DERRYN BRIGG: Governments love emergencies and wish they never ended
New Year wishes are simple: shrink the public service and free up the private sector
11 January 2022 - 14:39
It is a rare government that regrets having to impose draconian regulations during an emergency (war, of course, but also natural disasters, floods, droughts, plagues or pandemics). That is even true of those with constitutions that limit their power and leaders who sing the praises of individual freedoms.
The truth is that emergencies give power to small-minded people — power they never had before the emergency — which they relish to the point where they will do anything, say anything, to keep the state of emergency going...
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