The Big Brother Purge of Conservative Christians in Australia

A number of them are/were doctors or medical professionals who had become the targets of the Medical Board of Australia. Specifically, the MBA has now actively pursued six different doctors (that we know of) over the last three years all because of their views on things like abortion and/or the homosexual agenda.

Basically, they all have been persecuted for the simple reason that they dare to think independently, and they express their views in their own time on their own social media pages and the like. For having the gall to not run with the PC version of events concerning things like abortion, homosexuality and the trans agenda, they have all fallen afoul of the MBA; several are receiving severe punishments, including mandatory re-education, suspension of their livelihood, etc.

Very much like the recent Israel Folau case, the powers that be have become judge and executioner, punishing those who actually think for themselves and believe they should have the freedom to express their views on their own time on their own social media outlets.

As with any dictatorial or fascist regime, the ruling powers have effectively threatened and blackmailed these individuals, telling them in no uncertain terms that if they want their jobs, they must censor themselves, not speak out, and remove all of their ‘offending’ posts and pages.

This of course is the stuff of North Korea, or Cuba, or Saudi Arabia. We did not expect this was how things operated in the free West. But it sure is. What we not too long ago sent our sons to fight and die for – freedom – is now severely at risk here in Australia.

Let me highlight just one of these appalling cases. A doctor with a wife and two young children has been suspended by the MBA, and has been out of work for nearly eight months now. His crime? Was he caught raping a patient, or stealing medicines, or fiddling with the books?

No, he did something much, much worse in the eyes of the MBA: he dared to post his point of view on his own private Facebook page, and even worse, he actually posted comments on my website, CultureWatch. Yes, several hundred of his comments appeared on my site over the past decade or so.

He said things which we are no longer able to say in Australia it seems, things like: marriage is between a man and a woman; doctors should be saving life, not killing; children have a right to be raised by their own mother and father; and radical political Islam is something we must take seriously.

For saying verboten things like that, the MBA has decided that he is now public enemy No. 1, and he MUST be punished severely. And keep in mind the details of this shocking case. No complaints were ever made by any of his patients or by his colleagues. He was fully professional in his work, and he treated all of his patients with dignity and respect.

But some militant(s) had been trawling both Facebook and my site, and discovered his unforgiveable remarks. This guy (or girl) made a stink, and the MBA immediately started the inquisition. They hired lawyers (and wasted a lot of money to do so) to go through every single one of my articles on my website, coming up with thousands of pages of printed documents with any and all comment he had made. What num nums: I could have given them all that free of charge if they wanted!

Since this doctor’s case is now in the public domain, I refer to Melbourne doctor Jereth Kok. The complaints made against him have been all by anonymous complainants. He does not know how many were made, or who made them, or why. They do not seem to be from any of his patients.

Indeed, as mentioned, he has had no complaints at all in terms of his work, his professionalism, and his ability to deliver quality health care. He seems to have been loved and respected by all his patients. However, for nine months the MBA was investigating Dr Kok, without even telling him! When they finally did tell him, they sent him a ‘please explain’ letter.

As mentioned, they simply trawled through his posts on Facebook and on my website, including issues such as the vote ‘no’ campaign on homosexual marriage. For that the MBA has treated him like a pariah, someone who is no longer able to treat patients!

His views are instead totally verboten. As a result, since August 19, 2019, he has been without work. His wife is a fulltime mother looking after their young children. So they have had no income during this entire period: income that they needed to feed the family and pay the bills.

And a couple hundred regular patients who all had Dr Kok as their preferred doctor are now without his expertise and services. Most of these patients had become quite attached to Dr. Kok. But now they have been left hanging, forced to look for alternate doctors and arrangements.

Again, all this has happened because he has dared to offer his points of view on the public issues of the day. Something that everyone else does all the time. Something that is part of living in a free society. But it seems like we are now no longer very free at all.

When groups like the MBA can destroy the career of a terrific, conscientious and hard-working doctor who has committed no malpractice whatsoever, then you know freedom has been smashed underfoot, and Big Brother groupthink is now in action.

And of course there are so many other bodies and organisations just like this, be they Rugby Australia or most of our major corporations. They have all conspired against freedom of speech, freedom of thought, religious freedom, and independent thinking. That is very scary indeed.

And with people like Dr Kok we have a very real human face to put to all this. This is not just theoretical. Real people with real careers are losing everything, all because secular left thought is now the only accepted form of opinion in so much of Australia.

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Private hospitals have signed on to a landmark deal with the federal government to boost the nation’s intensive care capacity

Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced the federal government had guaranteed the viability of all 657 private hospitals nationwide, meaning a further 34,000 beds and chairs will be made available.

The deal, hatched between hospitals and state and territory governments and the federal government, is based on the assurance that the hospitals will be flexible and retain their staff during the pandemic.

One third of the country’s ICU beds are in private hospitals and they will all now be available to help with COVID-19 cases.

“Today is about, in particular, securing and expanding that capacity,” Mr Hunt said.

“A partnership between the Australian Government, the states and the private hospitals that will bring over 30,000 beds within the hospital system.

“It will bring over 105,000 full and part-time hospital staff, including 57,000 of our amazing nurses and midwives.

“It guarantees them their future and their support, both during the crisis and beyond, but most importantly it brings their resources to the fight against coronavirus, COVID-19, in Australia.”

He said as of 6am this morning, there were 4359 cases of COVID-19 in Australia and 19 deaths.

Cases in ICU total 50, down from 55 yesterday, with 20 of those are on ventilators.

Mr Hunt said the figures, coupled with the fact that more than 230,000 tests have been completed, indicate “we are at the global forefront”.

“That is the lives lost – and each one is an agonising loss – are below one per cent then that is indicative that the testing regime is capturing the significant reflective data for the country,” he said.

“If those within ICUs, and in particular with ventilators, in the low numbers that we see – and all of these numbers, we know, will climb – but they are reflective again of the numbers.

“And it presents a very different picture to some other countries, where the lives lost represent not 0.5 per cent but 10 per cent of the cases. It means that the case numbers there are not fully reflective of the situation.”

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Why ventilators are so crucial in Australia's COVID-19 fight

The Australian Medical Association hopes the Federal Government has "their ducks lined up" as the demand for life-saving ventilators in Australia becomes increasingly urgent.

Like other governments around the world battling the COVID-19 pandemic, Canberra is rushing to double its number of ventilator units, from 2000 to 4000.

But the South Australian AMA president, Dr Chris Moy, has warned ventilators are "just one part of the puzzle" and "it will be a major problem" if Australia is not prepared with robust plans and supplies.

"The bottom line is we need ventilators," Dr Moy said.
"They are going to be critical if the peak happens and intensive care units are deluged."

Dr Moy hoped the government had "geared up" sufficiently for the expected oncoming wave of ICU admissions. "Have they got their ducks lined up?" Dr Moy asked.

"You need the ventilators but you also need other equipment.
"You need personal protective equipment (PPE) and trained staff who can run the machines and monitor patients."

Without ventilators, the lungs of some COVID-19 sufferers fill with pus and patients can die, after a "cascading flow of life-threatening pressures" hits the heart and other vital organs. It is thought 15 to 20 percent of those with coronavirus can fall seriously ill.

Dr Moy said he had held personal discussions with Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, where the issue of ventilators and PPE shortages was addressed.

"I am aware they have got teams on this," he said. "I have no visibility over government orders or stocks or supply lines … but I am hoping the government has got this right. "Because if they haven't, it will be a major problem for us."

Dr Moy said masks, gowns, goggles, hair covers and gloves were in desperately short supply. His GP clinic, staffed by 25 doctors, was recently down to its final box of 50 masks.

Nine.com.au has previously reported on a major Australian medical supplier running out of PPE and some doctors in Perth hospitals in operating rooms with no masks.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt last month said there was a standing capacity of 2000 ventilators in Australia. "We are looking to double that, using existing arrangements and stock currently available, to 4000," Mr Hunt said.

Australia's Chief Scientist Alan Finkel was in the early stages of scoping out local manufacturers to build 5000 additional respiratory and ventilator units, Mr Hunt said.

In normal circumstances Australia could look to other countries for help with ventilators but all nations need the machines now.

Dr Moy said health authorities in Australia were looking at repurposing old machines, some which had even found their way into veterinary clinics. "My understanding is a lot of the older ones could be incredibly useful because they were built to last."

Why you may need a ventilator if you have COVID-19

Around 15 to 20 per cent of people with COVID-19 will develop a very specific type of pneumonia. With pneumonia, pus will fill your lungs and your lungs will stop working.

When you can't absorb enough oxygen, incredible strain is placed on your heart and other organs. There is a domino effect on your body, and the impact may be so catastrophic it kills you.

A ventilator gets oxygen into your lungs, when you are too tired to breathe. At a certain point your lungs cannot suck in enough oxygen and your body will tire. You'll also suffer dehydration because you are puffing so hard. But the ventilator will breathe for you, pumping high levels of oxygen-enriched air into your lungs.

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The provision of early childhood education and care in Australia is broken and the Coronavirus has revealed the extent to which the system is flawed.  The sector is on the brink of collapse

Consider this.

For several weeks there has been uncertainty about how school should be delivered. Will they close? Should students attend? Are teachers safe?

There has been no uncertainty, however, about whether teachers or schools are needed. It’s understood both are, obviously, critical. The manner in which education is to be facilitated, in the short term at least, has been up for discussion but its existence is assured. As it should be.

When it comes to early childhood education & care the questions are the same but the answers are very different. Childcare centres aren’t government-funded like schools. Parents receive subsidies from the government that are passed on to centres and they pay any gap between the subsidy and the daily rate. Those subsidies and fees support the wages of the educators and all the associated operating costs.

But as Lisa Bryant wrote in The Guardian Australia on Monday, parents are currently withdrawing their children from childcare “in droves”.

“They are doing it because they are concerned for their children and because they are told to keep children home if possible. But mostly they are doing it because childcare is expensive. When families lose their income, childcare is an obvious place to cut.”

In these circumstances it isn’t surprising but the impact is potentially devastating. It means that unlike primary and secondary school teachers, who haven’t all been dismissed because students aren’t coming, many early childhood educators have already been let go.

Last week Goodstart Early Learning, one of Australia’s largest providers, had to lay off 4,000 casual educators. These are among the lowest-paid workers in the country so the idea of them being financially equipped to withstand this unexpected job loss is ridiculous.

It is also crushing to consider that, like primary and secondary teachers, educators and carers have been thrust unwillingly on to the front line of a highly contagious virus for weeks.

Centres and preschools haven’t been closed and while most other Australians have been told the safest thing to do is stay home, these employees have been told to keep turning up to work. Usually for a very basic wage with no loading for the health risk (or the value provided).

At least primary and secondary teachers haven’t needed to fret over their employment status while also panicking about the virus: early childhood educators and carers should be so lucky.

To lose their jobs after weeks of putting themselves at risk is incredibly insulting. As well as highly problematic.

Many childcare centres and operators in Australia may close for good because of the Coronavirus. That will be a disaster. For children, for educators and for parents.

When health workers can’t turn up to their jobs because they have no one to look after their children there will be an uproar - but it’ll be too late

Whatever happens now school won’t collapse, that much is clear. Early education and care shouldn’t either. It’s a critical function in society: it is a fundamental part of a child’s education and development and the best investment any country can make in its future.

And, yes, it is also important in an economic sense in that it facilitates the combination of paid work with family responsibilities.

There are, literally, millions of reasons that a nation cannot function without an early education system.

If there was ever definitive proof that Australia’s early childhood education and care system was broken, the idea that a virus could bring this vital sector totally to its knees is it.

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 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here