As for Victoria's ring of steel, from what I understand it was actually leaky as a colander, but Andrews is far better with his rhetoric than Gladys.
Of course it was, but it was symbolic I guess. Though I think they realised how leaky it could be, there were also secondary checkpoints to check on people who evaded the checkpoints leaving Melbourne, eg between Geelong and Torquay.
And agree re Andrews and his rhetoric, but thinking whether it's vaccinations or lockdowns or mask wearing - good, simple, strong rhetoric is better than being wishy-washy. (If only he'd wheeled that out in early June rather than late July, Vic might have been in a much better position for it).