"Government intimidates you": Anthony Mundine criticized for his anti-vax stance

Anthony Mundine, a declared boxer, has weighed in on the vaccination debate, imploring Australians not to vaccinate their children.

Mundine used Twitter to share his controversial views, encouraging his supporters to go against what he considered an act of intimidation on the part of the Australian government, reported news.com.au.

"Do not vaccinate your children for a while! The government encourages you to use the vaccine! Do your research on the film and watch the documentary vaxxed," he tweeted.

Mundine then pointed to his Facebook page where he posted a link to a video of the New York radio show The Breakfast Club in December 2018, where presenters claimed that large pharmaceutical companies had established an order from day of their own.

"The MRR (measles) vaccine gives black boys autism at a 240% higher rate than their white counterparts," said one of the hosts.

"It eliminates black boys, not just with autism – so the pharmaceutical industry is seeking a customer for life."

Mundine's comments were immediately labeled "dangerous" by others, all the more so as they occur during a measles outbreak in the world that triggered warnings on the importance of vaccination. He was also highly ridiculed for the tweet with many punters suggesting that he had taken a shot at it too.

Perhaps the most convincing is that of former Paralympian Kurt Fearnley who criticized Mundine for his position, calling him "peanut" and questioning his knowledge of vaccination.

"You can not invent that.We have become so comfortable that some are encouraging fear in our peace and others, apathy in what should be feared … You have a lot friends in polio? I do it. A bunch Of countries that have not had the luxury of being vaccinated, you have nothing to fear … "Fearnley tweeted.

Mundine's comments come one day when a university student who has traveled to many places in Sydney has become the 35th person to have been diagnosed with measles since Christmas.

New South Wales Health now warns students, train pbadengers and shoppers in Sydney and Maitland to monitor the symptoms of the highly contagious disease.

NSW Health's director of communicable diseases, Vicky Sheppeard, said people should be alert to symptoms until at least April 23 and stressed the importance of vaccination.

"We can not stress enough the need to vaccinate vacationers before traveling to Southeast Asia, as the majority of the cases we see are reported at home," said Dr. Sheppeard.

"NSW already has a record vaccination rate, but the community is not fully covered and measles is highly contagious and can stay in the air for up to 30 minutes after an infected person leaves.

"If you're not sure you've received two doses of measles vaccine that protect your entire life 99 out of 100 people, you can take another one, especially if you go abroad."

The World Health Organization has blamed the alarming rise of the anti-vaxxer movement for the alarming resurgence of measles outbreaks around the world, prompting urgent warning of the need for immediate action.

Mundine, a former rugby league star before his boxing career takes off, is not the only person to have sparked controversy as an anti-vaxxer, the wife of the Gold Coast Titans star, Bryce Cartwright, revealing that she had not vaccinated their children.

Mundine has no fight for the moment on the agenda, but was stuck in 90 seconds, the last in the ring by Jeff Horn in November.