Chris Dobney
The government’s controversial ‘no jab no pay’ laws, which will deduct welfare payments from parents who refuse to vaccinate their children from preschool age upwards, will come into effect this Friday.
But the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network has announced it may mount a last-minute legal challenge to the laws.
The Nationals duty senator for Richmond, John Williams, has warned parents who receive the Child Care Benefit or Child Care Rebate that their child’s immunisations must be up to date by this Friday or they will lose their payments under the federal government policy.
Sen Williams said following the announcement of the policy last year, the percentage of 12- to 15-month-old fully-immunised children rose from 90.69 per cent in 2014 to 92.28 per cent.
He said that while this was ‘fractionally higher’ than the New South Wales average, ‘there are many children… in the Richmond electorate who are not fully immunised’.
Mullumbimby like South Sudan
The Mullumbimby district has one of the lowest rates of immunisation in Australia, with the Vaccination Supporters Group claiming it could be as low as 50 per cent, which is comparable to South Sudan.
Sen Williams said parents who fail to fully immunise their child according to the National Immunisation Programme are putting their child and other children at risk of infectious diseases.
‘Babies under six months are at the greatest risk of severe whooping cough disease and death,’ he said.
‘Those who are not vaccinated by this Friday, March 18, and do not have a valid medical exemption or are not on a catch-up schedule will start incurring a debt for any child care payments they receive after that date.
‘That debt will have to be repaid.
‘I urge those remaining parents to be responsible and bring their child’s immunisation schedule up to date to protect them and the community and also their government payments’, Sen Williams said.
But the Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network said on its website on Thursday, that its committee had ‘received advice from our barrister this morning that he has identified a possible basis for challenging No Jab No Pay, but that his final advice will not be ready until next week.’
‘We understand that everyone in the pro-choice community is anxiously awaiting this advice – as is the AVN committee – and that some families will shortly experience financial hardship due to being denied childcare benefits and rebates this month,’ the post read.
More information about the changes to immunisation requirements are available at www.humanservices.gov.au/immunisation
The AVN is intent on doing everything it can to protect the rights of all Australians to make free and informed health choices. Since no vaccine can provide true immunity – and all vaccinated individuals will at some point in the future (it could be 6 weeks, 6 months or 6 years down the track) again be susceptible to infection, the healthy unvaccinated pose no more risk to the community than their vaccinated peers.
In fact, those who receive live virus vaccines (measles, mumps, rubella, oral polio, rotavirus and chicken pox [varicella]) are known to be infectious for up to 90 days after vaccination. That is why they are advised not to be in close contact with the immunocompromised or those undergoing cancer treatment during this period. If anyone is putting the community at risk, it is the recently vaccinated. But you don’t see the parents of the unvaccinated clamouring for them to be excluded or discriminated against!
Australia is purported to be a democracy. The AVN believes that the Constitution of Australia as well as many national and international treaties are breached by No Jab No Pay and No Jab No Play legislation.
We ask that anyone who would like to support our court case visit our website, http://www.avn.org.au, and make a pledge as well as joining the organisation.
If you want to read the latest news about this case including some shocking information about the Prime Minister’s wife’s $5.5 million holding in a vaccine and drug company, Prima BioMed, please click here – http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101800214009&ca=b88d3098-b781-4540-b90f-ef91bb3fae70
Meryl, is that the same AVN that the HCCC had to issue a public warning about?
The one about spreading false and misleading information?
http://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/Hearings—decisions/Public-statements-and-warnings/Public-statement—warning-about-the-Australian-Vaccination-skeptics-Network–Inc—AVN—-formerly-known-as-Australian-Vaccination-Network-Inc-
Meryl, the only thing you and the AVN/AVSN has ever been and will ever be dedicated to doing is rambling on with the same tired and flawed ideology, idiocy and ignorance – as always.
If you want to pass out medical advice then stand by your claims and be willing to take the risk of being sued; just like all “real” medical professionals that actually have some form of training – unlike yourself. Do that instead of hiding behind disclaimers and the lie of organisations like the AVSN being pro choice not antivaccine.
If you want to mount a legal challenge then go for your life. It will be just more money wasted by the AVN on yet another lost cause…and you know it. Time for you to find a real hobby Meryl…or maybe a real job. You know, something you may actually be good at one day.
Another nail in the coffin of democracy & free choice in Australia!
Less nails in the coffins of small and unvaccinated children of Australia!
May there be less tiny coffins as a result of this decision!
Meryl… all hail the resurrection!
(Dr) Meryl Dorey announced in February 2010 (or 2013) that she was leaving the Anti-Vaccination-Network and moving on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Vaccination-Skeptics_Network .
Was she fibbing then, fibbing now, or is her post above just a figment of all our fried imaginations due to our alleged vaccine-injured brains?
Meryl Dorey,as you are representing the anti vaccination group AVN(you refer to the AVN website as “our website”),shouldn’t you also acknolwedge the HCCC has a public warning in place,in regards to the truthfulness of information regarding vaccinations disseminated by this group.
Right Kamala and Meryl. What about my rights and my kids and grand children’s rights to not be infected with preventable infectious diseases .
Have you or any of your mates ever seen someone die from Diphtheria, Tetanus, meningitis, Whooping cough? Well I have. As a nurse in Australia and overseas. I can assure you they are not nice ways to die and all of them are preventable.
What about Polio and Smallpox or TB. Who ever hears about them these days. And why is that?
because of immunisation.
Possibly the reason you have reached a mature age is because your parents vaccinated you.
No, you are all wrong. Read some real actual science. Then vaccinate your kids.
its so laughable..most of the mature age folks talking about pro vaccination are not vaccinated at all…not at all..they had their 3 shots 40 or 50 years ago, long non active and are a walking time bomb to our kids…so you pro vaxxers please go and get 31 shots to be clear again just as u would do to a baby…..good luck…enjoy the aluminum , will support cognitive dissonance for decades to come.Of course vaccines are safe..except in the U.S. where the vaccine court paid out over 3 billion dollars to vaccine injured victims…but thats only in the U.S….in Australia all vaccines are safe. Gardasil too.just check the website of the cancer council..all is good…if you suffer from cognitive dissonance, all is good then.Amen.
Cognitive dissonance – you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
I am skeptical of vaccines because my dog became autistic after receiving a Bordetella booster. Joseph Mercola is an honest source of health information. I think making immunisations compulsory for our children is stupid and unnecessary. What’s next, the government will control what we eat too. This is stupid and of we make immunizations compulsory we will have a nation full of autistic kids and we will need to use all of our tax payers money to help them!!!!
Yes, do your research people and search Google. Don’t be a sheep! After a quick search. I found that vaccines have caused all cases of autism. I also found Elvis alive on Alpha Centauri , where the friendly aliens have recreated a Blue Hawaii movie set and he is deliriously happy, I found a friend in Nigeria, who is going to pay me US$ 500 000 once my $5000 payment is received, and I won a great prize for being the 1 millionth website visitor! Don’t trust the doctors, who receive brand new BMWs or whatever for handing out vaccines no matter how much they go on about independent research or science proving them right
a 95% vaccination uptake required for herd immunity, but less than 2% formally object. Seems a bit pointless to pick on them? Go after the ones who don’t object and get them caught up. There’s no problem. You will get your herd immunity up to 98% and those who object are not coerced into doing something they object to doing. I don’t think forcing people into doing something they object to is something to be proud of, and statistically speaking it’s completely unnecessary. If we eradicated smallpox with a 10% vaccination coverage I think we can tolerate less than 2% of children under 7 being unvaccinated along with all the adults whose boosters have worn off