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Believing in science does not mean that you not allow any contrary evidence to come within your field of operation and that you demean and belittle those people who are raising those concerns,” Ms MacTiernan said.
Federal MP Alannah MacTiernan said she supports childhood vaccines, but also says she recognizes the justifiable fear when it comes to the number of vaccines given to children these days. I would expect this to go, well, not so well for her. Australia has the “No Jab, No Pay law,” which cuts benefits off from parents who choose not to vaccinate.
MacTierman went on to say that vaccines were increasingly being produced for diseases that don’t really effect global health. She also feels that there aren’t enough studies which aren’t tainted by pharmaceutical money.
According to Yahoo! in Australia.
She told Federal Parliament last month that her daughter contracted whooping cough at the age of three weeks, so she “completely and utterly” supported the principles of vaccination. While Ms MacTiernan did not accept the arguments of “crazy, unscientific trolls and anti-vaxxers”, she worried that vaccines were being produced increasingly for diseases that had less impact at a population health level.
She did not believe there was enough independence in the pharmaceutical industry, nor enough researchers “free from the taint” of funding by the industry.
I can’t imagine the firestorm this will create in a country that has limited the rights of those against vaccinations as much as anywhere. There is a Senate Inquiry into “No Jab, No Pay” tomorrow, so the timing is undeniably strategic on her part.