
If you can't choose what goes into your own body, the state owns you.
- Angela Ketas, Reclaim the Line spokesperson
ORGANISERS of the upcoming "anti-vaccine mandate" rally in Foreshore Park say they want their voice represented in state parliament.
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"We want our state members to question the premier on the mandates and lockdowns and hold him to account around claims that our freedoms won't be affected," spokesperson for Reclaim the Line Angela Ketas said.
"We aren't hearing a counter view. If the politicians are all peddling the same viewpoint it doesn't feel like a democracy."
Reclaim The Line is a "collaboration between teachers, nurses, early childhood educators, paramedics, firies, sworn officers and community justices staff" against mandates related to COVID-19 vaccinations.
On Sunday, December 12, the organisation will hold a rally in Foreshore Park, Newcastle. Craig Kelly MP and YouTube personality Aussie Cossack will be "attending in support" on Sunday according to Ms Ketas, who anticipates there to be "over 10,000" in attendance.
The previous rally Reclaim the Line held in Newcastle saw over 3000 people turn out in the rain along Wharf Road.
"All these people of different political views, it's not about left and right, different viewpoints and faiths coming together on this issue," Ms Ketas said.
"It's about informed consent and bodily integrity. If you can't choose what goes into your own body, the state owns you."
A NSW Police spokesperson said police "respect the right for individuals to protest in a peaceful and lawful manner" and that any action outside those guidelines would be "met with the appropriate response".
In an open letter on Tuesday, Reclaim the Line invited Newcastle, Maitland, Lake Macquarie and Newcastle MPs to speak at the rally.
"I will not be attending Sunday's event. I sincerely thank the 95 per cent of people who have gotten their COVID-19 vaccines," Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp told the Newcastle Herald
Ms Ketas said her organisation is "misunderstood" and Sunday's rally is largely about "mental health" and showing likeminded individuals there aren't alone.
"I've been called an uneducated idiot but I have two degrees. I've been called a far right extremist but my whole life has been about standing up for people and other living things that don't have a voice," she said.
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Ethan Hamilton
Ethan Hamilton started as a digital/ print journalist with the Newcastle Herald in 2021 after interning with ACM's Voice of Real Australia/ Forgotten River podcast. Ethan is from a small town in the Upper Hunter and has lived in Newcastle since beginning university in 2017. He has a passion for community storytelling and being part of the region's future.
Ethan Hamilton started as a digital/ print journalist with the Newcastle Herald in 2021 after interning with ACM's Voice of Real Australia/ Forgotten River podcast. Ethan is from a small town in the Upper Hunter and has lived in Newcastle since beginning university in 2017. He has a passion for community storytelling and being part of the region's future.