Consistent with the well-established practice of Victorian Governments of both political persuasions, Victoria has seen Covid-19 as providing unsurpassed opportunities to extend the use of its police force as an adjunct of the State Revenue Office. During Australia’s ‘first wave’ of Covid-19 infections, no other state was as assiduous as Victoria in fining its citizens for breaches of lockdown regulations. That approach (and other decisions which flowed from it, in particular the unwillingness to use police to enforce hotel quarantine of overseas arrivals, because the police preferred to be out raising revenue) didn’t help Victoria avoid a second wave. And the Victorian Government has – by its own, repeated, boasts – seen the more recent ‘lockdown’ as providing more ‘opportunities’ to extract more money from citizens by way of fines. Australia’s other states and territories made different choices – with much better outcomes for their citizens..

2020-09-29 Victoria - The Police State