Bennelong Liberal candidate removes anti-vax volunteers from campaign

In a statement, Kennedy said he was pro-vaccine and pro-science and disagreed with the views expressed in the video. The two men are no longer volunteering with the Kennedy campaign.

“I am a strong supporter of the COVID vaccination program that has saved the lives of 40,000 Australians,” Kennedy told the Herald. “I, my wife, and our children are fully vaccinated, and I encourage everybody to get vaccinated.

“My support for our vaccination program is informed by my wife’s work as an infectious disease doctor who worked on the COVID response as a clinician and researcher.

“I am incredibly proud of my wife, the other doctors, nurses and the Australian government for achieving our 95 per cent vaccination rate.”

It is not the first time Kennedy has had to distance himself from anti-vaxxers. In April, he met a group called A Stand in the Park, which is opposed to vaccine mandates and supported breaching lockdown restrictions.

Kennedy told the group he would cross the floor if necessary to oppose legislation that breached their individual freedoms and vowed to oppose jab mandates. At the end of that month, the state government lifted requirements for airport, quarantine and transport workers to be vaccinated.

NSW Labor senator Tim Ayres asked “what on earth” was going on with Kennedy’s campaign.

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“Why are he and Scott Morrison playing footsies with anti-vax conspiracy theorists?” he said. “They’re undermining public health and making vulnerable Australians less safe.”

Labor has won Bennelong only once since 1949, when Maxine McKew defeated John Howard in 2007. Kennedy’s fight against Labor’s Jerome Laxale is expected to be close. Incumbent Liberal MP John Alexander, who holds the seat on a 7 per cent margin, is retiring.