Rogue Nationals MP George Christensen has told parents not to vaccinate their children against Covid in an unfounded online post just days after Australia deported anti-vaxxer tennis star Novak Djokovic.
The north Queensland-based member for Dawson called for parents to keep the jab away from their kids as he advertised his podcast ‘Conservative One: Pandemic Unmasked’.
‘Do not vax your children with these mRNA “vaccines”,’ he wrote. ‘There. I’ve said it. Find out why here.’
Health Minister Greg Hunt said he ‘flatly disagreed’ with Mr Christensen’s statement and said anti-vaxxers had ‘lost the debate’ on vaccine safety and effectiveness.
‘Vaccinations save lives,’ he said. ‘I would flatly, plainly disagree with anyone who said that,’ Mr Hunt said at a press conference on Tuesday.
‘Frankly, the anti-vaxxers aren’t just losing the debate, they’ve lost the debate.
George Christensen, the Nationals member for Dawson, called for parents not to vaccinate their children against Covid
‘We’re at a 95 per cent 16-plus vaccination rate… we’ll just keep going and we want that number to go higher.’
Children between the age of 5-11 are now eligible to receive a weakened dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine.
Mr Hunt said nearly 400,000 children across Australia were now vaccinated against the virus.
Mr Christensen’s position on vaccines is the latest headache for the Morrison government less than 48 hours after Djokovic was deported back to Serbia.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the 34-year-old posed a health risk and could promote the anti-vaccination cause in Australia.
Labor has called for Mr Morrison to be just as tough on anti-vaxxers within his own party as he was on Djokovic.
‘Mr Morrison can‘t pretend he’s tough on Novak Djokovic and then go weak when he’s got people like George Christensen and Senator (Matt) Canavan out there undermining our vaccine roll out,’ Labor spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said.
In November, Mr Christensen vowed to withold support from Mr Morrison unless he took action to stop vaccine mandates.
The Government has a wafer-thin majority in the lower house where it controls 76 out of 151 seats, meaning Mr Christensen also has the potential power to bring down Government bills.
Health Minister Greg Hunt (left on the screen) said he ‘flatly disagreed’ with Mr Christensen’s statement and said anti-vaxxers had ‘lost the debate’ on vaccine safety and effectiveness
Children between the age of 5-11 are now eligible to receive a weakened dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine (pictured in a vial in Canberra)
The outgoing MP, who will not contest next year’s election, has been campaigning against vaccine mandates for months.
In a blog post on Monday, Mr Christensen explained that he has told Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce of his decision to potentially withhold his support for the Government.
‘To be clear, until federal action is taken against vaccine discrimination, I will be voting according to my conscience (or abstaining from votes) on bills and substantive motions rather than just voting with the government as MPs usually do,’ he wrote.
Pharmacist Chloe Langfield gives Georgia Meir, aged 14, her first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccination at Cooleman Court Pharmacy in Canberra
‘As I was elected as a member of the Liberal National Party, I will continue to support the government with confidence motions and supply as well as procedural motions (except if they relate to ending vaccine discrimination).
‘My support is not guaranteed on bills or substantive motions. When action is taken to stop vaccine discrimination, I will go back to the normal process of voting with the government on most, if not all, bills and substantive motions.’
Mr Christensen said he feared his stance would ‘result in personal attacks on me.’
‘But far more important than my political and personal reputation is the prospect of ending the tyranny, the discrimination, the segregation, the job losses and the negative business impacts that are all being wrought (or are about to be wrought) on my fellow Australians,’ he wrote.
Mr Christensen sits in the Nationals party room in Canberra as a member of Queensland’s Liberal National Party.
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