As more and more well-informed opinions appear, it is becoming clear that much of the coronavirus lockdown was unnecessary.  We should have been isolating only our most vulnerable people, and letting the young and healthy get on with their jobs.

Adopting sensible distancing and cleanliness does not mean a complete lockdown or becoming another Police State like Victoria.

The officious nature of the bureaucracy — none of whom would have ever been exposed to the threat of job losses or the need to continue their enterprise to cover the next payday — is fracturing our normally cohesive society and belting businesses in even our milder coronavirus zone, like Catalano’s Cafe in Perth’s Victoria Park.

Why did it take three policemen to count 28 people?  Can each of them only count to nine?

Or, would this normally be the work of one, if other than the taxpayers were paying their salaries?

Perhaps the police could practice their arithmetic by calculating how many cups of coffee need to be served, to pay the $5,000 fine.  Would they be aware that only the profit, not the total sale price is what I am talking about?  Public servants often get confused between ‘net’ and ‘gross’.

Fortunately, Perth’s dining public have rallied in support of Joe Murgia’s efforts to keep his enterprise alive during these difficult times.

For battlers to be persecuted in this fashion, tells me that without public protests and support for the Joe Murgias of this world our society is doomed.

This incident reminds me of Ayn Rand’s wisdom when she described similar situations in Atlas Shrugged:

When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favours – When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – You may know that your society is doomed. 

The best response from the public is to eat at Catalano’s Café and bring all your friends.  Telephone for a reservation on 08 9362 1121.

Ron Manners AO is the Executive Chairman of Mannwest Group and the founder and Chairman of the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation. He was recently included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia for “distinguished service to the minerals and mining sectors, and to youth through philanthropic support for educational initiatives”.

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