There is a lesson governments should have learned from COVID.

Respect your people and don’t reach for emergency powers every time a crisis appears.

But some governments have learned the exact opposite.

In New Zealand, officials are now considering invoking sweeping powers that could limit how often motorists are allowed to drive if there’s a shortage of global fuel supplies.

Yes. You read that right.

The government may decide which days you can use your own car.

The New Zealand government is discussing using a power that dates back to the 1970s oil crisis when New Zealand imposed ‘carless days’. 

Drivers were banned from using their vehicle on a designated day of the week to cut petrol consumption.

Back then it was sold as an emergency measure.

Now it’s back on the table again.

This is the instinct of modern governments. When a problem emerges, they don’t ask how to boost supply or unleash innovation. 

They ask how to control people.

COVID proved how far they’re willing to go.

Lockdowns. Curfews. Border closures. Australians were told where they could go, who they could see and whether they could work. 

Families were separated. Businesses were blown up.

And, let’s face it, many politicians loved the power.

That same mentality is creeping back into public policy. 

Shortages? Restrict movement. Energy crunch? Limit driving. Climate target? Regulate behaviour.

What COVID taught them was what they could get away with.

Confidence that governments can micromanage people’s lives.

Australians should pay close attention. Because the political culture that produced those COVID restrictions still exists here.

Anthony Albanese’s Labor government has already shown its willingness to expand state power in the name of big goals, whether it’s Net Zero mandates, energy interventions or piling on red tape that kills the economy.

Once governments believe they can control your daily life ‘for the greater good’, they don’t stop.

First it was leaving your house.

Next it might be driving your car.

Don’t let it happen.