'The virus won't be defeated by playing politics': Daniel Andrews fires a shot back at Scott Morrison after the PM slammed his decision to keep Victoria in lockdown
- Premier Daniel Andrews hit back at Scott Morrison over his lockdown criticism
- The Victorian premier has been slammed over his refusal to reopen the economy
- Mr Andrews said Melbourne will stay in Stage Four lockdown for two more weeks
- Mr Morrison on Monday said he hoped this plan is the 'worst-case scenario'
- On Tuesday Mr Andrews said there's no place for politics when tackling the virus
Daniel Andrews has hit back at Scott Morrison after the prime minister criticised his decision to keep Melbourne in Stage Four lockdown for another two weeks.
The Victorian premier has been slammed by the public, businesses and politicians over his refusal to reopen the collapsed economy.
'The plan that was outlined yesterday, I hope, is a worst-case scenario,' Mr Morrison said on Monday, a day after Mr Andrews released his highly-anticipated 'roadmap to recovery'.
'I see it as a starting point in terms of how this issue will be managed in the weeks and months ahead in Victoria.'
Mr Andrews fired back at Mr Morrison on Tuesday, saying 'there's just no place for politics' when tackling COVID-19.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews fired back at Mr Morrison on Tuesday, saying 'there's just no place for politics' when tackling COVID-19
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said he hoped Daniel Andrews' lockdown plan was a 'worst-case scenario'
'This virus will not be defeated by playing politics. I'd say to the Prime Minister the worst case scenario is being open for three or four weeks and then closed down again,' he said.
'That's the worst case scenario. Absolutely that's the worst case scenario and I'll continue to work closely with the Prime Minister and his team.
'There would be 15 minutes of happiness and then we'd be back in lockdown and arguably facing an even worse situation than we face now.
'If I can be so bold as to have a judgement on these things - I think I've got some insight into what's happening here in our state.'
New South Wales has managed to remove lockdown and keep its economy going while suppressing cases to an average of less than 10 per day so far this month.
Mr Morrison noted that Sydney would be under lockdown if it followed Mr Andrews' road map.
'What I can't help but be struck by is that, under the thresholds that have been set in that plan, Sydney would be under curfew now,' he said.
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'Sydney doesn't need to be under curfew now. They have a tracing capability that can deal with outbreaks.'
But Mr Andrews said comparisons between Victoria and NSW are not 'helpful or accurate in any way'.
'The notion that NSW would be in certain settings if our rules applied to them. Well, of course, our rules don't apply to them. They're NSW and we're not in the same situation as them,' he said.
Under premier Daniel Andrews' plan, released on Sunday, lockdown will only end when there are an average of five cases per day, which is not expected until October 26.
Until then, a curfew will be in place from 9pm to 5am and residents can only leave home for exercise, shopping, school and work, and caregiving.
Under premier Daniel Andrews' plan, released on Sunday, lockdown will only end when there are an average of five cases per day, which is not expected until October 26
Daniel Andrews has said he will speed up Victoria's road map out of lockdown if coronavirus case numbers fall faster than expected
Asked if Victoria's contact tracing system was as good as New South Wales's, he said: 'Well, New South Wales can cope with much higher levels - and have. So, look, that's, I think, just a matter of record.'
The prime minister said he wanted Victoria's contact tracing regime to be beefed so it can handle a reasonable number of cases without requiring lockdown.
'Lockdowns and borders are not signs of success in dealing with COVID-19. And so it's important that we put ourselves in a position where they do not feature in how Australia is dealing with COVID-19 on a sustainable basis,' Mr Morrison said.
On Monday morning, the premier said he is open to changing the plan.
'If we saw things change dramatically then we would obviously remodel the whole thing,' he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
'If the data was to fundamentally change then we would be standing up making different announcements.'
Mr Andrews also said he was not trying to eliminate the virus but suppress it enough that contact tracing teams can identify and isolate the contacts of every case.
The Victorian premier has been slammed by the public, businesses and politicians over his refusal to reopen the economy
Mr Andrews also said he was not trying to eliminate the virus but suppress it enough that contact tracing teams can identify and isolate the contacts of every case
He said after lockdown is lifted there will be cases but they would not necessarily mean a return to harsh restrictions, saying the state was not pursuing unrealistic eradication but controllable numbers.
'A strategy where you're trying to eradicate it would mean that if you had one case you would go back into lockdown. That's the difference,' he said.
'This thing, it moves so fast, so silently, that it can get away from you so fast.
'You've got to beat it first then you can find that new normal.'
On Monday Victoria announced nine more deaths from coronavirus, taking the state toll to 675 and the national figure to 762.
But there was some good news for the state, with new case numbers dropping significantly on Monday to 41.
It is Victoria's lowest daily case number since June 26.
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