The decision to award high-profile ABC health guru Dr Norman Swan one of the highest honours the country has to offer has sparked anger from commentators on both sides of the political spectrum

The decision to award high-profile ABC health guru Dr Norman Swan one of the highest honours the country has to offer has sparked anger from commentators on both sides of the political spectrum.

Dr Swan was named as a member of the Order of Australia on in recognition of his ‘significant service to the broadcast media as a science and health commentator’.

The Order of Australia has four tiers of which the Scottish-born doctor’s ‘member’ title is the second highest and allows him to use the suffix ‘AM’ after his name.

However, the decision to award Dr Swan the gong sparked anger in some quarters – given he was forced to make a grovelling apology for wrongly claiming and Labor senator Kimberley Kitching had Covid infections before they died.

ABC health guru Norman Swan (above) received one of Australia’s highest honours for his commentary on the coronavirus pandemic

Several right and left-wing commentators slammed Dr Swan’s award with refugee advocate Shane Bazzi calling his new title a ‘joke’ (pictured, Bazzi’s reaction)

Dr Swan’s credibility came under fire in November when he suggested the fatal heart attacks suffered by the cricket legend and Ms Kitching, both 52, were related to the virus – which was later refuted.

Journalist Prue MacSween slammed Dr Swan’s new accolade while referring to the doctor’s biggest controversy.

‘Australia is the land of opportunity, but to award Dr Norman Swan an AM for “significant services to the broadcast media as a science and health commentator” is a joke,’ MacSween wrote on Twitter.

‘Remembering the late Kimberley Kitching and Shane Warne.RIP.’

Dr Swan was accused by critics of being a Covid doomsayer during the pandemic and faced backlash for blaming famous cricketer Shane Warne’s (above) heart attack on Covid

Journalist Prue MacSween also shared a scathing tweet (above) criticising Dr Swan’s Order of Australia membership

From the Left side of the political spectrum, refugee advocate Shane Bazzi also called the decision a ‘joke’ and accused Dr Swan of feeding Covid fears.

‘Norman Swan is a fear-mongering alarmist who…made disgraceful false claims about Shane Warne and Kimberley Kitching’s deaths,’ he tweeted.

‘Shameful that this is rewarded and celebrated.’

But the attention wasn’t all negative with the ABC congratulating Dr Swan on his award.

‘Norman has been a mainstay of Radio National for over 30 years, and has become one of Australia’s most respected and “http://rakoapk.ru trusted voices on health and science,’ it said.

Journalist Prue MacSween (above) called Dr Swan’s award a ‘joke’ and pointed to his mistake of relating Shane Warne and Kimberley Kitching’s deaths to Covid

Dr Swan (right) has won many awards and accolades for his work at the ABC over the past four decades, including a Gold Walkley fin 1988 for exposing fraudulent research

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