Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly's misinformation campaign on COVID-19 is part of a "unhealthy ideological war on the public sector," the union representing public servants has said, calling for the Prime Minister to pull him into line.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As well as his prolific social media output on alternative treatments for COVID-19, Mr Kelly has been in email correspondence with the head of the Therapeutic Goods Administrator Adjunct Professor John Skerritt and has also had a meeting with deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth in August, arranged after Dr Coatsworth had refuted Mr Kelly's claims in the media.
Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union Melissa Donnelly said Mr Kelly's constant attacks on senior figures in the public service were undermining trusted public institutions like the medical regulator.
"Public sector workers have been working harder and longer to keep Australia safe. But instead of supporting the community response to COVID-19 Craig Kelly is trying to bully public sector workers for the sole purpose of more Facebook likes," Ms Donnelly said.
"Unfortunately, this is not new behaviour from Mr Kelly, it is just part of an unhealthy ideological war on the public sector but this time he is playing with lives.
"It is astounding that senior public servants are having to waste their time trying to stop Mr Kelly's destructive behaviour when there are clearly more important tasks to do.
"It's time for Scott Morrison to tell Mr Kelly to stop spreading fake news and wasting important public resources on his wild goose chases."
Read more:
Before Mr Kelly took up the mantle on COVID-19, he had long accused the Bureau of Meteorology of fraud over rainfall figures, a campaign that has taken a backseat since the pandemic.
In the first joint party room meeting of the year on Tuesday, Mr Kelly continued his campaign to have two unproven treatments for COVID-19 approved for use in Australia, but was not challenged by anyone in the meeting, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt.
Last week Health Secretary Brendan Murphy said misinformation campaigns from people like Mr Kelly were a concern for his department.
"The medical officers in my department have been pretty forward in correcting misinformation when it comes out, and we will continue to do so. It is a risk to vaccination. Confidence is an important issue, and we want people to use evidence based information," he said.
Labor's attempts to question Mr Morrison on Mr Kelly in question time were ruled out of order, but outside the chamber, the party's health spokesman Mark Butler labelled Mr Kelly "a dangerous menace".
"The TGA has so much work to do to ensure that this is a successful rollout. Not a second of their time should be spent dealing with this rubbish that Craig Kelly continues to put out," Mr Butler said.
Speaking to News Corp on Tuesday, Mr Kelly said he was not anti-vaccination, but was still to make up his own mind on whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19. On Monday, Mr Kelly appeared on a podcast with celebrity chef Pete Evans, who has been banned from Facebook for sharing misinformation about COVID-19.
For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
Sally Whyte
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
