Items

• 
  2021-07-07

  Hosts break down after quarantined man’s mother passes away | Today Show Australia

  This is a heartbreaking story from Australia about a man who flew around the world to try to get to his dying mother, only to have the Queensland government block his way. So many people across the globe had to die alone without their loved ones because of this pandemic. Hospitals and governments need to come up with a safe system to allow for visitation of dying relatives during pandemics because, sadly, this will likely happen again in the future.
• 
  2020

  Jewish Melbourne: Special Bulletin on Family & Domestic Violence

  The Jewish Community Covid-19 Taskforce provided a special bulletin on family and domestic violence, providing advice, helplines, ways of getting support, and the like, during lockdown.
• 
  2020-03-17

  Video - Toilet paper fight erupts at Coles in Melbourne

  HIST30060 I have chosen to upload this article because I distinctly remember when the public fights about toilet paper begun to surface on social media. Initially, I found it hilarious. And then scary. And then kinda sad. And then eventually some combination of all three, alongside a healthy dose of embarassment at the fact Australians would behave in such a way. While I personally never felt the panic that led to hoarding goods, I know many people who did, and I also remember my housemates and I resorting to using paper towels as toilet paper for a short while because it was impossible to find in the shops near our house.
• 
  2020-07-30

  satirical social commentary on state border closures and restrictions.

  This satirical article by the Betoota Advocate is a social commentary on varying experiences of the coronavirus pandemic in different Australian states, specifically Victoria and Queensland, which speaks to my own experiences as someone who has lived in both states during Melbourne's second lockdown from July. The article mentions the general indifference or lack of sympathy towards Victorians, as NewsCorp and the general public have seen the second wave of cases in the southern state as being their own fault. This is something I noticed upon my return to Queensland in August, where the general rhetoric surrounding Victoria and their Premier Daniel Andrews' handling of the high number of cases in the state tended to be divisive. I had never heard of the term 'Dictator Dan' before returning to Queensland and people I knew were calling Victorians 'Mexicans', which I put down to the monopolisation that Murdoch media has over Queensland news. I saw these sentiments turn to sympathy as stage 4 lockdown set in, as Queenslanders realised the negative effects lockdown was having on Victorians. This also differed from the indifference I noticed when I first came back to Queensland, where most people seemed to have forgotten what lockdown was like and were living like everything was back-to-normal. As someone who experienced both lockdowns in Melbourne, as well as relatively normal life in Queensland, I definitely did not take the ability to travel, go out and see friends and family for granted, whilst also retaining deep sympathy towards everyone still in lockdown in Melbourne (which included many of my friends and some family). HIST30060.
• 
  2020-11-09

  Pamphlet blaming the CCP for COVID-19

  This is a pamphlet I got in my mailbox from the Global Service Centre for Ending the Chinese Communist Party, inside which describes many of the 'evils' of the CCP including malicious negligence in the spread of COVID-19. It was quite unusual for me to receive this in my mailbox, I'm assuming since it was not a posted letter it was simply dropped off to many houses in my neighbourhood. The writing in it is quite sensationalistic, and was clearly extremely critical of the Chinese Communist Party. A lot of information and misinformation has been spread regarding the origins and handling of COVID-19, and much of it relies on fear and distrust to propagate.
• 
  2020-03-23

  Casual Racism Towards Ethnic Asian Diaspora

  This is a short video where I asked my friend Nikko Guan to share her experiences with casual racism toward ethnic Asians at the beginning of the pandemic here in Melbourne, Australia. There was a lot of panic and misinformation surrounding the coronavirus, and a lot of people attributed the origin of the virus (Wuhan China) with the cause of the virus and harboured distrust toward anyone who looked remotely foreign or Asian. Some of my friends and acquaintances who were Asian but not even Chinese also reported similar experiences. It's especially pertinent as this also affected Asian diaspora who were born in Australia and may have never even been overseas, but are judged purely on their appearance. My friend in the interview had not been to China, or anywhere internationally, for many years. It's important that a global disaster that is the result of natural catastrophe isn't judged on malice for political or racial prejudices.
• 
  2020-04

  ANZAC Day 2020

  Like many families we participated in a dawn service unlike any previously held this year. As gatherings and official ceremonies were cancelled people looked for alternate ways to commemorate ANZAC day. Across the country there was a movement to participate in a unified but socially distanced way. Lighting a small candle and observing the minute silence made us all feel a little more connected during the height of the Sydney lockdown.
• 2020-09-10

  keep our grandma safe

  While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really fleshed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions. As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.
• 2020-09-10

  keep our grandma safe

  While some of my relatives live in Australia, most of my family is in Israel, which is doing really bad covid-wise. We keep in touch via a What'sApp family groupchat. However, over the last few weeks, the groupchat had become a site of conflict. We in Australia, on one hand, take the virus very seriously and have favourable attitudes towards lockdown and face masks. My relatives in Israel, on the other hand, see it as a prelude to dictatorship. They also subscribe to all sorts of covid conspiracy theories that undermine their faith in public action. Although usually their opinions are tolerated, covid has really flashed out our ideological differences to an irreconcilable point. The other week, my cousin in Israel showed up to my grandmother’s house with her friends. This caused a backlash here in Australia among relatives who were concerned for my grandmother’s safety. After quite a public and vicious argument on the What’sApp groupchat my grandmother eventually stepped in to defuse the tensions. As absurd as it sounds, I hope my relatives stay away from my grandmother. Their alternative views, which were once endearing and funny, can now claim her life. Ultimately, I would be powerless to stop them from here.
• 2020-05-26

  Reflections on staying at home with a child with special needs

  As schools closed, a more unique kind of panic that kept me up at night during those first few weeks, being the mother of a child with special needs.
• 2020-03-24

  Borders slamming shut - echoes of my parents conversations

  As borders around the world were slamming shut, I organised for my daughter to return home from Israel very fast, experiencing the anxieties of my childhood overlaid with the stories of my parents .
• 2020-03-23

  Barmitzvah in the time of Corona

  Article about celebrating a barmitzvah during the Covid19 restrictions
• 
  2020-04-26

  The Awakening

  The awakening of the collective; mind, body, soul and the beginning of the end of industrial society - a New World Order I was living and working casually at a children's outdoor education centre one day I was sitting on my sofa the next I was on the street. Week 1 - all casuals laid off Week 2 - All full-time staff cut back to half hours Week 3 - all staff living on centre given eviction within 72 hours Week 4 - homelessness and couch surfing Week 5 - Self Isolation & Family Week 6 - Family Feuds & Domestic Violence Week 7 - A run in with Police whilst living out of my Car Week 8 - My own place new beginnings Although life has thrown many curveballs I struggle with mental illness and addiction - now the world knows how it is to feel in social isolation - depressed, alone, unmotivated, unwanted, uninspired and ironically for those of us who have lived with mental illness our entire lives are no longer alone in our suffering. I shaved my head to symbolise being reborn into a new world order - one of hope, health, compassion and understanding with the soul & spirit being central to our livelihood.
• 
  1 April 2020

  Business closure

  Many shops on Upper Heidelberg Road in Ivanhoe now closed for business. There was some controversy when government allowed hairdressing appointments of 30 minutes when other businesses were already being asked to reduce their services and social distancing was already de rigueur.
• 
  2020-03-25

  Noisy neighbours

  We were out for a walk and heard a housebound resident in a local apartment banging out on the drums — more people confined to home might suggest taking up a quieter musical instrument! Neighbourly protocols might be tested.
• 
  2020-03-25

  COVID-19 Alarming Times

  A piece of prose that highlights global opinions and assertions that were made in March of 2020. The author notes the state of Australian citizens and how people in general there, and worldwide, are being affected, either in a positive manner, negative manner or somewhere in between those two extremes . (Added by curator)
• 
  2020-03-04

  Single toilet paper roll sells for $1000 as coronavirus panic-buying reaches new level

  A commercial news website reports on the panic buying of toilet paper. URL for full article here: https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/single-toilet-paper-roll-sells-for-1000-as-coronavirus-panic-buying-reaches-new-level-c-729542 In Australia, supermarket shelves were stripped of many essential items once people understood how serious the pandemic was, but the one that became a national obsession was toilet paper. People were filling trolleys with packs of toilet paper as soon as they realised lockdowns might be ordered. Major supermarkets eventually instituted 2 packs per person limits. A black market emerged online. There were many many memes, videos, articles, as well as serious analysis of this phenomenon. The irony is that toilet paper is in fact produced in Australia, so it was never going to run out. So this was an opportunity for us to think about human irrationality and panic; local and global manufacturing (and ignorance of this); enjoy humour as a response... and so much more. Also an opportunity to think about what people used before toilet paper was the norm - squares of newspaper, leaves etc! Suddenly ads for bidets appeared in our newsfeeds as well!
• 
  2020-03-09

  The Ballad of the Dunny Roll

  The video satirises the 'Australian spirit' and the panic buying of toilet paper which is still - 23 March - a feature of the response to the Pandemic in Australia