Elizabeth Jane Cooney, commonly known as Liz Gunn (born ), is an anti-vaccination activist and a former television presenter from New Zealand.

Broadcasting career

Gunn was a litigation lawyer before beginning her TV career on the

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

show ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

'' in 1992. From 1997 she was the first

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...

newsreader, becoming one of the show's co-hosts (alongside Mike Hosking) in 2001. She unexpectedly quit that role on-air during the year's last episode. By then she had also begun broadcasting on

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

. Other television roles included reporting for Holmes and newsreading on TV One. Gunn moved to Australia after her TV presenting days ended in 2002, returning to New Zealand a decade later. She rejoined RNZ until 2016. In 2017 she became a director and one-third shareholder of a new company, Lifeforce Water Limited.

Anti-vaccination activism

During the 2020s she became a leader in the anti-vaccination movement in New Zealand, and championed conspiracy theories about the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

causing harm. When an earthquake struck the North Island in October 2021, Gunn called it Mother Nature's response to vaccination targets (which she described as "jab rape") and other covid-related policies implemented by the "tyrannical" Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She was a leader and spokesperson in the 2022 protests occupying the New Zealand parliament grounds. In December 2022 she was the spokesperson for parents who refused to allow their child to have a blood transfusion using blood donations from vaccinated people. In February 2023 Gunn was arrested at Auckland Airport. Along with a cameraman, she was there to film the arrival of an unvaccinated family arriving from Tokelau. They scuffled with a security guard and were both arrested. She appeared in court the next month, charged with assault, trespass, and resisting arrest. Her plea was not guilty, and she was released on bail with her next hearing scheduled for June.

References

External links

Liz Gunn
on Youtube
Liz Gunn
at 13thfloor.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Liz Living people New Zealand television presenters New Zealand anti-vaccination activists Year of birth missing (living people)