Hello, Russell Broadbent here – member for Monash.
Today I want to remind the nation that three and a half years down the track from the start of the pandemic, there are thousands of doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical specialists across Australia who are still unable to work due to covid-19 vaccine mandates.
How can this be when every day I read about Australia’s hospitals being in crisis with burnt out staff at breaking point? Why aren’t these highly qualified and desperately needed people able to work?
Some of the reasons can be found in a submission to government by The Australian Medical Professionals’ Society (AMPS for short). This submission outlines the impact of censorship on the medical profession and provides sobering insights on what drove some to walk away from their beloved vocation – to forfeit their livelihood rather than take an untested vaccine.
The submission provides four telling insights:
1. That any scepticism or questioning of government-endorsed public health messaging was promptly labelled as misinformation or disinformation.
2. That the fundamental principle of informed consent – which ensures patients have the right to make autonomous decisions about their own healthcare - was entirely undermined and negated throughout the pandemic. And it still is!
3. That Australia’s covid-19 policy responses stood in stark contrast to the government’s pre-pandemic preparation strategies. Measures like lockdowns, border closures, mask mandates, school shutdowns, and compulsory vaccine directives were not part of the initial recommendations and
But AMPS’ most scathing comment is directed to our government when they say it became evident that much of the officially sanctioned government communication — spanning from the lab leak theory to mask usage, lockdowns, and the effectiveness of vaccines in stopping transmission — was riddled with inaccuracies and misdirection, whether by oversight or design.
What a mess!
That’s just as I see it.
https://amps.redunion.com.au/news/amps-submission-ditrdca-combating-misinformation-bill-2023
