The road to freedom
#46
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 702
Re: The road to freedom
Sitting here and reading news from Europe, hearing about all my family in the UK and Spain living normal lives.... I'm so pleased for them, but as I am getting older and less mobile I really feel that my chances of ever seeing them again are ebbing away as the State Premiers here bitch at each other and everyone promises miracles in return for vaccination, only to change their minds the next day.
The politician George Christensen made a speech last week in which he said Australians have to accept COVID will always be around in some form and we have to learn to live with it and get on with our lives. I don't necessarily agree with anything else he said, but people really do need to listen to that bit. We cannot stay prisoners forever.
The politician George Christensen made a speech last week in which he said Australians have to accept COVID will always be around in some form and we have to learn to live with it and get on with our lives. I don't necessarily agree with anything else he said, but people really do need to listen to that bit. We cannot stay prisoners forever.
A blunt question, to be sure, but a lot of us are in the same boat as you, yet willing to wait until it *is* safe, coming and going, for residents of both countries. And the oldies who miss us most in our family, wouldn't have it any other way.
(And don't get me started on the populist baiting of the "member from Manila"...)
Last edited by abner; Aug 19th 2021 at 7:20 am.
#47
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,787
Re: The road to freedom
So how many extra dead or long-Covid sufferers, in Australia or overseas, are you ready to stomach, to see your rellies any earlier than currently forecast, under ScoMo's rather optimistic vaccine coverage plan?
A blunt question, to be sure, but a lot of us are in the same boat as you, yet willing to wait until it *is* safe, coming and going, for residents of both countries. And the oldies who miss us most in our family, wouldn't have it any other way.
(And don't get me started on the populist baiting of the "member from Manila"...)
A blunt question, to be sure, but a lot of us are in the same boat as you, yet willing to wait until it *is* safe, coming and going, for residents of both countries. And the oldies who miss us most in our family, wouldn't have it any other way.
(And don't get me started on the populist baiting of the "member from Manila"...)
One reason I am finding it tough is because I have no-one in Australia. Thats right, no one. I had a row today with HR because they insist I must name a next of kin in this country, and I can't. I have no one here except work colleagues.
Secondly, I'm under no illusions that if this goes on more than another year or so, which it will, my health will deteriorate to a point where I will not be able to fly. I am now pretty much resigned to never seeing them again. Its going to be years, and I simply don't have that long, I will be physically unable to travel that far. There was a family crisis last week, I should have been there, and not being there has really dented me mentally and emotionally to the point that I am now telling myself I must accept I can't go home, ever. I can't see any of them again. I wish them all well with their lives, but their lives are moving on and I am no longer part of them. My own fault for emigrating years ago, I deserve everything I've now got (or not got), its just karma. And yes, if I could be one of the extra dead, I would be glad of the release. If my name's on it, it'll get me.
#48
Re: The road to freedom
Sitting here and reading news from Europe, hearing about all my family in the UK and Spain living normal lives.... I'm so pleased for them, but as I am getting older and less mobile I really feel that my chances of ever seeing them again are ebbing away as the State Premiers here bitch at each other and everyone promises miracles in return for vaccination, only to change their minds the next day.
The politician George Christensen made a speech last week in which he said Australians have to accept COVID will always be around in some form and we have to learn to live with it and get on with our lives. I don't necessarily agree with anything else he said, but people really do need to listen to that bit. We cannot stay prisoners forever.
The politician George Christensen made a speech last week in which he said Australians have to accept COVID will always be around in some form and we have to learn to live with it and get on with our lives. I don't necessarily agree with anything else he said, but people really do need to listen to that bit. We cannot stay prisoners forever.
Christensen is a bit of a knob but because he generally talks a lot of shite, that doesn't mean everything he says is. So, I tend to agree with him on this
I'm generally accepting (reluctantly) of the restrictions we're having imposed on our lives, but I'm essentially a libertarian and I do somewhat understand the viewpoints of those who aren't, those who want to protest and disagree with the mainstream narrative and government overreach. Put it this way, by Easter, if we're still having to put up with what we're going through today, I'm going to be protesting too - and by that time, those protests are not going to be pretty
#49
Re: The road to freedom
Josh Frydenberg, has been ramming home the "We must learn to live with Covid" message home this morning.
So it's coming... I'm certain NSW will open first, and I reckon they will be going to try and announce it to the world by having a free "Welcome to the end of the crisis" NYE with the fireworks and Sydney Harbour celebrations being shown as the end as far as they are concerned of the main part of the crisis. Whether that happens or not I wouldn't know, but it would sure score them great kudos not only from a lot of Australia but definitely around the world. Negative into a positive etc etc.
I'd not like to be in WA right now.... I think it may take major protests in Melbourne to eventually follow suit in Victoria, such is the strength of the eradication message that a sizeable proportion of people seem to be hell-bent on following.
So it's coming... I'm certain NSW will open first, and I reckon they will be going to try and announce it to the world by having a free "Welcome to the end of the crisis" NYE with the fireworks and Sydney Harbour celebrations being shown as the end as far as they are concerned of the main part of the crisis. Whether that happens or not I wouldn't know, but it would sure score them great kudos not only from a lot of Australia but definitely around the world. Negative into a positive etc etc.
I'd not like to be in WA right now.... I think it may take major protests in Melbourne to eventually follow suit in Victoria, such is the strength of the eradication message that a sizeable proportion of people seem to be hell-bent on following.
#50
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: The road to freedom
So how many extra dead or long-Covid sufferers, in Australia or overseas, are you ready to stomach, to see your rellies any earlier than currently forecast, under ScoMo's rather optimistic vaccine coverage plan?
A blunt question, to be sure, but a lot of us are in the same boat as you, yet willing to wait until it *is* safe, coming and going, for residents of both countries. And the oldies who miss us most in our family, wouldn't have it any other way.
(And don't get me started on the populist baiting of the "member from Manila"...)
A blunt question, to be sure, but a lot of us are in the same boat as you, yet willing to wait until it *is* safe, coming and going, for residents of both countries. And the oldies who miss us most in our family, wouldn't have it any other way.
(And don't get me started on the populist baiting of the "member from Manila"...)
#51
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: The road to freedom
Not usually being one for negativity, but I can't help look at the issues in Israel right now. It looks like all eggs in the Pfizer basket is coming unstuck and Delta, plus the deterioration of the effects of Pfizer are sending them into more lockdowns. Boosters are coming but it's slow.
It was be interesting to see how the UK fairs come Autumn and how AstraZeneca has in the longevity stakes. Many I speak to in the UK are predicting lockdowns again when the sun goes away shortly.
Easter might be a nightmare. For us.
6 weeks left here in NSW until the beer gardens re-open so we will happily be the Oz guinea pigs.
#53
Re: The road to freedom
I live in one of the best places in the world to live - especially right now - and I don't give a flying frig what people on the east coast think about that
#54
Re: The road to freedom
I'm not going to get into the politics of WA - but put it this way, I'm no fan of McGowan. It's great to be in WA right now. The economy is booming and there is no lockdown. There is so much work around it's not funny. We've just come back from 16 days in the North - Exmouth, Coral Bay, Monkey Mia. It's a magnificent part of the world and it's absolutely heaving and very hard to get accommodation. Half of the people up there are from other states and haven't gone home (and don't want to anyway) or backpackers who also never went home and are making money hand over fist and having a ball. It was a real eye opener
I live in one of the best places in the world to live - especially right now - and I don't give a flying frig what people on the east coast think about that
I live in one of the best places in the world to live - especially right now - and I don't give a flying frig what people on the east coast think about that
I get the differing politics, but this 'you're going down, WA' thing has got me beat. We're all Aussies, most of us commiserate with people in the states that are doing it tough right now and I would hope the same would apply if, or perhaps when, WA is in the same position.
We can all argue our heads off - 'your Premier got it wrong', 'no your Premier got it wrong', but FFS, what good is that doing any of us? The pandemic has had very real negative effects on so many of lives. A bit of mutual support and empathy for each other right now would be a good thing.
#55
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: The road to freedom
I am only concerned with hospitalisations and not cases. For all I care it could be a million cases a day, but if hospitalisations after vaccination are at the same levels they would get from 20,000 then we are good.
But if not, then we are in a bit of a mess.
But if not, then we are in a bit of a mess.
#56
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: The road to freedom
Without wanting to start a bun fight with our eastern states mates, I'm puzzled as to why so much venom is directed at WA.
I get the differing politics, but this 'you're going down, WA' thing has got me beat. We're all Aussies, most of us commiserate with people in the states that are doing it tough right now and I would hope the same would apply if, or perhaps when, WA is in the same position.
We can all argue our heads off - 'your Premier got it wrong', 'no your Premier got it wrong', but FFS, what good is that doing any of us? The pandemic has had very real negative effects on so many of lives. A bit of mutual support and empathy for each other right now would be a good thing.
I get the differing politics, but this 'you're going down, WA' thing has got me beat. We're all Aussies, most of us commiserate with people in the states that are doing it tough right now and I would hope the same would apply if, or perhaps when, WA is in the same position.
We can all argue our heads off - 'your Premier got it wrong', 'no your Premier got it wrong', but FFS, what good is that doing any of us? The pandemic has had very real negative effects on so many of lives. A bit of mutual support and empathy for each other right now would be a good thing.
And its all fine, if you have no reason to leave WA, or any reason to bring people into WA, but many do.
We are all looking for a way out of this and for life to return to normal and it doesn't look like your Premier is interested in certain aspects of that. Mainly the aspects of people going in and out of WA. If you were working in WA and have family elsewhere in Australia, working FIFO, etc, or just simply want to take the kids to visit granny and grandad in Perth, this stuff is a big big deal.
On top of that, National Cabinet have agreed certain figures for how we return to normal and those figures are based on a national vaccination rate. Of course, states will start looking at doing their own thing when they hit those targets as the federation is dead, but things like national border movements hinge on the national figure. Right now, WA is really lagging in those numbers, no doubt due to keeping the virus out, the urgency is not there, but McGowen really needs to step up here as he was on the table that agreed these numbers.
#57
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 14,040
Re: The road to freedom
Its not gone unnoticed. Thats the point Ozzie and I are making.
#58
Re: The road to freedom
I feel the same about Sydney but anyway
For the job I do, where I can earn the highest salary that I can and live in a Western first world location at the same time and enjoy the benefits that that entails, I live in the best place in the world. End of
Debate is not an option
For the job I do, where I can earn the highest salary that I can and live in a Western first world location at the same time and enjoy the benefits that that entails, I live in the best place in the world. End of
Debate is not an option
#59
Re: The road to freedom
Without wanting to start a bun fight with our eastern states mates, I'm puzzled as to why so much venom is directed at WA.
I get the differing politics, but this 'you're going down, WA' thing has got me beat. We're all Aussies, most of us commiserate with people in the states that are doing it tough right now and I would hope the same would apply if, or perhaps when, WA is in the same position.
We can all argue our heads off - 'your Premier got it wrong', 'no your Premier got it wrong', but FFS, what good is that doing any of us? The pandemic has had very real negative effects on so many of lives. A bit of mutual support and empathy for each other right now would be a good thing.
I get the differing politics, but this 'you're going down, WA' thing has got me beat. We're all Aussies, most of us commiserate with people in the states that are doing it tough right now and I would hope the same would apply if, or perhaps when, WA is in the same position.
We can all argue our heads off - 'your Premier got it wrong', 'no your Premier got it wrong', but FFS, what good is that doing any of us? The pandemic has had very real negative effects on so many of lives. A bit of mutual support and empathy for each other right now would be a good thing.
Agree. I don't like McGowan but the majority here do - although his halo slipped a bit with that idiotic statement he came out with last week - so essentially democracy at work. I don't like the way states are allowed to all go their own way with their Wuhan flu response, but that's essentially what the constitution allows and we have to suck it up. Saying that, McGowan is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to pitting WA against the other states - it's part of his MO and many like it
All states will reach the same point at roughly the same time in relation to herd immunity and the need to open up (The Guardian has some great info on this) - and I reckon we won't be far off many other countries that are way ahead of us at this time but currently have a slowing vaccine uptake
We'll get there and next year is going to be great
#60
Re: The road to freedom
I'm not going to get into the politics of WA - but put it this way, I'm no fan of McGowan. It's great to be in WA right now. The economy is booming and there is no lockdown. There is so much work around it's not funny. We've just come back from 16 days in the North - Exmouth, Coral Bay, Monkey Mia. It's a magnificent part of the world and it's absolutely heaving and very hard to get accommodation. Half of the people up there are from other states and haven't gone home (and don't want to anyway) or backpackers who also never went home and are making money hand over fist and having a ball. It was a real eye opener
I live in one of the best places in the world to live - especially right now - and I don't give a flying frig what people on the east coast think about that
I live in one of the best places in the world to live - especially right now - and I don't give a flying frig what people on the east coast think about that
Thats basically the crux of the issue, the fact that WA is doing so well, can support itself so easily, is economically sound, then why should it listen to the rest of Australia and open up to them and internationally until they feel they have Covid totally and utterly beaten.
I've pencilled in a trip to WA in our Campervan... I was hoping for next year... It may well not happen, but it looks like we will be able to go anywhere else in Aus next year.
So lets hope for everyones sake, it does open up there sooner than later. Especially if NSW and VIC decide that living with Covid is definitely the way to go forwards.
My WA long term mate is bleeding every time Vic residents get locked out of WA, His parents still run a big farm out at Porangarup down Albany way. They often need help as they are getting elderly. He has hardly had a chance to get over and fix things up properly for them. I guess there are dozens if not hundreds of similar tales.
Best of luck, glad to hear you are doing well, which I'm sure you are. It's that fact that may well keep you locked down the longest though.