Second class citizens?

JULY 31, 2021

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At virtually every level of society, in countries around the world, we are facing a difficult question: how should the unvaccinated be treated? Is it a question of no jab, no job (no matter what that job may be)? And what about, say, access to health care or travel, both interstate and overseas?

Fortunately, Australia has a chance to get this right. The vaccination stroll-out has bought the government time to develop some real policies. The prime minister has made clear that there will be some kind of restrictions on the unvaccinated. The question is: what will they be? This week Crikey took a look at how the issue is playing out around the world and what it could mean for us.

Meanwhile, there are plenty more highlights from the week, including Josefine Ganko on the popularity (or otherwise) of Novak Djokovic, Guy Rundle’ s take on federation, Kishor Napier-Raman’s troubling history of crusader imagery, and David Hardaker’s look into the struggles of the National Party.

Have a great weekend,

Peter Fray
Editor-in-chief

To mandate or not to mandate

Carrots and sticks: how vaccine mandates are being used around the world

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

In a bid to open back up to the world, countries with high rates of COVID-19 are creating a two-tier system where vaccinated people have greater freedom than those who haven't been jabbed.

We’ve got time to get vaccination mandates right, but the politics will be nasty

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The government has time to settle a position on vaccine mandates across workplaces and more broadly. But the US experience shows the politics are potentially toxic, especially for conservatives.

Just so you know, there are already plenty of decrees directing your daily life

AMBER SCHULTZ 4 minute read

Mandates are already intrinsic to many aspects of our everyday lives, so much so that we barely think about them. So why does the idea of a medical mandate ruffle so many feathers?

Should the unvaccinated be left behind — if their stupidity isn’t their fault?

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

If those refusing a COVID vaccine do so because they've embraced a world view created by economic uncertainty, does society owe them anything beyond their healthcare costs?

Liberté, égalité, vaccin obligatoire: France takes a gamble on mandatory vaccines

MICHELE BARBERO 6 minute read

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing a wave of anger after a push to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for many.

A supreme crisis of federalism: ineffectual central authority has cut states adrift

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

Different approaches to tackling the pandemic have revealed both ideological fault lines between NSW and Victoria and a crisis in the federation.

From the Middle Ages to patrol in Afghanistan, the dark history of the crusader symbol

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

An image has surfaced of Ben Roberts-Smith wearing a Crusader patch on his military uniform, and it's a symbol has a long, nasty history in far-right circles.

The man who would be GOAT is also the man most hated. Why do so many dislike Djokovic?

JOSEFINE GANKO 4 minute read

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic does little to make himself popular, but is there a sinister element to fans' contempt?

Oh how the experts sneered at ‘freedom boy’ Boris. Will he surprise them yet?

ADAM SCHWAB 3 minute read

The UK prime minister took a huge gamble in declaring July 19 'Freedom Day' in England. It looks like the gamble has paid off.

National turmoil

How the Barna-party is built on coal, mates and the home of country music

DAVID HARDAKER 5 minute read

The National Party has outdone itself this time by appointing Barnaby Joyce as its leader. And its younger members are fed up.

Life’s a box of chocolates for the Nationals — what flavour of scandal will we get next?

DAVID HARDAKER 5 minute read

What have Bridget McKenzie and the Nats learned from their recent time in the rorts spotlight? For one thing, she's declaring every candy bar that comes her way...

National party membership tumbles in NSW, Greens now have more

DAVID HARDAKER 3 minute read

The NSW Nationals has lost a third of its membership in the last five years.

An Olympian effort, the wrong Gladys, and The Epic of Gilgamesh

CHARLIE LEWIS 1 minute read

How closely were you paying attention to the news this week? Take our quiz and find out.

Sniffin’ glue: Labor gives itself a break on tax and class unity

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

The 'Whitlam spirit' has gone from the Labor Party. With its traditional working-class base fractured, policies like progressive income tax now seem unlikely, if not impossible to achieve.

Abbott sees the light on China as reality crushes trade enlightenment fantasy

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The idea that economic liberalisation would inevitably lead to political liberalisation in China was always a neoliberal fantasy. Now some believers are starting to wake up.