Covid chaos: lest we forget!

With new issues confronting Australia and the world every day, many apparently would sooner forget the early covid years and massive over-reach of vaccine mandates, lockdowns, mental health problems, suicides and business closures which continue today.

But those of us who resisted and remained unvaccinated despite the coercion, the many who suffered severe adverse reactions, or who lost loved ones and were prevented from paying a final hospital visit or attending funerals, will never forget. Nor should we.

Anyone questioning the mantra that the vaccines were safe and effective was derided, evidence from some overseas experts warning of potential dangers was censored as "misinformation," we were labelled "anti vaxxers" or "granny killers" putting others at risk. In the words of Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, anyone protesting was "bat shit crazy".

Well, I wouldn't take advice from him or his boss, ex- Premier Daniel Andrews who pronounced it was "a pandemic of the un-vaccinated" and with the help of his ex- Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, introduced the world's longest lockdowns while presiding over the nation's highest covid death toll. Under their totalitarian rules, citizens were banned from playing golf, going fishing, sitting on a park bench, or exercising in a gymnasium. As the state emerged from a lockdown, exercise of a different kind in a brothel was not a problem, but family home visits remained off limits.Social distancing? The mind boggles.

Mounting international evidence and admissions regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness since then show that yesterday's conspiracy theories are now widely accepted as today's facts. We know the vaccines don't prevent contraction or transmission, any benefit wanes after a few months and there are potential serious side effects.

Those of us who were the modern equivalent of lepers cast outside the city gates in Biblical times feel vindicated if not compensated. So a message in my in box this week from One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts outlining how Labor has just rejected his call for a Royal Commission into the covid response struck a chord:

Last year I was successful in having the Senate inquire into the prospective terms of reference for a Royal Commission into the government response to COVID-19. The Inquiry was held in good faith by Senator Scarr and I thank everyone concerned for their work, which produced a 128 page report full of honesty, decency and common sense. After hearing and reading testimony from multiple highly qualified witnesses, every one of whom called for a Royal Commission the Committee recommended a Royal Commission be held and included a comprehensive Terms of Reference that would have uncovered the truth. Last week, the Government provided a response to the Inquiry Report, which stated that the Government does not support a Royal Commission, does not support working with the States to review COVID, does not support the proposed terms of reference and does not support you, the public, having further involvement in the inquiry process.

This is the same Labor Party that took one million dollars from the pharmaceutical industry in 2022/23, including large donations from Pfizer and Astra Zeneca.

Do we have the best government money can buy? You decide.

In his speech to the Senate, he pointed out that during the last election campaign, a Royal Commission had been promised by both the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Senator Katy Gallagher.

Instead, the Albanese Labor government will continue with their cover-up inquiry, comprised of two bureaucrats and a university academic closely involved in the COVID response. Shame! The government is letting bureaucrats and academics investigate themselves. What a disgrace! It is betrayal. It's inhuman…

He then listed the 14 pharmaceutical companies who had made donations to Labor during 2022-23 according to the Australian Electoral Commission, but said it went beyond that:

 …Pharmacy Guild of Australia, who enjoyed years of profit dispensing high-paying COVID injections, $154,000; and Medicines Australia, the peak lobbying body for the pharmaceutical industry, which just gave the former head of the TGA, Professor Skerritt, a job as a director, donated $112,000 to the Labor Party campaign funds-kerching! Including smaller donations, the Labor Party raked in almost a million dollars from pharmaceutical companies and associated favours bought. It's not just big pharma, either. Remember when you couldn't get COVID at Bunnings, yet you could get it at your neighbourhood hardware store? Governments forced many hardware stores to stop business during lockdowns, and they went broke while Bunnings grew its market share. Then they set up vaccination stations in their car parks. I know many people thought that was odd, so let's look at this list of donations. The owners of Bunnings, Wesfarmers, donated $110,000…

Senator Roberts also provided a detailed history of covid outbreaks and adverse reactions including: