Victoria’s Chief Health Officer admits COVID-19 restrictions are arbitrary

The prime example in just one industry is the Victorian CHO who, by his own testimony, with "some arbitrariness", put up to 6,900 golf course employees out of work and in so doing added $10.5 million per fortnight in JobKeeper payments to the national debt while taking $34 million per fortnight out of the Victorian economy.

Because according to this govenment science "expert", walking on a golf course isn't exercise – but going for a walk is.

It is recklessly irresponsible for voters to allow any elected leader to simply point to an unelected "expert" (bureaucrat) and claim, "He made me do it!" Leaders cannot claim credit for surviving a disaster while being absolved of all responsibility for any and all excesses and failures advised by trusted "experts".

Make no mistake: this will not be the last time Australian governments make a grab for fundamental freedoms we've always taken for granted. The domestic peace and prosperity we've enjoyed for over a century have become an opiate making us unfortunately indifferent to the potential for tyranny as government gets bigger and individual liberty gets smaller.

The power of precedents is lost on too many people, and successive governments have ratcheted up their "services" making us ever more dependent on them instead of relying on ourselves and each other – good old fashioned community. With more services comes more taxes. With each power surrendered once (with surprising ease) comes a significant reduction in the reluctance of the same or future governments to try such audacious oppression again. The greatest risk comes not from the government and politicians we know now, but those of unknown character in 10 or 20 years hence.

In an age where Christian ethics which diverge from the post-modern status quo are described as "hate & violence" and merely quoting Scripture can brazenly end high profile careers if not land you before an activist judiciary, it is remarkably naive (let alone historically ignorant) to express any confidence in the character of future governments.

Have there not been enough integrity scandals in recent decades to give all voters pause before simply rolling over to government demands for more power? Let us return to the wise restraints and limitations on government intended by the founders of Western democracy instead of implicitly trusting them to always act in the public interest. The very fact that citizens are imperfect and in need of some governance for the common good is the same fact which demands at least equally imperfect politicians are in need of continuous scrutiny and strict limits on their exercise of power.