Outspoken Australian senator Jacquie Lambie has called for Australians opposed to mandatory vaccinations to "be a Goddamn bloody adult", put others before themselves and step forward to get the jab.
Her impassioned plea came after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson attempted to introduce a private members bill seeking to ban mandatory vaccinations and overturn state and territory leader's requirements for full vaccination to be required in some settings.
The bill, which was eventually voted against by an overwhelming majority, was seconded by Nationals senator Matt Canavan and supported by Liberal backbencher Gerard Rennick, who alongside Alex Antic crossed the floor to support the bill.
Senator Hanson and fellow One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts were not able to vote for their own bill, because they were attending parliament remotely. She requested for leave to be granted that the record show they were in support of the bill.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison granted Senator Hanson approval to introduce the bill, but said the government would not support it.
In introducing her bill, Senator Hanson said it was "absolutely vital" that Australians had the right to choose whether they wanted to receive the vaccine.
"You might not agree with the choices that people make, but that doesn't mean the right to choose should be stolen from them," she said.
"We (in the Senate) are charged with protecting their rights ... This is a pandemic of discrimination ...
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's private members bill was voted down in the senate. Photo / NCA NewsWire
Senator Rennick said he had been contacted by "thousands" of people who wanted the Prime Minister and the government to stand up to state premiers attempting to introduce mandates.
"Politicians should not be holding people to ransom … People should not be held to ransom with their livelihoods."
Senator Lambie said One Nation could not be champions for "discrimination" given their long history of discriminating against people with disabilities, people of multicultural backgrounds and the LGBTIQ community.
"If you get behind the wheel of a car and drive twice the speed, you are putting other people's lives at risk. You don't have the right to do that," she said.
"You are not being discriminated against. You choose to do something that puts other people's lives at risk. You will be held accountable for that.
"People who don't get the vaccine have a choice. We all get a choice ... You're making a choice that means you're more likely to get Covid-19 and spread it, that is your choice, that is your right.
"Having the freedom to choose isn't the same as having the freedom to avoid the consequences of that choice. You have freedom to make a choice, but if you make a choice, those choices have consequences.
"But you don't get to decide how the rest of Australia responds to that choice ... We have to put others before ourselves.
"Being held accountable for your own actions isn't called discrimination, it's called being - you wouldn't believe it - a goddamn bloody adult."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has returned to Canberra for the final sitting fortnight of 2021. Photo / NCA NewsWire
The introduction of the bill was set to cause major headaches for the government, which is hoping to introduce controversial voter identification legislation and the Religious Discrimination Bill.
In the end, five government senators crossed the floor, a move the Prime Minister said they were fully entitled to make.
"We do not run as an autocracy," Morrison said.
"We do not agree with the measures that were in the bill, which would indeed threaten funding for hospitals and schools to state ... I respect that individual members will express a view and vote accordingly, as happened today.
"We as a party can deal with any differences that occur from time to time."
