Dear fellow residents and supporters,
I hope my letter finds you and your loved ones well and coping with the new conditions as best you can, as we all are.
Although some of our leaders talk of “snapping back” and otherwise returning to normal – no one has any idea of what the ”new” normal will, in fact, be like.
Letter from MP Clifford Hayes.
Dear fellow residents and supporters,
I hope my letter finds you and your loved ones well and coping with the new conditions as best you can, as we all are.
Although some of our leaders talk of “snapping back” and otherwise returning to normal – no one has any idea of what the ”new” normal will, in fact, be like.
The amazing thing about this crisis (and it is indeed a crisis, admittedly for some more than for others) is the amount of genuine concern for the wellbeing of our fellows, especially for those less fortunate, and for the health of our community in general.
We have seen a great generosity of spirit flowing from our leadership right throughout our nation and many people are open to the opportunity now presented to bring about change; change for the better, we sincerely hope.
It is up to us to let our leadership know what sort of society and what sort of Victoria we want to emerge.
The Victorian Parliament recently returned for an emergency sitting to introduce urgent measures relating to the coronavirus.
Prior to this one-day sitting we were told that the Government was quite happy to govern without Parliament until the budget needed to be passed, most likely till October.
Anyhow, here is an update of what I have been working on.
Parliament is not less important than Bunnings
I urged the Victorian Government to set a date for the resumption of Parliament, questioning why hairdressers and hardware stores had taken precedence over vital legislative reform.
It is not good enough for Parliament to have a one day wonder, pass a Bill which gives Ministers sweeping powers of regulation, then go into indefinite hibernation.
As I told the media, the Victorian Government had indicated that it did not plan to bring down the Budget till well into October.
Given that the Budget was to be the next item of Parliamentary business, there appeared a real risk that the Government wanted to get away with shutting down Parliament till October.
The Government has allowed all manner of activities to continue – building and construction, horse racing, schools, retail outlets like Bunnings.
At crucial times like these times, I believe it is essential for the Parliament to be able to scrutinize the activities and intentions of the Government.
I pushed for a return date to be set, no later than June and found support from the opposition and enough
crossbench members to persuade the Government to come around.
This was a crucial opportunity for the Legislative Council, where the Government does not have a majority, to force the Government to be democratically responsible and set a date for the return of Parliament, not leaving such oversight at the Government’s
discretion.