Guest
The past four so-called pandemic years have been a real eye opener for me. I’ve seen things I never imagined could happen in Australia – people being fired from their jobs for not taking an experimental injection, my fellow Victorians forced into 262 days of lockdowns, fines for not wearing a mask and vaccine injured Australians abandoned by the very governments that mandated them to be jabbed. But one of the most heinous revelations was learning that parents of children that do not meet the Department of Health’s age appropriate early childhood vaccination schedule are being fined…financially punished by the Australian government. In short, if a child is not deemed to be ‘up-to-date’ with this schedule of vaccinations, their parent is not eligible to receive Family Tax Benefit Part A…a payment which is built into the tax system to help parents with the costs of raising children. While I was aware of the government’s No Jab No Play policy - which essentially prohibits unvaccinated children from attending childcare…withholding Family Tax Payments is a step too far! Leah, the mum of two unvaccinated boys told me that she and her husband had resigned themselves to not being able to access childcare and made their life decisions accordingly. But what incensed her, was knowing that that they’d missed out on $90,000 in FTB payments which would have been paid over the past 10 years if her children had been vaccinated. When Leah pointed out to Services Australia that this was a financial punishment, she was told: “No it isn’t – it’s an incentive for parents to get their children vaccinated”. Well, it is a punishment. It’s unconscionable, unjust and it’s un-Australian. In my view, removing a child’s right to attend childcare or removing a parent’s right to FTB because of a child’s vaccination status is an outright violation of human rights. What happened to the ethical guidelines for doctors that state 'vaccines must be given with informed consent without coercion, manipulation or pressure.'? This is Australia for goodness sake! Let me assure you, this story has much further to run, and I won’t step away from helping to bring justice to these parents. I invite anyone who has been discriminated as a result of not having their child vaccinated, to contact me via my website. That’s justice as I see it.
