Orwellian echo in 2020 group-fit plan

Winston Smith, an office worker in the Ministry of Truth, is woken by an ear-splitting whistle emanating from the telescreen. It signals that physical jerks will begin in three minutes.

"Thirty to forty group!" yapped a piercing female voice. "Thirty to forty group! Take your places, please. Thirties to forties!"

Winston sprang to attention in front of the telescreen, upon which the image of a youngish woman, scrawny but muscular, dressed in tunic and gym shoes, had already appeared.

"Arms bending and stretching!" she rapped out. "Take your time by me. One, two, three four! One, two, three, four! Come on, comrades, put a bit of life into it! One, two, three, four!"

The woman on the telescreen then instructs the thirties to forties to touch their toes. Winston does not do it well.

"Smith!" screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. "6079 Smith W! Yes,you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! That's better, comrade."

This is just fiction, of course. It could not happen in real life. Or could it?

Fast forward to Kevin Rudd's 2020 summit, and there it is, crammed in among all the other Big Ideas dreamt up by Cate and Hugh and the other 998 delegates chosen from the nation's best and brightest.

A recommendation from the summit report on A Long-Term Health Strategy: "Each sedentary job having to include 30 minutes physical activity a day."

Right, then! Take your places, please! Pay attention to the telescreen!

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