Victoria is a socialist gulag

Lets be realistic here, the standard of living is fantastic in Victoria but our personal freedoms and liberties have never ever been more restricted.

The racial and religious villification laws slam free speech. They make it illegal to criticise a religion.

The water restrictions are nothing more than centrally planned nonsense. Rather than allowing water providers and customers to come to a voluntary agreement about what they may exchange, government has put its tentacles into the market and limited the ways in which a household may use water. My South East Water bill has the following on the back page:

One Year On: The Permanent Water Saving Rules that apply in Melbourne celebrated their first anniversary in March 2006. Please remember to follow these simple rules because every drop counts...

You hear that you stupid slaves ? The rules "celebrated". All hail the legislation. This is the kind of Orwellian language that comes from socialists who value their party and the size of government far more than the rights and freedoms of individuals.

Also on a federal level, our rights and freedoms are utterly trashed:

Holders of a tourist/visitor visa DO NOT have permission to work in Australia.

You may apply for permission to work by lodging an application for a Temporary Residence visa. Temporary Residence visas allow Australian employers, who are unable to fill highly skilled positions from the local labour market, to sponsor overseas personnel for up to four years.

You cannot start work until the Department has approved your application.

Working without permission is an offence that attracts a fine of up to $10,000. It can also result in your visa being cancelled and your holiday cut short.

I also heard a caller ring 3AW talkback radio this morning saying that the ABS mailed his household telling him they wish to interview him for their social trends survey. Because the man worked full time, he initially refused to be interviewed in his household, and the ABS responded by issuing a letter threatening a $10,000 fine against the man unless he helped them with their survey.
Surely this is an outrageous form of coercion against individuals by government. Or how about this little gem, that our farmers have to deal with?

In general the government will own all water on or below the ground, a farmer will be given an allocation for each year, if it’s a dry year and he goes over his allocation it will be deducted off the next year and so on until he runs out of water.

If a farmer refuses an NRM board officer permission of entry on his land, the maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000. If the farmer users abusive language a $5,000 fine can apply.

And in Western Australia, people in rural areas aren't allowed to clear trees and vegetation from their properties:

It is recommended that the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (henceforth “the Act”) be amended to provide that clearing of more than 0.2ha of indigenous vegetation is an offence.
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A failure to comply with this provision may attract a maximum fine of $10,000. Perhaps more significantly, a pastoral lessee who has contravened section 109(1) must restore the land and vegetation to the satisfaction of the Pastoral Lands Board.

Just remember that when governments give themselves the power to fine or imprison individuals over "undesirable" behaviour, they are using coercion, violence or the threat of violence against individuals. When the government spends more time restricting liberties and freedoms, than actually upholding them, it becomes an institution of violence.