Conservative and fringe links behind Qld anti-mandate groups

A loose coalition of groups opposed to Queensland’s imminent vaccine rules are being supported by like-minded minor parties and conservative operatives hoping to ride anti-government sentiment to the next federal election and beyond.

The emerging situation, as Queensland enters a new phase of the pandemic, has some experts concerned about the “breadcrumbing” of citizens into more extreme circles and the escalation of pandemic disinformation feedback loops.

Christian conservative writer, commentator and organiser Dave Pellowe hosting a town hall-style meeting of the Pro Choice/Anti Mandate Logan group this week.Credit: Facebook

While the December 17 lockout of unvaccinated people from most hospitality and entertainment venues has the broad support of the state’s peak business body, it is still seeking more clarity on how long the rules may last. Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Friday warned Queenslanders not to expect any change once vaccination rates hit 90 per cent.

Already, Queensland “pro-choice” groups are hosting town hall events and presenting as grassroots unity movements of local citizens and businesses. Although these gatherings are not as militant as some seen interstate, they appear to be gaining momentum.

Speakers at these events have included One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, Liberal Democrat Senate hopeful and former LNP premier Campbell Newman, along with several federal Coalition backbenchers and senators. Freedom and citizens’ rights are a familiar refrain ahead of the election.

But Brisbane Times can reveal that some people who are heavily involved in the groups, and often held up as experts for frustrated community members and business owners, have less obvious motives – and potentially more extreme views.

At the first event of the Pro Choice/Anti Mandate Logan group in Brisbane’s south this week, self-described “Christian conservative” and event host Dave Pellowe told the capacity crowd of about 600 – and others watching online – that the singular purpose of the group was to advocate for the state government to end “mass medication mandates” and never consider them again.

After facing some protesters entering the event, held in a Pacifika-led Baptist church space hired by the group, Mr Pellowe said the “enemies of freedom and human rights” were fans of what could only be described as “national socialism”.

The group gathered inside was ostensibly opposed to the mandates, not vaccines, and not there to debate science, the constitution or political parties. Mr Pellowe pointed the crowd to his blog, along with roles in the annual Church and State summit and Conservative Political Action Conference.

In 2018, Mr Pellowe’s own Axiomatic Events toured right-wing Canadian figures Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux. He has also appeared in a selfie with members of neo-fascist Proud Boys group.

The Logan group’s website is registered under the name of Mr Pellowe, who was contacted for comment, and his Hunni Media operation which is also listed as a sponsor.

“Changing the government is the real solution,” Mr Pellowe told the Logan crowd, adding that while it may take generations it was something worth starting now. “What we need in the Senate is mongrels. We need a dog in the fight.”

Other speakers included Senator Hanson, who described the welcome she received there and at other recent events in Warwick and Yeppoon as the biggest crowds she had seen since her party’s initial rise in the late 1990s.

Senator Hanson then spouted false claims, rebuked by health experts, that more people were now dying from the vaccine than the virus in the United Kingdom, before calling out Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker – whose video message was earlier played to the crowd – and others who voted down her recent bill attempting to stop vaccine mandates.

“We will make a difference and throw these bastards out,” she said, returning to her seat amid a standing ovation. “Remember this at the next election”.

Senator Hanson was followed by upper-house hopeful Mr Newman, who said he had recently changed his “tune” on vaccines and now believed a claim long circulated in conspiracy and anti-vaccination circles that there were side effects “being swept under the carpet”.

He also hit out at his former party, the LNP, as well as Labor, saying he was proud to share a stage with Senator Hanson who he would be standing “shoulder to shoulder” with ahead of the federal poll, before urging attendees to get others “on board for freedom” and put major parties last.

Another speaker, who introduced herself as a nurse of 20 years, raised well-rebuked claims the vaccines had not been tested as stringently as others and told those present to join their relevant Red Union-associated worker group, which have links to current and former Liberal and National party figures.

Gatecrash Security, run my Mark Ellis – a former One Nation candidate who resigned after being accused of threatening to kill an employee and posting an image of himself doing a Nazi salute next to a swastika mowed into a lawn – is listed as a sponsor on the Logan group’s website.

He told Brisbane Times that as a local business he provided event security at a discounted rate, a standard practice, but had no other involvement. Mr Ellis’ firm also provided security for Clive Palmer during his appearance at a broadly anti-mandate event in Brisbane last month.

The events sit alongside an array of other regional Facebook groups for those opposed to the mandates, the largest of which in central and north Queensland has upwards of 20,000 members. At least one has directed members to an encrypted Telegram channel in case it is shut down.

Deakin University senior research fellow Josh Roose said the online and more physically active groups appeared to fit within the broad “transnational phenomenon” emerging against pandemic measures, rooted in the United States and spreading via social media.

The practice of “breadcrumbing” those with legitimate concerns or less-formed frustrations into other chat apps or spaces with more extreme views was of concern. And while suspecting the broader and overwhelmingly vaccinated and pandemic measure accepting population would not be susceptible to the movement, Dr Roose said the danger was if it helped get elements of it elected.

Clive Palmer at a Brisbane rally last month.Credit: Cloe Read

“The vacuum of political leadership in this country ... to not only condemn but take action is giving them oxygen,” he said.

He added that the conditions behind the anger needed to be addressed, with Queensland on the “frontline” heading into the election but able to look at what was working in other states.

Edward Hurcombe, a research associate at the Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Media Research Centre, said the groups appeared to share elements of a “participatory disinformation” dynamic where influence figures and grassroots individuals create a feedback loop of falsehoods.

“I feel that’s kind of what’s going in Australia as well,” Dr Hurcombe said.

Health authorities have widely backed the vaccine mandate as a proactive effort to keep Queensland’s economy open as cases begin to climb, while also ensuring unvaccinated people are less likely to mix in higher risk spaces, leading to deaths and health system pressure in NSW and Victoria.

While some experts have warned keeping them in place longer than needed could fuel extremism.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, the state’s peak business body, is expecting further clarification from the government within days in the form of guidelines to help small businesses navigate the mandates and any exposure to the virus.

But it is also calling for details about what may happen after a review of the rules once a 90 per cent milestone is reached in January and how rapid antigen tests may help staff and customers.

Protesters, broadly opposed to Queensland’s incoming vaccine mandate, in Brisbane’s CBD on November 17.Credit: Matt Dennien

Mr Pellowe had earlier fronted a similar community event on the Sunshine Coast with the spokeswoman of a newly formed group called Fair Business Australia, Rebecca Lloyd, a former professional singer recently turned to digital marketing and small business consulting.

Liberal senator Gerard Rennick was also on the speaker list, alongside also a Red Union representative. The Logan group’s website also directs people to the business body.

Online references variously cite Ms Lloyd as a consultant for the business group and also its founder. In a recent video, Ms Lloyd lays out the costs and benefits of complying or “legally” opposing the mandate, while suggesting businesses may face a larger backlash for complying because the official vaccination figures are not as they seem.

She also pitches the body, which has been shared into many of the regional Facebook groups, as a directory of like-minded business owners willing to “pass the hat around” if one did end up with fines or in court.

Fair Business Australia spokeswoman Rebecca Lloyd in one of the group’s Facebook videos posted on December 10 explaining how businesses can navigate the looming Queensland venue vaccine mandates.Credit: Facebook

“But think of the publicity that will give to you,” she said. “Think of how many people in the local community will want to rally around you and support you.”

However, Ms Lloyd states she is not a lawyer. The group’s website also makes this clear, and directs people instead to Advocate Me for legal help – whose principal and chief executive Serene Teffaha had her legal licence disqualified in March after a Victorian “Freedom Day” rally speech called for bloodshed if needed, and is linked to prominent protest figure Monica Smit.

In a recent interview with a small online broadcaster, Ms Lloyd also extols the work of Mr Palmer, Senator Hanson, and Riccardo Bosi – a former special forces soldier turned leader of his own conspiracy-laden political party – who are “pushing back and saying, actually, this is not OK”.

Ms Lloyd declined to elaborate on her views of Mr Bosi, and said while her group was not politically aligned or motivated she would be happy to work alongside any political entity that supported “small business, supports justice and fairness for all”.

On Brisbane’s bayside, another group calling itself “One Redlands” also directs people to Fair Business Australia for mandate tools, and Ms Teffaha for legal help, and is steered by a committee including three former Informed Medical Opinion Party candidates – a party sceptical of vaccines, 5G and against water fluoridation. Its Facebook page states the group, which was contacted for comment, has no political affiliation.

One of the business sponsors is a “pure water” company which has warned customers on Facebook about fluoride in tap water.

Brisbane coffee baron Phillip Di Bella spoke at one of its events this week, also attended by Senator Hanson, Mr Newman and Bowman Liberal MP Andrew Laming.

A handout from Mr Di Bella, published on the group’s website, states his Coffee Commune business will not refuse service to unvaccinated people if they decide to enter and cites the Privacy Act in outlining how this would be explained to authorities in the face of the potential for hefty fines.

One document from another speaker is essentially a how-to-vote card based on COVID policy positions, directing people to put One Nation, Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party, the Liberal Democrats and IMOP first.

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