Victorian protesters drop fight against vaccine mandate

Victorians fighting against the Andrews government’s vaccine mandates have dropped their case as a Supreme Court judge says it raised questions of “undoubted public importance”.

Anti-vax protesters have dropped their court challenge against Victoria’s Covid vaccine mandates. Picture: Jason Edwards

A Supreme Court judge says a challenge to the Andrews government’s vaccine mandates raised questions of “undoubted public importance”.

But those questions will never be answered after more than 100 Victorians fighting against the mandates on Wednesday dropped their case.

The group’s lawyers told Justice Melinda Richards the introduction of Victoria’s new pandemic management legislation in December had made the case futile.

Lawyers argued a costs application, with Justice Richards refusing an application to have taxpayers foot the costly bill for the abandoned trial, that was due to start this week.

Instead the plaintiffs will be forced to cover all costs.

The court heard a GoFundMe campaign had already raised an estimated $128,000.

“The plaintiffs’ choice not to proceed to trial was, in my view, an effective surrender,” Justice Richards said.

“The timing of the discontinuance indicates a surrender rather than a changed course due to circumstances.

“All of those circumstances were in place by early December, and it was not until the 25th of February this year that the plaintiffs indicated they wished to discontinue.

“I do not consider the plaintiffs to have conducted themselves reasonably in these proceedings.”

Justice Richards also lashed the plaintiffs for failing to co-operate in the lead-up to the planned trial.

And she said it was regrettable that questions raised by the anti-vaccine mandate brigade had failed to be tested in court.

“The questions raised in the preceding were of undoubted public importance and it would have been in the public interest for them to be resolved,” she said.

The plaintiffs had included teachers, construction and healthcare workers who were opposed to the Victorian government’s compulsory jab rules.

Lead plaintiff Simon Harding, a corrections officer, was put on unpaid leave on October 15 for refusing the jab.

Mr Harding, who received other vaccinations, said in an affidavit he was “concerned about the potential short-term and long-term side effects and the current lack of long-term safety data”.