Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
Jul 9th 2021, 12:31 am
#16
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Hill overlooking the SE Melbourne suburbs
Posts: 16,622
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
So so lucky. Some of the comments thrown my way when i talk about how i just want to see my family, how hard it is here with no close friends, no family, nobody, well to see the comments are unsympathetic would be to put it mildly. I can never forgive the colleague who said to me "your family are not australians and are not in australia, so we don't care" - that was when i said I was worried I would never see my mum (in her mid 80s) again.
I now tend not to speak to anyone beyond essential work chat.
I now tend not to speak to anyone beyond essential work chat.
Last edited by BadgeIsBack; Jul 9th 2021 at 12:47 am.
Jul 9th 2021, 12:38 am
#17
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
For us Victorians, whilst Lockdown 2.0 grated from September, it gave some of us the sabbatical and rest we needed and showed we could WFH. It gave others time to retrain (from home) head back to work and was a bit of a tonic. When borders reopen there will be cash in the bank.
I am no fan of Scomo - not his politics necessarily -he's a buffoon, a lyer / sociopath, gaslighter and a photo-op idiot (all smirks, grins, thumbs and hi-vis) but most of the time it's BAU.
I think people forget we are on the edge of the world and having always enjoyed a bit of distance and security. So other countries got hit by the pandemic and it was easy for us in 2020 to look good and to form an eradication mentality (which I didn't think possible yet Dan did it).
I am no fan of Scomo - not his politics necessarily -he's a buffoon, a lyer / sociopath, gaslighter and a photo-op idiot (all smirks, grins, thumbs and hi-vis) but most of the time it's BAU.
I think people forget we are on the edge of the world and having always enjoyed a bit of distance and security. So other countries got hit by the pandemic and it was easy for us in 2020 to look good and to form an eradication mentality (which I didn't think possible yet Dan did it).
Jul 9th 2021, 7:06 am
#20
Proudly Deplorable
Joined: May 2003
Location: Alloha snack bar
Posts: 24,246
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
I'm not the biggest fan of Morrison but imagine if we had an Australia-hating socialist asshat like Albanese as PM?
Never forget that one of Albanese's biggest heroes is Jezza Corbyn!!!
Never forget that one of Albanese's biggest heroes is Jezza Corbyn!!!
Jul 9th 2021, 6:39 pm
#21
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 58
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
Interesting to read the varying degrees of perception. I do think, it comes down to the individual and possibly the state they live in - let's face it, the State Premiers have had a VERY different approach and rhetoric and I do think, that influences people.
I am part of a group full of Aussies/PRs/expats who somehow try to return to Australia during the pandemic and the overall sentiment is that the Australian mentality has changed. I guess, sometimes, you need to see certain things from a distance in order to grasp them. There are multiple stories of Aussies who feel that their nation has somehow betrayed them of the shared Australian values.
I came across this article today - I usually don't read news.com.au and the article is quite long and somehow unstructured - but I find it real interesting that even the Murdoch press is starting to pick up on that issue. The article mainly deals with the reduced flight caps but the comments of those people essentially confirm what I have been reading. https://www.news.com.au/travel/peopl...32f88a04844aa4
Just a few quotes:'They’re (stranded Aussies) also coming to terms with a deeply uncomfortable truth: that most of their fellow Australians don’t seem to care. The reduction in international arrivals is being imposed in the name of protecting Australians. But the people stuck overseas are Australians too, and they feel as though their own country has all too happily “abandoned” them. Many believe the government is using them as a convenient “scapegoat” for its own failures.'
Jason feels the 50 per cent cap reduction is “purely political”. He says it’s Mr Morrison’s way of appeasing a “fearful” population. “They see people arriving from overseas, Australian citizens, as a threat. It’s sad,” he says. “People just don’t care. Many say ‘you should have come home earlier’ or ‘you’re just bitter because your extended overseas holiday has been cut short’. Few realise exactly why we were there and the effort and planning required to come home.”
“I also have respect for the value of human life that Australia is protecting. Living here in the US with over 600,000 deaths, it is a sense of pride for what Australia has done,” she says. “However, quotes such as those from Daniel Andrews – ‘It is better to lock some people out than to lock everyone down,’ – are not in line with the Aussie mateship I know."
Following a previous interview with Sky News, Lex copped a backlash in the comments section, with other Australians telling him he’d “made my bed, now lie in it”. “Disgusting. This is the culture of Australia now, one that has chosen fear over mateship. Absolutely appalling,” he says. “The real story here is the change in Australian values, the irreparable damage to Australian culture, the very core of the Australian identity. “I’ve heard this pandemic referred to as ‘wartime’. Well, Australia has left its soldiers behind enemy lines.
“It’s a very alienating experience to see your own people have so little compassion in the face of these new measures, with no end in sight.” This is characteristic of my conversations with stranded Australians. Many feel the broader public has a misguided impression of them, as though they all decided to swan off on holiday and could have returned easily last year.
“In the six-plus years since I left, Australia has always felt like home, and thinking of it produced that warm, wholesome feeling inside,” he wrote. “That was the case until Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday, July 2, where he announced a halving of the international arrival caps, in effect shutting the country further off from its own citizens scattered around the world.“I felt outcast. I felt discarded. I felt abandoned.”
An Aussie friend of mine said to me - before I left to Europe: "It's so sad - we all pulled together during the bushfires and the floods. And now we're turning against each other"
In a way, I think, she was right. I have never heard anybody say something like "well, why did you buy/build a house in a bushfire/flood-prone area?" . No, people were supporting each other, there was a lot of - you know - empathy.
Reading Polly's comments about the rhethoric within a government department is shocking - but then, it probably explains why the majority of Queenslanders feel it's ok to use the same sort of rhethoric. Same for McGowan and his people. And Dan seems to gladly sacrifice a few Aussies in order to prevent any more lockdowns (rather than admitting breaches and failures of infection control protocols). Gladys in NSW is the only one standing up against them and honestly, a breath of fresh air. It's unfortunate that Sydney has to deal with this nasty outbreak now but other than her Queensland counterpart, she has not been blaming someone else...
I am part of a group full of Aussies/PRs/expats who somehow try to return to Australia during the pandemic and the overall sentiment is that the Australian mentality has changed. I guess, sometimes, you need to see certain things from a distance in order to grasp them. There are multiple stories of Aussies who feel that their nation has somehow betrayed them of the shared Australian values.
I came across this article today - I usually don't read news.com.au and the article is quite long and somehow unstructured - but I find it real interesting that even the Murdoch press is starting to pick up on that issue. The article mainly deals with the reduced flight caps but the comments of those people essentially confirm what I have been reading. https://www.news.com.au/travel/peopl...32f88a04844aa4
Just a few quotes:'They’re (stranded Aussies) also coming to terms with a deeply uncomfortable truth: that most of their fellow Australians don’t seem to care. The reduction in international arrivals is being imposed in the name of protecting Australians. But the people stuck overseas are Australians too, and they feel as though their own country has all too happily “abandoned” them. Many believe the government is using them as a convenient “scapegoat” for its own failures.'
Jason feels the 50 per cent cap reduction is “purely political”. He says it’s Mr Morrison’s way of appeasing a “fearful” population. “They see people arriving from overseas, Australian citizens, as a threat. It’s sad,” he says. “People just don’t care. Many say ‘you should have come home earlier’ or ‘you’re just bitter because your extended overseas holiday has been cut short’. Few realise exactly why we were there and the effort and planning required to come home.”
“I also have respect for the value of human life that Australia is protecting. Living here in the US with over 600,000 deaths, it is a sense of pride for what Australia has done,” she says. “However, quotes such as those from Daniel Andrews – ‘It is better to lock some people out than to lock everyone down,’ – are not in line with the Aussie mateship I know."
Following a previous interview with Sky News, Lex copped a backlash in the comments section, with other Australians telling him he’d “made my bed, now lie in it”. “Disgusting. This is the culture of Australia now, one that has chosen fear over mateship. Absolutely appalling,” he says. “The real story here is the change in Australian values, the irreparable damage to Australian culture, the very core of the Australian identity. “I’ve heard this pandemic referred to as ‘wartime’. Well, Australia has left its soldiers behind enemy lines.
“It’s a very alienating experience to see your own people have so little compassion in the face of these new measures, with no end in sight.” This is characteristic of my conversations with stranded Australians. Many feel the broader public has a misguided impression of them, as though they all decided to swan off on holiday and could have returned easily last year.
“In the six-plus years since I left, Australia has always felt like home, and thinking of it produced that warm, wholesome feeling inside,” he wrote. “That was the case until Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday, July 2, where he announced a halving of the international arrival caps, in effect shutting the country further off from its own citizens scattered around the world.“I felt outcast. I felt discarded. I felt abandoned.”
An Aussie friend of mine said to me - before I left to Europe: "It's so sad - we all pulled together during the bushfires and the floods. And now we're turning against each other"
In a way, I think, she was right. I have never heard anybody say something like "well, why did you buy/build a house in a bushfire/flood-prone area?" . No, people were supporting each other, there was a lot of - you know - empathy.
Reading Polly's comments about the rhethoric within a government department is shocking - but then, it probably explains why the majority of Queenslanders feel it's ok to use the same sort of rhethoric. Same for McGowan and his people. And Dan seems to gladly sacrifice a few Aussies in order to prevent any more lockdowns (rather than admitting breaches and failures of infection control protocols). Gladys in NSW is the only one standing up against them and honestly, a breath of fresh air. It's unfortunate that Sydney has to deal with this nasty outbreak now but other than her Queensland counterpart, she has not been blaming someone else...
Last edited by physiogirl76; Jul 9th 2021 at 6:46 pm.
Jul 9th 2021, 11:17 pm
#22
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
I like the line in that article about leaving soldiers on the battle field. For me, I always thought Australia would be a country that would be most likely rally around its citizens, help and protect no matter what.
Inbred Australia led by Qld and WA with Vic puppetting reluctantly along have shown how insular they can be. Please don't put others in this bucket, and for that matter the many in WA and QLD who are disgusted at the actions of the premiers.
Inbred Australia led by Qld and WA with Vic puppetting reluctantly along have shown how insular they can be. Please don't put others in this bucket, and for that matter the many in WA and QLD who are disgusted at the actions of the premiers.
Jul 12th 2021, 7:06 am
#23
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 704
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
Interesting to read the varying degrees of perception. I do think, it comes down to the individual and possibly the state they live in - let's face it, the State Premiers have had a VERY different approach and rhetoric and I do think, that influences people.
I am part of a group full of Aussies/PRs/expats who somehow try to return to Australia during the pandemic and the overall sentiment is that the Australian mentality has changed. I guess, sometimes, you need to see certain things from a distance in order to grasp them. There are multiple stories of Aussies who feel that their nation has somehow betrayed them of the shared Australian values.
I came across this article today - I usually don't read news.com.au and the article is quite long and somehow unstructured - but I find it real interesting that even the Murdoch press is starting to pick up on that issue. The article mainly deals with the reduced flight caps but the comments of those people essentially confirm what I have been reading. https://www.news.com.au/travel/peopl...32f88a04844aa4
Just a few quotes:'They’re (stranded Aussies) also coming to terms with a deeply uncomfortable truth: that most of their fellow Australians don’t seem to care. The reduction in international arrivals is being imposed in the name of protecting Australians. But the people stuck overseas are Australians too, and they feel as though their own country has all too happily “abandoned” them. Many believe the government is using them as a convenient “scapegoat” for its own failures.'
Jason feels the 50 per cent cap reduction is “purely political”. He says it’s Mr Morrison’s way of appeasing a “fearful” population. “They see people arriving from overseas, Australian citizens, as a threat. It’s sad,” he says. “People just don’t care. Many say ‘you should have come home earlier’ or ‘you’re just bitter because your extended overseas holiday has been cut short’. Few realise exactly why we were there and the effort and planning required to come home.”
“I also have respect for the value of human life that Australia is protecting. Living here in the US with over 600,000 deaths, it is a sense of pride for what Australia has done,” she says. “However, quotes such as those from Daniel Andrews – ‘It is better to lock some people out than to lock everyone down,’ – are not in line with the Aussie mateship I know."
Following a previous interview with Sky News, Lex copped a backlash in the comments section, with other Australians telling him he’d “made my bed, now lie in it”. “Disgusting. This is the culture of Australia now, one that has chosen fear over mateship. Absolutely appalling,” he says. “The real story here is the change in Australian values, the irreparable damage to Australian culture, the very core of the Australian identity. “I’ve heard this pandemic referred to as ‘wartime’. Well, Australia has left its soldiers behind enemy lines.
“It’s a very alienating experience to see your own people have so little compassion in the face of these new measures, with no end in sight.” This is characteristic of my conversations with stranded Australians. Many feel the broader public has a misguided impression of them, as though they all decided to swan off on holiday and could have returned easily last year.
“In the six-plus years since I left, Australia has always felt like home, and thinking of it produced that warm, wholesome feeling inside,” he wrote. “That was the case until Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday, July 2, where he announced a halving of the international arrival caps, in effect shutting the country further off from its own citizens scattered around the world.“I felt outcast. I felt discarded. I felt abandoned.”
An Aussie friend of mine said to me - before I left to Europe: "It's so sad - we all pulled together during the bushfires and the floods. And now we're turning against each other"
In a way, I think, she was right. I have never heard anybody say something like "well, why did you buy/build a house in a bushfire/flood-prone area?" . No, people were supporting each other, there was a lot of - you know - empathy.
Reading Polly's comments about the rhethoric within a government department is shocking - but then, it probably explains why the majority of Queenslanders feel it's ok to use the same sort of rhethoric. Same for McGowan and his people. And Dan seems to gladly sacrifice a few Aussies in order to prevent any more lockdowns (rather than admitting breaches and failures of infection control protocols). Gladys in NSW is the only one standing up against them and honestly, a breath of fresh air. It's unfortunate that Sydney has to deal with this nasty outbreak now but other than her Queensland counterpart, she has not been blaming someone else...
I am part of a group full of Aussies/PRs/expats who somehow try to return to Australia during the pandemic and the overall sentiment is that the Australian mentality has changed. I guess, sometimes, you need to see certain things from a distance in order to grasp them. There are multiple stories of Aussies who feel that their nation has somehow betrayed them of the shared Australian values.
I came across this article today - I usually don't read news.com.au and the article is quite long and somehow unstructured - but I find it real interesting that even the Murdoch press is starting to pick up on that issue. The article mainly deals with the reduced flight caps but the comments of those people essentially confirm what I have been reading. https://www.news.com.au/travel/peopl...32f88a04844aa4
Just a few quotes:'They’re (stranded Aussies) also coming to terms with a deeply uncomfortable truth: that most of their fellow Australians don’t seem to care. The reduction in international arrivals is being imposed in the name of protecting Australians. But the people stuck overseas are Australians too, and they feel as though their own country has all too happily “abandoned” them. Many believe the government is using them as a convenient “scapegoat” for its own failures.'
Jason feels the 50 per cent cap reduction is “purely political”. He says it’s Mr Morrison’s way of appeasing a “fearful” population. “They see people arriving from overseas, Australian citizens, as a threat. It’s sad,” he says. “People just don’t care. Many say ‘you should have come home earlier’ or ‘you’re just bitter because your extended overseas holiday has been cut short’. Few realise exactly why we were there and the effort and planning required to come home.”
“I also have respect for the value of human life that Australia is protecting. Living here in the US with over 600,000 deaths, it is a sense of pride for what Australia has done,” she says. “However, quotes such as those from Daniel Andrews – ‘It is better to lock some people out than to lock everyone down,’ – are not in line with the Aussie mateship I know."
Following a previous interview with Sky News, Lex copped a backlash in the comments section, with other Australians telling him he’d “made my bed, now lie in it”. “Disgusting. This is the culture of Australia now, one that has chosen fear over mateship. Absolutely appalling,” he says. “The real story here is the change in Australian values, the irreparable damage to Australian culture, the very core of the Australian identity. “I’ve heard this pandemic referred to as ‘wartime’. Well, Australia has left its soldiers behind enemy lines.
“It’s a very alienating experience to see your own people have so little compassion in the face of these new measures, with no end in sight.” This is characteristic of my conversations with stranded Australians. Many feel the broader public has a misguided impression of them, as though they all decided to swan off on holiday and could have returned easily last year.
“In the six-plus years since I left, Australia has always felt like home, and thinking of it produced that warm, wholesome feeling inside,” he wrote. “That was the case until Scott Morrison’s announcement on Friday, July 2, where he announced a halving of the international arrival caps, in effect shutting the country further off from its own citizens scattered around the world.“I felt outcast. I felt discarded. I felt abandoned.”
An Aussie friend of mine said to me - before I left to Europe: "It's so sad - we all pulled together during the bushfires and the floods. And now we're turning against each other"
In a way, I think, she was right. I have never heard anybody say something like "well, why did you buy/build a house in a bushfire/flood-prone area?" . No, people were supporting each other, there was a lot of - you know - empathy.
Reading Polly's comments about the rhethoric within a government department is shocking - but then, it probably explains why the majority of Queenslanders feel it's ok to use the same sort of rhethoric. Same for McGowan and his people. And Dan seems to gladly sacrifice a few Aussies in order to prevent any more lockdowns (rather than admitting breaches and failures of infection control protocols). Gladys in NSW is the only one standing up against them and honestly, a breath of fresh air. It's unfortunate that Sydney has to deal with this nasty outbreak now but other than her Queensland counterpart, she has not been blaming someone else...
- Births
- Weddings
- Funerals
Even accepting cut-down numbers to be there, certain people just need to be allowed to show up. Don't tell them "no", tell them how they can get to "yes".
Jul 12th 2021, 8:43 am
#24
Crazy Cat Lady
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 65,493
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
To me, what was truly reprehensible, and truly incoherent about the federal government's response to the emerging Covid-19 epidemic, was the failure to consider non-commercial travel--personal movements--as remaining essential ones, for a high percentage of Australian citizens and PRs:
- Births
- Weddings
- Funerals
Even accepting cut-down numbers to be there, certain people just need to be allowed to show up. Don't tell them "no", tell them how they can get to "yes".
- Births
- Weddings
- Funerals
Even accepting cut-down numbers to be there, certain people just need to be allowed to show up. Don't tell them "no", tell them how they can get to "yes".
Jul 12th 2021, 8:55 am
#25
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 704
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
(Edit: When my grandmother was dying, I booked a trip home to see her for one last time, and considered which of my family in Australia would come with us, as it seemed we had some time to do it all in some orderly way. And then suddenly she took a turn for the worse, and it was all guns blazing to get just me over there, sooner than expected, literally booking flights while in a taxi to the airport. Made it over just in time, and I was literally the last relative she recognised and got to say goodbye to, just before she passed. Worth every effort to get there, and every penny spent.)
Last edited by abner; Jul 12th 2021 at 9:13 am.
Jul 12th 2021, 10:27 am
#26
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,814
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
Because for most people, from most walks of life, whether religiously affiliated or not, these are critical life-cycle events -- birth, marriage, death -- that are celebrated and/or venerated in the company of others. With family at least, and often far wider than that.
(Edit: When my grandmother was dying, I booked a trip home to see her for one last time, and considered which of my family in Australia would come with us, as it seemed we had some time to do it all in some orderly way. And then suddenly she took a turn for the worse, and it was all guns blazing to get just me over there, sooner than expected, literally booking flights while in a taxi to the airport. Made it over just in time, and I was literally the last relative she recognised and got to say goodbye to, just before she passed. Worth every effort to get there, and every penny spent.)
(Edit: When my grandmother was dying, I booked a trip home to see her for one last time, and considered which of my family in Australia would come with us, as it seemed we had some time to do it all in some orderly way. And then suddenly she took a turn for the worse, and it was all guns blazing to get just me over there, sooner than expected, literally booking flights while in a taxi to the airport. Made it over just in time, and I was literally the last relative she recognised and got to say goodbye to, just before she passed. Worth every effort to get there, and every penny spent.)
I live in fear every day now that my mum will start to decline in health and want me home. At present there is not a cat in hells chance of getting there. When your entire family, and everyone you care about, lives on the other side of the world, and you are not able to see any of them, life gets pretty lonely. Yes, I knew when I came here that it would take 24-36 hours to get home, and that was acceptable. What is less acceptable is having the rules change to make it 24-36 months to get there.
Jul 12th 2021, 11:52 pm
#28
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
However we might have an unexpected saviour in the mix - Dan Andrews. Whilst Dan voted for the cap reduction recently to cosy up to QLD and WA he has said its very temporary. He knows Victoria is in the shitter right now and it needs borders open to function. Melbourne is also of a similar ilk to Sydney in that respect. Stay tuned, its only a matter of time before QLD and WA get rolled.
Come on down Dan Andrews. A fly in the ointment for WA and QLD.
Jul 13th 2021, 4:02 am
#29
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 704
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
Jul 13th 2021, 8:50 am
#30
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: Has Australia changed during the pandemic?
And more than this, thinking upon it further, I truly think the feds have lost the plot, have indeed lost the whole idea of a citizen's true personal interests in a modern democracy threatened by a health crisis, when they consider purely commercial travel to serve Australian exporters to be a 'critical skills and sectors' exception for travel, but citizen repatriation not so much, and travel for critical family reasons not so much.