Rossco Phillips, Wanganui Gorge
Asren Pugh’s letter of last week, in which he vilifies The Echo and the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) makes me wonder whether his ancestors were involved in the infamous ‘Book Burnings’ of past centuries when those who ‘knew better’ decided the ordinary man should not be exposed to certain kinds of information.
His strident use of language like ‘anti-vaccination propaganda’ in relation to the AVN ad placed in The Echo and his comment that ‘The anti-vaccination movement is built on fear and conspiracy’ makes me feel that he has more than a touch of the Barnaby Joyce-type politician, doing God’s good work.
I am not anti-vaccination. What I am against is people shutting down debate and freedom of speech, and the right to decide what I do with my body. There is a strong push from Big Pharma and Bill Gates, the self-appointed expert with no medical background, for ‘cradle-to-the-grave’ vaccination for all.
As Mr Pugh has stood for public office for the Labor party, I am concerned that this is a platform of said political party, as readers may remember Paul Spooner from Country Labor in recent history being outraged that AVN had been able to hold an information night at a local hall.
As for AVN being, ‘a dangerous organisation’, it was the Labor Party under Julia Gillard that ushered in fracking as a great ‘transitional energy source’, and apart from the ongoing polluting from fracking, the Labor Qld Premier continues to champion coal for our choking planet through her relentless support of Adani, one of the most dodgy organisations on the planet!
There is much information, regarding the negative experiences some have experienced from vaccination, that is all too often suppressed. Big Pharma has a huge slush fund that is used for legal cases to stop negative press and for when they ‘settle’ cases, usually out of court; the plaintiffs inevitably are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Then there is the testament of people from within the industry who have been vilified for blowing the whistle, like Judy Mikovitz, the once renowned American scientist who was integral in producing Gardasil (vaccine for cervical cancer) who is NOT anti-vaccination but is very concerned about the ingredients and efficacy of some new vaccinations and spoke out accordingly. She is now referred to as a ‘disgraced’ scientist.
And this term ‘conspiracy theory/ theorist’ is now used to denigrate anybody who has an opinion that doesn’t meet the current paradigm being flogged by the politicians of the day, and the mainstream media – especially with COVID-19. Talk about using ‘fear and conspiracy’ to control the masses!
Mr Pugh, I think maybe you’d fit in better in China where people do as they are told, not what they believe and are free to do. But then, you are in the right job, eh? Politics!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
