Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I cannot believe that we're actually this year still talking about Conspiracy Craig, the member for Hughes, Mr Kelly, who's a fringe crank who isn't fit to sit in the other place. He's a danger to public discourse, he's a danger to public health and he's a danger to public institutions. This is an MP who is so hated by his own Liberal branches that, in the last two elections, the Leader of the Liberal Party has intervened to save his preselection from them. Just think about that: Scott Morrison could not be moved to stop the deselection of the Father of the House and former defence minister Kevin Andrews, but the Prime Minister saw fit to intervene to stop Kelly's rightful removal by his own branches. By his selective action, Mr Morrison deems Conspiracy Craig more worthy of saving than a 30-year veteran in this place. The member for Hughes and those who excuse him, those who support him and those who lack the integrity to call out his dangerous deceptions are a constant embarrassment to this parliament. Sadly, Prime Minister Morrison is one of those who continue to excuse Mr Kelly's behaviour, and we saw the same acceptance of Mr Kelly's comments by Senator Birmingham, the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Let's look at some of the statements that Mr Kelly's put out. He went on a state-sponsored trip to Azerbaijan and declared that Australia had a lot to learn from its electoral system, despite the corrupt Azerbaijani government releasing the election results two hours before the polls closed. That's how much of a sense of democracy Mr Kelly has. Business Insider reported that Craig Kelly emailed the Therapeutic Goods Administration at the height of the pandemic last year about the efficacy and safety of experimental COVID-19 cures and, when told that they didn't work, he instead perpetuated the lie that they did. He cannot accept the facts from health professionals; he cannot accept the truth. He cannot accept the public health advice of his own Prime Minister, yet the Prime Minister gives him enough rope to go out and do whatever he's doing out there. Mr Kelly said that the Australian medical officials, who everyone seems to be hiding behind, had committed crimes against humanity. That is the man that you are supporting in your contributions today—conspiracy crackpot Craig, the member for Hughes, who ignores all credible, widely critiqued and supported evidence. He constantly denies the scientific consensus around climate change. He openly spreads lies and mistruths about the attacks on the US Capitol. He promoted baseless allegations about voter fraud in the wake of the 2020 US presidential election. He is unfit to serve in this place, but he has the Prime Minister's confidence. He has the Prime Minister's cover. He has the Prime Minister's complicity in this conspiracy against Australian people. He has the Prime Minister allowing taxpayers' funds to enable him to broadcast misinformation. He was reported as saying, 'You don't need no vaccine.'

I now hear that in addition to these egregious examples of a failure of leadership by a man who sits in the Australian parliament, he went on a podcast of Pete Evans for 90 minutes—and what a great conspiracy theorist leader he is. He was kicked off Facebook for repeatedly spreading dangerous COVID-19 misinformation. He lost several commercial deals, because people in business will do what this government won't do: they're actually calling fakers out. They're calling liars out. They're calling deceivers out. This government is incapable of acknowledging the deception that lies within their own party. Mr Evans is a gleeful proponent of ludicrous conspiracy theories about QAnon, PizzaGate—both of which have inspired violent insurrections and armed attacks. That is the danger of following the path of this government.

Across the globe we are facing a global pandemic that has claimed over two million lives. Every day that Mr Morrison allows the member for Hughes to tweet out and to put his messages out on Facebook it impacts 1.8 million Australians. We cannot afford this. Every single member of the parliament, especially the Prime Minister, needs to speak with a united voice on the medical evidence to ensure that Australians get appropriate treatment. The truth matters and lies promoted at the highest levels by popular influencers, which I am ashamed to say Mr Kelly is, have a real and material impact on our health. (Time expired)