03 Apr Masking the truth – Palaszczuk’s Maskquarade
“ALL OF QUEENSLAND!!!!” MASK UP!
That’s what our Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young “reasonably believes” is “necessary to contain, or to respond to, the spread of COVID-19 within the community”, under the Restrictions for Queensland, No. 2.
Well really!
Last I checked, which was now, there were zero community transmissions, one open investigation, zero impact areas, and no threat or evidence of threat or spread to the public, but still 5.18 million Queenslanders have been directed (forced) to wear a mask, and I – for one – question why?
The Public Health Act 2005 s362B (a) (b) give power to the Chief health officer. The power to give directions can only be applied if the chief health officer reasonably believes it is NECESSARY to give a public health direction under this section to assist in containing, or to respond to, the spread of COVID-19 within the community.
As such, there are actually only three possible explanations that warrant the directives that the chief Health Office has directed:
- There is a real health emergency and COVID-19 spread. Which of course, isn’t the case as Department’s own data shows a downward trend and reducing spread.
- The government has really stuffed up, they’ve let contaminated people out all over Queensland who are currently running around after Easter eggs spreading the virus across the whole state and as such the public wearing masks has been identified by the Chief Health Officer as the “necessary” measure “to contain or respond to” the spread of COVID-19. Hypothetical I know, but it makes you also wonder, two things if it were true: i. how did this failure occur? and ii. what the hell is the government and all those “emergency officers” on payroll doing about it over the Easter break? I can’t see them working.
- There is NO health emergency or breach of the public’s health and safety and instead the government has over exaggerated Queensland’s Covid-19 reality painting it as an emergency, lying to us, misdirected us and fabricating the threat and emergency to simply extend or keep-active and/or confer additional powers to the Chief Health Officer – for longer – under the guise of a COVID-19 emergency.
So seriously, if interfering with every Queenslander’s privacy, rights, freedoms, movement and comfort is the “necessary response” of a government, how big really is the leak and spread that these clunky directions and overreaching restrictions need toplug up?
More to the point, under who’s watch did these failures break and who’s responsible if such a big net is requires or needed? The lack of warrant makes you wonder are these “health directives” just another political tool used as a distraction to cover up further incompetence?
I personally think all these trigger-happy flatulent directives Palaszczuk keeps expelling for mask-wearing, restricting our movement and these gross impositions of power and restriction over us, are psychological acts of just pre-conditioning. After all, the reach of and excise of these powers really have no warrant or validity, as where is the evidence of spread? risk? or threat to the community, and being all over Queensland? I call out a liar.
Here’s some data folks.
Queensland (as at 1/4/21) has a total of 6 deaths from COVID19 in the last 12-months (365 days and counting).
Over the same period Queensland had 20 drowning death on our beaches, but the irony is that you don’t see lifesavers rolling out the barbed wire around the state’s beaches to keep us all safe. But maybe that’s not a fair comparison. The 2019 Queensland flu data would be.
In 2019 the flu killed more Queenslanders every 8 days, than COVID-19 has killed in a whole year. Now an uneducated person might retort here, ‘yeah see what a good job Labor has done keeping us all safe’. But let me probe a little deeper with this question. Where’s their evidence?
On the last day of March 2021 Queensland achieved and Palaszczuk bragged about a record number of 34,000 COVID tests in a 24-hour period. However they found only one (1) active case. A “health emergency”? No! a health emergency or spreading virus would certainly have shown a spike and yet, still! the very next day a new directive for 5.18 million Queenslanders were disempowered and otherwise directed to mask-querade around like good little sheep for the Premier’s Easter parade.
You see for a government to exercise “emergency powers” over people, there must be a real threat or a real emergency – as in – based on science, data or evidence. But where is the evidence? where is the data that justifies this use of emergency power over the people. What gives the Premier warrant to use a disproportionate power under the guise of protection?
Now I’m not debating the legality of have the power. The Chief HO clearly she has the power to wield as she pleases. But surely to exercise that power in the absence of evidence makes this all a bit of a ‘song and dance routine’, just without the dancing of course, because the latest directive (No. 2) specifically directs and restricts us from dancing indoors as well.
However, to avoid forsaking quality for mockery and cheap footloose references, I’ll just move on and instead of calling it a ‘song and dance routine’, lets just say it’s all ‘smoke and mirrors’.
Smoke and Mirrors.
You see, in the political arsenal of tricks and tools there are ‘smoke and mirrors’ which political parties, governments as well as political agents and actors often use to win the battles, set traps, take out opponents, mitigate political threats, manipulate the minds and movements of the people in elections, how they vote and more often so, hijack the power and sovereignty of the people while they are not looking.
Make no mistake, governments use smoke and mirrors regularly and here’s a few psychological tells, for free:
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- Governments will intentionally induce the public’s fear response, by calling for calm;
- Governments misdirect people, by directing people to do or not do stuff;
- Governments cover-up their failures, by initiating investigations into those failures; publically calling for commissions, enquiries and “special independent investigations”;
- Governments lie in plain sight and the people adopt perceive it as truth;
- Governments alert the public to harsh lockdowns over Easter, then ride high as the savior when the imposition is reduced to a 24/7 masquerade parade for 14 days.
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The bottom line is that the State are using smoke and mirrors right now – more aptly lets just call it “masking”. The government is using the mass masking of the people as a cover up. To either cover up their incompetence: disguising their failure to keep quarantined individuals returning from overseas contained; or failed to keep the community safe. Either way, the masks symbolise government failure, not community unity in a solution.
It’s pretty simple.
The Premier and Chief Health Officer preach about having the responsibility to protect; and speak to the community about sharing and showing responsibility, but they-themselves have failed the community. How many times must the Queensland public suffer from the government’s bunglings and musings and not get a pound of flesh?
So here’s the issue. The Queensland Labor Party have been in power for 20 or the last 23 years, so you can see why the people’s ability to bring and hold them to account, requires a public service that is not so used to recieving their pay cheques coloured red and stamped ‘the Queensland Labor Party’.
With three elections in her crown I think it’s about time princess Palaszczuk was pulled over coals, into the fire, and held responsible – if not by the public service – then by the public.
The irony is, she is the one charged with the “responsiblity for our safety”. I wonder, how long can the Premier and her Chief Health Officer be called responsible, when there’s zero responsibility or accountability that falls on them for their failures and disproportionate remedy.
The people are compliant.
I get that most people are compliant, they simply take it on the chin, they take one for the team. You see them looking around at each other, double checking – socially moderating – their acquiescence based on the permeation of face masks and observable social distancing. They take their cue from each other as if we are all part of the team, one big happy state of unity singing the pied pipers song to slogans like ‘we’re all in this together”.
But there’s no team in Queensland politics and no best-interests of the people either. Everything in politics is about the party and reelection. It’s about a party’s best-interests, their member’s best-interest and how can: the policy; the public’s purse; and we-the-people be exploited to suit their agenda, goals, money grabs and/or cover over their devilish political deals, deeds and incompetence.
In fact, all that is required to sweep incompetence under the carpet at the moment is a convenient emergency. Simply flick the “Public Health Emergency’ switch and invoke the necessary powers and legislation to declare a “lock down” or compulsory mask wearing across the whole freaking State; and the people? well they just run off to stock up with toilet paper, Neflix and beer.
Hypochondria aside.
There is no evidence or data that indicates an emergency or threat to Queenslanders. According to Queensland Health’s on the 1stof April there were 83 case. Today, 3/4/21, there are three new cases, but a total of only 74 active COVID-19 cases in Queensland, that’s six less. Here’s where they all are:
2 Wide Bay;
2 Brisbane metro south (decreased from 18);
11 Sunshine Coast (increasing from 10);
24 Gold Coast (increasing from 21);
35 Brisbane metro north (increasing from 31).
All 74 cases are contained.
It’s quite offensive to me really!
We-the-people have been made into Palaszczuk’s muse and puppet. Palaszczuk pontificates all over the place in speeches, and interviews offering trinkets of gratitude to the people for all their hard work, unity and cooperation under tough times, but we are just cleaning up her mess, her failures and she go on without consequence.
Well, “I can’t breath” Palaszczuk!
Your political knee of incompetence is on our neck of freedoms, trumped only by the blatant fact that the LNP are more derelict in leadership and competence, and lack luster much more than you.
Queensland, every time you see a face mask tentatively plastered across the face of your family, friends or a fellow Queenslanders walking around you (dutifully following unlawful shop rules and motley social cues) let it be a reminder. Let every face mask that you see, remind you that Palaszczuk and her government/officials have not saved you! but failed you.
Regardless of your views on this issue, you are not under threat, risk and cannot be saved from a decreasing spread of the virus. Furthermore, the Health Act’s COVID-19 Emergency powers can only be lawfully exercised over us – according to the Act – to contain or respond to an actual spread.
In conclusion, this I know: politicians lie, and the truth-is, they lie often.
Let’s not be sheep people. Both the Chief Health Office and the people should follow the law.
Have a great Easter.
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