that the hiv virus causes aids". when during a government inquiry in 2015, greens senator di natale asked avn why they still referred to themselves as the "australian vaccination network", a name they have been legally instructed to cease using, avn member brett smith accused di natale of being part of a murdoch media conspiracy. journalist bernard keane noted this is the first time anyone had suggested a conspiratorial link between the greens and a media organisation that has been highly critical of the party. in april 2007, meryl dorey compared a nsw health policy change requiring immunisation for its workers to nazi concentration camps saying "these are the sorts of tactics you would expect in concentration camps, not the sort of tactics you would expect in the australian health-care system." the policy was also opposed by some civil libertarian and health-care groups, but the nsw nurses' association noted that "vaccinations have always been compulsory for health workers" and that the change was only a minimal update to the existing policy. activism "the scaremongering that anti vaccination campaigners engage in extends to the real world, where they threaten and bully the opposition. and what is scarier again is that the avn is actively trying to stop parents who have lost children to deadly - but preventable - diseases, from speaking out about the need to vaccinate." mamamia magazine, 27 may 2013. the australian vaccination-skeptics network has regularly spoken out against vaccine-related positions adopted by the australian government and defended controversial and discredited research. avn also distributes literature, sponsors seminars, and collects adverse reaction reports. in a 1996 editorial, avn spoke out against a proposal to add vaccination centres to some shopping centres. writing on behalf of avn, susan lindberg called the idea "downright dangerous," asking "what if a baby has a fit or major reaction?" she also added that parents are under enough pressure to vaccinate already. in response to a 2002 proposal to extend free vaccination programs, former avn president meryl dorey argued that the australian government should first do independent tests of the new vaccines. she said that she had doubts about the accuracy of the existing studies that were "funded ... by the pharmaceutical companies." a member of the government's immunisation advisory group countered that they always assess all available scientific data. in august 2004, avn spoke out against combination vaccines being considered by health authorities. the organisation claimed that there were too many untested variables and that it was irresponsible to keep combining vaccines without knowing the effects. in 2006, meryl dorey continued the attack on combined vaccines, claiming it was un-natural, as "it is a fact that will only ever contract one disease at a time." according to the british medical journal combined vaccines have actually shown reduced side effects, and it is quite common for humans to suffer simultaneously from several infections. in 2011 social scientist brian martin wrote an essay "debating vaccination" in living wisdom, on "attacks" and "suppression" avn members faced. in a media release the university of wollongong stated vaccination "should be freely debated" and that the 20,000-word paper was "intended to assist readers - especially members of the avn itself", in ways to respond to criticism and better understand scientific controversy. martin is a former member of the avn. adverse reaction reports in december 1996, avn presented federal health minister michael wooldridge with reports on 150 cases of children claimed to have been injured by vaccines that dated back to 1991; dorey claimed that the collection of previously unreported reactions represented the largest single collection ever presented to the australian government. dorey states that many of the parents involved had previously tried to have their cases looked at, but had been told by health authorities their cases couldn't proceed because the parents lacked necessary documentation. gavin frost, a government vaccination adviser, said he supported increased medical reporting of vaccine side effects but doubted claims of permanent damage caused by vaccines. a published government report shows that over the 33-month period from 1 january 2000 to 30 september 2002, the avn made a total of 11 unspecified adverse event reports, which equates to approximately one report every three months. in july 2010, the nsw health care complaints commission criticised the avn's adverse event reporting system as being "anecdotal and misleading". views on vaccination incentives in 1997 susan lindberg spoke on behalf of avn opposing the announcement of a government plan to cut child care and maternity payments to parents who didn't vaccinate their children and to give incentive payments to doctors to give vaccines; she also called for creation of a vaccine registry and adverse event reporting system to be created. in may 2000, meryl dorey spoke out against cuts in child care payments for 9000 families who failed to get their children vaccinated. she called the legislation a type of "civil conscription" and said the program was likely in violation of the constitution. wooldridge responded that the claim was "nonsense" because the requirement was "simply a condition on government financial assistance" and that families had the choice to accept it or not. in july 2007, avn spoke out against the government's practice of giving pediatricians bonus incentives for immunising their patients. dorey argued that the practice was unethical and led to doctors making decisions based on their pocket book rather than their conscience. she would later liken the payment to a bribe noting that doctors aren't paid extra for prescribing antibiotics, for example. dorey further argued that the government began the practice in order to meet world health organization mandates on vaccination percentages and thus was more interested in playing a numbers game rather than doing what was right for the nation's children. the payment was discontinued in october 2008. the nsw health care complaints commission criticised the avn for casting medical practitioners in a negative light as "unethical and untrustworthy without providing any cogent reasons or evidence for making such an assertion". defense of andrew wakefield in february 2004, avn defended andrew wakefield's 1998 study that suggested a possible link between autism and mmr vaccinations, implying that wakefield had been treated unfairly and that he lost his job for " to lie." less than a month later, ten of the twelve scientists associated with the study retracted their conclusions. in february 2010, the lancet formally retracted wakefield's original 1998 article following an independent investigation that concluded wakefield had been "dishonest, violated basic research ethics rules and showed a 'callous disregard' for the suffering of children involved in his research". on 24 may 2010, immediately following the striking-off of mr. wakefield by the british general medical council for "gross misconduct" and "bringing the medical profession into disrepute", the avn continued to support him, issuing the following statement: "dr wakefield knows that he has the love and respect of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of parents around the world. whether or not the gmc which is stacked with corrupt influences strikes him off is of no consequence. he will continue his work and autistic families everywhere will benefit as a result." in a statement following the ruling, wakefield said "i never made the claim at the time, nor do i still make the claim that mmr is a cause of autism." actions against the australian measles control campaign prior to the commencement of the 1998 australian measles control campaign, the avn initiated a campaign against it, for example accusing the federal government of using bullying tactics, overstating the effectiveness of the vaccine and understating the potential side effects. in july avn said that they were instigating a federal court injunction against the campaign, to try to force it to change the information booklet and to simplify the forms required to obtain an exemption. the avn's statements prompted the federal minister for health to describe the group as "deceitful crackpots", while the results of the campaign showed there were just 89 adverse reactions, and that the campaign resulted in a large increase of measles and rubella immunity levels. at a perth anti-vaccination seminar on 1 june 2010, dorey was critical of the government's introduction of the measles vaccine to australia in 1970, saying "we introduced a vaccine for a disease which was killing almost nobody and one has to ask, why?" mortality data shows that during the decade 1966 to 1975, there were 146 certified deaths from measles in australia while in the decade 1996 to 2005, there were zero deaths directly attributed to measles, and one death due to the measles complication sspe. the decline in mortality is attributed to australia's high measles vaccination rates achieving the elimination of endemic measles transmission in australia. in 2014 australia was declared by the who as having eliminated local strains of measles. but as of 2015/16 deadly measles cases had returned to australia. campaign against the meningococcal vaccine the avn campaigned against the introduction of a meningococcal vaccine to australia in 2002. meryl dorey accused the government of wasting a$41 million on the vaccination program, claimed that the vaccine had shown a large number of adverse reactions in the united kingdom and had never been tested for effectiveness. however the vice-president of the ama, trevor mudge, refuted her claims, pointing out that meningococcal disease is extremely dangerous and that "vaccination really is the only strategy for this condition that is likely to work". he said the vaccine had been extensively tested and contrary to dorey's claims had been found to be safe and highly effective in the uk. during an online debate covering meningococcal vaccination in 2005, australian infectious disease specialist peter mcintyre warned parents "not to be fooled by the limited and biased information from avn website." the rate of invasive meningococcal disease in australia fell by more than 60% between 2002 (when vaccination commenced) and 2009, after doubling during the previous decade. mortality data from the uk shows that meningococcal deaths decreased from 67 to 5 in the two years following implementation of the vaccine. the nsw hccc criticised the avn for selectively using information to support its position, when there is no evidence to support their claims, and that the evidence suggests that the most effective meningococcal strategy is to widely vaccinate. campaign against the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine following the death of four-week-old dana mccaffery from pertussis (whooping cough) in march 2009, and the subsequent government campaigns to improve pertussis immunisation, the avn launched a campaign against the pertussis vaccine, using the death of the child in the campaign materials, claiming that the she did not die from pertussis. the avn's public campaign against the pertussis vaccine began with an article in the may 2009 issue of living wisdom written by meryl dorey, which questioned the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and the dangers of whooping cough itself. critics pointed out that dorey's article contained numerous errors of fact and omission. while the article correctly stated that sweden had previously withdrawn pertussis vaccination in 1979 due to research showing it was ineffective, she failed to reveal that the vaccine then used in sweden was different to the effective vaccine used in other countries such as australia, nor did she reveal that sweden reintroduced pertussis vaccination in 1996 and this had resulted in huge incidence reduction, with cases falling by 80–90% within 3 years. in the article, dorey claims that "whooping cough is not a vaccine-preventable disease". critics point out that evidence has shown that the acellular vaccine is 84% efficacious, and prevents 99.8% of infant hospital admissions after a completing a full course of three doses of the vaccine. their campaign against the vaccine continued during two channel 7 sunday night television programs, where dorey made the claim that "no-one ever dies of whooping cough". during the debates, the facts surrounding the death of dana mccaffery from whooping cough were disputed by dorey and other avn members, and it was alleged that the infant's parents had received hatemail from avn supporters for their public pro-vaccination stance following the death of their daughter. the filming of this program was the catalyst for the formation of the stop the avn group. avn members continued to harass the mccafferys through to july 2010 by sending emails, letters and avn brochures to the family. former avn president meryl