Pauline Hanson, leader of the One Nation party, has hit out at new restrictions put in place for those entering Australian Capital Territory. The ACT is in lockdown until Friday, October 15.
During this time, ACT residents seeking to return home must apply for an online exemption form at least three days prior to arriving in the territory, and must quarantine for 14 days. This exemption will be granted as soon as the person’s identity and residency is confirmed.
However, non-ACT residents are not allowed to enter the state without an approved exemption form, and must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival; with applications prioritised for essential workers. As ACT is home to federal parliament, politicians would have to abide by these rules each time Federal Parliament sits.
Luckily, on Friday, October 8, ACT Health announced amendments to these rules, which will mean that all politicians and their staff will only have to abide by the 14-day quarantine restrictions if they are unvaccinated. If vaccinated, however, the restrictions will not apply.
Politicians will be asked while completing the exemption form what brand of vaccination they received, yet this will not be a factor in assessing the risk of the traveller to the territory, according to ACT Health officials.
Hanson is just one of the politicians already lashing out at these rules, with MP’s from NSW also taking a stand. She has been incredibly vocal about her anti Covid-19 vaccination stance, at one time stating falsely that the Covid-19 vaccines had killed 210 Australians, and protesting mandatory vaccinations along Queensland’s M1 highway.
Hanson made a statement to News Corp Australia regarding these updated restrictions, saying, “It’s not going to change my views about getting vaccinated. I already told the government I won’t attend the October sittings anyway. It’s going to put the Coalition government into a bit of a bind with how they deal with this. My understanding is that they cannot stop an elected MP from attending the parliament to do their duties.”
Hanson also elaborated that this announcement was made too close to the next sitting week of parliament, meaning it’s too late for MPs to change their vaccination status before this next sitting. She then added, “This is scaremongering. I’m not going to bow to his demands and I think they’re unrealistic. It’s stupid to put a person in quarantine for two weeks who doesn’t have Covid.”
Hanson’s comments about vaccinations come just days after Australia hit a massive vaccination milestone, with 80 per cent of Australia’s eligible population having now received their first vaccination. Meanwhile, Victoria broke the record this week for the highest national case numbers since the pandemic began.