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Premier Still Not Ready to Face Reality
The announcement last night by the premier of Western Australia that the state’s border will remain closed to both the world and the rest of Australia has been greeted by perhaps the first negative headline in the state’s only major daily newspaper in oh 658 days.
The announcement will be devastating for many Australians who were looking forward to seeing family members they have not seen for many months or even years. Even many Western Australian residents have been locked out of their own state because they had the gall to leave the state during the pandemic for such selfish reasons like visiting sick and dying family members.
For many other Western Australians, the announcement will be met with much relief as they have allowed themselves to be consumed by such fear as a result of government propaganda that the possibility of dealing with a major outbreak of a virus that has now become endemic throughout the world so terrifies them that they will cheer on any authoritarian measure that they feel will keep them safe.
As an Aussie expatriate from Melbourne, I’d hear frequent jokes about Victoria Premier Dan Andrews and his obsession with lockdowns. Mostly because Andrews has had six of them.
It’s often said that Australia needs to become a republic because of our lagging reputation in Asia. Many believe, for example, that our institutional attachment to the British Monarchy puzzles the masses and implies an old-world attachment that tugs on our standing in the region.
Just two years ago, Australians were told that “push factors,” not our government’s policies, were responsible for the increase in refugee boats arriving on our shores. Fortunately, the Australian people elected a new government with new policies designed to “Stop the Boats.” The results are to your right. And no, 2014 and 2015 aren’t lacking data: they properly indicate that there were, in effect, no more boats.
