| The lockdown Australian style... 15:07 - Nov 1 with 4199 views | IPS_wich |
So - not a single new COVID case in last 24 hours in Australia: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54768038
In Australia we have benefitted from the first wave being during the tail end of our warm summer, but our various governments have not dicked around.
At the first sign of the R number rising last March there was a national lock down. The numbers were kept low, and bar 2-3 break outs in old people’s homes there were few deaths. But when I say lock down, I mean lock down. The borders were shut, the only people allowed in to the country were returning Aussies, and nobody with an Aussie passport has been allowed to leave the country without a special exemption, and that generally means you are leaving for business and can demonstrate you will not return for at least 12 months.
Aussies returning to Australia have had to quarantine in hotels for two weeks. To start with the government paid, but back in July the government said Aussies had been given enough notice to return, so if they wanted to come back they would have to pay $3,000 (about £1,5000) for the quarantine.
A few people who have breached the lockdown have gone to jail, and thousands have been fined.
Not only that, but most of the states have shut their borders to other states, especially to travellers from Victoria where there was an outbreak over the last few months - caused by lapse security in a couple of the quarantine hotels.
The Victorian shutdown lasted 12 weeks and was incredibly harsh. People allowed to leave once a day to go to the supermarket, no gatherings, all workplaces shut. No one allowed to travel more than 5km from home - with huge fines for those caught (often using number plate recognition).
Professional sport started up after three months, but only by forcing players to relocate to hubs for 100+ days, where the only people they could interact with were other players and officials. Players caught breaching these rules have been given some long suspensions. 2-3 players who really broke the quarantine rules have been sacked.
We go into our summer with less than 0.1% of the population having tested positive (compared to 3-4% in the Uk/US), so until there’s a vaccine we’re not going anywhere and nobody is coming in.
This is not intended to gloat. The majority of my family - including my parents and brother- are in the uk. Some of them on the highly vulnerable list. I can’t come and visit them. They can’t come a visit us.
The UK government has failed its people. Even when it decides to take action, it does so in a half-ar$ed way, with more than enough loopholes for those who don’t want to comply. As such, more people will die and the ‘lockdowns’ will keep on happening. |  | | |  |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:43 - Nov 1 with 2009 views | bluelagos |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:40 - Nov 1 by gtsb1966 |
I live on my own. I spend loads of my time with my daughter and grandson . Am I not allowed to see them for a month then. I don't stay overnight but once a week my grandson stays at mine. |
If you on your own, you can form a bubble with another household. That allows you to stop overnight and vice versa at each others houses. |  |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:50 - Nov 1 with 1982 views | gtsb1966 |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:43 - Nov 1 by bluelagos |
If you on your own, you can form a bubble with another household. That allows you to stop overnight and vice versa at each others houses. |
Thanks for that. I couldn't handle not seeing them for a month. |  | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 19:54 - Nov 1 with 1936 views | Swansea_Blue |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 15:10 - Nov 1 by IpswichBoyBlue |
But what about our civil liberties? |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 19:59 - Nov 1 with 1930 views | jeera |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 19:54 - Nov 1 by Swansea_Blue |
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You're suggesting offenders caught breaking the rules should be hung, drawn, and quartered?
An interesting alternative to the current fines that don't seem to be effective. |  |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 21:57 - Nov 1 with 1877 views | Sarge |
Don’t think I’d survive a Victoria style one | | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 23:22 - Nov 1 with 1829 views | airliner |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:40 - Nov 1 by pistonbroke |
Unfortunately with a Tory government , it’s profit before people |
It’s not profit, but keep the country going | | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 23:29 - Nov 1 with 1826 views | BondiBlue |
The one thing I would say is that, as a teacher and a parent of kids in daycare, the mixed messaging of keeping schools open but telling parents to keep kids home was shambolic. That was more to do with having a federal prime minister and a state premier who just didn’t agree with each other though. Other than that, and some noteable cock ups aside (Melbourne hotel quarantine, ruby princess), very well done. Test and trace In NSW has been outstanding. | |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 08:46 - Nov 2 with 1760 views | MonkeyAlan |
There was someone on TV the other day talking about how the Aussie/Asian model worked, and showing how it was much better than the European model. Looking at figures and what has been done, it appears far superior to our European model. |  | | |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 09:24 - Nov 2 with 1742 views | hype313 |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 17:36 - Nov 1 by factual_blue |
Sources in Melbourne tell me the flare-ups there were mainly down to hotel staff offering/procuring 'additional personal services' to arrivals from abroad who were placed in mandatory quarantine. |
Yep, my wife's sister lives in Melbourne and she mentioned the same to us, was going to write something similar, but you put it far more eloquently than I was planning... |  |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 09:58 - Nov 2 with 1714 views | Swansea_Blue |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 19:59 - Nov 1 by jeera |
You're suggesting offenders caught breaking the rules should be hung, drawn, and quartered?
An interesting alternative to the current fines that don't seem to be effective. |
They should have their eyelids taped open and be forced to watch Braveheart on a continuous loop for 2 weeks. That'll learn them. | |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:30 - Nov 2 with 1675 views | urbanblue |
There are a number of posts on this thread that I wold have liked to have responded to but it's probably easier to write one post adding a few comments.
IPS_wich has written a great OP with a summery of what has happened here but more needs to be told about the Melbourne lockdown and the State border closures. I live in NSW, the adjoining state whereas with all due respect to the OP he lives in WA, right over the other side of the country and a place where life has gone on pretty much as normal since being Covid free some time ago.
The fact is that Australians very much follow the rules in all walks of life. To my frustration it is very much a Nanny State and pre Covid at times would drive me crazy with some of the countries ridiculous rules and regulations. However, this general adherence by the population to doing as they are told has served the Country well in the response to Covid.
Here in NSW after the initial lockdown we have managed to keep the numbers very low with an excellent Contact Tracing system that finds everyone that a positive case has been in contact with as well as tracing their movements. All arrivals to the Country (Only returning residents) have to quarantine as the OP said and this is where Victoria ballsed it up. Someone (and noone is admitting it) took a short cut and hired a security company (Jobs for the boys?) and said security then started letting people out allegedly in return for favours. Next thing they were in trouble. Get this though. They locked down when they got to 700 cases in one day initially for 6 weeks. It lasted 3 months.
I followed the Melbourne situation in great detail, and I can tell you now that some of what went on would just not be tolerated in the UK. I followed a lot of Social Media and talked to people I know there and some of the things I read and heard was absolutely heartbreaking. To be honest, the whole situation made me feel really uncomfortable. The Police were en masse on the streets enforcing the rules with Stasi like vigour. Houses were raided and doors smashed down and people arrested just for facebook posts suggesting a protest. I read more than one post on Social Media from people who were clearly suffering mentally and couldn't take any more. People who have lost everything. I could go on.
There have been horror stories due to the border closures as well. I live close to the Queensland Border and as Queensland slammed shut there border staff could not come to our local hospital as they lived over the border. Countless stories in the early days of patients in my area being unable to get treatment at the bigger hospitals over the border. Only recently a story has come out of 4 babies that died in Adelaide Hospital. Apparently, with the problems they had it is normal to transfer them to Melbourne but they couldn't because the border was closed. Tragic stuff.
This is why I am always concerned about the collateral damage to peoples mental and physical health in respect of Lockdowns. God knows how many deaths are caused by this. They don't seem to be counted.
As the OP said it was harsh, very harsh ... but after 3 months, yes, it worked. It was more 'Chinese' style then anything and as I have said I believe that there is no way on earth it would be tolerated over there.
Oh, and we must be one of the few countries in the world where we are not allowed to LEAVE. Aussie passport holders need special permission and extenuating circumstances. One Brit who, like me, holds a UK and Aussie passport wanted to move back to London to be with his Mum but wasn't allowed.
One does have to wonder what will happen in the long term if this goes on for years though. The Government can't keep our borders shut for ever ... or can they? |  | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:40 - Nov 2 with 1661 views | Steve_M |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:30 - Nov 2 by urbanblue |
There are a number of posts on this thread that I wold have liked to have responded to but it's probably easier to write one post adding a few comments.
IPS_wich has written a great OP with a summery of what has happened here but more needs to be told about the Melbourne lockdown and the State border closures. I live in NSW, the adjoining state whereas with all due respect to the OP he lives in WA, right over the other side of the country and a place where life has gone on pretty much as normal since being Covid free some time ago.
The fact is that Australians very much follow the rules in all walks of life. To my frustration it is very much a Nanny State and pre Covid at times would drive me crazy with some of the countries ridiculous rules and regulations. However, this general adherence by the population to doing as they are told has served the Country well in the response to Covid.
Here in NSW after the initial lockdown we have managed to keep the numbers very low with an excellent Contact Tracing system that finds everyone that a positive case has been in contact with as well as tracing their movements. All arrivals to the Country (Only returning residents) have to quarantine as the OP said and this is where Victoria ballsed it up. Someone (and noone is admitting it) took a short cut and hired a security company (Jobs for the boys?) and said security then started letting people out allegedly in return for favours. Next thing they were in trouble. Get this though. They locked down when they got to 700 cases in one day initially for 6 weeks. It lasted 3 months.
I followed the Melbourne situation in great detail, and I can tell you now that some of what went on would just not be tolerated in the UK. I followed a lot of Social Media and talked to people I know there and some of the things I read and heard was absolutely heartbreaking. To be honest, the whole situation made me feel really uncomfortable. The Police were en masse on the streets enforcing the rules with Stasi like vigour. Houses were raided and doors smashed down and people arrested just for facebook posts suggesting a protest. I read more than one post on Social Media from people who were clearly suffering mentally and couldn't take any more. People who have lost everything. I could go on.
There have been horror stories due to the border closures as well. I live close to the Queensland Border and as Queensland slammed shut there border staff could not come to our local hospital as they lived over the border. Countless stories in the early days of patients in my area being unable to get treatment at the bigger hospitals over the border. Only recently a story has come out of 4 babies that died in Adelaide Hospital. Apparently, with the problems they had it is normal to transfer them to Melbourne but they couldn't because the border was closed. Tragic stuff.
This is why I am always concerned about the collateral damage to peoples mental and physical health in respect of Lockdowns. God knows how many deaths are caused by this. They don't seem to be counted.
As the OP said it was harsh, very harsh ... but after 3 months, yes, it worked. It was more 'Chinese' style then anything and as I have said I believe that there is no way on earth it would be tolerated over there.
Oh, and we must be one of the few countries in the world where we are not allowed to LEAVE. Aussie passport holders need special permission and extenuating circumstances. One Brit who, like me, holds a UK and Aussie passport wanted to move back to London to be with his Mum but wasn't allowed.
One does have to wonder what will happen in the long term if this goes on for years though. The Government can't keep our borders shut for ever ... or can they? |
Yes, that border between Queensland and NSW is practically non-existent in places normally which must have been highly restrictive.
It's also easier for Australia (or NZ for that matter) to be more restrictive on international travel than it is in North West Europe where distances are orders of magnitude shorter.
Hopefully it stays under control over there now, certainly the next few months look rather more promising than they do here. |  |
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| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:55 - Nov 2 with 1649 views | urbanblue |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:40 - Nov 2 by Steve_M |
Yes, that border between Queensland and NSW is practically non-existent in places normally which must have been highly restrictive.
It's also easier for Australia (or NZ for that matter) to be more restrictive on international travel than it is in North West Europe where distances are orders of magnitude shorter.
Hopefully it stays under control over there now, certainly the next few months look rather more promising than they do here. |
It was like the Berlin Wall at Tweed, Steve.
I also forgot to say that for months while we couldn't travel over, we have been Covid free with the nearest case 8 hours away in Sydney! | | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:58 - Nov 2 with 1645 views | IPS_wich |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:30 - Nov 2 by urbanblue |
There are a number of posts on this thread that I wold have liked to have responded to but it's probably easier to write one post adding a few comments.
IPS_wich has written a great OP with a summery of what has happened here but more needs to be told about the Melbourne lockdown and the State border closures. I live in NSW, the adjoining state whereas with all due respect to the OP he lives in WA, right over the other side of the country and a place where life has gone on pretty much as normal since being Covid free some time ago.
The fact is that Australians very much follow the rules in all walks of life. To my frustration it is very much a Nanny State and pre Covid at times would drive me crazy with some of the countries ridiculous rules and regulations. However, this general adherence by the population to doing as they are told has served the Country well in the response to Covid.
Here in NSW after the initial lockdown we have managed to keep the numbers very low with an excellent Contact Tracing system that finds everyone that a positive case has been in contact with as well as tracing their movements. All arrivals to the Country (Only returning residents) have to quarantine as the OP said and this is where Victoria ballsed it up. Someone (and noone is admitting it) took a short cut and hired a security company (Jobs for the boys?) and said security then started letting people out allegedly in return for favours. Next thing they were in trouble. Get this though. They locked down when they got to 700 cases in one day initially for 6 weeks. It lasted 3 months.
I followed the Melbourne situation in great detail, and I can tell you now that some of what went on would just not be tolerated in the UK. I followed a lot of Social Media and talked to people I know there and some of the things I read and heard was absolutely heartbreaking. To be honest, the whole situation made me feel really uncomfortable. The Police were en masse on the streets enforcing the rules with Stasi like vigour. Houses were raided and doors smashed down and people arrested just for facebook posts suggesting a protest. I read more than one post on Social Media from people who were clearly suffering mentally and couldn't take any more. People who have lost everything. I could go on.
There have been horror stories due to the border closures as well. I live close to the Queensland Border and as Queensland slammed shut there border staff could not come to our local hospital as they lived over the border. Countless stories in the early days of patients in my area being unable to get treatment at the bigger hospitals over the border. Only recently a story has come out of 4 babies that died in Adelaide Hospital. Apparently, with the problems they had it is normal to transfer them to Melbourne but they couldn't because the border was closed. Tragic stuff.
This is why I am always concerned about the collateral damage to peoples mental and physical health in respect of Lockdowns. God knows how many deaths are caused by this. They don't seem to be counted.
As the OP said it was harsh, very harsh ... but after 3 months, yes, it worked. It was more 'Chinese' style then anything and as I have said I believe that there is no way on earth it would be tolerated over there.
Oh, and we must be one of the few countries in the world where we are not allowed to LEAVE. Aussie passport holders need special permission and extenuating circumstances. One Brit who, like me, holds a UK and Aussie passport wanted to move back to London to be with his Mum but wasn't allowed.
One does have to wonder what will happen in the long term if this goes on for years though. The Government can't keep our borders shut for ever ... or can they? |
A great post - thank you for elaborating on my original post. I did think twice about posting because over in WA we really have had it easier than most. The reason I did post was because of just being sick and tired of observing the appalling way that the UK government have approached it. Despite the next post saying it is harder to manage in Europe than down in Oz/NZ - I’m sorry, but I call bullsh1t. The UK is an island, had the government taken this remotely seriously they could have shut down the borders, but they were more interested in facilitating summer holidays to Europe than they were on safeguarding the population. Yes, the Australian government have prosecuted a very draconian set of measures, but the fact remains we can count the number of daily new cases on your fingers and toes.
My company has six offices and almost 50% of our revenue and workforce are in our Melbourne office - we’re really hurting and relying on JobKeeper to ward off redundancies. But, on balance I’m glad the government and general population have responded in the way we have.
On your last point - I have no idea how we go back to ‘normal’ at some point. | | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 12:00 - Nov 2 with 1640 views | Half_Idiot |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 23:22 - Nov 1 by airliner |
It’s not profit, but keep the country going |
They've chosen to keep businesses open as long as possible so that the owners can continue to make money. Unfortunately this means that those in lower income roles that are working with the public constantly are more exposed and therefore at a higher risk.
They have simply chosen profit over the lives of the working class. |  | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 12:13 - Nov 2 with 1631 views | urbanblue |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 11:58 - Nov 2 by IPS_wich |
A great post - thank you for elaborating on my original post. I did think twice about posting because over in WA we really have had it easier than most. The reason I did post was because of just being sick and tired of observing the appalling way that the UK government have approached it. Despite the next post saying it is harder to manage in Europe than down in Oz/NZ - I’m sorry, but I call bullsh1t. The UK is an island, had the government taken this remotely seriously they could have shut down the borders, but they were more interested in facilitating summer holidays to Europe than they were on safeguarding the population. Yes, the Australian government have prosecuted a very draconian set of measures, but the fact remains we can count the number of daily new cases on your fingers and toes.
My company has six offices and almost 50% of our revenue and workforce are in our Melbourne office - we’re really hurting and relying on JobKeeper to ward off redundancies. But, on balance I’m glad the government and general population have responded in the way we have.
On your last point - I have no idea how we go back to ‘normal’ at some point. |
Indeed, I am thankful for the measures taken despite at times having reservations. I have been annoyed by the battles between the State leaders but mainly because I only live an hour south of the Queensland border and I have seen first hand the sadness and problems it has caused for many people around here. All the more galling in that we have had no cases for months.
Like you, I was delighted when we closed our borders to International arrivals in March. Best thing we did. I couldn't believe it when friends and family were telling me about planeloads arriving in the UK from Italy when Lombardy was going off ... Madness.
I spent 10 years living in Perth by the way. Where are you? Desperate to get back and visit friends there but still on the banned without quarantine list unfortunately. | | | |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 14:11 - Nov 2 with 1601 views | IPS_wich |
| The lockdown Australian style... on 12:13 - Nov 2 by urbanblue |
Indeed, I am thankful for the measures taken despite at times having reservations. I have been annoyed by the battles between the State leaders but mainly because I only live an hour south of the Queensland border and I have seen first hand the sadness and problems it has caused for many people around here. All the more galling in that we have had no cases for months.
Like you, I was delighted when we closed our borders to International arrivals in March. Best thing we did. I couldn't believe it when friends and family were telling me about planeloads arriving in the UK from Italy when Lombardy was going off ... Madness.
I spent 10 years living in Perth by the way. Where are you? Desperate to get back and visit friends there but still on the banned without quarantine list unfortunately. |
We’re on the Mt Claremont / Floreat border. Bought a block here five years ago and finished building almost three years ago. Decent access to the CBD because we both work there and the kids are old enough to get the bus to school.
Been here seven years now, got our citizenship earlier this year and pretty settled. Our oldest goes into Yr 11 in Feb and so we’re heading into two years of ATAR hell.
No plans to go back to the UK, but once the kids are through high school (another seven years away) we might think about a move to one of the Eastern states. We’ve got friends in Brisbane and I’m sorely tempted to head over that way.
Sounds like you’ve opted for a more country/regional life if you’re up near the Qld border. Are you on the coast or more inland? | | | |
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