Evidence is mounting that our political class is baulking at the promised Covid Royal Commission. We keep hearing about the potential of future pandemics so surely it’s prudent to learn from the last time one was declared?

In 1824, the world’s first Royal Commission was conducted in Britain and was concerned with the quality of schools. It was widely regarded as a valuable public inquiry and Britain averaged almost one Royal Commission a year for the remainder of the 19th Century.

A Royal Commissioner has more power than a judge to compel witnesses, documents, and testimony. They don’t have the power to make law, but the findings of these supreme inquiries are treated as near sacrosanct by the public, the press, and our parliaments (the inclusion of the word ‘royal’ adds aura).

In August 1902, our infant federal government passed the Royal Commissions Act. Within days, the first Australian Royal Commission was underway which tackled the vexed problem of soldiers returning from the Boer War. More than a year afterwards, the Commonwealth passed legislation establishing our High Court. This chronology tells us our founders considered Royal Commissions a higher priority than the constitutionally mandated High Court.

Reviewing the titles of our 140 federally sponsored Royal Commissions is a fascinating window into what was of paramount public interest at key moments in our past … which brings us to Covid.

Australia’s response to Covid was extraordinary. Our nation’s longest-serving treasurer, Peter Costello, knows a thing or two about prudent government. Costello was aghast when he recently spoke with former deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, remarking, ‘I promise you, we will look back on 2020-21 and we’ll say, wow, we really closed workplaces? You weren’t allowed out of your home? If you walked around the block on your own you had to have a mask? How did we put up with that infringement of individual liberty?’

Sacred civil liberties aside, the Commonwealth spent at least $300 billion in a vain attempt to stop the masses catching a virus (we did, however, catch inflation).

The case for a Covid Royal Commission is beyond compelling. Until this week, Anthony Albanese seemed to agree.

In January 2022, then Opposition Leader Albanese told the National Press Club, ‘It is beyond comprehension this government has refused to learn from this pandemic.’ Albanese was then asked if he won the coming election, whether he would have a Covid Royal Commission. Albanese replied, ‘It’s beyond doubt we will need an assessment. When we get towards the end [of the pandemic], then you’d give consideration to that. Whether that would be a Royal Commission or some form of inquiry, it will need to happen.’

A month before the May 2022 election, a Senate committee chaired by ALP senator, Katy Gallagher, released a report calling for a Royal Commission into the handling of the pandemic. In response, the soon to be Prime Minister said, ‘I cannot envisage a situation in which, whoever wins, the government wouldn’t want to examine the once-in-a-century pandemic and the response. You have to do so. We have to examine it so we learn the lessons.’

Three months after the election, Nine News’ then Canberra bureau chief Chris Uhlmann asked the new Prime Minister, ‘Are you going to call a Royal Commission into Covid so Australians know exactly what was going on?’ Albanese responded, ‘I’ve said consistently that once we are through the pandemic it would be inconceivable, that you would not have a proper examination of the handling of the pandemic.’ Around the same time, Albanese was interviewed by Andrew Clennell on Sky News Australia and said, ‘From opposition I said that I couldn’t envision circumstances where after you had a once in a century global pandemic and an extraordinary response with the largest economic stimulus that we’ve seen in Australia, that we would just move on and not have an examination of what went well, how things could be improved. I would have thought you’d want to do something as soon as practicable.’

On Monday this week, Albanese was again asked about the long-promised Covid inquiry. Remarkably, he responded by insisting the Covid crisis is ongoing so we just have to keep waiting. Someone in the Prime Minister’s office needs to update the boss on the good news – even the fear-mongers at the World Health Organisation have formally declared the pandemic is over.

The Prime Minister’s hesitancy may be explained by the cold feet of some Labor Premiers. Andrew Clennell has reported premiers Annastacia Palaszczuk and Daniel Andrews are not enthusiastic about an independent review of their decisions over the last few years. As Clennell notes, ‘Most leaders won’t want their voters reminded of the nasty time they had during the pandemic’. The hesitancy of leaders might be understandable, but it is not acceptable in a liberal democracy. It is imperative our leaders and the general public have a clear understanding of what worked, what went wrong, and what we can learn for the future. Whether people cheered on the harsh restrictions or chafed under the loss of liberties, both should be keen to see the political decisions carefully reviewed.

It smells like Premiers Palaszczuk and Andrews (and probably others) are committed to kicking the Covid Royal Commission can down the road. This is one broken promise the Liberal Party has no interest in highlighting as that party was at least equally responsible for our Covid response. The Prime Minister’s enthusiasm also seems to have wobbled recently despite his earlier emphatic remarks.

The Prime Minister and his Cabinet would set the terms of reference plus recommend who the Governor-General appoints as commissioner. Are they fearful that even with that stacked deck, the findings of woeful governance would be unavoidable?

Please be blunt Mr Prime Minister. Will we have a Covid Royal Commission? If so, when? If not, why not?

The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a Liberal Democrat member of the NSW Legislative Council

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in