Australia/New Zealand New Thread

[Kokeshi123]

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/pandemic-australia-still-liberal-democracy/619940/

Intrastate travel within Australia is also severely restricted. And the government of South Australia, one of the country’s six states, developed and is now testing an app as Orwellian as any in the free world to enforce its quarantine rules. People in South Australia will be forced to download an app that combines facial recognition and geolocation. The state will text them at random times, and thereafter they will have 15 minutes to take a picture of their face in the location where they are supposed to be. Should they fail, the local police department will be sent to follow up in person. “We don’t tell them how often or when, on a random basis they have to reply within 15 minutes,” Premier Steven Marshall explained. “I think every South Australian should feel pretty proud that we are the national pilot for the home-based quarantine app.”

This is... really really disturbing, honestly.

I grew up admiring (and, let's be honest, envying) Australians because as a nation, they always came across as a down-to-earth, fearless lot who had a healthy skepticism of authority while also being basically very civic/community minded.

What's gone wrong?

Melbourne will take the title of the most locked down place in the world by next week and this is from a country with a covid zero strategy.
Gold standard.

@thingsarelookingup

I think lots of Australians do still fear covid in a way the rest of the world doesn't anymore. That's why I come to this forum to talk about it because I can't deal with the mindset of some many people that there's really no hurry to end lockdown and border closures. Australians overseas and interstate can wait longer and people who suffer from lockdowns are acceptable collateral because there's no hurry to get out of lockdown until everyone will be safe.

Is that fear though or is it more a moral duty to allow everyone to have the chance to be vaccinated? The only thing you can do to "hurry" the end of border closures is to get vaccinated, which 1000's of people are doing every day. What more can any of us do?

@Ineedsomebody

Melbourne will take the title of the most locked down place in the world by next week and this is from a country with a covid zero strategy. Gold standard.

Are you in Melbourne?

@Ineedsomebody

Melbourne will take the title of the most locked down place in the world by next week and this is from a country with a covid zero strategy. Gold standard.

There is no country, .i.e Australian Covid-zero strategy, as health is delegated to states and territories.

HTH.

How is Dan Andrews exit plan going down? I've disagreed with some of the policies but he is a very good communicator and does keep clear messsaging (ie key points on twitter etc.)

A back to school plan so everyone is back before the end of the year and 30 people at Christmas (ok that one surprised me!)

Definitely messaging has moved on towards opening up and those being unvaccinated are so out of choice (does this mean that now everyone who wants one has been able to get one? )

It is not particularly helpful for posters to generalise about Australia as the last 18 months have been completely different for people living in different states. I am in Melbourne and have had over 200 days in lockdown. Ii has been incredibly hard but I don't begrudge it as it was the best available strategy. It has been made harder by the undermining by Murdoch press and the lack of support from our Federal government. My sisters in Adelaide have had a couple of short lockdown and other wise have been leading busy happy lives, seeing friends, weekend's away, off to the theatre etc. So there is no single experience of being in Australia.

@StartupRepair

It is not particularly helpful for posters to generalise about Australia as the last 18 months have been completely different for people living in different states. I am in Melbourne and have had over 200 days in lockdown. Ii has been incredibly hard but I don't begrudge it as it was the best available strategy. It has been made harder by the undermining by Murdoch press and the lack of support from our Federal government. My sisters in Adelaide have had a couple of short lockdown and other wise have been leading busy happy lives, seeing friends, weekend's away, off to the theatre etc. So there is no single experience of being in Australia.

This. ^^^ Big time.

We have family in Melbourne and Tas whose experiences are world's apart. Makes family zooms interesting!

I dont think theres a "single experience" anywhere though tbh. A person in England who has worked in a supermarket throughout has a very different experience to someone who homeschooled kids fulltime to someone who has been vulnerable and shielded for months on end.

What australia hasn't had until recently, in comparison to say the UK, is experience "living with" covid or experience in unlocking/freedom day/exit whatever you want to call it. And that is still a way ahead for many states isn't it?

I really feel for Melbourne at the moment. I have read through Dan Andrews plan and hope that at least "having a plan" helps people to see an end point. Maybe? How is it being received?

I'm in Melbourne, and it's a hard row to hoe. Daniel Andrews is reaping the whirlwind sown by Gladys in NSW. His plan is decent in the circumstances, but fear that infections had gone so far that even this might not get the result.

At least he calls it as it is.

I teach, and while, like every teacher, I know would far rather the students be in school, the yo-yo is to be avoided.

Have, not had.

I can see why INeed feels differently to someone in Brisbane etc

The experience is world’s apart.

Melbourne length of lockdown is incredibly tough.

You can hurry the exit by making sure that more vaccines come to Victoria. The PM was rumbled two weeks ago for prioritising NSW for Pfizer access and a week ago said he would start evening things up yet we still day after day are way below their Vax rate. I find the lack of anger and the lack of follow up reporting by the Victorian media odd. It's the one thing that would get us out faster.

www.news.com.au/national/long-lockdowns-still-needed-to-keep-covid19-cases-down-despite-vaccinations-new-modelling-suggests/news-story/08c6b3684f06b52d490a7879ff00f0ea

This is all getting silly right now. "Australians will still need to endure lockdowns for at least half the year [2022] even once 80 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, new modelling has found."

The chances of Australians putting up with that are zero. Don't the people developing models put their results through some kind of basic "Does this result sound like complete bollocks?" test before they publish it?

Don't the people developing models put their results through some kind of basic "Does this result sound like complete bollocks?" test before they publish it?

Maybe we should introduce Imperial to that test!

@ajandjjmum

Don't the people developing models put their results through some kind of basic "Does this result sound like complete bollocks?" test before they publish it?

Maybe we should introduce Imperial to that test!

🤣🤣

There’s no way most Australians ( at least those in the Covid circulating states) will put up with lockdowns throughout 2022. There were pretty violent protests in Melbourne yesterday as construction has been closed for two weeks. Protests will start attracting all sorts of other grievances and just get bigger and bigger and more violent. It’s unsustainable and just a terrible look for Australia.
It’s a very difficult situation there with all the different states doing different things with different policies with regards to opening borders etc.
It’s another nail in the coffin of the elimination strategy. It’s a much more difficult strategy to exit from than suppression has been ( although that has also been hard but quicker)

Waiting till everyone gets vaccine is now impossible, given that there is a significant rump of people - and active protesters - who do not want the vaccine. Unless it is made absolutely compulsory to do anything (see Italy) then Australia is stuck.

Victorian construction workers were mandated to get the jab by this Thursday (about a weeks notice).
Some decided to seek help from their union so that was where they conducted their protest. Things become violent when their union leader went on the radio and called them right wing extremists and the riot police were sent in.
Dan Andrews then put a ban on construction for 2 weeks excluding government projects.
Sadly a Melbourne construction worker took his life this morning at the site he worked at.
Things are literally turning to shit, some Victorians are at breaking point, they need help.

Dan Andrew’s is undermining the vaccine rollout by his strong arm tactics, he needs to step aside.

That is so bad.

But I’m not really surprised you can’t keep suppressing a population in lockdowns and there not be repercussions.

@Kokeshi123

www.news.com.au/national/long-lockdowns-still-needed-to-keep-covid19-cases-down-despite-vaccinations-new-modelling-suggests/news-story/08c6b3684f06b52d490a7879ff00f0ea

This is all getting silly right now. "Australians will still need to endure lockdowns for at least half the year [2022] even once 80 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, new modelling has found."

The chances of Australians putting up with that are zero. Don't the people developing models put their results through some kind of basic "Does this result sound like complete bollocks?" test before they publish it?

I cannot believe there are experts trying to tell us that we’ll still be having regular lockdowns next year. I’m not in a locked down state but the vibe I get from Melbourne is that many are at breaking point. Do these so called ‘health experts’ not realise what damage Melbourne’s extended time in lockdown has done to the citizens?

Those that have done the right thing and been vaccinated and complied with what have been pretty draconian restrictions deserve a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. This is no longer just a few weeks or months, it’s robbing people of years of their life. Enough is enough. Yes some people will die but Covid is going nowhere and we need to move forward.

Does anyone know what Perth is like that the moment? Any lockdowns or restrictions there?

There's no restrictions at all in Perth, we've got the AFL grand final Saturday, 60k sell-out.

@DetMcNulty

There's no restrictions at all in Perth, we've got the AFL grand final Saturday, 60k sell-out.

Wow! So do you have many cases there? If not, how come do you think? What is the opinions on the vaccines? Are most adults double jabbed?