Anthony Mundine has doubled down on his anti-vaxx views despite condemnation of his warning to fans not to vaccinate their children.
The recently-retired boxer on Wednesday night revealed his vaccine stance and claimed the government was ‘bullying’ parents to immunise.
He received stinging rebukes from all quarters but was unrepentant on Thursday morning, saying he had a right to his opinion.
‘A lot of talk bout (sic) this vaccine stuff! All I’m saying is research & check what they giving you or ya baby!’ he wrote on social media.
Anthony Mundine has never expressed an opinion on the topic and suddenly came out as an anti-vaxxer
Mundine was unrepentant on Thursday morning, saying he had a right to his opinion
‘When they start mixing it like a cocktail that’s where it’s going wrong! That’s my opinion & other people have the right to there’s! (sic)’
Mundine, 43, later admitted he went overboard in his first post and clarified that he just wanted parents to do their research and have ‘freedom of choice’.
‘I probably was too fired up when I posted that first post. All parents ultimately want what is best for their kids!’ he wrote.
‘Like I said in my last post, do your own research! Where there is risk, there must always be choice! I AM FOR informed consent and freedom of choice when it comes to all medical procedures.’
Mundine has five children who are all understood to have been vaccinated. It is not clear when he formed his anti-vaxx views.
Mundine, 43, later admitted he went overboard in his first post and clarified that he just wanted parents to do their research and have ‘freedom of choice’
Anthony Mundine has warned his fans not to let the government ‘bully’ them into vaccinating their children, and shared an anti-vaxx video
He had never expressed an opinion on the topic until he shared a video called the ‘vaccine agenda’ on his Facebook on Wednesday.
‘Don’t vaccine your kids period! (sic) The government bully (sic) you into vaccine!’ the wrote to his 88,000 followers, and to more on his Twitter.
‘Do your research on the (sic) s**t & watched (sic) the documentary vaxxed.’
Mundine was referring to a controversial anti-vaccination film by disgraced deregistered doctor Andrew Wakefield.
Mr Wakefield kickstarted the anti-vaxx movement with research linking the MMR vaccine to autism that was later found to be faked.
Mundine’s followers almost universally condemned his post in comments, including many who backed him through earlier controversial behaviour.
‘Choc u had to many knocks to the head tiger take a seat,’ one wrote, calling the boxer by one of his nicknames.
‘I’ve backed you countless of times, this is the biggest bit of dribble ever to come out of your mouth,’ another wrote.
Others advised he reconsider his opinion and remember the millions who were saved from polio after the vaccine against it was developed.
Mundine retired after being knocked out by Jeff Horn in just 23 seconds on November 30
Paralympian Kurt Fearnley also piled on in his own tweet, expressing with disbelief that ‘you can’t make this sh**t up’.
‘We’ve became so comfortable that some promote fear in our peace and others promote apathy in what should be feared,’ he wrote.
‘You got many mates with Polio? I do. A heap. From countries that didn’t have the luxury of vaccinations you peanut.’
Presenters on Triple M Sydney’s breakfast show Moonman in the Morning followed this lead, referring to Mundine only as ‘peanut’ and refusing to name him.
‘He’s an idiot… we just want him to go away now. I don’t think he realises how dangerous he is because he’s an idiot of the highest distinction,’ Lawrence Mooney said.
Jess Eva said her friend’s 1.5 week old daughter caught whooping cough, a life-threatening disease for which there is a vaccination.
‘Every anti-vaxxer needs to see a little child gasping for breath and potentially die. I just think to myself, shut up, peanut, you idiot, because there are lives at risk here,’ she said.
‘Hundreds of thousands of children are dying around the world (because they don’t have vaccines) and you’re not taking them by choice. It’s so stupid, have your own views but don’t prey on the vulnerable.’
Mooney closed the segment by declaring: ‘The peanut needs to be silenced and we’re not talking about him anymore.’
The video Mundine shared on Wednesday showed a pair of black men on U.S. radio show The Breakfast Club making claims about the MMR vaccine.
They claimed the vaccine made black children 240 per cent more likely to develop autism and other conditions than whites.
Mundine is not the only Australian sportsman to have recently come out as an anti-vaxxer, much to their fans’ dismay.
NRL star Bryce Cartwright in February was revealed to be against vaccinating his children in a social media post by his wife Shanelle.
Shanelle Cartwright (left), the wife of football star Bryce Cartwright (right), also not believe in vaccinating her children
Manly Sea Eagles player Frank Winterstein (right) and his wellness-blogger wife Taylor (left) have not vaccinated their two children Ziggy and Hendrix
‘I remember he (Bryce) was so defensive when I first brought it up and got angry at me for even suggesting that we shouldn’t vaccinate,’ she said.
‘And then he read a package insert and a few pages of one of Dr Suzanne Humphries books and saw vaccines under a different light. And now we’re here.’
Manly NRL star Frank Winterstein and his wife Taylor are also anti-vaxxers and didn’t give their two children Ziggy and Hendrix any shots.
‘Vaccines are not safe and effective for everyone, a ”one size fits all” schedule does not fit all bio-individual children and where there is risk there must always be choice,’ Ms Winterstein said.
She claims parents are ‘bullied’ and ‘pressured’ by doctors to immunise their children and now runs $200-a-head anti-vaxxer workshop.