If someone would have told you a year ago that the democratic government of Australia would become tyrannical over COVID-19, you likely would not have believed them.

But that’s exactly what has happened.

Australians have been virtually locked down for months though the virus is not an issue in the country — and that’s not because of the lockdowns. But even if it were, at some point Australian leaders, like leftists throughout the West, let go of their fears of being ‘too tyrannical’ and have let the true authoritarianism within them run rampant.

The result: Once-free people are now essentially prisoners on what used to be a gulag continent used by the British to harbor its most notorious criminals.

The Epoch Times provides more details:

Australians took to the streets for another protest in Melbourne in the state of Victoria on Saturday after the government announced a sweeping COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all “authorized workers.”

Victorian residents marched along Southbank Boulevard in downtown Melbourne and the track around the Royal Botanic Gardens. Participants carried a large white banner with the word “Freedom” and voiced their dissent against vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and the current state government.

Citizen journalist Rukshan Fernando posted a video showing some protesters peacefully marching and yelling phrases and slogans like “my body, my choice,” and “freedom now!” Others are carrying black umbrellas emblazoned with the words, “Coercion is not consent,” while others pushed back on “dictator” leadership.

Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, announced last week that any Australian on the state’s “authorized worker” list has to get their first dose of COVID-119 vaccine by Oct. 15 and the second dose by Nov. 26 in order to remain employed. The Epoch Times said that the mandate “covers a vast range of professions spanning 1 million to 1.25 million people in Victoria.”

“The vaccination deadline is separate from another deadline that’s being imposed on those working in aged care, healthcare, construction, education, and freight,” the news site continued.

The videos show that the relatively modest group of protesters was eventually met with a very heavy police presence, with a group of about two dozen officers seen chasing demonstrators at one point while someone yells at cops, “[Expletive] you, Victoria Police! Shame on you!”

In other portions of the videos, officers are seen tackling a number of protests and wrestling to the ground before arresting them. Other officers are on horseback and are seen chasing protesters in a park as a helicopter is heard overhead. The group stayed together for about 40 minutes before it was eventually dispersed by police actions, according to a live version of Fernando’s video.

After police dispersed the crowd, Fernando is heard at one point talking to a woman who is off-camera. She tells him, “I’m a teacher who’s going to lose my job. … All the teachers out there who are going to have to say bye to their kids …” before beginning to cry.

“Why are you emotional today?” he asked the woman, who shied away from appearing on camera.

“Because I’m going to have to say goodbye to my class, and they’ve been through enough [expletive], and I’m going to have to say goodbye to them just because I won’t get a jab, and haven’t they been through enough?” she says.

Continuing to cry, she added, “It’s not fair that I’m literally considering getting a vaccine for them. That’s not for my protection, that’s so I can teach these 9-year-olds. How is that OK?”

As Australia has gotten increasingly authoritarian over COVID mandates, in which citizens are about to lose their jobs for ‘non-compliance,’ the same is happening in America.

Literally millions of our citizens are at risk of being jobless in days, not weeks, because of the mandate.

Whatever happened to ‘my body, my choice?’ Or heck, just simple freedom and liberty?

**By JD Heyes

**Source