Gympie MP Tony Perrett speaks out on freedom rally

So-called ‘freedom protesters’ are preparing to gather in Gympie again, this time with music, guest speakers and a march, and while civic leaders have defended people’s right to protest, they have urged that it be kept peaceful and respectful.

Gympie will host another Freedom Festival this Saturday, December 11, in Memorial Park.

The festival aims to protest for freedom to “work, travel and live” and target government mandates being implemented on December 17.

It will go from 10am-12pm and involve several guest speakers, music and a march.

Organiser Allona Lahn said the idea of the festival was to give people hope and to make a stand against the “madness”.

“I think everyone should be concerned about the discrimination, the bullying, the no-jab-no-job, no-jab-no-travel, the restrictions and where the government are taking us in the future,” she said.

“The event is to give people hope, to unite communities and basically to make a stand and try and stop this madness.”

Gympie police will be in attendance to ensure public safety.

“It’s like we do with any big event, we always keep public safety a priority,” said Officer-in-Charge Gregg Davey said.

Previous rallies have been peaceful.

Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien said that peaceful protests are valuable to democracy and that he was concerned about the Queensland Government's “divisive mandates”.

“Peaceful protests are a valuable part of our democracy. I have deep concerns about the Queensland Government’s mandates which are dividing the community,” he said.

Gympie MP Tony Perrett said he supported “anyone’s right to protest and raise issues”.

“It must be peaceful and respectful,” he said. “It’s not up to me to judge the issue or concern of the protest.

This is about people’s right to protest.”

An advertisement for the rally was posted in a Gympie community group on Facebook and received a mixed response.

One commenter said:

“Posting about ‘freedumbs’ yet have the freedom to protest. In other words is just a superspreader event for those that cannot be vaccinated.”

Another said:

“It’s not only about the vax or the unvaxxed, it’s about freedom. The government is trying to take away our freedoms. Please do some research.”

Recent stats show the Gympie region is 72.9% vaccinated, compared to 80 per cent across Queensland.