Covid inquiry: Labor premiers are off the hook, but it’s still baited

Anthony Albanese isolating with Copvid in December 2022. Picture: AAP

Anthony Albanese has let his state Labor mates off the hook and ensured he has a vehicle to continue a vendetta against the former Morrison government.

Beyond that, the promised Covid inquiry will be hamstrung by its own impotency, restricted in its scope and undermined by the motivation of the government in establishing it in the way it has.

By prohibiting investigation of the state governments and the brutality of their lockdowns to focus only on the role of the commonwealth, the Prime Minister has denied Australians a proper examination of one of the darkest social impositions in the nation’s history.

It’s about as political as it gets.

The pandemic was one of the most disruptive events in tour history outside of wartime. No one should be excluded from its scope.

Albanese cites the unprecedented dislocation, stress, mental health, loss of life, and economic consequences as the reasons an inquiry is warranted.

However, these are apparently not reason enough to merit a royal commission.

He argues that he never promised a royal commission into the pandemic in the first place.

Maybe not exclusively, but he had most certainty raised that ­expectation.

The argument against one now is based on four fallacies.

The first suggests that there have already been 20 inquiries across all jurisdictions into the pandemic. By this logic, then the question begs as to why the need for another?

Of the 20 inquiries Albanese refers to, one stands out.

The Senate inquiry established in 2020 into the pandemic hosted 56 public hearings, heard from 679 witnesses, published 557 submissions and took 2238 questions on notice.

It was established by the Senate on a bipartisan basis to run as a real-time oversight committee over the course of the pandemic.

Its chair was the now Finance Minister, Katy Gallagher, and one of its recommendations was for a royal commission into Covid.

The second is that royal commissions are headed up by judges. This suggests that a member of the judiciary – from which he drew to interrogate Scott Morrison’s multiple ministries - would be less competent than the independent panel he has chosen.

It is also incorrect. The veterans’ royal commission is headed up by a former NSW deputy police commissioner and the bushfire royal commission was fronted by a former chief of the defence force.

The argument that a royal commission would take too long also doesn’t pass scrutiny. The Covid inquiry will have a year to report. The Robodebt royal commission took less time.

Finally, in defending the decision, Albanese posed the question: what can a royal commission do that this can’t? The answer is: a lot.

Most Australians would probably prefer not to endure the catharsis of another inquiry into Covid but there will now be widespread incredulity at the restricted scope of this one.

Albanese may believe there is a pay-off in prolonging the demonisation of the Morrison government and continuing his weaponisation of the pandemic, but there are risks too in the unconcealed way he seeks to pursue it.

Albanese said he wanted the inquiry to be beyond politics, “positive and constructive rather than destructive”.

Few will believe this.