Julian Gillespie

Multiple specialists have shared a platform with the legal adviser for Australia’s biggest anti-vax group AVN at a ‘medico-legal summit‘ where he claimed COVID-19 vaccines were “the most dangerous and deadly products ever made available to Australians”.

In a meeting held in Brisbane on 23 June and streamed online, former barrister Julian Gillespie also argued it was possible Pfizer’s vaccine could “cause the DNA of humans to be changed forever” as well as lead to infertility and cancer.

“Pfizer’s concoction that was only meant to prevent severe illness has instead gone on to produce deaths and illnesses and permanent disabilities,” he said.

“Our TGA forgot to share this information at the time and indeed ever since… and instead began to literally hide the bodies and injuries that started mounting quickly.”

Mr Gillespie, now a solicitor on the NSW northern rivers, went on to promote a legal case he had filed with the Australian Vaccination-risks Network (AVN) to the Federal Court, which is demanding the immediate suspension of all COVID-19 vaccinations in Australia.

He claimed that adverse events from the vaccines had “killed more people than have actually died from COVID”, while booster doses made people “more predisposed to being infected with COVID-19, not less, and to suffering more when infected.

Specialist speakers

These comments were followed by nearly a dozen speeches by doctors, including gastroenterologist Dr Andrew McIntyre, endocrinologist Professor Nikolai Petrovsky and cardiologist Dr Christopher Neil.

But rather than disputing Mr Gillespie’s account, most of the speakers went to criticise Australia’s vaccine policies as well as the mandatory requirement rules for vaccination of health workers against COVID-19.

Professor Petrovsky, the director of endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre and research director of the biotech company Vaxine, said he had been “persecuted” by state and federal governments.

He said he was unable to attend his research lab where his team had been developing its own COVID-19 shot “because the SA Government refuses me entry despite the fact I am fully vaccinated with my own vaccine and I am obviously not happy to subject myself to an mRNA vaccine I don’t consider as a vaccine expert to be safe nor appropriate for my situation.”

The official mortality rates of COVID-19 were “simply not true”, while research was now available which demonstrated the risk of adverse events from mRNA vaccines was greater than their benefit, he added.

The limbic tried to contact Professor Petrovsky to ask if he supported the AVN and agreed with Mr Gillespie, but did not hear back before deadline.

However Dr Andrew McIntyre, a gastroenterologist in Buderim, Queensland, told the limbic: “I’m not sure what [Mr Gillespie] has said in the past but I would certainly support his position on the mRNA vaccines.”

“Every vaccine needs to be considered on its merits and I don’t think this one has been adequately tested. I’m certainly opposed to the mRNA vaccine and I have been right from the start.”

AHPRA action

The meeting follows a crackdown by regulators on social media posts by registered health practitioners that spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines as well as debunked potential treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

Last year, AHPRA issued a position statement warning doctors faced regulatory action for sharing “false or deceptive information” about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

A number of practitioners were also cautioned over their social media use.

But when asked whether the speeches were also in breach of its policy, the regulator declined to say.

“We encourage medical practitioners to discuss the various COVID-19 vaccines with their patients and use their professional judgement and the best available evidence to help the patient make the safest choices,” it said in a statement.

“The National Boards consider the need to take action in response to reports of breaches of their standards and guidelines, including codes of conduct, on a case-by-case basis.”

“We take reports of breaches seriously and will investigate, only intervening where the public is at serious risk.”

The conference was organised by a group called the Australian Medical Professionals’ Society, which emerged last year in response to the workplace vaccine mandates put in place around the country.

The group is part of a ‘red union‘ network set up by  figures connected to the Liberal and National parties, with branches aimed at nurses, police and drivers who are disaffected by mandatory Covid vaccine requirements.