They say if the Left did not have double standards, they would have no standards at all. Time and time again, they prove this statement to be true. COVID-19 has highlighted this trait of the Left, in that they are of the mind that the rules imposed on everyone else do not apply to them. Some politicians have also made it clear in their actions that when it is opportune to them, the rules stop existing.  Western Australia’s Mark McGowan has lately made a grab for the crown and Annastacia Palaszczuk has been a constant performer, but no one beats Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Indeed, his double standards only get worse.  

You would think that after all Victoria went through in 2020, Andrews and his government would have learnt their lesson on hotel quarantine. Yet after 800 deaths, it seems they have not learnt a thing. With further breaches occurring in hotel quarantine after the resumption of the program, it could be said that they are unwilling to change their ways, considering how prideful Daniel Andrews is.  

Andrews has gone quiet on how just good his hotel quarantine regime is, as Victorians face the prospect of yet another lockdown as the Holiday Inn cluster grows. 

And a conspiracy of silence has surrounded the quarantine matters associated with the Australian Open, rooted in double standards. 

See, when it comes to the Left, money talks. We have seen this occur in Queensland, where Palaszczuk has closed the border at even the hint of an outbreak, refusing to allow those with sick and dying relatives into the State yet granting access to football players and celebrities. In Palaszczuk’s case, the irony now lies in her plea for more federal money, taxpayer money, to prop up Queensland’s wounded tourism industry after inflicting the injuries. 

Last moths, the Andrews government granted entry to the State to international tennis players travelling here for the Australian Open. They did this knowing that other variants of COVID-19 were in circulation, and despite the fact that some of the incoming sportspeople had tested positive to COVID-19. It was also an insult to Australians who have been trying to get back for months but have not been able to due to caps on arrivals instituted by the federal government after National Cabinet meetings. The reason for these caps clearly lay in the unwillingness of certain States to take more arrivals in their hotel quarantine systems, with New South Wales taking the bulk. Yet Andrews was more than happy to bring in tennis stars and expose his own double standards yet again. As long as the people arriving were elites, nothing else mattered. Because when money is involved, the COVID-19 risk appears to go missing. 

It was not long before a hotel quarantine worker at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Australian Open players, officials and support staff were staying, tested positive for the virus. This sparked Andrews to hold a late-night press conference where he reinstated restrictions last seen on New Year’s Eve. Daniel Andrews had once again created a problem that he was punishing the Victorian people for. But the hotel quarantine debacles just continues. 

In recent days, several cases emerged from Victoria’s Holiday Inn, leading to the closure of the site. Daniel Andrews has since announced Victoria will not be increasing its cap on international arrivals, saying he will not “run the risk” until he better understands the new variants introduced to his State. This comes after comments he made yesterday claiming Victoria’s hotel quarantine program was of “higher standards” than New South Wales. The claim has clearly backfired.  

That is not to say that other states have not had their issues with leaks from hotel quarantine. The difference is they have managed the leaks and learnt how to improve their systems. The Andrews government refuses to learn, and refuses to take responsibility for their costly errors. Whether or not this latest leak expands and results in the return of more harsh restrictions is yet to be seen. But what we do know is that Andrews is not averse to imposing lockdowns. If he should do so again at the cost of the people of Victoria because of his government’s own incompetency, outrage would no doubt ensue, and justifiably so.  

Daniel Andrews may not know what gold standard is, but when it comes to double standards, he leads the pack.  

And in a final twist of irony, the threat of yet another lockdown that hangs over his state could put a premature end to the Australian Open.

Joel Aguis blogs at JJ’s Outlook.