German Health Minister Jens Spahn is proposing hitting parents who fail to get their kids vaccinated with big fines of up to 2,500 Euros, which is more than AU$4,000.

Spahn told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag he also wants to ban children whose parents haven't gotten them vaccinated against measles from attending day care.  This is to safeguard other kids who haven't been vaccinated due to age or medical complications.

"The measles vaccination in kindergarten and school must be mandatory,” Spahn said in a statement last week.  "For those who vaccinate not only protect themselves, but also the community.  Ninety-five percent of the population must be vaccinated against measles so that this highly contagious viral disease can be eradicated.  That's our goal."

Spahn hasn't discussed his ideas with the German cabinet yet.

This is coming amid rising cases of preventable diseases like the measles around the world, but especially in Europe.  Germany hasn't logged a huge number of infections in the past year, but its neighbors have.  France and Italy have dealt with nearly 5,000 measles cases from March 2018 through February 2019.  Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, and Greece have also had high infection numbers per capita.