[stevenjohns]

Most of what you're saying is misleading at best.

> I saw more people wearing masks on Sydney trains at zero cases than I did in a US supermarket at the peak

That's because NSW had legislated the wearing of masks on trains until a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't voluntary, it was either wear a mask or get fined. And since the mask mandate was taken off -- surprise, surprise -- the overwhelming majority stopped wearing them on trains.

> Australian’s have made sacrifices for the greater good of all in the past (giving up guns for example)

"Giving up guns" never happened, what did happen was the forceful buyback of self-loading weapons from law abiding people who followed the law and turned them in. The people who didn't follow the law -- that is, the people who are actually responsible for the violent crime in the first place -- kept their guns and that's why self-loading firearms continue to be seized today from drug dealers and gangsters.

For some general statistics:

1. The number of homicides (and all violent crime) went up after the 1996 firearms buyback[0] and didn't go down until the police took actual action against crime in 2001

2. We have more firearms in 2021 than we did in 1996[1] and, surprising only some, less crime

The major difference in the Australian mindstate is how both major parties are centre-left so it's rare for major issues to be politicised, instead we just have politicians supporting the same things and bickering over otherwise trivial implementation details.

[0] https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/AUS/australia/murder-h...

[1] https://www.smh.com.au/national/more-guns-in-australia-now-t...