THE State Government has the support of crossbench MPs in the Victorian Upper House passing its state of emergency laws.
Member for Euroa and Nationals’ deputy leader Steph Ryan has condemned the move as a “power grab”.
Speaking on the legislation in Parliament, Ms Ryan said the state of emergency powers give Daniel Andrews authority to make far-reaching decisions, including enforcing snap lockdowns, spending taxpayer dollars without oversight of the Parliament and closing our state’s borders.
“There is a reason why we have a citizens assembly here in Parliament – not just to ensure that the government’s decisions are scrutinised but also to ensure that people have a voice,” Ms Ryan said.
“When the powers in this bill were first conceived back in 2008, no one ever thought that we would have a state of emergency that would run this long – it was supposed to have a threshold of six months.
“The government is now seeking to maintain this state of emergency for a year and a half – that is just not tenable to the Victorian public.”
“I can’t support this power grab that will force Victorians to spend the next nine months living in a state of uncertainty.
“Even now, the Government still refuses to release the public health advice behind the third lockdown.
Residents who wish to have their say on the Government’s State of Emergency extension can do so by visiting https://vic.nationals.org.au/have-your-say-labors-state-of-emergency-extension/.
