he says:

From 9 January 2022, Victoria had been experiencing a downward trend in case numbers from a peak of 51,356 new cases on 8 January 2022. However, since 15 March 2022 case numbers have been steadily rising again.

Were we plateauing or were we increasing? The day before the new orders came into force the rolling seven-day average of new cases was 9327. In mid-May the seven-day average was 11 764, and at the beginning of this week it is actually 11 892. Everyone knows that I am not a fan of the pandemic orders, and nor is the majority of the Victorian community. I have not exactly been silent on that. But these documents show that the very basis for changing the orders is false.

Last October we were in lockdown, 70 per cent of Victorians were double dosed, we were wearing masks as it was mandatory and contact tracing was in full swing and the total number of active cases was under 23 000. Today we have 49 788 active cases. These orders are more about political pointscoring, they are about control. Last year we were subjected to lockdowns, unable to leave our homes, unable to see our family members and friends—why? Why, why, why? Why did we go into lockdowns? The numbers? Okay. It shows me that when you actually do the numbers and there is a so-called plateauing of cases there was no justification for the lockdowns back then and there is none now.

Why is the government continuing to enforce the mandating of people who are working, especially when we know the same people who cannot work here in Victoria are going interstate, plus they can still walk into shops. They can still walk into any venue, they can still go to the football. Why? Why hasn’t the government let go of worker mandates? Why, when we continually have worker shortages, is this government, the Victorian government, the only government in Australia that continues with the mandates? Again, I have looked through the report and I cannot see the rationale, cannot see the science and cannot see the medical advice for this government not letting go of the mandates for workers.