But hang on, maybe these totalitarian laws are necessary? Covid is an ‘unprecedented’ situation that calls for an ‘unprecedented’ response, right?

That sounds ok - but historically, the introduction of a police-state is always couched in terms of a scare-campaign justification. So we need to be wary of that.

Covid didn’t impact Australia in the exponential graph way until mid March. It was lucky to that extent - governments were able to watch the tsunami roll around the world and fortify the barricades. Given that benefit of fore-knowledge, Australia did a pretty good jobof fingering the dyke. By May-June, the last few dribs and drabs were being proudly mopped up.

Dan was in 7th-heaven - on TV every day, literally every day (another Dan World Record?). Giving Fidel Castro-length press conferences telling everyone what to do.
With no opposition voices because it was ‘not the right time to talk about that’.

Andrews was basking in an approval-rating surge to 75%. That’s crazy-high in politics. Everyone got a bump but Dan was the most popular of all the premiers - and 7 points clear of the PM, Scott Morrison on 68%.

“We’re all in this together!” Dan kept saying, while urging everyone to 'listen to the experts.' And at every press conference he was flanked by his faithful Chief Medical Officer, Brett Sutton, who likewise crowed: “We've got some of the brightest minds in the world in our health services, laboratories, research sector and emergency management sector. I'm confident we're well placed to meet the challenges ahead, whatever they might be."

They say in politics ‘Never waste a good crisis’ - Dan Andrews was not wasting so much as one airborne droplet of it. On the PR front, at least, things couldn’t have been going better. Until they weren’t....