A Mad Max dystopian nightmare is playing out – not on movie screens but on the streets of Australian cities and backwater towns. We haven’t seen much of it because state governments are suppressing opposition, and shutting down media that try to show it.  Australia has an odd government that gives near unlimited power to state premiers. The democracy down under has turned into a fascist island with state premiers with dictatorial powers, and they are using it. If you think that’s taking things too far, consider the following.

Because of the odd way The Australian government is set up, state premiers have almost unlimited powers in a time of self-declared crisis. In the Australian state of Victoria, Dan Andrews is the premier and he takes that title seriously. He is a tyrant. He’s shut down Victoria. World War II didn’t shut down Melbourne like Melbourne is shut down now. The streets are deserted. My teammate Bonchie covered much of this yesterday. Andrews cannot be sued. Why because he says so. How Cuomo-like. Commonwealth subjects are forbidden to travel. Sit on a beach? Get arrested. Protest the fascist Victoria thug? Get arrested. Like a Soviet block state under lock and key, military vehicles now patrol looking for offenders; not criminals but COVID offenders. If you are Victorian, you must comply or get arrested and fined. Uniformed masked men and women now patrol streets and the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Want to leave the country? Forget it. You’re stuck. The Australian PM would need permission to travel from the Australian federal capital of Canberra to Melbourne and he’s not getting it. Military vehicles are literally patrolling the borders of states. Imagine if New York state police were guarding the George Washington Bridge and turning back New Jersey residents.

Like Soviet thugs, state police don’t need a warrant to enter a home and take whatever the dictator thinks is a violation of curfew laws or a dissenting to the dictates of the premier. The premier can order the destruction and/or disposal of anything he deems a threat to public health (or his premiership). You took a video and posted it on social media, mate? Expect a visit from the state’s coppers. They will be masked when they bust down your door and don’t put your cell camera in their faces – they will seize that too.

Not fascist enough? Victoria’s next-door neighbor South Australia has its own fascist testing a facial scanning app. If the government pings you, your best report in with a scan of your face. Do it within 15 minutes in the location that you’re allowed to be in, or expect the KGB-like thugs to go on the hunt for you. Your home will be invaded too.

It’s a downer down under.

It can’t happen here, right? Ok, mate.