Police arrest a man during an anti-lockdown protest in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. (Steven Saphore/AAP Image via AP)

Australia's Repressive Lockdown
9/6/2021

The Australian government has recently unveiled an app that uses geolocation and facial recognition to track should-be quarantiners. Interstate travelers are given two options upon returning to their state: A 14-day hotel quarantine which costs A$3,000 for one adult, or if they are vaccinated, they can go home under certain conditions. The latter requires that the quarantiner downloads an app that uses geolocation and facial recognition to track their whereabouts. Those who opt-in are sent messages at random throughout the day and have 15 minutes to respond by taking a photo of themselves in their quarantine location. If a quarantiner fails to comply with the commands before the time runs out, police will be dispatched to their home.

Although the government quarantine app may seem harsh to many Americans, it's no surprise to the citizens of Australia. The Australian government has been one of the most repressive enforcers of the Covid-19 lockdowns. On August 21st, 2021, Australian police arrested hundreds of masked and unmasked protesters marching in opposition to the government overreach. The Police Commissioner of Victoria shared his opinion on the protest, saying it's "just ridiculous to think that people would be so selfish and come and do this."

To prevent the "selfish" protestors from violating lockdown restrictions, Australia's Gestapo-Esque military personnel have been deployed to assist police in arresting anyone who dares to defy the orders of the Australian government.

Within 18 months, Australia has fundamentally turned into an authoritarian country: forced lockdowns, citizens tracked, arrested for going outside, businesses fined for being in business, militarily enforced curfews, citizens encouraged to report their neighbors. In the name of science, citizens live in fear of the government.