‘This is not just Australia’s problem’: Comedian Russell Brand slams Dan Andrews’ new pandemic laws
British comedian Russell Brand has slammed Australia’s response to the Covid crises describing quarantine facilities as ‘internment camps’ and pandemic powers given to police as ‘terrifying’.
The 46-year-old in a video uploaded to Youtube on Sunday said he ‘stood with Australians’ who were protesting and felt concerned civil liberties are being infringed upon by ‘draconian’ restrictions.
Protests have rocked Melbourne almost weekly for months over lockdown rules and vaccine mandates but Dan Andrews’ new pandemic management bill has seen turnouts surge to tens of thousands in the last few weeks.
British comedian Russell Brand has taken aim (pictured) at Australia’s handling of the Covid pandemic saying he was ‘worried’ about ‘civil liberties and freedoms’
Civil rights and law groups have also grown increasingly vocal seeking to formalise an Australian charter of human rights to keep pandemic powers in check.
Brand quoted an article from the Gray Zone which referred to Australian quarantine facilities – such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory and a new multi-million dollar facility being built in Mickleham in Melbourne – as ‘internment camps’.
The article quotes Harley Hodgson who stayed at the camp for 14 days quarantine as saying: ‘You feel like you’re in prison. Like you’ve done something wrong. It’s inhumane what they’re doing’.
‘I suppose that the argument is that the coronavirus is so lethal that any measure necessary to protect human life must be taken,’ Brand said.
‘Some people would contest that brings to the forefront question about liberty, potential hypocrisy where we are not so concerned about this in other areas, and of the qualitative aspects of life.’
Melbourne has been rocked by protests (pictured) in recent month over lockdown rules, vaccine mandates and most recently the Andrews government’s pandemic management bill
Brand admitted that the issues of the pandemic and associated regulations were ‘divisive’ but looking at them though a ‘lens of human liberty. freedom and democracy’ was important.
‘Surely there should be some curtailment, some statute of limitations on how long these restrictions last, how they are enacted, whether they can they be revoked,’ he said.
Brand made specific mention of rules implemented in some states during the peak of Australia’s Covid outbreak and questioned whether they were warranted.
‘Playgrounds closed, increased policing, large fines, curfews, restrictions on freedom of movement, being stopped and questioned by police.’
‘Is there any situation you wouldn’t consider that a problem?’.
The police response to the protests was describes as ‘heavy-handed’ by many including the former deputy chief medical officer (pictured, an arrest during a protest in the city on October 16)
He also took aim at riot gear wearing and pepper spray deploying police in Melbourne cracking down on protesters.
‘If you can’t protest against something what does that suggest?’ he said.
Police who were arresting protesters were doing so under Covid public health orders which prevented group gatherings.
Australia’s strict border closures – which prevented tens of thousands of Australians from returning to the country in the last two years due to quarantine caps – along with lockdown rules kept deaths from the virus to a minimum.
Australia has seen 2072 deaths from Covid-19, a tiny fraction of that seen in most other countries.
More than 650,000 small plastic flags dot the lawn near the Washington Monument in the United States (pictured) in September with each flag, some with personal messages, representing a person who died from Covid. Australia has seen 2.072 deaths from the virus
But now with Covid vaccine rates high – a total of 89.2 per cent of the population in double jabbed – and hospitalisations lowered there is increasing debate over the civil rights issues played out during the last two years.
‘The civil liberties movement by and large has been missing in action. They have ceded to the government far too much power which is not going to be given back,’ Institute of Public Affairs executive director John Roskam recently asked.
But Liberty Victoria’s outgoing president Julia Kretzenbacher told The Guardian: ‘For the past two years there’s particular things we focused on, including the curfew, privacy around QR codes, policing as a public health response and now the pandemic bill.’
And Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, said they too had been active.
‘We took legal action to protect people at risk in immigration detention and prison and we’ve advocated for better government responses on issues ranging from travel bans to public health laws, hotel quarantine, policing, the public housing towers lockdown and much more,’ he says.
His organisation is now running a campaign to introduce a national charter of human rights.
There are individual charters in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT but Australia is the only western democracy without a national declaration.
He also argued Dan Andrews new pandemic management bill actually improved transparency in public health orders.
Australians were left outraged in September after footage showed two officers deploying pepper spray at a woman during violent anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne (pictured) – which also drew strong criticism from abroad
‘We must recognise our relative success. Australians have been spared death and serious illness on the scale most countries have endured.’ Mr de Kretser wrote in November.
‘This is largely due to actions of governments and their public health teams and the sacrifices of people and communities.
‘But those same restrictions that saved lives took a big toll; mental illness, family violence, job loss, education disruption, heartbreaking stories of family separation and more.’
‘An Australian charter (of human rights) would give people greater protection. It would help put fairness, equality, respect and dignity at the heart of government action.’ he said.
Brand said while the issue was ‘complex’ that it was difficult ‘not to feel a sense of justice stirred when you’re watching what is happening in Australia’.
He said called Dan Andrews new pandemic laws ‘worrying’.
Police in Melbourne clashed with protesters on numerous occasions enforcing public health orders limiting gatherings but Brand (pictured) asked what does it say if people are not allowed to protest
‘Limitless power no clear boundaries and the ability to detain – that is terrifying,’ he said.
‘We have this bill and it’s going to place more power in our hands and there’s no point where we have to stop it’.
‘You’re confronting something that sounds very unusual and fearful. This is not just Australia’s problem this could become the world’s problem’.
Victoria became Australia’s first state to introduce specific laws for managing a pandemic, with a controversial bill passing both houses of parliament.
The Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill passed the upper house 20 votes to 18.
After receiving royal assent from the governor of Victoria, the laws will come into effect from December 16, when a current state of emergency expires.
Under the legislation, the premier and health minister will have the power to declare a pandemic and enforce orders such as lockdowns, mask-wearing, vaccination mandates, and quarantine.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (pictured) has see increasing criticism over his pandemic management bill – but one human rights lawyer said it actually improved transparency and accountability
The pandemic orders can differentiate between cohorts of people based on characteristics such as age and vaccination status, relevant to the public health risk.
Under the current state of emergency, those powers lie with the chief health officer, who is an unelected official.
Premier Daniel Andrews said even though the state of emergency was to expire, the pandemic was ‘not over’.
‘In order to protect the vulnerable, in order to keep us safe and keep us open, we have to recognise this is not over, there are still things that have to be done, rules that need to be in place,’ he said.
Mr Andrews said vaccine mandates ‘won’t be forever’ but flagged they may remain in place until booster shots were rolled out and children under 12 vaccinated.
The legislation became a lightning rod for anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination groups, who have occupied the steps of state parliament for weeks in protest.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said he was disappointed the bill passed and reaffirmed his commitment to scrap it if he wins the 2022 election.
‘(It is) bad policy, bad laws, which are rammed through the parliament with no consultation or very limited consultation and that come at the expense of average Victorians,’ he said.