In the early months of the Covid pandemic panic in 2020, I read Anna Funder’s excellent book Stasiland. The central theme of the book is the attempt to understand how a large proportion of the German citizenry of the German Democratic Republic were willingly co-opted into the socialist dystopia brutally enforced by the likes of Erich Mielke, founder, and head of the East German Stasi.

It seemed incomprehensible that entire sections of civilised society could willingly surrender independence, dignity, and self-respect for so long particularly after the horrors and indignities of Nazism and the humiliations of the second world war. That is until one finds themselves trapped in a society gripped by fear and panic. This is where I found myself in late July 2020 when Victorians were confined to home under threat of arrest and financial penalty for any act of disobedience. The legal authority for this extraordinary action was an administrative Direction issued by the Chief Health Officer pursuant to the previously innocuous Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic).

The audacity and arrogance of the 200+ odd days of lockdown imposed on Victorian citizens without warning by the Victorian state government, seemingly with the accord of the government of the Commonwealth of Australia was truly astounding. Without wishing to stretch the analogy of East German communism too far, the experience taught me how fragile and easily basic human rights can be taken away without objection if enough fear can be engendered, and in Victoria’s case, perpetuated with daily sermons of the horror of the unseen but purportedly insidious ‘wicked’ enemy of the people.

During this period, I learned a lot about my own resilience, family, neighbours, and in particular, the dangerous nature of unchecked state authority on a fragile democracy. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, the dark signs of this ‘new authoritarianism’ were already evident for anyone willing to open their eyes within the state of Victoria. As much has been written about the continuing failures of Premier Andrews, I do not intend to repeat them. I would, however, offer several personal observations from the inside, so to speak, to illuminate my contention that the failed attempt at elimination of the virus has on any objective measure, not been a good experience, as lives were not saved, nor the public health protected. On the contrary, the draconian measures exposed the dark side of human nature and the ease by which the citizenry will embrace the new authoritarianism.

Having followed closely the decisions of the Victorian and NSW Supreme Courts and the High Court of Australia, I learned that long-standing Constitutional rights of freedom of movement and in particular, the Victorian Charter of Human Rights is not worth the paper it is written on. Worse, human rights advocates, academics, and officials are not interested in universal human rights. They are cultural relativists who gladly welcome the control of the state over individual freedom and liberty.

A bit harsh? Well, not one of the usual suspects such as Liberty Victoria, the Victorian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Law Institute or Bar Council officers spoke out against or challenged in the public square, let alone the courts, the power of the myriad administrative ‘Directions’ issued by the Victorian Chief and Deputy public health officers. Challenging administrative decisions and orders are the bread and butter of the law lists of the AAT and the Federal Court are clogged with applications and appeals against decisions of the Refugee Tribunal every day of the year. A scan of the law lists for the Victorian AAT and Supreme Court of Victoria for the period of lockdown revealed less than a handful of matters listed challenging the human rights breaches none of which were initiated or supported by the entities listed above.

The second lesson is Victorian police are a partisan arm of the executive government enforcing its will rather than independently upholding the law.

The arrest of the young Ballarat mother Zoe Buhler, endorsed by Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, in her home for the alleged unlawful act of incitement is one of the most egregious acts of police intimidation in this state’s history. The last time I looked at s 321G of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), which admittedly is not too often, Mrs Buhler, would only be found guilty if she intended an offence to be committed by another person. Five minutes into the video of this appalling intimidation it was clear Mrs Buhler had no such intention. At that point, the two hulking police officers should have apologised and immediately left the premises. However, as Assistant Commissioner Cornelius lectured us, echoing the words of his political masters:

‘We remain very concerned, and in fact, outraged is probably a fair word, to say there is still people in our community who think it’s a good idea at the time of this deadly pandemic that we’re all fighting, think it’s a good time to leave home and protest in our streets.’

Excuse me? We were not fighting anything. The risk of the infectious respiratory virus that may result in serious ill-health and potentially death of certain cohorts of our community is a health issue, and if treated sensibly, may be reduced with various preventative measures and if infected, through medical intervention. It is not for the police to assert with seeming impunity, that Mrs Buhler and a group of citizens of Ballarat meeting together in the open air, are inciting mass murder. My cynicism is justified, as the police typically withdrew the charge of incitement on the day of the scheduled hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates Court, presumably to avoid the ignominy of having to justify their heavy-handed conduct and worse, reveal which of the Police Command directed them to take the action.

The image of riot squad police marching down the aisles of Victoria Market in full protective gear with batons and shields in late 2020 was nothing short of bizarre. What did they think the good citizens of Melbourne were going to do? Attack police with a zucchini or a sack of brush potatoes? When CFMEU construction workers took to the streets of Melbourne protesting the closure of building sites the police were swiftly deployed to crush the dissent. Don’t start me on the attacks at Shrine of Remembrance and the cavalry charge at St Kilda beach and surrounds as people dared to gather in the open air to discuss their grievances. No bended knees to that mob. The so-called force for good is ripe for another Royal Commission and clean out of senior ranks if confidence in the police is to be restored.

Now that Chairman (excuse me) Premier Dan Andrews has announced the pandemic is over (no public health evidence provided) effective from midnight on 12 October 2022, we are all expected to simply forget and move on. Unfortunately, the majority of Victorians, and certainly the political class, are content to follow the lead. Perfectly submissive fools, vassalages accepting the protection of the all-powerful state.

Me? The experience was shocking particularly in the manner of its swift and brutal implementation. I am not content to simply move on. However, the overwhelming lesson I learnt from this experience is the new authoritarians are brilliant at controlling us, crushing human rights, infantilising us, stopping us from going about our daily lives. They are just no good at doing the job actually entrusted to them … protecting the public health. A bit like the Stasi in the final days of the German Democratic Republic.

Paul Maguire is a Melbourne lawyer, and business consultant advising Australian small and medium-sized enterprise in employment and workplace relations law.