South West MLC Sophia Moermond defiant on proof of vaccination stance after being barred from Parliament

South West MLC Sophia Moermond says she will leave State Parliament before she provides proof she has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Ms Moermond, from the Legalise Cannabis WA Party, was the only MP to be barred from Parliament on Tuesday after the Legislative Council passed a motion to immediately suspend MPs who had not produced proof of vaccination — or a valid medical exemption — to the clerk. During debate on the issue, Ms Moermond said she had refused to comply with the requirement, then immediately left the chamber after the motion passed. Legislative Council president Alanna Clohesy later confirmed Ms Moermond was the only MP who had failed to provide proof of vaccination or a medical exemption. The motion also requires MPs to provide proof of a booster shot, or a valid exemption, by May 6. Speaking to the Advertiser on Wednesday, Ms Moermond — a former nurse — said if faced with the choice of providing proof of vaccination or losing her seat in the Upper House, she would “stick with my principles”. “I am simply not going to share my medical information,” she said. “I think it is wrong to mandate a medical treatment and I think it is wrong to mandate breaching of medical privacy, and if that costs me my role here, I guess then so be it. “I don’t want to come across as that I don’t think my role is not important or that I don’t think it is valuable. It absolutely is, and the people who have put me here. “But I simply cannot be complicit in the creation of a two-tier society based on medical apartheid.” On her Facebook page on Tuesday night, Ms Moermond labelled the motion a “political stunt that flies in the face of our democratic process”. “It excludes, in this case it would seem one person — me — because they don’t hold the same views of others. And this is a slippery slope indeed,” she said. “Every time a society has participated in the creation of a lower class it has ended in violence. First there is violence to control that lower class, and then there is violence to stop that control.” Ms Moermond — who refused to say whether she had been vaccinated against COVID-19 — said on Wednesday she was not yet aware of the full details of her suspension but planned to continue her work even if she could not be inside Parliament. “I am still working. I don’t know exactly what my future is going to look like. It is slightly unstable right now,” she said. “I believe that medical privacy is important and that we all have a right to medical privacy and to body autonomy as well. “I don’t agree with the mandates around the breaching of medical privacy and I don’t agree with the mandates of medical treatment.” There is no end date for the vaccination mandate provided by the motion, but if Ms Moermond does provide the required proof, her suspension will be lifted immediately. Separately, and in line with WA Government mandates, Parliament is enforcing proof-of-vaccination requirements for the building’s dining rooms, cafeteria and gym. The public gallery has also been closed, tours suspended, and all functions inside the building have been cancelled.

South West MLC Sophia Moermond defiant on proof of vaccination stance after being barred from Parliament

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