Vaccine-sceptic Americans vow to boycott ‘fortress Australia’ after borders re-opened to tourists – asking ‘who wants to visit a dictatorship?’
- Australia ended its 704-day lockout from the rest of the world on Monday
- Some Americans vowed never to visit due to lockdowns and vax mandates
- One said the Australian Government was ‘nothing short of a tyrannical regime’
American opponents of vaccine mandates have vowed never to visit ‘fortress Australia’ even after the country reopened to jabbed tourists.
Emotional passengers landed in airports around Australia on Monday, ending the country’s 704-day lockout from the rest of the world.
But readers of conservative website Newsmax responded with anger to the announcement of the reopening.
Attacking what they called ‘quarantine death camp’ policies, they said Australia deserved to be starved of tourists for having implemented draconian lockdowns.
Some even called for a violent response to what they perceived as tyrannical restrictions to a relatively low number of cases and deaths by international standards.
Young Americans are pictured in Sydney. But many readers of a conservative US website say they will never go to Australia, even though it is now reopened to tourists
‘Who the hell wants to visit that dictatorship,’ one commenter wrote on Newmax’s Instagram page.
A responder to the ‘dictatorship’ jibe called for violent protests.
‘Unfortunately peaceful protests are NOT the answer. The only thing these criminals understand is violence and loss of money,’ they wrote.
Continuing along the same lines, another poster commented ‘that government is nothing short of a tyrannical regime’.
Another said ‘no thank you to stepping off an airplane right into a quarantine death camp. Not happening.’
Bondi Beach in Sydney (pictured) is one of the most visited attractions for tourists, who can once again visit the country.
One poster urged people to withhold visiting Australia and spending money there, as a way to punish the governments for its Covid policies.
‘Make them go BROKE for what they did to their people,’ they wrote.
One reader said they wouldn’t go to Australia even if they were paid.
Another wrote sarcastically: ‘Must be fully vaccinated with 10 boosters. Wear four masks indoors and outdoors. And must fully believe in the almighty CDC.’
The CDC is the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Amid all the venomous attacks on Australia there was one comment from an Australian defending the country.
A young man wearing an American flag as a cape near Bondi Beach in Sydney
‘I’m bagging Americans who think Australia is living under anymore tyranny than America because we aren’t, far from it,’ they said.
But not all Americans are boycotting Australia. One boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was excited about taking a holiday Down Under.
‘This is my first time going to visit my best friend, Ally, hey, I’m so excited I can’t wait to see her daily life,’ the tourist said.
Another said: ‘I actually played basketball here for Geelong Supercats and I’ve been trying to get back for the past couple of years.’
Despite calls for people to punish Australia by not visiting, about 1.23 million people have already been granted Australian visas as the country reopens.
But this has also led to another health fear. Experts warned the international arrivals could leave the nation exposed to a surge of influenza cases and urged Australians to get a flu jab as soon as possible.
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