Daniel Andrews has lashed out at punters who flocked to Melbourne’s busy beaches to catch the warm weather yesterday afternoon, saying that their actions put everyone at risk.
Yesterday afternoon, 7 News reporter Paul Dowsley reported from St Kilda beach, where large crowds of mask-free revelers had gathered “in their hundreds.”
Social distancing was clearly not on the agenda, and at one point, a man accosted Dowsley (who appeared to be slightly shitting bricks at that point) and planted a kiss on him.
Earlier today, Andrews spoke about the crowds at the city’s beaches, and he was not happy, saying that this could undo the hard work of the past several months.
“Some of the scenes at beaches for instance overnight are just unacceptable,” he said, saying that he was “very angry” at behaviour of revelers.
“Nobody has the right to break the rules and potentially put at risk everything that good, decent, law-abiding Victorians have built.”
They’re the pictures that have health authorities on edge tonight – thousands of mask-free Melburnians flocking to beaches ahead of our warmest weekend in seven months. https://t.co/5zYfOfohG3 @paul_dowsley #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/0dLPhFf4IE
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) October 2, 2020
Andrews was not the only one to criticise beach-goers’ behaviour. A representative of Port Phillip Council said that the beach will be closed if similar scenes occur over the weekend.
“We are extremely disappointed by the number of people who breached the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s orders and gathered on St Kilda Beach last night,” said the Council in a statement.
“This behaviour is unacceptable and could delay the reopening of Metro Melbourne, as well as putting more lives at risk.”
