In late 2022, the era of prolonged shutdowns, rigid border closures, unnecessary panics, social distancing and strict curfews seems more like a nightmare most people prefer to forget. But a scathing independent review of Australia’s COVID response is an awkward reminder of how governments made some very bad choices and why acknowledging this is the best way to avoid similar errors in a future crisis.

Not that humility or a willingness to concede errors is apparent among COVID’s political leadership group. As leader of the Opposition at the time, Anthony Albanese can afford to say it’s a “serious piece of work” which raises concerns and will feed into the government’s promised national investigation.