SA Senator Alex Antic criticises Australia on controversial Steve Bannon podcast
Liberal Senator Alex Antic continues to do the rounds in American media – this time criticising Australia on Steve Bannon’s alt-right podcast.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Liberal Senator Alex Antic has once again used right-wing American media to criticise Australia’s Covid rules, this time speaking with highly controversial commentator Steve Bannon.
Appearing on Bannon’s alt-right podcast, called the War Room, the South Australian senator labelled Australia’s medi-hotels “detention facilities” and criticised the treatment of anti-vaccine mandate protesters.
Throughout his eight-minute appearance on the show, Senator Antic consistently associated himself with anti-vaccine mandate protesters and expressed his frustration about how their rallies were portrayed in the media.
“We’ve had hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people on the streets in this country over the last six months – it barely gets reported,” he claimed.
“And if it does, it gets reported in the most disingenuous terms – tens of thousands become hundreds.”
Senator Antic claimed it was “gaslighting on a geopolitical level”. He also took aim at the Northern Territory’s strict vaccine mandates.
It was at least Senator Antic’s second time appearing on the show, last speaking with Bannon in early December.
Bannon was once former President Donald Trump’s campaign leader and chief political strategist. He is facing two charges of criminal contempt of Congress over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Bannon’s podcast, Senator Antic repeated claims that Australia was adopting policies from the Chinese Communist Party’s social credit system.
He first made those claims on conservative American talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight last week, saying Australia was becoming a “test case” for the system.
The Chinese social credit system is a moral ranking system that monitors the behaviour of the country’s enormous population and gives penalties and rewards.
Senator Antic was the key speaker at a protest against Covid vaccine mandates in Adelaide last November.
He told Bannon he felt anti-vax mandate protesters were being “demonised” and treated as “trouble makers”.
Senator Antic’s recent interviews in American media have raised eyebrows among senior Liberals, but The Advertiser understands they would reluctantly tolerate his comments if he votes with the party when parliament resumes next month.
Towards the end of last year, Senator Antic held Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s legislative agenda to ransom by refusing to vote on government bills and motions unless more “protections” were provided against vaccination mandates.
Liberal sources told The Advertiser little could be done in the way of sanctioning Senator Antic, as he is a backbencher with minimal government responsibilities.
gabriel.polychronis@news.com.au
More Coverage
Originally published as SA Senator Alex Antic criticises Australia on controversial Steve Bannon podcast
Former patients weigh in on rural doctor’s resignation
Naracoorte and surrounding towns are reeling from the sudden resignation of one of their two local obstetricians, following restrictions put on him, as locals react to the “massive loss” for the community.
Club steps in as Broken Hill swelters amid power failure
Broken Hill locals are battling stifling heat and lining up for kilometres to buy fuel as they deal with widespread blackouts. But a community hero has emerged.