Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Large crowds gathered at the Gold Coast and Mackay,where they were addressed by One Nation MPs Senator Hanson,fellow upper-house member Malcolm Roberts and state member for Mirani Stephen Andrew.
Others were slated to take place across North Queensland,Hervey Bay,the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba protesting against rules,which will bar unvaccinated people from entering some venues across the state from December 17.
Addressing the Gold Coast event,Senator Hanson said she was “not here as an anti-vaxxer,I am here as pro-choice” and vowed to make Prime Minister Scott Morrison a “lame duck” in Federal Parliament until his government overruled state vaccine mandates,before the crowd began a chant of her name.
She pledged to put her bill to end COVID-19 vaccine mandatesback on the floor of Parliament next week,after it was voted down overwhelmingly as five Coalition Senators breaking ranks to support the minor party’s push amid a disrupted sitting week for the Morrison government.
Senator Hanson’s party colleague in state parliament,Stephen Andrew,addressed a rally in Mackay – at which Nationals MP George Christensen has previously spoken alongside him.
There,he cast himself not as a parliamentarian but a “freedom fighter”. “To me,it’s become a dirty word,” he said.