Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

This week the Albanese Labor government made a pathetic attempt to try and continue the cover-up decision in relation to the limited scope of their COVID-19 inquiry, but, despite the desperate weasel words that we heard from the Prime Minister, the terms of reference still explicitly exclude decisions of state and territory governments from being investigated or considered. Panel members remain unable to look at the decisions made by the states and territories about things such as lockdowns and border closures. It's clear that the Prime Minister's approach to this issue has been so disingenuous and chaotic that it's even caused confusion amongst his own party members.

This week, the health minister, Mark Butler, in what seemed like a rather contemptuous attempt to rewrite history, made the statement incorrectly that the terms of reference explicitly include the examination of health response measures, including lockdowns, social distancing requirements, school closures, border closures and the like. This is blatantly incorrect. These decisions are explicitly excluded. The minister even went on to state, 'It would be extraordinary for an inquiry not to examine the operation of these measures.' Well, it would be extraordinary for the inquiry not to consider these measures, but that is exactly what this inquiry continues to do. His government has made a decision to specifically exclude measures such as lockdowns and border closures. It is completely and utterly outrageous.

If the Prime Minister wants to prove that he's serious about having an appropriate and thorough investigation into COVID-19, then he must immediately remove the exemption from his terms of reference. He must immediately acknowledge that the actions of the states and territories had a significant impact on our response to COVID. If the Prime Minister doesn't do this, Australians can only conclude that he is running a protection racket for his mates, the state and territory premiers.