The Truth About Sovereign Citizens

We are hearing a lot about “sovereign citizens” at the moment, people who are anti-government and reject the rules we live under. 

The movement of sovereign citizens was fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, with people who were anti-vaccines and were opposed to lockdown restrictions. 

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Australia is a free country, and people do have the right to protest against issues they disagree with. So, do they have a point? Or is there a danger to these conspiracy theorists? 

In today’s episode of THIS ARVO IN SYDNEY, host Sacha Barbour Gatt spoke to LiSTNR investigative editor Clair Weaver to find out the definition of a sovereign citizen and how it all started in the country. 

Weaver says that a sovereign citizen is a person who rejects the legitimate authority of the government they live under.  

That typically means they believe that the law does not apply to them, and they don’t have to pay tax, and they separate from the country and the rest of us who accept the status quo,”

Weaver said.

The movement sprung from a conspiracy theory that the Australian government has been secretly infiltrated and replaced by a corporation that enslaves citizens through secret trust accounts. 

Video of police vehicle stop encounters have become the most visible examples of sovereign citizens challenging government authority,”

she said.

Barbour Gatt says that sovereign citizens might also change their name and avoid entering into agreements that suggest they accept the government’s legitimacy. 

They often don’t have a driver’s license and say things like “I do not consent” if they get stopped by police,”

Barbour Gatt said.

Weaver says that no sovereign citizen has ever managed to convince a court otherwise, no matter how many obscure sections of international law they reference.

Hosted by Sacha Barbour, This Arvo in Sydney is a 10 to 12 minute daily news podcast made just for Sydney! Listen now on the Listnr app.