Darwin’s anti-vax ‘idiots’ cop a serve from Chief Minister Michael Gunner after lockdown protests

Darwin’s anti-vaxxers have come into the firing line with Chief Minister Michael Gunner describing them as “idiots”.

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CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner has taken aim at anti-vaxxers who have been protesting in Darwin in support of mass interstate rallies, describing them as idiots.

“It worries me to see people campaigning against those measures that we know will save lives,” Mr Gunner said.”

“I am hoping they remain in a small minority … honestly they are idiots.”

Mr Gunner says he is extremely concerned with the pandemic situation in NSW, saying Australia is now in a more dangerous spot because of case loads and the contagious nature of the Delta Covid variant.

“Over the weekend I had a lot of mates send me pictures of the beaches in Sydney and when you see what is happening in NSW it does concern me that we are not going to get back to those low case numbers down there,” he said.

“It is an extremely frightening situation.

“That is why here in the Territory we have to everything we can with our vaccination numbers to get them up and get them evenly spread. It is a race.”

Mr Gunner said if anti-vaxxers continue to ignore health safety instructions when they are put in place he expected fines to follow.

“The police are going with an educational mindset first, although the Police Commissioner has been clear in our second lockdown that they feel now that most people do know what the rules are and they will start going into enforcement quicker,” he said.

“We do though want to make sure that we are getting everyone to buy in and that this is a public health response.”

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He said he was also concerned of reports of an illegal dance party in the city last weekend.

He appealed to visitors to Darwin to do the right thing and obey the Covid safety laws.

“Everyone needs to buy in to the restrictions we have in place,” he said.

“If you are a visitor to the Territory, if you are going to come here, if you are going to enjoy the Territory we don’t want you to stuff it up for the rest of us.

“I know that wearing masks can be a pain in the arse and I know people want to hit the dance floors, but it is just one week and it is what we need to do to stay safe.

Mr Gunner said the how the man who caused the Covid-19 lockdown contracted the virus still remained a mystery.

“We still do not know how or where the infection came from which concerns me. I discussed it at national cabinet and every scenario is still on the table,” he said.

Originally published as Darwin’s anti-vax ‘idiots’ cop a serve from Chief Minister Michael Gunner after lockdown protests