This journalist can laugh at the Premier or we can just look at the facts.

Here are the facts for Melbourne, Australia:

It was illegal to stray more than 25km from your home without a specific exemption.

They had a curfew that made it illegal to go out at night. #ableg 1/x https://twitter.com/EmmaLGraney/status/1336844019196837888

They set up police checkpoints to, without suspicion, demand the production of documents and identification.

They had violent police crackdowns on peaceful protestors.

In one instance they arrested a member of the media.

They made it illegal to leave the city. #ableg 2/x

They did all this in addition to the most stringent restrictions of the kind that Canada had in the spring.

If that's not a police state, I don't know what is.

You're free to support these measures, you can argue that they work but it doesn't change what they are. #ableg 4/x

Worth noting that in Canada, the restrictions on freedom permitted by the Charter, are limited to those that are "justified in a free and democratic society", as determined by the Oakes Test.

It is unlikely that the measures from Melbourne would have been legal here. #ableg 5/x

Also worth noting that these measures were in place during the summer and fall when things were manageable in Alberta, so to claim that it's all justified by their ability to live slightly more normally now is a moot point. #ableg 6/x

So back to the start, this journalist can try and dunk on the Premier all she wants but it doesn't make her any less wrong. #ableg 7/7

And for those people who think they're experts.

Melbourne is not back to normal, they still face more stringent restrictions than Albertans did through the summer.

Despite all they did, Victoria (where Melbourne is) overall has a similar COVID death rate to Alberta. #ableg

Also "COVID Zero" has not been demonstrated to be feasible in any jurisdiction that is not an island, otherwise geographically remote or sparsely populated. #ableg