Several audience members walked out of a candidates’ forum in the southern Sydney seat of Hughes on Wednesday evening after the maverick MP Craig Kelly labelled mandatory vaccination in workplaces “an abuse of human rights” and “a very dark period in Australia’s history”.
Kelly, who quit the Liberal party last year, and is now standing for the United Australia party, said Australia was violating human rights by allowing workplaces to insist on vaccination.
“The people who engage in the mandates in this country, forcing other Australians against their free will and without their consent to force them into a medical intervention, are blackmailing people,” he claimed.
“It’s unAustralian and against everything we stand for.”
Several people in the audience walked out, while other panel members looked perplexed.
The Labor candidate, Riley Campbell, suggested voters had much greater concerns.
“Be more worried about the cost of living, be more worried about the cost of petrol, whether you can eat,” he said.
The race in Hughes is likely to be one of the more colourful and unpredictable of the election.
The Liberals, who have held the seat for nearly two decades, named their candidate, Jenny Ware, just days before the campaign was announced. Labor was forced to change candidates at the last minute due to citizenship questions.
Two candidates have emerged from the community independents’ movement – Georgia Steele and Linda Seymour – while the Greens are running Peter Thompson and One Nation has chosen Narelle Seymour.
Ware was unable to attend the forum due to a prior commitment in the electorate and Narelle Seymour did not respond to the invitation.
Climate change, the federal integrity commission, the national disability insurance scheme, public education and aged care dominated the debate.
The climate exchange brought a range of views on the reduction target for 2030 – from 50% to 75% – and promises to advance electric car uptake.
But Kelly again bucked the trend, claiming that plans to ban coal would play into the hands of the Chinese and undermine Australia’s sovereignty.
“Government interference, subsidies forcing us into certain types of generation, it undermines us and plays into China’s hands,” he said. “They are building hundreds of coal-fired power stations. Coal, iron ore and gas bring billions into this nation,” he said.
The candidates all agreed that the NDIS needed an overhaul, that more needed to be spent on aged care and a federal Icac was a good idea.
The independents also faced questions about their personal voting records in previous elections.
Seymour said she had never voted for Kelly while he was the Liberal member for Hughes because of his record of denying the existence of climate change.
Steele said she had voted “every which way”.
“All these questions are about putting you in a box,” she said. “I consider my vote very carefully. I consider the policies, the qualifications, track record. That’s what I intend to do in the future,” she said.
Independents would be part of a powerful crossbench, she said, but if Hughes elected a Liberal or Labor member, that person would be a backbencher for a decade with little sway over party policy.
