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© AFP 2021Hundreds arrested, police injured at anti-lockdown protests in Australia
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© AFP 2021
53 Comments
Desert Tortoise
If this generation had been confronted by the Nazis and Japan they would have lost. This pandemic is our WWII. Everyone needs to pull together, sacrifice together for the common survival of our nations. With rights come responsibility and with citizenship come duties to your nation. Face masks, social distancing and vaccinations are not just to protect you but they protect everyone else. You do these things out of a sense of duty to do your part, to pull your weight for something larger than yourself and out of respect and for each other, your community and your nation. They are essential to stopping the spread of the pandemic. There is no other way.
If this generation had to fight WWII they would have protested rationing, wage and price controls. All and sundry would have been suing to prevent the central government from converting civilian production to war production. One can almost hear them whining: "What do you mean I can't buy a new car for the duration of the war? What do you mean I can only buy so much gasoline, sugar, flour and such every month. Who gave you the right to tell me what I cannot buy?"
The people in that demonstration and similar ones in the US and other western nations are unworthy of the nations their predecessors built and sometimes died to protect. They would destroy their nations for the sake of their immediate wants. They are short sighted and self absorbed. I have no respect for them. None whatsoever.
kurisupisu
All the Australians have to do is not have a picnic in the park-it’s simple really, isn’t it?
Maureen Ackerley
They anti vaxxers aren't protesting peacefully here in Australia. If it was me they would be getting the fire hoses put on them as,well as the pepper spray. then stick the troublemakers on Manis Island!
2020hindsights
GBR48
That approach would let too many people in with the virus that infect everyone else. A test is not effective against people who have just got the virus. You need to test 3 or 4 days after possible infection and then after 12 days. Hence you would need a quarantine approach where the traveller stays in quarantine for 14 days.
Peter14
They generally have that right.
Not allowed in Australia. Perhaps others like China do that.
Peter14
Really? please give details on this unreported event.
Jim Florin
Someone explain to me what an inner-city suburb is? Aren’t they mutually exclusive? It’s either one or the other.
Strangerland
Yes, because protestors deserve execution, right?
You often post comments that sound CCP backed. This fits that bill. Very authoritarian.
Peter Neil
I support the police in Australia.
Jtsnose
Democracy works, as shown in recent events in the US (and for almost 250 years) . . . Police using violence are representing the executive branch, not the demos (Gk. etymology) the common people . . . . https://www.dictionary.com/browse/demos
Peter Neil
i never thought I would ever say this, but maybe democracy doesn't work that well now in the age of the Internet.
There have always been dumb people (16.7% of any population have an IQ of about room temperature), but they didn't have the opportunity to work together in their dumbness like now. When you look back at the founding of the US, the men were specific about excluding people. For example, only land owners could vote.
Today, average people aren't smart enough to vote. Just read the writings of people and you can see how uninformed and uninspired their thinking is.
Average IQ people in groups only create average thinking at best. Who cares what a bunch of average or below average IQ people think? You should accept it for what it is -- below average ideas. Ideas and enterprises/projects that affect the world and a society are created by above-average IQ people.
It's time for the smart people to exert their power.
Today, it's like children are controlling the adults.
Mr Kipling
The police should always respond with more violence than they experience. If endangered then issue a warning and follow up with lethal force if necessary.
coskuri
North Korea has locked its population for decades. And now, Biden is providing nukes so Australia can go back in time and become a big jail island again.
itsonlyrocknroll
The Australian Government need to communicate a clear Covid policy that produces results.
Unfortunately, no government can enforce lockdown, after lockdown, after lockdown, the bubble will burst, big time and spread.
ulysses
Most of them are junkies, wouldn’t be allowed near a petting zoo , forget the Parliament.
ulysses
The video shows a cat playing piano, can you post he correct video again!!!
ulysses
Yes , any volunteers willing to contribute their DNA?
I am sad for them since education has passed them by!!
Hiro S Nobumasa
The protesters should be invited to Parliament and deputized as legislators for a day.
They should then be encouraged to voice their strategy in dealing with COVID.
GBR48
-the rest of the population will go about their business and obey the lockdown laws.
The lockdown laws are designed to stop the rest of the population going about their business.
Lockdown responses have often been overly restrictive. That is what many are concerned about. That concern is legitimate and is not anti-scientific. The world is not a laboratory and a Matrix-style lockdown is often neither required nor justified by the science.
Lockdowns vary. Some rules are sensible, others are not. Imprisoning people in their homes is not universal and often not essential. You will not spread a virus if you keep some distance from others, regardless of the time of day, so curfews are a questionable tactic. In the UK social distancing and mask use was only implemented on transport and in shops, where it worked. Yet transport was limited and 'non-essential' shops were still closed during lockdowns, damaging the economy, wrecking businesses and making it difficult for some to obtain goods. Border blocks, internal and international, have been implemented without just cause as tests are widely available, only healthy people are allowed to fly and the virus was present on both sides of those borders. Government messaging has also been poor, whilst politicians have ignored their own rules. Macron banned his citizens from flying and then turned up at the Olympics, watching his athletes. Hypocrisy like that erases trust in government at a time when it is most needed.
Opposition politicians have been notably silent on these issues. Politicians going into 'war unity' mode has not helped. It makes people nervous and suspicious, and they lose faith in their governance. Lockdowns should have been conducted with a more clinical focus on the specific activities that needed to be curtailed. There is no excuse for poor governance, especially in a pandemic.
SteveinJapan
Here is a video of the police "defending themselves" - pushing over an elderly woman and spraying her in the face with pepper spray while she is lying injured on the ground. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSJr2Ijh2ws
SteveinJapan
They should've just called it a "black lives matter" protest, and the cops wouldn't have showed up.
OssanAmerica
Ok like what ways?
2020hindsights
Utter stupidity. Don't they realise that they are sacrificing everyone freedom with these acts of selfishness
Peter14
1000 protestors from a city population of 5, 061,439 tells its own story.
1000 idiots and 5,060,439 responsible people. Put in perspective it shows the anti vaxers/anti science tiny minority, likes to have a loud voice. The majority rules and if they dont like it then it is their bad luck.
Ten police officers were injured, with six taken to hospital. That tends to make police defend themselves and better pepper spray than alternatives.
Social obligations mean there are laws. Decide that certain things do not apply to you and you risk the consequences of your actions. Over 200 people were arrested for breaking laws and they have nobody to blame but themselves for the choices they made.
Jimizo
To a point it’s a question of morality. There are some with influence who are genuinely so deranged they actually believe nobody has died of Covid, but I’m pretty sure there are more deliberately feeding the less intelligent and stable members of our society this appalling stupidity. This is atrocious behaviour. It’s cruel abuse.
ulysses
The Anti Vaxers of today are the descendants of the people who hounded people like Galileo.
The times might have changed but their minds have not.
Luckily for us these poorly educated lot are in the minority now!
Jimizo
The alternative media has a lot to answer for.
To a point, I don’t blame the people. When you are dealing with that level of IQ and problems with temperament, it is quite cruel to feed them this stuff.
wtfjapan
Yes, the police are acting like a bunch of morons pepper spraying their people, all in the name of science!
no crowd turn violent and dont follow the law, then this is what happens,
wtfjapan
Shame on you Austrailia!!
why vast majority of Australians support the vaccines and lockdowns if it saves lives, only a minority of Australians are antivax, why should the Australian government listen to a minority group over the majority
Antivax better get their shite ready, vaccine passports will be the norm in 6 months for travel or entering restaurants. A minority doesnt have the right to put the majority of the population at risk
wtfjapan
Australia once again demonstrates why it is the laughing stock of the world.
dont see anybody attacking the parliament building , this is what happens when crowds turn violent
CS
Shame on the police, of course! There are better more proactive ways to stop protests. Pepper spray is not needed.
OssanAmerica
Shame on the police for having to resort to pepper spray to deal with these protesters? Or shame on the protestors for not complying with the actions being taken to reduce the impact of Covid19?
8T
@P.Smith, You have never questioned authority in your life? Seems pretty healthy to me. Nuance does matter.
CS
Shame on you Austrailia!!
yakyak
Yes, the police are acting like a bunch of morons pepper spraying their people, all in the name of science!
BurakuminDes
Same old rubbish from these freedumbers who will simply end up spreading the virus. Same old banners recycled from last time - "Trump was right", "No one has died from Covid", "Masks are Communist" etc
onedragon
Hopefully, you mean Australian Authoritarianism.
ulysses
Some in Washington DC, others in Australia, idiots gonna protest something. Doesn’t matter if there is no cause!
Hito Bito
Oh dear. Another "Smashing Success"! The "Envy Of The World!" Nothing says "good policy" quite like a necessary accompanying barrage of pepper spray on concerned citizens, am I right?
Meanwhile, back to your cages, Citizens! You don't get to come out again until WE decide you do!
Because "science".
SteveinJapan
Australia once again demonstrates why it is the laughing stock of the world.