Dominic King says conspiracies 'not based in science' as more flyers distributed in Bellingen

As the Covid-19 flyers landing in Bellingen letterboxes get weirder, the Mayor has urged people to read trusted news sources over Facebook threads. 

Bellingen Mayor Dominic King has urged the community to read trusted news sources over Facebook as more flyers espousing Covid-19 conspiracies landed in letterboxes. 

Amid a rise in the amount of pandemic misinformation circulating throughout the community, Mr King said much of it was "not based in science". 

"If all the political parties, all the medical professionals, the world health organisation, all the leading research universities and all ranges of the press - if they are all saying the same thing then that's where I a basing my facts," he said. 

"This counter argument, which we saw in the United States with the rise of Donald Trump, is concerning and I think what we have to do is that even though there is not 100 per cent certainty we know we have to protect the most vulnerable in the community.

He said people only needed to see what was happening in other parts of the world like in India and Indonesia, where the virus was having a devastating impact, to understand the situation. 

"To think that big big-pharma controls all this is crazy," he said. 

"What you have to do is use those trusted news sources and you are listening to the right people. You can't be getting your information from Facebook."

Since the beginning of the pandemic the spread of misinformation has been rife across the internet, but in recent weeks there’s been increasing reports of campaigners using more ‘low-tech’ means to spread their message.

The latest flyer to be distributed around Bellingen comes from an organisation that claims it had yet to be proven that Covid-19 actually existed.

It was selling a variety of products with QR codes on them including business cards and flyers, encouraging people to buy larger numbers to "distribute among friends for more cost effective activism".

Bellingen resident Jocelyn Box was angered when a letter from a group called the Covid Medical Network was put into her letterbox, labelling the campaigners 'cowardly'. 

The six-page letter signed off by ‘Your fellow Australian Doctors and Health Professionals’ claims lockdowns have not reduced mortality, deaths are over-estimated and promotes the use of alternative drugs such as Ivermectin.

Bellingen resident Jocelyn Box has labelled those spreading Covid-19 misinformation via anonymous letterbox drops as ‘cowardly’.

She immediately alerted the community to the material and posted a link to an article which she says reveals the organisation’s background and debunks some of its claims.

Ms Box said the ‘low tech’ approach taken by campaigners meant they were more likely to find “vulnerable targets” such as those who may not have the skills to recognise online disinformation and others who felt isolated.

“They do it anonymously to avoid accountability or debate. So while a lot of energy goes into putting this all around town, it’s also cowardly,” Ms Box said.

“I work with vulnerable people and I've seen the impacts disinformation can have on their understanding of issues and their health and wellbeing.”

Another example of a Covid-19 misinformation flyer that was put in a letter box in Bellingen in July.

While Ms Box acknowledged there had always been some who were passionate in their beliefs around Covid-19, she was more concerned with how it had been “legitimised” in mainstream conversations by certain news outlets, celebrities and politicians.

“This sort of thing remained on the fringes for a time, but now it’s being piped into the living rooms, plastered in advertisements in newspapers, and delivered to our mailboxes,” she said.

There has been increasing reports misinformation distributed across the region and only recently the Daily Examiner revealed the Australian Bureau of Statistics was investigating whether someone had delivered Covid-19 propaganda with Census material. 

Speakers at February’s anti-vaccination made several reverences to the American conspiracy theory QAnon which claims the world is being controlled by a satanic cabal of paedophiles, among other things. Information being distributed on local anti-vaccination email lists includes similarly bizarre claims. Photo: Tim Jarrett

In another concerning development, Mid North Coast Local Health District revealed fake images purportedly showing positive Covid-19 cases in the area had been distributed across social media.

The Advocate is aware of one group based in Coffs Harbour which has been distributing material via email contact lists taken at anti-vaccination marches. 

Some of the information distributed on the lists ranges from the mild to the outright bizarre.

David and Vicki Cheney testing patients at the community drive-in Covid-19 testing clinic in Bellingen in April.

While Bellingen may be known for alternative lifestyles and diverse beliefs members of the community have banded together during the pandemic, including by setting up a mobile testing clinic in 2020.

Ms Box said on the few occasions Covid-denial issues had popped up they had been roundly criticised.

She said the “vast majority” of the town had acted responsibly to care for their for their community and said she had seen more instances of Covid-denial in Coffs Harbour.

“It’s about vulnerability and trust in authority. When that‘s eroded, these ideas gain traction.

“I just hope my post reached a few people who would otherwise have been convinced it was a legitimate medical organisation telling them things like masks don’t work.”