Coalition opposition to proof of vaccination status growing – Sydney Morning Herald

I am bitterly opposed to denying people goods or a service on the grounds of whether they are vaccinated, he said.

The whole idea only invites right-wing paranoid reactions that this is all about a passport. It is not the message we need to be sending out ... we cant have traders making the calls and saying sorry we are not serving you.

Dr Laming also questioned why businesses werent giving employees who chose not to be vaccinated the opportunity to be redeployed to lower risk parts of the businesses.

Victorian Liberal MP Russell Broadbent said he had received many distressing calls from constituents who were about to lose their jobs because they choose not to accept the vaccines available.

I feel powerless in the face of government or employer directives, Mr Broadbent said.

This is wrong. This is not in keeping with the freedom I claim to stand for as an elected representative ... where are the civil libertarians that have stood in solidarity with me in the past?

Labors health spokesman Mark Butler said the opposition supported the plan, but there had to be exemptions in place for people who had genuine medical reasons not to get vaccinated.

I think the Prime Minister will have difficulty carrying his party room on that. Already there are a number of Coalition MPs who have said they will cross the floor, he told the ABC.

Coalition senators Eric Abetz, Matt Canavan, Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic have also vowed to fight any proposal, with the latter warning Australians should not be denied access to services on the basis of their willingness to undergo a medical procedure.

Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen, who has previously been condemned over suggesting lockdowns and face masks did not help in the fight against the virus, last week told Parliament thousands of Australians were marching in capital cities to protect their freedoms.

We demand that there be no more discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated Australians. We demand that our freedoms be restored. And I demand that peaceful protesters patriotic, freedom-loving men and women never be fired upon in this country ever again.

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Coalition opposition to proof of vaccination status growing - Sydney Morning Herald