Black Lives Matter protesters could be stripped of their welfare payments under new calls from the government
A Liberal MP has called for Australians taking part in illegal demonstrations this weekend to be stripped of their welfare payments.
The New South Wales Supreme Court has banned upcoming refugee rights rallies planned in Sydney for Saturday.
A Melbourne protester was yesterday confirmed as testing positive to COVID-19 after joining thousands at a Black Lives Matter demonstration.
Brisbane-based Liberal MP Andrew Laming said those who defied bans on mass demonstrations this weekend, during the coronavirus pandemic, deserved to lose their welfare payments.
A Liberal MP has called for Australians taking part in illegal demonstrations this weekend to be stripped of their welfare payments
‘I’m asking Australians to reflect on the fact we’re paying COVID and health-related payments to get through a crisis but here we have rallies where people are blatantly ignoring clear and unambiguous advice,’ he told Sky News.
‘I’m challenging those protesters who are doing that to hand back those payments in advance. You can’t simply collect from the taxpayer with one hand and risk infecting them with the other.’
Australia’s chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy yesterday described large gatherings like rallies as ‘extremely ill advised’ – pointing to advice from the government’s Health Protection Principal Committee which includes state chief health officers.
‘Large gatherings, large mass gatherings such as a protest are extremely ill advised,’ he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.
‘We think that they present a significant risk of transmission and a very significant risk because you can’t, you don’t know who you’re contacting and so we feel that people should be discouraged from attending such events.
‘We understand the passion that people have for wanting to protest, but we think it’s a really bad idea at the moment.’