Labor’s Tanya Plibersek has confronted Liberal MP Craig Kelly in the halls of Parliament House this morning over his rampant spreading of misinformation.
Plibersek told Kelly that his spreading of “crazy conspiracy theories” about COVID-19 treatments was putting public health at risk, and that she was especially concerned for her mother, who lives in Kelly’s electorate of Hughes.
“My mum lives in your electorate and I don’t want her exposed to people who are not going to be vaccinated because of these crazy conspiracy theories that you’re spreading,” Plibersek said.
Of course, Kelly denied he was spreading misinformation, lambasting Plibersek as the culprit in misleading the public.
“You are the one doing that because you are the one spreading misinformation,” he furiously replied, as he pointed his finger at her.
Tanya Plibersek vs Craig Kelly in the press gallery halls. @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/uNjxR5ygd0
— Eliza Edwards (@ElizaEdNews) February 2, 2021
“So your Prime Minister is wrong, is he?” Plibersek calmly asked.
“No, the Prime Minister is 100 per cent right,” Kelly said.
“Scott Morrison agrees with you, does he Craig?” she reiterated.
Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly argue about his Covid19 claims in the press gallery at Parliament House pic.twitter.com/76ZdFl2qvn
— Dominic Lorrimer (@DomLorrimer) February 2, 2021
The interaction between Plibersek and Kelly comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s continued refusal to condemn Kelly for using social media to spread misinformation about alternative, discredited treatments for the coronavirus like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. His public claims about COVID-19 have consistently contradicted the government’s own public health advice.
At the Press Club in Canberra on Monday, Morrison downplayed Kelly’s influence on the public, telling journalist Laura Tingle, “He’s not my doctor and he’s not yours”. He proceeded to say that the MP was doing a “great job” in his Sydney electorate.