Extract from ABC News
By political reporter Anna Henderson
Dissident Liberal MP Craig Kelly — labelled a "menace" by Labor — has been told by the Prime Minister to heed expert medical advice, after the outspoken politician promoted unproven coronavirus treatments and questioned the safety of vaccinations.
Key points:
- The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has accused Mr Kelly of spreading misinformation
- In a call to Mr Kelly, the PM is understood to have made clear the need to respect expert health advice
- After the call, Mr Kelly told the ABC he would continue to push for the use of alternative coronavirus drugs
Mr Kelly has backed COVID-19 treatments against the advice of Australia's medical authorities and previously shared claims that forcing children to wear masks was a form of child abuse.
The final straw came on Monday when Mr Kelly appeared on a podcast where he was interviewed by anti-vaccination campaigner and former celebrity chef Pete Evans.
The appearance provoked an angry response from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which accused Mr Kelly of enabling a conspiracy theorist and spreading misinformation.
Labor has been demanding he be reined in.
"Craig Kelly is a dangerous menace and a threat to the nation's COVID response," Shadow Health Minister Mark Butler said on Tuesday morning.
"It's beyond time the Prime Minister developed the backbone to pull him into line."
Mr Kelly has now confirmed he took a call from Prime Minister Scott Morison ahead of Question Time on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Morrison is understood to have expressed his unhappiness to the Member for Hughes and was very clear about the need to respect health advice.
Kelly remains defiant
After the call, Mr Kelly told the ABC he would continue pushing for Australia's medical authorities to change their position and endorse the use of drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to treat coronavirus.
He also told the ABC he was not yet convinced to get the coronavirus vaccine himself.
"I'm waiting for all the evidence to come in," he said.
"I've been very careful.
"I'm not an anti-vaxxer, I've taken all my vaccinations before."
The rogue MP said he did not agree his comments to his 75,000 Facebook followers were fuelling vaccine hesitancy, as Labor had asserted.
Instead, he said, he was helping to make people feel more comfortable getting the jab.
"The way you are going to get over that hesitancy is through full transparency, full debate, no censorship," he said.
On Monday, the Prime Minister was also questioned about Mr Kelly's controversial social media posts on the pandemic.
"Well, we've been very clear to point out where you get your information from. You don't get it from Facebook. You get it from official government websites," Mr Morrison told the National Press Club.
He said Mr Kelly was "not my doctor and he's not yours", but he went on to praise his work as a local MP in his Sydney electorate.
"He does a great job in Hughes," he said.
Mr Morrison intervened to help secure Mr Kelly's preselection at the last election, but senior government sources have said the Prime Minister's support was not assured this time.
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