Extract from The Guardian
Morrison government thwarts Labor’s bid to censure Liberal backbencher for misleading the public on the use of hydroxychloroquine.
Last modified on Thu 27 Aug 2020 14.40 AEST
The federal government has blocked an attempt by Labor to chide the Liberal party backbencher Craig Kelly for repeatedly pushing for the use of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.
For weeks, Kelly has used social media and the federal parliament to advocate for the use of hydroxychloroquine in combating the virus, despite warnings from health officials and organisations across the globe that the drug is ineffective and potentially harmful when used to treat Covid-19 patients.
In a parliament speech on Tuesday, Kelly said “media bias”, “groupthink” and the “complete abandonment of reason” were driving a “war” on the drug, claiming “the big hand of government” was “interfer[ing] in a doctor-patient relationship”.
He cited comments from doctors who have been criticised for advocating on behalf of the drug, including the Yale epidemiologist Dr Harvey Risch, who was rebuked by 25 of his colleagues earlier this month for promoting “conspiracy theories, purported hoaxes, and the views of zealots”.
Kelly’s speech was subsequently shared online by celebrity chef Pete Evans, who has been described as an anti-vaxxer, a charge he denies. Evans has fed his online followers a steady stream of misinformation and conspiracy theory throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Labor’s shadow health minister, Chris Bowen, attempted to move a motion on Thursday noting that Australia’s independent Therapeutic Goods Administration had released advice which “strongly discourages the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 … or prevent Covid-19”.
Bowen’s motion stated “that it is the responsibility of all public officeholders to acknowledge and support the independence and expertise of the TGA and counter misinformation and conspiracy theories”.
The motion was blocked by the government using its numbers in parliament, prompting Bowen to accuse the government of allowing Kelly to “spout discredited theories about hydroxychloroquine, undermining confidence in the TGA”.
“This could have been a good opportunity for the parliament to come together as one and reaffirm the primacy of science and evidence,” Bowen said in a statement.
“Instead, staggeringly, the government chose to allow Craig Kelly continue to spread dangerous disinformation.”
The use of hydroxychloroquine has been championed by the US president, Donald Trump, but most reputable global studies have found it is ineffective as a treatment. The drug can also have severe and even deadly side effects if used inappropriately.
Australia’s acting chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, joined the chorus of expert opinion discouraging the use of hydroxychloroquine, saying earlier this month: “In terms of its use for this particular disease the jury is pretty much out, it doesn’t work.”
It’s not the first time the Morrison government has avoided criticising Kelly for his comments about the drug. Earlier this month, Labor slammed the backbencher as “offensive” and “irresponsible” after he questioned whether the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, could be criminally liable for blocking the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus in a late-night post on social media.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, declined to comment on the controversy at the time, telling reporters in Canberra he would not “get onto what people talk about on Facebook on a day like this”.
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