Martin Foley's "make no apology for saving lives" defence of shutting out Victorians demonstrates the all-or-nothing fear-laced default of Vic gov comms. It makes the stranded, many who come from areas of no transmission, sound like a horde of Typhoid Marys

Encouraged by this extremist rhetoric people turn on the blameless, who followed the rules, and callously assert it "serves them right" for not following vague and contradictory warnings. It's only a few steps from this to abusing a woman who had a roadside miscarriage

By constantly (and absurdly) claiming everything they do is "saving lives" the gov seeks to put itself beyond criticism. It furthers this paranoia by talking about a "wicked" virus that the Premier has often made sound like a deliberate Terminator-style killing machine.

Painting people they callously inflict hardship on as "rulebeakers" or dangers, even enemies, to the community incites anger against them. Why has the premier or any minister not spoken up about the abuse that is so apparent from his fans? You suspect it suits them too well

As a final thought I shouldn't let slide the extreme irony that a gov that invariably describes its actions as "saving lives" presides over the state that has seen over 90% of Australia's Covid deaths. By their own rhetoric they are condemned