Dr Kerry Chant and Brad Hazzard sued over mandatory jabs
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A lawsuit has been filed in the NSW Supreme Court in response to mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements for some NSW professions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sydney solicitor Tony Nikolic - who previously represented the protestor accused with punching a horse at Sydney’s anti-lockdown march - has filed the suit against Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant, with the matter expected to be heard on Friday, August 3.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Law firm Ashley, Francina, Leonard and Associates argues that the public health orders requiring “a broad class of workers” to be vaccinated is illegal and unconstitutional.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The firm also argues that the additional powers granted to police to enforce public health orders during the most recent lockdown are illegal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We have received thousands of inquiries from front-line workers - police, paramedics, nurses, aged care [staff], doctors, firefighters - construction workers, teachers, airline staff, miners, truck drivers, university students, mums and dads and, importantly, employers,” a spokesperson said in a statement.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is our view that vaccine compulsion strips citizens of their basic human rights, including their right to work, their right to bodily integrity and their right to informed consent to medical treatment without coercion.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The suit seeks a declaration that the NSW public health orders are invalid, as well as a ban on any further orders made by Mr Hazzard and Dr Chant.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“No-one is above the law, including ministers and public health officers.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Nikolic has advertised for plaintiffs to join the suit via the firm’s website and the social media platform Telegram, which has also been used to organise and incite anti-lockdown protests across Australia.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nikolic posted to Telegram on Saturday, praising politicians such as Craig Kelly, Reverend Fred Nile, and Pauline Hanson for their opposition to lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You are born free, free to choose, freedom from arbitrary detention, freedom of bodily integrity - don’t give it away for free,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Don’t be bullied.”</span></p>
<p><strong>Is it illegal?</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to an </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/215/1/medico-legal-considerations-mandatory-covid-19-vaccination-high-risk-workers" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">article</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> published in </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Medical Journal of Australia</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by Dr Dev Kevat and colleagues from several Melbourne health institutions, Australian employers could mandate vaccination of high-risk workers.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Such a direction may well be lawful and reasonable, excepting for those with relevant medical exemptions, for whom low risk roles must be sought if possible,” Kevat and his colleagues wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, this would vary state to state, based on their legislation.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>
