Isolated, Fearful and Unfree — Australia May Never Be the Same Again
Inside Australia’s zero COVID nightmare
Britain is returning to normal. Restrictions remain but friends are reunited. Pubs are open and the cultural institutions that make Britain Britain are open to the public again. Thanks to an impressive vaccination rollout, the British people know they are on the other side of the nightmare of life under Covid, and that the restrictions imposed in its name will soon be behind them.
This is not true in Australia. We may live with minimal restrictions, but we are nowhere near returning life to normal.
The two most important stories in Australia right now are the painfully slow vaccine rollout and the closed international borders. And both problems are far from being solved.
In terms of vaccine doses, 14 have been handed out per 100 Australians. Australia’s vaccination rate currently trails that of Jordan and Colombia, according to the website Our World In Data. A Melbourne nurse recently told the media that over the course of an eight-hour shift at a mass-vaccination hub, she vaccinated one person. World Health Organisation adviser Mary-Louise McLaws warns that it would likely take a couple of years to complete Australia’s vaccine rollout.
Our international borders remain closed – even to Australian citizens. Thousands have been stranded overseas for over a year. The cruelty of this policy was on full display during the recent Covid spike in India, during which the Australian government decided not to fulfill its primary function – to protect its own citizens – and instead told Australians in India that if they attempted to return home they could be imprisoned for up to three years.
Yet no alarm bells are ringing in the government about any of these issues. In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, one of Australia’s most widely read newspapers, prime minister Scott Morrison proclaimed that there would be no imminent changes to our international border policy because there was no ‘appetite’ in the community for change. He subsequently posted on Facebook that international borders would only open when it is ‘safe to do so’. What conditions are needed for Morrison to deem it ‘safe’ are a mystery.
In an interview with Australia’s Sky News this weekend, Morrison decided to downplay the protection offered by vaccinations, saying ‘we’ve seen the [Covid] variants and we’ve seen the uncertainties only increase’, and therefore ‘it’s not safe to move to that next phase’ of opening up. This must be news to the New England Journal of Medicine, which published a study this month that found that the Pfizer vaccine works against all existing Covid variants.
If overseeing a vaccination rollout that trails behind that of Mauritius and becoming the first government in the history of Australia to ban its own citizens returning to the country is not enough to cause an ‘appetite’ for change, then life is a long way from returning to normal in Australia.
Australians know this. Despite the lack of restrictions inside Australia, the threat of another lockdown is with us all. Our Zero Covid strategy means that any time there is a minor outbreak there must be a lockdown.
Recently, the city of Perth was locked down for a weekend after two cases were discovered in the community. This lockdown meant the cancellation of all Anzac Day memorials, one of the most important days in the Australian national calendar.
Prior to that, the entire state of Victoria was locked down for Valentine’s Day weekend due to the discovery of 16 Covid cases in the community – all of the people involved were already isolating. And Adelaide was locked down after a pizza worker lied to contact tracers about his employment.
This is the reality of Zero Covid. When a single case of community transmission occurs, entire cities hold their breath. This can only be behind us when the nation is vaccinated and the elderly and vulnerable are safe from Covid.
That may be some time in 2023.
But let’s assume that by mid-2022 the international borders are open and the vaccination rollout is at a strong enough level that governments across Australia do not feel the need to lock down every time the ‘daily new cases’ number rises to five – assumptions the federal government recently made in its budget. Even then, it is hard to imagine Australia truly returning to the nation it was before Covid. The fear and division in our society right now will take much longer to heal.
As sickening as the decision to lock our border to our own citizens was, it was popular. A Guardian poll found 48 per cent of Australians supported the government’s policy and only 27 per cent opposed it. Nearly half of Australians are so scared of Covid they believe that ‘medical advice’ should trump one of the most fundamental legal rights Australians have.
The India travel ban set off a tribal response in the community. ‘Why were those Australians even in India?’, people asked. ‘If they selfishly decided to travel, then why are they surprised that there are consequences?’ That the ban was instituted for travel from India is important – especially when similar bans were not imposed for Europe or the United States. Indian Australians feel isolated, as if their citizenship somehow counts for less than others. That is a feeling of resentment that will last long after Covid has passed.
The divides in Australia are not just social but economic too. Rich are divided from the poor. Institute of Public Affairs research has found that between August 2019 and August 2020, there was a decline of 515,400 jobs among those in the bottom fifth of income earners, while there was an increase of 194,500 jobs among those in the top fifth.
And the young have been singled out for punishment. Between March and November 2020, employment for those between 15 and 24 fell by 158,000, while for those aged 35 or over employment increased by 20,000.
A nation divided by age, race and income, and a political class that knows Australians will surrender myriad freedoms if they are scared enough. This is the true legacy of Australia’s Zero Covid policy.
Source: Spiked
You can tell the author is a true vax-believer. He’s fairly pining for them.
Unfortunately you are correct and Australia don’t need idiots and pharma vassals to dictate to the public and try to control their personal health. If you rarely catch the flu then why poison yourself with a a concoction that is not even supported by legislation as being OK to use? The phama’s are immune to prosecution. How’s that for trust in a product!
Sounds to me like a mouth piece for big pharma. Funny that he doesn’t mention 89% of Australians support the actions being taken by our Government, and many oppose the ALLEGED vaccinations being peddled as a bogus deal.Myself, I used to be disappointed in my fellow Australians, thinking they were pretty dumb, but now I have to eat humble pie, as it appears many Australians CAN see the wood for the trees on this issue, and KNOW we are being played. The author tries to make mileage regarding the ALLEGED Australians marooned in India, but what he doesn’t say, is that many of these naturalised Australians departed our shores whilst the threat of this ALLEGED virus was raging, throwing caution to the winds.Try as I may, I simply cannot find any sympathy for anyone stupid enough to travel from the frying pan into the fire deliberately, whilst this is raging on, then expect sympathy and bail out when the proverbial hits the fan. Tough people, maybe they should have stayed home ? It is also FACT, that these innoculations alter human DNA thereby making everyone a victim of a patent. Authorities claim this is not true, yet we have the INVENTOR, Tal Zaks, chief medical officer of Moderna, Inc., one pharmaceutical company manufacturer of the experimental mRNA technology injection, confirms mRNA injection for COVID-19 can change your genetic code or DNA. This TEDx Beacon Street talk occurred in 2017. H/T to YouTube channel Silview Media Backup Channel.
Zaks calls it “hacking the software of life”.
Notice, this was way back in 2017, well before we were hit, so clearly, they KNEW this was coming and were prepared for it.
If Australia sticks to it’s guns, we may be the only nation on the planet left with humans still having their original DNA intact. That’s gotta be a bonus for us all
“Thanks to an impressive vaccination rollout, the British people know they are on the other side of the nightmare of life under Covid, and that the restrictions imposed in its name will soon be behind them.”
After 18 months of bs,,, I just couldn’t read any further.
After all this, fascist nazi governments like New Zealand, Australia, especially Red Canada and most of the EU are still locking down and crying wolf!
Aside from knocking people up side the head with a sledge hammer it appears most are unable or unwilling to see through this scam and apparently have a death wish.
I am with you on all this!! In Canada we are still in lock down since the beginning of April till mid June… and all we hear are lies and more lies.
Australia and Canada are brothers, brownnosing to the USA. Oh I forgot England and Germany.
You forgot former Pfizer VP Dr. Micheal Yeadon stating that it is “madness” for people to be vaccinated with experimental vaccines, and Dr. Reiner Fuellmich’s revelation that the “virus” sent by China was a computer model with suppositions about parts of the virus. That calls into question of whether it actually exists.
I can’t speak for Australia, but I wonder about correlation of 5G rollout. Last year, I came across a study that showed the countries and cities with the highest rates of “Covid” were the same as those with the highest 5G. Wuhan was China’s poster child for 5G.
https://emfmadness.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/study-of-correlation-coronavirus-5g-bartomeu-payeras-i-cifre.pdf
Former Nortel engineers were silenced when they said 5G was dangerous, aside from the part that it makes it easier to spy on you. I live in Canada, and my province has now has the highest “infection rate” in Canada. 5G has been rolled out over the last year. Of course, correlation is not causation, but the opposition to 5G has disappeared. There have been people reporting that post vaccine, they are connected to their Wi-fi devices.
Whatever this is, it is a cover for something much more sinister.
I do take issue with your reference to fascism. It’s not my political ideology of choice, but the fact is that the fascists were anti-banker and actually improved the lives of working people through introducing universal health care. They also legislated and enforced high employment standards. I don’t see any of that happening today. Ask yourself why Ezra Pound was declared insane and locked up by the US.
“I do take issue with your reference to fascism. It’s not my political ideology of choice…”
Someone really needs to publish a concise dictionary of idealogical definitions.
The same words mean different things to different people.
In my mind, limited as it is, “Fascism” refers to domination of government by corporate interests, at the expense of the people – very much the state of play across most of Team America ® at present. Its creeps up slowly, starting out benignly, but eventually advances to the point that all the machinery of government is at the disposal of corporate agendas, including the military. Does that sound familiar?
That view places the banksters very much in the fascist camp.
On the other hand, again in my constrained mindset, “Socialism” places the interests of the people as the government’s core concern, and subordinates corporate entities accordingly – effectively the opposite of “Fascism”, at least within the terms of those limited parameters.
Using those ideas, it’s possible to imagine a Fascist dictator or a Socialist dictator – the latter is obviously preferable.
One might also imagine a Socialist democracy, but it’s really stretching it to propose a Fascist democracy, unless we’re talking about a pretend “democracy” where we go through the motions but the people actually have little power and the corporations are the ones in control. Much like the USA today, and increasingly countries like Australia.
Different labels mean different things to different people, and sometimes the labels project a false veneer over the actual reality.
Australia used to be called the “Lucky Country.”
It now looks and feels like a cheap version of “Woke America.”
The real men and real pioneer woman have all grown old and are quietly passing on, taking what’s left of the Aussie legend with them.
Over the last 30 odd years the Australians have been infiltrated by foreign namely US company CEOs and even Politicians such as Kristina Keneally as Labor premier of NSW and Mathias Cormann as Secretary General who originates from Belgium. No wonder the Australian government, federal or state is under foreign thumb.
On the contrary, IF Australians stick to their guns, and reject these DNA altering jabs, we’ll still be the “lucky Country” as the ONLY country around with our DNA still original and untampered with. Though I can see, some folks will become enraged by this and strengthen their attacks against us for our cheek in refusing these DNA altering jabs.
What guns?
Once a penal colony, always a penal colony.
You got to that before me I will admit
We love our servitude, and yes it appears to be the case…nothing changes.
First the British rule and European money. Goon Britain replaced by America Rule and bigger money.
Lots of wars…Korea/Vietnam/Malaysia(British counter terrorism-Big win there. No woke combat by the Brit troops. (Ear off for the bonuses payments. Not ours, just the local brown terrorists.)
Then a steady run of Middle East shows. So from 1950 to present we only had one win: ear,ear.
Something unpleasant happened in East Timor the show was controlled by the US via strings, suitcases of cash and fly by wire : nobody knows or cannot remember.
Now we have been instructed to piss on the legs of Australia’s biggest business partner. And pissing we are.
The problem is the Upperty Chinese appear to be pissed off. This is the bit no one was expecting. Do we pay for dry cleaning or would they like their legs licked.
Joe Biden asked after the 4 nuke strikes…. “do I know you?”
For the love of God give diplomacy a chance.
Humm.. Are you surprised ?? When your government is run by Intellectual Giants with PhD in “Gender Studies”, “Feminist Studies”, “Social Justice Studies” & failed inept lawyers & teachers .. This is what you get !
Doubtless the shameful failure will be portrayed, around election time, as entirely the fault of the government. Well, it is – I don’t want to take away any of the sting from that. But the point I want to make is that the solution will be framed as, Throw The Bums Out!! Punish them by firing them, and elect a new government!! That will really show them!
The trouble with that is all politicians are incompetent louts who don’t want to get a job, but would rather swan about in a suit and get paid a luxurious salary out of taxes for acting the big wheel and pretending to lead. Those are the group of people you will be asked to elect, and when you do the press will trumpet that the people of this healthy and vigorous democracy have spoken! Their will be done! And the new crop of useless eejits will settle in to waste your money while they make leadership noises.
Democracy is a failure just as soon as it fails to jealously guard your rights and freedoms as if they were its own, because in the end they are – government of the people, by the people, for the people, the very essence of what was called ‘responsible government’ when I was in school. Who wants to take a stand, take a risk, when there is no punishment for being an idiot? Why would you risk not getting a second term when you can blame the abject failure of your first term on someone else? What the politicians and the media keep yelling about as ‘democracy’ failed to guard even your simplest rights. You were shut up in your home like you were in a bomb shelter, ‘permitted’ to go out only for groceries and – grudgingly – for rudimentary exercise after the public-health rulers allowed it was necessary for mental health. And a majority of your fellow citizens absolutely loved it; couldn’t get enough of being told they had to do more, sacrifice more, all in the name of beating a virus that killed less than 3% of the highest-risk group – which, coincidentally, is also the group most likely to die from any ailment you care to name, because it is the elderly whose immune systems are weakened with age and whose systems are too tired to fight the way they did when they were young. And somehow, prevailing over the disease yourself and gaining natural immunity got turned into if you didn’t stay home, or wear a mask whenever you went out and stay at least six feet away from everyone, you were a selfish prick who wanted to kill Grandma.
Now look where we are. New mutations of a highly-infectious virus which even the public-health authorities admits cause no symptoms or only mild illness in the majority who catch it, and a huge pool of uninfected victims who were hidden away under lockdowns. What’s the solution? Get vaccinated, quick! Don’t depend on natural immunity – Christ, no! If you do that, you won’t need to get vaccinated again every year for COVID season. Why do you hate pharmacists and their families? Don’t you want them to prosper and be successful? Don’t you want the infrastructure for permanent vaccination clinics to take root and grow so it can serve the public better? Your fellow citizens want to seize the COVID lemon and squeeze it, and make lemonade! Why can’t you just go along and be happy for them?
Once a penal colony; Always a penal colony?
“Once a penal colony…”
This sentiment is widely echoed, but betrays a fundamental ignorance.
Australians do themselves a disservice if they accept this characterization of their nation.
The Australian nation was born from the political union of a collection of penal colonies and free settlements – just like the USA.
If the old adage about the “penal colony” applies to Australia, then it applies equally to other members of Team America ® including Canada, New Zealand and yes, the United States of America (but being the planet’s indispensible bastion of “Freedom & Democracy”, they seem to have purged this fact from their school curricula).