Freddie Sayers spoke to Hayley Hodgson, who has returned from a 14-day detention

Hayley Hodgson, 26, moved to Darwin from Melbourne to escape the never-ending lockdowns — only to find herself locked up in a Covid Internment Camp without even having the virus.

She’s just returned from a 14-day detention at Howard Springs, the 2000-capacity Covid camp outside Darwin to which regional Covid cases are transported by the authorities. In an exclusive interview with Freddie Sayers, she recounted her experiences.

It all began when a friend of hers tested positive. She recounts how investigators came to her home shortly afterwards, having run the numberplate of her scooter to identify her as a ‘close contact’. They asked if she had done a Covid test, and in the moment she lied and said she had, when she in fact had not yet. This set in train an extraordinary series of events.

“So then the police officers blocked my driveway,” she says. “I walked out and I said, “what’s going on, are you guys testing me for COVID? What’s happening?” They said, “no, you’re getting taken away. And you have no choice. You’re going to Howard Springs. You either come with us now, and we’ll put you in the back of the divvy van. Or you can have a choice to get a ‘COVID cab’… I just said, “I don’t consent to this. I don’t understand why I can’t just self-isolate at home, like a lot of other people are doing.” And they just said, “we’ve just been told from higher up where to take you. And that’s all that there is.”

She was ordered to pack a bag and was told that she could be released once she tested negative. Collected in the back of a rented van, she was then transported to Howard Springs. On arrival, she was told that she would have to stay there for the full 14 days:

You literally get put on the back of a golf buggy with your bags. And these people are in hazmat suits and everything. They don’t want to come near you because they think you’re infectious. And they literally drop you to your room. And they leave you. They don’t come and say anything, they don’t check up, they don’t do anything. You get delivered your meals once a day. And you are just left. - HAYLEY HODGSON, UNHERDTV

She was tested three times during the 14 days, and on each occasion tested negative.

At one stage she was disciplined for leaving the confines of her cabin without a mask and was threatened with a $5000 AUD fine. On another occasion, she told how she was offered Valium to calm her down.

You feel like you’re in prison. You feel like you’ve done something wrong, it’s inhumane what they’re doing. You are so small, they just overpower you. And you’re literally nothing. It’s like ‘you do what we say, or you’re in trouble, we’ll lock you up for longer’. Yeah, they were even threatening me that if I was to do this again, “we will extend your time in here. - HAYLEY HODGSON, UNHERDTV

What Hayley is still not certain about is whether her sentence at Howard Springs was punitive and related to her original mistake about the test — that is the impression she got from one call with the Australian Centre for Disease Control.

She has since lost her job at a store, which was on a casual basis. At no stage was she reminded of her rights or put in contact with a lawyer.

This has all taken place in a state that has recorded a total of 290 cases and no deaths. The Northern Territories has suffered comparatively far less than other Australian regions, but it has not shied away from highly draconian measures. Just last month, Katherine Town in the state went into a snap lockdown after three cases were reported.

The state’s Howard Springs centre has been described by the Australian Government as ‘the safest and most functional design for quarantine in Australia’. It has served as a model for quarantine camps elsewhere in the country, with the Australian Government partnering with state governments to deliver ‘Centres for National Resilience’ in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. These are all expected to be completed in the next 6 months.

You can watch the full account of Hayley’s experience above.

By: Florence Read (@florubyread/flo.read@unherd.com)

CONTINUED:

SICK: Australian Forced Into Prison Camp, Told ‘It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense’

Australia has been a fascinating case study of the fall of a western nation, drawing the interest of many Americans who fear that “The Lucky Country’s” fate may foreshadow certain aspects of the United State’s future. Figures from the nation’s government have openly talked about a New World Order, forced registration to visit family, and are now building quarantine facilities. Australian citizen Hayley Hodgson was imprisoned and later released from one of those facilities, coming out with a story horrifying to many.

It all began when a friend of Hodgson tested positive for COVID-19. Investigators came to her home shortly afterwards, stalking her vehicle and running it in a government database to identify her as a ‘close contact.’ They exchanged words and informed Hodgson that she will be forcibly locked up in a COVID-19 prison concentration camp despite repeated negative tests.

“So then the police officers blocked my driveway,” she says. “I walked out and I said, “what’s going on, are you guys testing me for COVID? What’s happening?” They said, “no, you’re getting taken away. And you have no choice. You’re going to Howard Springs. You either come with us now, and we’ll put you in the back of the divvy van. Or you can have a choice to get a ‘COVID cab’… I just said, “I don’t consent to this. I don’t understand why I can’t just self-isolate at home, like a lot of other people are doing.” And they just said, “we’ve just been told from higher up where to take you. And that’s all that there is.”

She also shared a video from inside the facility showing an argument between her and a guard. Hodgson was repeatedly threatened with a 5,000 dollar fine and even offered a valium to calm herself down upon telling facility workers that she would like to go for a walk or jog outside of her small ‘quarantine room.’

It was also reported that those running the COVID-19 prison camps had vast oversight, possessing the power to extend the base 2-week imprisonment for any individual as they please. This brought Hodgson a great amount of distress, as the Australian woman and others at the facility could have their stays extended and explosive fines levied at them for violations as minor as stepping outside their room without proper permission.

“It doesn’t have to make sense. There has to be lines everywhere drawn, yeah? And one of the lines is you cannot leave your balcony and you cannot go to someone else’s. Whether it makes no sense or doesn’t seem right to you, that is the line, and that’s what the law is, and that’s how it goes.”A statement made by an Austrlian prison guard to Hogson in response to questions surrounding the dracoanian COVID-19 camp protocol.

Hodgson was reportedly released from the facility after about two weeks. She did not test positive for COVID-19 during the entire ordeal, including before and after her imprisonment.

By Darian Alexander

CONTINUED:

Video Shows Australian Locked Up In 'Quarantine Camp' Threatened With $5K Fine For Stepping Too Far Outside Cell

Australians are being taken from their homes by police, locked up in covid quarantine camps, threatened with giant fines if they step too far outside their cells and offered Valium to get them to quietly submit.

From Unherd:

You literally get put on the back of a golf buggy with your bags. And these people are in hazmat suits and everything. They don’t want to come near you because they think you’re infectious. And they literally drop you to your room. And they leave you. They don’t come and say anything, they don’t check up, they don’t do anything. You get delivered your meals once a day. And you are just left.
- HAYLEY HODGSON, UNHERDTV



You feel like you’re in prison. You feel like you’ve done something wrong, it’s inhumane what they’re doing. You are so small, they just overpower you. And you’re literally nothing. It’s like ‘you do what we say, or you’re in trouble, we’ll lock you up for longer’. Yeah, they were even threatening me that if I was to do this again, “we will extend your time in here.
- HAYLEY HODGSON, UNHERDTV

Full interview:

They're also detaining children. Three youths aged 15, 16 and 17 were recently hunted down and arrested for fleeing the camp (they all tested negative for covid but came in contact with someone who tested positive).

No need to worry though, according to free-thinking Quillette founder Claire Lehmann, an "Intellectual Dark Web" deradicalizer who tries to appeal to conservatives, the covid camp is actually a paradise "full of hot babes":

So long as the detainees have smart phones and can take selfies for thirst-trapping on Instagram they are free.

Smartphones Macht Frei!

By Chris Menahan