29 February 2024

Former Liberal Craig Kelly continues his lurch to the right to join One Nation

| Andrew McLaughlin
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Craig Kelly

Former Federal Member for Hughes, Craig Kelly. Photo: Screenshot.

Former Federal Liberal, independent, and United Australia Party (UAP) member Craig Kelly has announced he has joined Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, effective immediately.

The former member for Hughes in Sydney’s southern suburbs announced his move on Twitter/X on 28 February, just hours after the Daily Telegraph’s James Morrow broke the story.

“It’s game on,” Mr Kelly’s Twitter/X post reads. “I’ve officially joined Pauline Hanson One Nation to provide real opposition to the Labor/Liberal cartel.

“If you follow the science and understand the nonsense of net zero and if you are concerned how extreme migration is pushing up rents & mortgages and fundamentally changing the Australian way of life for the worse – come and join the fight.”

The move seems to be a continuation of Mr Kelly’s drift towards the extreme right edge of Australian politics.

READ ALSO APS program launched to lead the way to net zero

He has vocally supported conspiracy theories about the origins and effects of COVID-19 and surrounding the alleged damage caused by vaccines and vaccine mandates that helped to control the spread of the disease, and has frequently addressed national anti-vaccine rallies.

He has also denied the existence of man-made climate change, and has objected to and denied the science surrounding efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve net zero.

Mr Kelly was elected to the House of Representatives for Hughes in 2010, and was re-elected in 2013, 2016 and 2019, but lost his seat in 2022. He served as a member of the Liberal Party from 2010 to 2021, as an independent from February to August 2021 while continuing to support the Morrison Coalition Government on confidence and supply, before joining the UAP in August 2021.

After being defeated in Hughes in the May 2022 general election by Liberal candidate Jenny Ware, Mr Kelly became the National Director of UAP, and has now joined One Nation as its Federal Campaign Director.

In 2023 Mr Kelly registered as an independent Legislative Assembly candidate for the NSW state election, but was not elected.

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Replace Hanson with Kelly. A conspiracy theorist with brains v a mangler of the English language

anthony matheson10:56 am 22 Jun 24

One Nation is in my opinion not even right wing, they are centred. Their policies are based on facts and truth, not fiction and fantasy. The issue is that the rest of the political system has gone completely unhinged and into the deadly anti-human ideologies of Marxism, Communism etc etc and will stop at nothing to increase it’s power.

@anthony matheson

“One Nation is in my opinion not even right wing, they are centred”
At least you stated it was your opinion – to which you are entitled.

However, it seems you have a rather “interesting” perspective on what constitutes “centred”. but reading your analysis of the “rest of the political system” combined with your perspective on COVID and vaccination, it’s a lot easier to see where your ideas are coming from, and it’s not the (sensible) centre.

Based on voting proportions in the last Federal election, the opinion” that ON is centrist while the rest are unhinged anti-humans may come as a surprise to the >95% thus impugned.

Capital Retro1:03 pm 23 Jun 24

You mean it doesn’t agree with your narrative?

@Capital Retro
Yes, CR, it doesn’t agree with my narrative – along with the narrative of the majority of the electorate, which obviously doesn’t include you.

Ally Langdon and Channel 9 owe an apology to Craig Kelly.

HiddenDragon8:15 pm 01 Mar 24

“It’s game on,” Mr Kelly’s Twitter/X post reads. “I’ve officially joined Pauline Hanson One Nation to provide real opposition to the Labor/Liberal cartel.”

If One Nation really wanted to shake up the “Labor/Liberal cartel”, they would have sought a federal campaign director about half the age of Craig Kelly who had the communication skills to appeal to younger voters who are feeling disenfranchised, but aren’t buying what the Greens are offering to that demographic.

Wow. The man is anathema to Camberra’s bien pensant elites. How dare he, eh?

CaptainSpiff1:28 pm 01 Mar 24

As much as it bothers progressive lefties, Kelly was closer to the truth on Covid origins and vaccines than Australian health authorities. It’s widely accepted today that Covid came from lab, and that Covid vaccines have potentially harmful side effects.

Oh yes, the hydroxycholoroquine / ivermectin man who called masks child abuse. I trust he is still free of sheep parasites.

What is your research-based comparison of known harmful effects of Covid-19 with “potentially harmful side effects” of Covid-19 vaccines distributed in Australia today? To what “truth” was he remotely close, other than a truthiness that suits your self?

Hahaha Kelly is a loon and a conspiracy theorist that no thinking person takes seriously. Good luck in PHON, I’ve heard she gouges so much money out of candidates they all end up broke and resign from the PH pension generator party.

CaptainSpiff4:15 pm 01 Mar 24

It is well known that generally healthy people should not be taking Covid vaccines, due to possible side effects like myocarditis. Look it up in the official ATAGI advice if you wish. You are aware of that, right?

Or perhaps you still believe that Covid had natural origins, as we were assured for years by the media and authorities?

Like him or not, Kelly was closer to reality on this stuff than you’d like to admit.

Good heavens! Had you read a mere two words further (into material with which I am quite familiar thanks) you might have discovered pericarditis as well! These non-fatal conditions (in vaccination records to date) occur at a rate of 2 per 100,000. Covid-19 has killed at a rate of 2,500 per 100,000 over 2020-2023 in Australia. Happily, the rate has fallen below 700 per 100,000 in the most recent figures from the AIHW, the health research body, after mass immunisation; you know, vaccines. Repeating, per 100,000 that was 700 deaths vs 2 instances of staying in bed a bit longer.

What a ridiculous tale you tell.

I consider the probabilities provided in public intelligence assessments, that the dominant likelihood (4 of 5 assessments) is natural origin with 1 of 5 suggesting accidental release of a non-engineered laboratory (natural or experimental) origin. What is your evidence otherwise?

Kelly’s personal relevance deficit is not evidence of anything else.

CaptainSpiff9:10 pm 01 Mar 24

Your numbers are as precise as they are ridiculous. 2500/100000 is a rate of 2.5% – are you seriously saying that 2.5% of Covid cases ended in death? Surely you’re not that dumb. Or have you observed 2.5% of Covid cases around you resulting in death? Good grief.

anthony matheson10:52 am 22 Jun 24

100%, “vaccines and vaccine mandates that helped to control the spread of the disease”… This article still pushing misinformation and lies that were used to silence and coerce people into taking an experimental non-vaccine that was neither safe nor effective. Craig along with many of us could see all this from the outset, just as we see the CO2 fraud.

Capital Retro1:49 pm 29 Feb 24

I don’t care much for the COVID conspiracy theories that he supports but the future may prove he is right.

I think you are over the top in suggesting he is now approaching the “extreme right of Australian politics”, too.

Defining the “extreme right” is like trying to define a woman, in other words it means different things to different people.

Generally though, anyone who disagrees with popular progressive narratives is branded a “right wing extremist” for convenience.

“Defining the “extreme right” … means different things to different people”

Yes, if you are in it, you think it isn’t.

It is not ‘popular progressive narrative’, it is conspiracy drivel, driven by right wing extremists. The only hidden agenda is grifting as much money out of suckers as possible.

In his case it’s only because he’s a loon, not because of what you said.

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