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Kathryn George/Stuff
The Nurses Professional Association of New Zealand claims to be a union, but is unregistered. (File photo)
An Australian network of anti-mandate “unions” boasting more than 17,000 members has expanded to Aotearoa, establishing an unregistered nurses’ union.
The Nurses Professional Association of New Zealand (NPANZ) claims to be a union, but is not registered as one under the Employment Relations Act.
The group is led by Nurses For Freedom founder Deborah Cunliffe, who publicly called for mandates for unvaccinated nurses to end. She was also a member of anti-vax group Voices For Freedom.
The NPANZ website was registered in February by Jack McGuire, the director of Red Union Support Hub – an umbrella organisation overseeing 13 Australian unions that rode the fears of the vaccine mandates in 2021 to expand its membership.
Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus, speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in October 2021, described them as “fake unions”.
Wellington-based senior employment lawyer Barbara Buckett said unregistered unions could not collectively bargain on behalf of their members.
NPANZ is registered as an incorporated society only. Buckett said this could be misleading, as someone might join believing they would get the benefits of a typical union.
“Whoever pays these fees is essentially paying to join an informal club.”
NPANZ secretary Sarah Gilbertson said the group had submitted the required documentation to the Companies Office and was “in regular communication with them to register as a union”. It is not known many nurses have signed up.
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A trailer for the Stuff Circuit documentary ‘Fire and Fury’
Gilbertson said they were not anti-vaccination, but did not support “blanket mandates”.
However, Cunliffe has been active on a variety of social media channels, making unsubstantiated claims about vaccine harm.
She regularly advertises NPANZ on anti-vax social media channels and pages.
Buckett said she was surprised by the number of nurses willing to give up their jobs when the mandates were first put in place.
Ross Giblin
The 23-day occupation of Parliament’s grounds was driven by a belief of supports that mandates were unlawful and unfair. (File photo)
Kate Hannah, director and founder of The Disinformation Project, said she was not surprised nurses were being targeted with disinformation.
“Nurses were one of the professions [in which] people did lose their jobs as a result of the mandates.
“Those people genuinely have a sense of grievance. It might be misdirected, rather than towards the disease itself, to authority or the institution.”
Even trained medical professionals could be vulnerable to believing conspiratorial falsehoods, she said.
“It’s not about how smart you are or how well-educated you are or all of those things, everybody is susceptible to aspects of disinformation.”
But it was “devastating” to see nurses involved in the spread of these conspiracies, Hannah said.
“For many people, nurses are the most trusted healthcare professionals.”
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, the union representing 55,000 nurses and health workers, declined to comment on NPANZ’s actions.
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