Gympie ‘freedom’ rally draws big crowd at Town Hall

A crowd of protesters gathered unmasked and not socially distanced in front of Gympie’s Town Hall amid escalating unrest around lockdowns and restrictions. Here’s how it unfolded.

People of all ages gathered in front of the entrance of Gympie’s Town Hall on Tuesday morning in silent protest, amid escalating public unrest around rolling lockdowns.

From 9am, a crowd of more than 100 congregated unmasked and not socially distanced in front of the Town Hall as part of a national campaign in response to the Government’s handling of the pandemic.

Ratepayers attempted to make their way through the crowd before being greeted at the entrance by a security guard and the Gympie Regional Council Director of Corporate and Financial Services.

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The rally was occasionally interrupted by a car horn or heckler on the street, with one woman shouting from a passing car “if you’ve got a phone, you’re already being tracked.”

“I won’t be masked, tested, tracked, chipped, poisoned to support this orchestrated lie”: Activist Lyn Morrison was one of hundreds of people gathering in front of Town Hall in Gympie, silently protesting the Government’s response to the pandemic.

The Gympie Times spoke with three protesters participating in the rally, who asked to remain anonymous.

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“We’re basically tired of the tyrannical things that are going on,” they said in reference to the government’s response to Covid.

While the rally was peaceful, some protesters chose to hold up signage relaying their message of freedom.

They said their human rights were taken away as a result of lockdowns and “mandated vaccines”, and encouraged people to start asking questions about the government’s intentions.

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They also said they hoped the Government would stand down as a result of the protests, and “normal people” would be elected in their place.

Activist Lyn Morrison said protesters planned to speak with Mayor Glen Hartwig, but realised he was not in the building.

The crowd remained outside the Town Hall for several hours, before moving through Mary St and taking the rally to the Gympie Regional Council offices.

Gympie Regional Council Director of Corporate and Financial Services Dave Lewis said the protesters were picketing the wrong government branch.

“Local councillors have no jurisdiction, it’s a state and federal issue,” he said.

The rally is the second of its kind to happen in Gympie, after a protest held at the Lake Alford Park in July drew a crowd of more than 1000 people.