While most Australians accept the need for health restrictions, many across the political spectrum fear that containing COVID-19 has become more important than civil liberties. On the International Day of Democracy, Canberra Daily sought expert advice from Daryl Karp AM, director of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
The Human Rights Commission has warned of creeping authoritarianism and the erosions of rights. The ABC printed an article by two University of Sydney academics, including former Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane, worried about the militarisation of the response, the over-policing of vulnerable communities, and the alarming overreach of government power.
The Australian has run an anti-restrictions line, and Howard-era minister Alexander Downer has argued that power has moved from the people and elected representatives to non-elected health officials, without any substantial political debate about the restrictions. Writing in the Japanese media, an ANU professor called Australia’s response to COVID authoritarian and inhumane.
In the United States, The Atlantic this month questioned whether Australia was a free country, given infringements on civil liberties: freedom of movement, peaceable assembly, and basic privacy.
Similarly, the Brookings Institution doubted whether Australia would remain a robust, adaptable, and functional democracy, due to complacency about governance standards, ignorance about institutions, and government reach.
It characterised the Victorian lockdowns as an egregious and arbitrary suspension of civil and human rights – accepted “uncritically, promptly, and without scrutiny as to the reasoning or implementation of such emergency measures”.
By suspending normal standards of transparency, accountability, and debate, the Institution claims, Australia has shown the region that authoritarian approaches are better at solving complex problems.
And China has accused Australia of double standards, by using military personnel to help enforce social lockdown.
Ms Karp agrees that around the world, authoritarian leaders are taking advantage of COVID-19 restrictions, but disagrees that Australia is in that bucket.
“Democracy is a continual balance between personal interest and needs and the public good,” she said. “These are big, important questions that a rich and lively democracy should discuss and consider.
“Right now, Australia and our leaders have said it is the public good that matters. We are keeping people at home to make sure that those who are vulnerable stay safe, and that our health systems are not inundated and overwhelmed. But having given up some of those freedoms, the critical thing is to make sure that we consider carefully what we go back to.
“By looking after the common interests and keeping people around us safe, we need to make sure that we don’t give up too much too easily.”
In fact, Ms Karp said, two good things have come out of the pandemic: trust in scientists and professional experts, and the rise of the press conference.
Tens of thousands of people actively watch chief ministers’, premiers’ and prime minister’s press conferences themselves, rather than getting the news second-hand, and they listen to what their politicians and health professionals say. The public has unmediated access to news and information.
While Ms Karp thinks structured media is vital to a healthy democracy, these press conferences are another vehicle, in addition to Parliamentary question time, and interviews and analyses on television, newspapers, and print media.
“It is an ecosystem, and they all need to be heard together,” Ms Karp said. “What’s shifted in that unmediated space has been the role scientific experts have played. That’s a good thing.”
Some experts worry that the lockdown has revealed an authoritarian streak in Australian society.
In their ABC article, the University of Sydney academics believe that too many people – particularly on the left – have started to believe restrictions on public freedom are normal, and should not be eased.
Politicians have encouraged the public to ‘dob in’ people flouting COVID restrictions, from neighbours to former prime minister Tony Abbott. Even here in the ACT, people have complained to the police about children jumping on trampolines without masks on, or two people getting out of cars.
“It is dangerous if the public is complacent,” Ms Karp thought. “If you give up freedoms, it’s quite hard to get them back. We need informed, active, and engaged citizens, and governments that value accountability and appropriate integrity systems. So long as the public remains alert, we do have largely the structures in place to protect us.”
Those structures she said include the Australian Electoral Commission, whose independence Australians should prize and treasure forever; a frank and fearless public service; and a healthy free press – “A robust system of checks and balances that will help us at this time.”
But she thinks it is critical that citizens are active, engaged, and informed.
“We need to value the liberties that we have … and to hold our political masters to account. Take elections seriously. Follow politics; stay up to date with local and national politics. Be a considered voter. Don’t sit back; don’t be too passive, and assume that someone else is taking care of it … and that it will all be fine.
“Active engaged citizenship means you need to be aware of these things and take note of them; if they are important to you, you need to fight for them: speak up, and vote.”
According to polls (see The Conversation, 12 July, and Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July), trust in politicians and the media has decreased since the pandemic began.
“Trust is the glue that allows us to function effectively,” Ms Karp said. “The balancing act between trust, mistrust and distrust is important to keep in mind.”
Some mistrust or political scepticism is healthy in a democracy, she said; people should not inherently 100 per cent trust the system, but problems occur when mistrust breaks down into distrust – as social media has polarised some.
In recent weeks, thousands of people have taken part in anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination ‘freedom’ protests in Sydney and Melbourne. There has been also a surge in disinformation; the number of people following anti-vaccination groups had tripled by May, and theories that COVID-19 is a totalitarian fraud have increased in Australia, including on social media.
“There’s a lot of scaremongering and conspiracy theories at times of crisis,” Ms Karp said. “It’s easy to go down a rabbit-hole of material that feeds your personal interest, balanced or unbalanced.”
Accurate, reliable information was key. She urged people not to automatically share information on social media, but to check the source.
“Make sure that you’re adding to the informed conversation, rather than the uninformed conversation.”
