The Western Australia Premier has told a council in the state’s north to “stick to its knitting” after it passed a motion urging state and federal governments to suspend some COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Town of Port Hedland held a special council meeting on Friday and has instructed its chief executive to write to authorities nationwide to immediately stop the use of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The motion centred on a conspiracy theory about DNA contamination from COVID vaccines.
Premier Roger Cook said the Port Hedland council had gone “off the rails” by spreading the unverified claim.
“The Town of Port Hedland should stick to its knitting,” the Premier said.
“It should stay focused on the services and people of that community.
“It’s another example of that council lacking the focus on the issues which matter to their constituents … making sure they look after the people, not get distracted by these silly ideological debates.”
The Town of Port Hedland councillor who put forward the motion, Adrian McRae, ran as a candidate for the Great Australia Party, which campaigned against vaccine mandates at the 2022 federal election.
He made headlines earlier this year over his appearance on Russian state television endorsing the transparency of Vladimir Putin’s election victory.
Councillor claims vaccine concerns being ignored
Cr McRae agreed that weighing in on national vaccine policy was not the council’s job, but said state and federal governments had failed to take community concerns about the safety of COVID vaccines seriously.
The DNA argument surfaced during the pandemic and has been discredited by several international bodies and the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care.Â
“DNA is stored in the protected centre of our cells – the nucleus. The mRNA is broken down quickly by the body. It never enters the nucleus and cannot affect or combine with our DNA in any way to change our genetic code,” the department’s website reads.
Councillor Adrian McRae made international headlines in March after appearing on Russian state television endorsing Vladimir Putin. (ABC News: Charlie Mc Lean)
Vote doesn’t represent community, says Mayor
Mayor Peter Carter and councillor Ambika Rebello were the only two councillors to vote against the motion, which passed 5-2.
“It’s not the place for local government to do this sort of work,” Cr Carter said.
“They’re saying, ‘well, it’s for the community’, well, the community is 17,000 people and we had 50 odd people in the gallery. That does not represent the whole community.”
The motion also asked the council’s administrators to write to the Prime Minister and national health authorities drawing attention to the issue.
The council’s administration warned proceeding with the letter was almost certain to result in extreme reputational and financial impact.
Port Hedland’s Mayor said the motion wasn’t a good look for the town, which is home to the country’s most valuable export terminals. (ABC News: Charlie Mc Lean)
Cr Carter said the motion was not a good look for the town.
“You’re trying to build relationships with the state government, the federal government,” he said.
“We’re a very important town and this motion that was put forward … it shouldn’t have even been there.”
Cr Carter has faced his own controversies in recent years, including corruption allegations over his personal business dealings, inappropriate comments about a woman’s mental health, and is engaged in defamation action against a fellow councillor.
