By Mitchell Clarke
La Trobe MP Jason Wood has launched a petition urging Premier Daniel Andrews to reopen Victoria, as the Federal Liberal Government continues to pile the pressure on the State Labor Party.
The petition, which launched on Friday 16 October, had garnered more than 3000 signatures in just four days.
Mr Wood – and his Federal counterparts – argue the State Government need to lift restrictions and reopen business in a “Covid safe” way.
“Victoria’s economy is absolutely tanking and it’s putting enormous pressure on the national economy,” he told the Gazette.
“It’s simply a failure from the Labor Government. The public don’t want to accept this and I don’t want to accept this.
“We’ll write to the Premier’s office about our petition. It’s all about giving people a voice and to reinforce how much they’re hurting. Enough is enough, it’s time to get the state back up and running.”
Mr Wood said the heavy lockdown had “sucked the life out of Victorians” and left people and businesses hurting.
“I think you’ve noticed this past week, in particular, that we’ve gone a lot harder on the State Government but it’s because the Premier has been so stubborn,” he said.
“The biggest thing about being in government is listening to the public, and he hasn’t done that.”
Referencing Berwick businessman Hurry Hutchinson, who took a stand and reopened his business illegally, Mr Wood said it was “ridiculous that you can visit a supermarket with one hundred people but you can’t enter a shop with three people”.
“If you’re on a big construction site which is pretty union dominated the State Labor Government said it’s ok to go to work, but if you’re a small guy trying to open your business, you can’t do it,” he added.
But the Premier has hit back at the Federal swipes, particularly comments from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who claimed his “bloody mindedness” was “unforgivable”.
“He is not a leader, he is just a Liberal because all he does is play politics in the midst of a global pandemic,” Mr Andrews replied.
