In these pages last year your correspondent wrote about a document published by the Health Department of Western Australia that, if the rest of the media were doing its job, should have been a front-page scandal.

Issued early last year, the West Australian Vaccine Safety Surveillance (WAVSS) report for 2021 showed an ‘exponential increase’ in adverse events, with hospitals struggling to cope.

By way of summary, the report noted, ‘The number of adverse events following immunisation reported to WAVSS was significantly higher in 2021 than in previous years… due to the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccination program.’

Throughout 2021, the experience in the rest of the world, as reported in these pages, was that the Covid vaccine was responsible for serious adverse events at a far greater rate than other vaccines. Moreover, it was confirmed on numerous occasions that Covid vaccines do not prevent transmission of the virus, thus undermining the justification for imposing mandatory vaccination policies.

Indeed, the prestigious Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal reported in October 2021 that Covid-19 vaccines have ‘minimal’ impact on preventing transmission of the virus, which blew a hole in the argument that workers needed to get vaccinated to protect those around them.

Tragically, pointless mandatory vaccination policies in this country seemingly led to the death of a teenage girl.

After a long and brave fight with leukaemia, 17-year-old Dazelle Peters died at St Vincent’s Hospital on 10 June. Peters had been rejected for a potentially life-saving lung transplant because she had not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

A hospital spokesperson previously said their ‘policies and guidelines wouldn’t support transplantation’ of an unvaccinated person. This is despite the fact that the vaccine does not prevent transmission and evidence of serious side effects is mounting. As reported recently, research suggests Covid vaccines may have helped fuel the rise in excess deaths since the pandemic.

Two weeks ago, a petition with over 22,500 signatures calling for a full commission of inquiry into this country’s Covid response was presented to the Commonwealth parliament. Subsequently a Bill was put before the Senate that would have given us a real Covid inquiry with teeth.

The Bill was sadly voted down. Disgracefully, three Liberal senators voted against it, namely Simon Birmingham (naturally), James Paterson and Sarah Henderson. But the most mindless performance in the chamber was exhibited by Labor Senator Tim Ayres, who during debate went on a diatribe, using the terms ‘conspiracy theories’ and ‘conspiracy theorists’ more than 20 times.

As we now know, the ‘conspiracy theories’ during the Covid years frequently ended up coming true and the ‘experts’ as often as not got it wrong. Those who advocated against lockdowns, mandates and other measures, such as Dr Jay Bhattarcharya, were censored, yet have been proven right.

As we saw in this country, the government censored many social media posts about Covid-19 that turned out to be true. This includes particularly those regarding the efficacy of Covid vaccines. Earlier this year, AstraZeneca decided to withdraw its Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, following an admission that it had induced the dangerous side effect of thrombosis – caused by excessive blood clotting, revealed in a UK class action by 51 victims who claimed they had experienced irreversible side effects.

A detailed research paper published by Kevin Bardosh of the University of Edinburgh Medical School demonstrates that Covid policies ‘will leave behind a legacy of harm for hundreds of millions of people in the years ahead, including: a rise in non-Covid excess mortality, mental health deterioration, child abuse and domestic violence, widening global inequality, food insecurity, lost educational opportunities, unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, social polarisation, soaring debt, democratic backsliding and declining human rights. Young people, individuals and countries with lower socioeconomic status, women and those with pre-existing vulnerabilities were hit hardest.’

So much for ‘following the science’.

Yet authorities in this country – and worldwide – absolve themselves of any need for public scrutiny and push for greater powers to implement the same draconian, failed policies in future pandemics.

In fact, Health Minister Mark Butler is committed to establishing a US-style Centre for Disease Control in this country to ‘undertake functions that are established or promoted in the new international instrument (treaty) on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response being drafted and negotiated under the constitution of the World Health Organisation (WHO)’.

Australia’s government – through Butler – was ‘fully committed’ to the WHO Pandemic Treaty, which was stalled at the World Health Assembly last May.

A parallel document, the amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), was rammed through on the last day of the assembly, at the very last minute.

This document claims the WHO has the power to declare pandemic emergencies and enforce restrictive measures during crises, such as mandatory vaccines, travel bans, and more surveillance – practically everything it wanted from the Pandemic Treaty.

On 1 June, these amendments were pushed through desperately and in the most dubious way after the Pandemic Treaty’s failure. Among other things, consensus was claimed when only a third of the member states were in the room.

But the WHO plans to assume that Australia accepts these amendments unless the government expresses in writing that it will reject them. The critical provision of the new IHR provides that, ‘State Parties recognise WHO as the guidance and co-ordinating authority of international public health response during a public health Emergency of International Concern and undertake to follow WHO’s recommendations in their international public health response.’

Thankfully, some countries have already expressed objections. Slovakia, Switzerland and Argentina, among others, have shown dissent or scepticism about the IHR amendments.

Australia must do the same and reject the IHR. If not, everything we can do will be approved by, and at the mercy of, unelected officials. Fundamental democratic rights and basic human freedoms will cease to exist. Australia’s ability to function as an independent sovereign nation will be severely hampered.

At the same time, a fully-fledged Covid royal commission – with wide terms of reference – must be established to ensure those who failed are held to account, and that such public policy failures never happen again.