There we have it. An all too brief moment that I had the opportunity to return to my homeland and hold my loved ones. Not at any point do I not appreciate the fact that I got an opportunity that so many others don't have within their reach, but the issue should be directed at Australia's still archaic policies in keeping us apart.
It is my hope to return again, which was always planned, in just over a week from publishing this piece. I have very little hope of getting to Australia without some form of a miracle now. Since my departure, the Australian Government has further made restrictions to inbound arrivals. This has resulted in a number of airlines stopping services permanently from September 1st and no new bookings being allowed on flights that are still operating. The other problem I face is that even if I do fly to Australia there is a massively high chance that I will be denied the ability to return to my employment after a month at home.
Australia only appears to be getting worse and worse, it's almost as if they are tightening the screws to avoid the inevitable. Australia got it wrong!
They found themselves in an elimination strategy and that strategy has no exit. The only way out now is to allow a degree of the virus to be in the community. The fear that has been dished out to Australian's means that it's political suicide and no politician is going to overturn the plan but will continue to toe the line. With this, their bureaucrats are now in positions where they have so much power over other people's lives and are starting to enjoy it. It's a real-life Milgram Shock and Zimbardo Experiment that is happening in Australia.
Even the hotel manager when I checked in on Day One of my quarantine showed little emotion over concerns but clearly enjoyed his power over arrivals. The police reading us the riot act as if we were criminals for simply wanting to return to Australia is all evidenced by a new form of Australia that is massively concerning.
Australians overseas see frequently via Social Media and Australian media outlets the hatred they are receiving for having the audacity to not just be outside but to have the nerve to want to return to their Island home. The country is now staunched in fear and is so close-minded I am deeply concerned about its future. I have seen this for myself now and I can only pray that Australia will finally wake up and smell the grass. They are behind the world, breaching basic human rights and providing favouritism based on a chequebook.
Australia, hundreds and thousands of your fellow countrymen are suffering. There is a pandemic happening and it has nothing to do with COVID. The pandemic is the mental health toll. How long before those calls to Suicide lines become actual suicides? How long are you going to wait? Until the increased admissions to emergency rooms for self-harm injuries actually become a death?
Australia you are so one-track-minded now that you have lost sight of the bigger picture.
To live life!
You don't have it anymore.
As humans we require love and physical connections, without it, then we fall into deep depressions. The longer you continue this then the worse the repercussions. So my final thought for Australia is not to open the border immediately. You need time to be weaned off the hysteria. So as a start, you could do these things:
End the passenger caps:
No more restrictions on the number of passengers who can arrive in the country. Start off with only Citizens and Permanent residents. A negative test is required on departure. When you arrive in Australia you receive a rapid test on arrival. If it's clear you are permitted to leave the airport and if live in the port of arrival then you are permitted to go home for five days. If you don't live in that city then you are taken to a hotel for five days. In both cases, you are required to get testing on Day 2 and Day 4. If both are negative then you are permitted to resume your life. If a positive test occurs at the airport after arrival then you are taken to a hospital for further testing. This ends the strain on the Hotel Quarantine system and you are assured of a negative case prior to leaving the airport with an added safety margin. This also means ending the outbound travel restrictions because any returnees are conducted under this updated policy.
Restoration of Personal Freedoms
The world did not end, people understand the importance of personal hygiene now. Australia has to end the lockdowns and border closures internally. If say QLD has a case then WA can say "you need a negative antigen test prior to departure" but no quarantine or lockouts. Allow citizens to make the call for themselves if they want to stay at home, go out, wear a mask or get a jab.
I sadly don't see either of these happening based on the fear and paranoia I personally witnessed in Australia whilst I was there. There is going to be no simple solution to this until people start to push back which they aren't prepared to do.
Even a member of the media who followed me on Instagram, after offering a comforting ear about being locked out from home would call me "stupid" for simply calling for a return to personal freedoms and branding me as a conspiracy theorist.
I regret to say, I don't think Australia is a free country anymore but a very reactive and emotional one. When that occurs logic is out of the equation.
"It can't be argued by reason. The precedent it sets would affect the public directly and unfortunately, the public doesn't judge by reason. It judges by emotion and you can't appeal an emotional conviction."
Australia is far too emotional now and needs to get back to life, when that occurs? Your guess is as good as mine. But in the final analysis, we should just be granted the right to be with our loved ones whenever and wherever we want.
"If I could only hold you now and make the pain just go away, can't stop the tears from running down my face. All I know is I'm lost without you I'm not gonna lie. How am I going to be strong without you? I need you by my side. If we ever say we'll never be together and we ended with goodbye don't know what I'd do, I'm lost without you."
Ash
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