Letter from MLA Marie-Clare Boothby used by government to accuse CLP of being ‘anti-vax’

A briefing of CLP and independent MLAs of the NT’s mandatory vaccination policy won’t include the chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie, but the CLP have indicated they would be open to adopting the policy.

UPDATED: THE chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie will not attend a briefing of CLP and independent MLAs on the Northern Territory’s mandatory vaccination policy on Friday.

The briefing is 10 days after Chief Minister Michael Gunner revealed his road map out of Covid-19.

Opposition health spokesman Bill Yan on Thursday said the CLP would be open to adopting mandatory vaccine policies if briefed on it by Dr Heggie.

“I can’t rely on the advice of the Chief Minister,” Mr Yan said.

“He’s not the chief health officer, he’s not a medical expert.

“The chief health officer (Dr Heggie) can give us that advice, we just need to be able to talk to him.”

In Question Time on Thursday however, Mr Gunner said he would not attend.

A briefing by key people who developed the road map would however go ahead on Friday.

EARLIER: THE government has defended its tactics in Question Time after it repeatedly turned questions about the state of the Territory’s hospital systems into an attack on the CLP.

The Opposition dedicated Wednesday’s session to question the government on the Palmerston Hospital and the Code Yellows at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Multiple ministers, including Health Minister Natasha Fyles and Chief Minister Michael Gunner, instead accused the CLP of being “anti-vaccination” and tabled a letter from MLA Marie-Clare Boothby as evidence.

The CLP has strongly denied claims it was anti-vaccination and pressed for Mr Gunner to withdraw the comments.

The situation became so bad that Speaker Ngaree Ah Kit threatened to boot any MLA who said the word “anti-vax” from the chamber for 60 minutes.

Michael Gunner in Question Time. Photograph: Che Chorley

At a press conference on Thursday morning, Environment Minister Eva Lawler and Small Business Minister Paul Kirby defended the conduct as being typical of Question Time.

“The tensions and the temperature goes up, but to assure Territorians, the rest of the day is absolutely business and hard work,” Ms Lawler said.

She said the government had answered questions around the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals, denying that Ministers had been dodging providing answers on the subject.

EARLIER: A SECOND letter from a CLP MLA has emerged, this time from Marie-Clare Boothby, which Labor has used to accuse the Opposition of being “anti-vax”.

The letter, sent in August to Health Minister Natasha Fyles, made reference to mandatory vaccines for teachers as being “divisive” and suggesting making them compulsory showed a “lack of science”.

In an extraordinary Question Time on Wednesday, several ministers including Chief Minister Michael Gunner used the letter from Ms Boothby to repeatedly accuse the CLP of being anti-vaccination.

Mr Gunner himself yelled out “shameful” across the chamber multiple times, and was repeatedly urged to withdraw his “highly offensive” comments by the Speaker.

The session became so heated that Speaker Ngaree Ah Kit banned the word “anti-vax” from being mentioned during Question Time, and threatened to boot any MLA who said it.

MARIE -CLARE BOOTHBY MLA MEMBER FOR BRENNAN Photograph: Che Chorley

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro rebuffed the claims, stating every CLP MLA had been vaccinated.

Ms Finocchiaro defended the letter, saying she was pro-vaccination and Ms Boothby was merely passing on concerns from a public servant who was “scared of speaking out against the government.”

“The Chief Minister is fanning the flames of division to make cheap, wrong and unfounded political points,” she said.

“The CLP wants every Territorian to be fully vaccinated. Every public statement we have made supports this and we have consistently called for improvements to the vaccine rollout so that more people are able to get the jab.”

The letter sent from Marie-Clare Boothby. Picture: Supplied.

The letter, obtained by the NT News, raised concerns from Ms Boothby’s constituents about Facebook posts made by Mr Gunner on mandatory vaccinations for school teachers.

“The choice of words used by the Chief Minister being divisive is a concern of constituents, marginalising those who can’t or choose not to vaccinate, as well as lack of science behind the opinions shared,” Ms Boothby wrote.

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