Coronavirus: Peter Dutton ‘demands answers’ of China over virus origins

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, himself a victim of COVID-19, has ripped into China, demanding answers on the origin of the virus.

Peter Dutton has demanded China come clean over claims the COVID-19 virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, arguing the families of 63 dead Australians deserve the truth.

The Home Affairs Minister has made the strongest comments of an Australian political leader to date on the claims, which have been dismissed for weeks as a conspiracy theory.

The Wuhan wet market has long been regarded as the original site where the virus spread with the sale of live animals including bats speculated as a factor.

However, US President Donald Trump has recently fuelled speculation that the virus may have escaped from the lab to the wet markets by accident, because of poor practices at the lab.

Mr Dutton, who contracted the virus overseas and spent weeks unwell, said China needed to be more “transparent” about the truth.

“Well, the US is saying they’ve got documentation which demonstrates that the virus had a particular path or origin. I think they’ll detail all of that information,’’ he told the Nine Network.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has taken aim at China. Picture: Gary Ramage

“But look, I do think there will be a reset about the way in which the world interacts with China. We do want more transparency.”

The Washington Post has previously reported that in March 2018, the US dispatched science diplomats to the Wuhan Institute of Virology over concerns about practices at the lab.

Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic started, US Embassy officials visited the research facility warning intelligence agencies it was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats.

The Post’s report noted the incident had fuelled discussions inside the US government about whether a Wuhan lab was the source of the virus but noted this was despite the fact “conclusive proof has yet to emerge.”

China has denied the claims and COVID-19 researchers have previously rejected claims the virus is a man-made biological weapon. But those theories do not preclude a bat virus escaping the lab.

A research lab in Wuhan, China. Picture: US EPA

Mr Dutton said Australians had a right to know how the pandemic started.

“Hundreds of people obviously very gravely ill as a result in our country. Look at the loss overseas. All of those families would demand answers and transparency,’’ he said.

“And, I don’t think it’s too much to ask. It would certainly be demanded of us if Australia was at the epicentre of this virus making its way into society.

“So I think it is incumbent upon China to answer those questions and provide the information, so that people can have clarity about exactly what happened because we don’t want it to be repeated. And, we know that this is not the first instance of a virus being spread from the wildlife wet markets and we need to be honest about that.

“Hopefully you can have China answering these questions, that are reasonably put and people can have more confidence.

The United States, meanwhile, has stepped up its pressure on China over the coronavirus pandemic.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is also calling on Beijing “to come clean” on what it knows.

At a White House news conference on Wednesday, Mr Trump was asked about reports of the virus escaping from a laboratory in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first appeared.

“We are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation that happened,” he said.