What are civil rights? According to Britannica.com, civil rights are “guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics.” In a democratic society they include the right to vote, the right to a public education, the right to public facilities and the rule of law. The rule of law is extremely important as it identifies checks and balances in our political system and means that every citizen governed by the law is equal under it, including government, parliament and the judiciary.
Now, how does this relate to COVID 19? Well, if you live in Victoria and you haven’t noticed, we have been in lockdown in some form or another since March. Lockdown has essentially been a massive afront to our freedoms and it is important to debate whether our civil rights have been compromised. Every lockdown measure is a potential infringement so let’s break it down.
· Denial of assembly – Right now, we are not allowed to go to anyone elses house, be in public with more than one other person or congregate in public areas. The right to assembly is to allow for lawful protest and groups to form strategy to challenge political leadership or influence policy in a lawful manner. This may sound a little insightful or aggressive but it happens all the time. The federal opposition is always holding the government to account and it is critical in a free society. Imagine how scary it would be if the opposition was deemed to be unlawful and scrutiny of the government was an offence?
However, we are fighting a pandemic and the virus loves a large group of people coming together which means a suspension (not a cancellation) of gatherings is a sensible approach but we do need to see an end to it.
It is important though to look at this from a compassionate standpoint. Imagine you are elderly, have a variety of health concerns, live in an aged care facility and are completely cut off from your family. The restrictions are there to protect you but would you really care. You would not have many days ahead of you anyway and your quality of life would also be low and to top it all off you would be cut off from your family. On your list of priorities spending time with the ones you love would probably be the number one and this basic civil right is being denied to you. I believe it is perfectly reasonable to postpone political and menial social gatherings, but exceptions have to be made on compassionate grounds. That is where we are really feeling it.
· Border closures and 5km exclusion – As far as the virus goes, this makes a lot of sense. If someone is positive you know that the have not been able to spread it outside a certain area allowing easier contact tracing and containment. However, you can’t really call it freedom if you can’t go outside a certain area. Realistically it is a form of incarceration we afford only to criminals. It is an infringement of rights but probably necessary.
· Face Masks – I find this one a little ironic. People who have demanded people should not be allowed to wear face masks (like a burqa or hijab) are now insisting that we do. Realistically, you can really only demand that if you have the right to not wear a face mask, you also have the right to wear one. The issue is should you be forced to wear one. My view is that if face masks supress the transmission of disease it is a small price to pay.
· Curfew – This one I believe is extremely contentious. Victorians have had to be back inside their homes by 8.00pm. This has also meant that everything that is allowed to stay open (which isn’t much) has had to shut at 7.45pm. Granted, there isn’t much reason for most of us to be out but there is for some.
I know a guy in the public service that has a critically important job. He is a widower with two kids 16 and 10. During the day when his kids are normally at school the 16 year old has had to look after the younger one. Lockdown has meant his support network of family and friends is not available and as a result he has to do everything himself. Normally he would try to get home from work, help the kids with homework etc, cook dinner maintain the household and when his youngest was in bed he’d do the groceries about 9.00pm. Now he has to do the groceries on the way home from work meaning there is little to no time for his kids, he is exhausted and has no support.
What is most unsettling about this is why we even have a curfew? It has come to light that it was not recommended by the chief health officer, nor did the police request it. The premier has been uncompromising and unmoved on this issue and when it comes to the curfew has certainly earned his title of dictator Dan.
· One hour out – Another controversial decision is that Melbournians are only allowed one hour outside every day. Now this is okay if you have a big house with a garden but what if you live in a unit or apartment. You can only get one hour of fresh air a day. You know who else gets one hour of fresh air a day? US death row inmates.
· Denial of basic services – For the most part, essential services like water, power, garbage collection etc. have been maintained but other nonessential services, such as childcare, libraries and community services have been sadly lacking. There was also the case where after some nasty weather, certain suburbs of Melbourne were left without fresh water and power for days. Nothing was done to help the affected people. At the very least, certain restrictions should have been eased so family members could help those in trouble and people could access safe drinking water and cooked food. Every effort also should have been made to get the services back. I cannot believe that in todays Australia while Victoria is in a state of emergency it took four days to fix the problem. Completely unacceptable.
· The right to health and safety – This is the right that the government dangles in our face to justify the lockdown. Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely important but could be debated for centuries. Public health and safety is the reason we have speed limits on our roads or smoking bans in our pubs and restaurants. At the end of the day everyone has a different opinion and who is right is a question that will never be answered. It is really easy to sit at home, be bored and complain about the lockdown but the 26 thousand+ people and the families of the 816 who have passed away due to the disease would probably think very differently.
The big question is what should we do? Whether we agree with the lockdown or not, we all need to follow the rules. We live in a democratic society and any adult has the right to run for office and be involved with the decision making. We also voted for the decision makers so you have to respect their decisions and if you don’t like it, vote them out at the next election. It is critical that everyone is compliant because the worst thing we could possibly do is whatever we want. If everyone did whatever they wanted we would have a massive infection rate, deaths in the thousands and a health care system that would have been pushed past the breaking point and given that the Victorian government has displayed a huge lack of preparedness that would probably be much closer than you think.
I think there is one more thing Dan Andrews could do now. After all, he has claimed responsibility and he is the one that has instituted all the rules that have attacked the very fabric of our freedom and given himself massive powers to do what is necessary by implementing a state of emergency for at least nine months. His nickname “Dictator Dan” is justified and right now we don’t know when his reign is going to end. He needs to confirm that once the crisis is over he will resign as premiere. He has stated that he will not contest the next election, but that is over two years away. If he resigns immediately after the crisis abates it will confirm that his motives are purely to see out the pandemic and not rule over Victoria with an iron fist.
It’s up to you Dictator Dan.
Stay well
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