Mount Gambier residents have once again taken to the streets in their sixth Limestone Coast National Freedom Rally protesting COVID-19 restrictions.
Participants started at Vansittart Park and marched down the main street before gathering at the Railway Lands.
The local rallies started three months ago with the biggest event to date attracting 275 attendees.
Limestone Coast Freedom protester Maddy Fry said after attending a Stand in the Park gathering on a Sunday she realised the picture for her local town was about addressing the impacts that government overreach was having upon the people and businesses from across the region and from various walks of life.
“It is eye-opening the diversity of the people that get up and speak,” Miss Fry said.
“We heard about how the lockdown for six days affected business owners and how residents with exemptions are still not being let into shops without masks on.”
Some of the many experiences, shared by Miss Fry on behalf of concerned Limestone Coast residents included “seeing individuals every day that are double vaccinated and still struggling with adverse reactions” and “people who are three kilometres over the border and cannot get into Mount Gambier”.
Miss Fry said the mandating of vaccines was a primary issue with many people wanting to see more research, more data and to be given a choice.
“It should be a human’s choice on what they put in their body,” she said.
Miss Fry said for her, like many others, it started with a discussion with her partner at home about the vaccine.
“The more we started looking into some of the research from America and saw some of the adverse reactions we decided it was not for us,” she said.
“We are not anti-vax, I have had every vaccine required when travelling overseas but something does not seem right if a vaccine could be created in 15 months and be okay.
“We understand vaccines are needed, no one is going to deny that, but maybe there needs to be a little bit more research and time to see what is going to happen in 15 years.”
Miss Fry said over time the Freedom Rallies became about border closures, mask wearing and QR check ins.
“We met a bunch of people in the same position and it did not become about just vaccines,” she said.
“It was the Melbourne protests and watching 750,000 people rally together that made us realise you have to put the vaccinated/unvaccinated line away and focus on basic human rights. We do not have any at the moment and that is our biggest concern.”
