Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told George Christensen to go "quietly" into retirement after the Coalition backbencher’s controversial appearance on a far-right conspiracy theorist’s web series.
The rogue MP had been condemned for his interview with American broadcaster Alex Jones, where he laughed at and did not challenge the host's comments comparing Australia’s quarantine facilities to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.
Mr Morrison described the comments as “absolutely appalling” when asked about whether Mr Christensen should be reprimanded over the appearance.
“I thought those comments were appalling and I have spoken to George directly about them,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“George is not a candidate for the LNP at the next election and I think George should quietly go into retirement.”
The Nationals MP has been a vocal critic of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
Mr Christensen also came under fire during parliament last month for likening the actions of state premiers to decrees undertaken by Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin.
He later said he regretted those comments, but repeated his recent call for “civil disobedience” against COVID-19 measures during his interview with Mr Jones.
This included calling on viewers of the show to protest outside Australian embassies.
The US commentator’s program has been banned by Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, citing policies against hate speech and abusive behaviour.
Labor has called on Mr Morrison to take action against Mr Christensen over his appearance on the web series and recent public interventions saying he should be forced out of the Coalition.
Mr Morrison declined to directly answer when he was asked: “What do you have to do to get kicked out of the Coalition?”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg - who is Jewish - also condemned the comparison made between Australia’s quarantine facilities and Auschwitz.
“Any analogy between the Holocaust and lockdowns, quarantine, mandatory vaccinations or any of the aspects of the response to COIVD-19 are not just inaccurate [and] false ... but they are incredibly insensitive and lack any sense of historical perspective,” he told Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
Mr Frydenberg said he had also contacted Mr Christensen who had offered an apology to the treasurer.
Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester also told the ABC he would not miss Mr Christensen when he retires at the next federal election.
"I don't want to wish ill of anyone, but I think his time in parliament has passed, and it won't be a sad day for me when he's no longer a member of parliament," he said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a second government MP has appeared on another US far-right program hitting out at Australia's restrictions.
South Australian Liberal Senator Alex Antic spoke on former US president Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon's War Room: Pandemic podcast.
On the podcast, the senator said state governments were drifting into authoritarianism and that he was being held by health authorities in a detention facility.
Senator Antic appeared on the podcast from hotel quarantine in Adelaide, where he was taken after returning from Canberra following the end of the last parliamentary sitting week.
Unvaccinated arrivals to South Australia from interstate are required to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine.
Senator Antic has declined to reveal his vaccination status.
With AAP
