Australia’s pandemic inquiry doesn’t pass the pub test. Here’s why you should care

The purpose of all inquiries held after calamitous events, whether natural disasters such as floods or bushfires or some accident, is only partly about clarifying the facts about what happened and allocating responsibility about who did what. More importantly, as the Hallett Inquiry says, given that another pandemic can be expected, it is essential that there is a full understanding of what went wrong so that remedial action can be taken to ensure that next time matters will be handled more effectively and openly.

This is in line with the Senate COVID inquiry chaired by Labor senator Katy Gallagher, now Finance Minister. It recommended in April 2022 on the eve of the federal election that a "royal commission be established to examine Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic to inform preparedness for future COVID-19 waves and future pandemics".

While the UK has a powerful, ongoing, national, independent inquiry chaired by a former judge into the pandemic, Australia has fluffed its chance to do likewise. Our federal system has been used as an excuse, but this has primarily been motivated by short term partisan politics.