Wednesday, 15 September 2021

 Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (14:02): (1507) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health. Respect for consent is a core value of the Liberal Democrats philosophy. We believe that people should not be forced to do anything against their will, except prevent people from harming others. Consent is the magic ingredient in a free society. Consent is the difference between boxing and criminal assault, between sex and rape. Violating someone’s consent is a serious offence, especially when it involves deeply held personal beliefs and moral convictions. This government has announced that all health workers must be vaccinated or they will lose their jobs, not just public hospital employees but all medical workers—and education is to be next. What is more insidious is that the government is leaning on businesses and organisations like Racing Victoria to force all participants to get vaccinated and there are moves to pressure the construction industry into forcing all workers to get their jabs. I have no doubt the government will follow New South Wales’s example and implement a requirement that businesses force their staff to get vaccinated and turn away customers who cannot prove their vaccination status.

The COVID check-in app will likely be subverted and used as a mass surveillance tool to assist in enforcing these mandates. There is no justification for forced COVID vaccinations. In some cases vaccines produce herd immunity, wherein vaccinated people protect the unvaccinated and immunocompromised people from infection, but COVID is not one of those cases. Our COVID vaccines are not effective in preventing transmission. Countries with high vaccination rates still have high rates of COVID transmission, and studies show that the delta strain is still highly transmissible even after two doses of the vaccine. The benefit from these vaccines is for the person receiving the vaccine. From what we currently know, you are not harming or endangering others by refusing the vaccine; you are only placing yourself at risk. So again, there is no justification for forced COVID vaccinations.

Throughout this pandemic, the government has refused to rely on persuasion, refused to rely on consent. Instead, you have used coercion and force at every turn. The vast majority of Victorians will get vaccinated without this coercion. It is not required and will end up backfiring. The government will not succeed in imposing vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. The people will push back. I call on the minister to respect the consent of Victorians and to abandon any mandatory vaccination requirements.