Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate acknowledges that:

(a) there has been a concerning number of excess deaths in Australia in 2021 and 2022, as evidenced by recent all-cause provisional mortality data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics; and

(b) there is a need for further inquiry and scrutiny as to the reasons for these excess deaths, including why dementia and diabetes have seen significant increases in recent years.

Earlier today, I moved a motion to create a select committee to examine excess deaths in our country. It was voted down by 35 senators in this place whose names will live on in infamy. Statements were made by both major parties as to why it would not be supported. I've got to say the response was as predictable as it was unsatisfactory. Many of us here in this place claim to care about Australians, but by the actions that happened today it doesn't look like we do. The opposition at least expressed concern over the excess deaths, but they are potentially more interested in covering up the mistakes of the past. As for the government: 'Well, don't worry, Australia,' they said. 'It's all being handled already by the institutions we have in place—nothing to see here.' That was the thinly veiled message.

The fact that Australia is right now experiencing its highest mortality rate in over 80 years must be cause for concern and it must be a priority for everyone in this place. It should be front-page news. According to Actuaries Institute figures released earlier this month, Australia experienced an 11 per cent increase in excess deaths in 2022, the greatest number since World War II. It's not all COVID. Only around a third of nearly 23,000 excess deaths, according to the most recent ABS report, have been attributed to COVID-19. The remainder, a truly significant amount of excess mortality, is not recorded as COVID related; in fact, it is largely unexplained. What's more alarming is that the Actuaries Institute states that excess mortality was a significant percentage in all age groups in 2022. So we're seeing significant excess mortality across all age groups, even among young people.

There is an urgent need to examine what is giving rise to this sudden and extraordinary increase in mortality. Australia is a sick country, and we know there isn't a simple solution. It is a complex issue. It requires investigation. Whether it's heart disease, cancer, diabetes or dementia, whether the underlying causes are diet, lifestyle, unexpected consequences of lockdowns or something else, there needs to be an urgent investigation. We must emerge with answers for the Australian people—we must.

When Australian citizens are dying in numbers well beyond expert predictions, at rates not seen in a hundred years, it is appropriate for us to inquire as to the reasons. I don't know any member of parliament who could just shrug off excess deaths or dismiss the need for more investigation. My call earlier today to establish this committee would, at the very least, have given us a better understanding and would have, hopefully, given us a practical way to address what is now a deeply disturbing trend. Like I said before, that call went unheeded by the majority of those in this place. Only a few caring, dedicated senators decided to stand with me, and I thank them for doing so.

We must find answers. We owe it to our family members, to our neighbours and to the people we represent. Imagine if a Boeing 737 crashed. Imagine how tragic that would be. Surely the government would have something to say then? But what if a 737 crashed every two to three days for 11 straight months—131 planes falling out of the sky? That's what we're dealing with here. The data from the ABS clearly shows this, albeit in a more silent way. There were 22,886 more deaths in the first 11 months of last year when compared with the historical average—a 15 per cent increase. Year-on-year increases in deaths should be around one per cent, yet we saw 15 per cent in 2022. While this is happening, the government and the health authorities say nothing and, more importantly, do nothing. Like we heard today from the government: 'It's already being handled. Don't worry about it.' That's just not good enough.

Our media are largely silent on the issue of people dying in big numbers. Forget the football results, forget the latest woke outrage; this needs to be front-page news. This needs to be on the nightly news bulletins. The media fronted up and ran hour-long press conferences with health ministers to report one or two COVID cases in 2020-21, but where are the media now? We know that 8,824 of the 22,886 excess deaths recorded by the TGA have been linked to COVID 19—that is, around a third—which means we have 14,062 excess deaths with COVID excluded as the cause. It's a big number. We need to know why. Dementia deaths are trending 15 per cent above average; diabetes deaths, 19 per cent above average. Interestingly, influenza and pneumonia deaths are down 15 per cent for the year, which makes the numbers more alarming.

I'm not sure if many senators here in this place want to turn their minds back to 2020 and 2021. I assume most of us have buried those years in a deep, dark corner of our minds, hoping those years will just disappear. Well, they won't. Those years have set in motion a chain of events that could quite reasonably have contributed in many ways to our excess mortality. If only we were able to set up a committee, if only we were able to inquire into the reasons why—if only my colleagues in this place had listened; if only they'd cared, and supported my proposal just a few short hours ago.

So many interventions were forced on our people in those dark times just past. There were so many actions that contradicted previous learnings and best practice; so many actions that were not supported by any evidence whatsoever; so much bluff, fear and intimidation. Our borders were closed internationally, between states and sometimes between our local neighbourhoods. Lockdowns were brutally enforced. Elective surgery was cancelled. Cancer screenings were delayed and missed. Gyms were closed. Outdoor activities were outlawed. The elderly were brutally cut off from society. Jobs and businesses were destroyed, and some of them still haven't recovered. Families were separated. People were dying alone. Funerals occurred without loved ones attending. Marriages were an afterthought. And novel drugs were introduced and mandated without any long-term safety data.

The list goes on, and we all know that every one of these things could have adversely impacted our health and potentially led to death. We'll probably never know, because the vast majority of those in this place thought it not worthy of investigation.

The Australian people were initially told that mRNA injections would stop them getting infected with COVID, would stop them spreading it and, most importantly, stop them dying from it. We were told that we were selfish if we were not willing to be vaccinated and that we could kill Grandma or Grandpa. Around 97.5 per cent of Australians over 16 followed the government advice and have had at least one dose—one mRNA injection. Yet the only data that accurately identifies the vaccination status of those who got COVID, which was published in New South Wales for six months, until December last year, showed quite clearly that the vaccinated are more likely to be infected, to be hospitalised and to die of COVID.

It is time for the government to be honest with the public. We need to see the vaccination status, age and comorbidities of every person dying in Australia. More than 11 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Australia, and almost 20,000 deaths. It is clear, very clear, that the mRNA injections do not adequately prevent infection, transmission or death. At best, they are ineffective. 'Safe and effective'—I'm sure we all recall being told that over and over again. In fact, I'm still hearing that same old line here in this place. We've even got government ministers still pushing the herd immunity line—still, after all that we know today. The science has let us down. Our authorities have failed us. It is time that we in this place remedy the harms that have been inflicted on our people, the harm to science and the harm to medicine.

There is only one way to rebuild trust, and I keep talking about it. It begins with transparency. Mortality rates don't just increase for no reason. There's always a reason. I want to find out why. I want us to investigate. The majority of senators decided that that was not going to happen. Instead, they wanted to keep us in the dark. Why don't we just put this matter to rest? What are we afraid of? It's time for government to admit that it's time to stop recommending these injections and it's time to stop them being mandated: they do nothing.

This is why earlier today I proposed a committee to address the issue of mortality, and everything else. We have a duty in this place to give people answers—at least, I thought we did. Many of us have shown today that we are simply in this game for power—maybe it's power, maybe it's to protect each other, maybe it is to protect both sides of the chamber. We have a duty to seek the truth, and we just failed that today. We denied the Australian people the opportunity to have answers and for our medical professionals to save lives.

The Australian people elect us to represent them. That's what they do. They elect us to represent them in the big issues that we face as a nation. They deserve more than what they got today. May God help the Australian people because, clearly, some in this place are not. It is hard to deny what happened over the last two years. We've all got eyeballs; we all can see what happened. We were misled—at best, we were misled—by big pharma and by global organisations like the WHO and the UN. I call on everyone in this place to do better.