We’re in the midst of a pandemic, but in Victoria the big story is Dr Annaliese van Diemen and her twitter account.
At least that’s according to the Herald Sun, along with a number of high profile commentators and politicians who have taken issue with a tweet sent by Victoria’s deputy health chief.
Dr van Diemen is front-page news today, with the headline “Cook Line A Stinker”.
It comes following a Wednesday tweet she sent, regarding the 250th anniversary of the Captain Cook arrival. “Sudden arrival of an invader from another land, decimating populations, creating terror. Forces the population to make enormous sacrifices & completely change how they live in order to survive. COVID19 or Cook 1770?”
It’s not just got the media talking, but a number of politicians talking, including Liberal MP Tim Smith who described the controversy surrounding the tweet as “the biggest issue of the day” and ordered Premier Daniel Andrews to reprimand her.
Asked about the matter this morning, Premier Andrews said he had no comment to make about any member of the public health team. “There was a tweet posted on a day off and if that’s the biggest issue of this global pandemic, well, I don’t agree with that.”
And Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos described the criticism as “irrelevant”, especially when you consider Victoria’s low COVID-19 numbers that are the envy of the world. “The Deputy Chief Health Officer is doing an outstanding job protecting Victorians from this deadly pandemic. Criticism from angry MPs is irrelevant to the fight against this virus,” she tweeted.
A quick scan of responses to the tweet and you quickly see that Dr van Diemen has some critics, but also plenty of support including from other female healthcare professionals.