Candidate Warns WHO Treaty Could Repeat COVID Mistakes That ‘Ripped' Lives Apart

Epoch Times

15-05-2025

One candidate who ran in the recent federal election in Melbourne says the WHO pandemic treaty, due to be considered later this month, is cautioning local lawmakers from supporting the pact.
Ali Antoniou, ran in the electorate of McEwan, north of Melbourne, and ran for former Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick's People First Party.
The treaty is currently being drafted by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body.
It is aimed at strengthening pandemic preparedness and response between countries, and is expected to be finalised and considered by WHO Member States at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 19–27.
The WHO's website says the theme for this year's Health Assembly will be: One World for Health.
'I'm really worried because we've got the pandemic treaty that both Labor and Liberal were supportive of,' he told The Epoch Times.
Related Stories
5/5/2025
5/1/2025
'It didn't really matter who got through [and won the election] on that front. It worries me with what's going to happen with that because there are some nasty clauses in there.'
'I think they're trying to have a clause in there where there are forced vaccinations,' he said, alluding as well to the previous use of mandates by the Australian government.
Antoniou was also concerned the definition of a pandemic could be widened.
'So it's easier to classify a new outbreak as a pandemic. The issue is, a lot of these [vaccination] companies, they make billions of dollars in profit. It's basically in their interests to have another pandemic,' he said.
Antoniou recalls the 'nightmare' situation in Victoria during the pandemic, when the Andrews Labor government imposed the world's longest lockdowns.
'I'm a commercial landscaper—we do landscape design and construction,' he said.
'I was renting a factory in Keilor at the time where there were maybe 30 other tenants. During that time, I was talking to people who were literally biting their nails not knowing if they were going to be able to pay for their mortgage, and pay the rent for their factories.
'I saw lives getting ripped upside down.'
During this election, Antoniou managed to get 3.32 percent of the votes in the McEwan electorate, with 2,841.
Antoniou also warned cost of living could continue to be an issue if the country's energy grid is rewired to meet net zero by 2050.
'Already, utility bills are going through the roof. I saw video where there were working people living inside their cars in their early 20s,' he said.
'The rental market is so competitive that they're all living in their cars.
Party Could've Done Better With More Exposure
The People First Party faced a tough fight for cut-through in a state normally populated by right-leaning parties including One Nation, and the Trumpet of Patriots.
Based on current counts, the party secured 0.5 percent of the total vote, 63,880 votes, from a standing start..
'Gerard got [no airtime] at all. And I feel like if anyone hears him speak—I heard him speak live where he spoke for over an hour without looking at any notes—he's probably the most intelligent politician I've come across,' Antoniou said.
Rennick has written on social media saying his current plan is to expand the party into other states and find candidates.