Anti-vax Dr William Bay fights licence suspension in Supreme Court hearing
An anti-vax Queensland doctor suspended from practising has faced court, arguing Australia’s medical regulator does not have authority to stop him from seeing patients.
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An anti-vax doctor suspended from practising has said Australia’s medical regulator does not hold the legal authority to strip his license.
Dr William Bay today represented himself before Justice David Boddice at the Brisbane Supreme Court, claiming the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority and the Medical Board of Australia did not hold the legal agency to remove his ability to practice in Queensland.
The general practitioner from Strathpine, in Brisbane northern suburbs, claims his licence was suspended in August by AHPRA due to him being unvaccinated, after a video of him radically protesting Covid-19 vaccination mandates at a national medical conference went viral online.
Dr Bay, who is also the leader of the Queensland People’s Protest anti-vax group, submitted to the court that his human rights had been “unsatisfactorily burdened,” his freedom of speech suppressed, and that he held the right to “speak freely” and “warn” his patients about the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine.
His request for his case to be publicly broadcast was rejected by Justice Boddice.
Dr Bay sought to be deregistered entirely, allowing him to get a job outside medicine, with a hearing to be officially set in March next year.
Outside court, Dr Bay claimed he was suspended indefinitely on August 17 “purely” because of how he spoke out about Covid-19 vaccines.
He said AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia were “fraudulent” and unable to act on behalf of the Commonwealth by imposing vaccination mandates in Queensland.
He then took aim at Queensland Parliament and the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, saying parliament did not hold the power to legislate on behalf of doctors outside of the state.
“The Queensland Parliament is seeking to legislate for health practitioners all around Australia, which as a Queensland Parliament, it simply cannot do,” Dr Bay said.
“I am alleging they (AHPRA) are a fictitious and fraudulent entity because they are purporting to act as a Commonwealth of Australia, which cannot be done by legislation from Queensland.
“The key message here is that Queensland is also fraudulently acting in place of the Commonwealth, that is why the states and territories have got together and colluded to use Queensland as a way to regulate all of the nation.”
Dr Bay said if he was unsuccessful at the Supreme Court level he would seek further legal action in the High Court.
“Vaccines are dangerous and they are killing people,” Dr Bay said.
“If the national law is invalid as I say it is, then all orders against all doctors and nurses regarding the Covid vaccine. will be quashed.”
He said he was pleased with today’s court outcome, and felt confident Justice Boddice had accepted his submission that AHPRA and the Medical Board did not hold legal authority.
“If he thought there was no legitimate basis to the constitutional validity of the jurisdictional question, he would not have allowed this proceeding to go ahead.”
A two-day hearing is expected to be set in March.
Dr Bay was accompanied by at least 50 supporters, all members of the Queensland’s Peoples protest group, who erupted into cheer as he exited court on Wednesday.
Those who couldn’t squeeze into the courtroom during the proceedings waited outside and chanted messages against Covid-19 vaccination through megaphones, while Dr Bay was snapped blowing a ram’s horn.
Addressing the crowd, Dr Bay said the group had achieved “progress for humanity.”
“We have achieved a victory for the people of Australia,” he said.
“Today marks the culmination of many months of protesting, fighting, pushing back against the Covid-19 agenda that the government has been pushing on us.”
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