And we have a man ( who is currently in hospital with Covid), who thought it would be a good idea to leave his lock down area in Sydney and travel to Byron Bay to spread some love, just before he would be admitted to hospital. This intelligent idea has now prompted calls for Byron Bay and surrounds to be locked down.

What part of …. Stay at Home.. aren’t these morons getting?

I wish I thought differently. But I am over it. I really do not care if he lives or dies. And if he lives I would drag him off to jail for the rest of his selfish stupid life. Yes really. Same with anyone else who does this. And there have been several. Fines are not enough. Lock them up for a very very long time.

this is not a fooking joke. It is costing Sydney a BILLION a week. How may have died already in this latest outbreak. How many taken their own lives or have been tipped into mental illness, lost their life’s work and savings.

F*ck them. Just lock them away. Forever. They are responsible for deaths and billions in economic damage. I don’t care how old or young they are. F*ck them

Penalties are clearly not sufficient deterrent…..fines don’t matter to some…so perhaps if they seem to like moving around….take their drivers licence and passport from them for 5 Years!
As alluded to in previous posts, these transgressions are costing the country billions, so we need tougher penalties.

This! National Cabinet strategy is to aim for ZERO community spread. McGowan has stated this as the only option. Even once vaccination targets are reached across Australia, it’s hard to see states opening up to other states where community transmission is not under control. Thinking once we get to 80% we are sweet is not the way it is going to play out.

80% plus only controlled community spread, plus lockdowns plus closing borders plus quarantine is something we will be seeing for several more years.

Fuctifino, SOPS. Fuctifino.

Then there was the phuckwit who, despite being a close contact of a Newcastle case, left the Newcastle LGA on the train, and has caused Armidale to go into lockdown. Fast forward two days and what happens? Another asreclown leaves Newcastle and goes to Tamworth visiting a host of businesses. Cue the Tamworth lockdown from 1700 today. I needed to go to Tamworth this week That ain't gonna happen now.

I guess since they've set the precedent by not arresting / charging / jailing people that break the lockdown rules, there's no longer any real incentive to abide by them. A $1,000 fine? Pfft. Most of these pricks probably won't pay it anyway.

Couldn't agree more. I abide by the rules. My family abides by the rules - as do most PPruner's I'd suspect, and we'd rightly expect tea, no biscuits if we knowingly break them.

So why are these scrotes different?

Simple answer, for contact tracing to work people have to be not afraid to tell the truth, no matter how stupid. I agree with the above posts that he should be drawn and quartered, but it can send the wrong message and people start to clam up about movements in fear of being penalised.

As I've said before you just have to account for the stupid when setting rules.

A bit like death penalties can make offenders more ruthless when faced with it and cost the society more than the idea they may get away with some life after incarceration.

And I will update myself… Byron Bay and surrounding areas have just been locked down. These people must be put in jail.

well you just give them another incentive

don’t cooperate immediately and face 20 years
cooperate and face only 10 years

the current situation is obviously NOT working

people are being contacted a week or two after visiting a place telling them they are a close contact because people are not cooperating with contact tracers. Sharpen their minds with a lengthy jail sentence.

this is not a minor crime. It is a crime that costs billions, that causes serious illness and even death. That is not minor. It needs to be treated like what is it. An EXTREMELY SERIOUS crime against society. And no that is not hyperbole.

And....apparently hasnt checked in at many or maybe all places he has visited & hasnt been at all co operative in revealing his movements.
Its 1 thing to blame governments for being slack or not doing what is expected of them but for somebody(& theres many others im sure) to act like this guy has is,as you say just beyond belief & no doubt the 'i didnt understand' or 'i have been victimised' line is yet to come.
So sick of these self entitled selfish morons.

So we put infected people who deliberately ignore the lockdown rules into gaol? Would that be in a goal with unvaccinated warders and inmates?

If only Australia had proper quarantine facilities into which people could be put into secure and properly guarded isolation. We could incarcerate the deliberate non-compliers there, without risking others.

(I do laugh at those justifying pollie payrises on the basis that they were decided by an independent remuneration tribunal. Even assuming they're truly independent - pull the other one, it plays Jingle Bells - they operate within a legislative framework that can be amended. For those who haven't been paying attention, the various legislatures have been creating laws like confetti over the last 18 or so months in response to the Covid threat. Amazing that they couldn't fit in the passing of a one sentence amendment to change the operation of the remuneration legislation temporarily. Truly amazing.)

We were having similar conversations here in the U.K. last April/May time as the original virus took hold across the country. Lockdown 1 was pretty well respected. Shops just, roads deserted, and people pretty much stayed at home. Lockdown 2 and 3 were differant. Shops had various interpretations of “essential” and so did the public when considering their movements. I guess it’s a natural part of human behaviour to become apathetic to it all if it doesn’t seem to personally effect them.
as things stand. We are pretty much back to normal here now, in fact I’ve just returned from a holiday in the Spanish islands which, apart from masks inside shops etc, was ops normal and it was lovely to see busy airports again.
the U.K. has made many many mistakes dealing with the virus, largely led by inept politicians who have u-turned several times, made several errors in judgement and even been caught breaking their own lockdown rules.
however, we are where we are, and now the vaccine rollout has gone extremely well, cases are still in their throusands per day but deaths are low and the hospitals are not now at a risk of becoming overwhelmed... the actual aim of any vaccine after all.
if there was somehow a way to combine Australia’s original containment with the U.K. Vaccine rollout and youd have a pretty good way to deal with a Coronavirus pandemic. As it is, Australia is going to have a bloody hard time to convince the populous to get the vaccine, which is after all the only way out of all of this.
you just can’t let it rip amongst the unvaccinated. Yes it has a high survival rate for the fit and healthy. But it does fill up hospital beds and you don’t want to be turned away for that heart attack or broken leg because the hospitals are full.

Jails have hospitals, do they not? Put him in one of them. He might start remembering where he has been in Byron. And I’m sorry.. but if I hear “
he didn’t understand because English is a second language”, as far as I am concerned he can be deported back to where ever his first language is.

Actually No. The National Cabinet Plan isn't aiming for zero community spread after Phase C, which is at 80% vaccination. All states are due to hit that target by December. The WA CHO made this statement: WA's Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson wants to see at least 80 per cent of the WA population vaccinated before we get to a point where lockdowns and border closures are no longer needed.

The key is vaccination numbers, and 70% initially, then 80% more firmly, to end restrictions.

And if social media is to be believed police are chasing his two kids who traveled with him

Cant put positive people into jail. They are fighting hard to keep it out of jails because it will rip through jails like its a cruise ship. Also part of the reason prisoners and jail staff were like 1A or 1B in priority Also note hes a staunch antivaxer

well I am sure they can find a secure place for one person. He will only be contagious for a week or two. Not much out of a ten or twenty year sentence he should get.

they are all vaccinated. They were amongst the first, for obvious reasons.

as for quarantine stations. If you are referring to using them for returning Australians then none of the major outbreaks including this one would have been stopped by using them.

but for those that break the rules I am sure something could be arranged. They could isolate at home using ankle bracelets until no longer contagious which would only be a week or two. No that hard really is it.

Bollocks.

And, due to minimum length requirements on this forum: Complete bollocks.

This is a reply I posted in the Coronvirus thread but thought I would also put it here as it is direct correlation to the above stories as well.

“The problem with just quoting the stats for deaths is it does not take into account the wider ramifications. Someone I work with is in her early 30’s and runs half marathons all the time. She caught CV19 and like you said was floored for 2 days and then back to normal…. A week later and we haven’t seen her for 4 weeks. She can barely get out of bed and can’t climb one flight of stairs without taking a break midway through. Doctors have told her this could last weeks, months or years. They just don’t know.

There are many more out there who are suffering debilitating effects of the virus than have died from the virus.”

I was super lucky this morning: tasked by BloodBikes Australia to Lismore Hospital to pick up his COVID sample to take to Brisbane for genomics tracing, then I was cancelled and the Lismore medical courier sent instead.

No doubt I would have been sent into lockdown had I ridden there and back :eek:

Mark McGowan has stepped up criticisms of Gladys Berejiklian's response to Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak, declaring her comments indicating the need to "live with" the Delta variant were "totally wrong". "I just want to be totally clear - we cannot accept that position. We don't live with it. We don't tolerate it. We don't let it linger," he said.

"We suppress it and we get rid of it. That is the Australian approach to the virus."

Mr McGowan previously hinted at enforcing an indefinite hard border with NSW unless the state can "crush and kill the virus".

"We still reserve the right to lockdown in specific locations if absolutely necessary.



I strongly doubt that even with 80% vaccinated, WA will have an open border to NSW if there are still hundreds of cases per day. I think it was on the radio a few days ago that McGowan said the national cabinet agreement was zero community transmission.

Yeah avoid lismore like the plague. The 2 kids of the byran bay man have been caught are in lismore hospital apparently

McMaoan better be careful sprouting off that sort of nonsense or he’ll never get anywhere near 80%. You need the threat of cases to get people vaccinated. No cases, no threat of community transmission and you’ll struggle to even get past 70%. His loyal subjects, the apathetic bogan majority in WA, have been lulled into a false sense of security thanks to him. The national vaccine stats confirm it.

Although part of me thinks it may be his plan after all. The closed border is winning him votes and no one can leave to spend their money in more interesting parts of the country or the world...he probably doesn’t care if 80% is ever reached, because it gives him the power to stay shut for a lot longer.

Please be careful . We are not bogans. My wife and I are both fully vaxed with AZ. We are very happy with what Mark does ( and are life long Liberal voters).

Please think twice before you make these sweeping statements .

The Dunning Kruger effect isn't a "cognitive condition", we're all prone to it; and it's not about a lack of intelligence.
The Dunning Kruger effect is about ignorance and confidence; it's about ignorance breeding confidence; a certain level of understanding helps one understand just how little one does know.

You've demonstrated it quite well by claiming it's about intelligence.

No bogans here either. Two more days and my wife and I will be fully vaxxed.
That this is only happening now has absolutely nothing to do with Mark McGowan but falls 100% into ScoMo's lap.

The closed border is winning him no votes at all. The freedom of movement, continuing employment and freedom from disease is certainly a vote winner though.
You see, most West Australians are quite capable of forgoing pilgrimages to the Sydney Bowlo provided they are still gainfully employed, healthy, enjoying an otherwise unencumbered lifestyle and don't have to worry about how they can get to Grandad and Nan's funeral.

As for the travel, we should be OK for SA, VIC, QLD, NT and Tassie again before too long.
And we'd still be able to commute with NZ if Beryl hadn't screwed the pooch.

It's this episode from ABC Radio last Friday starting from 24 minutes into the program. It's clearly stated the National Cabinet goal is for suppression with no community transmission given our current vaccination rates (18%), not future rates (70/80%). Currently the nation is in Phase A, in which no community transmission is the goal agreed to by all states. Then when you get to Phase B and C that changes. The WA government has made statements saying the 70% to 80% vaccination rate is when hotel quarantine and lockdowns can be ended.

EDIT:

Here's the Doherty Institute modelling that was used in formulating the decisions made by National Cabinet. Check out the tables on page 17 and 18. The numbers of cases, hospital admissions, ICU admissions and deaths are noted at various levels of vaccine coverage. Although the higher rates of coverage at 70 and 80% markedly decrease the numbers they are still somewhat prevalent, but all states and territories and the feds signed off on the Roadmap based on this modelling. So all States and Territories are acknowledging there will be some spread and fatalities, just at much more manageable numbers with a high level of vaccination.

Or perhaps you guys getting all worked up about this could realise NO system will have 100% compliance.

No current law has 100% compliance.

So if the “health response” can’t cope with a small minority breaking the rules, the system needs to be strengthened.

Good for you getting jabbed, but you and SOPS are not the people I was referring to. I live in Perth, I mix in various cross circles of the community. I am well aware of the vibe out there. It is one of apathy when it comes to getting vaccinated. I hope I’m wrong, but happy to revisit this in 4 months time when I suspect WA will still be at the bottom of the jab tally, hovering around 65%. Unless of course there’s a sustained breakout in which case there will no doubt be vaccine queues and panic.

As for your comment about the border policy keeping people gainfully employed, have a look around mate. You’re on a pilot forum. I think very few people here would now have a more secure job thanks to Chairman McMaoan!

I guess they dont believe the virus is real either or maybe their father has changed his mind now.

You're correct. I wasn't singling out industry groups. And McGowan's policies have obviously had a significant intermittent, impact on the inter-state aviation sector.
But my office is directly under the approach to 24 - intra-state traffic doesn't seem to have suffered much while the mining sector is still protected by McGowan's policies and still very bullish.

But tell me, how is inter-state and intra-state aviation doing in NSW at the moment? Gonna hang that off McGowan too?

NSW problems are caused by NSW government, today Chant and Hazzard are to front a parliamentary inquiry (which is as pointless as national cabinet) over the advice she provided to NSW government about when Sydney needed to lockdown.

NSW is as cooked as a Turkey on xmas day, for me, the most frustrating thing is ppl know they wont get criminally charged with anything. Its now time to charge these rule breakers they need to be in a court and going to the clink its happening daily these clowns doing their own thing.

Or the resources sector insist that all employees/contractors are vaccinated as a condition of employment. Should see a pickup in the uptake!

it is truly unbelievable. The latest I heard this morning about this clown who went to Byron bay after visiting his covid positive wife is that he is saying he went there to look at a property to purchase. And you guessed it, there is an exemption in the lockdown rules that say you can leave your area for such a purpose. There is no distance limit put on how far you can go. So it looks like yet another fork up by our wonderful public servants. Just like the non compulsory measures for the driver who started all this. And there would be plenty of these useless public servants on two hundred thousand a year plus who gave the thumbs up to these rules. Yet none will suffer any consequences. They have also not lost a single cent since this all started 18 months ago.

having said that, I would hope he can be charged with public endangerment having visited his covid positive wife before going.

Of course. The real estate industry and property developers have a stranglehold on all governments but especially Berejiklian and her deputy Barilaro, up to their necks in property developer influence. Housing price growth and real estate sales will always be maintained, that’s non negotiable.

So what is his plan if we do not achieve that figure? Because, so far as I can tell, there isn't one! These are "targets", these 70%, 80% figures, and while they are based on "health advice" they do not provide any guideline or response should these goals not be met! But also from that article:
Meanwhile, in Iceland...Actually, not quite true. My employer is desperately crying out (begging might be a better term...) for crew to do significant overtime (residential) or change from their contracted 2/2 to indefinite 2/1 roster's (FIFO) due to the effect the border restrictions are having on their interstate FIFO crew, offering many thousands of dollars in incentives, LAFHA and the like to try to keep things moving. But that carrot is running out, particularly for a lot of interstate FIFO Driver's who have been held hostage by WA for more than a year. They want to go home to see their families, and they're becoming increasingly prepared to do just that and wear the lost AL or go on LWOP knowing they can't get back in to WA, no matter how hard the major ore producers insist interstate FIFO crew are essential to their operations.....

WA's budget has been kept afloat by record iron ore prices, nothing more. I can only wonder what their response would have been if the spot price was back in 2016 levels, below $50 a tonne...

Singapore is pretty close!

https://www.gstatic.com/onebox/sport...con_square.png
Singapore
Total doses given 8.04M
People fully vaccinated 3.81M
66.8 % fully vaccinated

Singapore’s Goverment can tell the people of Singapore what is going to happen and that’s what happens . Better to compare to Australia to democracies like India , U.K. or America to see where we might be heading ? Being an island has delayed what’s coming that’s all .

Well I guess the plan, as agreed to by National Cabinet, is to remain in Phase A, so lockdowns and restrictions.

But I don’t think that’ll happen, just to clarify the rates of 70 and 80% are based on the over 16 population, not total population. So that would boost Australia’s rate to 23% at the moment, and then you have the UK over 70% of over 18s, Canada at 71% of over 12s, and the trend line in vaccinations in those countries is still heading upwards so Australia’s targets should be achievable.

Also, meanwhile, in Iceland (from the same news.com.au article which in typical news.com.au fashion sensationalises the headline but buries less fearing mongering info deep in the article):The latest outbreak – despite its size – has so far claimed none (lives).

It (the vaccine) is limiting hospitalisation and death.

Iceland’s government is not discouraged.

“Evidence shows that the vaccines used in Iceland protect about 60 per cent of those fully vaccinated against any kind of infection caused by the Delta variant of the virus and over 90 per cent against serious illnesses,” Iceland’s Director-General Bryndís Kjartansdóttir said.

“About 97 per cent of those infected have mild or no symptoms.”

For a more sensible take on the situation in Iceland check out this:

Fact Check-COVID-19 cases in Iceland are not proof that vaccines are ineffective

Last time I checked, 'America' was a continent (two in fact), named for Amerigo Vespucci which contained several obvious non-democratic states. Perhaps the United States and Canada is what you meant????

The below from lazy googling.

USA - 51%

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/...racker-states/

UK - 68.5% to 76.9%

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulat...ights/vaccines