The family spokesman and godfather of Australia’s ‘miracle boy’ AJ Elfalak is championing a court case which seeks to challenge NSW Covid public health orders.
Alan Hashem was the first to raise the alarm on social media when three-year-old AJ disappeared from his family home in Putty, 150km northwest of Sydney, last Friday.
The toddler was miraculously found alive just 500m from where he was last seen four days later – after spending three nights in the icy cold, wet wilderness.
Mr Hashem used his far-reaching anti-vaccine community to spread the message – with some of his friends travelling from locked-down Sydney to help in the search.
He has since deleted his Facebook page and any reference to AJ’s disappearance, sparking concerns among some who are convinced there is more to the story.
AJ Elfalak (pictured) went missing on September 3 and was found three days later, covered in cuts and bruises
Celebrations were underway from about 1pm on Monday – an hour after word spread that AJ had been found alive. Pictured: Alan Hashem riding up to the home on the side of a car
An Instagram page linked to Mr Hashem, who is the founder of the Our Voices Matter movement which is against Covid vaccination, has been a driving force in the Supreme Court motion against mandatory jabs in NSW.
A directions hearing took place last week and was livestreamed on YouTube, with 50,000 people tuning in, hoping to get some clarity about vaccine mandates.
AFL Lawyers, who have brought the motion before the courts, hope to challenge ‘the legality and constitutionality of the NSW Government’s Public Health Orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which are impacting millions,’ a statement reads.
‘We say Minister [Brad] Hazzard and Dr [Kerry] Chant have exceeded their delegated powers by civilly conscripting workers to take a vaccine.’
This aerial image shows the distance between AJ’s home and the area where he was found – complete with the dense bushland and dangerously steep terrain in between
Mr Hashem revealed CCTV footage of the time AJ disappeared was mysteriously ‘wiped’
In essence, they want to ensure employees can turn up to work without getting the jab.
Some industries have mandated the jab to get back to work in NSW following a widespread outbreak which has infected more than 40,000 people since June.
AFL Lawyers argues this effectively ‘strips citizens of their basic human rights, including their right to work’.
Mr Hashem has been vocal in his support of the motion to his thousands of followers, adding that he is ‘extremely encouraged that Australians are standing up for their freedoms’.
Mr Hashem has thrown his support behind a court case questioning the legitimacy of public health orders and vaccine mandates
He’s urged his supporters to donate to a fundraiser supporting the court case.
A minister’s right to make orders under the Public Health Act will likely be a central feature of the case when it next returns to court.
It is understood the state hopes to have the matter dismissed.
The court heard that the minister’s ability to make the orders under the Public Health Act would be a central feature of all three cases.
Mr Hashem insists he is not part of an ‘anti-vax’ movement, and instead is a ‘freedom movement about transparency and the right of choice’.
The radio silence since little AJ was found safe and well has not gone unnoticed by his followers, some of whom questioned why he would delete his Facebook profile.
There are still questions about the missing CCTV footage from the time AJ disappeared.
Mr Hashem was concerned that security footage that would have captured what happened to AJ had allegedly been wiped from his monitoring system.
Mr Hashem insists he is not part of an ‘anti-vax’ movement, and instead is a ‘freedom movement about transparency and the right of choice’
Pictured: AJ Elfalak, age three
At the time, he indicated someone had ‘a lot of explaining to do’ and was standing firm in his belief that little AJ had been abducted.
‘How did he leave, who did he leave with? Did anything sinister happen? These are questions that need to still be answered and we will not stop until we actually find the truth,’ he said last Monday, the day AJ was found.
The question on the lips of many, including locals who assisted in the search, is why the CCTV was installed in such a remote area in the first place.
Many have argued that the home, which was sold to AJ’s mother Kelly and two of her associates, Michael and Katia Mallouhi, for just $30,000 in 2016, doubles as the ‘headquarters’ of Mr Hashem’s anti-vax group.
It is not clear why her husband Anthony is not on the deed for the home.
The $30,000 Ms Elfalak paid for the home is more than ten times less than the property sold for when it last went under the hammer in October 2014 for $320,000.