It's one thing not to trust politicians and public servants.
It's another to distrust scientists on human-induced climate change.
![Pauline Hanson is risking sensible debate about how to raise immunisation levels.](/web/20170420201222im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/n/n/m/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gurh5a.png/1490591378382.jpg)
But it's raising irresponsible behaviour to another level when an influential political figure such as Pauline Hanson urges Australians to distrust doctors and medical evidence about the health of their children.
Immunisation is crucial to fighting infectious diseases. It has saved countless lives – one estimate suggests 2.5 million globally each year – and will save many more.
Yet the One Nation leader has breathed new oxygen into conspiracy theories in the vaccination debate.
Worse, Senator Hanson may well have deterred fence sitters from having their children immunised, to lift the required level to maximise the prevention of diseases, such as measles, mumps, whooping cough and many more.
When it comes to the physical and psychological wellbeing of families, Senator Hanson may also have sown the seeds of doubt among parents beyond the usual 12 per cent or so who are initially hesitant about vaccinations.
The Queensland senator said on Sunday morning the federal government was "blackmailing" parents by withholding some welfare payments for unvaccinated children. "Don't do that to people. That's a dictatorship," Senator Hanson said.
She is entitled to criticise the "no jab, no play" policy on the evidence of its effectiveness.
But her comments evoked a long-time tactic of anti-vaxxers who accuse governments of totalitarianism when it comes to immunisation. An Australian report noted the trend in 1998, citing warnings from anti-vaxxers that "no public health risk exists to justify what would amount to be an enforced program of mass brain damage".
It's not Ms Hanson's first attempt at scaring off parents, either. Fourteen months ago she said: "One of my grandchildren is not vaccinated, that was their parents' choice not to vaccinate them."
She also stated the furphy that linked immunisation for measles, mumps and rubella with autism – something Donald Trump did before becoming president. "Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases!" he tweeted in 2014.
As president, Mr Trump has spoken to a leading vaccine sceptic about heading a panel to investigate the autism link, even though the 1998 study that began the theory has been debunked and the Lancet medical journal has withdrawn it from publication.
Yet Senator Hanson did not resile from the autism link on Sunday.
On Monday she sought to distance herself from her own dangerous comments – as she had last year – by saying, "I had my kids vaccinated".
She might realise in hindsight that her ignorant statements on vaccination make it even easier for critics to dismiss her world view as based on conspiracy theories, not rational evidence, or at the least that she talks first and seeks evidence later.
Rather than rely on anti-vaxxer websites for information, the Herald urges all Australian families to have their children vaccinated, for their own good and that of the broader community. If in doubt, read the Australian Academy of Science's 2016 publication debunking myths about immunisation. You will find that vaccines are safe and that the side effects occasionally suffered far outweigh the risks.
The policy focus should not be on the effectiveness or side effects of vaccination but on how to raise immunisation rates. The Herald accepts that punishing welfare recipients for failure to vaccinate might not actually target the people who need reminding or convincing of the benefits.
Of the estimated 2 per cent of parents who are devout non-vaccinators, many are on higher incomes and pay little heed to financial penalties. Figures released last year suggest that 81 per cent of them are still not vaccinating. Nothing will convince them about immunisation.
Others who face practical barriers would be better moved by supportive measures that include family friendly clinic hours, reminders and incentives to improve timeliness of vaccination, and support for the doctors and nurses who are getting children caught-up on vaccines. For the doubters, measures to engage them rather than alienate them from the health care system are better. Overseas studies show that making it harder to claim exemptions can also help raise immunisation rates and are likely to be a fairer option than locking children out from welfare payments, childcare or school.
One thing is certain: Senator Hanson has made it more difficult to develop effective, evidence-based policy designed to raise immunisation rates.