State’s Covid probe should be like ‘royal commission’

The Nationals first wanted a Covid review in the early days of the pandemic, while the state’s AMA thinks a medical expert is needed.

Western Australia’s opposition want the McGowan government’s probe into their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic to have powers similar to that of a royal commission.

It was announced on Thursday a panel of three experts, including former Liberal health minister John Day, would examine the state’s handling of the health crisis before handing down a report mid-year.

That includes examining lockdowns, mask requirements, and the tough border closure that kept many from being with loved ones in their final moments or from being at their funerals.

Nationals leader Mia Davies welcomed the announcement but added it was something the opposition had wanted for two years.

Lockdowns forced many restaurants to close their doors or offer takeaway-only service where possible.

“We hope (the experts) have unfettered access to the information in terms of how it's been managed over the course of the last two to three years,” Ms Davies said.

“And we would hope the report is presented to parliament, and certainly there’ll be an opportunity for people to provide open and transparent feedback. That’s how those reviews should be conducted.“

But opposition emergency services spokesman Martin Aldridge wants the powers granted to the reviewers to be beefed up.

“The opposition’s preference was to establish a special inquiry, which is akin to a royal commission, that would ensure the independence of the inquiry and also give special powers to compel agencies, as well as others, to provide documents as required,” Mr Aldridge said on Thursday.

“The Opposition Leader wrote to the Premier very early on, suggesting this would be a good opportunity while we didn‘t have Covid in our community to assess and test our systems and processes.

“I think there still could have been things done better, although we fared very well during the Covid-19 experience. There‘s always learning for these kind of events.

“There was significant government expenditure, there was significant disruption to our economy at different stages, there are going to be lessons to be learned, and I hope that they are learned in a transparent and accountable way,” said Mr Aldridge, speaking after a tour of areas still devastated by flooding in WA’s Kimberley region.

Opposition Leader Mia Davies has been calling for a review.

AMA WA president Mark Duncan-Smith says the panel needs a medical representative.

Meanwhile, the body representing WA’s medical professionals said the panel needed a doctor.

“We’re concerned the panel appear to be made up of bureaucratic political experts in corporate governance,” Australian Medical Association WA branch president Mark Duncan-Smith said.

“It would have been nice to see an independent medical expert appointed.

“We do welcome the review, it’s a responsible thing for the government to do, and appointing a former Liberal minister shows there is a degree of independence.”

He expects the review to show the hard border restrictions were “very effective.”

“We had a situation of Covid containment until we got to a good level of vaccination,” Dr Duncan-Smith said.

“As a result, we had one of the lowest rates of mortality anywhere in the world.”

He said he hoped the probe also examined the social and economic impacts of the emergency pandemic measures as well as the health impacts.