They are still democracies. The majority of people in Australia and New Zealand are NUTS who worship government. They WANT to be told how to live every aspect of their lives!
A lot like NYers and Californians. They LOVE the shit they roll in! When California re-elected Newsome by a huge majority....
;>(
You're right. Right now they are covidist cult nanny states. They are way off track now and they've isolated themselves from the world the past two years. The longer they remain isolated from the world, the harder it will be to get them back on track. Japan was isolated for centuries. Maybe our cousins Down Under will do that? Especially with covid-19 becoming endemic and it'll never go away. We've moved on here in the U.S. Will they be able to accept the risk of pursuing "normalcy" with the virus?