Well-known activists from the “freedom movement”, anti-vaccine campaigners, QAnon adherents and general conspiracy theorists are on the ballot for the 2022 federal election, selected by parties or standing as independents to contest seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
As Crikey reported last month, the anti-vaccine and freedom movement has seen a decline in interest as the vast majority of the country took the COVID jab and vaccine restrictions were dropped.
Influencers and activists who are deeply immersed in online conspiracy communities had been eying an election tilt since last year, back when COVID-19 was a much bigger issue. Many of them have still nominated as candidates for the federal election but have attempted to pivot to more general policy platforms.
Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, spearheaded by Craig Kelly, spent the better part of a year undermining faith in vaccines by spreading misinformation about their safety and effectiveness. While they’re still running candidates in every House of Representatives seat and for the Senate, their messages have changed to be about government debt, capping mortgage interest rates and appeals to “protect freedoms” — with COVID-19 references nowhere to be seen.
Other established parties — such as the anti-vaccine Informed Medical Options Party, the anti-lockdown Liberal Democratic Party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and Rod Culleton’s sovereign citizen party the Great Australian Party — have all nominated people who have actively promoted COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Others are standing as independents. Perennial election candidate and QAnon promoter Riccardo Bosi is running an informal ticket — with each candidate standing as an independent — for his party AustraliaOne. Meanwhile, Monica Smit, the founder of Australia’s most active anti-vaccine group, Reignite Democracy Australia, is promoting her fianće Morgan C Jonas, who is also standing as an independent after splitting off from the United Australia Party.
Hoping to capitalise on shrinking primary votes for the major parties, some in the movement have launched a “Put The Majors Last” campaign to promote other fringe candidates. But as Australians increasingly focus on issues other than COVID-19 and vaccines, these dozens of candidates are left to fight over a tiny, shrinking part of the electorate that is still paying attention.
