Dan's Journal of Skepticism

For the past 17 years Meryl Dorey has been waging a war against public health in Australia. She is the Founder, President and Spokesperson for the Australian Vaccination Network. Despite its name the Australian Vaccination Network is actually an anti-vaccination pressure group that bullies and harasses anyone attempting to protect the community from vaccine preventable disease.

I first crossed paths with Meryl Dorey and the AVN when she decided to come to Perth in 2010 to spread her misinformation. Having already had one venue cancel on her she now set sights on the state library  as the new venue to spread her misinformation. Fearing that the library might cancel their talk Meryl Dorey asked all the subscribers to her newsletter to email the library and urge them not to cancel the talk. She also asked that she have all correspondence sent to the library cc’d to her; obviously some form of ego boosting.  So I sent the library an email  informing them of the harmful misinformation that the Australian Vaccination Network was intending to spread in their venue. As requested I also cc’d the email to Meryl so she could see what I said to the library about her. I believe this action was the start of her loathing towards me.

I also attended her talk at the state library and wrote about it briefly here. I found out later that my presence didn’t go unnoticed. In fact Meryl seemed to be quite upset about having Skeptics present at her talk and decided that we were to blame for increased security measures at the state library.

Buzzard, I was perfectly well aware of your presence and that of your 2 little friends as well.

The library excluded the television cameras – not us. They said that due to the threats they had received from people you associate with, no media were allowed at the seminar.

We welcomed cameras and welcomed your presence too. We hoped that if more people are able to access information from both sides of this issue, they would be better able to make an informed choice about vaccination for their children and for themselves.

Remember Buzzard-you Skeptics are the ones trying to deny others access to both sides of this debate-not the AVN.

Oh, also, we had to pay an extra $100 to the library for extra security due to the threat posed by the Skeptics. Maybe, since you Skeptics are responsible for that expense, you might have one less case of beer this week and instead, donate the funds to the AVN to make up for the extra expense you’ve caused us?

On second thought however, don’t bother. You’ve done our cause a great favour. Because of all the extra publicity due to your group’s ravings, instead of just talking to 100 people in some quiet little church hall, we spoke to twice that many in a gorgeous venue at the state library and have at least that many again who have already expressed interest in our next seminar in Perth so-well done and we’ll call it even.

I do want to ask you though, while we are on this subject, How does it feel to be associated with a group of bullies who force organisations like the State Library and the AVN to have to hire protection just to enable us to exercise our right to free speech? Does it feel good to belong to the thought Gestapo? To be associated with the anti-democracy SS?

Lastly,we have taped the entire seminar and will be publishing it free of charge on the Internet so watch this space. If your own recording was not of good quality, you are free to listen to ours.

Yours in health,
Meryl

Then all of a sudden the Australian Vaccination Network was brought into the spotlight  thanks to a complaint lodged with the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission by Ken McLeod. The HCCC conducted an investigation  into the AVN. The HCCC found:

This resulted in the HCCC issuing an official warning against this public health menace. The result of this public health warning was an immediate media backlash against the AVN who were now seen for what they are; a menace to society. With so many media agencies now turning their back on the Australian Vaccination Network, Meryl now went on the offensive and began accusing accusing the media of going on a Witch Hunt.

But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Now that the true nature of the AVN and its president was known the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing began to question the legitimacy of the AVNs charity status. It didn’t take long for them to discover the uncharitable nature of the organisation and as a result their license to fundraise was revoked ; a fantastic victory for community health.

A CONTROVERSIAL NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status after the state government found its appeals had not been conducted in good faith.

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was ordered in July to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material shouldn’t be read as medical advice.

On Thursday, the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) revoked the group’s charitable status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). –Herald Sun

Then in January of 2011 Meryl Dorey likened vaccination to child rape.

According to Meryl Dorey if you vaccinate your child then you’re a rapist. This is coming from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

Meryl Dorey later retuned to Perth. However I didn’t attend this second time. But I was interested to learn the the AVN had engaged in illegal fundraising while over here. Did she think no one would notice if she came to the other side of the country?

During the recent AVN tour of Western Australia, the Caravan of Carnage, Meryl Dorey was handing out flyers. The flyers include details of how one can “donate” to, and/or “become a member” of, the AVN. That these flyers were handed out is a demonstrable fact. We have one. –Reasonable Hank

On par with her Vaccine Rape claim Meryl posted a link of Facebook to an article that calls for the murder  of personnel at the Centres for Disease Control. Again this is from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

What an upstanding member of the community.

Meryl Dorey later decided she would speak at the Woodford Folk Festival and once more she asked her subscribers to write to the festival organisers to ensure that she wouldn’t be cancelled. So of course I wrote to the festival to ask them to reconsider giving this public health menace a platform. Once again I included Mery in the cc field.

The AVN sent out a very amusing newsletter criticising her critics. Fair enough but what I found most amusing was her criticism of me.

Their attitude towards religion is every bit as intolerant as it is

towards those who want to make informed vaccination choices. From Dan Buzzard in WA who has a web page entitled Everybody Draw Mohammed which features pictures of the prophet Mohammed doing obscene things and totally denigrating Islam to stating the following about the

Catholic church:

 

Daniel Buzzard 27.3.11 – Fuck the Catholic Church. Who dares me to walk into the Church service with these?

The signs I wanted to take into the church.

Apparently I made some rude remarks about paedophiles, although I am not surprised that an anti-vaxxer would complain about that considering they oppose childhood vaccinations.

Equally funny is Meryl Dorey complaining about having to comply with government regulations

The real villains here are those members of the Australian Skeptics and Stop the AVN who – though they themselves have not been harmed by any of these products, by any of this information or by any of these remedies – intentionally waste the public’s time, money and expertise by pursuing vexatious and absolutely ridiculous complaints. The Skeptics have worked out a way to rort the system by using current legislation to victimise those who they disagree with. And the ones who lose out when this sort of fraud is perpetrated by a group that opposes freedom of choice and speech are the Australian taxpayers. -Meryl Dorey, 28 April 2012nocompulsoryvaccination.com

What sort of “charity” fears government regulators? Well the Australian Vaccination Network for one.

Of course this amount of criticism has over time has prompted Meryl Dorey to go on the offensive. While her critics use only words to address her nonsense, it seems Merl is prepared to go to any length to avoid criticism. That includes committing Perjury in the United States by submitting false complaints under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act to have her critics post removed from US based service providers, such as Facebook.

She also engaged in a childish revenge activity of registering a similar name to the Australian Skeptics. Honestly this is the type of activity that could be expected from a child; not a “charity” organisation. However this did provide me with an opportunity to report her  to yet another government regulator.

That’s right those two innocent posts got me banned from all of Facebook for 24hours. The posts were on a Skeptics Facebook page, but obviously they where seen by either Meryl Dorey or one of her supporters. I should point out again that this can be done by anyone without any oversight from Facebook.

Now Meryl Dorey has launched a fresh series of attack against her critics by setting up a “Dossier of Attacks on the AVN”  where she and her followers criticise her critics. Clearly she is upset by the honesty of her critics; which is why I sent her the Butthurt Report Form. It’s quite pathetic since the most serious offence any of us seem to commit is that we might be rude at times. Quite tame compared to the war she’s be raging against community health all these years. Not to mention the crime of Perjury (false DMCA) she’s been committing in the United States just to silence us.

Now another new attack has emerged this week. In a desperate attempt to silence criticism Mery Dorey is now applying for Apprehended Violence Order against her critics. Of the three applications she’s made one of them is against me. The application is being made in a NSW court, thousands of kilometres away. Not only has Meryl Dorey chosen to file so far away from me but she is also doing it in secret without summoning me to defend myself. I only found out about her application due to a tip-off. Although this type of underhanded tactic doesn’t come as any surprise, I’ve come to expect such actions from dubious individuals. This action is especially ironic comeing from a woman who makes her living from fear and intimidation.

I don’t believe in litigation against anyone just for their words. Because the best weapon against speech is more speech. That’s why the only tools I ever use against Meryl Dorey, The Australian Vaccination Network and other distasteful persons or organisation are only words. So while I would never sue anyone for their words if Meryl wishes to engage in actions beyond words, then I see nothing wrong with pursuing civil action for recovery of legal costs to deal with her nonsense in court.

I have no doubt that Meryl Dorey will continue attacking community health, her critics and anyone who tries to benefit the community. Examination of the Australian Vaccination Networks financial records, show that she makes a comfortable living from her dishonest activities. Finance Report

Yesterday the Police came to my door to deliver a summons for court in NSW. The summons, delivered on the 25th is for a court hearing on the 27th. That’s 48 hours in which to prepare a defence and travel to the other side of the country. Prior to this I had no idea what the grounds for the application were. Needless to say I won’t be in court for the mention, but I will certainly attend the later hearing which is when the real action takes place. I’ve already written to the court to notify them of my intent (even before getting the official summons).

Not only did the summons arrive late but it was also sent to the wrong address as I live nowhere near Attadale. You can’t just pick names out of the phone book and decide that’s where you want to send a summons. While anti-vaxxers aren’t known for their accuracy this type of failure suggests that there was never a “Private Investigator” involved, either that or Meryl went with the cheapest she could find. In either case an inaccuracy of more than 30 kilometers is hardly the work of professionals.

I wonder what the court would make of this 48 hour notification.

The two orders she’s seeking are. (my scanner broke)

1. The defendant must not approach or contact the protected persons by any means whatsoever except through the defendants legal representative.

2. The defendant must not mention the applicant in any online forum in any derogatory manner.

I’m guessing she had to choose #1 just to make the application look legitimate. Not an easy task considering we’ve never met in person, and to my knowledge only been in the same building once during a seminar in 2010. Or perhaps those 4 (polite) emails in 3 years really got to her.

However #2 is an option that she was able to write in, under “other”. No doubt she’s tired of the criticism on this blog. Perhaps if she would stop doing dishonest things then I might not have anything to criticise her for.

Meryl Dorey has launched a fresh round of baseless accusations against her critics. A few days ago I received an email via tormail.org from someone claiming to be anonymous. Offering to “fuckup those cunts cyber style” referring to the Australian Vaccination Network. Normally when I receive emails like this I decline the offer and delete the email. This time was no different.

—–Original Message—–
From: Dan Buzzard
Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:17 AM
To: ‘fantasticfox5@tormail.org’
Subject: RE: meryl dorey

Hi,

While I appreciate your desire to stop these low lives I could never support the actions you propose.

Shutting down the AVN requires us to keep our footing firmly planted on the moral high ground, so I must decline your offer to “fuckup those cunts cyber style”.

Have a nice day.

~Dan

—–Original Message—–

From: fantasticfox5@tormail.org [mailto:fantasticfox5@tormail.org]

Sent: Tuesday, 25 September 2012 8:02 AM

To: headreptilian@skep.li

Subject: meryl dorey

nice collection of docs. want me to fuckup those cunts cyber style?

they wont know what hit ’em. i can hack their website with sql injection too. plaster it with all sorts. they lose audiance who are offended by wat i post. its how we operate. i could also organize one of our many botnets to take em down with ddos.

just ask if you need help

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

I thought nothing more of the email until an hour later when I spotted a post on the AVN Facebook wall complaining about a threat they’d received from a tormail.org user. I notice the signature is exactly the same as the email I received. So perhaps it came from the same person. So I made the email public as I don’t support such activities regardless of who they target.

Of course Meryl Dorey in her infinite wisdom has decided to blame me for it. This seems to be a hobby of hers.

Who is the real perpetrator?

Dan Buzzard, one of the SAVN members I am currently pursuing an AVO against because of his incitement to others to send violent pornographic images to me (do you see a pattern here?) and his constant threats and cyberbullying, has been very active on a forum frequented by those who say they are associated with the hacker group, Anonymous. Remember, the person who sent me these threats and who posted the pornography claims to be a member of Anonymous. –Meryl Dorey

Actually I have never incited anyone to send pornography to Meryl or anyone else. Nor have I ever issued a threat of physical harm to anyone. Meryl’s issue with me revolves around several complaints that I’ve lodged with government departments. Of course that would make her look bad so she feels compelled to make up lies which sound better.

I’m not 100% sure what forum she’s talking about but it might be http://whyweprotest.net in which case her definition of “very active” would be 5 posts in 4 years. Not to mention the fact that it isn’t a hacker forum as she claims. In fact I am frequently opposed to Anonymous “Hackivists” as anyone who checks my older posts would find out. However not to be deterred by facts Meryl continues:

But back to Dan Buzzard. As I said, he was involved with inciting hatred against myself and the AVN on a forum comprised of known hackers. Is it any wonder then that about an hour before I received my email (quoted above), the same person wrote to Dan Buzzard (please see below)

Buzzard must have been pretty concerned about being contacted by this nut-job. This probably was not the outcome he expected because he posted the person’s letter (and his response to them) on his website and claimed that he felt it was his ethical duty to do so. –Meryl Dorey

When some coward is using the internet to issue an anonymous death threat, disclosure of correspondence is the right step to take. Of course I’m not surprised that Meryl cannot recognise ethical behaviour right in front of her.

Buzzard expects me to believe that this person just selected his email address at random – that he stuck his cyber-finger into an online phone book and lo and behold, Buzzard’s name popped out. But I’m not that naive. –Meryl Dorey

Well the email wasn’t specifically addressed to me and if you check the email address you’ll see it was sent to “headreptillian” an email address that currently appears on http://www.bigpharma.com.au and is then redirected to me; I am certainly not known by that address. Whether the sender knew (or cared) who would receive the email is another thing. I don’t know how many other people received the same email but choose to remain silent, perhaps to avoid baseless accusations.

I think his posting this information had more to do with his fear of being implicated in this crime then it did with any ethics or caring about what happened to someone who he considers to be an ‘anti-vax liar’ as he so often likes to refer to me. But he IS implicated and so are his compatriots. –Meryl Dorey

Actually if I were concerned I wouldn’t publish it. I find this all very suspicious as the email seems to be a little too convenient for Meryl and the AVN. Is it possible that someone from within the AVN sent the email as bait to see if I would write an incriminating reply? Clearly any such plan failed as it suggests actions that I frequently oppose. While I can’t prove the source of the anonymous email its nature and convenient timing makes me very suspicious of its origin and purpose. I personally suspect a False Flag operation, but unlike an anti-vaxxer I won’t assert mere suspician as fact without evidence.

As readers of this blog will know on Thursday 22nd August I scored a legal victory against Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network. Ms Dorey had been seeking an order to have me silenced on the Internet and dragged out the process for nearly a year until I was able to finally have the case dismissed. Ms Dorey was finally ordered to pay $11,187.50 of my legal costs.

Although I received no compensation for the time that I had to spend dealing with this nonsense getting my legal costs recovered was certainly very important because it means Ms Dorey was not able to simply file a vexatious lawsuit and then walk away free of charge.

On the 26th of August the AVN made an announcement on it’s Facebook page.

Ms Dorey quickly resorted to her usual tactic of accusing the courts of being bias against her.

From the beginning, it appeared to me that the magistrate might have already made his decision before we entered the court. The first thing he said to my barrister was that the loser would have to pay costs. It is my understanding that this is not the normal procedure.

The rest of the hearing was no better and though I was able to show that this person had indeed asked people to send me pornography and had posted intimidating mail to me, the magistrate found against me. –Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

In court it was revealed that Ms Dorey could not identify the person who had sent her the threatening email, or any other abusive material. However since I am amongst the most vocal critics they decided to focus the effort of their lawsuit on me and even admitted this in court.

Ms Dorey was notified by a magistrate back in November 2012 that she would be liable for my costs if she were to lose. So she can’t possibly claim to be surprised by the fact that costs were awarded against her. This is standard procedure, although less common with AVO cases.

You’d expect that having costs awarded against you might serve to discourage vexatious litigation, but nothing is very quite that simple with Ms Dorey. Rather than paying the legal costs out of her own pocket Meryl Dorey decided to go fund raising. After all she does hold a Charity Fund Raising License so why not put it to use?

That legal bill will need to be paid before the 21st of September. As a full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds. For 20 years, through my involvement with the AVN, I have worked tirelessly to support and inform those who came to me for help. Our organisation was responsible for the introduction of the Conscientious Objection clause which allows families who don’t vaccinate or who vaccinate selectively to access all government entitlements.

Now, it is my turn to ask for your assistance. If you believe in justice, support informed choice and are able to give any amount – no matter how small – to my legal fund to help pay the costs the court has required me to pay, I would be very grateful indeed. –Meryl Dorey, 26th August 2013

So how long does it take the Australian Vaccination Network to raise this kind of money?

So the “full-time volunteer for over 20 years, I have virtually no income nor do I have any way to raise these funds.” was able to use a charity fund raising license to secure $11,187.50 in funding to harass people with vexatious litigation in just 24 hours. With that type of income it’s no wonder this organisation fights so hard to avoid closure.

Recently Peter Bowditch another defendant against Ms Doreys vexatious litigation campaign wrote to the Attorney General regarding these AVO applications. Here is part of the response.

Under section 99 of the Act, a court may award costs to the defendant, against an APVO applicant. This provides a further safeguard against vexatious or frivolous applications. However, a court is not to award costs against a police officer who makes an application unless satisfied that the police officer made the application knowing it contained matter that was false or misleading in a material particular.

–More at RatBags.com

This supposed “safe guard” clearly fails when the litigant is able to push a court imposed financial penalty onto their own fund raising charity. Besides what sort of charitable purpose does vexatious litigation fall under?