Why Victoria’s Covid craziness can never be forgotten

As we leave behind Covid-induced madness, it’s hard to believe Victorians are about to re-elect the premier who locked us down six times.

After more than two years of hysteria and hypochondria, sanity is slowly being restored in Australia as we leave behind the Covid-induced madness that made us a spectacle around the world.

The worst coronavirus catastrophists like the ABC’s Norman Swan are now being widely ridiculed for their increasingly desperate doomsayer pronouncements and predictions.

But many Australians have memory-holed much of the anti-science insanity that saw everything from fishing to playgrounds banned and outdoor mask mandates imposed.

Remember the madness that saw Premier Dan Andrews earnestly scold Victorians for enjoying non-essential sunsets.

“There’s a bunch of people down (at) the Rye Beach last night who thought the best thing to do was to watch the sunset … but that’s not in the spirit or in the letter of these rules,” the premier said in August 2021.

Dan Andrews earnestly scolded Victorians for enjoying non-essential sunsets. Picture: Ian Currie

It’s hard to believe that, bar a miracle in his own seat of Mulgrave, Victorians are about to re-elect the premier who locked down the state six times and still managed to oversee the highest Covid death rate in the country.

But let’s not pretend the madness was confined to Victoria.

It was the federal government that made the popular decision to deport the world’s number one tennis player like he was some common criminal. What this country did to tennis legend Novak Djokovic was utterly shameful.

Novak Djokovic was treated like a common criminal. Picture: AFP

This week’s decision to reverse the three year ban and grant a visa to the nine-time Australian Open champion was welcome news. It’s another sign that we are returning to normality after a period of sustained craziness where one of the healthiest humans in the world was deemed a public health risk because he had not received Covid-19 vaccines, which incidentally do not stop the vaccinated from becoming infected or transmitting the virus to others.

And, yet the full bench of the Federal Court ruled unanimously to deport Djokovic, determining he not only posed a health risk but his mere presence in the country could provoke anti-vaccine sentiment. It somehow escaped the government’s, and the court’s, attention that at the time this absurdly illiberal decision was made more than 92 per cent of eligible Australians had already been vaccinated.

This was an abuse of government power that was sadly cheered on by many Australians suffering from mass psychosis or Stockholm syndrome. Instead of being angry at the government overreach that saw their rights decimated, they were mad at a tennis player for challenging Covid orthodoxy. Djokovic was punished for daring to make decisions about his own health, a decision deemed unacceptable by the federal government, Premier Andrews and the many scaremongering scolds in the Australian media.

Djokovic was punished for daring to make decisions about his own health. Picture: Getty

Here’s just a small selection of the commentary earlier this year:

• Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent Sarah Martin wrote: “If being arrogant, anti-science and an all-round jerk is grounds for the government to push the button on its extraordinary deportation powers, then perhaps we can look forward to the government doing more about similar characters domestically.”

• Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter “pirate wannabe” FitzSimons tweeted this dimwitted diatribe: “Of all the tennis players who should shut the ruck up over the demands of making an event Covid-safe, Djokovic really is World No.1. Novak? Shut the ruck up. Following your rules, your OWN tennis event risked being a super-spreader.”

• Guardian reporter Josh Butler: “If I was Novak Djokovic, I would simply have taken two doses of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinations, then quietly collected my millions of dollars for playing tennis.”

• Robert Craddock also decided to give unsolicited health advice: “Athletes can get the jab or catch the cab – there should be nothing in between.”

• But this from AAP journalist Karen Sweeney really gives an insight to the hyperbole and hatred that afflicted much of the media: “Novak Djokovic is about to find out what it’s like to be despised by all of Australia. We’re all nice and laid back until we’re not.”

The deportation of Djokovic was an absurdly illiberal decision. Picture: AFP

It takes some weapon grade conceit to believe that your warped worldview is shared by “all of Australia.” Speak for yourself, Karen. Not all of us lost our minds nor allowed ourselves to be ruled by hysteria and hate during the pandemic. Thankfully, Djokovic has shown far more grace and understanding than he received. This week he said he was thrilled to again be welcome in Australia. “I could not receive better news for sure … Australian Open has been my most successful grand slam,” he said. “I made some of the best memories there. Of course I want to go back there, I want to play tennis, do what I do best, hopefully have a great Australian summer.”

Let’s hope tennis fans welcome Djokovic back with huge cheers as he plays for a 10th Australian Open title. Whatever your view of the world number one, he’s certainly shown more courage and consistency than most of our politicians and media.