People need to take personal responsibility to protect themselves, their family and the wider community.
That includes staying at home as much as possible to stop the rapid spread of Coronavirus.
The Governments role is to come up with a plan of how to deal with this crisis. They have to way up economic and health risks – both with deadly consequences.
I don't envy any prime minister at the moment. The decisions they have to make right now will decide who lives and dies, from the virus itself or the flow-on effects from a failing economy.
I'm personally grateful for how my Prime Minister has handled the crisis so far.
I don't agree with everything, but overall, I think he's doing a fantastic job considering. He clearly weighs up both the health and economic risk factors into his daily decisions.
But, some states, including mine, are overstepping the mark and that is not okay.
Giving Police broad powers to enforce lockdown will only lead to tyranny. No amount of 'flattening the curve' is worth losing your civil liberties.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
This virus will end at some point, one way or another. The question is, what rights will you be left with?
Again, I absolutely support the idea of self-isolation and social distancing. I'm even okay with the limited government intervention, as long as they've weighed both health and economic repercussions.
However, I am completely against the kind of enforcement we're starting to see: People fined for sitting on a park bench, going fishing, hunting. Yesterday, a teenage girl in her car, on driving lesson from her mother, was fine $1600.
None of those reasons put anyone at risk. Police are just exercising powers they've been given to massage their own egos.
We are sinking into more of a police state each day.
And as time goes on, if left unchecked, they will use these new powers to target specific people, who pose no Coronavirus risk.
I'm telling you this as someone who has experience with Police abusing their powers.
Remember, I got arrested for ignoring a ridiculous move-on-order. Similar to Coronavirus, it was for my own safety.
And just like what's happening now, Police were abusing a power they were given to stop other crimes.
So, don't be an a-hole. Stay at home as much as possible.
If you're getting anxious about the virus, then totally self-isolate, you can't catch it when you're home alone.
Just please, whatever you do: don't give the state your full trust by handing them all your rights, because you may never get them back.
▶️ 3Speak
