Conspiracy theory expert, Dr Kaz Ross, has labelled Pete Evans’ run for NSW Senate a “publicity stunt with dangerous implications”.
The Great Australian Party, led by ex-One Nation senator Rod Culleton, announced on Friday that the former celebrity chef would be its first federal candidate.
Evans has repeatedly promoted anti-vaccination views on social media. Last November, Evans’ book publisher and various other commercial partners cut ties with the chef after he shared a cartoon featuring a Neo-Nazi symbol.
At the time, Evans apologised for ‘mistakenly’ sharing the symbol and claimed he “had to actually Google what neo-Nazi meant.”
Dr Ross told The Feed Evans has a “nose for clicks” and a special talent for making headlines.
She believes Evans’ run for Senate is not motivated by his interest in politics but an attempt to bolster his celebrity status.
Pete Evans on Channel 7's 'My Kitchen Rules' Source: AAP
“It’s just a celebrity move and that really cheapens what the political system is about,” Dr Ross said.
“The danger is turning politics into a popularity circus. Do we want celebrity culture spilling over into politics?” she added.
Evans recently attracted attention for interviewing Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who’s been criticised for sharing misinformation about so-called treatments for COVID-19 on Facebook.
Dr Ross said the interview with Kelly exposed Evans’ gaping knowledge about the Australian political system.
Despite his political ambitions, Evans asked the MP, “What is it that you do for your electorate if that’s the correct terminology?”
He then followed up by asking, “So currently where are you sitting? You said you’re in Canberra, so explain your title,” before asking Mr Kelly to explain the role of the Senate.
Coalition MP Craig Kelly Source: AAP
“You can tell from his interview that he did with [MP] Craig Kelly that he has zero concept of how the Senate works or what a senator does,” Dr Ross said.
Evans bid for a Senate seat comes as the US sees anpromoting conspiracy theories enter the political arena.
Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene apologised last week for her previous embrace of QAnon and for falsely suggesting that several mass shootings were secretly perpetrated by government actors.
Marjorie Taylor Greene holds a press conference just outside the Capitol at the House Triangle. Source: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA
Dr Ross said the QAnon movement, in which its followers believe an elite cabal is running a global sex trafficking ring, has weakened the public’s trust in democracy.
“Here in Australia, we’ve got a lot of challenges for our country. So let’s get the best representatives we can get,” she added.
So what are Evans chances of nabbing a Senate seat? According to Dr Ross: “absolutely zero”.
In the 2019 federal election, GAP won 0.04 percent of the vote, whereas smaller parties like One Nation received 3.08 percent and The Greens, 10.4 percent.
Facebook said it removed a Pete Evans page for repeatedly breaching its misinformation polices. Source: Instagram
Dr Ross said The Great Australian Party has been “sniffing around” the anti-lockdown movement and “sits on the fringe of the sovereign citizens movement.”
The Great Australian Party claims on its website that its primary objective is to uphold Commonwealth Law.
Another policy listed on the website is to stop “forced medications”, including vaccinations and fluoride.
Mr Culleton resigned from One Nation in 2016. At the time, Senator Pauline Hanson said she was "glad to see the back of him" and he'd been "a pain in my backside".
Leader of The Great Australian Party, Rod Culleton. Source: AAP
That same year, he was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court over a $280,000 debt to a Perth businessman.
He was later disqualified from the Senate in early 2017 during a High Court decision, according to .
On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was asked about whether Pete Evans running for Senate would undermine confidence in the vaccine roll-out.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Source: AAP
Mr Morrison answered “no”, before adding, “I do not propose you give him any air. I will not give him any.”
While Liberal Senator, Simon Birmingham told Sky News he trusted the Australian people to elect “more sensible” people to the parliament.
“I think Australians have little tolerance for some of the types of views that Pete Evans has pushed in the past and will elect more sensible people to the Australian Senate at the next election.”
When asked about Evans’ Senate run, Labor MP Tanya Plibersek told The Feed, “Australia’s a democracy.”
“He’s perfectly entitled to run for election, just as Australians are perfectly entitled not to vote for him.”
In a statement to The Feed, Greens Senator for NSW Dr Mehreen Faruqi said the idea of Pete Evans joining her in the chamber “makes my skin crawl.”
“Let’s be clear about who this guy is. He’s not a ‘celebrity chef’ anymore. He’s a dangerous conspiracy theorist who has shared neo-Nazi content,” Dr Faruqi wrote.
“We can’t let the far-right and conspiracy theorists become more accepted as part of mainstream politics.”
“Everyone has the right to run for election, but no one owes these conspiracy theorists a platform.”
The Feed has contacted Pete Evans and Rod Culleton from The Great Australian Party for comment.
