A group run by anti-vaxxers that claims to have raised more than $330,000 for flood relief has shut down, with hundreds of thousands of dollars unspent, as a state charity watchdog has started an investigation into the organisation.
At the beginning of March, Aussie Helping Hands promised to raise money to support those affected by flooding in New South Wales and Queensland. Run by three people who’d promoted anti-vaccine and conspiracy rhetoric, the group used misinformation about the Red Cross and other established charity groups to solicit donations while promising full transparency.
But as Crikey reported at the time, Aussie Helping Hands provided neither proof of the donations raised nor amounts spent, other than a handful of social media testimonials. Subsequently, the group posted some information about how they claim the money was spent — however, these were unverified descriptions of spending posted to the group’s website.
Earlier this month, one of the group’s founders and conspiracy Telegram influencer David Oneeglio posted that bank accounts belonging to him, fellow organiser Dotti Janssen and Aussie Helping Hands had been frozen. In a later post, he claimed that the Queensland Office of Fair Trading had ordered his account to be frozen.
A spokesperson for Queensland Office of Fair Trading told Crikey that it is actively investigating Aussie Helping Hands, along with other charitable flood-relief appeals, but has not ordered any action under the Collections Act 1966.
After Oneeglio encouraged his tens of thousands of Telegram followers to write to the Office of Fair Trading, the Queensland attorney-general and his bank, the group said that it was winding down. This week, Aussie Helping Hands sent an email to its mailing list announcing that “due to circumstances under their control, [it] had ceased all activities”. Its website has also gone offline and its Telegram channel has not posted about shutting down.
According to an archived version of its website, Aussie Helping Hands had $193,000 unallocated as of April 8. The page mentions giving over $100,000 in bank transfers and vouchers, claiming to have given $5000 deposits to flood victims, as well as $36,940 spent on equipment and to flood centres. The group has not published what it intends to do when they regain access to its bank accounts.
Despite having his personal account frozen, Oneeglio still found a way to ask for further donations. In an interview with Meryl Dorey, the former head of Australia’s longest-running anti-vaccine group, Oneeglio passed on the bank details for his T-shirt business.
“It would go to help the people who need the help the most,” Dorey said.
