Controversial MP Craig Kelly has quit the Liberal Party, becoming ‘even more powerful’

Outspoken MP Craig Kelly has pulled off a spectacular move, becoming “even more powerful” by quitting the Liberal Party.

Rogue Liberal MP Craig Kelly could now emerge as kingmaker on every single piece of legislation the Morrison Government bowls up because his big move to quit the Liberal Party means Parliament is deadlocked.

Mr Kelly handed his resignation letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison during today’s party room meeting.

The Prime Minister still has a majority of 76 seats in the 151 seat Parliament, but when you account for the Speaker Tony Smith the working numbers on the floor are now down to 75 seats.

That means the vote is potentially deadlocked at 75-75 on contentious legislation.

The Speaker can deliver a casting vote if a vote is deadlocked, but this is a rare situation and traditionally he does not vote on legislative matters.

In practice, this means that the Morrison Government will need Mr Kelly or another crossbencher or the Labor Party every time they want to pass legislation.

Or, they will need the Speaker to deliver a casting vote. According to the Presiding Officers that’s not a minority government, but it’s close.

It also opens up the possibility that Labor could stitch up deals with the independents and the Greens to pass private members’ bills and legislation without the governments support.

Greens crossbencher Adam Bandt said Mr Kelly will now have “even more power” over the PM.

“Craig Kelly’s dangerous crusade means the Liberals have just lost control of the Parliament,” he said.

“This makes the crossbench much more powerful, but unfortunately, it also means Craig Kelly as a crossbencher will have even more power over Scott Morrison.”

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Labor MP Tanya Plibersek and Liberal MP Craig Kelly had a run in at Parliament House recently.

Mr Kelly earlier confirmed his move to the crossbench was a result of his disagreement with the Prime Minister over alternative COVID treatments.

“I have the greatest respect for Scott Morrison,” he told Sky News.

“I hope he goes on to be one of our longest serving and greatest Prime Ministers.

“I’ll support the government, naturally of course, on all matters of supply, confidence.”

Mr Kelly said it was rubbish to suggest he was anti-vaccination.

“I’ve been labelled an anti-vaxxer which is just slanderous smear,” he said.

But Mr Kelly could end up switching parties to the Nationals after the former leader Barnaby Joyce ducked out of the joint Coalition partyroom to chase Mr Kelly after his announcement.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told news.com.au that he had urged Mr Kelly to join the Nationals.

“I did say to him that I had always wanted him to join,” Senator Canavan said.

“I am absolutely serious.”

As Mr Kelly remained locked in his office, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts also turned up to speak to him but was unable to enter the office as the ex-Liberal was conducting a television interview.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce was in Craig Kelly’s office after the news broke.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged the government will “continue to function” after Mr Kelly’s shock decision to sit on the crossbench.

“The government will continue to function, as it has successfully,’’ the PM said.

“As the government has led Australia through the worst situation we’ve seen since the Second World War, we will continue to do so undistracted and we’ll be able to do so with the support of the parliament from the very undertakings that the member for Hughes has indicated publicly.”

Mr Morrison confirmed he had set out clear expectations on a range of matters that he expected Mr Kelly to follow, but that he ultimately could not.

His concerns include a staff member in Mr Kelly’s office who is under police investigation amid allegations of inappropriate work conduct.

“I have long expressed to Mr Kelly my concerns about that staff member and he has long understood what my expectations were about how he would deal with that matter,’’ the Prime Minister said.

Mr Kelly was suspended from Facebook last week after he shared a series of COVID-related posts to his official MP Facebook page, which has more than 80,000 followers.

The five posts Mr Kelly said got him banned featured unproven claims about hydroxychloroquine by professor Dolores Cahill; a profile of professor Thomas Borody in The Spectator Australia which includes the promotion of ivermectin to treat coronavirus; and claims by pathologist Roger Hodkinson that masks are “useless” for children and “paper and fabric masks are simply virtue signalling”.

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Mr Kelly has been a thorn in the PM’s side over the past few weeks. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

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Neither of the drugs are recommended by health authorities in Australia to treat COVID-19 outside of a clinical trial.

Ivermectin is the active ingredient in medicines that treat human and animal diseases caused by parasites like mites and lice.

Hydroxychloroquine is a cheap and readily available drug has been used for more than 30 years for a variety of reasons.

It is being trialled on Australian health workers to assess whether it can protect them from being infected by COVID-19.

Mr Kelly told The Australian that the ban was a “dark day for freedom of speech” — and that

he would continue to support early treatment drug options even if they are not backed by chief medical officers.

“I hope this (Facebook) ban is temporary. They went through thousands of my posts and only found five that led to the ban,” he said. “I support the government message on vaccinations. I am advocating for treatments in concert with the vaccine.

“Three of the posts that were banned weren’t even my opinions. They were quotes from highly credentialed scientists. You might not agree with them, but the public have a right to know about these scientists’ views and people can rebut them.”

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In a statement, a Facebook spokeswoman said: “We don’t allow anyone to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm. We have clear policies against this type of content and will remove it when we become aware of it.”

Mr Kelly strenuously denies he is an anti-vaxxer, despite peddling a range of alternative treatments on his popular Facebook page.

“Any suggestion that I am some sort of anti-vaxxer is nothing but slander, smear and slime,’’ Mr Kelly previously told news.com.au.

“If you can’t debate, if people are getting black-banned and cancelled that is a very sad day for democracy.”

Mr Kelly’s posts caused a stir in parliament earlier this month, particularly after he sat down for an interview with celebrity chef-turned-COVID-denier Evans.

Mr Kelly’s refusal to follow government health advice has been a problem for the PM, who earlier this month dragged the rogue MP into his office for a dressing-down.

The meeting came after Mr Kelly and Labor MP Tanya Plibersek had a public confrontation over the spread of misinformation in a parliamentary corridor.

Mr Morrison is understood to have made it “very clear” he cannot support Mr Kelly’s views nor his actions and asked him to refrain from airing views that are contrary to the accepted medical advice.

The Prime Minister bluntly told him that his actions were negatively impacting the government’s $6 billion vaccine strategy.

Afterwards, Mr Kelly put out a statement claiming to support the government’s vaccine rollout, but almost immediately began posting his alternative views again, leading the PM getting savaged by Labor in question time.