Australia’s vaccination policies have been designed by many individuals and organisations that have financial conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical companies. To date government ministers and corporate representatives have not been transparent or accountable for their actions in designing and adopting these policies. Human rights have been removed with these policies so it is imperative that these individuals/organisations are held accountable to the Australian community.
Here is an open letter from Elizabeth Hart that has been sent to Australia’s Prime Minister regarding the Murdoch media/ News Corps conflict of interest in these policies and Scott Morrison’s meeting with Murdoch when he was the Minister for Social Services in 2015.
Open Letter: Conflicts of Interest Influencing Australia’s Vaccination Policy – Murdoch media/News Corp.
Below is a description of the media and lobby group influence on the adoption of mandatory vaccination policies in Australia that have occurred in the last two decades:
In 2015 Scott Morrison was the Social Services Minister. This was the year that the No Jab No Pay policy was approved in federal government legislation (November 2015). Morrison was Social Services Minister from 23 December 2014 – 21 September 2015.
On the 4 September 2015 it was reported that Scott Morrison met with Rupert Murdoch for a private lunch in the Sydney Morning Herald. It was speculated in this media article that Scott Morrison would be Prime Minister soon – ‘Scott Morrison will almost certainly lead the Liberals’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 2015).
The No Jab No Pay federal policy was passed in November 2015. Christian Porter took over as Minister for Social Services on 21 September 2015: after the policy had been drafted and tabled in parliament.
In 2018 Malcolm Turnbull was removed by his party as Prime Minister to be replaced with Scott Morrison. Christian Porter had replaced Scott Morrison as Minister of Social Services on 21 September 2015 and he moved to federal Attorney-General in December 2017 where he still is today.
Rupert Murdoch founded the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in 1986 and it is involved with the research and development of new vaccines with clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical companies. In 2015 News Ltd (now News Corp the Murdoch owned media) promoted the No Jab No Pay campaign to the Australian community and to politicians. Other public forums for the vaccination debate that were promoting industry-interests in these policies were the Conversation website (university research is largely industry-funded and promoted) and the pharma associated Mamma Mia website.
At this time Dick Smith’s Australian Skeptics (a non-scientific organisation set up in 1980 that uses industry-funded scientists to promote its message) had gained influence in Australia’s institutions and media outlets and academics/professionals were attacked on social media and in mainstream media if they opposed vested (corporate) interests in government polices.
During 2010-2019 some News Corp (Murdoch media) reporters joined the board of the ABC and the Australian Skeptics Inc had a strong influence in the ABC board’s policies. In 2018 The Sydney Morning Herald was taken over by Nine Entertainment and the company is now called Nine. As the diverstiy of the Australian media decreased the public interest in government vaccination policies, e.g. the risk of vaccines, was gradually removed from the public debate on vaccination. These risks to health are being dismissed in the mainstream media as ‘anti-vaccination material’.
The attacks on the reputations of professionals on social media and the removal of this science from the official channels of debate ensures that others will not speak out because they risk losing their jobs and livelihood. This also gives an impression in Australia that there is a ‘consensus on the science’ – which there is not.
The media raids on journalists from both News Corp and the ABC in June 2019 also play into the silencing of academics/scientists. These raids occurred immediately after Scott Morrison was officially elected as Australia’s Prime Minister (4 June 2019). The Australian Federal Police (AFP) carried out these raids on the homes of a journalist from News Corp and from the ABC. Press freedom goes directly to the heart of being able to make governments and corporations accountable.
Six months prior to these police raids the AFP had been notified to investigate the leaking of a confidential affidavit (an expert witness report) from a court case on vaccination by the government’s team in this case. This is a federal crime but the AFP did not invesitgate the government’s involvement in leaking this affidavit to the media. Yet the leaking of this affidavit at the same time as Professor Peter McIntyre (ex-director of the NCIRS) was drafted into this case resulted in the scientific evidence opposing mandatory vaccination not being heard in the Federal Circuit Court.
These police raids on journalists are designed to put fear into every journalist about reporting on any issues that are in the public interest, for example, the risks and lack of benefit of many vaccines. Please note that as of 19 December 2019 – 6 months after the raids – there has still been no official conclusion to these charges on journalists. This state of limbo prevents investigative journalists from reporting on issues that are in the public interest and that oppose corporate vested interests in government policy.
In addition, the jungle law of facebook supercedes Australian government legislation and this means that fake news put out by trolls, on social media and in the mainstream (Murdoch/Nine/Australian Skeptic Inc ABC) media, about individuals and their academic research is now ‘acceptable conduct’ according to the Australian government.
This allows propaganda with incomplete science and misinformation to flourish and government public health legislation is being based on this misinformation that is being promoted to protect the vested interests of the corporations in government policies.