Anti-vaxxer’s campaign to run as Byron Bay mayor hits major snag

He’s a prominent anti-vaxxer who doesn’t believe in germs and has boasted about his intellect. Now Tom Barnett’s aspirations for the top job in Byron Bay has hit a major snag.

A raw chicken-eating, anti-vaccine activist who claims it is “impossible to catch a virus” is running for mayor of Byron Bay.

But there is a major hiccup — he may have registered but has missed integral steps to get on the ballot and is therefore not in the running.

Tom Barnett announced he was running in the December 4 elections in a slick campaign video released on November 1.

He also took out adverts in the local newspaper but, according to the NSW Electoral Commission, he has failed to register in time and is therefore not listed as a mayoral candidate.

Tom Barnett says the system is broken and wants to “take Byron back”.

In his election campaign video, which features Mr Barnett surfing and Brazilian jiu jitsu wrestling a man in a corporate suit, he said the community wanted “a voice for health and freedom. We know the system is broken”.

Mr Barnett posted an extraordinary video that went viral last year amid the pandemic claiming: “You cannot catch a virus because it is impossible” and “a virus is not transmissible between people” and “the only way to catch a virus is to inject it into your bloodstream.”

Tom Barnett says the system is broken and wants to “take Byron back”.

Mr Barnett does not believe in germ theory and has taken to YouTube to eat raw chicken to prove it. In the controversial video about viruses, now posted on his own TV channel after being removed off YouTube for dangerous misinformation, Mr Barnett said he “was one of those kids who could read and write before school knew my one to 12 times tables before other kids even opened a book” claimed to have a very high IQ.

“When I did my last IQ and aptitude test I was taken into a separate room and interrogated to see if I cheated,” he said.

Mr Barnett encouraged everyone to ignore Covid health guidelines at the peak of the start of the 2020 lockdown.

“One, do not get a flu shot, do not get any shot, and two, don’t stay in your house, you need sunshine,” he said.

While Mr Barnett has missed the boat, several other colourful characters are running for mayor, including anti-development activist Fast Buck$, also known as John Anderson, who will defend charges of intimidating the current deputy mayor.

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