All Melbourne residents can go out for essential activities (including grocery shopping, post office, chemists) plus 1 hour of exercise a day. I'm usually out of the house for this stuff for 2+ hours a day...

These are usually set up in Vic to deter car break ins or thefts (as the pic of the car park implies), or simply to imply a police presence.

Not something to be worried about by the general public really, but there are always a few people that want to vent about something.

Thanks for the perspective from someone on the ground. It's hard to know what is true and what is not with what the media report. I'm glad you're doing ok

QandA was good tonight, The clear message that came out of that was that we need clarity on what the various criteria is for, International Borders, State Borders, those regions close to or cross the state borders. I think the federal government needs to define what the criteria is for the International Borders first so that the rest of the states have something to work with, afterall 6 months have passed and we still don't know what that is, yet they are critical of the states for exactly that issue.

I guess that we will find that out during the class actions against the Govt and the Aged Care sector.

The Feds have determined what the criteria is for the International Borders. Obviously some on the panel of Q&A need to read what is the criteria is for the International Borders.
There are nine exempt categories including Australian citizens.
The main restrictions on Australian citizens returning home is the cost and the daily numbers enforced by the States.

The quarantine period and who pays for it is controlled by the States.
Advice for internations Travellers

The National Cabinet (Feds, States and Territories) all agreed to the caps on International travel.
National Cabinet

The problem Victoria has is threefold:

1. We now have an utterly incompetent state public service. This is a direct result of hiring and promoting people who have no relevant qualifications and experience except belonging to a non anglo saxon, non male minority. This situation is plainly on display in the ongoing quarantine inquiry. One manager even made and published her own team video celebrating their own achievement in creating what Josh Frydenberg correctly labelled “the greatest public policy failure in living memory”. These people are unable to construct let alone execute a coherent covid or anything else strategy. When a vaccine arrives and needs to be distributed and administered, they will @#$% that up too.

2. Our politically correct state government refuses to call a spade a spade. There is a reason that Melbournes outbreaks are geographically located where they are: concentrations of non english speaking and/or low income people who do not have a reputation for (a) familiarity with westminster democratic principles and associated laws, and (b) any inclination to follow laws at all. That translates to:”they don’t give a @#$%.”. Covid containment policy should be backed up by six months in the slammer for breaking quarantine. It isn’t. There are sections of the community who don’t respond to anything less. Lest you think I’m being racist, the six months slammer should also apply to the pricks who keep coming up to their holiday houses in defiance of the lockdown restrictions. Also, lest I be accused of racism, the government forgot to deliver covid 19 information and instructions in languages other than english for a considerable time. This was a tragedy because a lot of the wives in these communities don’t speak or learn english and may have been able to influence their families if the message had been communicated to them.

3. A state leader and ministers who have never done an honest days work in their lives. They have no empathy with anyone outside their ethnic group all of whom are carefully branch stacked members of their political faction. In particular,, they have no empathy for anyone who runs their own business. Not only that, they do not even have (nor can the public service now provide - see #1) any understanding that a major task of leaders is to reduce uncertainty, not increase it. This is how we got the jumbo jumbo “you can exercise for two hours a day if it’s Wednesday, the date is even, it’s a full moon and there were less than 41.5 cases yesterday” strategy. You can do all that modelling, well and good, but craft it into a very simple message for the community instead of raising then dashing peoples hopes. For example, Restaurant owners have been caught twice buying food and organising staff only to have to throw it all out and close up again at short notice.

‘They result is that investors are giving up and running, not walking, away from investment opportunities down here and it will take ten years and another Geoff Kennett to get them back.

Do u really think we are going to get clarity from a group of so called leaders who dont want to offend or criticise each other,who wont take responsibility for hotel quarantine fiascos,who try to deflect attention from the fact they have ripped millions out of the aged care sector & thats just the start.
They just want to talk & big note themselves by using words that sound good but in a lot of cases even they dont understand what they mean.
They need to front the public & answer our questions,they dont like that suggestion though,would show them up for who they really are.

Australia, a third world nation with a first world facade! With a very low population for land mass we must look pretty incompitant to the rest of the world for handling this virus that is so infectious that you don't know you even have it unless you get tested!
We are such a weak divided nation from the corrupt politicians right down to the man in the street!

+1

That was as concise and truthful as any explanation I’ve read anywhere.

+1 - Nailed it sunny.
Only third world country you can drink the water.

I spent close to 10 years in state public service; I agree entirely with this comment. Incompetence appears to even be rewarded.

All those new Australians that come in with just level 4 English and a drivers licence for a car as a mandatory minimum qualification, work for the public service. I was gobsmacked when in recent times had the displeasure of having to engage with one in agriculture. He had absolutely no clue what I was talking about and clearly didn't understand the english language. I had to put my aussie drawl away and speak proper english. (which you actually have to think about) I thought how the f#$k are you in this job. Ended up having to wait for someone in the department that could understand what I was asking for.

2. Our politically correct state government refuses to call a spade a spade.

This has been the major issue from the get go; the government has been so hung up on "Not Offending" anyone that they have ducked and weaved on providing real information to the public. Remember back a couple of months now they started to mention the LGA's which were causing concern but refused to name the suburbs. The City of Hume comes to mind; pretty big place and there was an uproar.

So then they back-peddle and start to name the suburbs; they then attempt large scale door to door testing in some of these trouble-spots and are swiftly told to f@#4-off by people in the thousands. Then it comes out that 30% of people hotel quarantine had also given that same response in relation to testing.

Just in the last couple of weeks we are now getting information on the DHHS website of hotspot locations with dates; the list is minuscule in comparison to NSW Health site. The NSW government releases information on a daily basis (in detail); the Vic government issues a number so as not to "offend".

I'm OFFENDED with this whole debacle; until the government fixes the minority (which they can't short of strategic bombing); "we're all in this (Sh@t hole) together"!

Provide linked evidence of that please. That any mistakes were made by people put into positions solely because of their gender, ethnic background or minority status and how a white Anglo male wouldn’t have made those mistakes otherwise you’re just going off on a nonsense rant.


Funny, looking at all the anti vaxxer conspiracy theorists and anti lockdown rally attendees I see most to be of English speaking Caucasian “real Aussie” if you will backgrounded people. Who were arrested for incitement. I think most of the AFL players arrested for breaking lockdown rules aren’t ethnic minorities, no?

As far as the spread in a Melbourne goes, 90% of cases can be traced back to a single source from hotel quarantine, not specifically an ethnic minority. The reason it spread quickly through housing towers isn’t because the residents hate Westminister principles or love breaking laws, it’s because isolating is hard in such an environment. Also add a higher proportion of residents there working jobs that have been casualised, without sick leave and security of employment and fears of visa issues, who are put into a position where they really can’t stay at home because it’ll have dire consequences for them. Another article showing the causes of the outbreak were more related to poverty than ethnicity.

Why didn’t we need to identify and publicise the background of the Ruby Princess or Aspen Ski trip individuals btw? One conservative commentator has already backed down over this.

Just got to love Chairman Dan’s quote... “ I apologise for the circumstances we find ourselves in”. Find ourselves in?!! This jug-eared cretin and his government’s catastrophic handling of hotel quarantine is the reason we’re in this awful predicament. Grrr.

You should know better than to bring evidence and logic here mate, it upsets the rest of us!

I know, I’ll do it again:

You know they’ve discovered that it wasn’t a security guard, but a hotel night manager who was the initial source of the outbreak in Melbourne? Who are we going to blame for that?

How about no one. It’s a very contagious virus, it spreads quickly and eventually someone coming into contact with a lot of carriers (like a Hotel night manager in Melbourne which was taking a high proportion of international returnees) was going to inadvertently contract it through no fault of their own. Eventually, one way or another, it was going to break out.

Correct. I worked in the Vic hotel quarantine program - there was NO infection control training provided.

Do you know that Vic DHHS had an agreement with Jetstar to employ some stood down air crew as Authorised Officers in the hotel quarantine program? All with NO infection control training...

Dr Dre, I have nothing against migrants, I’m the child of two. I have nothing against the tower folk either, you are correct that infection control in such an environment is problematic.

‘’Incompetence: putting a millennial, probably with an arts degree, in charge of developing and executing the security guard program and using the criteria of “diversity” and “inclusion “ in the hiring, furthermore, the contractors were allowed to sub contract the work to body shops who then hired your proverbial low paid barely literate immigrants as security guards - and then she commissioned a celebratory video???. As for a night manager being the source of the entire outbreak that’s not proven. Doesn’t anybody in government understand that quarantine is unpleasant and that coercion might be needed as well as infection control? Didn’t they understand that police or prison experience was needed in designing the program? This cannot be argued!!

’My advice is that there was a connection between an underpaid guy and a ‘cousin” who. happened to belong to “the family from hell” a lebanese crime family who spread it far and wide in northern melbourne suburbs. It then made its way through a certain community who do not give a rats for man made law, causing an outbreak of 100+ cases here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-...ioned/12452266

‘’The really stupid part Dr Dre, is that the government and public service were so politically correct that they couldn’t even name the groups most at risk which meant they couldn’t target those same groups for special messaging because it might have offended!!!

Te virus is now ensconced in low paid workers who have only casual low paid jobs with no leave so they have to work. It is also in the bogan Australian community who aren’t law abiding and in the migrant community. -All because no one wanted to call a spade a spade. The nursing homes are killing grounds because they too employ the cheapest labor they can find.

As for Aspen skiers, yes. However those people are not the source now.

So the irony is that at the same time the government was using sign language to get the message out, there was nothing for example in arabic or other languages.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is not the fault of the ethnic groups that they got over represented in covid cases and they probably aren’t now anyway. What I am ranting about is a government so precious it can’t do a competent job!

I have a similar length of service in the VPS and this is so true.

A typical day starts at 09:30-10 ish, off for a coffee, check emails, a smoke if you're so inclined. Off to the gym around 11, back at 12 to go for lunch, 13:00 check some emails, 13:30 off to a 2 hour lecture about diversity in the workplace. Afternoon coffee break, maybe a meeting or "catch up" as they're called, to discuss the week ahead, 17:00 check some more emails & start to wind up the day. Good effort everyone.

And its these people who believe they "get" the real world. As an example, all the Govt. Lawyers wouldn't last 5 mins in a real Legal firm where they have to account for every 5 minute block in order to "bill" the clients. I can only imagine the Medical expertise that's determining our 'incarceration' at the moment.

Tell that to WA. According to them - and Qld - it's all the fault of Victoria & NSW. If they'd 'done the job right' the borders would be open! Never mind the fact that proportinally, WA isn't carrying their share of the incoming traveller load. And Queensland is less than half of WA on a per-capita basis. WA even claimed in the Palmer trial that they could open the borders "in as little as 28 days". Now while this is technically "true", it doesn't reflect the reality that it can break out, and probably will do so again. Look at NZ for example. Nothing for 3 months, then bang! 100 cases in less than a week. And they still don't know where it came from!

If I recall correctly , Dr Dre, the claim that it was the night manager who was first infected was spruiked by Andrew Probyn on the 7.30 Report and faithfully parroted the next day in The Age. This claim was then “corrected” by the CMO who advised that the information could not in fact be verified at all! The Age then ran a very small piece a few days later admitting that it was not verifiable. The litany of screwups by this State Government has been writ large in the daily goings on in the Inquiry.. take some time to explore the submissions so far. How anyone can honestly defend the quarantine handling beggars belief.

Nah mate that’s just stuff you’ve pulled out of thin air. I asked for some credible links or evidence and all you’ve offered up is rumour and bias. It just confirms your own beliefs. “Lebanese cousin” “Arabs don’t follow our laws” “my advice (without evidence)” “a millennial with an arts degree” Could’ve written those sentences for any issue people like you rant about over last ten years really.

“I’m telling the truth, I’m telling it as it is, I expose the truth even if it’s politcially incorrect” nah mate you’re just plain incorrect.

Complex issues require complex investigations and answers by people who have plenty of experience, knowledge and temperament. Have a think when you see a professor, an epidemiologist, and public health specialist (like the ones I linked to in my response) etc why they don’t rant angrily non stop about the talking points you’re bringing up that seem more suited to a Pauline Hanson rant on Facebook than (what I assume are) a group of professionals trying to deal with how best to manage a critical health crisis so our industry is bought back to normality. Even if they see factors that do involve migrant communities they try to investigate the real causes (poor housing and lack of employee rights for migrants) rather than emotional assumptions (ethnic migrants are naturally law breaking scum who hate our country).

Compared to which country? China? Central African Republic? Saudi Arabia?

Were their not, 500-600 doctors including some well know epidemiologists advising the government, their are better ways going about this.
No gathering reviewing other people's recommendations.
Instead lets go straight to the supercomputer, and whatever it says we will do. This so called supercomputer is the answer to all problems.
No brain power required.
How come the other states are not advertising about these supercomputers? I take it Apple have these in their stores though I can't get to one.
Can't argue the science and data. I suppose we are not allowed too. Love to know what junk they fed the supercomputer.
Anyway one result it came up with was the new police badge. It did say serve & protect they will have to include, fear & intimidate.
Governments are supposed to hide their corruption though this is now brazenly obvious.

Where is that? I can only find one letter by 13 doctors, not 5-600, and only one specialising in public health, and none in infectious diseases. No doubt there are plenty of other medical professionals supporting the increase in lockdown, the Australian Medical Association for instance.

Here’s another article from PhD qualified researchers in population health and epidemiology from Uni of Melbourne explaining their support for the lockdown:

‘Slow and steady’ exit from lockdown as Victorian government sets sights on ‘COVID-normal’ Christmas

For a bit of levity lest we all get too serious:

Dan Andrews slammed for listening to medical experts instead of former AFL players

I posted earlier a link to the Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages website, where they publish monthly totals for the total number of deaths in the State for the previous 12 months. Interestingly, they’ve just updated it to include the total number of deaths in August of this year. Usually they include the previous 12 months so you can compare it to the same time period of the previous year, but conveniently now they’ve included August 2020 figures, but removed the August 2019 figures. Interesting because there was 200 more deaths in Victoria in August 2019 than there was in August 2020, in the midst of pandemic.

This is a screen grab I took a few days ago prior to the update showing the figures up to July 2020, and you’ll notice the July 2019 figures (and August 2019 too - 3892).

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....78cde27cc1.png
And here is a link to the updated August 2020 figures, with the August 2019 figures very conspicuous in their absence, which you can see in the screenshot above.

Deaths registered per month

Here’s another article from PhD qualified researchers in population health and epidemiology from Uni of Melbourne explaining their support for the lockdown:

‘Slow and steady’ exit from lockdown as Victorian government sets sights on ‘COVID-normal’ Christmas

Well those PhD researchers would have to say that; wouldn't they. Melbourne Uni were the ones doing the modelling and recommendations, but I guess that's irrelevant!

It was a letter written to the premier about 2 weeks ago and I think it's been pulled by the media that's why you can't find it.
However found this
https://caldronpool.com/federal-mp-c...r-dan-andrews/

What the heck was that? The article looks like it was written by an 11 year old and the only quote I can see is from MP from NSW and failed furniture salesman Craig Kelly.

So again, who are these 500-600 doctors?

Several hundred doctors did write a letter calling on the Indian Government to reveal their post lockdown plan. The most I have seen band together in Australia is the 13 doctors in this article. Sure you haven't got the two mixed up?

Nevermind. Found it. IT's on Sky News reproduced below:

And that’s either about to take off, or not. All eyes on the next fortnight.

Dr Dre, and his/her ilk, unfortunately, are a big part of the problem in Melbourne.

I really hope not, if it were a bush fire it's the same as running around trying to contain spot fires without actually putting any of them out. Fire fighters would know it's only a matter of time before they join up and that's when it gets away from you. Then it becomes a firestorm and that's a serious fire. In my view a pandemic behaves the same way. What are the odds of success.
To be closing down, sending everyone home, deep cleaning, opening up again is just as destructive to the economy and you still have an escalating health issue.
Personally I don't think it's going to end well, but that seems to be the favoured method in NSW, lets see how it goes.

What do you suggest genius?! :)

I very much doubt that Dr Dre is from MEL

No, that’s just a vague line in an article (from a not so unbiased news source I might add),

Looking online I can only find a published copy of letter with no more than 13 names, a urologist being the lead spokesman, I haven’t seen any letter that a number approaching 500 doctors have put their names to. Doesn’t exist as far as I can see. If any can see it (with 500 names please) feel free to post it, until then I’ll remain skeptical.

Victorian Chief Health Officer’s qualifications and experience, lots of Communicable disease, infection control and epidemiology experience in there.

I look forward the the government approaching tobacco related deaths with the same zeal as COVID19.

And what's telling is what isn't there....no psychological or psychiatric specialities, certainly no economics degree or understanding - but you know what he does have?Don't suppose his "keen interest" in palliative care practices would be swaying his judgement about the requirement to protect those who don't need palliative care would it?

His response is about protecting those who tend not to contribute to the sustainability of the state, and penalising those that do. The question that must be asked is for how long is that going to be sustainable?