Elizabeth Jane Cooney, commonly known as Liz Gunn (born ), is an

anti-vaccination 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 ...

activist and a former television presenter from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Broadcasting career

Gunn was a litigation lawyer before beginning her TV career on the TVNZ show '' Sunday'' in 1992. From 1997 she was the first Breakfast newsreader, becoming one of the show's co-hosts (alongside

Mike Hosking Michael Noel James Hosking IV is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster who has worked for Radio New Zealand and TVNZ and from 2008 has been the weekday breakfast host on Newstalk ZB with "The Mike Hosking Breakfast". He is a supporter ...

) 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. Other television roles included reporting for

Holmes Holmes may refer to: Name * Holmes (surname) * Holmes (given name) * Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland * Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer Places In the Uni ...

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 A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about the COVID-19 vaccine 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)