Bill to Establish Inquiry Into COVID-19 Response Fails in Australian Senate

If passed, the inquiry would have had the same powers and independence as a royal commission.
Babet accused Australia’s “political class” of denying the public a complete account of what happened.
Senators who supported the motion were Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts (One Nation), Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell (Nationals), Gerard Rennick, Andrew McLachlan, Richard Colbeck and Matt O’Sullivan (Liberals), and David Pocock (Independent).
The Greens and most other Liberals abstained, and all Labor senators voted against the Bill.
This time, there was a dissenting report from the two Labor members.
They then took the position that the COVID-19 Response Inquiry announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and headed by Robyn Kruk “is being conducted by an independent panel who have extensive experience across public health, social care, government, and economics” and was due to deliver its report by Sept. 30.
They added that recent royal commissions take several years, some up to half a decade, to present a report.
Speaking in opposition to today’s motion, Ayres noted that Liberal and National senators had expressed support and claimed “a pandemic of kookiness” had overtaken both parties across the country, not just Queensland.
Ayres also criticised Dutton’s leadership, saying he needed to “take seriously his responsibility as a political leader, and that is, you don’t back the cranks. You don’t back the conspiracy theorists. You draw a line.”
Meanwhile, Rennick claimed he had lost his Queensland Senate preselection due to his stance on COVID.
Its terms of reference explicitly exclude it from examining “any actions taken unilaterally by state and territory governments,” which means lockdowns, state border closures, contact tracing failures and successes, school closures, vaccine mandates, and policing techniques will all be exempt from scrutiny.
In February, Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay said it was not the “best option” to examine the issue.
“The powers of a royal commission to request documents, summons witnesses, take evidence under oath and hold public hearings are essential to ensure that the pandemic response can be reviewed in a comprehensive way,” she said.
The Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry were also critical, as were the Australian Institute for Progress, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, among others.