Ahhh an Aussie, your state mandated levels of Stockholm syndrome towards your nanny state will never allow you to open your eyes to any other possibilities. Again with the word ‘free’, I don’t think you quite understand how much you pay through your arse for so little. If you think the UK has good healthcare or is something to brag about, you truly are lost my friend.
Key word is “state mandated”, only the state of Victoria was locked down, I think COVID barely scratched the other states. I also lived in NZ at the time, and as you recall, we barely got COVID and I spent 2020 and 2021 skiing and partying. Thanks to clever leadership, not seen in the US at the time.
As for UK healthcare, I quickly researched where Australia stacked up in the world and by most metrics, the UK was overwhelmingly the best. Unlike the weirdly propagandized Americans, I don’t have to do weird mental gymnastics to try and force my country at the top. I can accept facts.