Pauline Hanson’s stand on vaccination is irresponsible

IF just one parent follows Pauline Hanson’s hypocritical advice and decides not to vaccinate their child, the result could be tragic, writes Susie O’Brien.

Whooping cough victim Riley Hughes, who died from whooping cough aged four weeks.

PAULINE Hanson will have blood on her hands if just one parent follows her advice and decides not to vaccinate their child.

Senator Hanson’s popularity may be soaring and she may have Malcolm Turnbull on speed dial, but this weekend she unleashed her inner crazy on the unsuspecting Australian public.

Speaking on ABC TV, she advised parents to “do their own research” on vaccination because “no one is going to care any more about the child than the parents themselves”.

Her deadly and dangerous views on vaccination should immediately cause all voters to reassess their support for her.

And so should Turnbull and the Coalition, which is increasingly relying on her vote in the Upper House.

Senator Hanson urged parents to “make an informed decision” about vaccination.

PARENTS OF WHOOPING COUGH VICTIM SHARE HEARTBREAKING VIDEO

Baby Riley Hughes who died from whooping cough when he was too young to be immunised in 2015. His parents have raised awareness of the dangers of not vaccinating.

“What I don’t like about it is the blackmailing that’s happening with the government. Don’t do that to people. That’s a dictatorship,” she said on Sunday.

Senator Hanson was referring to the Government’s No Jab No Play policy, which just happens to have led to 200,000 more children being vaccinated.

It’s not the first time she’s peddled such nonsense; she suggested back in 2016 that vaccination caused autism — a view that has no scientific basis whatsoever.

Such views give credence to the ludicrous notion that vaccinations could be more dangerous than diseases they protect against such as diphtheria, typhoid, measles and meningococcal disease.

“Some of these parents are saying vaccinations have an effect on some children,” Senator Hanson said on Sunday.

And yet the evidence of the benefits of vaccination are irrefutable. For instance, the risk of encephalitis from the measles mumps rubella vaccine is one in one million. On the other hand, one in every 1000 children who catch measles will get encephalitis and of those, one in 10 will die and four in 10 will have permanent brain damage.

I know which option I’d choose.

It’s no wonder doctors and health experts have unanimously demanded Senator Hanson withdraw her comments.

Frankly, the very last thing parents should do is make up their own mind about vaccination, given the vast array of misleading and simply incorrect information out there on the topic.

AMA President Michael Gannon is right to point out that the idea that a parent can spend a solid hour on the internet in an afternoon and think they know more than years of training and research is “utterly ridiculous”.

In an even more bizarre twist, Senator Hanson admitted she has vaccinated her own children.

So she’s not just deluded, she’s also a hypocrite.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson during a visit to Mandurah, south of Perth, today. AAP Image

When it comes to vaccination, there is no debate in the scientific community. It’s a bit like

climate change; there are not two equally valid sides battling it out. There are simply those who are right and base their views on facts (the scientific community) and those who are wrong (the sceptics, anti-vaxxers and climate change deniers).

The concern is that Ms Hanson’s followers who are already suspicious of vaccines will use her views as a reason to not immunise their children. The problem is that not only are they putting their own children’s lives at risk, but children in the broader population.

Alarmingly, vaccination rates are as low as 80 per cent in some suburbs and towns in Australia — well below the 95 per cent population protection rate.

It’s ironic that Senator Hanson sees vaccination policies as a “dictatorship” while embracing a real dictator — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

In the same interview, Ms Hanson heaped praise on Mr Putin, saying that he is “doing so well for the country”.

Mr Turnbull was forced to intervene, pointing out publicly that Mr Putin’s Russia was responsible for the “shocking international crime” of shooting down the MH17 airliner — killing 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens.

But while Ms Hanson’s view on Mr Putin are certainly strange and misguided, they won’t lead parents to make decisions that could be life-threatening.

I wonder what the parents of children who have died from vaccine-curable diseases think of Senator Hanson’s comments about vaccination?

What about four-week-old Riley Hughes and Dana McCaffery who died of whooping cough?

Or Michael Kokegei who died of chickenpox? Or Laine Bradley who died from complications from measles?

It’s simply not good enough for Liberal and National members from Turnbull downwards to continue to court Senator Hanson and rely on her votes when she is peddling such divisive, dangerous nonsense.

Their support gives credence to her deadly views on this vaccination and other alarming topics.

We already know Senator Hanson wants prenups for everyone getting married, a ban on burqas, a two-per cent tax rate and no GST.

She wants children to leave school at 15 to become apprentices, she wants the Muslim “way of life” banned and she wants an end to penalty rates.

Oh yes, and she’s brewing a craft beer to help her connect with voters.

Drunk rednecks hanging out with the redhead? Surely that’s the last thing we need.

Twitter @susieob

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Originally published as Pauline Hanson’s stand on vaccination is irresponsible