Decision details

Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Phelps –

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          the bus tour currently underway around NSW by the Anti-Vaccination-Risks Network;

(ii)         the stand taken by Newcastle City Council to ban any events at local shopping centres or other locations in the local government area;

(iii)        the Mayor of Newcastle has written to the NSW Police Commissioner and the NSW Health Minister requesting they use the full force of their powers to ban any events from Newcastle and NSW;

(iv)       the dissemination of dangerous misinformation about public health matters challenges the gains made over the twentieth century to eradicate diseases such as smallpox, measles and polio; and

(v)         to achieve herd-immunity, 95 per cent of the population must be vaccinated to protect those vulnerable people who cannot – such as newborn babies. Anti-vaccination campaigns put at risk those vulnerable members of our community;

(B)        Council acknowledge that Covid-19 has provided a salient example of how dangerous a disease can be without a vaccine;

(C)       Council agree that science must be put first and misinformation about vaccines must be countered with balanced information that does not prey on parental fear, especially when so many people are anxious about the Covid-19 pandemic; and

(D)       the Lord Mayor be requested to write immediately to the Federal and NSW Attorney General, Federal and NSW Health Minister and the NSW Police Commissioner requesting they take all available steps to ban any such events from publicly owned facilities or land.

Carried unanimously.

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