Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

In May this year, the head of the World Health Organization warned the world we must prepare for the next pandemic, which could be even deadlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts say it's a case of when, not if. And will Australia be ready? Absolutely not. You've learnt nothing. I sat on that committee. You've learnt nothing. There is no more manufacturing in place. You don't want to look at our public health system. That was our biggest problem. We went into lockdown because our public health system wasn't up to scratch and, by God, it hasn't got any better. That is where your main problem is, and we've all paid the price for that. It's been disgusting.

In January 2022 Anthony Albanese told the National Press Club:

It is beyond comprehension that this Government has actively refused to learn from this pandemic.

Yet we have a new government. There was a Senate select committee which delivered its report in April 2023. There were 19 recommendations. One of those recommendations was to set up a royal commission. Now, Australians may think: 'You had a select committee. Why spend the money?' But I'll tell you this, Australians: a royal commission has the power to compel witnesses and get documents that the government and these committees do not—documents that would show how key decisions were made. A Senate select committee doesn't have the power to get its hands on things like recommendation 18, which recommended seeing the minutes of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, the AHPPC, the key decision-making body for health emergencies.

If we don't know what mistakes we have made or what deals were done or what the cover-ups were, how are we possibly going to get ready for the next one that hits? Seriously, that was your warning, guys, and your biggest issue, which you've still done nothing about and which has deteriorated even more, is the public health system in our country! That's what threw us into lockdown. It threw us into lockdown because we did haven't enough nurses out there and we didn't have PPE. My God, you've learned nothing, and we're going into the same fight again! Wake up! (Time expired)