(The Guardian) Hanson renews calls for royal commission into pandemic response
The case for a Covid royal commission has been strengthened by explosive revelations about Scott Morrison’s secret ministry positions, One Nation’s Pauline Hanson says, renewing her calls for a probe into Australia’s pandemic response.
Labor members of a Senate committee into Covid recently backed a royal commission, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stopped short of explicitly committing to such an inquiry. Hanson on Tuesday accused Morrison of an “overreach of authority”.
“I’ve always said Mr Morrison was arrogant, but this well and truly takes the cake,” Hanson said. -- It beggars belief he appointed himself to several ministerial positions without notifying parliament, the people or even his own cabinet ministers. Yet it’s part and parcel of the culture of secrecy and arrogance that was fostered by all Australian governments at the height of the pandemic.
Hanson said Australians “have the right to know everything about” how governments managed the pandemic.
Asked about a royal commission earlier today, Albanese said he supported an inquiry but didn’t explicitly endorse a royal commission. “I’ve said consistently that once we were through the pandemic, it would be inconceivable, regardless of who won the election in May, that you would not have a proper examination of the circumstances around the handling of the pandemic,” he said.
The case for a Covid royal commission has been strengthened by explosive revelations about Scott Morrison’s secret ministry positions, One Nation’s Pauline Hanson says, renewing her calls for a probe into Australia’s pandemic response.
Labor members of a Senate committee into Covid recently backed a royal commission, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stopped short of explicitly committing to such an inquiry. Hanson on Tuesday accused Morrison of an “overreach of authority”.
“I’ve always said Mr Morrison was arrogant, but this well and truly takes the cake,” Hanson said. -- It beggars belief he appointed himself to several ministerial positions without notifying parliament, the people or even his own cabinet ministers. Yet it’s part and parcel of the culture of secrecy and arrogance that was fostered by all Australian governments at the height of the pandemic.
Hanson said Australians “have the right to know everything about” how governments managed the pandemic.
Asked about a royal commission earlier today, Albanese said he supported an inquiry but didn’t explicitly endorse a royal commission. “I’ve said consistently that once we were through the pandemic, it would be inconceivable, regardless of who won the election in May, that you would not have a proper examination of the circumstances around the handling of the pandemic,” he said.
