Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has derided some Melbourne protesters as “ugly extremists”, saying while he’s been threatened, he won’t be distracted by the mob.
“I will not be deterred from the work I’m doing to keep every family safe. That’s the work that I’ve been given to do. That’s the job that we have to do,” he said during a press conference earlier this morning.
“So there are some out there who are making threats against me, and Catherine, [and] the kids. That’s not my focus.
“The focus is keeping every single Victorian family safe. And I wouldn’t want that the appalling, the disgusting, and the potentially criminal behaviour of a small number of people [to] detract away from the amazing job that so many Victorians have done.”
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Mr Andrews, whose effigy was placed near a makeshift gallows at a protest on Monday night, said it was unfair for a “small, ugly mob” to take the attention away from the more than 90 per cent of Victorians vaccinated with a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
“I’m offended, not at the threats, but at the fact that this ugly behaviour might be taking the focus away from what we should be focused on – how much we’ve achieved by sticking together, not by being divided, not by this ugliness,” Mr Andrews said.
The Premier added that he did not believe Victorians would easily forget the people who had been on the front steps of State Parliament, “currying favour with extremists”.
Several state Liberal MPs yesterday visited a large and sometimes angry group of protesters gathered on the steps of Parliament House, some of whom had earlier chanted violent slogans around a full-sized gallows and called for people to “dance on the end of a rope”.
Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino said there were people within the Liberal Party who were “actively encouraging this kind of extremist behaviour and extremist views”.
“Last time around, [Opposition Leader] Matthew Guy associated with mobsters; this time, he’s sidled up to far-right extremists and anti-vaxxers,” he said. “You can’t be the premier of the state if that is your behaviour. That’s my view on these matters.”
Mr Guy has condemned the behaviour of protesters but has not banned members of his team from attending and speaking to the crowd.
Mr Andrews said if people had listened to some of the protesters, the state wouldn’t be at its 90 per cent first-dose vaccination rate.
Protesters say they are rallying against the new pandemic laws currently before Victoria’s upper house. The draft legislation would make the premier and health minister of the day responsible for declaring a pandemic and issuing health orders, not the chief health officer (as is currently the case in Victoria).
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley says the legislation would be an improvement, and more transparent, than existing state-of-emergency laws in place in other jurisdictions such as NSW. Others have concerns that the bill gives too much power to politicians.
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