ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Former Acting Premier of Victoria James Merlino is enjoying a union-mandated rostered day off (RDO) today after months of leading the nation’s most European city-state through the wagging tail of the Pangolin’s Revenge.
The snow-guns were on in Melbourne’s CBD today as Merlino took time to blend into the crowds as best he could.
Now just a lowly Deputy Premier, the tertiary-educated former bricklayer’s labourer told The Advocate via mobile telephone that he was looking forward to switching off for a few hours.
“Dan told me to take an RDO – as long as it wasn’t to the Mornington Peninsula,” he said.
“No, it’s great. Glad to have a day off. Great day for a walk. The snowguns are on down Collins Street. I like to close my eyes and feel the snow it my face and imagine I’m walking down some ancient boulevard in Prague. But yeah, pretty happy that Dan’s back and his back is back to normal. His doctor said he can play golf again. Not sure about that. If you ever want to see a man catch a nine iron six inches heavy then go play golf with Dan [laughs] No good on him,”
“So this week, I’m actually going to South Australia. Going to Mildura to try to see if we can form a bubble so the people of Mildura will be allowed to come to Victoria to access the services in towns like Buronga, Wentworth and Dareton. Love doing a bit of travel outside of Melbourne. Dan might be heading up to the Mallee district as well later on. He’s going as far north as Daylesford. Lucky duck. Anyway, it’s always nice to speak to a Queensland newspaper for a bit of sense. Have a good one.”
More to come.
