Anti-vaxxers protest outside Health Minister’s office

Anti-vaxxers have held a protest outside the Health Minister’s office to rally against the rollout of the country’s coronavirus vaccine.

A group of anti-vaccination protesters gathered at Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office in Victoria on Saturday to rally against the country’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.

The group made speeches on a small platform in front of a liquorland in Somerville, on the Mornington Peninsula, in Mr Hunt’s electorate of Flinders.

The rally was met by a heavy police presence including members of the Public Order Response Team, mounted branch, dog squad and local officers.

About 2.45pm the crowd burst into cheers in approval for rogue MP Craig Kelly, who left the Liberal Party this week after attracting controversy for his views on masks and vaccinations.

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

“Craig Kelly should be our PM,” the speaker, Reignite Democracy founder Monica Smit, said.

“Who wants Craig Kelly to be our PM?” she said to more cheers.

Advertising for the Reignite Democracy protest said it was being held because “Greg Hunt has betrayed the people”.

The crowd that gathered. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

Another speaker told the crowd of about 200 people that “the day will come when one million of us march in the street”.

“Scott Morrison has underestimated the fighting spirit of the Australian people and he has made a monumental mistake,” he said.

He said it was “a movement the likes of which our country has never seen before.”

People protest vaccinations nearby Greg Hunt’s electoral office in Somerville. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

The group protested “medical coercion”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

Speaker Matt Lawson said “if you can’t see the medical coercion happening left, right and centre then you are not awake to the agenda out there.”

“We need to be awake and aware that our freedom of choice is being ripped away from us,” he said.

‘Freedom of movement has been taken away from us in the last year – look at hotel quarantine.”

“How can anyone sit and watch this happen?”

The protest was organised by Reignite Democracy and was attended by between an estimated one hundred and two hundred people. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

A man who played the guitar sang in front of the gathering saying: “We are coming. The temperature is rising, you can feel it in the air.

He continued: “The politicians are lying. The cops just don’t care.”

Another said: “We’re are here today because we want to have our voices heard.

“It’s control, control, control. We are putting people into quarantine who are healthy human beings.”

He added the government “doesn’t care about your safety.”

The crowd, which included families and children, also held signs saying: “Mr Hunt we are not your guinea pigs,” and “Weapons of mass destruction.”

In a chat on social media platform Telegram before the event, members posted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to print out and give to police in case of “hassle”.

Originally published as Anti-vaxxers protest outside Health Minister’s office