Groom MP Garth Hamilton, Labor candidate Gen Allpass slam One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts for vaccine mandate comments

Toowoomba’s major candidates at the next Federal Election have taken aim at outspoken One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, with one calling him a “cowardly opportunist”.

Groom Labor candidate Gen Allpass; One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts; Groom MP Garth Hamilton.

Groom’s major party candidates have slammed controversial One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts for his comparison of the Covid-19 vaccine mandate to a “genocide”, with the sitting MP calling him a “cowardly opportunist”.

Senator Roberts was a guest speaker at an anti-mandate rally outside City Hall on Tuesday morning, where he took aim at the Queensland Government for the restrictions and questioned the efficacy of the vaccines themselves.

He also said the Therapeutic Goods Administration was “guilty of a genocide”.

The comments earned the ire of LNP Groom MP Garth Hamilton and his Labor opponent Gen Allpass, who both called the speech dangerous and filled with misinformation.

“Malcolm Roberts’ comments are deliberately inflammatory. He’s a cowardly opportunist spreading misinformation to vulnerable people for his own political gain,” he said.

“I’m very concerned with the rise in vaccine misinformation in our community.

“Everyday my office speaks with people who have legitimate questions but are scared by false commentary they’ve read online.”

“The TGA is upfront with its reporting of side effects and the overwhelming medical evidence is that the approved vaccines are safe and effective.”

Ms Allpass also condemned the comments, while also accusing the Federal Government of failing to clamp down on misinformation.

“If Mr Morrison had done his due-diligence, prepared our country and informed himself and us at the outset instead of months and months later, none of us would be in this mess,” she said.

“Perhaps we also need to ask ourselves why the likes of (Pauline) Hanson, Roberts, (Clive) Palmer and (Craig) Kelly are jumping on the bandwagon?

“Apart from the obvious trawling of votes, the Covid crisis suits these type of political personalities because it monopolises their audience, monetises their fears and draws them into a fanatical group of like mindedness without critical thought, condemnation or consequence.

“Playing on the community’s concerns is purely for their own notoriety and agendas, while providing an opportunity, a platform and a stage for their personal egos.”

Speaking to The Chronicle before his speech, Senator Roberts continuously called the vaccines “injections” and discredited the TGA’s approval of them.

He also cited books by American author Robert F Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate who believes the highly-discredited argument that the practice is linked to autism.

“There are so many people that have been forced into getting injections through threat of loss of livelihoods,” Senator Roberts said.

“Robert F Kennedy has exposed the fact that these injections need at least 15 years for testing on long-term testing. 

“These injections have been provisionally approved by the TGA, they have not been tested in this country.

“We’re after freedom away from coercion and safety because these injections have been shown to have caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world.”

The TGA’s Database of Adverse Event Notifications lists 89,520 reports of side effects from people who took a vaccine, along with 687 deaths.

But the TGA states this does not mean the medicine was the cause, while also noting one person can make reports for multiple side-effects.

For the latest on vaccine safety, head to the TGA website at tga.gov.au.