Construction workers protesting restrictions.

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Source: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/melbourne-tradies-protest-virus-tea-room-closures-at-construction-sites/news-story/a3bc7d5d1d1e89cf1546ce0544842800

The current state government is headed by the "Labor party", which was formed by the trade unions to represent their interests, so it is surprising to see this type of action occur... With a state election in a little over 12 months, it will be interesting to see how long the new restrictions stay in place, given the potential impact they may have (The union involved here being one of the larger, and more militant, unions in Australia).

Source: https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/daniel-andrews-slams-tradies-as-protests-heat-up/news-story/955d0f06f3e0115bc2a7252e98094193

I wouldn't want to be living in Australia.

Then again, the UK government are making the vaccination mandatory for health and social care workers, and plans to introduce domestic COVID status certification (COVID passports).

I think those with their heads screwed on straight will ignore the rules and carry on with life as usual. There are more of those people than those in authority, they won't control them.

I was called up by the "Immunisation Management Team" the other day to check if I had had a first jab.

Why are they being so incredibly in peoples' faces and extremely pushy about it? Are they trying to create more protests amongst people on purpose?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-20/ ... /100477912

The Victorian government will forcibly shutdown all construction sites in metropolitan Melbourne and all other locked down local government areas in response to violent protests on Monday.

Well Dan Andrews just announced a two weeks collective punishment of the construction sector.

Edit: And the last time they said 2 weeks it's almost 2 years later.

I've posted elsewhere the union protests were infliltrated by Nazis pretending to represent construction workers
https://www.9news.com.au/national/viole ... fe2331f7dd

They are threatening to destroy Melbourne if vaccination certificates are introduced.

The collective punishment was surprising, given this union is one of the major ones supporting the ALP - And the one known to be the most beligerent if they don't get their way - which was a contributing reason for their "special" treatment when other industries were forced to close.

It's interesting to see that there was a limit to how far the members would allow themselves to be pushed by their left-leaning leadership before reaching their limit and rebounding towards the centre.



The hardest part of a 2 week lockdown are the first 3 months...

Think of it as a "carrot versus stick" approach.

On one hand (carrot), you have the more libertarian governments (and individuals) who feel it should be an individual's choice, but who may "incentivize" people to do as they wish through positive rewards for doing so, but without punishment for not doing as "desired" - If they desire something done, simply increase the "reward" for doing it. This tends to come from their belief that everyone is "good", simply requiring the correct method of appeal to have them do what is needed.

On the other hand (stick), you have the authoritarian\totalitarian governments (and individuals) who feel that people should do as they tell them to, resorting to "punishments" for those who do not "follow orders", and consider the removal of any restirctions imposed as part of the "punishment" as being a reward - If they desire something done, simply increase the "punishment"\"restrictions" until it is done. This tends to come from their belief that everyone is "bad" and needs to be forced to be "good"\"right"\"desired" thing.

A certain degree of each "option" is generally required in society, but many governments (and a number of people) appear to have taken great "pleasure" in being permitted to more fully reveal their "authoritarian"\"totalitarian" side, which in most other circumstances they tend to hide\pretend does not exist - Events like this pandemic certainly help bring out the true nature of people (and governments\politicians) which are normaly repressed, and this can be (and has been) very enlightening.

^Who is the Victoria PM using as a role model? I guess there are plenty of non-democratic leaders, past and present, to pick from.

I see trouble ahead for Victoria...

Given the Premier [1] leads a "left-wing" government (in arguably the most left-wing state in the country), there's a couple of prominent 20th century leaders of a similar political alignment who he may be trying to emulate\taking ideas from...

It is interesting, too, to see one of the most left-wing unions (around which his party is based) protesting so vocally against him...

[1] The leaders of the individual states here are titled "Premier", with "PM" being reserved for the Federal leader.

Not all governments, left, right or alternate, are the same, e g Sweden tends to be pretty much on the left and they decided to reject lockdowns as a solution to Covid.

For a democracy, the Victorian solution seems as draconian as any dreamed up by Chinese authorities to curb the spread, but there the people are used to sweeping anti-freedom measures when there's a crisis e g Wuhan.

Off topic side note: Our country's provincial leaders are also usually referred to as premiers.

I agree with you. It has been very enlightening to see peoples' true colours. It's a bit scary, really. Big Brother like (That's such a good and very relevant story) and yet people who've read it can't see how authoritarian it is to intervene with peoples' choices with their own bodies.

The general trend in Australia is labor state governments are pro-lockdown whereas the conservatives are more inclined to be pro-business staying open.

For example the WA state minister had his way their state would remain in lockdown for years.