By Dominique Tassell
The meeting held last night regarding mandates in the Southern Downs was at times punctuated by anti-vaxx sentiment and conspiracy theorist discussion.
Member for Southern Downs, James Lister, was repeatedly called out for not attending even after it was explained his daughter was born late on Monday and he is now on paternity leave.
Huge crowds turned out at WIRAC for the meeting, which was called to advocate for the Southern Downs being a pro-choice region when it comes to vaccines.
Southern Downs Regional Council had a strong presence at the event, with Mayor Vic Pennisi, CEO Dave Burges, and Councillors Stephen Tancred, Ross Bartley, and Marco Gliori in attendance.
Mayor Pennisi cancelled his holiday, a fishing trip, to attend the event.
While the meeting was fraught with conspiracy theories and anti-vaxx sentiment, the original purpose of giving voice to local businesses and their thoughts on the mandate was somewhat achieved.
We have chosen not to include the misinformation spread during the meeting.
Pam Burley, one of the organisers behind the event, called for a “strong voice” from the council regarding us being a pro-choice region, which received tumultuous applause.
Later in the meeting, she stated that the mandate will negatively impact the huge amount of volunteer-led events and organisations in our region.
“What will happen if these people are no longer allowed to attend these facilities?”
She implored SDRC to make their public facilities open to everyone in the community.
Stephen Collins spoke of the strong community here in our region, stating we have been segregated recently.
“Now we are a community once again,” he said. “We are having our freedoms stripped away from us.”
He listed off names of people who had been invited but gave their apologies.
He then listed Member for Southern Downs James Lister, Member for Maranoa David Littleproud, Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg, saying they didn’t bother to reply with apologies, inciting boos from the crowd.
As stated previously, Mr Lister announced the birth of his daughter this week, which was his reason for not attending.
Rosie Favero, the owner of Bellevue Cafe, then spoke to the meeting.
She stated she chose to be vaccinated, but it was her choice and she thought everyone deserved that choice.
She spoke of the impact the mandate would have on her business, stating she is expected to check people’s personal status before letting them into her business.
This will turn people away as it will take up too much time, she says.
“I would have to have an employee standing at the door at all times to do this,” she said.
Rosie stated she doesn’t want to place an employee in this position.
She then said she will lose staff who are not anti-vaxxers, but want to wait for more information on the Covid-19 vaccine.
This received applause.
Rosie stated she does not want to replace these staff members, as they are family after being with the cafe for so long.
She said she believes our community has the right to make its own, un-manipulated, decisions.
Melissa Cost, the owner of Hair Studio, then spoke to the meeting.
She said when the mandates were rolled out, it was clear they targeted young people.
“What was a little bit better hidden, that seems more manipulative, is that they also used fear against parents and carers.”
She said her daughter has diabetes, and at first, she thought being unvaccinated may mean she could not be with her daughter when she was sick.
Melissa said that she keeps hearing people say that she should get vaccinated so they can “return to normal”.
She stated she wants her normal to be where she doesn’t feel threatened and manipulated into doing things with her body she doesn’t want to do.
The next speaker came from a background of aged care, stating she believed the mandate would take away peoples freedoms and prevent them from providing the best care to their clients.
She said that here today at the meeting, no one knows who is vaccinated and who is not, and that is the way it should be as this is personal information.
“We can set the standard we want in our community and in this country.”
Stephen Collins then corrected his earlier mistake regarding Member for Southern Downs James Lister, acknowledging the birth of his daughter as his reason for not being there.
Lisa from Scoop Health Foods then spoke to the meeting.
She said she believes medical history should be kept between a person and their medical practitioner.
She said she believes in community and believes the mandate will negatively impact us.
She said by enforcing the mandate, she will lose such a large amount of her business that she may be forced to close.
“If we do nothing we potentially lose everything, if we stand together we have hope,” she said.
Senator Pauline Hanson then arrived, to the largest applause of the night.
She said it “wasn’t good enough” that locals are being told what to do with their bodies.
She then spoke against the Liberal Party for several minutes, eventually calling them “wankers”.
Senator Hanson addressed the meeting for a large portion of time, at one point stating to the meeting that no TV journalists were present as journalists did not want to report on the meeting.
This is while at least three local outlets sat in a pack on the side, near at least one of her staff members.
Senator Gerard Rennick then spoke to the meeting from quarantine.
He spoke against “the destruction of civil liberties” in recent times.
He said being forced to get the vaccine was “cruel and inhumane”.
“They are confusing public health with occupational health and safety,” he said, further stating he did not believe this responsibility should be put on businesses.
“I don’t want to see our country torn apart by states or otherwise,” he said.
Southern Downs Regional Council has one final meeting this year, and reportedly they will discuss the mandate.
Mayor Pennisi reportedly spoke at the end of the meeting about this, and we will follow up with him today.
