Dan's Journal of Skepticism

(Yes, another post about the Australian Anti-vaccination campaign.)

The Australian Vaccination Network has been getting plenty of attention lately. This is after all their last year in existence so lets make it a good one. Recently the AVN has been slammed in parliaments of New South Wales and South Australia. We are hoping to see them condemned in all six states and both mainland territories. As usual I’ve highighted (bold font) my favorite parts..

The NSW slamming by Dr Andrew McDonald is especially interesting:

The Australian Vaccination Network is a fervent and highly virulent anti-immunisation group. Its name and website are designed to mislead unsuspecting community members to believe that a balanced view about immunisation is being presented. When provoked, Australian Vaccination Network’s fellow travellers can and do behave reprehensibly. The police have been called to my office on one occasion following threatening emails after I raised concerns about the practices of the Australian Vaccination Network.

The bill amends section 7 of the Health Care Complaints Act to make clear that a complaint can be made against a health service if the health service affects, or is likely to affect, the clinical management or care of an individual client. This will mean that if a person or group acts as health service providers in a manner that is likely to affect an individual, even if one has not been identified, the Health Care Complaints Commission will have the necessary jurisdiction to investigate a complaint against that health service provider. The Australian Vaccination Network website is a mixture of scientific fact, half-truths and unproven allegations that only an expert eye can pick.

As I said earlier, this is a group that vehemently opposes immunisation. Groups or persons such as the Australian Vaccination Network are entitled to their views because we can all agree to disagree. However, the Australian Vaccination Network is a health service provider and should accurately reflect what those views are—in this case anti-immunisation. Like all health service providers it also should accept the consequences of its provision of health services on individual patients. –NSW Parliment Transcript, Page 58

I took particular interest in: “When provoked, Australian Vaccination Network’s fellow travellers can and do behave reprehensibly. The police have been called to my office on one occasion following threatening emails after I raised concerns about the practices of the Australian Vaccination Network.”

Over the years the Australian Vaccination Network in particular it’s former president Meryl Dorey has repeatedly accused critics of inciting others to behave in a less than civilised manner. I won’t go into details about that now (More in a future blog post) but I thought it was an interesting observation.

Then came the slamming in South Australian parliament (full transcript):

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (15:33): As members of parliament, we have a great privilege in shaping the policy and laws that guide our state, but with that, I believe, comes a responsibility to base what we do on the best available evidence and on scientific consensus. Science is central to our understanding of the world. Good, accepted science is testable, can be replicated, peer reviewed, unpicked, examined and reconstructed, but it is also open to new ideas and is self-correcting when better evidence is presented and properly tested.

However, science regularly finds itself under attack. As Ian Chubb, Chief Scientist for Australia, recently noted:

As a society, we should be challenging those who, regardless of reason or factual basis, mock science and scientists for their spurious ends, whether it’s a headline or avoiding an inconvenient truth.

And he is right. The Hon. Ann Bressington has been making quite a name for herself recently in her assaults on accepted science. From her Agenda 21 conspiracy, which seems to hold that scientists and policy makers across the world are secretly involved in an elaborate conspiracy to control all aspects of our lives, to supporting the chemtrail conspiracy, which claims aeroplanes deliberately drop chemicals on the population for some reason. Apparently, it happens right here in Adelaide. To quote the Hon. Ann Bressington, ‘from two unmarked plain white small aircraft that often land at Parafield Airport after a morning spray’.

Many such conspiracy assaults on science can be mildly amusing and, apart from encouraging others to abandon reason and critical thinking, do not necessarily do much external harm. However, some anti-science irrationality actually causes harm—potentially, great harm.The Hon. Ann Bressington is a well-known and vocal opponent of the fluoridation of water. I am not an expert in this area of science, so I rely on the overwhelming scientific consensus. Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council and the World Health Organisation are strong supporters, and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have called fluoridation of public water supplies one of the 10 most important public health achievements of the 20th century.

It is suggested that fluoride is dangerous because it is toxic. This falsehood comes from a very fundamental misunderstanding of the idea of toxicity. Toxicity is dose dependent; it depends literally on how much you have. The water to which fluoride is added is toxic in high enough doses; when consumed in large quantities, people die from water intoxication. Respected scientists, experts in their field, those whose research is properly peer reviewed, overwhelmingly agree that the levels of fluoride added to public water supplies are safe and have a very positive dental health effect.

Then there are some anti-scientific pursuits that can actually lead to deaths, such as the anti-vaccination movement. The Hon. Ann Bressington commented on Twitter as recently as last month that vaccines are about population reduction. Nothing could be further removed from reality. Vaccines save the life of an estimated three million people every year.

As with the fluoridation of water, over time individuals, groups and researchers dwelling at the fringes of science have criticised the efficacy of vaccinations, or they have falsified or overstated potential side effects of vaccinations. Perhaps the best known example is that of Dr Andrew Wakefield, whose claim against the scientific consensus that the MMR vaccine might be linked to autism saw vaccination rates in England drop considerably. The dangers of relying on bad, not accepted science were highlighted when this particular doctor, who was found to have falsified his results, was struck off as a medical practitioner and massive conflicts of interest in his research were revealed.

The Australian Vaccination Network is a fearmongering anti-vaccination group pushing this life-threatening nonsense in this country. They have been the subject of various adverse findings and orders by health authorities, government departments and Liberal government ministers in their home base of New South Wales. I congratulate the New South Wales authorities for tackling this dangerous group.

The risks posed by the anti-vaccination movement are real. Millions die unnecessarily. Children too young to have their full course of vaccinations and the herd immunity that prevents the uncontrolled spread of horrible disease are put at risk. On vaccination the science is clear; the debate is over. The benefits of vaccines are so immense that the morality of advocating against them without very good evidence needs to be questioned. When bad science is promoted such that it can cause great harm, we have an obligation to call it out. We cannot stand idly by and let such claims go unchecked.

I note that the Hon. Rob Lucas is down to speak after me, and I invite the shadow health minister, who sits in this chamber, to join with me in condemning dangerous anti-scientific approaches to public health that can endanger lives and cause death. –South Australian Parliment Transcript

Then came New South Wales MP John Kaye:

New South Wales MP John Kaye says it’s time for the state government to take strong action against groups like the north coast based Australian Vaccination Network.

A report released yesterday showed the north coast and more affluent areas of Sydney were at risk of infectious diseases due to low immunisation rates.

Mr Kaye says normally rational people are being brainwashed by vaccination fears. –ABC News

Additionally the president of the Australian Medical Association had this to say:

Unvaccinated children should be held back from school and groups spreading anti-vaccination messages should be punished, according to the federal president of the Australian Medical Association.

Dr Steve Hambleton said a report released on Thursday detailing national immunisation rates raised concerns about parents in certain areas not following vaccination guidelines.

”We should certainly make it difficult for [unvaccinated] children to get to school,” said Steve Hambleton, responding to new national statistics on immunisation rates.

…

There is also a worrying undercurrent of vaccine objectors who believe conspiracy websites and reject public health guidelines.

These vaccine objectors ”should be ashamed of themselves” for spreading misinformation and should be sanctioned, Dr Hambleton said.

”We need to look at the groups providing those anti-vaccination messages and we need to make sure we stop them . . . They are putting the community in danger.” –Sydney Morning Herald

I agree, anti-vaccination campaigners need to be stopped and punished. (That’s currently being worked on.)

Yesterday a blog post appeared on one of the Australian Vaccination Network’s blogs titled: An organisation under siege.

You need to know. Because if you don’t know, how can you ever take action? And you MUST take action! The AVN is not just fighting for its right to exist – it is fighting for your right to make free choices regarding your health and the health of your children. We are doing this with under $3,000 in the bank and we need a quick input of at least $5,000 to pay for legal costs this week alone! Government bodies are trying to stop us from speaking, from publishing and from helping others. We have been advocating for your rights for almost 19 years – can we count on you to oppose these efforts and advocate for us today?

The NSW Department of Fair Trading (DFT), is intent on silencing the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) and anyone else who expresses views that are seen to be critical of current government vaccination policies. They apparently feel that this aim is so important, they can behave in ways that would shock and appal any reasonable person – regardless of that person’s viewpoint on the vaccination issue. –NoCompulsoryVaccination.com

Actually the Department of Fair Trading is insisting that the AVN choose a less deceptive name as the current one is likely to mislead the public about the nature of the organisation. The Department has made it very clear that they want the AVN to choose a name that honestly reflects their anti-vaccination position rather than pretending to be a legitimate source of information.

Since the Australian Vaccination Network cannot grasp the simple concept honesty they keep suggesting names that are equally if not more deceptive than their previous one. Until now only two of their suggestions were known but thanks to a letter disclosed by the AVN I can reveal more names they have tried to apply for:

• Australin Vaccination (Information) Network
• Australian Vaccination Information Network
• Australian Vaccination Information
• Australian Vaccination Network (for Choice)
• Australian Vaccination Choice
• Australian Immunisation Network

 –AVN Letter to Fair Trading

As you can see the AVN makes absolutely no attempt at choosing a less deceptive name and trying to suggest “Australian Vaccination Information” is nothing more than a big Fuck You to Fair Trading, and the regulations they are enforcing.

The Australian Vaccination Network considers itself a victim of government and big corporation conspiracies and is not afraid of accusing Fair Trading of corruption.

The ADT Member actually asked the opposing solicitor why there was such a big rush considering that our name had been used for 18-odd years. The only response made was that it was in the public’s interest to make us change our name NOW! Well, if by public he meant the corporate pharmaceutical money machine, he was probably right. 

…

A government department of, by and for corporate interests

The fact is that one of our government’s key roles is to protect the health and freedom of Australian citizens. In contrast with this goal, however, the policies of some government departments and ministers seem to be to restrict our rights and freedoms. This is demonstrated so clearly by their relentless pursuit of the AVN and others who support health choice.

Can we count on you?

What will it take to get you involved? What rights are you willing to lose before you reach the proverbial final straw?

Will it take the loss of your job because you’ve been forced to be vaccinated? Having your family or children discriminated against because you want to be able to make health choices that may not necessarily be the same as what the government recommends? Being prosecuted for mentioning your own experiences with health treatments because they were not sanctioned by the TGA? When is enough enough? –NoCompulsoryVaccination.com

Again the Department of Fair Trading is simply asking the AVN to choose a non-deceptive name. The AVN chose to take Fair Trading to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal but are now complaining about the process. Fair Trading isn’t a health authority and hasn’t told the AVN that they can’t spread false medical information, only that their name must reflect the nature of their activities.

Today the AVN was ordered by the court to place a consumer warning on it’s website and Facebook page. 

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts issued a formal order earlier this year that the Australian Vaccination Network change its name or be deregistered.

But the organisation attempted to thwart the minister’s order by appealing in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

Tribunal president, Judge O’Connor, responded to a bid by the AVN to stay proceedings on Friday by placing a number of conditions on the organisation.

A prominent consumer warning must be published on its websites and Facebook page by March 26.

It will state: “NSW Fair Trading has directed the AVN to change its name because it regards the name to be misleading. The AVN is challenging this direction and the challenge is currently before the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.” –News.com.au

I look forward to seeing things get much worse for the AVN. 2013 is a promising year.

After almost three years of intense public scrutiny the deceptively named Australian Vaccination Network is nearing the end. Back in December the NSW Department of Fair Trading ordered the organisation to change its name to something less deceptive due to concerns that parents might mistake the anti-vaccination pressure for a credible organisation.

Minister for Fair Trading Anthony Roberts today confirmed a formal order has been issued to the Australian Vaccination Network to change its name on the grounds it is misleading the public.

Mr Roberts said Section 11 of the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 provides the Commissioner for Fair Trading may direct an association to adopt a new name, where the name of the association is unacceptable.

“NSW Fair Trading has received complaints that the Australian Vaccination Network’s name is confusing and has misled the public as to its operational intention,” Mr Roberts said. –NSW Fair Trading and Letter from Fair Trading to Ms Dorey. (Ms Dorey was president of the AVN at the time of the order.)

However as could have been predicted the AVN has so far failed to come up with an appropriate name. With five suggestions already being rejected:

AVN president Greg Beattie told News Limited it was vital the words Australia and Vaccination remained in the group’s name because they defined what the organisation was about.

He said the group had sent a letter to the Fair Trading Department to ask whether they would accept one of five suggested name changes.

These include Australian Vaccination Information Network and Australian Vaccination Choice.

“We can’t just change our name under the Association’s Incorporation Act, we must go through a process of consulting with our members and we need a 75 per cent majority vote,” Mr Beattie said.

“We’ve had the name for 19 years, so we want as small a change as possible.” –Adelaide Now

The two known rejections are;

1. Australian Vaccination Information Network

2. Australian Vaccination Choice

What part of “Choose a lees deceptive name” do they fail to understand. It seems like a pretty simple request, but then this group is not known for its ability to grasp simple concepts. If Mr Beattie  insists on keeping the words Australia and Vaccination in the name then I would recommend either Australian anti-Vaccination and Immunisation Network, or Australian Society for the Spreading of Vaccine Preventable Disease.

I anticipate that the AVN will fail to meet the required deadline and end up getting deregistered. When that happens we can probably expect a whole new torrent of abuse and conspiracy theories to spew forth from the usual suspects. After all this is a “charity” that likes to blame its critics, for everything.

The Australian Vaccination Network sent out a very entertaining newsletter this morning complaining about the NSW Department of Fair Trading being meanies. The anti-vaxxers clearly think it’s unfair that a government regulator should be targeting them for repeatedly breaking the law. 

This newsletter is of particular interest because it provides a breif insight into the actions being taken against the Australian Vaccination Network. Although I am following the activities of this organisation very closely it’s easy to lose track of all the investigations being conducted by the various government departments. So it’s nice of the anti-vaxxers to provide a summary:

Procedural unfairness by Department of Fair Trading        

Since winning our case against the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in April, 2012, the AVN has been subject to numerous investigations by various NSW and Federal Government bodies. These investigations have all been instigated by members of the hate groups the Australian Skeptics and their splinter organisation, Stop the AVN (SAVN). 

The complaints have resulted in the following investigations from these government bodies over the last 10 months alone:

• The NSW Department of Fair Trading (at least 3 investigations)
• The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (at least 1 investigation)
• The Therapeutic Goods Administration (at least 2 investigations)
• The Department of Commerce, WA (at least 1 investigation)
• Charities Victoria (at least 1 investigation)

This adds up to a total of at least 8 complaints over a 10 month period (one every 5 weeks) which we have had to respond to. There are dozens more that have been sent by these groups which are waiting in the wings for processing.

I’m pleased to announce that at least one of those investigations was because of me, no doubt there are going to be more in the future. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is one I would like to see added to the AVNs list of opponents.

Over the same period of time, threatening phone calls which were made to the home of then-President of the AVN, Meryl Dorey. Police determined they originated from the private phone of Mr Daniel Raffaele, founder of SAVN and an active member of the Young Australian Skeptics. Despite a sympathetic police force, nothing was done to charge Mr Raffele for these criminal activities. We believe the NSW DPP instructed police not to press charges against Mr Raffaele.

No, the Police could only press charges if the accusations were correct. So far I have yet to see any evidence to support the accusations against Mr Raffaele. Given that the accusation comes from a person of ill-repute it’s not a surprising outcome.

The current situation

In our estimation, the cost to taxpayers of the investigations into both the AVN and Ms Dorey would have to run into the millions of dollars and yet, there has been no justice or equity from within this same system for Ms Dorey or the AVN. The law seems to have been very selective in dealing with these issues.

For example, Mr Ken McLeod is one of the most aggressive of the attackers from SAVN and possibly the biggest money-waster. He was the original complainant to the HCCC, leading to a 2-year ‘investigation’ of Ms Dorey and the AVN which culminated in the HCCC’s loss in the Supreme Court with costs awarded to the AVN.

Except that’s not all that happened. The result of Mr McLeod’s complaint was the issue of a Public Warning. It was at a much later date that the AVN managed to challenge the HCCC’s jurisdiction based on a technicality.

Trying to blame the the complainant on the cost to the tax payer is akin to a criminal blaming informants for the cost of the police to investigate crime. If the Australian Vaccination Network didn’t constantly flout the law there would be nothing to investigate and very little cost to the taxpayer.

It’s especially interesting to learn that the AVNs definition of an “Aggressive Attacker” is a man acting entirely within the law. The fact that this organisation fails to recognise a law abiding citizen when it sees one is of no surprise.

Last year, Mr McLeod filed a GIPA (Freedom of Information Claim) with the Department of Fair Trading. He has requested the names, occupations and addresses of those who serve on the AVN’s Management Committee.

Due to a long history of harassment and threats by members of SAVN towards those who support the AVN (these actions have included but not been limited to hacking of websites, posting violent pornography to homes and via email, threatening phone calls and calls to employers), Committee members asked that their personal identities be protected. 

More lies, the AVN website was hacked but not by SAVN or anyone associated with them. It was a random drive-by exploit (Possibly SQL Injection) used by spammers to promote their wares. It came about as a result of the AVN’s technical incompetence, not the organisations critics.

I was in the process of writing a complaint to the Australian Privacy Commissioner regarding the website hack. The AVN continued to solicit personal information from people despite being aware of the security breach. Unfortunately they fixed the site just before I finished off my complaint.

The other accusations appear to be just a dubious as the hacking accusation. Nobody from SAVN is responsible for posting pornography, or sending threatening emails. SAVN and it’s supporters actively stand against such activities and operate within the law. Persons engaged in unlawful activities are unwelcome. There is no legitimate reason to try and keep the committee membership secret. 

We followed the necessary procedures…

There is currently an action before the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of NSW (ADT) regarding Mr McLeod’s GIPA request. On the 8th of November, 2012, the Information Commissioner wrote an advice to the ADT on this matter stating (amongst other things) that:

“The GIPA Act provides that there is a consideration against disclosure of information if disclosure could reasonably be expected to “expose a person to a risk of harm or of serious harassment or serious intimidation” (clause 3(f) of the table to s14(2) of the GIPA Act).”

At the time of this advice being received, the AVN’s solicitor was informed that a decision would be made by the ADT around the 30th of November, 2012. As of today, the 22nd of February, 2013, we are still awaiting their decision.

The Department has now given us until the 22nd of February to release the details of our committee members to them or face fines and potential closure of our volunteer-run organisation. We had asked them to await the result of this ADT decision since it could affect the outcome of this decision but at 5:17 PM last night, one day before the deadline, they refused and have demanded that we provide them with the names of our committee members.

Today, the AVN is seeking legal advice and is considering an application in the courts for an injunction to stay the Department’s draconian treatment of our organisation. 

A court injection to keep the authorities from busting you? Imagine if a criminal tried taking out a restraining order against the police to avoid being arrested. I am sure this injunction will fail just as hard.

The law must not only be fair – it must be seen to be fair and in this case, the government departments that have been dealing with us for the last 4 years have been anything but fair.

Signed,

The Management Committee of the Australian Vaccination Network, Inc. 

So in summary. Law abiding people and government regulators are mean to those acting outside the law. Perhaps they should be asking their supporters to donate boxes of tissues.

Those who have been following recent events will be aware that the AVN has now declared that it will cease publication of its magazine Living Wisdom.

However it is estimated that from 2010 onwards the AVN received approximately $340,000.00 for magazine subscriptions that were not fulfilled. Currently there are 14 issues of Living Wisdom that have been paid for by subscribers but never delivered.

Due to Ms Dorey’s attempts to obfuscate the organisations financial records it is difficult to tell exactly how much money was scammed collected from subscribers who didn’t receive all of the magazine issues they paid for.

Yesterday the New South Wales Department of Fair Trading released a document confirming that as of 16^th January 2013 the Australian Vaccination Network has still not submitted their “Summary of Financial Affairs” for 2011.

 Click here for the full document.

So I thought I would write to the new President of the AVN, Mr Greg Beattie and ask if the Living Wisdom subscribers would be getting a refund on their subscriptions for the 14 outstanding issues, and when the AVN would be meeting its obligation to its 2011 financial statement to Fair Trading.

Download PDF Copy of this Letter

Those interested can write to the Australian Vaccination Network at: PO Box 177 Bangalow NSW 2479 and address the letter as either ‘President’ or ‘ATTN: Greg Beattie’ as Meryl Dorey is no longer in charge (supposedly).

A “children’s book” intended to teach children to embrace deadly disease is being removed from sale.

AUSTRALIA’S largest online bookstore will no longer sell a book that promotes the “marvellous” benefits of measles. Measles is one of the top killers of children, but is easily preventable through vaccination, so deaths in Australia are rare.

News.com.au revealed this week that Bookworld was distributing Melanie’s Marvellous Measles, which falsely describes the deadly disease as something that will make children stronger. AUSTRALIA’S largest online bookstore will no longer sell a book that promotes the “marvellous” benefits of measles.Measles is one of the top killers of children, but is easily preventable through vaccination, so deaths in Australia are rare.News.com.au revealed this week that Bookworld was distributing Melanie’s Marvellous Measles, which falsely describes the deadly disease as something that will make children stronger. –News.com.au