The Informed Medical Options Party, formerly known as the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party, was an Australian political party. The party's policies opposed compulsory
vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
programs and
water fluoridation.
The Party states that these are "mass-medication programs" where there is "genuine scientific uncertainty about the benefits and risks in a genetically diverse population".
Australian Medical Association
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...
president Tony Bartone said the party's views "lack the backing of scientific evidence" and that its members "should consider the harm that can ensue upon the Australian community".
It was registered for federal elections on 26 October 2016.
Party founder Michael O'Neill said the "
anti-vaxxer
Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...
" label regularly used by critics was "insulting".
In August 2023, the party merged with the
Health Australia Party
The Health Australia Party (HAP) is a political party in Australia, founded in 2013 as the Natural Medicine Party. It adopted its current name in 2015.
The Health Australia Party first contested an election under that name in 2016, where it se ...
(HAP) to form the
HEART Party
The HEART Party (Health, Environment, Accountability, Rights, Transparency) is an Politics of Australia, Australian political party. It was founded in August 2023 as a result of a merger of the Health Australia Party (HAP) and Informed Medical Opti ...
, although HAP withdrew from HEART on 10 October 2023.
History
The party ran candidates in
New South Wales
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, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
and
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in the
2019 Australian federal election
The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...
for the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
and received a total of 17,055 total votes as first preference.
They were not successful in having a candidate elected.
In February 2020, the
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt opposed the party's application to change its name to the Informed Medical Options Party saying "that such a name would be misleading".
The party was successful in its application.
In March 2020, Tom Barnett, a party candidate in the 2019 federal election, created a video discussing
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
. In it, he stated: "You can’t catch a virus; it's impossible" and "the only way that you can catch a virus is by having it injected into your bloodstream". The video was removed from
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, with the companies stating that the video was in breach of their policies.
See also
*
Fluoride Free WA
Fluoride Free WA Party was a political party registered for elections in Western Australia. Its main policy is to end mandatory water fluoridation in Western Australia. The party is a distinct legal entity from an advocacy organisation named Fluo ...
*
Health Australia Party
The Health Australia Party (HAP) is a political party in Australia, founded in 2013 as the Natural Medicine Party. It adopted its current name in 2015.
The Health Australia Party first contested an election under that name in 2016, where it se ...
*
Judy Wilyman
Roslyn Judith "Judy" Wilyman is an Australian anti-vaccination activist who came to prominence following the controversial award of a humanities PhD titled "A critical analysis of the Australian government's rationale for its vaccination poli ...
*
Barbara O'Neill
Barbara O'Neill is an Australian naturopath and lecturer on health issues who, in 2019, was banned for life by the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) from providing free or paid health services. The ban followed an HCC ...
*
Taylor Winterstein
References
{{Australian political parties
Political parties in Australia
Anti-vaccination organizations
Conspiracy theorists
2016 establishments in Australia
Political parties established in 2016
2023 disestablishments in Australia
Political parties disestablished in 2023