Senior ministers are contradicting each other and Labor MPs are beginning to question the judgement of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his inner circle amid blanket condemnation of the inquiry into the nation’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The three-member panel, which has no powers, no legal expertise and may not conduct hearings, has, under its terms of reference, been excluded from scrutinising unilateral decisions made by the states, such as lockdowns, border closures, vaccine mandates and school closures.