Senator Gerard Rennick withholds support for Scott Morrison over Covid-19 vaccine concerns

A Liberal senator has pulled his support for Scott Morrison’s Government due to concerns with the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

Queensland senator Gerard Renick has declared he will not vote for any government legislation unless his five demands are met.

He wants immediate compensation payments for people who suffer side effects; easier exemptions for patients who have side effects after one shot; an end to vaccine mandates; no vaccinating of children and an immediate opening of state borders.

The 50-year-old, who worked in finance before becoming a LNP senator in 2019, has been sharing stories from people who claim to have serious side effects after taking the vaccine, including 19-year-old Cienna Knowles.

Ms Knowles, a keen horse rider, suffered clots in her lungs, stomach and legs a day after getting her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Doctors diagnosed her with portal vein thrombosis (PVT), which is not a listed side effect of the Pfizer jab, and believe she had a reaction to the contraceptive pill. 

But Ms Knowles and her family argue she’s a ‘one in a million’ case of blood clotting – one of several such anti-vaccine stories which Senator Rennick has shared, and which have attracted the attention of the anti-vax brigade. 

Senator Rennick has built up a following among anti-vaxxers who lauded a recent Sky News interview in which he demanded ‘immediate income support’ for anyone suffering vaccine side effects.

Under an indemnity scheme announced in August, Aussies who suffer severe side effects can claim up to $20,000 in compensation – but only if the costs of their injuries exceeds $5,000.

Cienna Knowles (pictured), 19, suffered from blood clotting hours after her second Pfizer jab but doctors said the cause was the contraceptive pill

Senator Rennick says the threshold should be removed and wants the cash given to people faster.

‘Payments from the scheme won’t be made until next year. People who cannot work because of their injury from the vaccine need the money now to make ends meet,’ he wrote on Facebook.

Senator Rennick also railed against state and territory governments which have used public health orders to mandate vaccines for workers in certain industries such as health care and construction, despite the Federal Government’s policy that jabs are voluntary. 

‘Vaccine mandates need to be lifted immediately. They should never have been implemented but they are going to cause so many issues including labour shortages, endless legal lawsuits, loss of livelihoods, discrimination,’ he wrote.

He also complained about rules which prevent the unvaccinated from participating in society because they pose an increased health risk. 

‘Since when was the threat of losing your job, unable to enter stores, go to the gym or cross borders, voluntarily. It’s this kind of double speak that is undermines trust in government,’ he wrote.

This is despite the fact that fully vaccinated people are between 86 and 93 per cent less likely to spread Covid-19, according to the Doherty Institute. 

Scott Morrison (pictured at the COP26 climate conference) said he will speak to Senator Rennick when he returns from Glasgow

Senator Rennick is also demanding the Federal Government challenge state border closures under section 92 of the constitution which specifies trade between the states ‘shall be absolutely free’. 

A High Court challenge by Clive Palmer last year failed, with the court ruling Western Australia was within its rights to close its border to stop Covid-19. 

Withholding support from the Government is a serious move by Senator Rennick and will make it harder for Mr Morrison, who already relies on co-operation with independent senators, to pass laws through the senate. 

Parliament next sits on November 22 and will deal with divisive legislation such as new laws requiring voters to show ID at polling booths.

A spokesman for Scott Morrison said: ‘The Prime Minister will continue to follow the health advice of Australia’s medical experts and make decisions in the best interests of Australians.

‘The Prime Minister will discuss the matter with Senator Rennick.’

Senator Rennick is a social conservative who has promoted conspiracy theories including that the Bureau of Meteorology is falsifying climate data as part of a ‘global warming agenda’. 

The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s safety report released on October 28 says there have been 74,380 adverse events reported after 34.36 million doses of all Covid vaccines in Australia, a rate of 0.22 per cent.        

What happened to 19-year-old Cienna Knowles? 

By Peter Vincent 

Twelve hours after Cienna Knowles, 19, received her second Pfizer shot at Erina Family Medical Centre on October 21 the normally healthy and active teen experienced ‘excruciating’ chest pain. 

Doctors initially told the teenager and her mother Rebecca Donnelly that she had suffered a portal vein thrombosis (PVT), which isn’t listed as a side effect of the Pfizer vaccine by Australian health officials.

Instead her medical team said the clotting was most likely caused by a reaction to the contraceptive pill, which is well-known as a common risk factor for PVT.

Cienna Knowles, 19, a promising young equestrian, had her second Pfizer jab and within hours she was rushed to Gosford Hospital on the NSW Central Coast

But Ms Knowles and her family argue she’s a ‘one in a million’ case of blood clotting after Pfizer – and say subsequent tests and other doctors have attested the same. 

‘It felt like I was dying I was in so much pain,’ Ms Knowles said this week, adding that she only had the jab because her employer made it mandatory. 

Ms Knowles tried to cope with the pain but was rushed by family to Gosford Hospital the next morning, where scans and blood tests revealed she had blood clots in her lungs, stomach and legs.

She was sent home on Friday night, then returned to hospital when the pain got even worse on Saturday.

‘I was 100 per cent in fear for my life, I was panicking,’ the 19-year-old said.

After close monitoring, including hourly blood tests at one stage, blood thinners and follow-up specialist appointments, Ms Knowles is now recovering at home.

After having the Pfizer jab Ms Knowles says she developed blood clots ‘all through my legs, stomach and through both lungs’ and took to social media to share her frightening story. Doctors told her the contraceptive pill was to blame

‘My blood is very thin and it still feels like I’m being stabbed all over my body,’ she said.

‘I’ve got to be super careful. I was told not to blow my nose too hard. And not to knock my head or I could get a brain bleed – I’m pretty fragile.’

According to Ms Knowles, she was told by doctors the severe reaction she was having was a result of the contraceptive pill, even though the teen had been on birth control for a year without any side effects. 

Ms Donnelly said doctors at Gosford Hospital informed her on Saturday that her daughter had suffered PVT.

In Australia there are 45 cases of blood clots per million people following vaccination and it is more usually associated with the AstraZeneca vaccination.