Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

All members of this chamber have been working in our communities to support Australians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to do so for some time. The health crisis has led to an economic crisis, and, let's face it: the former will be shorter than the latter. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, more than 4.1 million positive cases have been reported worldwide, and 281,000 people have lost their lives. Few will be left untouched, and some survivors will carry more scars than others. Tragically, nearly 100 Australians have died from COVID-19—all lives unnecessarily cut short—and many have struggled to survive it. Thankfully, we have largely contained COVID-19 for now. But we should be cautious and acknowledge it is only for now. Outbreaks will occur, as the Prime Minister has said, but meanwhile the economic wave is only just picking up. Already hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs. People who have never turned to the welfare system have joined a Centrelink queue because they have no alternative. Businesses are struggling and at risk of folding. The JobKeeper lifeline is just that, and many businesses will need to chart a difficult road back as restrictions are relaxed and as they manage the growth of their business and the expectations of their employees. Retirees have watched the value of their savings disappear and their incomes with it. The security of retirement now looks a lot shakier than it did only three months ago. Australians want answers, the people of China want answers, and people in other countries want answers too. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect billions of lives, secrecy is, more than ever, fundamentally dangerous to humanity and poses future risks. That's why we need an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan so that we can make sure this does not happen again.

There are three factors that affect the transmission of any infectious disease: the agent, the host and the environment. The agent, in the case of COVID-19, is a terrifyingly virulent virus, which we hope to learn more about through scientific inquiry. As hosts with no pre-existing immunity, we are all at risk. But Australia is at the frontier of vaccine research, harnessing our biomedical expertise while contributing $352 million to the global vaccine fund. We have much to be proud of in our adversity. The remaining factor in the epidemiological triad is our environment, which includes the surroundings that allow pathogens to thrive.

To investigate the environmental factors specific to COVID-19, the world needs an open, transparent inquiry into the origins of the virus. In this pursuit, Australia can proudly say that it has been a global leader, under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne. It is part of our enduring mission as a free nation that builds international co-operation and connectedness. As the foreign minister rightly said in a recent speech at the ANU, our region expects Australia's contribution to include a steadfast support for free and liberal trading rules; clear and unequivocal advocacy of resilient sovereign states that determine their own futures in their own national interests; the defence of individual human rights and freedoms; and a vision for the Indo-Pacific region. It is precisely these values that guide us to having an independent and transparent review of COVID-19's origins. Many other nations support this effort, including the EU, the US and the United Kingdom. Our hope remains that China will get on board with this important effort, because the focus is clear. In leading calls for a transparent inquiry, we are only seeking evidence and advice. We want to know where it came from, why and how, and to make sure that honest straightforward questions with clear intent are answered. Let's be clear: if the situation were reversed, we would still want the same, because we have nothing to fear from the truth.

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