This past week saw Australia’s “gold-standard” for Covid-19 quarantine facilities come under fire after multiple escape attempts and a damning insider report.

On November 30, three teenagers attempted to escape the facility. In a 9 News Australia clip, reporter Davina Smith claims that “three people have escaped from the Howard Springs COVID Quarantine facility.” This news came just days after a 27-year old, who was negative for Covid-19, scaled the fence and escaped into a waiting vehicle.  

Tahlia Sarv, a 9 News reporter on sight in Darwin, Australia, cheerily replies that the trio “scaled the fence in the early hours” of the morning.

The police initiated a manhunt in response, conducting “thorough searches” of cars and busses: searching boots and checking vehicle registrations. However, at the time of the reporting, Sarv noted that the search had been disbanded for unknown reasons.

“Hopefully good news,” she chirrups.

Well, good is certainly relative. Later that day, Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Police Chief Jamie Chalker confirmed that three teens, aged 15, 16, and 17 had been apprehended after a foot chase on the edge of Palmerston.

The three teens were identified as members of the Binjari community near Katherine. Two weeks ago, reports emerged that 38 aboriginal members of the community had been sent to Howard Springs. Now, the reports are saying that the number has increased with “hundreds of household and other close contacts” being flown into the facility.

Notably, all three teens had tested negative for Covid-19, but this hasn’t stopped them from being imprisoned as “close contacts” of a positive case. Nor did it shield the youth from Michael Gunner’s ire. “Absconding from Howard Springs isn’t just dangerous — it is incredibly stupid,” he said.

Why is that you may ask?

“Because we will catch you, and there will be consequences.”

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner issues a warning to any more would-be escapees.

“The health risk to the community was very low, so that does give cause for comfort,” Gunner conceded. “But there is absolutely no excuse for the actions of these three this morning.”

He also went on to ominously state that, “This is the first time we’ve had to use the center for large numbers of people from an Aboriginal community, but it probably won’t be the last time.”

For that reason, I suppose, changes are necessary. And luckily good-cop Commissioner Chalker was there with potential solutions. Chalker admitted that the extreme isolation created by Howard Springs facilities may have triggered the teens’ escape attempt. (So apparently, there might be an excuse for the teens’ actions.)

He stated that health teams would discuss more human interaction for future Howard Springs inmates… I mean, visitors. In addition, more cameras are also going up because naturally, more people might try to escape and the police would like to watch their attempts from every possible angle.

Another escape attempt…

And in fact, at least one more person already has tried to escape. Around 10pm Sunday night, a 36-year-old man climbed the fences in a desperate flight towards freedom. He was recaptured early the next morning. While the individual’s Covid-19 status is unknown, he is the fifth attempted escapee. (A sixth man was reported to have attempted to flee Alice Springs, another quarantine facility located in the Northern Territory.)

These escape attempts raise many questions that the mainstream media seems to gloss over or completely ignore.

• How voluntary is Howard Springs?  
• Are the puff pieces calling a stay at Howard Springs “like a holiday” reflective of reality?
• For how long will the Australian government suspend its citizens’ rights to due process via quarantine camps?
• Will Michael Gunner continue to field criticism by labeling critics of his policies as “tinfoil hat-wearing tossers“?

Hayley Hodgson, 26, shares her insights after a 2-week involuntary stay at Howard Springs.

The recent experience of 26-year-old Hayley Hodgson provides some insight into these questions. In an incredible 20-minute interview, Hayley recounts the events to UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers, and describes how she was targeted, unwillingly removed to Howard Springs, lied to by officials about the length of her stay, and the uncomfortable two weeks that ensued.

As Hayley recounts her story, a common theme emerges. The authorities’ measures lack common sense. Lines are drawn and to hell with where and why.

Hayley moved to Darwin, Australia from Melbourne hoping to escape the city’s unceasing lockdowns. Instead, she found herself in a 14-day stay at Howard Springs after she was identified as a “close contact” of a friend who tested positive for Covid-19.

Hayley admits that when the police first came to interview her after her friend’s diagnosis, fear drove her to tell an impromptu lie – that she had tested negative for the disease. However, this situation quickly came to light, and Hayley admitted her mistake.

The authorities claimed they would send someone to administer a test to remedy the situation. Instead, they removed her to Howard Springs.

Hayley claims that CDC officials would later inform her that her stay was likely a “punishment” for her initial lie. This admission raises serious concerns about the motives behind Howard Springs’ creation, and the potential ongoing and serious violations of Australian citizens’ due process rights.

In Hayley’s case, her punishment was meted out without a trial or legal representation. She was targeted for a simple lie and held for two weeks at a quarantine facility, despite testing negative for Covid-19 three times during her stay.

Hayley provided UnHerd with a short clip that has now gone viral, in which she receives a warning for violating the facility’s rules during her stay. Her crime? Throwing trash in a bin without a mask. Notably, she has a medical exemption for masks.

This horrible crime required not one, but three Howard Springs employees, to give Hodgson an “official warning.”

“Stay on your balcony and obey the rules while you’re here,” a masked-gowned-gloved-goggled-paper-wielding bureaucrat intones.

He and Hodgson go back and forth over small points, and he does not take kindly to her pointing out the arbitrariness of the facility’s rules.

“When it makes no sense or doesn’t seem right to you, that is the line, and that’s what the law is, yeah, and that’s how it goes.”  

He also logically points out that the area is highly infectious and very risky… that is, despite everyone in it having tested negative for Covid-19. And anyway,  further rule-breaking could result in a $5000 fine.

“I just want everybody to do the right thing and unfortunately it’s my job to make sure they do. And I don’t care– the ins and outs have nothing to do with me. I’m just here to make sure the rules are adhered to.”

So, no one should worry. Among all the employees, he at least is just following orders.   

According to Hayley, this was not the only threat she received. She was also told that rule-breaking could lead to a lengthier stay. At another point, when she begged to leave her small quarters for a jog or a run, she was offered valium as a substitute. Again, these actions raise serious concerns related to citizens’ rights under Australia’s Constitutional law.

“You feel like you’re in prison. You feel like you’ve done something wrong. It’s inhumane what they’re doing. Like you are so small. They just overpower you, and you are literally nothing. It’s like, ‘you do what we say, or you’re in trouble and we’ll lock you up for longer.’”

Hayley Hodgson describes her time at Howard Springs.

Hayley avidly disavowed the claims that a stay at Howard Springs is like a holiday. She voiced her sympathy for those attempting escape, and she left the viewers with a grim warning. Camps like Howards Springs are popping up all over the world and they will be used to contain the vaccinated and the unvaccinated alike.  

Hayley’s warning is one that should be heeded. For as long as the people continue to tolerate governments trampling on their rights in the name of “public health and the greater good,” similar stories will continue to emerge.

Post By CJ Fisher