Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

While Australians have experienced public health restrictions this year, the federal government has supported 2.19 million individuals, who have been paid out of a total of $12.59 billion in COVID-19 disaster payments.

In 2021, the COVID-19 select committee has held 17 public hearings, which have included nine appearances by officials from the Department of Health. This year, the committee has sent out approximately 470 questions on notice to both government and non-government witnesses. Of those, 260 answers have been returned to the committee.

Since the commencement of this inquiry in April 2020, more than 2,700 questions to witnesses have been put on notice, and more than 2,160 responses to those questions have been received. The committee's public hearings have been held in addition to the regular parliamentary sitting weeks and appearances of government departments, and their agencies, before Senate estimates hearings. It is clear that parliamentary scrutiny is operating as normally as possible and that parliament is fulfilling its duty to keep the government accountable, even when challenges have arisen owing to public health restrictions across the country.

It should be noted that parliamentary scrutiny of the federal government's response to the pandemic has been far more extensive and robust than any state parliamentary oversight. Given the most onerous restrictions on the liberty of citizens during the pandemic, in the name of public health, have been imposed by state governments, they should at least have as adequate oversight as the federal parliament has put in place. It is regrettable that in many jurisdictions parliamentary committees scrutinising the performance of state governments have been put in place only temporarily, have had few public hearings and have often been chaired by government chairs.