How Far Ought The State Go In A Pandemic?

• advantage
• 3 years ago
• Categories: covid-19, health, human rights, workers' rights

Even in a time of crisis, people have human rights that must be upheld.

The government sets out its powers to control us in order to control the COVID19 outbreak in specific recent legislation, as well as in the 1956 Heath Act.

But crises can bring out the latent Fascist in all of us. The longer we stay in lockdown, the longer we are deprived (for rational reasons) of some human rights, and the grumpier people can get. It’s always a balance and the balance always changes. Here’s a summary of our human rights in New Zealand.

Here’s the Bill of Rights Act (BORA).

Here’s some a few of those stated BORA rights, with a menu of  of anti-pandemic measures against them.

Right to Refuse to Undergo Medical Treatment; and Right not to be subjected to scientific or medical experimentation

What about compulsory vaccination? That comes with a set of authoritarian steps, each entailing a gradated loss of human rights:

• Compulsory vaccination for all medical staff, frontline staff including rest homes, retail staff, and port and airport workers
• Compulsory vaccination for all state sector employees: MPs and parliamentary staff, teachers, Police, NZDF
  • Extra step: compulsory vaccination for all university and polytech staff
  • Extra step: compulsory vaccination for all entities in which government has a majority controlling stake
• Compulsory vaccination for all local government staff
  • Extra step: compulsory vaccination for all state sector contractors:
• Several tens of thousands of road and rail subcontractors, health trusts and subcontractors, builders, maintenance staff, all other entities receiving state wages and salaries

Freedom of Movement, also a right to Health Information Privacy

What about putting testing and vaccination information onto the biometric data of all New Zealand passports?

• Extra step: same for all passport holders coming into the country

What about internal border controls, beyond the temporary Police blockades: internal passports with biometric data for all people travelling between regions in New Zealand. Start with passing between the North and South Islands, then just take it further with regional roadblocks.

• Extra step: State removes all CBD quarantine facilities, and builds a large facility outside of city limits (something like a medium-security jail) on previously-used quarantine facilities such as Dunedin’s Quarantine Island, or Soames Island, or Auckland’s Motuihi Island

Denial of Access to public services, including government services, education, public places, employment, housing and accommodation

What about limiting social services to those who object to the vaccine?

• Restrict public medical care
• Restrict access to public education other than online
• Restrict access to public housing

Children’s rights are spelled out here.

Extra step:

• Restrict for those who refuse and are receiving NZ Superannuation
• Restrict for those who refuse and are receiving JobSeeker or other welfare
• Restrict for those receiving ACC payment

Freedom of Expression

What about a ban and criminalise any speech denying that vaccines are a good idea, including on social media platforms and news outlets?

Beyond BORA, we get extra rights for which the COVID19 legislation can have a further crack beyond the current enforcement measures:

Rights as a New Zealand Citizen, including right to travel overseas freely and to return

What about the state rationing travel, such as by issuing permits for all travel outside of the country unless for business, medical specialist, or compassionate grounds?

No legal obligation by a retailer to accept cash, hence no right to pay in cash

What about a requirement that all retail stores and businesses only use pay machines with a Paywave? No more eftpos touch pads. That would require a whole bunch of subsidy for marginal businesses like charity stores, and would pretty much eradicate roadside stalls, and would really hit markets

Ability of SuperGoldCard holders and students to travel on public transport

What about compulsory mask use on all transport and public areas, at all ages, at all times

• Extra step: proof of vaccination to be able to travel on public transport

Rights and Obligations under Health and Safety At Work Act 2015

What about enforcing all my colleagues to be vaccinated? Alter the Workplace Health and Safety Act to make workplace risk obligations clearer with vaccination and testing a part of Business unit operator strict liability.

At some point a good Opposition is going to have to say: no more rights v common welfare trade offs. Maybe even government MPs will start saying it.