The Albanese government is expected to announce on Thursday a three-member panel to lead an inquiry into Australia’s COVID-19 response.
any inquiry that did not have the powers to compel current and former state officials to appear, as a royal commission would have, would be obsolete.“Any serious retrospective inquiry that seeks to go back over this ground would be obsolete if it did not require equal attention and involvement of all state and territory governments who shared in Australia’s response to this one-in-a-100-year event,” he said.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses the media during a press conference on coronavirus covid-19 at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 18 March 2020. fedpol Photo: Alex EllinghausenA royal commission would require the willing co-operation of the states in that they would have to provide joint letters patent.
Despite its heavy criticism of the Morrison government throughout the pandemic, and its calls for an inquiry, Labor has prevaricated since coming into government, saying the nation was still wrestling with the coronavirus.The government’s critics suspect it is trying to shield Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk and Victoria’s Dan Andrews, both Labor premiers and the only two pandemic leaders, still in power from criticism.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said previously any inquiry without powers to examine the role of the states would be little more than an anti-Coalition witch hunt. is the political editor based in Canberra. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Lyneham award for press gallery excellence.
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