MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper temporarily closed her office on Friday in response to escalating abuse and physical threats over her support of the Victorian Government’s vaccine mandate for essential workers.
Ms Cupper said she made the decision to lock her Deakin Avenue office doors, turn off the phones and social media comments to protect herself and her staff.
And the independent state MP took aim at a petition launched by her federal counterpart, Anne Webster, which called for the worker vaccine mandates to be dropped, as being a “rallying point” for “people full of rage”.
“Since Anne’s petition, we have seen a brand new phenomenon of people who are full of rage and misinformation who have seen this petition as a call to arms and a rallying point for their community,” Ms Cupper said.
“And the assault on my office has been extreme. It cannot be described in any other way.”
Dr Webster, a Nationals member, defended the petition, which she maintained opposed the mandate and not vaccinations.
“First and foremost, we live in a democracy,” she said on Friday. “(People) should be able to speak their views, whether we agree or don’t agree.
“The point is people are very upset with the mandate. There has been a heavy-handedness by the (Victorian) Government throughout this pandemic and with Mallee’s (first-dose vaccine) rate set at 88 per cent, why the need for a mandate?
“The petition has had 75,000 signatures and many people, hundreds of those people, are saying they are double-vaxxed, but they object to people being coerced.”
Dr Webster, who is double-vaccinated and encourages people to get the vaccine, said she had also received hundreds of “hate-filled” emails this week due to her stance.
“It has been incredibly tough on my office as well,” she said.
Ms Cupper said Dr Webster’s petition only served to polarise the community at a time when it needed united leadership.
“What our community needs is a united front between its state MP, its federal MP, the mayor, councillors and our leaders in the health care sector,” she said.
“What Anne has done with her petition is she has broken that unity, created and given permission to those who may have been on the fence with the vaccine to continue their resistance and opposition and that is dangerous.
“The other problem is her timing. It could not be worse given that we have a really concerning increase in numbers on our hands.”
Ms Cupper said she hoped to reopen her office on Monday.
