AUS Politics
Surveillance Bill Passes in Secret Haste
Last week, with little fanfare, and near-zero media commentary, Australia slid deeper into a surveillance state. The occasion was the passing of the The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2021. The final bill was passed after just 24 hours. Major media outlets like the ABC ignored it.
Good and Bad Poll News for Morrison
A week, as they say, is a long time in politics. Little more than a week ago the Australian federal government was at the mercy of state premiers. Now, PM Scott Morrison is seizing the initiative and demanding that premiers abide by Canberra’s roadmap to end lockdowns and restrictions.
The Language of Freedom: Have Lockdowns Convinced Australia That Liberty Is a Privilege?
Kurt Mahlburg mercatornet.com Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. He has a passion for both the philosophical and the personal, drawing on his background as a graduate architect, a primary school teacher, a missionary, and a young
The Truck Stops Here
While the images of teargas and rubber bullets in Melbourne shocked the world, they were just the tip of Australia’s freedom movement. Tens of thousands also marched in protest at Covid lockdowns in Sydney and Brisbane. They may well have been just the beginning. There have been whispers for
COVID Hysteria Is Taking a Nasty Turn
Plagues and pandemics have consequences far beyond public health. Pandemics can disrupt societies in far-reaching and often devastating ways. While the “silver lining” of the Black Death, for instance, was that it ultimately led to the dismantling of feudalism, during the plague itself social effects were horrific. There was
Australia Created a Police State to Stop COVID-19. Data Show It’s Not Working
Jon Miltimore fee.org Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune. Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller,
The Cost of Lockdowns Exceeds the Benefit and the Poor Carry Most of the Burden
Kurt Mahlburg mercatornet.com Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. He has a passion for both the philosophical and the personal, drawing on his background as a graduate architect, a primary school teacher, a missionary, and a young
‘Experts’ Ramp up the Fear over Freedom
Australian PM, Scott Morrison, is pushing hard on the federal government’s roadmap to “re-open Australia”, be done with lockdowns and border closures, and “learn to live with the virus”. Morrison’s plan is eminently sensible and is clearly based on the real-world experience of places like Britain
High Time for Another High Court Challenge
When does “absolutely free” not actually mean “absolutely free”? Apparently, when everyone is running around, Chicken Little style, panicking over a new virus from China. Australia’s Constitution states that “trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free”
Building COVID Camps in Queensland
In recent days, PM Scott Morrison has firmed his stance on opening Australia up and “learning to live with Covid”. Clearly, there is a sense in Canberra, at least, that the Australian public is well and truly ready to move on. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has been forced into an
Morrison Gets It – Will Ardern? Ever?
The Australian PM has hit back at New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern over her continued pursuit of Covid elimination, rather than opening up and “learning to live with” what will become just another seasonal virus. Scott Morrison’s rare attack on his trans-Tasman counterpart (in contrast to the continual
Is the Worm Turning on the Wuhan Bug?
Is Scott Morrison’s new-found determination to push ahead with the “living with covid” strategy a sign o’ the times? “Scotty from Marketing” cuts both ways, I guess. At worst, it means that Morrison can too often, on domestic issues especially, seem weak. Too ready to bend to the
Morrison Returns Serve at Ardern over COVID
As I wrote yesterday, Australian PM Scott Morrison is finally finding some domestic backbone and is pushing back against the recalcitrant Covid dictators in the state capitals. Morrison has laid out a “roadmap” to re-opening Australia, ending the rolling lockdowns, and learning to live with what is now just