Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave of the House to move the following motion:

That the House:

(1) notes that:

  (a) on 25 August 2020, the Member for Hughes gave a speech in the Federation Chamber supporting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19;

  (b) in his speech, the Member said that "media bias", "groupthink" and the "complete abandonment of reason" were driving a "war" on hydroxychloroquine and "the big hand of government … interfer[ing] in a doctor-patient relationship", and cited a number of medical commentators including:

     (i) Professor Christian Perronne, who is being investigated by the French College of Physicians for his comments on hydroxychloroquine;

     (ii) Dr Harvey Risch, who was rebuked by 25 Yale University colleagues for promoting "conspiracy theories, purported hoaxes, and the views of zealots"; and

     (iii) Dr Kulvinder Gill, who was criticised by other Canadian doctors for misleading tweets on hydroxychloroquine;

  (c) in Australia, potential therapies are assessed for safety and efficacy by the independent Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the TGA "strongly discourages the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 … or prevent COVID-19"; and—

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