16-03-2025: People in the Australian states of Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW) are cleaning up from the effects of Cyclone Alfred, which led to widespread flooding and many uprooted trees over the first week of March. Yet this cyclone never actually crossed the coastline, and was downgraded to a tropical low by the time it made landfall.[1] While one person very unfortunately lost their life after disappearing in a flooded river near Dorrigo, no other fatalities were reported. Liberal National Party (LNP) QLD Premier David Crisafulli, giving sometimes twice hourly updates, said that 330 000 homes and businesses had lost power due to the storm surge[2], with 45 000 premises in NSW being at least temporarily disconnected from electricity. Some trees uprooted by 100 kilometre per hour winds struck houses, causing significant damage. Many houses were without power for days on end, with little indication of when they might be reconnected to the grid.
“Psyclone” lockdowns
However, one quipped that it was a psyclone rather than a “cyclone”. Prior to the arrival of Alfred, the politicians and the corporate media whipped up a sustained fear campaign, with saturation scaremongering bombarding television, radio and the internet. Some people started to physically develop strong anxiety in response, fearing an apocalyptic outcome. People were lining up at depots filling up sandbags as fast as they could. In some cases, elderly residents in their 80s were helped by others as they struggled to lift 15 to 20 kilogram sandbags. The government closed down schools and public transport for three days. Panic buying at supermarkets took off, with some attempting to stockpile preserved food in anticipation of weeks without access to provisions. Giant hardware near monopoly Bunnings nearly sold out of generators with people thinking that they would be without power for weeks. Businesses closed down and the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) became a ghost town. Almost all restuarants and take away food outlets shut their doors, apart from some savy entrepreneurs cashing in by staying open and attracting custom. Service stations closed down, and some even used plastic wrapping to prevent people from using the petrol bowsers!
All of this behaviour was strongly redolent of the “Covid” civil war from 2020 to 2022. The government scared people into submission to such an extent that many feared they were going to die. And in fact, the government in practice once again imposed lockdowns – without using that term. Yet the cyclone lockdowns arguably went further than the tyrannical dictates endured during the “plandemic”. At no time was public transport totally shut down during Covid, and while beaches were incredibly closed then, this time the Gold Coast City Council threatened surfers with a $16 000 fine (!) for attempting to ride the waves caused by Cyclone Alfred.[3] Yet the cyclone never crossed the coast as a cyclone, despite all the dire warnings from the Bureau of Meterology, and incessant announcements from politicians and most in authority. The cyclone mostly stayed out at sea, despite millions of people waiting days for it to arrive. In the end, it was yet another heavy rain event fuelled by an increasingly warm climate.
Mocked on social media
When it became clear that the “cyclone” was a fizzer, many mocked the government fearmongering on social media and in the comments section of mainstream media articles posted online. ‘All that work and money spent on preparation for some drizzle. The mosquitoes are more dangerous than this supposed cat 2/tropical low’, wrote one. ‘Of course they shut the city down and public transport for that’ wrote another. One posted a meme saying the state was determined to “rebuild” in the wake of the carnage – and showed a picture of a tipped over deck chair’ ![4] This is not to make light of the damage that was caused in some areas, and the impact of the flooding across two states. Yet there was clearly another agenda at play. The intense fearmongering took place to justify lockdowns, or at least, to ensure that most people would not object to lockdowns which unquestionably resembled the nonsensical and dangerous extreme edicts during the fraudulent “Covid pandemic”. As with the Covid times, lockdowns are not at all about safety, but about inflicting political and economic repression against working people and small businesses in a vain attempt to stimulate a flatlining capitalist economy.
Without a doubt, repeating extreme weather events from bushfires to floods are yet another harbinger of the damage being caused by a collapse of the climate in the face of centuries of greenhouse gas emissions. A hothouse Earth is just one result of runaway atmospheric pollution principally caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas. The warming of the oceans through the inability of the “blue planet” to absorb millions of tonnes of carbon and other pollutants annually leads to heavy rain events and cyclones. For a cyclone to begin, a sea temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius is required, and such sea temperatures are now being reached in areas of the planet well below the tropics. This is why Brisbane and South East Queensland has not seen a cyclone for 50 years, whereas they semi-regularly hit Far North Queensland. A wholesale transition to electric power generated from zero carbon sources is critically urgent but is impossible while the capitalist class retains state power. The private profits of big energy companies come before the welfare of billions, and even before life itself.
At the time of writing, some houses and small businesses remain without power. While trees falling and taking out power lines is understandable, it is suspicious that some were without power for up to a week, when the cyclone puffed itself out to a tropical low before it hit the coast. It is possible that power supplies were deliberately cut in order to close down small business and other economic activity. It is also suspicious that some of the major supermarkets had their shelves stripped and were not resupplied with back-up stock. Was this done to increase the appearance of a crisis? Whatever the real story, the longer capitalism survives, the more politically repressive the capitalist state must become. The ruling class saw an opportunity to increase their powers of suppression, and they took it. They will use other events to do it again – unless they are stopped by a conscious working class. Guided by a revolutionary socialist party, this class is aware that if it is to survive, they need their own government and their own state.
Workers League
E: workersleague@protonmail.com
[1] https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/230k-without-power-as-tropical-cyclone-alfred-expected-to-make-landfall-on-saturday-morning/news-story/7b0e743bf27aa9a7fe9330eb26778c27 (11-03-2025)
[2] www.irishtimes.com/world/australia/2025/03/08/ex-cyclone-alfred-one-dead-and-mass-blackouts-after-tropical-low-hits-australia/ (11-03-2025)
[3] www.beachgrit.com/2025/03/surfers-threatened-with-whopping-16k-fine-for-attempting-to-ride-cyclone-alfred/ (11-03-2025)
[4] www.msn.com/en-au/weather/meteorology/aussie-weather-bureau-slammed-for-fearmongering-about-cyclone-alfred/ar-AA1Au2n6 (11-03-2025)
Image: Coastal erosion on the Gold Coast after the passing of Cyclone Alfred. http://www.msn.com
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