Prime Minister Scott Morrison has apparently “hauled” COVID misinformation-spreader Craig Kelly into his office for a “face to face dressing down.” The private meeting comes directly after Kelly clashed with Tanya Plibersek in a Parliament House corridor.
It sounds like the classic ‘principal calls the two fighting students into his office’ narrative, but it’s quite literally what has happened in parliament today.
According to Nine News Political Editor Chris Uhlmann, Morrison told Kelly to “refrain from pushing views that are contrary to accepted medical advice… as his actions were negatively impacting the government’s critically important vaccine strategy.”
“The Prime Minister told Kelly his entire focus from now on should be his constituents in the seat of Hughes,” Uhlmann wrote.
“Kelly agreed to restrain his social media and support the government’s vaccine strategy.”
We’ll have to see if Kelly actually keeps his word, but it’s good to see Morrison finally take some action on the spreading of disinformation from a Liberal MP who many people listen to.
https://twitter.com/CUhlmann/status/1356750568077754369?s=20
This morning, Kelly and Plibersek had a spat for all to see and hear, in the halls of Parliament House.
According to The Australian, Plibersek confronted Kelly about his views, and how they would negatively affect the people of Australia, including her own mother.
“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,” she said.
To this, Craig Kelly reportedly said:
“Listen to the words of our most senior immunologist (Robert Clancy)… He has said in the Sydney Morning Herald today, Craig Kelly is absolutely right.”
Getty Images: Sam Mooy
Prior to this spat, Plibersek called upon the Coalition to finally do something about Kelly in front of reporters outside media studios in Parliament House.
“It’s beyond time the Prime Minister told Craig Kelly to just shut up,” she said.
“We’re spending $24 million dollars on a campaign to tell people to get vaccinated and we’ve got a taxpayer-funded nong running around and telling people not to. He needs to shut up and if the Prime Minister had any spine he would tell him to do so.”
Kelly recently appeared on Pete Evans’ podcast to discuss his beliefs around COVID and unfounded cures, which is uhhh, enough you need to know about how batshit his views have become.
