Australians ‘complacent’ to rapid growth in digital surveillance

I said nothing about war, I'm talking about the COVID response in both cases.

The US Federal Government has spent trillions on COVID related bills. Over $5.3 trillion if this[1] is to be believed.

USD$5.3 trillion / US Population = $16k/person (approx)

AUD$291 billion / AU Population = AUD$11400/person (~USD$8,300 approx)

On the face of it, we spent a whole lot less, and have had at least as good, if not a better economic outcome.

[1] https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/03/heres-everything-congress-...

Permits are not guaranteed, and I know dozens of people on a personal level who have been denied these permits including for reasons such as permanent relocation with proof, seeing terminal relatives and other genuine reasons (not that you should need a "genuine reason" to receive a human right).

The quote specifically says people who are ordinarily resident in other countries. I don't think it matters whether they're an Australian citizen/PR or not. They literally live elsewhere.

Here's a more clear source [1]

Not that it even matters, because preventing anyone from leaving is a violation of UN Human Rights charters which Australia is a signatory to. They chose to ignore international agreements and trap people. It's authoritarianism. The only parallels exist in North Korea, China, or the USSR. North Korea will stop you leaving by force, as will Australia -- international treaties be damned. "Permits" aren't automatic, nor guaranteed. That's like saying North Koreans can leave at any time -- as long as the NK government permits it.

[1] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-says-it-wi...

It seems we're both pretty good at hyperbole.

> Can't even protest in a responsible covid-safe manner

Breaking lockdown to protest lockdown kinda misses the point of a lockdown. I understand people's frustration but once you compare the number of covid-related deaths to other countries you can reasonably conclude that the overall effort of fighting the pandemic was successful. Were there some badly implemented measures from the local governments? Possibly. But the idea behind them was to preserve life, which seems to have happened. I don't know of any country that managed to somehow allow people free movement and keep covid-related deaths to a minimum, so it's a trade-off between the two.

> You know nothing about the toll of the world's longest lockdown

Well, I know that in any democratic society citizens have not only rights but also responsibilities. Lockdowns are a way in which the community temporarily sacrifices some freedom in order to protect vulnerable people, and I believe that this must be done in any civilized society. Yes, it will take a toll on people, and it's the right thing to do. We've known it since Socrates. The reason I'm calling it a Kmart riot is because I can see the avalanche of social media comments by your average Joe, radicalised in his own bubble to believe that Australia is creating the fourth Reich because he has to wear a mask. Another very common lockdown complaint is "my kids are bored they want to go out". Yeah, sorry, I can't take this seriously. I'm sure there are some real dramas out there, I have empathy for people who experience hardship, but the majority (totality?) of the complaints I've heard are just laughable.

> Would it please you if more than 250,000 marched though the city like they did in protest of committing Australian troops to the war on terror?

Yes it would, but my minimum standards would be to have a social media response of at least the same magnitude as the one to the lockdowns. That's an easy way to gauge public opinion these days, just count the number of articles, likes and comments on Facebook and YouTube. Bonus points for writing letters to MPs, government and journalists to inquire on the progress of the investigation, if there are enough resources allocated for it and what is being done to protect the witnesses, for example. Edit: I'm not against war, sometimes it's absolutely necessary. Targeting civilians however is simply abominable and it's not clear to me how one can be at peace knowing unconvicted murderers are walking around in the community. If morality isn't an issue, at the very least we have the practical concern of whether they'll murder civilians again. Brushing this off seems not very prudent.

I don't mean to offend you but this is very funny. Immigrants from 3rd world countries are often told "why don't you stay at home and fix your own country?" Well, I guess we've come full circle, it's bad everywhere.

Greens and some Independents are the only ones who have voted against these bills, so if you have those, they should be higher preferences than the major parties.

If somebody doesn't vote, then they're basically giving a free pass to the incumbent - which if you're in a Liberal, National or LNP seat is literally making things worse in these respects.