Prime Minister Scott Morrison's agenda derailed amid revolt over vaccine mandates
Queensland MP George Christensen is the latest of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's backbenchers to join a growing revolt seeking to wind back mandatory coronavirus vaccinations.
The maverick MP is vowing to abstain from voting on government legislation in the Lower House, which would threaten to turn the Coalition into a minority.
Yesterday five government Senators - Gerard Rennick, Alex Antic, Matt Canavan, Sam McMahon and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells - crossed the floor of the Upper House to vote for a One Nation bill on the same vaccination issue.
But it was Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie who stole the show yesterday, blasting claims from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson that the unvaccinated face discrimination.
"Being held accountable for your own actions isn't called discrimination," Ms Lambie argued yesterday.
"It's called being, you wouldn't believe it, a goddamn bloody adult."
Speaking on Today this morning, Ms Lambie was critical of Mr Morrison's leadership on the coronavirus.
"I think it is not helping if you don't have a solid leader that is leading the country that wants to try to please everybody," she said.
"This is a really serious situation that we are in and he needs to stick by his guns and he needs to get on with this."
The prime minister is playing down the division and the potential challenges it could cause his leadership, saying his members are free to express different views.
But the revolt has effectively derailed the government's agenda, meaning Mr Morrison may have to rely on the support of at least one crossbench MP to pass legislation.
The government currently has 76 MPs out of 151, including the Speaker, which is the minimum number for an outright majority.
The Morrison-led government now faces a turbulent end to the year.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/george-christensen-to-cross-floor-in-protest-of-scott-morrison-vaccine-mandates/1b24ff4c-8bb7-45b4-810a-c73718eb947d