Helen Haines has joined the federal MPs condemning Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly over his "heinous" spreading of misinformation about COVID-19.
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Mr Kelly, the Member for Hughes, has drawn criticisms for comments on social media including support of hydroxychloroquine for virus treatment but reportedly told reporters today he was not an anti-vaxxer.
Dr Haines, who has an extensive career in public health, said Prime Minister Scott Morrison's failure to out-right condemn Mr Kelly "threatens Australia's successful containment of COVID-19".
"The Prime Minister is spending $24 million of public money on a vaccine information campaign yet his own backbencher is rowing in the other direction," she said.
"The greatest challenge our nation will face this year, God willing, is to convince tens of millions of Australians of the truth that these vaccines are safe and effective.
"The vaccine will not itself be a silver bullet to get us back to normal, but it is our only pathway back to normal.
"To really get to the other side of this crisis, we need something like 70 to 90 per cent of the Australian population to get vaccinated.
"The fact that we are only at around half of Australians saying they will definitely get the vaccine is a public policy failure that needs to be addressed urgently."
Dr Haines said it was fair to have questions about vaccines, but "the vaccines being rolled out in Australia have been rigorously tested".
"That's why the member for Hughes is so heinous in doing what he's been doing. He's exploiting and aggravating legitimate concerns," she said.
"The government has so much to be proud of in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic ... all of that good work is being undermined from the inside."
The Indi MP was speaking in support of the government's Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2020 Measures No. 2) Bill, which speeds the import of life-saving COVID vaccines by amending labelling regulations.
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Dr Haines said the only government member to call out Mr Kelly was one of the newest and youngest members, with the Prime Minister and other senior members distancing themselves.
"I was so powerfully disappointed when the Health Minister, asked to condemn the lies from the Member for Hughes, said only that: 'There will be different views from different people'," she said.
"I was so appalled when the Deputy Prime Minister, as Acting Prime Minister, when asked about the Member for Hughes' dangerous fabrications, told people to 'toughen up' because 'facts are sometimes contentious'."
