h/t James Delingpole; The Australian state of Victoria has all but declared Martial Law in an effort to contain a second wave Coronavirus outbreak. But many Australians support the brutal government actions to prevent the spread of the virus.

A group calling themselves “Sovereign Citizens” is defying the crackdown;

Police single out so-called ‘sovereign citizens’ for breaking Victoria’s coronavirus mask rules

UPDATED 4 DAYS AGO BY JARNI BLAKKARLY

Victoria Police say they have witnessed a concerning trend in the rise of so-called “sovereign citizens” who are refusing to follow coronavirus restrictions. 

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton on Tuesday raised concerns about small groups refusing police directions. 

“In the last week, we’ve seen a trend, an emergence if you like, of groups of people, small groups, but nonetheless concerning groups, who classify themselves as sovereign citizens, whatever that might mean,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“People who don’t think the law applies to them. We’ve seen them at checkpoints baiting police, not providing a name and address.

“On at least four occasions in the last week, we’ve had to smash the windows of cars and pull people out to provide details because they weren’t adhering to the Chief Health Officer guidelines, they weren’t providing their name and address.”

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Read more: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/police-single-out-so-called-sovereign-citizens-for-breaking-victoria-s-coronavirus-mask-rules

How do Australians feel about this level of government response? Obviously some groups such as Australia’s “Sovereign Citizens”, or people who have suffered because their industry collapsed, are pretty upset about the lockdowns. Many of my older friends are totally against any form of government Covid containment measures.

There is another side to this issue. Australia came within a hair of totally eliminating local Covid infections. New Zealand is still in that happy place of very few infections. Following an initial wave of infection, Australian states like West Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory managed to all but eliminate local Covid cases. They are now doing everything in their power to keep it that way, by stopping people from hotspots like Victoria crossing state borders.

So long as Australians believe there is a hope of regaining control of the current outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales, or preventing those outbreaks from spreading, harsh lockdown enforcement measures will enjoy significant and sustained public support.

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