Russell Broadbent here, member for Monash.
You may be aware that I have been speaking out against the government’s No Jab, No Play, No Pay policy.
I have spoken with parents from across the nation who have experienced financial and emotional pain at the hands of this policy, purely because they made the informed decision to not vaccinate their children.
I have written to many senior officials on this matter – including the Prime Minister – to bring their attention to the gross injustice suffered by these families.
But their stories have fallen on deaf ears.
So perhaps we need to take a different approach.
Australia is signatory to seven main human rights treaties.
We pride ourselves on being a nation where everybody can have a fair go, we celebrate our differences, and we can hold our own opinions and values without fear of repercussions or punishment.
The No Jab No Pay policy threatens that vision.
Yes, we are signatory to seven human rights treaties – but it appears that it’s just for optics.
Article three of the Convention on the Rights of the Child says that ‘in all actions concerning children…the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration’.
Every family I have spoken to has made the informed decision not to vaccinate their kids in the best interest of their children’s health and wellbeing.
Article 24 of the same Convention outlines the ‘right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.’
Again, the choices made by these parents were to protect their child’s health. Just like parents who vaccinate their children, parents who make the decision not to also have their child’s health and wellbeing front of mind.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in article 10, states that ‘the widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society’.
So why are we punishing families with this punitive policy?
When I wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this year, I also copied in the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay. Let’s hope she keeps these treaties in mind when she chooses to respond.
That’s justice as I see it.
