Many Australians urge PM to rebuke MP for COVID disinformation

Three-quarters of Australians have called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to censure a member of parliament over COVID-19 disinformation.

A poll published by the think tank Australia Institute on Monday found that 76 per cent of Australians agreed that Morrison "has a responsibility to clearly and publicly criticize" members of his governing Liberal National Party coalition who spread misinformation about the pandemic.

It comes after government MP Craig Kelly shared posts on social media earlier in January likening mask mandates for children to child abuse.

"Forcing children to wear masks is causing massive physical & psychological harm - that can only be defined as child abuse," he wrote.

The poll found that disapproval of Kelly was strong across party lines with 77 per cent of coalition voters agreeing that he should be censured.

In the wake of the post the peak body for Australian doctors, the Australian Medical Association (AMA), called on Morrison to publicly condemn Kelly and others who were "torching the foundation of community health and science."

"Hopefully we can get the leaders being very strong and clear in their advice and strong about supporting science," AMA Vice President Chris Moy said.

The Australia Institute also found that 56 per cent of voters agreed that Morrison should criticize or condemn outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the capitol hill riots.

Morrison condemned participants in the riots for the "terribly distressing" scenes but has not addressed Trump's role. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )