Remember “two weeks to flatten the curve”? Somehow, as we are all too well aware, that morphed into weeks, months and now nearly two years and counting of lockdowns, restrictions, mandatory masks and plainclothes coppers kicking down the doors of pregnant mums in Ballarat and slapping them in cuffs.
At every step of the way, anyone who suggested that governments and power-drunk bureaucrats were going to ramp up their authoritarian enormities yet another notch has been sneered at and derided. Military curfew? Paranoid! Mandatory masks? Foil-hatter! COVID concentration camps? Get outta here, Alex Jones. Vaccine passports? Conspiracy theory! Microchips? Flat-earther!
Yet, somehow, nearly every single “loony conspiracy theory” has ended up coming to pass. Alex Jones is looking more and more like the Cassandra of our times.
So, when I read about the Australian government supposedly entertaining the possibility of clamping law-abiding Australians with electronic monitors, like common criminals, I’m not inclined to dismiss such a thing out of hand.
A senior government minister refused to rule out Australians being forced to wear electronic ankle bracelets, even if they are fully vaccinated, to make sure they are complying with home quarantine orders.
It should be borne in mind that this isn’t something brought up by the government themselves, but a suggestion from a journalist. Such things should be treated with proper caution: remember, for instance, the media-generated claim that Donald Trump would make Muslims wear identifying badges.
The astounding suggestion was made by journalist David Speers during an interview with Employment Minister Stuart Robert about how authorities would ensure returning travelers [sic] stayed at home.
“What sort of ideas would there be for this? Regular visits, inspections to make sure they’re home, ankle bracelets, some sort of monitoring, how do you do it?” Speers asked.
“Mr Robert did not rule out those prospects,” reports NCA NewsWire.
“All of that will need to be worked through before a policy prescription goes live,” said Robert.
Still, as we’ve learned the hard way, nothing should be dismissed as too crazy or dictatorial for COVID-mad governments and bureaucrats to try on.
Mandatory vaccines, for instance: sure, the government hasn’t said they will try and bring them in, but they’re dancing continually around the prospect of doing exactly that. The Morrison government has all-but confirmed that they’ll be introducing vaccine passports. The government has also hinted that it would like to go much further.
In any case, as the UK government is showing, they might not explicitly make vaccines mandatory; but unvaccinated citizens’ lives will be made a constricted misery. Brits won’t even be allowed to go to the pub without proof of vaccination. So it’s not mandatory, but you have to do it, if you want to escape indefinite house arrest.
Speaking of the UK:
This is not the first time that the idea of using electronic ankle bracelets, which are normally used to keep track of suspected criminals, has been raised in a major country.
Back in January, Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt called for the government to use GPS tracking technology to ensure Brits are complying with COVID quarantine measures.
“Daily contact with those asked to self-isolate – using GPS tracking to monitor compliance if necessary as happens in Taiwan and Poland,” said Hunt.
Summit News
So, no, I’m not about to dismiss ankle bracelets for Australian travellers as a crazy conspiracy theory – and neither should New Zealanders.
After all, some Kiwis have had plenty of time to get used to the idea.
Please share this article so that others can discover The BFD