Charlotte Varcoe
FEDERAL Member of Parliament for Barker Tony Pasin has thrown his support behind protestors who oppose mandatory vaccinations, mask wearing and Covid-19 restrictions.
The protestors marched down Mount Gambier’s Commercial Street last Saturday.
Mr Pasin spoke to the crowd, stating although he was double vaccinated himself, it was his choice to do so.
“No one was saying to me if you do not take this vaccine Tony you lose your job, no one was saying to me well if you do not take this vaccine you cannot go into your favourite cafe, nobody was coercing me in any way, “Mr Pasin said.
“Had the effective mandates that we now have in place been in place then I think I would have been a lot more sceptical about it.
“We are creating two classes of Australians, the vaccinated class and the unvaccinated class.”
Mr Pasin said he supports any Australian’s right to take the vaccine, but it is government’s place to make it available.
“It is not government’s job to force you into a medical procedure that you perhaps do not want to participate in,” he said.
“This debate has now morphed so far past vaccines or unvaccinated, it is now just a question about pure freedom.
“I thought the point was if we got out nation to 80 per cent plus vaccinated, we could all just move on.
“It is not actually politicians doing this anymore, and that is for me is the most dangerous thing of all.”
The federal politician said he did not believe the state was in an emergency situation, as emergency acts were intended for natural disasters with power handed back to politicians once the immediate risks are over.
“The measure for me that it is not an emergency is that I see people walking their dogs down my street. You do not walk your dog down my street in an emergency, you get out of there,” Mr Pasin said.
“This emergency seems to be going forever.
“Enough is enough, let us move on.”
Mr Pasin then encouraged the group to continue its monthly rallies, claiming the mandatory laws: “may or may not be based in the science”.
“I am happy to comply with the rule provided you can show me why scientifically it is important,” he said.
“If it was up to Nicola Spurrier, I am pretty sure we would stop driving cars on the road because they are dangerous.
“It is politicians that balance risk and freedom, and we try to find that balance in the middle.”
Mr Pasin said that despite what he views as a lack of coverage of the protests in mainstream media, his federal colleagues are listening to the protester’s views.
“You have friends in the federal parliament,” he said.
A spokesperson for the protest group, known as the Limestone Coast Pro Choice Movement, Maddy Fry said it was a big turnout for the movement.
She claimed there were about 190 people protesting at last weekend’s rally.
“We had a large number of apologies of those who could not make it due to making do with what they can as with the border restrictions,” Ms Fry said.
“There were a lot of regulars but also new faces because of our successful letterbox drops we have been doing.”
According to Ms Fry, the movement began approximately four months ago when a small group met outside the library to support each other with the current restrictions and wanted to speak with people on the same page.
“We are concerned about the current restrictions that Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier are delivering because it is presenting segregation and discrimination in our local community,” she said.
“We are not opposed to vaccines either, just concerned about the timeframe this current vaccine has been put out in…”
