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This is a depressing but must-watch documentary on the lockdowns in Melbourne and their terrible impact. Hear from a whole range of people who lived through them, and consider what unfettered government control has wrought.

Anyone who has lived in Melbourne over the past few years, as I have, knows what a battleground it has become. Once known as the world’s most livable city, it has become in many ways the most damnable city. It certainly has been hellish for me and millions of others.

Under the rule of Premier Dan Andrews, the city went through the longest, harshest lockdown of any city anywhere in the world. This new 100-minute documentary has been put together by Melbourne filmmaker and political commentator Topher Field to examine all this.

Trapped

It tells the depressing but necessary story of how very horrible things became for some 5 million hapless citizens under this dictatorial regime. Yes, other cities and states have experienced terrible policies of lockdown madness, but Melbourne seems to have led the pack.

As always, we must learn the lessons of history. We must never forget. Thus we all owe Topher Field our heartfelt thanks for making this film. Only up for less than a week, the new documentary has already been viewed well over 300,000 times.

Many Voices

It features a number of champions for freedom and democracy: David Limbrick MP, Monica Smit, Catherine Cumming MP, Rushkan Fernando, Avi Yemeni, Millie Fontana, as well as doctors, mental health workers, business owners, former police officers, arrested grandmothers and pregnant housewives, victims of police abuse, and plenty of other concerned citizens.

Their website says this about the film:

The last 18 months has seen Melbourne, Australia, fall from ‘Most Liveable’ to ‘Most Locked-down’ city in the world. It’s an astonishing fall which has brought with it previously unthinkable levels of civil unrest and government repression and sparked protests around Australia and throughout the world as scenes reminiscent of the USSR or CCP have gone viral.

The fact that these scenes are playing out on the streets of a city in a wealthy and ‘free’ country makes this an ominous warning for all. If it can happen here, it could happen anywhere.

Battleground Melbourne tells this story from the perspective of the activists and journalists who tried to save the city of Melbourne.

This is our story.

The Government and the media have already told their twisted and dishonest side of the story; Battleground Melbourne is our reply. This is how we set the record straight and ensure the world will forever know the truth.

We have been smeared with false accusations, called every name you can imagine, assaulted, arrested, imprisoned. But even after all this, they haven’t defeated us. Our love for freedom, and our love for our once wonderful city, compels us to battle on.

Battleground Melbourne is a story of men and women who love freedom. It’s a story of courage in the face of fear, of triumphs and failures, and ordinary people giving everything to change the course of history for the city they love.

Covid-19 has sent shockwaves around the world, but nowhere has the political reaction to the virus been more extreme or more repressive than in the ‘free’ city of Melbourne.

Heavy going

One good friend and fellow Melbournian said this on social media about the documentary:

A number of people have said that they found Topher Field’s Battleground Melbourne “dark”, “depressing”, very hard to watch, caused them to weep, etc. This was not our initial reaction, because we had lived right through it and so it had become our “normal”.

But I can now appreciate how the film’s content could be quite disturbing to interstate and overseas people looking in from outside, who don’t have our first-hand experience. This is the main, uplifting scene from near the end of the film. It might be easier for some people to watch this first, and then go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing through.

I said this to him in reply: “Actually I lived through this hell-hole for the past 2 years, but even just watching the trailer for the film depressed me and brought back a lot of bad memories! It really was an evil period, and it is not over yet!”

Suffer the Children

Thankfully I am one who has survived this nightmare. But many have not. Many people have suicided over the past two years. Mental health problems, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, domestic violence, and even animal abuse have all spiked during this period. And it is our children who are suffering the most.

One gal who works in this area told me that the children she talks and ministers to are utterly discouraged, depressed and without hope. They really see no reason to go on. There is nothing worth living for. These lockdowns, curfews and draconian and irrational mandates have devastated these children.

Indefinite Control

And it is NOT over. Andrews has extended and amplified his power and control over this state, and at any time he can again turn Melbourne into the world’s most miserable prison. The government has extended its “emergency powers” indefinitely. And when you have such powers that last for years on end, you do not have a free and democratic state — you have a dictatorship.

We have learned over the past two years that this Labor government and its unelected health bureaucrats cannot be trusted. Their lust for ever more power and control knows no bounds. Our leaders have become completely drunk on their newfound powers, and they will NOT relinquish such control without a fight. So in one sense, nothing has changed, and we are still in a battleground.

Marches for Freedom

I have since watched the entire documentary. My friend is right: The closing portion of the film is the most uplifting and inspiring part of it. It features scenes of the mass freedom marches held week after week late last year, featuring hundreds of thousands of Victorians taking a stand for freedom and denouncing tyranny and health fascism.

I have joined in with these marches. They continue this year — I hope to be at another one this Saturday. The fight for liberty is ever ongoing. As long as political tyrants want to steal away our freedoms and basic human rights, we must all resist and stand strong for what is right.

This film is part of this struggle. It can be seen here:

Please watch it and share it far and wide.

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Originally published at CultureWatch.