Alex Antic (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia, as a sovereign nation, has the right to exercise its own judgements and decisions when it comes to dealing with healthcare issues in emergencies. Power consolidated in the hands of a few, especially when those few are an international elite, establishes a precedent of subordinating ourselves to globalist institutions like the World Economic Forum, the United Nations and, in the case of this particular motion, the World Health Organization.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we witnessed Australia's CHOs—chief health officers—and our premiers obediently defer to the advice of the World Health Organization, which pushed for the hardest possible restrictions, including lockdowns, border closures, mask mandates, vaccine mandates and so on, and all without concern for the damage that might be done to the countries upon whose advice they were relying. Much of this advice was not only wrong, but it was also dangerous, and I'm specifically speaking of the advice in relation to lockdowns and mandates.

But this didn't prevent WHO's Director-General Tedros from telling the world in 2020:

One of the greatest dangers we face now is complacency.

  …   …   …

There must be a new normal …

When millions of people were locked in their homes, Tedros said:

The same public health measures we have been advocating since the beginning of the pandemic must remain the backbone of the response in all countries; find every case, isolate every case, test every case, care for every case, trace and quarantine every contact …

It's hard to believe in hindsight, but that's what was being said.

Anyone who pointed out basic facts was deemed a conspiracy theorist by the WHO, and they encouraged the actions I just described which trampled the most basic rights, liberties and dignity of Australian citizens and citizens throughout the world. Such rights included the rights to freedom of speech, movement and association. And I say freedom of speech because anyone who defied the WHO's supposedly expert advice, including eminent medical professionals, were censored and vilified by the media and big tech at the behest of government and these organisations. The only narrative that was allowed oxygen was that which parroted the WHO. Many Australian healthcare providers were suspended for contradicting what was ultimately the WHO's position on COVID-19 vaccines. Their predictions and observations have turned out to be correct, and we'll see how that narrative is slowly changing.

We saw it this weekend when, on Saturday, on the front page of the Weekend Australian, the tragic story of Amy Sedgwick was told. The article explained how a 24-year-old woman's health rapidly deteriorated following her COVID-19 injections, which is thought to have led to her death. Yet the WHO's website to date states:

The vaccine is safe and effective for all individuals aged 6 months and above … All efforts should be taken to achieve high vaccine coverage rates in the highest and high priority-use groups.

Clearly, we have here a contradiction between what is reality and what is the official advice of the WHO. And it should be obvious to anyone—anyone with a functioning memory—that the story in the Weekend Australian on the weekend would have been considered and deemed dangerous and probably even antivax by the censorship industrial complex known as the mainstream media in this country, which only a year ago parroted the WHO's dangerous lines.

The WHO is slowly drip-feeding these stories to normalise the idea that people who pushed against this agenda were wrong, and also that there's no way they could have known at the time. Well, we did know at the time. People did know at the time. Experts did know at the time. There are thousands of stories out there like the tragic one of Amy Sedgwick and her family. If only people in this place had taken the time to listen to them. Nobody did, bar a few. I say that because the rules that Amy Sedgwick followed were precisely the same rules that the WHO sought to have its member governments enforce. Why, then, would we even entertain further involving ourselves with this body? Why would we entertain signing and ratifying a treaty to make further encumbrances on our own sovereign nation?

In the early days of the pandemic the WHO refused to investigate the Chinese Communist Party's potential involvement in the development and release of COVID-19, despite the fact that the virus came from China. It was never, ever an issue. Down the road they had a major virology institute, which had labs in which coronaviruses had been experimented on. When they finally did start investigating the CCP, they quickly confirmed that there was no wrongdoing on their part. We've all forgotten it, but that's what happened. Coincidentally, the WHO refused to acknowledge the existence of a little country called Taiwan. This is the body we're dealing with. This is the body we're talking about here—the one that's so vaunted by those opposite in this chamber. One might well be excused for being a tiny bit sceptical about the WHO's supposed independence when it comes to international matters.

I believe that government power needs to be at its lowest possible level, and, wherever that power is given, it shouldn't be abused on an extraordinary level. National or federal power is required, but the federal government shouldn't be controlling the lives of communities. This is even more so at an international level. The idea that the WHO should have control over individuals' personal medical choices is an egregious abuse of power. This WHO pandemic treaty represents a further descent into the world of centralised powers that our leaders, our representatives in this place, are failing to prevent. You'll all understand in due course—I assure you of that. Our government departments are walking in lock step with the globalist agenda of the WEF, the UN and the WHO, and we're ceding our national sovereignty bit by bit. It's death by a thousand cuts.

There's a lot to discuss with this proposed treaty, but, to choose just one example, article 17 deals with strengthening pandemic and public health literacy. It says the WHO will:

conduct regular social listening and analysis to identify the prevalence and profiles of misinformation, which contribute to design communications and messaging strategies for the public to counteract misinformation—

and what else—

disinformation …

What's the difference? We'll never know.

This is what the document says. Presumably, the WHO will define what is deemed to be misinformation and disinformation at some point, and then we'll all know. It even uses the term 'false news'. I'm sure this would be very convenient for the financial contributors to the WHO, who are heavily invested in the development and manufacturing of vaccines. As I stated earlier, much, if not all, of what the WHO considered misinformation ultimately was—guess what—true. It turned out to be true. How about that! Why, then, would the Australian government entertain a treaty which allows the WHO to define what constitutes misinformation and presumably, under the guise of international law, work with social media companies to further censor the people of Australia and those who take a stand? That's what 'design communications and messaging strategies' really means, ultimately.

Essentially, the Australian government is lining up to sign an agreement that the WHO is the central body determining how once-sovereign nations prepare for and deal with pandemics. We don't need international solidarity. We need to be establishing ourselves as a sovereign nation with our own response mechanisms in place. Those mechanisms should strike a balance between public health and safety and a fundamental respect for people's dignity and human rights, as well as being genuinely science based.

Simply put, the WHO will ensure that the process by which pandemic related products, which obviously means vaccines, are approved by regulatory agencies—in this case, the TGA—will be even speedier. Apparently, the COVID-19 vaccines were not developed and approved quickly enough, despite the lack of long-term safety data of any form. Once again, I can't help but notice how convenient this is for the pharmaceutical investors and manufacturers. Saturday's Weekend Australian presents undeniable proof of why this hastening of the development of these drugs is dangerous. Australia is being led by blind guides who are not listening to the voices of Australian people, or even the dissenting voices of highly qualified experts, but to the voices of international elites whose top priority is not to do what is best for the people of Australia. I support this motion. I commend it. My view is: get out of the WHO.