Former NSW Premier Believes Anti-Vaxxers Should Be Stripped Of Medicare Access

A former New South Wales Premier believes Australia should follow Singapore's lead and ban anti-vaxxers from accessing government-funded healthcare.

Singapore recently ruled that people who have personally objected to getting the Covid-19 vaccine are putting a disproportionate strain on the country's hospital system and that's not fair.

While it might be a controversial decision, Bob Carr reckons Australia should do the same.

Writing on Twitter, the former Labor Party and state leader said: "Follow Singapore and legislate no medical or hospital expenses to be reimbursed to people who are not vaccinated without medical justification and then contract Covid.

"You ignored warnings and got the disease. You pay for your wilful stupidity, not the rest of us."

He added in a followup tweet: "For many this virus will be a death sentence.

"A pig-headed view that one has the perfect right to be unvaccinated without medical justification is a violation (potentially fatal) of the rights of others to life and health."

The proposal sparked a furious debate from people, some of whom agreed and others who thought it was too authoritarian.

While it might have a few backers, the Australian Prime Minister certainly isn't one of them.

Scott Morrison said there are no plans to force Aussies to get the vaccine or face losing their access to Medicare as a result.

"We live in a country where we're not going around demonising those who want to make their own choices, I think that's very important," he told Sunrise.

"We don't have a mandatory vaccination policy as a federal government, that's not something we've done.

"Of course we want people to get vaccinated, but we're not going to take that heavy-handed approach."

It might not happen in Australia but it's certainly happening in Singapore as the country sees a spike in the number of daily Covid-19 cases.

Alamy

More than 90,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the past month and the country recently recorded its 500th death since the pandemic began.

More than 85 per cent people living in the country have received both doses of the vaccine and now Singapore has issued a warning to those who haven't got a jab yet.

The Ministry of Health wrote: "Currently, unvaccinated persons make up a sizeable majority of those who require intensive inpatient care, and disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources.

"Hence, from 8 December 2021, we will begin charging COVID-19 patients who are unvaccinated by choice.

"This will apply to all unvaccinated COVID-19 patients admitted on or after 8 December 2021 to hospitals and CTFs. COVID-19 medical bills for those who are ineligible for vaccination will still be fully paid for by the government, i.e. children under 12 years old or medically ineligible persons."

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie