How vitamin D, zinc, Ivermectin got me through, Broadbent

THE Member for Monash, Russell Broadbent, has turned the traditional treatment for COVID-19 on its head.

In two statements to the Australian Parliament in the past week, our local MP has promoted the use of vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, B1 and other supplements “to improve my immune system” as well as the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin as his treatments of choice.

“I won't be vaccinated,” he said, “because my view was the risk from being vaccinated was just as high as the risk, I was taking from getting the virus itself.”

The claims have since brought down a storm of criticism, particularly from the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, of which Wonthaggi’s Dr Nola Maxfield is a former Victorian branch president, specifically from Bairnsdale’s Dr Rob Phair, the current president.

Unlike Mr Broadbent, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia is strongly promoting a third dose of an approved vaccine “the best line of defence against the Omicron variant which has swept through rural communities over recent weeks”.

Quoting Australia’s peak body on immunisation Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), the RDAA says “a booster dose is expected to reduce the risk of symptomatic infection, severe illness and death from COVID, in combination with enhanced public health and social measures.

But just as importantly ATAGI and the rural doctors say “an earlier booster dose is… also expected to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the health system and its the broader impacts on the community”.

So, not only are you doing the right thing by yourself, you’re doing the right thing by the health system and the community.

That’s not how Mr Broadbent sees it. He believes getting the vaccine or not remains a matter of free choice and he’s choosing to go his own way.

“I have never sought to influence people's choices, just made my decision based on the advice from my health practitioners, and I have been pilloried for it,” he said in Parliament in the past week.

On Monday, February 14, while other Federal MPs were using the Members Statements session to pay tribute to a 105-year-old Sydney veteran, the 14th anniversary of the stolen generation apology and the 80th anniversary of the Bangka Island Massacre in World War II; Mr Broadbent was making a personal statement:

“On 21 January this year, I proved positive to COVID. I wasn't too worried about that because my health advice over the last 12 months has had me on vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, B1 and other supplements to improve my immune system, although I was in trepidation about going back home to Phillip Island to tell my wife that I had tested positive.

“I also had access to Ivermectin, which we both immediately went on as soon as I tested positive. We had five days of Ivermectin and then another five days to prove it treated.

“I had some symptoms. I had a bit of a rough time for three or four days. I am not vaccinated. I won't be vaccinated because my view was the risk from being vaccinated was just as high as the risk I was taking from getting the virus itself.

“So, I had to make a decision, and I made a decision on my behalf. I made a decision that I wanted to continue in this House, and I had just been through a fairly major health issue only a few weeks before, so I was fairly vulnerable.

“But I believed I had actually done the right thing and protected my body in the way that I wanted to protect it, by the choice that I made and the choice that all of those demonstrators out there we're talking about have made — choice and freedom and not having the things that they do imposed upon them by politicians in this place and others.”

He continued his comments during debate on the Appropriate Bill whereby $15.9 billion will be committed to additional government programs since the May 2021 Budget, including $2.86 billion to support the government’s response to COVID-19.

However, while his Perth colleague, Ian Goodenough gave a list of projects around Australia that would benefit from an $11.9 billion injection, when Mr Broadbent rose to speak on the bill, it wasn’t to highlight where in the seat of Monash some of that money was going, or should go.

It was back on to the subject of his own experience with COVID-19.

“I have not had a COVID vaccination. There seems to be great interest in my decision. On Monday I updated the House and those interested in my electorate and elsewhere that I had contracted COVID.

“I described what I did to treat myself during the course of my illness and the support I got from the state government, which is the standard support for every person in Victoria. It was a matter of transparency and honesty as far as I was concerned.

“Now I am being accused of spreading dangerous conspiracy theories, according to Dr Rob Phair, President of the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria. I have never done this. I tell it like it is when put to me firsthand. I have only ever put forward views of those I represent who cannot be heard otherwise — heartbreaking stories around vaccinations from both health practitioners and patients alike.

“I represent the views of those often ignored. People who know me know this to be true. Since when has it been the case that, if one wants to tell it like it is — not, as the media puts it, to toe the line or go after a headline — suddenly one is spreading dangerous conspiracy theories?

“I am not a right winger, as you know, Deputy Speaker Coulton, let alone an extremist. I am an independent thinker. I owe no-one and no-one owns me. My parliamentary colleagues know I don't fit into a box. I've crossed the floor in the past on a matter of principle.

“Mind you, the truth can be very threatening if one is in an environment where truth is not valued. Why can we not have a discussion when we have a difference of opinion? Having a discussion does not cost lives. People will continue to decide what vaccines they will have, what treatments they will embrace, and good on them for doing that.

“That is their choice. I have never sought to influence people's choices, just made my decision based on the advice from my health practitioners, and I have been pilloried for it. I have told the House stories of reactions to the vaccine received. They are facts, not hearsay.

“Are we no longer able to bring to light evidence that is uncomfortable, that presents a different picture? It is well known that fear polarises people. When did we become a fearful nation? Divisions are deep in our community, and they are getting deeper. Fear undermines everything and is a powerful form of manipulation.

“There is an alternative. The alternative is love, for love casts out fear. We heard a lot about it in the Religious Discrimination Bill speeches, and I think the member for Burt made a marvellous contribution last week. They were probably the highlight of the 46th Parliament.

“We have a choice: fear or love. Love does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance: 1 Corinthians. Love requires courage as well as compassion, which we see in everyday acts of kindness. Love knows that everyone is entitled to some respect, however great or little.

“Truth must win out, because it's fundamental to good governance, and the people of Australia have every right to expect it. Love, truth, respect, all underpinned with humility. Finally, wisdom—without it, we're dancing in the dark. Love, truth, respect, humility, honesty, integrity and wisdom: I look forward to seeing their manifestation in this parliament.”

He then went on to make some comment about the additional allocation to the budget, expressing his concern that funds provided outside the budget process “are not assessed against any objective criteria”.

Rural doctors critical

As noted by Mr Broadbent himself, his comments have drawn criticism from the medical profession.

Dr Rob Phair of Bairnsdale, President of the Rural Doctors Association, said Mr Broadbent’s message was damaging to the community and a risk to his own health.

“I don’t really want to get into an argument about this. I’d rather be talking about the lack of funding, from the Federal Government, for the health system in general, and specifically in growth areas like Bass Coast and South Gippsland.”

Notwithstanding the $115 million for a new hospital at Wonthaggi, Dr Phair said there weren’t enough health professionals to fill shifts in Bass Coast in particular, including at Cowes and the Wonthaggi area.

“But you can’t let it go. There’s absolutely no scientific basis for what Russell Broadbent is taking about.”

He said the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) strongly discourages self-medication and self-dosing for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.

“It very dangerous to take large doses of ivermectin and there is insufficient evidence to validate its safe and effective use for COVID-19,” according to the TGA.

“But, setting the freedom of choice question aside for a minute, it’s concerning, frankly sad, that a guy who is what, in his 70s, in a high risk group isn’t vaccinated.

“The fact is, he’s at risk of serious illness or death if he doesn’t get vaccinated.

“If this is the sort of message he’s prepared to give to his constituents, his fan base, he needs to be held to account at the ballot box, and it needs to be said, voted out,” Dr Phair said.