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Fran Drescher calls for an end to “bull***t” vaccine mandates

<p dir="ltr">Fran Drescher has divided audiences after using her platform to go on a tirade about bringing an end to “bull***t” vaccine mandates. </p> <p dir="ltr">The former star of <em>The Nanny</em> took to the stage at the 2023 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday, and used the opportunity to voice her controversial opinions about Covid-19 restrictions. </p> <p dir="ltr">“As the nation declares an end to the Covid emergency this May, I hope we will see everyone return to work in equal opportunity,” Drescher, 65, said in her speech during the telecast,<em> <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/02/27/fran-drescher-calls-for-end-to-vaccine-mandate-in-sag-speech/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter">Page Six</a></em> reports. </p> <p dir="ltr">The entertainment industry’s pandemic protocols were originally set to end on January 31st, but have been extended until April 1st. </p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, more than 20 US states still enforce vaccine mandates to varying degrees.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our industry brings billions of production dollars to states across the nation, but if they want our business, let’s wield our financial influence to make governors act in the best interest of freedom, diversity, inclusion and democracy,” Drescher said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As my character Bobbi Flekman said in <em>This Is Spinal Tap</em> – money talks and bulls**t walks!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Her divisive comments were met with a mixed reaction online, with many viewers claiming it was “irresponsible” for Drescher to use her platform in such a way.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Fran Drescher’s comments on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CovidVaccine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CovidVaccine</a> were irresponsible. Using her logic, people wouldn’t be universally vaccinated against diseases like measles and tetanus. Public health is PUBLIC because it takes collective work.</p> <p>— 🇺🇦мег 🇺🇦 (@sassybibrarian) <a href="https://twitter.com/sassybibrarian/status/1630038810095648768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">God I love Fran Drescher, but her speech at the SAG awards could have been an email.</p> <p>— Francis (@Fusterduster) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fusterduster/status/1630022506668249088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Woody Harrelson and now Fran Drescher. Big weekend for anti-vaxxers.</p> <p>— 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬 ⁽ʷʰᵒ ⁱˢ ᵍᵃʸ⁾ (@cinema_gay) <a href="https://twitter.com/cinema_gay/status/1630021950293655554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Elsewhere in her speech, Drescher also discussed her efforts to help make Hollywood more environmentally friendly by joining with Green Council with a goal to eliminate single-use plastic both on camera and behind the scenes.</p> <p dir="ltr">She also applauded IMDb for “taking a stand against ageism, stereotyping and gender rigidity by allowing our members to define themselves their way on their profile page – for free.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em><span id="docs-internal-guid-1cf5b55a-7fff-4610-144c-c7e3ae12e9d4"></span></p>

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Airport face mask mandate dropped

<p dir="ltr">Travellers and workers at Australian airports will no longer be required to wear a face mask as health officials drop the mandate. </p> <p dir="ltr">The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) - a group of the nation's state and territory chief health officers - said face masks were no longer required at airports.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mandate can be dropped from June 17 but masks will still need to be worn on all flights. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The AHPPC notes that all states and territories have relaxed mask mandates in most settings within the community and considers that it is no longer proportionate to mandate mask use in airport terminals," a statement from the committee said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The federal government expects the states to drop the mandate and follow the advice soon. </p> <p dir="ltr">"We anticipate the travelling public will notice this change in the days following Friday as individual state and territory jurisdictions make the necessary changes to their public health orders," a joint statement from Health Minister Mark Butler and Transport Minister Catherine King said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"This changed advice comes after the AHPPC has reviewed the current COVID-19 situation in Australia and considers it no longer proportionate to mandate mask-wearing in the terminals. It has also noted all states and territories have relaxed mask mandates in most community settings."</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the dropping of the mandate, Aussies are still strongly urged to wear masks to stop the spread of Covid-19 as well as the flu. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Controversy over unvaccinated teachers still on leave with full pay

<p>Hundreds of unvaccinated teachers remain on full time salaries as they ride out their “gardening leave”, with news on whether they will be allowed back in the classroom yet to be confirmed.</p> <p>Currently, there are a large number of educators on forced leave, causing widespread anger and frustration all across the teaching community as the strain on understaffed public schools reaches an all-time high.</p> <p>Whether teachers who failed to comply with vaccination mandates should be permitted back into schools at all has remained a matter of contention, with the vaccine mandate end date having passed in May 2022.</p> <p>The Education Department has retained the rule that requires all teachers to have at least two vaccines, but this could change next month following the completion of a “risk assessment”.</p> <p>The outcome of the risk assessment was not set to take effect until the beginning of Term 3 in mid-July, an anonymous teacher has shared.</p> <p>In the meantime, more than 330 teachers who chose not to comply with the vaccine mandate are being paid their full salary to complete “alternative duties” from home.</p> <p>Pay backdated to May the 13th has been funnelled into the stood-down teachers’ pockets, despite them not being “expected to undertake work during this time” – a directive included in an email.</p> <p>An anonymous teacher said he had been told to stay at home and take care of himself until the risk assessment, undertaken by the Education Department, was finalised.</p> <p>Just over 330 teachers had been subject to a Professional and Ethical Standards (PES) investigation for not complying with Covid-19 directives.</p> <p>The investigation had been halted however, while the Department carried out its assessment.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

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Time to remove vaccine mandates? Not so fast – it could have unintended consequences

<p>Several Australian states have used mandates to drive up COVID vaccination rates. Governments justified the mandates on the basis of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=479962466825937&set=pb.100044365632393.-2207520000..&type=3">preventing the spread of disease</a> and <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/93754">protecting the vulnerable</a>.</p> <p>Now many states are rolling back these mandates, with Queensland <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-05/qld-coronavirus-covid19-vaccination-mandate-eased-april-14/100958850">removing the requirement to show you’re vaccinated</a> before entering cafes, pubs, galleries and other public spaces from tomorrow.</p> <p>It would be nice to think that when mandates have served their purpose, they can be removed. In practice, removing mandates may affect public attitudes about the importance of vaccination and the likelihood of getting boosters.</p> <p><strong>Remind me, what were the mandates?</strong></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/vaccine-passports-are-coming-to-australia-how-will-they-work-and-what-will-you-need-them-for-167531">Public space mandates</a> involve governments mandating that venues (such as restaurants, libraries and sporting venues) check individuals’ vaccination status and <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-time-to-rethink-vaccine-mandates-for-dining-fitness-and-events-we-asked-5-experts-176356">exclude the unvaccinated</a>. This is facilitated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-a-france-style-vaccine-mandate-for-public-spaces-work-in-australia-legally-yes-but-its-complicated-165814">vaccine passports and certificates</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X21015309?via%3Dihub">Government employment mandates</a> involve governments requiring workers in specific industries to be vaccinated. Businesses and organisations may also implement their own policies requiring the vaccination of their staff, their clients, or both.</p> <p>Most states and territories embraced public space mandates and all have required vaccination of aged and health-care workers.</p> <p>But many are on their way out. NSW eased its requirements last year. South Australia has recently revoked mandates for police, teachers and transport workers. Queensland’s new policy is noted above.</p> <p>Victoria, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory are sitting with their existing requirements for now.</p> <p><strong>What could happen next?</strong></p> <p>It’s unclear what impact removing vaccine mandates will have in Australia. However, we can learn from other public health measures and COVID vaccine mandates implemented overseas.</p> <p>Seat-belt laws converted a government requirement into a widespread social norm. Car manufacturers reinforced the norm with vehicles that beep at us when we don’t comply.</p> <p>But just because something has become habitual doesn’t mean we can lose the law. If governments removed the seat-belt law now and expected us to comply because we are informed, educated, and socialised, some people would still conclude that seat belts are no longer important. Removal of a requirement can send a bad message.</p> <p>The Italian government learned this when the region of Veneto suspended childhood vaccine mandates for four childhood vaccines in 2007. Officials thought the region’s wealthy and educated population would continue to vaccinate their children if the regional government provided strong education and messaging.</p> <p>They were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-021-09427-1">wrong</a>. Their strategy worked until there was a national vaccine scare in 2012. Vaccination rates in Veneto plummeted faster than anywhere else in the country.</p> <p>Eventually, the national government <a href="https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/recent-vaccine-mandates-in-the-united-states-europe-and-australia">mandated more vaccines</a> for the whole country.</p> <p>Other countries have already experimented with introducing, removing, and sometimes re-introducing mandates. Some, such as <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(22)00063-7/fulltext">Austria</a> and the <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/vaccine-mandates">United Kingdom</a>, have flip-flopped, providing little opportunity to study the impact of their mandates’ introduction or removal.</p> <p>Israel, which vaccinated its population promptly with Pfizer to the envy of the world, used a “public space” mandate (with an opt-out of a negative COVID test). The mandate has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8582817/">switched on and off</a> depending on the disease situation at the time.</p> <p>Unfortunately, Israelis’ uptake of subsequent doses has <a href="https://datadashboard.health.gov.il/COVID-19/general">dropped over time</a>, but its government still <a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/israel-rolls-back-green-pass-as-prime-minister-declares-the-covid-wave-is-breaking/news-story/b6f9ce495359166126b16c477af062b3">ended the mandate</a> in February.</p> <p>Mandates are also not without <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/215/11/policy-considerations-mandatory-covid-19-vaccination-collaboration-social">risks and costs</a>. They can provoke reactance, making those who are reluctant to vaccinate more determined not to do so. They may also prompt activism against vaccines and mandates.</p> <p><strong>High vaccination rates help contain COVID</strong></p> <p>One of the biggest challenges is nobody knows what the next phase of COVID will look like. Neither infection nor the current vaccines provide long-lasting immunity. We don’t know whether the next strain will continue the trajectory towards less serious symptoms started by Omicron (and helped by high vaccination rates).</p> <p>Whether we continue to be able to stay on top of COVID and whether the disease continues to remain less severe in most people infected will depend on maintaining high vaccination coverage rates.</p> <p>Governments across the nation and the world have struggled to get third doses into populations at the same level and with the same enthusiasm people showed towards the first two.</p> <p>Uptake in paediatric populations is also lagging in Australia – and there are no mandates.</p> <p>Now adults are being asked to prepare for and accept our fourth doses.</p> <p><strong>Leading the way</strong></p> <p>Western Australia has one of the highest rates of uptake in the country, with 76.7% of people aged over 16 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=533610064794510&set=a.263657845123068">triple dosed</a>. This compares with the <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/04/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-update-8-april-2022.pdf">national average</a> of 52.3%.</p> <p>It’s no coincidence the state’s employment mandates, which cover 75% of the workforce, require workers have their third dose within a month of becoming eligible.</p> <p>The WA mandate did not contain three doses to begin with, but it was very easy for the government to build it in.</p> <p>Faced with rolling back the mandate or keeping it operational for the fourth dose, the government will have to grapple with whether the population continues to support these measures – and there are definitely people who reluctantly accepted two doses and are not prepared to keep having more.</p> <p>WA’s public space mandate only covers two doses for now.</p> <p>WA’s COVID vaccination experience has shown that mandates, including for third doses, drive high levels of uptake, and are <a href="https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4210.html">easy for governments to implement</a>.</p> <p>However, much of the rest of Australia is moving in an opposite direction to WA in removing its mandates.</p> <p>As we live through the continued natural experiment of living with COVID – and not allowing it to defeat us – we now move into a new phase of making sense of what to do with the policy instruments governments used.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180781/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katie-attwell-94905" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Attwell</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-remove-vaccine-mandates-not-so-fast-it-could-have-unintended-consequences-180781" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Dan Andrews lashes out at Greg Hunt

<p dir="ltr">Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/coronavirus-vic/daniel-andrews-cant-mask-fury-over-greg-hunts-school-vaccination-program-comments-c-5832371" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called out</a> Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt for “lecturing” Victorians on how to get more kids to get the jab.</p> <p dir="ltr">From 11.59pm on Friday, Victorians will no longer need to wear masks in most indoor settings for the first time in 65 days.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-506582a0-7fff-2368-f299-2e39e702da58"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">But, this rule doesn’t extend to primary schools, with students in Year 3 to 6 and teachers required to stay masked-up.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">From 11.59pm on Friday, masks can come off in most indoor settings, and the recommendation to work from home will go.</p> <p>You'll still need to wear a mask in some workplaces, rideshares, public transport, hospitals, and a few other circumstances.</p> <p>— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielAndrewsMP/status/1495907952095801347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">After the decision prompted backlash, Mr Hunt suggested the “fastest way” to end the mask requirement was to have a school-based vaccination program.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Andrews quickly hit back at the federal minister “who forgot to place an order for vaccines” for thinking he could lecture the state “on how to get that job done”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’ve got arrangements in schools, we’ve run vaccination hubs and pop-ups in schools. I’ve got a Whatsapp message from the prime minister the day after I made those announcements saying it was one of the best things he’d ever heard,” Mr Andrews said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve got the prime minister saying it’s the greatest thing we’ve ever done and I’ve got Greg Hunt out there … and frankly, Victorians don’t take orders from Greg Hunt, the bloke who forgot to place an order for vaccines. Like, seriously.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’re out there doing the commonwealth government’s work for them. The least they could do is not be lecturing us on how to get that job done.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Following Tuesday’s announcement on mask requirements, Mr Andrews said the vaccination rate among five to 11-year-olds, which had just passed 50 percent, needed to be higher.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d97ea0bb-7fff-65dc-5dcd-2cfd1585b958"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“I’d like to see them higher and whilst they grow every day, they’re perhaps lower than we thought they would be,” he said.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We've still got 7,000 cases a day, and children aged 5 to 11 currently have the lowest vaccination coverage. So this is a proportionate measure, for their protection and for ours. It won't be forever.</p> <p>My primary school-aged kids have worked masks into their usual routine. 1/2</p> <p>— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorianCHO/status/1496272188269543424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">On Wednesday, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer explained the decision on Twitter, saying the rules wouldn’t “be forever”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We’ve still got 7000 cases a day, and children aged 5 to 11 currently have the lowest vaccination coverage,” Brett Sutton wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My primary-school-aged kids have worked masks into their usual routine.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They may not always wear them perfectly every day (and some children can’t wear them at all) but overall, this is going to put downward pressure on transmission.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c8044f2-7fff-82e5-fe5a-989dab889bf6"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">However, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy criticised the continuing mask mandate for children, saying it “doesn’t make any sense” and accusing Mr Andrews of “playing Covid politics” with kids.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Masks being kept for grades 3-6 is ridiculous and unfair on kids. The Andrews Govt needs to stop playing Covid politics with our kids. Priority should be catching up on two years of lost learning. <a href="https://t.co/lBpus2vmuc">https://t.co/lBpus2vmuc</a></p> <p>— Matthew Guy MP (@MatthewGuyMP) <a href="https://twitter.com/MatthewGuyMP/status/1496236597318402048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“Masks being kept for grades 3-6 is ridiculous and unfair on kids,” he wrote on Twitter. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The Andrews Govt needs to stop playing Covid politics with our kids. Priority should be catching up on two years of lost learning.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-8a0dd5ff-7fff-a0d1-6d76-bfebebaec72d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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All the tunes used to repel NZ anti-vaccine mandate protesters

<p dir="ltr">As a protest against vaccine mandates enters its sixth day outside New Zealand’s Parliament House, Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard adopted a rather unconventional way to send protesters packing.</p><p dir="ltr">With the rain and wind brought on by Cyclone Dovi not appearing to deter protesters, Mallard first attempted to shoo them away by turning on the sprinklers.</p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f82cf814-7fff-e818-6559-7d38f879e1c9">When that didn’t work either, he <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-unconventional-forms-of-travel-you-should-try-if-you-cant-go-abroad-this-summer-163776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began blasting</a> widely disliked tunes instead at full volume, along with repeated pro-vaccination messages.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last night the lovely govt played on loop Macarena, vax messaging, &amp; Trevor Mallard warning protesters that erecting structures on parliament lawns was unlawful. All night long. Despite this audio torture &amp; the howling gale, the protest continues. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Parliament?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Parliament</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/convoy2022NZ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#convoy2022NZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/QCtK4T69N7">pic.twitter.com/QCtK4T69N7</a></p>— @victoria_dlV (@victoria_dlV) <a href="https://twitter.com/victoria_dlV/status/1492654821325041668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b77720af-7fff-0fcb-4eeb-15ff52cf4603">To start with, Mallard’s playlist featured a selection of <em>Copacabana </em>singer Barry Manilow’s songs, <em>Macarena </em>by Los Del Rio, and the children’s tunes including <em>Baby Shark</em> and <em>Let it Go</em> from Disney film <em>Frozen</em>.</span></p><p> </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-612e419e-7fff-31e0-24fb-a66484f0e4cf">As news of the Speaker’s playlist spread online, singer James Blunt even weighed in, taking to Twitter to suggest that the NZ government include his music if Manilow’s proved ineffective.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Give me a shout if this doesn’t work. <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZPolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS">https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS</a></p>— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt/status/1492586180226990083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ba2a5a6f-7fff-4d23-91b7-5f187d5ada53">Mallard saw Blunt’s “very kind offer” and quickly added the Brit’s smash hit, <em>You’re Beautiful</em>, to the playlist.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesBlunt</a> we will take up your very kind offer. My only doubt is whether it is fair to our <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzpolice</a> officers but I think they will be able to cope. <a href="https://t.co/spb1BDK50u">https://t.co/spb1BDK50u</a></p>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492612830935531521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9d371e47-7fff-83cd-8801-ca7e94339b79">Other entries on Mallard’s playlist included a humorous rendition of Celine Dion’s <em>My Heart Will Go On</em>, featuring musician Matt Mulholland playing a recorder quite poorly, as well as Randa’s <em>Vaccinate the Nation</em>.</span></p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This is another suggestion………Crybabies Caravan With Full Band <a href="https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1">https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a></p>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492607298476605440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1cbcfc2f-7fff-a4cd-ec9b-49137fb64bc8"></span></p><p dir="ltr">Social media users have also been sending in recommendations for what has been described as Mallard’s “counter protest”, while others have compiled playlists of annoying tunes guaranteed to irritate.</p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Nat Barr slammed by online abuse after vaccine stance

<p>Sunrise host Natalie Barr says she has been targeted by online trolls in a barrage of "disgusting" abuse over a recent segment discussing Western Australia's new vaccine policy. </p><p>The new ban recently came into place that bans unvaccinated parents in WA from visiting their sick children in hospital. </p><p>Nat Barr was discussing the new change with Perth Lord Mayor and broadcaster Basil Zempilas and <em>Herald Sun</em> columnist Susie O’Brien on the Seven breakfast show’s “Hot Topics” segment.</p><p>All three spoke in favour of the rule, with Barr concluding, “Other states have had various forms of this – and people have had time (to get vaccinated). I mean, really.”</p><p>The clip was posted to Twitter by conservative website Caldron Pool, who wrote with the video, “Western Australia bans unvaccinated parents from seeing their sick children in hospital. The media applauds exploiting desperate parents in their darkest hour.”</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Western Australia bans unvaccinated parents from seeing their sick children in hospital. The media applauds exploiting desperate parents in their darkest hour. <a href="https://t.co/bVQjoUYGQX">pic.twitter.com/bVQjoUYGQX</a></p>— Caldron Pool (@CaldronPool) <a href="https://twitter.com/CaldronPool/status/1488365477407563777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2022</a></blockquote><p>The video has since racked millions of views, with overseas viewers slamming Australia's vaccine mandates. </p><p>Speaking with <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&amp;dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2Fsunrise-host-natalie-barr-said-blocking-online-trolls-is-how-she-copes-with-social-media-abuse%2Fnews-story%2F1aafb01a200556e886bce965680611e4&amp;memtype=anonymous&amp;mode=premium&amp;v21=dynamic-warm-control-score&amp;V21spcbehaviour=append" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Australian</a>, Barr said the online abuse came in a flood after the video had gone viral. </p><p>“Once it started hitting US and overseas websites and chat rooms that’s when the abuse started … swearing and negative language,” the 53-year-old said.</p><p>“If you’ve taken a stand and you’ve given your opinion, people don’t respect your opinion or they might put a screenshot on and write really disgusting language across the screenshot and then send that to you.”</p><p>Since starting at Sunrise last year, Nat said she has often been subject to distressing comments online: a view that is shared by other female journalists in Australia. </p><p>ABC's Leigh Sales previously described the amount of online hate she received for her coverage of various states' lockout laws and interviews with politicians. </p><p>“In the Australian corner of Twitter, the space is dominated by views that are militantly pro-lockdown, pro-Covid zero and pro-Labor premiers, and even the tamest of questions in those directions prompts an onslaught,” she said.</p><p><em>Image credits: Instagram @natalie_barr7</em></p>

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Pauline Hanson calls PM "weak" while moving to ban vaccine mandates

<p><em>Image: Getty </em></p> <p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing a revolt on the floor of Parliament, with five senators breaking ranks to vote with One Nation in support of Pauline Hanson’s recently proposed anti-vaccination mandate bill.</p> <p>Senator Hanson – who remains unvaccinated – warned Morrison that she would cause “havoc” over his legislative agenda this week, including in relation to new religious freedom laws and reforms to demand voters provide ID when they vote.</p> <p>“The Prime Minister is weak, he says there should be no vaccine mandates – then do something about it,” she said.</p> <p>Shortly after 11 am Monday, NSW Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Northern Territory Senator Sam McMahon, Queensland’s Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick and South Australia’s Alex Antic all voted with One Nation.</p> <p>The bill was ultimately defeated five votes to 44 in the Senate. The result only included the votes of Coalition MPs who voted with One Nation, because Senator Hanson and her colleague Malcom Roberts were voting remotely.</p> <p>The vote followed warnings from Senator Hanson that the vaccines were “experimental” and governments had “no right to take away the right to choose.”</p> <p>“This legislation is urgently needed to arrest and reverse the pandemic of discrimination that has been unleashed on the Australian people,” she said.</p> <p>“People have a right to choose whether they want to have this vaccination or not. What is the country coming to? If you allow the premiers to have these powers, what will be next? This could lead to anything.”</p> <p>Speaking in Canberra shortly after the vote, the Prime Minister said MPs had a right to vote with their conscience on the matter.</p> <p>“The liberal Party and the National Party, we do not run it as an autocracy,” he said.</p> <p>“We don’t take people out of our party if we happen to disagree on an issue they feel strongly. The Government opposed the bill and the bill has not been success. We do not agree with the measures that were in the bill, which would indeed threaten funding for our hospitals and schools for states. I respect the fact that individual members will express a view and vote accordingly.”</p>

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