A Notorious Anti-Vaxxer Has Been Denied A Visa For His Australian Tour

No jab, no visa.

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Kent Heckenlively.

US anti-vaxxer Kent Heckenlively will be forced to cancel his planned tour of Australia after the government announced he would not be issued a visa.

Heckenlively contributes to a prominent website that attempts to link vaccination to autism. He was planning to tour Australia in December to discuss his two anti-vaccination books in a show he was calling "Dangerous Science".

He even wrote a letter to the prime minister earlier this month calling the books "the two best-selling books in Australian history" (he does not offer evidence to back up this claim), and said he would be amenable to Malcolm Turnbull greeting him at the airport.

The Australian Labor Party wrote to immigration minister Peter Dutton last week seeking to prevent the anti-vaxxer being issued a visa, and on 2GB radio on Thursday Dutton confirmed that Heckenlively would not be coming to Australia.

Stefan Postles / Getty Images

"He's not got any travel plans to Australia because we are not going to allow him to come here," Dutton said. "We are not going to issue a visa for this particular individual.

"These people who are telling parents their kids shouldn't be vaccinated are dangerous people and we have been very clear in having a look right through this particular case, and it's clear to me that it's not in our national interest that he should come here."

NBC / Via reddit.com

In January this year, the government implemented a "no jab, no pay" policy which means only parents with children who are fully immunised can receive child care benefits, rebates, or the Family Tax Benefit Part A.

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Other perspectives on this story

• 1 Many considered the visa denial to be good news, and talked about the risk posed by going unvaccinated.
• 2 A few people said that the belief that vaccinations cause autism is rooted in neurotypical people discriminating against those with autism.
• 3 One person says she still wonders if vaccines caused her son's autism.
• 4 Others shared their own experiences about their children's autism.

• 1
  1/4

  "Good! They don't just put themselves and their own children at risk, but also others. What gives them the right to be so callous with other people's lives?"

  Esther
• 2
  2/4

  of ableism. "It's not about autism for most people ...but it is still vital to acknowledge that the anti-vaxxer movement is rooted in ableism against Autistic people. That *IS* what lead to anti-vaxxers."

  Jadea
• 3
  3/4

  "And before you all jump on me and attack me for not "loving" my son ... he is fully vaccinated and autistic. Every god damn day I wake up I start wondering if a simple vaccine, that simple trip to the doctor, ruined my child's life forever."

  Elizabeth
• 4
  4/4

  "I have 2 sons, both fully vaccinated. 1 (my oldest) is autistic and the other is not. He was diagnosed while I was pregnant with his brother. I allowed myself to grieve him, but after I educated myself at full force about the topic. Vaccines do not cause autism, they are neither the trigger and I'm certain of it now. Do not allow yourself to fall pray of the what if."

  Denisse

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