POLL - Majority Of Victorians Want Hotel Quarantine Ministerial Scalp

A new poll of 1,040 Victorians commissioned by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs demonstrated that Victorians want Daniel Andrews and his government to accept responsibility for the hotel quarantine debacle, and believe that his government has mismanaged the crisis.

The poll data was collected by marketing research firm Dynata between 12-17 August 2020. It asked Victorians to agree or disagree with the statement: “The Victorian government ministers responsible for mismanagement of the hotel quarantine program should resign.”

54% agree
26% neither agree nor disagree
20% disagree

“Public servants discovering collective amnesia isn’t going to cut it. Victorians want Daniel Andrews and his Ministers to accept responsibility for what is the greatest failure of public administration in Australia’s history,” said Evan Mulholland, Director of Communications at the IPA.

“The lockdowns brought about by government incompetence have smashed small businesses, young Victorians, and those in the private, productive parts of the economy, while public servants and bureaucrats have received pay rises,” said Mr Mulholland.

It also asked Victorians to agree or disagree with the statement: “Premier Daniel Andrews and the Victorian Government have mismanaged their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

48% agree
20% neither agree nor disagree
32% disagree

“The Westminster system of government under which we operate means that ultimately it is Ministers who take responsibility for the actions of their office and the public service.”

“The Andrews Government has disfigured Victoria with more lockdowns to deal with the second wave unleashed by his catastrophic ineptitude with hotel quarantine and contact tracing. Someone has to accept responsibility for the irreparable damage this has caused,” said Mr Mulholland.

The IPA warned against the draconian COVID-19 omnibus bill which it describes as the most dramatic violation of human rights in Australian history.

“This bill will allow an unelected bureaucrat to appoint any person, such as union officials or political allies of the Andrews government, to indefinitely detain Victorians based on subjective beliefs while removing the right of the detainee to have their detention challenged in court,” said Mr Mulholland.

Download the polling.