Yesterday, Dr Ramona Muttacumaru, the Acting Executive Director, COVID-19 Strategy and Policy, COVID 19 Response Division of the Victorian Department, wrote to the Presiding Officers of the Victorian Parliament bluntly stating “all parliamentary business, including sittings of both houses, should not be conducted in person”.

It was not a request. It was an order — and is, arguably, a contempt of parliament.

What’s a contempt of parliament? Here’s how the bible of Westminister democracies, Erskine May’s Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament, defines it:

Generally speaking, any act or omission which obstructs or impedes either House of Parliament in...