‘I’m not an anti-vaxxer’: how the TGA tried to persuade an LNP senator about vaccine safety

Australia’s medical regulator scrambled to answer a Coalition senator’s frequent attacks on the science supporting COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy, new documents reveal.

Documents obtained by Crikey through a freedom of information request show how staff at the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which oversees the approval of medical goods including the rollout of vaccines, rushed to respond to Queensland Liberal National Party Senator Gerard Rennick’s various concerns about vaccines. This included dispelling misinformation put to the agency, monitoring his social media posts mentioning vaccines or TGA and, staff claim, offering him multiple briefings about TGA processes and the science behind vaccines. 

Rennick, who denies being anti-vaccine, has been a thorn in the side of the TGA for much of his time in Parliament, questioning the administration’s decisions and, more broadly, vaccine safety. Footage of his frequent clashes with former TGA head John Skerritt at Senate estimates shared on social media helped make him one of the biggest Australian political figures on Facebook.

Emails exchanged between staff show the efforts the TGA went to, canvassing the organisation to seek expert advice to answer the backbencher’s various claims, often in short time frames. 

When Rennick sent a letter in late January directly to Health Minister Mark Butler calling for him to “cease the rollout of the ineffective Bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccines”, an email was sent out by the TGA’s vaccine policy and transition branch assistant asking for answers later that day. “Many thanks in advance and apologies for the tight time frames,” the email said.

Within a few hours, another staff member responded with a brief that directly answered Rennick’s concerns, featuring an in-depth breakdown of several studies that refuted the senator’s claims. 

Other documents show the breadth of issues that Rennick brought up with the TGA. Staff circulated a list of his inquiries with titles such as “FOI requests to TGA”, “Misleading information by Professor Kelly and Adjunct Professor Skerritt” and “Lodgement of complaint to TGA regarding vaccine”. 

The emails also show that the TGA kept a close eye on vaccine claims and testimonials circulated on social media by Rennick. Staff received emails rounding up tweets and Facebook posts from Rennick as well as other vaccine-sceptical politicians, including Liberal MP Russell Broadbent and former MP Craig Kelly, typically prompting a discussion about how to best respond. 

In one case, Skerritt silently forwarded an email of “negative social media commentary” about his retirement announcement to federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy. It contained a Facebook post from Rennick featuring a graphic of Skerritt along with the text: “Let’s hope his replacement can answer my questions honestly.”

The emails show how the TGA claimed it repeatedly offered briefings to Rennick which he did not take up, as first reported by The Australian. The agency’s staff say that they offered briefings to Rennick in 2021 and 2022 as well as providing other information to allay his fears about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

“Extensive and detailed information on the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) evaluation of these vaccines has been provided to the senator during hearings of the Senate Community Affairs Committee during 2021 and 2022,” one email said.

Rennick disputes this. He said he spoke to then-health minister Greg Hunt’s staff, had spoken to Skerritt twice in 2021, and did attend one briefing that same year.

“I would have gladly welcomed a chance to take up briefings and as a matter of fact Mark Butler won’t meet with me after asking for a meeting when Labor got into office,” he told Crikey.

Rennick also said he and his children received the normal schedule of childhood vaccines and that he “got lots of shots when [he] travelled”. 

“I am not an anti-vaxxer.”

The TGA did not respond to questions from Crikey by deadline, citing a serious IT systems issue.