The former prime minister has been a consistent critic of the country’s pandemic response.But he has gone much harder than ever before in a blistering essay for the Institute of Public Affairs.“We’ve protected lives and ruined them at the same time,” Mr Abbott said.”A bit like the Vietnam-era American officer who declared the village had to be destroyed in order to be saved.”Mr Abbott said the pandemic response reflected a deeply ethical concern for the preciousness of every life.“To me, it often seemed an over-reaction from people who’d forgotten the inevitability of death and the importance of living each day to the full,” he said.Mr Abbott recently copped a $500 infringement after being sprung in public without a mask.He took aim at the person who dobbed him in.“I never thought dobbing and snitching was part of the Australian character,” Mr Abbott said.“As soon as we can leave this health police state mindset behind us, the better for everyone.”Late last year, Mr Abbott was investigated after he was seen cycling outside his zone of residence in Sydney’s northern beaches.He was cleared by police of breaching public health orders.Mr Abbott has long been a vocal critic of Australia’s pandemic response.In August last year – when Melbourne was in the grip of a deadly second wave – he called for Covid-19 restrictions to be relaxed.Mr Abbott argued officials had become trapped in “crisis mode” and governments needed to consider ”uncomfortable questions” about the number of deaths they could accept.He also said the media had spread “virus hysteria” and people should be able to make their own decisions.But he turned his criticism up notch in his most recent commentary, noting the “worst features” of Australia’s handling of the pandemic had been the “oppressive rules for which there’s been no medical justification”.He said restrictions such as the curfews, outdoor mask mandates, bans on attendances at funerals and interstate trips for medical treatment and compassionate reasons were “cruel”. “I suspect that history will marvel at how extraordinary and unprecedented the response to the pandemic has been,” he said.“The nearest parallel, in terms of the scale of government intervention into daily life, has been the world wars; the key difference being that, back then, citizens were mobilised for action rather than inaction – What does it say about our national character that we’ve accepted this.”State and federal governments have devised a staged response to reopening the country.The next stage of easing will come into force once the nation hit a vaccination target of 80 per cent double-dosed.Under the plan, lockdowns will only be used as a last resort.The country’s border ban will also be lifted for the first time since March last year, with no caps on returning Australians.
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