Having risen to national infamy via social media during Victoria’s strict Covid-19 restrictions, Ms Smit spent 22 days in solitary confinement in a Victorian prison in 2021 after refusing to agree to bail conditions on charges of incitement over her role in protesting Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns and mandates.

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The incitement charges were later dropped.

In 2023 she was found guilty on two charges of breaching public health orders, however did not receive convictions.

Smit is also the founder of Reignite Democracy Australia and self describes as “Australia’s first political prisoner”.
Melbourne under Victorian Premier Dan Andrews became the most locked-down city in the western world throughout 2020 and 2021 and Smit made herself a consistent thorn in the side of the Government during this period.

At the time, protests in the streets of Melbourne were enormous, noisy and frequently held on the steps of Parliament House, with angry citizens making their message impossible to ignore.

“I’ll be honest, I was using my website to encourage people to find loopholes to their (the government’s) rules,” she admitted to the audience.

Smit considered these rules to be part of a world-wide crack-down on personal freedoms and small businesses using the Coronavirus as a cover in what she sees as the largest attack on human rights this country or the world has ever seen.

“Me, going to prison, that was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she exclaimed, “because it gave me the opportunity to speak to amazing people in the ‘freedom’ movement worldwide, like Robert Kennedy Jr, (cardiologist) Dr Peter McCullough and (finance expert) Catherine Austin Fitts.”

Smit’s concern over the state of the world did not end with Covid however, expressing concerns at her Boambee meeting over digital identity legislation and the abolishment of cash.

“Most Australians see the benefit of cash, and they want it to stay,” she said.

At the conclusion of her 90-minute talk, Monica promoted her book, ‘Cell 22’, published by an Australian printing company and not for sale by credit card, along with other merchandise.

“It was wonderful to meet Monica,” said Alison Buckley, a founder of the Macksville branch of Reignite Democracy Australia, who attended the evening.

“We are a small group with members from Scotts Head, Stuarts Point and Macksville,” she said.

Smit’s journey in the courts continued in January, fighting legal proceedings launched by Consumer Affairs Victoria, who allege she broke fundraising laws to pay her previous legal bills.

By Ned COWIE