Murupara, a small town in the Bay of Plenty, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Local GP Bernard Conlon refuses to be vaccinated. A leading medical expert says his actions are harmful. Are his statements putting lives at risk? National Correspondent Tony Wall reports.

He’s an unlikely hero in a town like Murupara. A balding, bearded, bespectacled Irishman, Bernard Conlon stands out in this predominantly Māori forestry town of 2000, where many are unemployed or on benefits, and patched gang members are everywhere.

On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in the town centre for a march and rally to support Conlon, the lead GP at the Murupara Medical Centre.

He’s being investigated by the Medical Council for his comments at a Māori health expo in August, where he questioned “informed consent” for children and pregnant women around the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.

(Immunologists and other subject-matter experts, as well as health authorities in New Zealand and overseas, say the vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy.)

In a subsequent open letter to the council, Conlon said he wasn’t an anti-vaxer and would administer the vaccine “should my patients be adequately informed and given free choice”.

Murupara has an extremely low vaccination rate – only 49 per cent of people have received their first dose and just 34 per cent are fully vaccinated.

And from this week they will have reduced medical services because of the refusal of Conlon and his wife, Dr Britta Noske​, to be vaccinated in line with the Government’s vaccination order for health workers.

They will work from home, providing telehealth services only, while two other GPs keep the medical centre running just three days a week. Two unvaccinated nurses and three receptionists have also stood down, Conlon said.

Outreach clinics to the nearby towns of Ruatāhuna, Minginui and Kaingaroa will stop, and there is uncertainty around whether a pharmacy service will continue. The nearest alternative centre for medical services is Rotorua, 45 minutes away.

Conlon has served the community for 30 years and is loved and trusted by many. He could have used his influence to help the district reach the 90 per cent vaccination target, as other GPs in Bay of Plenty have done.

Instead, his stance may have fuelled mistrust in the vaccination programme.

One woman who marched on Saturday said she had received both vaccine doses but had concerns and wouldn't be getting a booster.

She was angry that vaccinators in the town were “targeting” children and pregnant mothers, and fully supported Conlon.

(Pregnant women and their babies are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. Recent statistics from the United Kingdom showed nearly 20 per cent of the most critically ill Covid patients were unvaccinated pregnant women.)

“He’s made so many sacrifices for all of us. He doesn’t make decisions for us, or make us do anything, he just keeps us informed. It’s our choice.”

Nikita Tumarae​, who was helping organise the rally, said Conlon had treated five generations of her family, starting with her great-grandmother.

“We love him so much because he’s cared for us for 30 years, and he's ensured that our health and wellbeing is his main priority.

“He’s all about ... informed consent. That’s the main thing – that we are informed, and we are aware of the decisions that we're making.”

When Conlon arrived at the gathering, a big cheer went up, followed by much hugging and hongi.

Gang members on motorbikes led the loop-march along Murupara's main street to the medical centre, where Conlon planted a rose bush.

I walked part of the way with Conlon. It’s clear that he blames the Government for the reduced medical services in Murupara, rather than his own actions.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” he said. “It’s vindication of the support of this community for continuation of the medical services. They all are very worried and feel threatened that we’ve had to reduce the level of cover.

“We feel, in truth, that we will suffer more from this Government’s over-reach than when Covid-19 arrives in Murupara.”

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“It has been my style of medicine since I qualified to give people information and then let them choose. I respect the freedom to choose,” he said.

But the area has a very low vaccination rate, I pointed out.

“Well, you have to ask people why they have chosen not to vaccinate – I have not given opinions, I just share data, and then they decide.”

But isn’t the data on the vaccine conclusive? It's safe, limits transmission, and hugely reduces the risk of serious illness and death.

Conlon: “I am here to celebrate community unity – I want to just enjoy the day. I’m weary​ of Covid-19 vaccine, I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to be with my community, who have come out in strength to show me support when they see that we are being victimised by this present Government’s legislation.”

The march ended at the local kura, where principal and former Māori Party president Pem Bird told the crowd Conlon was a “rebel with a just cause” who was being “persecuted for telling the truth”.

“How dare the authorities persecute him, how dare they betray our doctor,” Bird said.

“We are putting our trust, our unity, our faith in our two doctors [Conlon and his wife]. Wherever they go, we go.”

Conlon took the stage, explaining his philosophy was to listen to his patients and give them the freedom to choose what to do.

“Sometimes my patients listen, but often they don’t, and they do their own thing – and that’s OK, I respect that.

“I have a deep Christian foundation and there are two principles that allow me to be the doctor that I am – the first is the belief that we are all made in the image of God, so that each and every one of you is special – the next is that he gave us free will, and it’s baked into our DNA.

“There are times I thought the world would be a better place if we didn't have free will, that we were locked into making just good decisions.

“However, as I get older, I see the wisdom in giving us free will, letting us learn by our mistakes and hopefully by making better decisions, gained in wisdom and gained in the knowledge of our beloved God.”

Conlon said 2021 had been a “terrible year” in regard to the “amount of fear that has been shovelled on to us.

“Every time you open the paper, look at the TV, listen to the radio, it’s Covid-19, Covid-19, Covid-19. I’m weary​ of it.”

Dr Rawiri Jansen, a GP and chair of the Māori Medical Practitioners Association, said Conlon’s comments were “really disappointing”.

“Frankly, making assertions that are not evidence-based is quite harmful for that community, and for our whole community.

“He’s not only giving them misinformation, he’s on the verge of ... deliberately giving wrong information.”

Conlon even brought the All Blacks into it.

“I do not believe that they would have achieved the successes that they have had if their coach showed them the bullying and coercion ... that I see with our present Government.

“I would like to give this message to our prime minister – you may well achieve your 90 per cent target, but in the process you have broken the heart of the team of five million.”

He also used a peculiar life-jacket analogy to attack the vaccine mandates.

“The reality is that the vaccine confers personal protection. See it as a life-jacket – if you choose to wear it, well, then everybody wishes that it will keep you afloat.

“But for those who choose not to wear it, there is no rationality in saying ‘put your life-jacket on so that my life-jacket can work’.”

(Unvaccinated people are much more likely to get infected and spread the virus, according to reports from Australia.)

While some GP practices were considering banning unvaccinated people from their premises, Conlon said that would never happen in Murupara.

“We welcome all our patients – both vaccinated and unvaccinated.”

He told the crowd he and his staff were working hard to try to “cobble together as comprehensive a service as possible to protect the community that we love”.

Then he repeated his claim that vaccine mandates would do more harm than the virus.

“It is strange times indeed, but I look to the immediate future and I believe we will suffer more from the Government legislation that is being imposed on us than when Covid-19 actually arrives in Murupara.”