Anti-vax bus: City of Sydney staff abused after passing motion
Sydney councillors have been put in the crosshairs of anti-vaxxers after passing a motion which prevents the tin-hat brigade from hiring council venues and using facilities. SEE THE COMMENTS
NSW Coronavirus News
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW Coronavirus News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Sydney councillors have been inundated with abusive messages about the size of their lips and been labelled “meat puppets” from conspiracy theorists after they passed a motion which would ban an anti-vax bus from using council venues.
City of Sydney council followed the lead of the City of Newcastle and the Blue Mountains City Council in barring the Vaxxed tour bus from using their facilities.
The tin-hat brigade have a statewide tour in which they detail the risks of proven medical vaccinations.
MORE NEWS
Wet, grey weather to stay as cold front sweeps NSW
People without uni degrees desert Labor, Greens: new poll
Hunt for mullet man: Cops reopen bank robbery case
Sydney councillor Linda Scott had her motion unanimously passed which barred the group from using facilities and forced council to write to NSW Health about the group.
However this put her in the crosshairs of the anti-vaxxers. She detailed some of the abuse she received in a video on social media.
“I don’t know what’s more disturbing Linda, the fact you’ve done absolutely zero research about the bus (Ms Scott said this was untrue) or the fact you genuinely think you can pull off red lipstick with no lips,” she said.
“I can send you the details of an amazing cosmetic nurse. She’s a pro at the gummy smile so the horse head will be a little less noticeable.”
The mean tweets of the anti-vaxxer movement! This is what happens when you’re a women in public life, standing up for science and evidence-based public health information in a global pandemic. #meanTweets #COVID pic.twitter.com/nMcrEUzIp2
— Councillor Linda Scott (@ClrLindaScott) October 26, 2020
“Go big mouth, get out the branding iron. We’ve got another meat puppet here,” another said.
“People continue to ignore the obvious. Vaccination does not work, I’ve observed this over the years.”
The motion also stated the council acknowledges COVID-19 is an example of how dangerous a disease can be without a vaccine and calls on NSW police to ban any more of these events.
Ms Scott told The Daily Telegraph she wants to stop the spread of misinformation.
“As a baby, I was hospitalised with rubella as a result of being exposed to an unvaccinated child before I could receive my vaccinations. I was seriously ill and count myself lucky to have survived it,” she said.
“Freedom of expression and speech are a bedrock of our democratic societies. Information considered to be in the public interest should be defined broadly, but should never include the spread of hate speech or disinformation that could be harmful or deadly to vulnerable people.
“As the race for a COVID-19 vaccine draws closer the state and federal governments need to step up and do more to ensure communities understand the clear, evidence based benefits from vaccines and take steps to ban wilfully misleading and dangerous information.”
The Vaxxed Tour is hosted by fellow conspiracy theorist group Australian Vaccination-risks Network.
According to its tour schedule, the bus is expected to arrive in Sydney on Wednesday.
Australian Vaccination-risk Network founder Meryl Dorey said the tour will continue in Sydney even if the motion is passed.
“The fact is this is nothing more than discrimination. What are they afraid of? We are giving a voice back to children to the people who have been killed or injured by vaccines,” she said.
“This council in Sydney does not care about children’s health. If they did they would be inviting us to come and we are doing the government’s job.
“What they are doing is immoral and illegal. Are they representing their electorate or are they representing the drug companies? Who is paying them to pass this motion? Why are they so afraid?
Both organisations’ claims have been routinely debunked by health professionals.
Australia Medical Association former president Dr Kean-Seng Lim said the tour was “concerning” and undermined immunisation efforts.
“The benefits of vaccination have been proven over and over again on a worldwide basis,” Dr Lim said. “A lot of the anti-vax movement is based on rumours and untruths … any process which increases the misinformation out there is harmful to our society.”