Anti-vaxxers ramp up censorship campaign.

Supporters of the Australian Vaccination Network have increased their efforts to suppress critics by abusing Facebook’s “Report Abuse” feature.

Anti-vaccination activists are well known for their attempts to censor the voices of their critics. Their tactics to silence critics include:

  1. False DMCA reports.
  2. False reporting of critics websites to anti-virus vendors.
  3. Threatening Politicians.
  4. Harassing, abusing, vilifying Grieving Families.
  5. Seeking Court orders to silence their critics.
  6. Abusing Facebooks report feature to get critics banned.
  7. Advocating the use of violence against critics.
  8. Calling their critics terrorists. 

Recently #6 has made a comeback with several critics receiving multiple 12 hour bans from Facebook. Even for mundane comments such as this.

It’s clear that these people are simply reporting everything and anything in order to get their critics removed from Facebook. They have even set up a page to brag about their latest censorship campaign.

This is not the first time AVN supporters have engaged in these tactics. I wrote more extensively about their first round of abuse Here. I have no doubt that this abusive organisation will continue to do whatever it can to silence criticism. But rest assured we will all still be here fighting to close the bastards down.

Australian Vaccination Network has a bad week.

Last Wednesday the Australian Vaccination Network sent out a newsletter containing the usual lunacy about government conspiracies. Of course they are right about the conspiracy, a lot of people really are working to have them shut down.

The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) was originally set up to protect the public from dangerous health practitioners. They were to be an independent overseer that could adjudicate whenever there was a question of someone being harmed by treatments – an all-too common event in Australia. According to their website, they describe themselves as being: “an independent body to deal with complaints about health service providers in NSW.”

Yes Meryl, that is precisely why they are working to have you shut down. They have already received the complaints and now they are acting on them.

The HCCC can truly be said to be above the law in NSW. To the best of our knowledge, it is one of only two bodies in the country which are not subject to subpoena (a court order to produce documentation) or Freedom of Information (called GIPA in NSW) claims. The other organisation is the Australian Crimes Commission. These exemptions mean that the HCCC is able to operate in secret should they wish to do so.

Without even Googling I can confirm that ACMA, ASD and ASIO are also exempt from Freedom of Information requests. Even departments without exemption still have the right to refuse disclosure of sensitive information. But of course in loon-town that means it must be some massive government conspiracy.

But these powers were obviously not enough because after 2012, it appealed to the NSW Parliament for a virtual blank cheque to  investigate, cite and punish the AVN and any other organisation or individual who goes against government health policy. Now, not only can they choose to investigate any complaint from anyone about our group or others, even if they have never dealt with or been harmed in any way by these organisations or individuals – the HCCC can also file their own complaints and then, investigate and adjudicate them. Judge, jury and executioner – that is the power Parliament granted to the HCCC – all to ‘get’ the AVN.

The police don’t have to receive any complaint in order to arrest a person for breaking the law. Imagine how stupid it would be if the police could only arrest a lawbreaker after someone lodged an official complaint. Of course stupid is the AVNs way of thinking.

Then on Friday the AVN sent out another newsletter. To sell office equipment:

In addition, I am just getting photos done now but just giving you a head’s up that we will be selling off filing cabinets, computers and other office equipment. If you are in the market for some really good quality gear at a great price, please keep your eyes open and wait for our next newsletter. 

When a company starts getting rid of it’s office furniture it usually means one thing. So this is a very promising newsletter. Immediately following was the reason for the sale.

The long-awaited decision of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) will be handed down on Monday, November 25th in Sydney. As you probably remember, the Department of Fair Trading via the Minister for Fair Trading has demanded that the Australian Vaccination Network change its name. We have appealed against that decision and will hear the result of that appeal next week.

It seems strange that a furniture sale should come before mention of the court case. But then Meryl Dorey always did make money her number one priority. So to celebrate the AVNs impending doom myself and Peter Bowditch enjoyed a beer in the pub.

I sent the photo to Meryl as a reminder that we haven’t forgotten her.

Greetings Ms Dorey,

Myself and Mr Bowditch are drinking beer in your dishonor.  The funds from your unsuccessful AVO appeal are certainly coming in handy at this time so it seems only fitting that we should send you this photo as proof that your money is well spent.

P.S good luck in court tomorrow. 

Your friend,

~Dan Buzzard

We then had to wait until Monday for the decision to be handed down, and it was everything we had hoped for.

The Australian Vaccination Network Inc (AVN) has been directed to change its name. The main reason the Director General of the Department of Finance and Services gave for making that direction was that the name is likely to mislead the public in relation to the nature, objects or functions of AVN. The Director General found that AVN’s message is anti-vaccination and that the name does not reflect that message. Two other reasons the Director General relied on were that the name is “undesirable” and that it suggests a connection with the Commonwealth government.

AVN applied to the Tribunal for a review of that decision. I have decided that the decision to direct AVN to adopt a new name is the correct and preferable decision. But my conclusion is not based on a finding that AVN’s message is exclusively anti-vaccination, that the name suggests a connection with the Commonwealth government or that the name itself is undesirable.

AVN’s main object is the dissemination of information and opinions that highlight the risks of vaccinations. AVN is sceptical about vaccinations. The existing name, Australian Vaccination Network Inc, suggests that the association is pro vaccination or, at least, is committed to providing comprehensive information and opinions about the pros and cons of vaccination. The name should be changed so that it is not likely to mislead the public in relation to its main object. Although I do not have to decide this issue, a name that includes the word “risk” or “sceptic” such as Vaccination Risk Awareness Association Inc or Vaccination Sceptics Network Inc would, in my opinion, be acceptable. The name could also include the word “Australia” or “Australian” without suggesting a link to government.

<Redacted: check link for full text.>

In my view, to be acceptable, the name should reflect AVN’s scepticism about vaccinations. Although I do not have to decide this issue, and my opinion is not binding, a name that includes the word “risk” or “sceptic” and vaccine or vaccination would be acceptable. Examples include Vaccination Risk Awareness Association Inc or Vaccine Sceptics Network Inc. Other combinations of those words would, in my opinion, be acceptable. The name could also include the word “Australia” or “Australian” without suggesting a link to the Commonwealth government. Of course, these are not the only names that may be acceptable.

Order: The decision of the Director General, Department of Finance and Services to direct Australian Vaccination Network Inc to adopt a new name is affirmed.

–Administrative Decisions Tribunal New South Wales

 

THE Australian Vaccination Network has again been ordered to change its misleading name after it yesterday lost an appeal in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

The original action was brought against the AVN in January by the Department of Fair Trading, which issued a directive to the AVN to change its name “because it had the potential to mislead the public”. The ADT upheld NSW Fair Trading’s direction.

Magistrate Nancy Hennessy found the name suggested the ”association is pro-vaccination or, at least, is committed to providing comprehensive information and opinions about the pros and cons”.

”The name should be changed so it is not likely to mislead the public in relation to its main object,” Ms Hennessy said. –Daily Telegraph

This has been a bad week for the AVN.

Homeopathy to be tested in Federal Court.

Back in February I mentioned the Homeopathy Plus was being taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for making false and misleading claims about the efficacy of Homeopathy.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted Federal Court proceedings over allegedly misleading claims on a homeopathy website regarding the effectiveness of the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine.

The ACCC has taken proceeding against Homeopathy Plus! Australia Pty Ltd and against the owners of the Homeopathy Plus! website.

The claims on the Homeopathy Plus! website include statements that the whooping cough vaccine is “unreliable” and “largely ineffective” in preventing whooping cough and that homeopathic remedies are a safe and effective alternative for the prevention and treatment of whooping cough.

The ACCC alleges that these claims are misleading and deceptive, in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The ACCC is seeking an injunction to have the claims removed, as well as penalties against the company and individuals.

Whooping cough is a highly infectious respiratory disease which is most serious in young children. The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing recommends children receive the whooping cough vaccine as part of routine childhood immunisation. –ACCC Public Release

Fran Sheffield of Homeopathy Plus sent out a media release earlier this year with more indepth details of the case. 

At the Directions Hearing in the Federal Court last Friday (March 1, 2013), the ACCC sought immediate orders and a fast-tracked date for when the case would be heard in full.

So what was the outcome of this hearing? Thanks to excellent representation by our barrister, the Justice removed the fast-tracking; the case is now scheduled for late August, at which time we intend to defend our position vigorously. In the meantime we have agreed to remove the pages in question from our website until the case is heard.

There is still a long way to go. The case is significant and a lot is at stake – not just for us but for anyone who accesses and wants to continue to access information on vaccines and healthcare from an alternative viewpoint.

When our case reaches court in August, the following questions will be asked:

  1. Were our statements about the efficacy of the whooping cough vaccine correct; and
  2. Is there evidence to show that homeopathy can treat and prevent whooping cough?

You may be wondering if the repercussions of this case will extend beyond Homeopathy Plus, my husband and myself. You may also wonder if a precedent will be set that not only affects the practice of homeopathy in Australia but also the practice and supply of information by many other complementary and alternative therapies. And, like others, you may be asking, “Is it fair for someone to be prosecuted by a government agency just for questioning certain aspects of government health policy and offering an alternative view?”

We have received advice that the right to publicly question government information about vaccines and provide alternative information on homeopathy will be a central issue in this case (i.e. the extent of those rights and when they can be censored) so obviously, important issues are at stake.

We cannot say more at this time about the details of the case, but we hope this has gone some way to explaining its significance. We need your support and are asking you to help in a number of important areas. –Fran Sheffield, Homeopathy Plus

Finally after several months of silence. Fran Sheffield has once again sent out another update confirming the date of November 18th and begging for donations. The Australian Vaccination Network passed on Fran’s letter to their followers asking for $11,500.

I’m Fran Sheffield and I have an emergency.

On November 18 I will be in the Federal Court of Australia defending homeopathy against claims by the ACCC that it is a misleading and deceptive practice.

This all came about because of statements on our website saying homeopathy could be helpful in the treatment and prevention of whooping cough.

I also stated that the whooping cough vaccine was ineffective and dangerous – statements which I backed up with references to peer-reviewed articles and government data.

Surprisingly, the vaccine-related comments should be easy to defend as those statements were drawn from the mouths of government authorities – they were not just my thoughts.

The same should be true for the homeopathic statements but that isn’t the case.

We all know that homeopathy treats and prevents whooping cough – we have the historical records and accounts going back for over 100 years and we’ve seen it repeatedly in our clinics during the recent epidemic.

But because we as homeopaths and the organisations that represent us have chosen appeasement and conciliation in recent years rather than firm statements of what we know to be true, it will now make our defence in Court so much harder.

I urgently need your help. My fight is your fight and $11,500.00 has to be raised over the next week to fund our legal team’s final preparations.

If you are a homeopath, someone who uses homeopathy, or an allied alternative health practitioner I hope you will help as the outcome of this case will affect you.

If the ACCC is allowed to stop us sharing important homeopathic information that is in the public interest a precedent will be set that allows them to do the same with you – as a practitioner you can look to a future in which you will be limited in what you say, and as a user of alternative therapies you will be restricted in what you can hear.

As a result of endless complaints over the past 8 years by those hostile to homeopathy it was inescapable that this matter should end up in court.

Appeasement on our part was not an option as it would have produced the exact result we are now fighting to avoid, only earlier – their goal of having valuable homeopathic information withdrawn and suppressed would have been successful.

Instead of capitulating under the pressure we decided it was time to draw a line in the sand and say, enough is enough – this far and no further! The erosion of our rights as homeopaths and the rights of our patients has to stop. We hope you agree.

I realise that this is a difficult time for everyone but this is a serious situation that will affect you as well as me. It is important for each of us that a strong defence is mounted in this case. Can you see your way clear to donating $100 before the end of this week to ensure that happens? Can you donate the fee of your next consult? If $100 is too much, please consider giving what you can – any amount would truly be appreciated and will certainly make a difference. Contributions to the Fighting Fund can be made in one of the following ways:

They say “A fool and his money are soon parted.” so I’ve no doubt the AVN supporters will be successfully fleeced for the money. Although no amount of charity scams is going to allow these crooks to escape justice. These people think they’re invisible and above the law, as shown by Sheffield making the same claim (that Homeopathy treats Whooping Cough) that got her into so much trouble in the first place.

If these people where honest they would not be facing the wrath of the ACCC.

Charities fraud in Australia.

The Australian Charity and Not-for-profits Commission has begun investigating fraudulent charities.

Fifty-six charities in Australia were investigated over fraud allegations in the first seven months the national charity regulator began operating.

The Australian Charity and Not-for-profits Commission has released itsfirst annual report revealing about four new charities are registered every day in Australia.

Almost 60,000 charities have registered with the regulator and it received 245 complaints of fraud in the report’s time period. Of those 56 were escalated for investigation.

The regulator would not go into specific details about the cases as it could identify the charities involved but confirmed 27% of the complaints were to do with charities not being aligned to a charitable cause, 11% were to do with governance issues and 5% were allegations that the charity was being operated for private benefit. –The Guardian

According to the Annual Report of the 56 charities being investigated: 

36% are for activities involving alleged fraudulent and/or criminal activity.
27% are for activities not aligned to stated charitable purpose.
11% are for governance issues.
5% are for charity allegedly being operated for private benefit.
4% for inadequate record keeping
8% Other.
 

I know of at least one charity in Australia that ticks all 5 stated reasons for being investigated, and there’s probably some stuff under the “other” category as well. The Australian Vaccination Network, the nations leading anti-medicine cult (despite it’s deceptive name) has been engaged in fraudulent activity for years, and primarily serves to make a profit for it’s founder.

Lets check the list.

1. Activities involving fraud: Check, Check

2. Activities not aligned with charitable purpose: Check, Check

3. Governance issues: If that includes the inability to keep records and hold AGMs then Check!

4. Charity operated for private benefit: Check

5. Inadequate record keeping: Check, Check

I am hopeful that one of the charities being investigated is the AVN, and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.

AVN Founder accuses the courts of corruption.

As expected Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network has come out accusing the courts of corruption because they refused to issue orders that myself, Peter Bowditch and Daniel Raffaele be restrained from talking about her on the internet. 

Last year, at the suggestion of police in two NSW jurisdictions, I filed three separate APVOs: against Daniel Raffaele, founder of Stop the AVN (SAVN), Peter Bowditch, committee member of the Australian Skeptics and Dan Buzzard, WA member of SAVN.

I could have filed APVOs against many more SAVN members. So many have threatened and harassed me, as well as inciting others to do me harm, but these were the three whom I considered to be the ‘ringleaders’ – whose abuse and harassment were unremitting. My reasons for taking this action were two-fold

1-    To stop them from continuing their criminal campaign of abuse, harassment and threats against me; and

2-    To send a warning to others that the justice system would protect someone who was being openly abused, harassed and threatened.

1. To date Ms Dorey claims about being harassed and threatened are dubious at best. I still await credible evidence of these claims.

2. I am well aware of Ms Dorey intention to intimidate her critics with these lawsuits. In court I clearly stated that I agree with Ms Dorey taking out AVOs against people who abuse, harass or threaten her. But as I am not one of those people I have to question her motive for naming me in the lawsuit.

I wonder if it had anything to do with the Australian Vaccination Network trying to keep their committee members hidden from the Department of Fair Trading?

Freedom of Information is a wonderful thing.

It is my firmly held belief, based on the evidence from both cases that actually went to trial, that my losses had nothing to do with the evidence presented to the courts. Based on that evidence alone – APVOs should have been granted without question. But both magistrates showed a strong disapproval for the work that I have done for the last 20 years with the AVN and I feel that they were unable to separate Meryl Dorey the mother, woman and victim of institutionalised and long-running abuse, from Meryl Dorey, ex-President of the AVN and vaccine rights advocate.

More lies, the magistrate made it clear that the case had nothing to do with vaccination and was about whether or not Ms Dorey had cause to fear the defendant. In my case despite having an almost 4 year long opposition Ms Dorey simply could not produce any evidence or justification for seeking an AVO against me.

Ms Dorey did present evidence of a death threat sent to her by a user called fantasticfox5@tormail.org but this person has no connection to me other than having emailed me on a single occasion, which can be seen here. I told the court that I think Ms Dorey would be perfectly justified in seeking an order against that individual, but I don’t see how the actions of an unknown third party have anything to do with me.

Just a clarifying note at this point for those who are unaware of my case against Daniel Raffaele: the APVO against him was granted without his making any admissions of wrongdoing even though threatening calls to my home were made from his house in the middle of the night. I was advised to accept these terms rather than going to trial. In retrospect, I think I made the right choice since even with the damning evidence against him, I am unsure that the courts would have granted my application had Raffaele opposed it.

The key phrase here is “Consent without admission” Mr Rafaele consented to the AVO in order to avoid the costly and time consuming proceedure of defending against a vexatious litigant. While I can certainly understand the desire to get the AVO out of the way fast I believe Mr Rafaele made a mistake in consenting to the AVO. Meryl Dorey and current AVN President Greg Beattie continue to make unfounded allegations against Mr Rafaele despite there being no admission to any wrong doing.

When I went to the courthouse last year to make the initial applications, I selected several of the standard orders from the list available (orders which limited the perpetrator’s ability to come near me or enter my property or threaten me). I also asked that they not be allowed to mention me in any online forum in a derogatory manner. At the initial mention in Ballina Courthouse almost a year ago, the magistrate said that he did not have the power to grant the latter order and I agreed to withdraw it. All I was asking the court to do was to prevent them from coming near me or physically threatening me. None of that would in any way ‘silence’ them.

Not true, the purpose of these AVOs was to bully, defame AND silence her critics. I have the documentation that specifically asks that I be silenced on the internet and numerous examples of her defaming the defendants long before the cases even got to court. Her continued defamation of Daniel Rafaele only shows that these application were not brought in good faith and only intended to harass.

In fact, during the time when these cases were still before the courts, sub judice reports were appearing in the media to the effect that taking away my opposition’s right to free speech was the only reason I made these applications.

Ms Dorey was speaking on public radio and sending out media releases about the AVOs within days of filing them. Long before this article was published: Founder of anti-immunisation group Australian Vaccination Network, Meryl Dorey, uses AVOs to gag critics

It is my belief that the magistrate in my case against Dan Buzzard may have used this misinformation in his decision since he did refer to media reports when making his summation. In fact, he criticised me openly many times during the hearing to the point where I was relieved to only have to pay $11,000 in court costs – at one point, I had the distinct impression that I was going to be sent to gaol. I do not remember him sanctioning Dan Buzzard even once despite his admissions to having asked people to send me violent pornography.

I believe that Ms Dorey will be serving time behind bars in the future. Obviously not over an AVO hearing, but over the many unlawful and fraudulent activities engaged in by her organisation. A few of which I have written about. Also I didn’t tell people to send Dorey “violent pornography”, the court obviously realised this.

These people are truly guilty of using bureaucracy and the media to silence their opposition.

All I asked was that the courts protect me from these abusers who had openly threatened and harassed me. This is a protection that should be available to all Australian citizens and residents – indeed – to everyone in every country around the world. It is a basic human right which, thanks to what I consider to be the bias of the courts, was denied me in these cases.

I continue to wait for evidence that Ms Doreys critics have ever engaged in unlawful activity against her. So far as the evidence suggest all SAVN members are operating entirely within the law.

Ms Dorey clearly thinks that the act of simply initiating a lawsuit implies guilt on behalf of the defendant. It does not you still have to prove the allegation in court, she found out the expensive way.

Read about my case here.

Meryl Dorey’s latest cash grab.

avn-news-article-avoAs readers of this blog will know on Thursday 22nd August I scored a legal victory against Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network. Ms Dorey had been seeking an order to have me silenced on the Internet and dragged out the process for nearly a year until I was able to finally have the case dismissed. Ms Dorey was finally ordered to pay $11,187.50 of my legal costs.

Although I received no compensation for the time that I had to spend dealing with this nonsense getting my legal costs recovered was certainly very important because it means Ms Dorey was not able to simply file a vexatious lawsuit and then walk away free of charge.

On the 26th of August the AVN made an announcement on it’s Facebook page.

Ms Dorey quickly resorted to her usual tactic of accusing the courts of being bias against her.

From the beginning, it appeared to me that the magistrate might have already made his decision before we entered the court. The first thing he said to my barrister was that the loser would have to pay costs. It is my understanding that this is not the normal procedure.

The rest of the hearing was no better and though I was able to show that this person had indeed asked people to send me pornography and had posted intimidating mail to me, the magistrate found against me. –Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

In court it was revealed that Ms Dorey could not identify the person who had sent her the threatening email, or any other abusive material. However since I am amongst the most vocal critics they decided to focus the effort of their lawsuit on me and even admitted this in court.

Ms Dorey was notified by a magistrate back in November 2012 that she would be liable for my costs if she were to lose. So she can’t possibly claim to be surprised by the fact that costs were awarded against her. This is standard procedure, although less common with AVO cases.

You’d expect that having costs awarded against you might serve to discourage vexatious litigation, but nothing is very quite that simple with Ms Dorey. Rather than paying the legal costs out of her own pocket Meryl Dorey decided to go fund raising. After all she does hold a Charity Fund Raising License so why not put it to use?

That legal bill will need to be paid before the 21st of September. As a full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds. For 20 years, through my involvement with the AVN, I have worked tirelessly to support and inform those who came to me for help. Our organisation was responsible for the introduction of the Conscientious Objection clause which allows families who don’t vaccinate or who vaccinate selectively to access all government entitlements.

Now, it is my turn to ask for your assistance. If you believe in justice, support informed choice and are able to give any amount – no matter how small – to my legal fund to help pay the costs the court has required me to pay, I would be very grateful indeed. –Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

So how long does it take the Australian Vaccination Network to raise this kind of money?

So the “full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds.” was able to use a charity fund raising license to secure $11,187.50 in funding to harass people with vexatious litigation in just 24 hours. With that type of income it’s no wonder this organisation fights so hard to avoid closure.

Recently Peter Bowditch another defendant against Ms Doreys vexatious litigation campaign wrote to the Attorney General regarding these AVO applications. Here is part of the response.

Under section 99 of the Act, a court may award costs to the defendant, against an APVO applicant. This provides a further safeguard against vexatious or frivolous applications. However, a court is not to award costs against a police officer who makes an application unless satisfied that the police officer made the application knowing it contained matter that was false or misleading in a material particular.

–More at RatBags.com

This supposed “safe guard” clearly fails when the litigant is able to push a court imposed financial penalty onto their own fund raising charity. Besides what sort of charitable purpose does vexatious litigation fall under?

Legal Victory Meryl Dorey's gag order failed..

On Thursday I successfully defended an attempt by Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network to have me silenced on the Internet. 

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) has been trying to silence its critics for a number of years now. So it come as no surprise that the president of the Australian Vaccination Network would eventually file Strategic Lawsuit Agaist Public Participation (SLAPP) suits against critics in an effort to silence them. What did come as a surprise was the choice of legislation. Back in September of 2012 Meryl Dorey chose to file applications for Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO) against myself and two other critics of the AVN.

(Note: During the 11 months between the lodgement of the application and Todays hearing Ms Dorey resigned as president of the AVN).

Ms Doreys application requested that the following orders be made:

1. The defendant must not approach or contact the protected persons by any means whatsoever except through the defendants legal representative.

2. The defendant must not mention the applicant in any online forum in any derogatory manner.

Although Ms Dorey lodged the applications in her personal capacity the intent of this litigation is clear.

Spot the applicant Meryl Dorey or The AVN?

The AVN has been hitting back at it’s critics for a number of years now. The AVN and their supporters employ the following tactics against critics:

  1. False DMCA reports.
  2. False reporting of critics websites to anti-virus vendors.
  3. Threatening Politicians.
  4. Harassing, abusing, vilifying Grieving Families.
  5. Impersonating critics websites (badly).
  6. Spamming, email bombarding Members of Parliament.
  7. Calling Doctors and Courts peadophiles.
  8. Accused a mobile health service of kidnapping kids off the street.
  9. Abusing Facebooks report feature to get critics banned.
  10. Withholding Financial Reports from the department of Fair Trading.
  11. Advocating the use of violence against critics.
  12. Contacting Civil Rights groups and failing to spot the irony.
  13. Promoting a fake church to dodge the law.
  14. Lying to fair trading, and it’s not even a very good lie.
  15. Bullying Doctors.
  16. Calling their critics terrorists. 

So a SLAPP suit is perfectly in line with the AVN and Meryl Doreys standard operating procedures. The timeline of events is as follows:

5th September 2012: Meryl Dorey files her application in a Ballina local court.

14th September 2012: Peter Bowditch notifies me that my name has appeared in the court registry.

20th September 2012: Meryl Dorey goes on public radio to brag about her AVO applications.

25th September 2012: I receive a summons to appear in a court 4,500km in two days time.

27th September 2012: First mention which I am not party to. Meryl Dorey publically announces on the Australian Vaccination Network website that she has scored a legal victory against her critics.

15th November 2012: Second mention. Application to move the proceeding to Lismore local court which has video link facilities.

10th December 2012: Third mention. I am in Paris when I receive a phone call from my lawyer telling me that the magistrate in Lismore does not appear impressed with the applications.

15th January 2013: Fourth mention. The matter is referred to mediation.

6th Febuary 2013: Meryl Dorey fails to attend mediation.

20th Febuary 2013: Meryl Dorey attends mediation, announces her displeasure at the letter I sent to Greg Beattie. Mediation falls apart.

12th March 2013: Fifth mention. A hearing date is set for the 24th May.

26th April 2013: Meryl Dorey loses her AVO case against Peter Bowditch.

21st May 2013: Meryl Dorey submits application for the magistrate to be disqualified. Application is granted in chambers.

24th May 2013: Was a hearing, now the sixth mention. New hearing and new magistrate set for 22nd August.

19th August 2013: An offer is made to Ms Dorey to drop the case and pay smaller legal fees than she will have to if we go to court. She declines.

22nd August 2013: I receive an email from my lawyer at 4:12am containing documents that Meryl Dorey wishes to use in court. We know Ms Dorey likes to file things at the very last minute but this is surely taking the piss. I print the documents out and bring them to court anyway.

 

1. Ms Dorey included a screenshot of some pornography (“Cunt of the year” award) that she alleges was sent to her, no doubt her intention was to blame me for it despite the fact that she has had it since at least 2011, but claims that a message I sent in 2012 incited people to send her porn. I do not believe that anyone involved with SAVN has ever sent Ms Dorey pornographic material. There is no evidence to suggest that anything I have posted on the internet has ever caused anyone to act unlawfully towards Ms Dorey or the AVN.

 

2. On 25th of September 2012 I received an email from fantasticfox5@tormail.org offering to “fuckup those cunts cyber style” to which I politly declined thinking nothing more of it until I saw a post on the AVN facebook wall complaining about a death threat that appeard to be from the same user.

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org
Subject: flu-reactions
Date: 25 September 2012 10:09:12 AM AEST
To: meryl@avn.org.au
meryl be warned we’re coming for you. and you will be sorry you filthy
baby killer. sharpening the knives now.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.

As you can see it is quite a nasty email so I decided to publicly disclose my earlier correspondence with this individual along with the mail headers that might be used to identify the perpetrator. Below you can see the full exchange of my emails with fantasticfox5@tormail.org. Mail headers here.

—–Original Message—–
From: Dan Buzzard
Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:17 AM
To: ‘fantasticfox5@tormail.org’
Subject: RE: meryl dorey

Hi,

While I appreciate your desire to stop these low lives I could never support the actions you propose.

Shutting down the AVN requires us to keep our footing firmly planted on the moral high ground, so I must decline your offer to “fuckup those cunts cyber style”.

Have a nice day.

~Dan

—–Original Message—–

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org [mailto:fantasticfox5@tormail.org]

Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:02 AM

To: headreptilian@skep.li

Subject: meryl dorey

nice collection of docs. want me to fuckup those cunts cyber style?

they wont know what hit ’em. i can hack their website with sql injection too. plaster it with all sorts. they lose audiance who are offended by wat i post. its how we operate. i could also organize one of our many botnets to take em down with ddos.

just ask if you need help

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

You’ll notice that my reply email does not appear in either of Ms Doreys statements of evidence only the email sent by FantasticFox5. Including the entire dialogue would have weakened her evidence. Ms Dorey’s lawyer engaged in a rather pathetic attempt to try and link me to FantasticFox5.

Ms Dorey is aware that I have an account on WhyWeProtest.net. Her lawyer claimed in court that I am active on this forum. I told him that 5 post in 5 years (4 of them in 2008) hardly counts as ‘active’. I only wish I had submitted a dictionary into evidence. He then proceeded to ask whether or not the forum had a private messaging feature, I acknowledge that it probably does as it’s a standard feature. He then suggests that it is entirely possible that I contacted FantasticFox5 via the forums. Of course he had no evidence to backup this false allegation and the desperation was palpable.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that FantasticFox5 has anything to do with WhyWeProtest.net the Anonymous brand is widely used across the internet and such a person could have come from any of the thousands of sites sympathetic to the goals of anonymous. I find it highly suspicious that Ms Dorey asserts knowledge of an individual who’s identity is still unknown. It is also suspicious that this email is being used as a major piece of evidence in an AVO Application that precedes it. It’s like telling your insurance company that you need to lodge a claim today because your car gets stolen tomorrow.

I consider the FantasticFox5 allegations to be the most serious of all the material as there is a clear and direct threat. However I think Meryl Dorey, or her supporters likely fabricated this bit of evidence. Then her lawyer lied about it in court.

 

3. On 31st of August 2012 I sent Meryl Dorey a butthurt report form. I originally saw the form posted on the WhyWeProtest.net forum by an anonymous user. Ms Dorey and her lawyer decided to accuse me of being the anonymous poster in their effort to link me to that site. Yet again they had no evidence for any of these accusations, the only name I post under on that forum is ‘CIA_sec‘. So they failed again through lack of evidence. There isn’t much more to say on it but you can read about the time I sent it to Meryl here.

On this forum, a person who calls himself anonymous but who I believe is Dan Buzzard (and the original person who started this thread), posted a copy of a 

form called a Butthurt Report Form. Shortly after posting this (please see below), Dan Buzzard sent me a copy of this form via post to my address. He had taken 

a picture of the envelope addressed to me and posted that to his blog. The only purpose of this letter was to harass and intimidate me. -Meryl Dorey, written statement.

 

4. Meryl Dorey also objected to me calling her a liar and assclown.

Do you see what’s missing from the screenshot of my blog? How about everything except the title and first sentence. Wouldn’t want the court to know that you got called a liar and an assclown for doing something dishonest and potentially unlawful would we? Unfortunately this didn’t get brought up, so I didn’t have a chance to ask what they are hiding. You can see what they didn’t want the court to see here.

 

5. I told the court that if someone is threatening Ms Dorey or sending her pornography then she should file for AVOs against them. What other people choose to do on the internet is nothing to do with me. Ms Dorey’s lawyer argued that I am the only person she can identify with any link to the abuse she’s been receiving. In other words they have no idea who the perpetrator is so they blame me. At one point the magistrate did ask if the person who sent the threatening email was in the court room, they had to admit that the perpetrator wasn’t.

In closing the magistrate read both emails from FantasticFox5, plus my reply email to FantasticFox5 and the two screenshot below.

Let’s not be rude on the internet, right?

So the case came down to these points:

  • Meryl Dorey is upset about things being said on the internet.
  • She alleges that people are sending her porn and death threats.
  • Looking for someone to blame she chooses me. (and Peter Bowditch, Daniel Rafaele)
  • I tell the court that she is lying about receiving pornography and I do not know the identity of FantasticFox5.
  • Dorey and co admit that the perpetrator isn’t in the courtroom.
  • Ms Dorey’s Lawyer tries to draw non-existent link between myself and FantasticFox5, fails miserably.

The end result?

Case dismissed, costs application against Ms Dorey for just over $11,000. The system works.

 The Documents presented in this case are as follows. The more familiar you are with these documents the more you will realise what a baseless and vexatious case this was.

Meryl Dorey also lost an AVO application against Peter Bowditch which you can read about here. A third AVO application against Daniel Raffaele was consented to without admission so long as the gag order was thrown out, which it was. So in the end all three attempts to silence her critics have failed and none of the allegations she has made against any of us have been proven.

SAVN and the Taliban united.

What’ is the difference between Skeptics and the Taliban? Because Meryl Dorey, founder of the Australian Vaccination Network wants to know.

That;s because they are NOT normal. Anyone who is even a little bit in touch with reality does not abuse others simply because of differing opinions. Tell me – how do the skeptics and SAVN members differ in any way from the Taliban or any other religious fanatics? They have started a Fatwa against anyone who questions vaccination – even those whose own family members have been injured or killed by shots. They have no compassion for the pain of others and many of them are paid trolls working for the benefits of Big Pharma (you need only look at the number of hours they spend writing on various online forums to see that). 

SAVN are the REAL Australian terrorists and if the law were in any way just, they would have been cited and charged with the crimes of harassment, abuse and threats – all of which are illegal according to Australian Federal and State statutes – years ago.

-Meryl Dorey, 12 August 2013

Meryl Dorey is well known for making absurd comparisons. Just like the time;

Meryl Dorey accuses a family court of raping a child.

Accuses a mobile health service of abducting children.

Likens herself to the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust.

Encourages followers to join a fake church. (Although one could argue that ALL churches are fake)

Is complicit in the abuse of greiving families.

There is more absurd accusations to come, but for legal reasons they will only be made public after the 22nd of August 2013.

QLD Health issues a warning about fake vaccinations.

The Queensland Department of Health has issued a warning about fake Homeopathic Vaccinations on Facebook. Of course all Homeopathy is fake, but it’s good to see the government acknowledge it from time to time.

‘Fake’ homeopathic immunisations misleading parents trying to do the right thing

Chief Health Officer has warned parents to beware of ‘fake’ immunisations.

Queensland parents are being warned of the risks surrounding so-called homeopathic vaccinations.

The State’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said she was issuing the warning after becoming aware of a child whose parents reported she had been protected by “homeopathic” immunisation. 

Dr Young said in scientific terms the notion of homeopathic vaccinations was nonsense.

“The Department of Health becomes aware of this as an issue from time to time,’’ she said.

“It is really frustrating to see cases where parents think they are doing the right thing by their child and, in fact, they’re not protecting them at all.

“We’ve recently been told by a doctor of a parent who reported their child had received homeopathic vaccinations from a homeopath, believing this was an acceptable alternative to mainstream immunisation.

“This is totally wrong and the whole science behind homeoprophylaxis, or homeopathic immunisation, is incorrect.

“Anyone offering remedies in place of standard vaccinations is dangerously misleading parents into believing their child is protected against serious diseases. 

“Homeopathic vaccinations are no substitutes for standard vaccination.

“Such so-called vaccinations are a serious breach of trust and should not be tolerated from a health care provider.’’

Dr Young said immunisation was considered one of the most important achievements of modern medicine and had saved millions of lives worldwide.

“Immunisation underpins a healthy community and is a core responsibility of the healthcare sector,’’ she said.

“The immunisation program remains extremely important and highly effective at preventing serious and life-threatening infectious diseases.

“Thanks to the immunisation program, diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, measles, influenza Type B, meningococcal C, and polio do not occur or occur rarely in Queensland.

“Always talk to your GP or immunisation provider if you have any concerns as there is a lot of information readily available for parents on the importance and value of immunisation.’’ –Queensland Health, Facebook.

A thank you to the Australian Greens.

Recently the Australian Greens have been speaking out against the deceptively named Australian Vaccination Network, with Senator Richard Di Natale calling upon the Australian Senate to condemn them for their campaign of fear and lies.

So I decided to send a quick thank you note to the Australian Greens for taking a stand against this dangerous organisation.

Dear Senators,

I am writing to thank you for your party’s stance against the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

I first joined the movement against the AVN back in 2010 after learning of the abhorrent behaviour of Meryl Dorey and her supporters, namely the harassment and abuse that was being dished out to the McCaffrey family after losing their daughter Dana to Whooping Cough in 2009. Apparently Ms Dorey felt it was appropriate to contact the local health authorities and demand confidential medical records so she could dispute the cause of Dana’s death.

When Ms Dorey came to Perth in June 2010 I attended her lecture held at the state library to witness firsthand the lies and fear mongering the AVN was said to employ. Ms Dorey did not disappoint and spent her entire talk promoting conspiracy theories between doctors, governments and pharmaceutical companies. She even made derogatory comments about Dr Paul Offit; a hero in my opinion for his work in developing the Rotavirus Vaccine. Ms Dorey refers to Dr Offit as “Dr Profit” in her attempts to demonize a man whos work has arguably saved millions of lives.

Meryl Dorey’s attempts to spread fear and intimidation to well-meaning parents in order to scare them away from providing their children with essential medical care and her unrelenting attacks against medical professionals and anyone who speaks about the danger of vaccine preventable disease are my primary reason for joining the campaign to see this disgraceful organisation shut down.

My actions in speaking out against The Australian Vaccination Network have not been without cost. When Ms Dorey came to Perth in 2010 I wrote to the library beforehand to advise them of the nature of the talk, I also encouraged readers of my website to write to the library and express their concern. As I don’t believe it is appropriate for people to lie about science and medicine in an educational institution such as a library. Ms Dorey was very upset that I and many others had been in contact with the library, she was especially upset with the correspondence that I had sent to the library as I also sent her a copy so that she would have the right of reply. Ms Dorey appears to have held a grudge against me ever since.

Over the past three years I have seen Meryl Dorey and her supporters grow increasingly hostile toward myself and other critics. During this time I have seen Ms Dorey progress from simply making snide remarks against her critics to filling Apprehended Violence Orders with the intent of gaging her critics, the order she’s seeking reads: “The defendant must not mention the applicant in any online forum in any derogatory manner.”  I am a defendant of this legal action living more than 4,500KMs away from the ‘Local’ Court in which Ms Dorey filed against me. I have been forced to spend my time and money to defend what I consider to be a fundamental human right; Freedom of Speech.

Other tactics that have been employed in the past by Ms Dorey to silence critics include contacting Internet Service Providers and making a false claim of copyright violation so that material critical of the AVN is removed from the internet. Ms Dorey has even gone so far as to claim under penalty of perjury that she is the exclusive rights holder to a document created by the New South Wales Government in order to have it removed from the internet.  Her supporters have taken to reporting my personal Facebook profile to Facebook’s automated abuse system as “Hate Speech” resulting in my account being banned on no less than three separate occasions, causing much inconvenience for myself and people with whom I communicate via Facebook’s services, family, friends etc.

Another underhanded tactic that has been employed by supporters of the AVN is to report the websites of the AVN’s critics to security companies such as Trend Micro and McAfee so that the security products sold by those companies prevent their customers from accessing websites reported to contain malware. None of the reported websites have contained any malware and the security companies involved (through no fault of their own) have now been made aware of the people trying to abuse their products for the purpose of censorship.

In 2012 Ms Dorey set up a website at AustralianSceptics.com which she has titled “The REAL Australian Sceptics” in an attempt to co-opt the trademark of Australian Skeptics Inc (Skeptics.com.au) a highly reputable organisation that has been a long-time critic of the AVN’s dishonest activities. I would not be at all surprised to see Ms Dorey attempting to impersonate the website of the Australian Greens.

But perhaps most concerning of all is an associate of Ms Dorey’s by the name of Patrick Timothy Bolen (Tim Bolen) who in October 2012 publically expressed a desire to lure critics of the AVN “into a dark place, so to speak, where angry friends are waiting (quietly) to make the equivalent of a “citizen’s arrest.”  And, they are allowed to wait there quietly, armed with the equivalent of a baseball bat, or two, or three, to be used to “subdue, with reasonable force”. Supporters of the AVN haven’t resorted to physical violence so far, I firmly believe that it is only a matter of time until there is a physical confrontation. The disgraceful behaviour of this organisation appears boundless and their hostility towards people who speak against them continues to escalate.

I commend Senator Di Natale and the Australian Greens for speaking out against the Australian Vaccination Network and have no doubt that you will now be receiving a sizable amount of hate and vilification from Ms Dorey, the AVN and their supporters. I believe this group will stop at nothing to silence, bully and intimidate their critics or frighten confused parents into not vaccinating their children.

The Australian Vaccination Network is an organisation that thrives on fear and dishonesty. It cannot be allowed to continue and must be universally condemned by all political parties in all houses, state, territory and federal.

Sincerely,

–Dan Buzzard, via snail mail.

Please consider doing the same. You can find The Greens contact details here.