You know it's all a plot, right? A secretive scheme cooked up by unelected globalist bureaucrats to restrict your freedom of movement, to control every aspect of your life. They sell the concept of a 15-minute city, where everything you need - doctors, shops, schools, parks, employment - is within easy walking distance as convenient. But really it's part of a sinister one-world government seeking to take away your freedom.

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Don't take my word for it. Take it from Pauline Hanson and her newly installed One Nation leader and candidate in Victoria, Warren Pickering. Both have peddled the same cockamamie conspiracy theory, Hanson in the Senate and Pickering on social media in 2024.

Pickering in his social media post: "Under the pretence of 'sustainability,' the powers that be would love to see our populations consolidated into manageable 15-minute zones."

Hanson to the Senate, after her baseless claim British authorities were punishing people in Oxford for leaving their designated zone: "This is a secretive international one world government."

Yet, in all seriousness, the pair are convinced they are ready to take the reins of government. And they want us to believe it too.

The conspiracy theory about 15-minute cities came out of the COVID era, even though the urban planning concept has been around a lot longer. There's nothing remotely sinister about it. Urban planners were simply looking for ways to make cities more liveable and reduce dependence on motor vehicles.

The concept was taken up by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo as part of her platform for re-election in 2020 and has since been adopted by urban planners around the world.

Every time I visit the in-laws in inner Sydney, I get to experience the 15-minute city. Everything is within an easy walk. Public transport is abundant, as are green spaces. Slap-bang in the middle of Australia's biggest city, the village vibe is alive and well. Over the years, I've got to know most of the dogs' names and have struck up conversations with their owners, whose names I don't know. Better still, once there, the car goes into the garage and doesn't........

© Canberra Times