What Australia’s ‘extreme’ new coronavirus laws and police powers mean for our civil liberties

Both the community and government are “rightly focusing” on “what needs to happen to keep us safe” in light of the “threat that is posed to the health and safety of us all” by COVID-19, Liberty Victoria spokeswoman Gemma Cafarella said.

But the measures “need to be reasonable, necessary and only in place for as long as strictly necessary”, she said.