The John-Henry Westen Show - Anti-lockdown activist in Australia faces long-term jail, here's how you can help fight back

00:00:00.000 For the last two years, we watched as Australia is really the tip of the spear in terms of lockdown and absolutely insane control on citizenry by any country.

00:00:11.540 A lot of us experienced it, but what they experienced in Australia was next to none.

00:00:17.460 One person in Australia really stood out in terms of standing for truth and getting persecuted for standing for truth.

00:00:24.640 Having gone to jail as a young lady, I first spoke to her parents, then I spoke to her.

00:00:30.460 She's back again because, once again, she's threatened with jail.

00:00:36.300 We're going to speak to Monica Smith. You're going to want to stay tuned.

00:00:39.480 Just before we begin, let me tell you that this is LifeSite's 25th anniversary year.

00:01:04.040 On August 17th, we are having an anniversary event in Naples, Florida.

00:01:09.300 Hope you can join us there. It's going to be awesome.

00:01:12.480 Naples, Florida. Go to gala25.lifesitenews.com for more information.

00:01:18.640 Monica, welcome to the program. 0.99

00:01:21.060 Well, firstly, I would love to come to that event.

00:01:23.280 I think we should make a way for me to come there.

00:01:25.760 Absolutely so. If you could join us, that would be amazing.

00:01:29.760 So let's begin, as we always do, with the sign of the cross.

00:01:33.220 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

00:01:37.880 Monica, I'm always talking to you under hard circumstances, but you are so great about it.

00:01:48.420 Tell us what's happening right now.

00:01:51.400 Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

00:01:53.560 Hopefully, one day we can do an interview with better news.

00:01:56.800 Absolutely.

00:01:57.180 But there's always a good side to every story, even a bad one.

00:02:02.060 So just in brief, on March 1st of this year, as well, actually, sorry, I'll just go back one step further for the audience that don't know my story, just really quickly.

00:02:13.540 August last year, I got arrested and charged with incitement, which is basically just me encouraging people to protest and exercise their human rights.

00:02:24.420 Yes, I was arrested for that.

00:02:26.080 I was given really terrible bail conditions, which I refused because it would have had terrible implications on me and my business and organization.

00:02:35.200 I went to jail for 22 days, and we appealed the bail conditions and got all the onerous bail conditions taken away.

00:02:43.340 So since then, I have been living in Melbourne and doing my work and advocating for people to stand up for their human rights.

00:02:51.220 So on February 2nd, I pled not guilty to the charges of incitement, and I plan to take my case all the way to trial by jury.

00:03:02.840 I think that these things need to be aired.

00:03:05.200 But then the police, you know, gave me a bit of a curly one on March 1st, I received a warrant in my email.

00:03:16.220 So basically, the police are seeking for me to give them access to all a lot of the applications on the phones that they currently still have in their custody from when they arrested me last August.

00:03:30.060 So they still have two of my devices there.

00:03:33.560 So they are asking for me to give them the passwords.

00:03:37.060 And if I don't have the passwords, I would have to sit there and actually help them get in by using the forget password function and so forth and so on.

00:03:44.820 So you can't just say you've forgotten the password.

00:03:47.320 You have to actually assist them into getting into those applications.

00:03:50.560 Now, the list of applications is extremely long.

00:03:54.980 So I'll just quickly tell you it's Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Maps, Signal, Telegram.

00:04:02.520 The worst thing is my admin at reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au.

00:04:08.220 So that's the organization that I run.

00:04:10.360 We get hundreds of emails from people anonymously talking about their work situation, you know, the vaccine mandate situation.

00:04:17.340 And all like we have, you know, famous people emailing us in there, opening up their hearts and souls to us and things like that.

00:04:25.920 So the police wanting access to the admin email box is probably, for me, the most overreaching of all of them.

00:04:32.920 Of course, Google Docs and Google Drive, they also have databases within those applications that would give the police somewhat of a list of, you know, political opposition in Australia.

00:04:46.300 And if I trusted the police, then it would be a different matter.

00:04:51.160 They would only use those applications to, you know, try to prove me as a criminal, but I just don't trust them.

00:04:58.860 So basically, I have to do everything I can to not let them have access to those things.

00:05:04.700 So just quickly, I appealed the warrant itself, arguing that it was onerous and disproportionate to my actual crimes, of course.

00:05:14.640 So that appeal happened last Friday.

00:05:18.400 It's now Tuesday, so about four days ago.

00:05:22.000 And I lost the appeal.

00:05:24.620 So the warrant stands.

00:05:26.680 And I have now 25 days to either comply to the warrant or find another way around it.

00:05:33.860 Alternatively, in theory, I could plead guilty, pay a fine, and it would all go away.

00:05:40.820 OK, but if I'm guilty of anything, I'm guilty of being a human rights activist.

00:05:46.740 And if that's a crime, well, this country is in trouble.

00:05:49.400 So pleading guilty is not really an option at this point.

00:05:51.660 But that brings you up to speed.

00:05:54.140 So it's an incredible thing.

00:05:55.440 I think much of the world, after seeing the brutality of the police in Australia, of the insanity of the political leaders in Australia, almost gleefully persecuting their own citizens.

00:06:13.200 I don't think there's many people around the world who trust the police in Australia right now.

00:06:18.320 So your willingness to do this is very rare.

00:06:23.400 Sure. You also, though, are still smiling.

00:06:27.320 You're facing jail time again.

00:06:32.420 How are you seeing this and how are you staying positive about it?

00:06:36.720 Yeah, I guess that was something I missed.

00:06:39.200 If I don't comply to the warrant, it would be a breach of bail, which would land me in prison, I thought, for only three months.

00:06:47.920 But it turns out my trial might be, you know, two years away.

00:06:52.180 And actually, I would I would have to stay in prison the entire time because I would be consistently breaching my bail, which would which would be crazy.

00:07:00.600 So, yes, I am facing jail time potentially.

00:07:02.720 Um, when when it first happened, I my first initial reaction is always to fight, to be honest.

00:07:10.320 But sometimes that can be a selfish thing.

00:07:12.900 Sometimes it can be to, you know, show off how strong you are or something silly like that.

00:07:18.040 So what I decided to do is I put it to the people.

00:07:21.460 And when I say the people, I mean, Australia, I said, look, I am willing to take this all the way because because I have the fortitude to do so.

00:07:30.320 But I also have run out of money.

00:07:32.720 Um, so if it is your will that you want me to continue this fight, then I will get the resources that I need.

00:07:40.720 Um, if you don't want me to fight, then don't donate and I'll get the message loud and clear.

00:07:46.320 Well, uh, in in two or three days, uh, actually in one day, I already knew my answer.

00:07:52.640 It was very clear.

00:07:54.200 Um, there are so many other court cases happening in Australia that that are doing fundraisers.

00:07:59.240 And there's so many organizations like mine that, that, that live on donations.

00:08:03.160 And I thought, surely the Australian people have been bled dry.

00:08:06.640 Surely so many people have lost their jobs and they don't want to fund my case.

00:08:10.540 But I was just absolutely overwhelmed, um, by the response.

00:08:15.060 And I just can't believe that the Australian people still have the appetite to, um, pay for my, pay for my case.

00:08:21.700 We already raised quite a lot of funds initially.

00:08:25.060 Um, and I thought that would last me well and truly till the end.

00:08:28.140 Uh, but this last case actually costed me $180,000 in one day out of that fund, $80,000 of that was my

00:08:36.360 own, uh, was from the fund, but because I lost, I have to pay the costs of the prosecution, which

00:08:41.920 is, you know, upwards of a hundred thousand dollars.

00:08:44.000 So, um, anyway, so how do I deal with it?

00:08:47.280 Well, it's just clear.

00:08:48.740 It's, it's so clear that I have to do this till the end, not just because the people want

00:08:53.520 me to, but because God has put me in this position, um, where I have, for whatever reason, the

00:08:59.160 gift of fortitude, um, to withstand these mental, um, anguish, the mental trauma of being attacked

00:09:05.340 by the government and the police, for some reason, it kind of just is water off a duck's

00:09:09.300 back to me.

00:09:09.820 Um, and, uh, what, what, what hurts me more is the potential that I didn't do everything I can.

00:09:17.100 Um, so someone said to me, Oh, Monica, you really need to do what's right for you.

00:09:22.060 You need to, you know, maybe plead guilty and just pay the fine and get it over and done with.

00:09:26.860 You've got to look after your own life.

00:09:28.140 And I thought for a second, and I said, doing the right thing for me is fighting this because

00:09:33.880 I don't want to live with myself knowing that I could have done more and I've been put in this

00:09:40.180 position that people trust me and they realize, and I realized that this isn't about me staying

00:09:46.480 out of jail.

00:09:47.180 It's not about me fighting these charges.

00:09:50.820 It's about setting a precedent that you shouldn't be able to use the resources of the government,

00:09:57.880 the taxpayers money, the police to intimidate a woman like me, a taxpaying citizen who has always 0.59

00:10:03.340 contributed to this society in more ways than just monetarily.

00:10:06.780 They should not be able to use their resources to push someone like me into a corner where

00:10:11.720 pleading guilty to something they're not guilty of is their only choice.

00:10:15.380 This system is, is broken.

00:10:17.360 And, and what I have done is not a crime.

00:10:20.820 And to even consider that encouraging someone to protest is a crime in Australia.

00:10:26.080 I mean, it just sounds like obviously, you know, communist China, things like that.

00:10:30.300 So this fight isn't about me.

00:10:32.220 It's about it.

00:10:33.500 Obviously people see it as a bigger thing.

00:10:35.600 And so they have put their trust in me and I'll be honest, it's quite, that to me is

00:10:40.540 more overwhelming than the police intimidating me.

00:10:43.840 The overwhelming thought that people have put so much trust and, and, and consideration

00:10:49.580 and finances into me fighting this battle.

00:10:52.440 I'm like, Oh gosh, I better work hard on this.

00:10:55.620 So this has become my number one priority.

00:10:57.760 Um, and yeah, that's the answer.

00:11:00.860 Amazing.

00:11:01.140 Well, you don't face good prospects in Australia.

00:11:05.400 You just had an election.

00:11:07.300 Didn't go too well.

00:11:08.720 Tell us what happened there.

00:11:11.020 So, um, we have, uh, labor and liberal in Australia.

00:11:15.860 Um, the liberals are not, the liberals are supposed to be the conservatives here in Australia.

00:11:20.280 So don't get that mixed up.

00:11:21.800 We had a liberal prime minister, Scott Morrison during the pandemic, the last three years,

00:11:26.740 which I voted for him.

00:11:28.960 Uh, we thought he was a better option.

00:11:30.480 Um, he's obviously done a terrible job during the pandemic.

00:11:34.680 Um, but even if we had a choice, we would have kept him on instead of who actually won,

00:11:42.040 unfortunately, which is Anthony Albanese from the labor party.

00:11:45.820 Um, but he actually only got in on 32% of the vote, which is not a majority.

00:11:52.280 When you think about it, well, it's not, but only 32% of people actually voted for labor.

00:11:57.720 And that is our government, which is again, a problem in the system that we have clearly.

00:12:02.960 Um, but they might not have balance of power in the parliament.

00:12:06.780 So it might not be too bad, but really what happened, and I won't go on too much about

00:12:11.200 it, but there was a group of independents under the same banner.

00:12:16.480 And it's really a climate change activist group.

00:12:19.540 And your audience probably knows what that carries with it.

00:12:23.680 Um, and they clearly wrote off the coattails of people being disgruntled with the big governments,

00:12:30.760 the big, the big parties.

00:12:31.980 Um, and people thought, oh, if I'm, if I'm voting independent, then I'm voting for a change,

00:12:37.500 you know, and these independents, they did very well.

00:12:41.300 So I would say, I think they got maybe four or five candidates in, which is to be honest,

00:12:46.560 it's, it's almost history making what they did.

00:12:49.780 Um, but the problem is, is they're not independents and they will be working together and they'll

00:12:54.680 be working with the labor party probably, which are the people who just got 32%.

00:12:59.520 So them along with the 32%, they will probably have the majority government together.

00:13:05.380 Um, the good thing about that is, is just two things is, uh, voting behaviors did change

00:13:11.800 because people were looking for a change in government.

00:13:13.840 They did change the government to, to a worse situation.

00:13:17.140 They also did vote for these independents.

00:13:19.580 So it shows that in three years time, we have another crack at it.

00:13:22.520 We learned from what we've, what we've experienced and, uh, we do a better job next time.

00:13:27.160 And secondly, this current government is going to be so radical in my opinion on climate change.

00:13:34.140 There'll be, there might be climate change, lockdowns, there might be, you know, and all

00:13:38.460 the woke agendas in the schools, you know, the terrible education, uh, sexual education 0.69

00:13:43.760 and schools, it's going to get worse around the country.

00:13:46.420 And I think it's going to wake a lot more people up.

00:13:48.900 So that's the silver lining, but it's, it also has made me realize that I don't know what

00:13:55.140 it's like in every state in America, but I have had to come to the realization that probably

00:14:00.880 this tyranny is not going to stop anytime soon.

00:14:03.720 Um, it may, you know, go into the shadows and come back out, but we need to find, especially

00:14:08.320 here in Australia and probably other places, we need to find a way to live our best lives

00:14:13.460 within the chaos, because there is an agenda here and it's potentially, we're not going

00:14:19.740 to be able to stop it maybe.

00:14:21.000 So let's say we've got five years to, until things go really badly.

00:14:25.580 Well, we need to find a way to live the best version of our lives in those five years while

00:14:29.720 still fighting, but looking after ourselves, being healthy, um, you know, doing our prayers

00:14:35.200 and things like that and not, not abstaining from that.

00:14:37.720 So it's actually quite calming to realize that, you know what, I can't actually stop this alone.

00:14:42.700 Um, but I can, with my platform, I'm going to start to try to help people find each other,

00:14:49.220 live better lives and, you know, um, find ways to sort barter and have, you know, community

00:14:54.120 gardens and things like that, finding ways to bring people together so that even in the

00:14:59.020 madness, they can live a decent life.

00:15:01.260 So it's, it's been a lot, it's been a learning curve.

00:15:04.440 It has indeed.

00:15:05.480 One of the things I want everybody to know is that at lifefunder.com, LifeSite News is

00:15:09.400 going to be running a fundraiser so that you can support Monica and her court case.

00:15:13.980 As you heard, um, the, the pot of money that she had originally is, is all used up and, uh,

00:15:20.320 you actually used it, didn't you?

00:15:21.580 For, for helping other people with their cases.

00:15:23.520 Cause you thought at the time, Oh, I've got so much.

00:15:26.640 Well, we raised $300,000 and I'm not a rich person and I've never seen that sort of money

00:15:33.040 in any account in my life.

00:15:34.540 And I thought, goodness, I'm not going to need all of that.

00:15:38.140 That's crazy.

00:15:39.280 So I said, yes, I started funding other people's court cases.

00:15:42.920 And then, uh, I had a very rude awakening when I lost $180,000 in one day.

00:15:47.200 And I was like, well, maybe I should have kept that for my case until the end.

00:15:50.940 Um, so, and I do want to say on that note, you know, if you can't, um, support me financially,

00:15:57.100 that's fine.

00:15:58.240 Obviously there are other ways and I'll just go through awareness is one.

00:16:01.860 And thank you for having me on the show because, uh, what I'm going through shouldn't be happening

00:16:05.420 to anyone.

00:16:06.000 So if you can talk to other influencers who might want to have me on, it's all on my website,

00:16:10.280 but three, um, if, if you can use an element of my story to empower someone else, that would

00:16:16.620 make me really, really happy as well, because I'm not more special than the people watching

00:16:21.340 this, um, at all.

00:16:23.020 I just am in this position.

00:16:24.300 So if, if, if someone's struggling and you can say, well, if Monica can go to prison,

00:16:28.300 then you can handle this.

00:16:29.380 You know, if you can use that to empower people, that's more important than finances in some

00:16:33.520 way.

00:16:33.720 And of course, praying for me is, is really something as well.

00:16:36.480 So you can support me even if you don't have the finance to do so.

00:16:39.940 Right.

00:16:40.600 Beautiful.

00:16:41.780 Monica, as you're going through your court case and challenges and whatever you do, we'll,

00:16:47.640 we'll be praying for you for sure.

00:16:50.320 What, um, what else can we do for you in addition to what you've already said?

00:16:54.540 And what's your sort of words of encouragement for people right now?

00:17:01.340 Well, I think, I think that's all you can do for me at this point.

00:17:04.660 Um, obviously if, if people can go to reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au, if you subscribe,

00:17:09.940 there, you can keep up to date with, with my story, um, which you might want to, um, but

00:17:15.340 yeah, I, I guess my encouragement is that, well, I wanted to say this anyway, that someone

00:17:22.540 in Australia needs to, um, take a charge like this all the way to the end so that we can

00:17:28.760 air all the arguments that we've learned in the last two years, because Australia has

00:17:32.760 had a lot of failed court hearings.

00:17:34.900 Mine is one of them.

00:17:35.980 Um, and we can take all of those experiences and refine them and take it all the way to

00:17:41.400 court so that it's about setting a precedent.

00:17:43.620 So if there's someone in America who's, who's being treated in a similar way and has the public

00:17:49.380 support to go all the way, I suggest that they do that as well to, to make a stand.

00:17:54.440 Um, but I would just end on, um, like I said before, I'm actually not more special than

00:18:02.360 anyone else.

00:18:02.960 I realized that every strength I may have is, is not from me.

00:18:08.440 It's from God.

00:18:09.000 And it could be taken away in just a moment.

00:18:11.020 I could be a blubbering mess on the floor in, uh, in one hour, if, if God wanted me to

00:18:16.160 be.

00:18:16.380 Um, so look, God gave us all some strength that we haven't actually found yet.

00:18:22.800 Even me, even you.

00:18:24.540 Um, so I suggest digging deep into your soul and finding that strength just a little bit

00:18:31.460 every day or every week or whatever, and just never go backwards.

00:18:34.620 So once you find the strength, keep hold onto it.

00:18:37.520 Um, and actually you'll really enjoy the person that you become when you start to realize how

00:18:41.820 strong you are and you start to evolve into a more, into a person that you respect more

00:18:46.400 and that you'll, you'll sleep better and everyone around you will be happier.

00:18:49.560 So even though I'm struggling and yes, I'm quite tired from the election campaigning and,

00:18:54.940 you know, getting some, you know, losing a few hairs and a few more wrinkles.

00:18:58.980 I'm pretty, I'm pretty content that I'm doing this for the right reasons.

00:19:03.120 And so it feels good to make the effort.

00:19:06.000 So if you can find it in your, within your soul to make the effort to be strong, I would be

00:19:10.500 very happy with that.

00:19:12.760 Awesome.

00:19:13.660 Monica Smith, what a great honor it is for me to speak with you.

00:19:19.100 God bless you.

00:19:20.160 Thank you so much for having me.

00:19:22.380 And God bless all of you.

00:19:24.140 We'll see you next time.

The John-Henry Westen Show - June 10, 2022

Anti-lockdown activist in Australia faces long-term jail, here's how you can help fight back

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript