Australian politician George Christensen MP has called for COVID-19 vaccine mandates to end while attending the “Convoy to Canberra” protests at the nation’s capital held in solidarity with the Canadian and U.S. truckers’ convoys.
In a video he live-streamed on Facebook, the conservative politician, oft maligned for his views on COVID-19 treatments, Big Tech censorship, and vaccine mandates, appeared in a crowd of thousands of diverse people outside Old Parliament House calling for an end to the “nonsense.”
“All they’re wanting is for this nonsense to end. So this is going to be a very peaceful protest here today. The message is: we want our freedom back. It wasn’t anyone’s to take away in the first place.
“We want our freedom back. We want these vaccine mandates to end. We want the medical segregation to end; lockdowns, state border closes—all the restrictions,” he said.
“Enough is enough. Now is the time. People in Australia—they’re getting very, very angry,” he added.
Social media has been flooded with videos and images from protesters and supporters, who drove from around the country to mobilise in Canberra in solidarity with the “Convoy to Ottawa.”
Others wore army fatigues and held up signs, one of which read: “Since when was two weeks to flatten the curve consent to join the world’s biggest medical experiment.”
People chanted “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi,” and sang, “We don’t need no vaccination.”
Protesters and supporters shared messages on social media, encouraging non-violence and offered suggestions on ways to show police they were not part of any “paid” troublemaking.
In Australia, mandates have been widely enforced across the country with largely bipartisan support politically, as well as from the business and medical community. It remains a contentious issue, however.