AIBU to ask if I live in one of the most restricted nations on earth - Covid related *title edited by MNHQ*

[FreedomforWA]

NC as this is outing. AIBU to think that I live in the most restricted nation in the world (well, maybe after North Korea)?

So, I’m a Brit living in Perth, Western Australia (WA). I think it is widely known that Australia basically closed to everyone at the start of the pandemic leaving tens of thousands of citizens and residents overseas. Towards the end of 2021, the individual states all started to open allowing quarantine free travel to approved vaccinated travellers. Except WA. We have continued to live with closed borders – both internal to other states and international (we can leave but due to stringent caps and hotel quarantine, it is almost impossible to return). Our state Premier announced prior to Christmas that the state would open on Feb 5th. Thousands made plans to reunite with family, return home etc. Last night he performed a u-turn and our border is staying shut due to the threat of Omicron. He has not set a future date so we are all essentially in limbo. The rest of Australia is now learning to live with covid and can travel freely. WA has only had around 1400 cases of Covid since the pandemic began with 9 deaths. We have had a few short lockdowns. Whilst I appreciate that this is excellent, striving for zero covid is not a strategy the Premier can keep up with forever. He is delaying the inevitable.

We have an 89% fully vaxxed rate in the over 12s (96% single vaxxed) but this is apparently not good enough, despite being one of the highest rates in the world. We have a mask mandate that covers any indoor premise that isn’t a private residence.

75% of our work force has been mandated to get the vaccine. This is everyone from health care workers and police to supermarket workers and builders – the list is pretty much endless. As you can imagine, there has been a lot of discontent regarding this.

The rules state that as of 31st Jan, we have to show a vaccine certificate to attend – off licenses, restaurants, bars, zoo, theatres museums, hospitals (as a visitor), sporting stadiums, arenas, casino, play centres, gyms, night clubs, music venues and cinemas. I’m pretty sure it won’t stop there. The unvaxxed soon won’t have anywhere to go. Despite being pro-vax and being triple vaxxed myself, I believe that this has gone too far.

This is a state with a significant number of expats. Many of us haven’t seen family for 2-3 years now. I know people will just say that we should leave but it isn’t easy to just leave when we have jobs, lives, homes and mortgages here.

I would love to hear outsider (or fellow WA residents) thoughts on the restrictions we are living with.

One less person who doesn't want to come here anyway.

They pitch up threads about Australia all the time.

@BrightYellowDaffodil

Good. One less

One less what?

I don’t think @echt is feeling great about people who aren’t keen on and don’t want to visit Australia 😂

We’ve all been told here that vaccine protection reduces and is ineffective after several months. Surely the best time for the population to be exposed is when people have just been vaccinated? If WA delays opening up, are they not just making the problem worse when the inevitable wave does hit?

@EatYourVegetables

How overdramatic.

This week a young woman in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for some Whatsapp messages she sent. But no, YOU live in the most restricted nation on Earth, because your government didn’t allow loads of old and vulnerable folk to die for your convenience.

FFS.

Well why not start your own thread to discuss that if you haven't already?

The OP is not being dramatic. It's utterly chilling to read what has been going in WA and elsewhere and also reading some of the responses on here.

Podcast you may like, OP. Other places struggling to find a Plan B away from Zero Covid.

OP I think you are being perfectly rational and drawing comparisons with some countries not known for their Liberal human rights when yours is a country that has always had such rights, is perfectly understandable. Posters saying "are you really saying you have it worse than women in Afghanistan" are obviously, and probably intentionally, missing the point.

What you are describing is awful. To have no idea when things might change, is frankly, cruel. I would be angry too.

I am angry actually. I'm a NZ'er who had a big trip booked in Dec 2020 to see my elderly father. I haven't been able to get back since that trip was cancelled. Initially I hadn't wanted to take my children out of school as they had missed so much and I thought this madness couldn't last for much longer.

But I've given up caring about that now, as it's far more important that they get to see their 85 year old grandfather one last time, as far as I'm concerned. Except I can't get a managed isolation place on the lottery. The closet I've been is something like 11,000th in line. So I'm being locked out of my own country and like you, I have no idea when this will change.

My fear is that NZ govt will react strongly against the new UK policy of just getting on with it and living with it. Jacinda has managed to create such a climate of fear in NZ that the public are going to support any policy that will make it hard for me to visit my own country, as I must be 'riddled with covid'. It"s going to be a huge adjustment for the NZ public to accept that the time has come to live freely, and where necessary cautiously - that PP from Queensland makes this point perfectly. And because of that, I think it could be yet another year before I'm able to go home.

Aussies and Kiwis have always had a "she'll be right" "get on with it" attitude and I despair that we've been turned into nations of bed wetters, scared of our own shadows. Covid kills, for sure. But we're so far gone that we're afraid to live.

expat/immigrant in oz victoria

One thing I don't think many outside were aware of that we were not allowed to leave the country. Even having citizenship in another country I wasn't allowed to leave. You had to apply for a special exemption and by the time you had your statutory declaration and evidence of why you should be allowed to leave, it was 15 - 20 pages.

It's been terrible. It hasn't helped being mocked and shamed by fellow Australians for saying it's been bad.

My mental health has awful. I've come close to ending it a few times.

It's easy to say it's all good when you live here and all your family and friends are here.

When all your family lives overseas, it isn't good.

I'm in the process of leaving here. I don't think I'll ever return.

Go ahead and shame and mock someone suffering with PTSD and severe depression.

I think that you are correct OP.
If you can’t unlock travel restrictions now when everyone who will be vaccinated has been vaccinated, then will be the time ever right?
I thought that measures in the UK went too far at times - like when the Mayor of Middlesbrough locked all of the parks during lockdown for instance- it does seem to bring out the worst in some officials.

On reflection, I think there is a very good case to make that there s a breach of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I do think that, under the circumstances, it is understandable that it might be temporarily suspended but it has gone on for too long and without an end date in sight

That said, I am sure someone one must have challenged it on these grounds before and lost as I am certainly not the cleverest person in the room.

Perhaps it is time for another challenge as the situation has evolved further? I’m not a lawyer and I have tried not to dwell on this so I acknowledge I don’t have all the facts. But I am desperate to leave the country again and deal with outstanding personal matters overseas. Not to mention just take a holiday.

I’m in another part of Australia and I think it’s delaying the inevitable. How bad things are depend on who you talk to, I think.

If you’re trying to get a rapid antigen test and can’t, then that’s terrible. If you went to the supermarket and there’s not as much food then that’s also terrible. If you’re waiting on an elective procedure that’s been deferred then that’s awful as well. If you wanted to never get COVID then the whole thing is terrifying

On the other hand, restaurants, cinemas, coffee shops are open. The vaccinations seem to work, people are dying but not in huge numbers. (Although 60-70/day of mainly elderly people with co-morbidities is tragic and too many for some). There is strain on the hospital system but GPs are still working, where I am hospital outpatients is still happening.

Most people I know have either had it, or accept that it’s coming. Most people are triple vaccinated, 12-15 year olds double vaccinated and a reasonable chunk of 5-11 years had had their first vaccine.

Waiting for the population to be be vaccinated before opening up has seemingly reduced the number of people dying, no one I personally know wants to stay locked up forevermore.