Of all the world’s countries that have overreacted to the covid virus, Australia ranks near the top. It has become a virtual police state, with multiple videos of police assaults on peaceful demonstrators going viral worldwide. And for what? A respiratory bug.
One of the problems with trying to keep an island nation covid-free is that there is no apparent end game. Will Australia shut down forever? Presumably not. But if its national and state governments have a sensible strategy to move back to normality, they haven’t disclosed it.
Rowan Dean is one of the hosts of Outsiders, a terrific show on Sky News Australia. (Australia has a government-run television network, ABC, sort of like the BBC, and Sky News is more or less the country’s Fox News, only with better hosts, in my opinion.) ABC started a show called Insiders, featuring three liberals talking about politics and current events. So Sky News came up with Outsiders, with three conservative hosts. It is a terrific program, on which I have enjoyed being a guest a number of times.
Earlier this week, Rowan did an onscreen editorial on Outsiders, excoriating Australia’s government for its covid policies and the police crackdowns they have engendered. It is powerful, including stunning video footage, and well worth your time:
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