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Restore democracy in Queensland

Stephen Andrew, Member for Mirani, has invited everybody to sign his petition calling on Parliament to Restore Democracy in Queensland. Below is his statement and at the bottom of the post is a link to the petition.
It is time for executive government to step away from the overuse of emergency powers, mandates and measures, which are starting to cause deep divisions within society, ongoing economic hardship and widespread feelings of unhappiness and social isolation. Many of the more restrictive directives and mandates are now disproportionate to the risk and pose a significant danger to the democratic principles and rights enshrined in our State’s Constitution and common law heritage.
Extending the emergency powers again and again, on the basis of ‘necessity’ or ‘expediency’, also sets a dangerous precedent for the future – one which it may be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. Governments now have a template for executive action which, if unchallenged, will encourage them to use again and again in responding to other problems in the future. The ‘necessity’ of dealing with ‘climate change’ or ‘hate speech’ for example.
Both problems are increasingly spoken of by political and community leaders, as posing a threat to national security. Increasingly, we are hearing calls, both internationally and here in Australia, for ‘climate lockdowns’ and a declared ‘state of emergency’ to enable government to deal ‘efficiently’ with environmental threats and risks.
That’s why the people must draw a line in the sand now and end the overuse of emergency powers and measures in Queensland. Otherwise, they will inevitably become normalised over time, and eventually permanent. We need new legislation that provides for a managed reduction of the Executive’s power, so that it is equipped to deal with the current situation in a more targeted, minimalist way.
We must start, responsibly, to re-open our economy, restore human rights and liberties and rebuild the public’s trust in government. It is time to restore balance and accountability to the policy-making process in Queensland.
This is a Petition to Keep Democracy Alive in Queensland!
Please sign the petition using link below, and share widely. Your support is much appreciated!
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Vaccine passports coming soon

Stephen Andrew: Vaccine passports coming soon, controlling where you go, what you can do & much more
Earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Australians were told they could now access their brand-new digital coronavirus-vaccination-certificates, which are basically vaccine passports.
The certificates have a fancy coat of arms hologram on them, and include the person’s name, date of birth, and a green tick declaring the bearer of the certificate has been-vaccinated.
Government Services Minister, Linda Reynolds, said the new record would make it simple and easy for people to now show their vaccination-status when asked.
Don’t be fooled. This seemingly slow and piecemeal approach, hides a carefully laid out strategy to advance the eventual roll-out of a fully-fledged “vaccine-passport” system in Australia, as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.
Despite the best efforts of the Government’s team of behavioural ‘nudge’ strategists, however, there can be no mistaking where things are heading in Australia.
According to US critic, Naomi Wolf, the passport issue is the “hill we all need to die on”. Last month, she told Fox News:
“I am not overstating this. I can’t say it forcefully enough. This is literally the end of human liberty in the West if this plan unfolds as planned. Vaccine passports sound like a fine thing, if you don’t understand what these platforms can do …
“It’s not about the vaccine. It’s not about the virus. It’s about your data. And once this rolls out you will no longer have a choice about being part of the system”.
“What people have to understand is that any other functionality can be loaded onto that platform with no problem at all. What that means is that it can be merged with your Paypal account, your digital currency, tax records …Microsoft is already talking about merging it with payment plans.”
“Your networks can be sucked up. It geolocates you wherever you go. Your credit history can be included. All of your medical history is included.”
In other words, it provides the perfect platform for a Chinese-style ‘social credit’ system in Australia, and you better believe that’s what the government will use it for.
The heavy-handed propaganda we are seeing in the media that links these “passports” with a return to “freedom” has – like Orwell’s inverted “freedom is slavery” – all the twisted logic of doublespeak.
If this system allows access, it can just as easily be reversed. Think on that.
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