Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, we're living in an age of misinformation in the middle of the global health pandemic, when listening to expert health advice has never been so important. We have crowds of people online spewing rumours and conspiracy theories, undermining experts and telling people to ignore health experts. It's no wonder that the government has its work cut out; when it comes to fighting this virus and getting the country back to where it was, it takes a team effort—everybody's effort—and an obligation to that team.

It's even more ridiculous that members of their own party are out there spreading misinformation online, undermining their own efforts to fight the virus. What has the member for Hughes had to say? In talking about the Therapeutic Goods Administration, a regulatory agency of the Australian government as part of the Department of Health, he said, 'The day of reckoning is coming for the TGA'. He said that they committed crimes against humanity and that they're asleep at the wheel.

This is what an elected member of parliament has said about the independent-expert-led body, the TGA—the body that advises and provides expert advice. How much harder is getting out of this pandemic going to be when members of the parliament are undermining the TGA and members of this government?

The Prime Minister has had no problem intervening on caucus members in the past but he certainly has a problem intervening with Craig Kelly. He had no problem cutting off Minister Ruston when she was speaking at a press conference but, when it comes to cutting off the member for Hughes, what does he say? 'He's not my doctor.' You're right, Prime Minister, but he is a member of your government. This is the sort of lame, blame-shifting response we have come to expect from the Prime Minister. When half the country was on fire and he was nowhere to be seen, he told us he didn't hold a hose. When a member of his government is undermining the vaccine or telling people not to wear masks, he reminds us that the member for Hughes isn't his doctor. You can just imagine it now: in a few months, when we're in the middle of a vaccine rollout, being undermined every step of the way by the crazies of the Liberal Party backbench, and the Prime Minister's team is falling apart, what will the Prime Minister's response be? 'I don't give the shots.' Apparently the only time the Prime Minister is responsible for anything is when there is a chance for him to do a press conference or a photo shoot or a marketing pitch.

What else did the Prime Minister have to say about the member for Hughes?

You get it from official government websites, and that's what I encourage everybody to and that's what we're doing and that's what we're investing in. Don't go to Facebook to find out about the vaccine. Go to official government websites.

Prime Minister, there are 25 million Australian Facebook users. Craig Kelly says he's reached over a million people on Facebook. It is increasingly becoming the source of news, including on how to deal with the vaccine and the COVID-19 pandemic. Australians should be encouraged to listen to experts, but the job of spreading the advice of experts both in traditional media and social media is harder when members of this very parliament are spreading misinformation online.

Leadership is all about choices, often tough choices. But in this case, leadership is about the easy choice, the obvious choice. It would cost the Prime Minister nothing to tell Craig Kelly to deactivate his account. It would do the country a world of good for the Prime Minister to take on this misinformation and to shut it off completely. It would make the government's life easier, when it comes to fighting the virus or rolling out the vaccine, to stop the member for Hughes's Facebook page from spreading conspiracy theories. Instead, the Prime Minister is failing the test of leadership, by not making the tough decision, the right decision, the right choice in favour of national health and our communities. The choice to stand beside and even endorse the member for Hughes is a choice to endorse a candidate you agree with. The Prime Minister has sent a mixed message to the entire public.