Everyone, including those states that you seem to think are dictators, is advocating for a centralized federally run quarantine system.
The inconsistencies in approach aren’t the states’ fault. You’re directing your anger at the wrong level of government.

i agree the federal govt has failed in the quarantine area. That’s one area. When there are community cases, there is nothing the feds can do. McGowan has made it clear he will ‘always reserve the right to shut ‘his’ border at a moments notice’. When the international border does open, I can already see that idiot still causing chaos domestically.

so yes, while the feds have failed on the quarantine front, the dictators will continue to fail on the border control front.

not so sure the ruby princess can be seen as anything positive though!!

Ruby Princess is irrelevant now. That could of happened anywhere in an Australian port. But it did happen in NSW and look at how NSW has handled Covid, wether you like it or not agree or not NSW is the best in Australia at managing covid. NSW still takes the lions share of international arrivals with minimal HQ outbreaks, VIC is doing 2/5s of F&@k all with international and still can’t handle HQ. What makes everyone think they will be able to manage off site quarantine facilities any better.

Is Melbourne still the worlds most liveable city?

Not from where I’m sitting…..

"51. Legislative Powers of the Parliament.

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:
...
(ix) quarantine;

..."

s51 defines anything that is NOT a State responsibility.

End of argument.

A question regarding those flight crews who have taken the AstraZeneca shots: are there any consequence or penalty from FAA regarding their activities, since FDA has not allowed or recognized the AZ vaccine in the US yet (there are thousands who live outside the US, who have already taken the AZ shots) ?

I got a question: Will FAA accept pilots taking AZ or other vaccines’ brand other than those only accepted by FDA ? Thousands of FAA License pilots live abroad.

I'm not sure that it ever was.
Most of those surveys are very suss at any time ....
Sort of like the GT poll for world's best airline.

But if you still want to compare it with it's normal rivals it is probably still well up there.

Vancouver 183 new cases yesterday, Osaka 226, Calgary 244 coming off a recent peak of 2211, etc, etc

Recent peak in those cities of over 2000 a day you mention, what has changed there to drop below 300 a day? I see they’re not locked up like caged animals.

Moving back into summer, amongst other things.

I don't think so, U.S.A debunked that that theory that C-19 does not thrive in the heat as they had regular 6 figure deaths and cases daily during their summer.

Do these countries have high vaccine uptake?

Better than Australia, but that's not hard.
With a personal link to Calgary (a most livable contender) I can assure you that they have not been restriction free - see following graph.
And that included inter-provincial travel restrictions (to Vancouver, another contender).

The following are both interesting - or, they are to me.

• 3,013,555 vaccine doses have been administered in Alberta, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford.
• 66 per cent of Alberta's population of those ages 12 and up have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
• 502,833 Albertans are fully immunized (two doses).
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said the vaccines have proven even more effective than expected.
• The province says 96 per cent of cases since Jan. 1, 2021 were contracted by people who were unvaccinated or who were diagnosed within two weeks from having a first dose of vaccine.
• Just 0.2 per cent of Albertans who have received their first dose of vaccine have been diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks or more after receiving the shot. Over that same period, 93 per cent of the people who needed hospital care were either not vaccinated or were diagnosed with infection within two weeks of receiving their first dose.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fe453558a2.jpg

Good to see the feds finally funding quarantine facilities albeit kicking and screaming.

Case numbers mean bugger all when they are vaccinated. How many of those cases had symptoms? How many needed treatment?
If they’re vaccinated, it will be close to zero - THAT’S the important bit!

Why is Melbourne in lockdown with 2 cases?

Not sure about the others, but in Calgary, eight died yesterday.
That's quite important to a lot of people too.

Of course - no death should be taken lightly. Every life is precious.

I do wonder how many people died in Calgary total that day - from all the other diseases. I’ll wager it was more than 8.

How many in Canada are vaccinated?

That nuance is important to a lot of us too.

The Feds are responsible for quarantine, no argument.
But the States are responsible for health directions within States. The Feds have no say over the States CMOs.
The States and NT did freely sign up to manage the quarantine facilities.
Why do the Vic, SA and WA keep COVID positive people in medi-hotels instead of a COVID ward in a hospital as I believe happens in Qld?
If positives detected in HQ are not then heled in HQ, then the HQ cannot leak.

Because it’s twinned with Pyongyang.