Letters to the editor, The Daily Advertiser, August 24, 2021

Unfortunately, you did not back up the independent commission formed for the NSW government.

You let your Minister for Local Government stick her finger up to our residents and say "no demerger".

Rural NSW was placed in lockdown on Saturday, August 14. You did not make your own press release - you left the announcement of this big decision to your Deputy Premier (who released this big decision on Twitter).

Then, to compound the matter, you extended the lockdown for areas without any indication of COVID-19 for another week. Why?

These actions of yours, Gladys, are not sitting well with us. We should not be treated with contempt, but that is all you seem to do.

We - the people of rural NSW - are not happy with your performance.

Surely you have advisers and rural members of your coalition who can give you wise counsel to treat us with the respect we deserve?

The NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard, and Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant have ignored requests to make public the research, documents and other evidence that informs their decisions to impose various lockdown restrictions on the people of NSW.

Their justification for these restrictions can be summarised as 'trust me'. This is not adequate justification.

While there is a super abundance of sensational urban media headline stories about COVID-19, these do not automatically constitute adequate examination, evidence, or justification of these restrictions.

Premier Berejiklian, at the request of Dr Chant, has ordered that the NSW Parliament not meet. This has prevented parliamentary examination by the representatives of the people of the actions of Ms Berejiklian, Mr Hazzard and Dr Chant.

In addition, the lockdown restrictions prohibit public protest of these actions.

The actions of Premier Berejiklian have effectively established a dictatorship in NSW, and the people who dispute the appropriateness of the current restrictions may add - a tyranny.

For the good of the people in NSW, representative government must immediately be restored by the meeting of Parliament, and the authority to impose any restrictions be removed from the Chief Health Officer, and this authority reside only in the Parliament.

And the ability to publicly protest never be prohibited.

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I admit that I have not seen nor read every question asked of our political leaders but I am a bit of a student across many jurisdictions as I remain interested in the circumstances of family and friends. However, the only question I have never heard asked, in amongst the pointless, is the one they should ask and act on: how can we help?

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