Victorian Labor government ends Melbourne lockdown despite ongoing COVID-19 transmission
The Labor government in Victoria announced yesterday that a two-week lockdown of the state capital, Melbourne, will end at midnight this evening, even though transmission of the coronavirus, including highly-infectious strains that originated in India, is continuing to result in new cases each day.
The ending of the lockdown was primarily a political decision, not a public health one. The announcement was made some 36-hours before the restrictions were scheduled to expire. This was a transparent attempt by the Labor government to placate the corporate and financial elite, which has been waging a ferocious campaign against any extension of the shutdown.
A case study in the manufacture of fake news is playing out right now in Melbourne.
Victoria’s shadow treasurer, Louise Staley, is putting about suggestive questions hinting darkly at a cover-up of how Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews injured his back three months ago.
She has not produced a shred of evidence to support this suggestion, yet the exercise has gained substantial traction in the media. All the main news outlets have had to pay attention to it.
It is the kind of political chicanery that confronts responsible media with a dilemma: how to hold a public official to account without oxygenating the conspiracy theory in which she is trading.
The Government has extended the pause on the trans-Tasman bubble with Victoria, which will now continue for a further seven days.
While the overall risk t
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews refuses to reveal when he will return to work as Melburnians endure a prolonged exit out of his government-imposed lockdown.