Positioned in front of a giant Aboriginal flag, a group of First Nations people speak one after another about the Northern Territory (NT)’s COVID-19 response.
The eldest, wedged between others in the middle of the couch, speaks briefly but generally about a need for unity and sovereignty. The next speakers are more specific: they rail against lockdowns (“corporate tyranny government”) and claim that COVID-19 vaccination programs are genocide.
A 14-minute video of these speeches was posted to an independent news publisher’s website on Wednesday, where it got 30,000 views in the eight hours before it was removed. Another version posted by an anti-vaccine Instagram account that purports to be run by Indigenous Australians has 100,000 views and counting.
Vaccine rates have lagged among Indigenous Australians, particularly those in rural and remote communities. Like any other community, misinformation about vaccines has also fed hesitancy including alleged intentional efforts to injure Indigenous communities. These false claims resonate because of Australia’s colonial history of scientific experiments on Indigenous Australians.
But the harsh lockdown recently imposed on parts of the NT have provided fertile conditions for misinformation. In remote communities like Binjari and Rockhole, where daily temperatures are north of 40 degrees, hundreds of residents have been ordered not to leave their homes — sometimes with 20 people to a two-bedroom house — for any reasons other than emergencies or medical care. Close contacts of COVID-19 cases in the communities have been transported to the Howard Springs quarantine camp, with the army brought in to provide transport and food supplies.
Now, anti-vaxxers and other bad actors from the NT, around Australia and abroad, are capitalising on the tough measures and confusion to spread conspiracy theories on social media, including some targeting Indigenous Australians. Claims have ranged from suspicion around quarantine camps (the same ones that international travellers quarantined in) to far-fetched ideas of forced vaccinations, military takeovers and mass deaths from vaccines.
A statement by Traditional Owners in Binjari and Rockhole refuted claims of forced vaccinations, deaths or an army takeover, NITV reports. They criticised the claims on social media that they say don’t match what’s happening on the ground: “People on social media saying that our people are being mistreated need to realise their comments are hurting the very people they claim to care about.”
Conspiracy theories and baseless claims about Northern Territory quarantine dominate social media
Misinformation around the quarantine camps has dominated social media, according to social media analysis tool BuzzSumo. Of the top 10 pieces of content across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit in the last week featuring the keywords “Australia” and “quarantine”, only two are from mainstream publications. The rest — including the entire top five — are either from international conspiracy or fringe publications or accounts that have promoted or dog-whistling conspiracies, such as far-right libertarian blog ZeroHedge. The same trend goes for “Howard Springs” and, to a lesser extent, “Northern Territory” — showing that the most viral viewed content about what is going on is coming from unreliable or discredited voices.
User-generated content by individuals on social media has also played a large role in misinformation during the lockdowns. Viral posts about second-hand accounts about what’s happening have been circulated as fact, despite first-hand accounts disputing them.
A Facebook Live from the personal Facebook account of June Mills — who has attended previous anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown “freedom” rallies and believes that vaccinations are a scheme to kill Indigenous Australians — captured the Larrakia elder claiming she wasn’t able to contact anyone who had been transported to the quarantine facility.
“We’re almost ready to get an action group to go out to Howard Springs because we don’t trust the government, we don’t trust Michael Gunner, we don’t trust the army, we want to hear from the people on the ground,” she said.
It was viewed more than 70,000 times on her own account, but widely shared beyond that by Australian anti-vaccine influencers and groups on Telegram, Instagram and TikTok. (For comparison, a Facebook Live done by Mills on another topic a week ago received fewer than 500 views and 5 likes).
Voices sharing unproven claims like this have been elevated by existing anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine networks. As the Age reports, Melbourne-based anti-vaccine campaigners such as Reignite Democracy Australia’s Monica Smit have amplified these secondhand and spread misinformation further. US-based rapper and bounty hunter turned COVID-19 conspiracy show host Stew Peters interviewed Sydney-based anti-vaccine activist Maria Zee, who again repeated claims that were shared to Peters’ 313,000 Telegram followers. These networks reinforce themselves: bigger influencers source local misinformation and broadcast it back to local activists who believe it.
Those who’ve tried to counter misinformation have earned the wrath of online fringe communities. Ernie Dingo was inundated with death threats after he began touring northern Western Australia promoting vaccines.
Established sovereign citizens capitalising on anti-vaccine sentiment
One major source of misinformation has been David Cole — who also goes by the name Lurnpa Lurnpa — a NT youth worker who is a leader of the Original Sovereign Tribal Federation. The Federation, which claims to have registered dozens of tribal groups, blends a push for Indigenous sovereignty with sovereign citizen ideology, a pseudo-legal movement that refuses to acknowledge the authority of governments.
Along with fellow leader Mark McMurtrie, the pair have promoted “legal advice” that laws do not apply in Indigenous communities for more than a decade. Followers have cited their baseless ideas as defences in court, unsuccessfully. The pair have links to broader conspiracy communities: McMurtrie co-owns a company that tried to develop property in NSW that has a relationship with disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans, and the Federation signed a short-lived memorandum of understanding with Rod Culleton’s Great Australian Party.
Continuing a trend of cross-pollination between sovereign citizens and other conspiracy movements, Cole has seen a boost in popularity as he embraced anti-vaccine ideas during the pandemic. A speech at an anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown rally where he falsely claimed vaccines were “premeditated genocide” earned him a rebuke from NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner and were the subject of a confrontation by Larrakia traditional owner and elder Dr Aleeta Fejo.
Despite this, Cole has continued to propagate lies through Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. He is one of the seven people speaking in the 14-minute viral video where he calls the vaccine a bioweapon. Another Facebook post from his personal account purporting that hundreds of people in Robertson River and Binjari were forced to get vaccinated has been shared more than 500 times, and screenshots of the post have been circulated even further. He called for international intervention in an interview with Riccardo Bosi, a conspiracy theorist who leads fringe political party Australia One who has called for Australian politicians and media to be executed.
What distinguishes Cole and others’ rhetoric from typical misinformation is how they tie in the traditional abuse and mistreatment of Indigenous Australians to lend credibility to their claims.
Early in the pandemic, anti-vaccine influencers promoted a 1970s book by a Greek Australian that rejected “medical racism” of vaccines given to Indigenous Australians and instead promoted the experimental treatment of massive doses of vitamins. The echoes of historic injustices such as the Stolen Generation and the NT intervention provide credence for ideas like a military takeover. Cole ties claims of an “experimental vaccine” with other government policies: “They tried the universal card, the basic income card”, he cites as proof of the government’s willingness to treat Indigenous Australians as guinea pigs.
Comments by the Chief Minister Gunner that criticised those opposed to lockdowns and mandates as “anti-vax” and other criticisms also added fuel to the fire.
Luke Ellis is a 33-year-old health worker currently in quarantine in Howard Springs after testing positive for COVID-19 who took to Twitter to dispel myths about what was happening. He called out anti-vaccine campaigners whose interest in the welfare of Indigenous Australians began after lockdowns.
“To see so much bullshit being shared around, especially by people that have no love for indigenous people suddenly jump on the ‘genocide’ bandwagon when it suits them is fucked,” he tweeted.
“To try use us as props now is disgusting.”
When I read an article like this I feel compelled to respond but where do you begin?
First of all, reading this report makes me feel that we may be on the verge of some kind of new Dark Age, despite the advances of the last few hundred years. This bunch of rabid dogs who are spreading their lunatic ideas in society in general are having a noticeable degree of success in influencing the most vulnerable people on Earth (they are active in Papua and other areas globally). These crazies are not only anti-vaccination, COVID denying imbeciles, they deny reality itself. Their idea of reality is whatever they say it is. They live in some kind of weird universe. They are doing untold damage to our society at a time when normal people are experiencing enough difficulty coping with a global pandemic.
Then we have some human rights advocates, lawyers (not to mention a well-known economist who occasionally posts here at Crikey), lining up to various extents with this despicable, ignorant, uneducated (more likely ‘ineducable’) and destructive crowd. This latter-mentioned group of ‘professionals’ should be mindful of the old adage that “People are judged by the company they keep”. Appeasement of the crazies or simply pandering to them is not a solution. That is tantamount to the Romans pandering to the Huns, Visigoths and Vandals. They must be dealt with, and dealt with firmly, by law-enforcement agencies before they do even more damage. If necessary, governments may need to pass special legislation to put a stop to this madness before it gets totally out of control as has happened in other countries. The rabble that runs riot on the streets of our cities clearly do not possess the ability to distinguish “freedom” from “license”.
It seems that Trumpism has arrived here in Australia and is gaining support amongst the less cerebrally well-endowed amongst us. This is indeed a most worrying trend.
Enforcement embolden crazies. To be acknowledged re-inforces. Their target(s) always the gullible.
‘GENUINE’ Indigenous leadership speaking with one voice, only way forward. And just in case; non-indigenous should stop, reflect on just how difficult that is. Federal politics anyone?
The demand – egged on by the real beneficiaries, the wealthy – for Ms Laura Norder and her fasces is always from the lower middle class (the political equivalent of the ‘worried well’ who make self-help gurus rich) as a protection from being dragged back into the morass from which they imagined they escaped by sheer grit.
Your proclivities, at odds with the veneer of reasonableness constructed over the last month or two, are on show by claiming ‘they'(sic!) “…need to be dealt with firmly, by law-enforcement agencies….governments may need to pass special legislation…”.
That tiger can never be dismounted and consumes whoever tries to ride it.
Actually Phryne, I tend to think that my proclivities remain totally consistent with the rational, logical and thoroughly reasonable approach that I have hitherto constructed here at Crikey.
I have a desire to see society function in an orderly, sensible, cooperative and caring way. Those goals will never be realized by taking a she’ll be right mate’, libertarian approach. The insane (in both the metaphorical and literal sense) and criminal behavior of the anti-vaccination crowd and their ‘fellow travelers’ in the current crisis has provided ample proof of the need for a strong response.
Yeh, I’ve been there and seen the result when breadheads do the “…orderly, sensible, cooperative…” thangy.
Sorry, I’ll take vanilla.
Each to their own Phryne. I used to like vanilla actually. You might have just put me off it.
There is no reason why the Social Media spreading these poisoned ideas can not be shut down and serious penalties. imposed.
See what I mean, RR?
It’s almost as if there’s a concerted campaign to do real damage to these people – by trying to persuade them to voluntarily lower their immunity to Covid?
Quite. As Luke Ellis says in the article ““To see so much bullshit being shared around, especially by people that have no love for indigenous people suddenly jump on the ‘genocide’ bandwagon…”
Some of those spreading this anti-vax crap will be sincere. But it is obvious that a lot of it is coming from sources who are hostile to indigenous Australians and are intent on doing harm. No doubt they love the irony of injuring or killing indigenous Australians by pretending they want to protect them. What a laugh!
Quite. As Luke Ellis says in the article ““To see so much bullsiht being shared around, especially by people that have no love for indigenous people suddenly jump on the ‘genocied’ bandwagon…”
Some of those spreading this anti-vax crap will be sincere. But it is obvious that a lot of it is coming from sources who are hostile to indigenous Australians and are intent on doing harm. No doubt they love the irony of injuring or killing indigenous Australians by pretending they want to protect them. What a laugh!
They’re “wrong” on so many levels.
I suspect that this is a concerted campaign aimed at having the Aboriginal communities voluntarily commit mass suicide by refusing vaccines. How disgusting is that?
The wagon many of these self-appointed “Voices” employ . . . is the wagon of self-promotion. Regretfully, there are far too many innocents ill prepared to defend, or respond.
Is there a point coming up where anti-vaxxers of this sort could be charged with endangering public health?
Government services are rarely accessible, police harassment is ever present, John Howard sent in the Army, the snake oil salesman gave them the Indue Card, the Pentecostals are now everywhere replacing the Prodies, Catholics and Anglics that were the child molesters, rapists, bullies sent by the State to civilise the natives ‘for we are fair and free’………….
I wonder how many pentacostal believers are vaccinated?
Only one is publicly recorded but, given his metabolic mendacity, it may not be true.
The anti vax movement was infiltrated by white supremacists and ecofascists a long time ago. Their actions in black communities in the US have been appalling. They targeted a Somali-American community in Minnesota, and were so successful that the vaccination rates for children dropped, leading to a serious measles outbreak. Similarly, they were very active in Samoa during the measles outbreak in 2019, when over 5000 people, most of them children, were infected, with 60 of the 85 dead being children under four.
Central to their targeting of non white communities is the clear belief that non white people are stupid and therefore more malleable. It is clear in the approach and the language of anti vaxxers that they believe that non white communities can be easily manipulated and they have set out to deliberately do so.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this manipulation of indigenous communities is the work of local anti vaxxers who are using whatever they have at hand. Those who are doing this may not realise who is guiding them (or more to the point, not care), but guided they are.
https://politicalresearch.org/2020/07/09/blood-and-vanishing-topsoil
Much astroturfing, that resonates with offshore analysis one has been privy to, i.e. ‘World Wide Demonstration (.com) an English only website based in Germany, with significant referral or backlink from Fox (who else? and Zero Hedge etc.).
The same has been promoted in Oz via ‘science presenter’ and vaccine sceptic Jo Nova (via AIP blog OLO; like the IPA/CIS, is in Koch’s Atlas Network) for protests in Australian cities (from earlier last week)
https://joannenova.com.au/2021/11/worldwide-rally-for-freedom-5-0-protest-this-saturday/
Triangle of ‘architecture’, Koch Network‘s climate-Covid science denial (DeSmog reported Aug ’20 in ‘How the UK’s Climate Science Deniers Turned Their Attention to COVID-19‘), antipathy towards regulation and elected government, and then Fox/NewsCorp for protest PR agitprop/comms in legacy and social media. Finally the eco-fascism, from the muse of Steve Bannon, deceased (John) Tanton* Networks promotes eco-fascism to alt/far right, evangelicals etc.through immigration/population lens, and hence, the ‘great replacement theory’ (his groups informed Trump White House immigration policies).
*Tanton, an admirer of the white Australia policy, like Paul ‘Population Bomb’ Ehrlich, had been in the fossil fuel/auto supported and Malthusian ZPG Zero Population Growth of the ’70s, later visited and liaised with Sustainable Population Australia; the NYT several years ago described Tanton as ‘the most influential unknown man America’.