Conservative US media personalities have criticised Australia’s federal and state governments for their strategies in tackling COVID-19.
Some Americans are desperate to save us Australians from our evil overlords hellbent on restricting our freedoms because… ‘Murica.
For whatever reason, a slew of right-wing US politicians and commentators have recently blasted Australia’s COVID-19 policies as “tyrannical”.
Lockdowns, social distancing, and wearing face masks in public are a divisive issue in the US. Earlier this year, Fox News host Tucker Carlson equated children wearing face masks to child abuse.
“[If you see a child wearing a mask] [w]hat you’re looking at is abuse, it’s child abuse and you are morally obligated to attempt to prevent it,” Carlson said.
Despite this, Aussies continue to wear face masks in public (often after mandated to do so), a move that Queensland Health says is the best course of action to reduce the spread of the virus.
“If everyone wears a mask in public, the risk of getting COVID-19 is reduced,” their website reads, a point has been supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:“[M]ulti-layer cloth masks can block up to 50-70% of … fine droplets and particles and limit the forward spread of those who are not captured.”
Morrison tells Biden that the Australian army is ready to back the US if they invade Australia
— Chaser Interns (@ChaserInterns) October 23, 2021
Other studies have shown that masks can block up to 80% of droplets.
Carlson also claimed Australians have been living under dystopian“lockdowns nationwide” enforced by martial law. Podcaster Joe Rogan agreed with the media personality.
“There’s some crazy shit going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia,” Rogan said in August.
Looking in to what is happening in Australia and I can now confidently say that World War 3 is upon us. We are in the midst of a global, psychological warfare. Under the guise of Covid-19, governments worldwide have declared war on their people for full totalitarian control.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 7, 2021
While it is true that lockdowns and the army were used to stop the virus from spreading in specific quarantine situations (especially with the Delta variant), it is far from the Gileadian hellscape pundits like Laura Ingraham are making it seem. With ever-increasing vaccination rates, states and territories have eased their restrictions with New South Wales and Victoria opening up after achieving 70% double dose.
Our source? Literally us, in Australia, right now.
Also, according to ABC News, videos of Melbourne’s protest last month were posted onto social media and blown out of context.
“For example, a video of riot police walking towards a group of demonstrators was described on Twitter as ‘grocery shoppers under attack [in] suburban Melbourne’,” their article states.
Perhaps one of the more eye roll-inducing ideas comes after “a conservative US Facebook group” claimed that Victoria’s internet was shut down.
“There are rumblings online that Australia is limiting internet access in Melbourne (so far). That would mean there are things about to happen that they don’t want the world to see. Pray for Australia. #AustraliaHasFallen,” the post read as quoted by USA Today.
Rest assured, Melburnians never had their internet rights restricted. In fact, Australia received a score of 75/100 in the 2021 Freedom on the Net index.
“The [Australian] government does not impose restrictions on internet connectivity or mobile networks,” the index reads.
As of October 25th, Australia has experienced a total of 1,648 deaths due to COVID-19, which is roughly 0.006% of the country’s population. On the other hand, the USA has lost over 750,000 citizens during the pandemic, which is about 0.22% of their population.
Aussies, the last few years have been hard on everyone. However, we’ve proven that we’re a nation of fighters who never back down when the going gets tough. So remember to wear your face masks, wash your hands, and most importantly… that Big Brother is always watching.
