By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Keysborough South Ward candidate has apologised over a tweet on Dandenong South lockdown protests that has been seized upon by her political rivals.
Rhonda Garad, of The Greens, says her comment about “a group of white supremacists” in the mass gatherings from 24 August was not aimed at protestors from the local Albanian community.
Her tweet read: “A group of white supremacists fight the State Govt, the Chief Medical Officer and Police, who are protecting the health of Victorians.
“Imagine being new arrived, living in #Dandenong and having to face them everyday.”
Despite Dr Garad deleting the tweet, she and her post has attracted sharp criticism across social media.
Dr Garad, who has lived in Dandenong for 26 years, married an African and has children of diverse backgrounds, strongly denies she is racist.
“My children and my husband have had to face this discrimination. The last thing I want to be seen is to denigrate or demonise people.”
“I want to fully apologise for any hurt that I may have caused and say that I am a big supporter of the Albanian community.”
The tweet was posted before it was revealed that predominantly locals were involved, she said.
She made the “white supremacist” reference out of concern about the rise of such groups including a “small group” in Melbourne.
Over seven days, police arrested 10 men and issued 72 fines as they cracked down on the mass turnouts at George Andrews Reserve, Kirkham Road and surrounds.
Though wearing masks and walking for “exercise”, the offenders were allegedly in breach of Chief Health Officer bans on outdoor gatherings of more than two.
Dr Garad said the protests weren’t acceptable but were understandable. Dandenong residents were generally supportive of the lockdown but disproportionately impacted by the restrictions.
“I think people are struggling. I think people are worried and scared.
“A large part of the community have lost work and may have missed out on JobKeeper provisions.
“We are in uncharted territory and people are wondering what’s next, how to put food on the table, how to pay the mortgage.”
She accused the State Opposition of deliberately playing down the health consequences of Covid-19.
“They’re making Daniel Andrews and the Chief Health Officer the enemy and not the virus itself.”
ALP candidate Ramy El-Sukkari said the actions of some protestors shouldn’t reflect on a whole community.
“One of the key (attributes) for any candidate is to unite the community.”
Mr El-Sukkari said a combination of forces were behind the protest – people were under pressure and facing rumours of an extension of stage four restrictions and the State of Emergency.
Greater Dandenong has lower than average Covid testing rates compared to metropolitan Melbourne.
More effort should have been made to put the public health message in different languages and to engage community leaders, Mr El-Sukkari said.
Mayor Jim Memeti said the Dandenong South protest sites had settled down in recent days. They still had a police presence, he said.
He said frustrations had swelled due to the losses of jobs and businesses.
But he urged residents not to disobey the Chief Health Officer’s agenda.
“I do urge people in the community that if they’re feeling symptoms to get tested. We want people to get checked so they don’t spread it to anyone else.”
As of 4 September, active cases in the Dandenong 3175 postcode had plummeted to 41 – down from 137 a fortnight ago.
Active cases in Greater Dandenong were 72, a drop of 13 from the previous day.
