By John Stapleton
There are few moments in Australian history more glorious than the resignation of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, otherwise known as Dictator Dan.
At last, at long, long last, the widely despised Premier of Victoria, the man responsible for the world’s longest lockdowns during the Covid era, who backed his police 100 percent as protestors were bashed, pepper sprayed and imprisoned, has finally resigned.
For our international readers who have not followed this story closely, the photograph below tells you everything you need to know about why Daniel Andrews was so intensely disliked. The image is of a 70-year-old grandmother lying defenceless on the ground as she is being pepper spready by two Victorian police during an anti-lockdown protest.
A Sense of Place Magazine was one of the very few media outlets who covered the debacle overtaking the state of Victoria during the Covid era. Most mainstream media were hostage to corporate and government money, and either lied through commission, that is by ignoring the story right in front of them, or directly lied to the public on the effectiveness of vaccines, lockdowns and masks, all of which are now widely seen as counterproductive.
Here is one of the stories we did at the time.
Daniel Andrews’ nine year reign over Victoria officially ends today at 5pm, Wednesday the 27th of September, 2023.
Street parties are expected during the day and long into the night.
News commentators both mainstream and independent commentators have been falling over themselves to capture the moment.
Below is a selection.
Rukshan Fernando
A beaming Rukshan Fernando, a former wedding photographer who became one of Australia’s most popular independent broadcasters in the crucible of the Covid era, clearly couldn’t have been more delighted.
“It is a great day for Victorians,” Rukshan told his viewers. “A day to celebrate. Yet another broken promise by Daniel Andrews, who did say he was gong to serve a full term.”
That was a promise many Australians are happy he did not keep.
“All of us in Victoria have been through so much. A lot of it has stemmed from this particular leader. The guy is running away and even though we have a lot of work ahead of us in this state it is still a time of celebration.”
After playing highlights from Andrews’ resignation speech in front of the cameras Rukshan declares: “Over the last couple of years we have seen just how devastating it has been in our state with the lockdowns, with these mandates, with how many small businesses have been destroyed by Daniel Andrews; with our crippling health services, our ambulance services. We have firefighters protesting today.
“This guy has literally crippled out state. We have some of the worst debt in the country. He is running off as everything around him is crumbling. The facts are that Daniel Andrews has practically destroyed the state of Victoria.”
Senator Ralph Babet
United Australia Party Senator for Victoria Ralph Babet spoke of his “overwhelming joy” upon hearing the news as Victorians continue to ponder the perilous condition of their state.
“I haven’t felt so much joy since I was a five-year-old waking up on Christmas Day,” Senator Babet said. “When I think of Dan and his governance of our state, I have not one positive word to say. His resignation is nine years too late. He has left a trail of economic and social destruction that we may never overcome. We’re flat broke because of him.
“Victorians will never forget the sadistic brutality of Labor Premier Dan Andrews and Victoria will immediately be a better place without him at the helm. May this be the end of the woke socialist regime in our state of Victoria.
“He locked us down for longer than any other people in the world. In my opinion, he acted like a tyrant who trampled on basic human rights. We will ensure that he is ultimately held to account for his actions.
“This megalomaniac locked down our state for a shocking 262 days and yet excess mortality in Victoria was the second highest in Australia, topped only by Tasmania.
“School closures in Victoria had a devastating effect on children. More than 50 per cent suffered a decline in mental health, almost twice the national average.
“Andrews bullied and demonised unvaccinated Victorians. He resigns two days before the second anniversary of Victorian police shooting rubber bullets at peaceful protesters, even as they fled in terror.
“For everyone who is suffering from post-tyranny stress disorder, please reach out for help. This man has caused immeasurable pain which many of us are still suffering today,” Senator Babet said.
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia, long time critics of Daniel Andrews, were equally exuberant.
Melbourne based host Peta Credlin, who mounted devastating critiques of the Victorian Premier through a string of political scandals, said the Premier for leaving the state “broken”.
She said Premier may have been one of the “most brutally effective political players” she had ever observed in politics but had failed to handle the state’s massive debt and had badly mismanaged the Covid pandemic.
“The man who made Melbourne the world’s most locked-down city, the man who gave Victorians the most miserable two years of our lives – got off scot-free,” she said. “In his wake, he leaves a state that’s still broken, a CBD struggling to get back to where it was, a legacy of mental health harm, and small businesses that will never recover.”
Sky commentator Andrew Bolt warned that history will not be kind to the outgoing Premier with Mr Andrews to be known as the “most incompetent leader of any state”.
“It’s now up to some other premier to figure out how to pay off the debts he left behind, how to finish the mad projects he dreamed up, how to fix the electricity system he’s helped to ruin,” he said. “Let some other premier end the culture of secrecy in this state, the arrogant use of power as well.
“Andrews is off, he is the winner, leaving the cleanup to generations of Victorians who will pay, and pay, and pay.”
Rebel News Australia
Rebel News Australia, whose correspondent Avi Yemini was a specific target of Victorian Police crackdowns for his “in-your-face” coverage of the states anti-lockdown protests, was one of the cheerleaders of nation-wide jubilance.
Victorians are gearing up for a major celebration scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, as they mark the resignation of Premier Dan Andrews.
Organised by the Melbourne Freedom Rally, the event is set to be a significant gathering at the steps of Victorian Parliament House, where locals will come together to mark the end of Andrews’ long reign as Premier.
As the longest-serving Labor Premier in Victoria’s history, his departure is a historic moment for the state and has been welcomed by many who protested Andrews’ harsh rule during the brutal Covid-19 lockdowns. His detractors took to social media to celebrate the end of Andrews’ ‘dictator’ leadership style.
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The Betoota Advocate
Parody website The Betoota Advocate, named after a ghost town in western Queensland, was in just as jovial mood as every other freedom loving Australian.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has sensationally resigned this afternoon, ending a decades long career in the public service of Australia’s weirdest people.
Speaking to the media today in Melbourne, Mr Andrews said he was beginning to think about a life after politics: “I want to spend more time at home, watching the kids grow up and being more present in the home. That’s what I want to do.
“Obviously, I will also be spending time with my close personal friend Bill Gates.
“Without the help of Bill, I don’t think Victorians would’ve come out the other side of the pandemic in such great shape. We’re the only place on earth that crushed Delta. Remember that. We did that with the help of Bill Gates. Me and Bill are such good mates. We can laugh about it now.
“And a big ‘Cher Cher’ to my friends in the Chinese Communist Party. without the help of the Chinese Government, again, we don’t know where we’d be as a state.
“Really, without my close personal friend Bill Gates and my brother from another mother Xi Jinping, I think we’d be just a fancy, high-tech version of Tasmania.”
The Prime Minister
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Already in his own political death spiral, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a close friend of Daniel Andrews, was one of the few people in the country praising the Victorian Premier. Clearly the Prime Minister lives in a different realm to most Australians.
He said: “Daniel Andrews is a person of deep conviction, great compassion and fierce determination and he brought all those qualities to his time as Premier of Victoria.
“Dan has always been a builder and in education, health, infrastructure and housing he has built an extraordinary legacy that will endure for generations.
“You can measure Dan’s time as Premier not just in years but in achievements. Opportunities created through TAFE and early education reform. Melbourne and the regions remade by record investments in infrastructure and public transport. An ambitious plan for the construction of 800,000 new homes right across Victoria. A new generation of powerful social progress on equality, action against family violence and investments in mental health.
“Dan’s leadership was tested by some of the toughest times. In the relentless pressure of a once-in-a-generation pandemic, Dan never shirked the hard decisions. He fronted up, he stood up and he did everything in his power to keep Victorians safe.
“As Prime Minister, it was a pleasure for me to work alongside an old friend – and a leader of such vision and ambition. It made a huge difference to sit at the National Cabinet table with someone who believed so deeply in the power of government to change lives for the better.”
Reignite Democracy Australia
And In Conclusion
