Predictably, the censorship of Hellbourne has begun.
There was a time when Melbourne prided itself on being the most liveable city in the world, tolerant, thoughtful, creative and diverse. We wore that badge with pride and spoke of it often with confidence, not arrogance. Ours was a city in which ideas, not ideology, competed. Where people could disagree without despising each other. But somewhere along the way, and particularly since the COVID lockdowns, Melbourne has lost its way.
It’s a difficult truth to confront, but it’s one we must. The pandemic demanded leadership, but in hindsight it also took something from us: our collective empathy, our civic spirit and our tolerance for dissent.
…it’s time for Melbourne to introduce a CBD protest permit system, designed not to silence anyone but to ensure fairness, safety and access for all. The idea is simple: protests that take place over major city arteries, block trams or surround landmarks like Parliament House should require a permit, much like event organisers do for marathons, marches or festivals.
This call comes from a former Labor MP, Philip Dalidakis, a side of politics that can’t get enough censorship.
Banning protests is not the answer because the protests are the symptom, not the problem.
Lockdowns unquestionably damaged Hellbourne’s psyche, but that has only exposed the underlying structural cracks a little earlier than would have happened.
Those cracks are emanating from the immigration-led economic model.
Because Melbourne has no endogenous industry anymore, it has been hit harder by the post-2012 shift to the national immigration-led growth model than other cities.
Sydney has finance and beaches. Brisbane has mining and beaches. Ditto Perth. Adelaide is a small country town.
Melbourne has great bars and restaurants, and that is all it has. Education is not helpful; it is part of the problem.
Melbourne has only one industry, and that is importing foreign bodies. This leads to a relentless fall in living standards for the indigenous population, which grows ever angrier.
Vic is going bankrupt.
Thanks to a bureaucrat fetish
And corrupt infrastructure.
Its jobs market is stalled.
It has the highest taxes.
The lowest income growth.
The worst productivity.
And dynamism is dead.
Victoria’s economy is corrupt and crush-loaded.
An empty and depressing nanny state where no good idea has any chance of getting up lest it upset some snowflake.
Hellbourne needs the opposite of censorship. It needs to be liberated with an immigration freeze, huge spending and tax cuts, and new leadership that welcomes free thinking and innovation.
Then it might have a chance to recover lost living standards.
