Commentary As Australia’s death toll from COVID-19 passes 1,000, opinions about the efficacy of draconian lockdowns are beginning to diverge across the country. “This is not a sustainable way to live,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared recently. An increasing number of Australians, who have endured the pain of the world’s longest lockdowns, are inclined to agree with him. Yet many weeks before, citizens in countries such as the United States, France, and the United Kingdom—which have higher case numbers and deaths along with higher vaccination rates—were already enjoying greater freedoms as restrictions were eased. And they also noticed that the heavy hand of government was keeping the supposedly authority-defying Aussie “larrikin” firmly under the thumb and locked up at home. For the most part, from the start of the pandemic in 2020, Australians generally accepted government-imposed restrictions, which were accompanied by assurances from politicians and public health officials that they …