" can never see Australians accepting the kind of government controls "
Firstly, nobody is asking such type of controls to be implemented.
Secondly, people tend to forget that Singapore used to be an underdeveloped, ethnically diverse, squalid, overcrowded and riddled with crime place.
Thirdly, people in some parts of the country are already accepting some drastic measures and asking for more, including for the army to be called in. "Concern over crime in Alice Springs reached boiling point on Tuesday when violent and chaotic scenes broke out across the CBD.In response, on Wednesday afternoon, the NT government declared an emergency situation in the town and a 14-day curfew for young people in the CBD between 6pm and 6am."
Fourth, dirigisme as historically assumed different forms.
At Gunpoint: Wiping Out Illegal Firearms in Singapore (nlb.gov.sg)
Bukit Ho Swee fire - Wikipedia
"Les Trente Glorieuses (French pronunciation: [le tʁɑ̃t ɡlɔʁjøz]; 'The Glorious Thirty') was a thirty-year period of economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975, following the end of the Second World War. ... Charles de Gaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which
included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy. This was followed by thirty years of unprecedented growth, known as the Trente Glorieuses...'
