Political observers, interested minds and few of the general public have paid little attention to a piece of legislation due to cross the decks of Australia’s Victorian parliament in coming days.
It’s understandable, given the current news-cycle, and the enthralling (yet disturbing) content delivered within during the incessant 24 hour news cycle, that most people would generally disregard the importance of an innocuous sounding piece of legislation.
The ‘OmniBus Bill’. It sounds kind of cute, even endearing.
It could be confused for a new childrens’ cartoon character playing on NickelodeonJnr. Perhaps it’s about the adventures of a bus-river named Bill?
The adventures of a bus-driver named Bill could indeed be a fitting analogy, if indeed Bill was a psychotic maniac, hell-bent on driving his ‘omnibus’ filled with explosives, over pedestrians in crowded streets.
Although we jest, this piece of legislation is truly one of the most abhorrent, un-Australian, draconian, evil and corrupted leftist pieces of work the great Australian nation has ever seen. ‘You-know-who’ would be proud.
We are not exaggerating.
Read on for a taste of what Premier Daniel Andrews wants to impose upon Victorians.
The COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2020 empowers the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who is an unelected bureaucrat, to appoint any Victorian to detain for an indefinite period of time any other Victorian, not on public health grounds, but on the vibe of it.
The Bill says that a person can be detained where an “authorised officer” “reasonably believes” that a person is a high-risk person and is “likely” to refuse or fail to comply with the detention direction.
“Reasonably believes” and “likely” are entirely subjective assessments.
This is not made up. This is not a joke.
An “authorised officer”, it seems, can be appointed by an unelected bureaucrat. to arrest citizens who ‘may’ not comply with government COVID-controls.
Recently, a group of some of Australia’s most senior legal figures penned an open letter, expressing their serious concerns. The group includes retired judges, and a full cadre of the highest ranking legal professionals in Australia, QC’s, as they are known.
The silks lambasted the government’s intention, with a very clearly worded summary stating, “Authorising citizens to detain their fellow citizens on the basis of a belirf that the detained person is unlikely to comply with emergency directions by the “authorised” citizens is unprecedented, excessive and open to abuse. We call on the Legislative Council to amend the Bill, or to vote against it”
To say it is rare for legal professionals of this elk to comment on legislation is an understatement. It seems that the Bill is regarded as so completely abhorrent and offensive, that the greatest legal minds in the country saw fit to band together and ‘lobby’ against it.
Liberty Victoria president Julian Burnside, QC, said “the idea that the law will allow any citizen to detain any other citizen, summarily and indefinitely, is alarming”
Listed company chairman Adir Shiffman, who started the ball rolling when he sent his concerns to leading Melbourne QCs, warned the proposed legislation was like “thought police”.
Whilst it is almost inconceivable that such ‘thought police’ legislation could even be considered in Australia, it has already passed through the Lower House of the Victorian Parliament, supported by the entire Andrews government,” he said. “These terrifying powers have no place in Australia, or indeed any Western liberal democracy, under any circumstances.”
The ‘Omnibus Bill’ is set to go to the Legislative Council for a final vote on the 13th of October.
The full piece of diabolical legislation can be seen here.
The State of Victoria will, by then, have been subjected to the most draconian and disproportionate controls of ANYWHERE in the world.
Aside from the terrifying nature of the Bill at its core, there is a further sick, twisted and disturbing element, whereby the ethnic background of a person is considered, specifically, when considering the application of the proposed controls.
As the Spectator Australia reports, ……powers could be given to certain “community leaders” based not on their health expertise, but on the colour of their skin. Jill Hennessy, the Attorney-General of Victoria, admitted as much when she said that “leaders” of multicultural community organisations are intended to be the kinds of people that would be suitable for appointment as an authorised officer.
This kind of ‘community approach’ is ‘par for the course’ in the Daniel Andrews cabinet.
The Chief Health Officer proudly apologised (in their native language, of course) to a group of Afghani immigrants. who had been identified as the source of an infection cluster, due to their blatant disregard for the imposed (albeit useless and proven ineffective) covid-controls.
Instead of being penalised under the law, as others have been, both the Premier and the CHO advised that, in this particular instance, the opportunity for virtue-signaling was just too great to pass up. This group deserved a personal apology from the government, for “telling the truth” to investigators.
Again, this is not a joke. You can see some more enthralling details here.
The 13th of October is fast approaching. One can only wonder the level of back-room dealing and political chicanery going on at the ALP, the cross-bench and all dark corners of government.
Terrifying, is not the word.
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Omnibus laws to ‘create a certain class of citizens empowered with extra rights’
