Community is calling on a local Sydney council to cancel a dance party to be hosted by anti-childhood vaccination advocate

COMMUNITY pressure is building for the Inner West Council to stop an event being hosted by noted anti-vaccination proponent David “Avocado” Wolfe.

Raw food expert David Wolfe ahead of his appearance at a conference in Sydney this weekend.

• David Wolfe: Flat Earther brings anti-vax message to Australia

COMMUNITY pressure is building for the Inner West Council to stop an event being hosted by noted anti-vaccination proponent David “Avocado” Wolfe.

Mr Wolfe, who is in Sydney as part of an Australian tour spruiking the benefits of raw foods and alternative health products, is hosting a “Raw Cacao Dance Party” at Marrickville Town Hall on Saturday night.

But social media sites in the inner west are being bombarded with messages from critics saying the event will provide a platform for the American wellness guru to mislead parents on the issue of mandatory childhood vaccination.

They want the council to immediately cancel Mr Wolfe’s booking for the town hall, which has been promoted as a “celebration of life (and chocolate)”.

Today the council, which supports childhood vaccination, confirmed that it will not be cancelling the Saturday night booking.

A spokesman said that council had received a written undertaking from the event organiser that anti-vaccine issues would not be discussed at the dance party.

David Wolfe, the health, raw food and chocolate expert and entrepreneur, who is also an anti-vaccination advocate, is touring Australia.

“David Wolfe (nor anyone else) will not be discussing or mentioning vaccines or anything related to that topic in any way. David’s short talk will be about chocolate, that’s it,” the written undertaking said.

The council said it had only received three emails from the public complaining abut the dance party, including one calling for the event to be cancelled.

There have already been calls for Mr Wolfe’s three-day nutrition seminar, starting on Friday at the Sydney International Convention Centre (ICC), to be halted.

An event set down for The Concourse theatre at Chatswood this week, where he was to speak about nutrition, detoxification and anti-ageing issues, was cancelled after the event’s sponsor, a vitamin retailer, was inundated with complaints about Mr Wolfe via social media.

In northern NSW, pro-vaccination supporters are calling for his event, set down for 16 March at the Jing Organics outlet in Byron Bay, to be shut down.

A screenshot of David Wolfe's website.

On his website Mr Wolfe highlights articles linking mandatory childhood vaccinations to autism.

His website states: “A growing body of evidence indicates that vaccines are not safe and that they can injure, permanently maim, or even kill you or a family member.”

On his website Mr Wolfe said he is in Australia after “travelling around the world meeting the world’s most prominent activists, alternative healers, water protectors, quantum physicists, seers and conspirators truth seekers, David is ready to give Byron Bay the latest download.”

A person posting on the Marrickville Ranting/Complaints Facebook pages said that they were emailing the council.

“The folks in Chatswood got him booted, so I hope we can too,” the poster wrote.

Another wrote that the “public health implications of giving airtime to anti vax propaganda are disastrous”.

But another posted that while he was “lucky enough to be vaccinated” he supported Mr Wolfe’s right to free speech.

On his website David Wolfe indicates that “vaccines are not safe and that they can injure, permanently maim, or even kill”.

Opposition NSW Health spokesman Walt Secord, yesterday called on the state government to shut down the seminar at the ICC to prevent Mr Wolfe from speaking.

Mr Secord said the Government has the power to stop the event because it is being held in a taxpayer-funded facility.

“It is irresponsible to provide a platform for such irresponsible views,” Mr Secord said.

“The anti-vaccine movement places our children, the immune-compromised, cancer patients and the whole community for that matter, at an unacceptable risk.”

The ICC has confirmed Mr Wolfe’s event will go ahead this weekend because it had not been deemed “unsafe, offensive or illegal” and was therefore not considered at risk of breaching their public-private partnership contract with the government.

A spokesman for the tour sponsors, health supplement company Superfeast, said that Mr Wolfe will not be mentioning vaccination issues during his seminar or at any of his events.

“David’s personal opinion has nothing to do with his work in Australia,” the spokesman said.

“His events are here, purely to talk about wellness and nutrition and having the best health that you can possibly have, regardless of your beliefs or choices.

“We are hosting a party that is drug and alcohol free for the community and he will give a short talk at the beginning discussing one subject. Chocolate.

“We have thrown several of these “Cacao Parties” before including two previously at Sydney Boys High School, never with any controversy or issues and hope that this weekend’s event will be a fun night out for all involved.”