George Christensen COVID misinformationGeorge Christensen COVID misinformation

As if the federal government wasn’t struggling to convince Australians to get vaccinated, one of its own MPs has done a lot to make its plight a lot worse.

George Christensen a member of parliament from Queensland, who is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits in the parliament with the National Party, has criticized all measures being taken to fight the coronavirus.

Known for his strong views and criticism of Islam and climate activism, George Christensen, in a speech has asked: “How many more freedoms will we lose due to fear of a virus, which is a survivability rate of 997 out of a 1000?”

Mr Christensen says masks and lockdowns don’t work.

For him, “Domestic vaccine passports are a form of discrimination.

“Nobody should be restricted from everyday life because of their medical choices, especially when vaccinated people can still catch and spread COVID-19.

“Our posturing politicians, many over there [on the Labor benches], the sensationalist media elite and the dictatorial medical bureaucrats need to recognise these facts and stop spreading fear.

“COVID-19 is going to be with us forever, just like the flu and just like the flu, we will have to live with it, not in constant fear of it. Some people will catch it. Some people will tragically die from it.

“That’s inevitable and we have to accept it. What we should never accept is a systematic removal of our freedoms based on a zero-risk health advice from a bunch of unelected medical bureaucrats. Open society back up. Restore our freedoms. End this madness.”

Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition  Anthony Albanese, showing complete solidarity with the government, short after Mr Christensen’s speech, moved a motion calling on all MPs to “refrain from making ill-informed comments at a time when the pandemic represents a serious threat to the health of Australians”.

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The motion also condemned “the comments of the Member for Dawson prior to question time designed to use our national Parliament to spread misinformation and undermine the actions of Australians to defeat COVID”.

George Christensen enjoys making threats, even if he doesn’t carry them out. And he is not running at the election and thus has really nothing to lose.

Having Craig Kelly crossed the floor, Scott Morrison would not like another person on the offside in his one-seat majority government.

Instead Scott Morrison said the government “will not support those statements, Mr Speaker, where there is misinformation that is out and about in the community, whether it’s posted, Mr Speaker, on Facebook, or it’s posted in social media, or it’s written in articles or made [in] statements. Whether in this chamber, Mr Speaker, or anywhere else”.

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, a personal friend of George Christensen, has also dissociated himself from George Christensen’s views.

“I don’t agree with him,” Joyce said.

“Just because someone has a view, it doesn’t mean it’s my view” Barnaby Joyce added.