Australian excess deaths at record high due to Covid, diabetes and dementia

Australians are dying at a rate not seen since the war, but politicians are ignoring demands to find out why, critics say.

In 2022, there were 25,235 more deaths than would be expected in a normal year, with 10,095 directly caused by Covid and another 3,000 with the virus “a contributing factor.”

The ‘death rate’ is calculated based on a historical average of mortality for a given period and is weighted for changing demographics, such as an aging population.

Last year, excess mortality was 15 percent above the expected number of deaths, which is a death rate Australia has not seen in the 80 years since World War II, according to Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS) figures released last week.

The final ABS numbers for 2022 are higher than the 12 percent excess mortality reported for that year by an Actuaries Institute report in March.

The surge in deaths led to a Senate motion two weeks ago, sponsored by Victorian UAP Senator Ralph Babet, to investigate excess deaths, but it was voted down by the government and several senators .

Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick spoke in support of the motion, saying statistically such a jump in deaths was a ‘one in a thousand event’.

“We deserve an investigation,” he said.

On Wednesday, Sydney talkback radio 2GB presenter Ben Fordham joined calls for an investigation into why Australians are dying in such relatively high numbers.

“Unfortunately, those in power don’t want to talk about it,” Fordham said.

“Does it have anything to do with our one-way focus on the coronavirus and other illnesses and conditions that were forced into the backseat as we battled Covid?”

Fordham pointed to a warning from Cancer Australia in September 2021, noting that biopsies, scans and surgeries for the disease had plummeted in 2020 due to Covid lockdowns, meaning that up to 20,000 cases may have been missed.

In 2022, the ABS recorded 10,000 more cancer deaths than the historical norm, representing a five percent increase in deaths from the disease.

However, most of the excess deaths in 2022 were Covid-related, according to the ABS.

The agency said 10,095 people died as a result of Covid, with an estimated 3,000 other deaths recorded where the virus was “a contributing factor”.

There was also a 19 percent increase in the number of people who died from diabetes and a 15 percent increase in dementia deaths.

There were marginal increases in deaths from heart and respiratory infections.

Fordham said without an inquiry that the issue of excess deaths will be “weaponised.”

He said on the one hand those who want a return to lockdowns or other heavy restrictions on the spread of Covid.

“As we know, Australians won’t be able to handle that,” Fordham countered.

On the other hand, there are those who blame the Covid vaccines for an increase in deaths.

He noted that the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the medical safety watchdog, had received reports of 900 deaths within days of getting a Covid vaccine, but investigated those cases and found that only 14 were a result of the jab.

Fordham said the TGA was so resistant to his questions about possible vaccine-related deaths that it aroused suspicion.

“If we don’t investigate and come up with hard answers, those whispers will get louder,” he said.

The TGA has consistently insisted that the Covid vaccines are extremely safe and serious, and that side effects are ‘rare’.

“COVID-19 vaccines are safe and save lives,” the agency says on its website.

“They are being closely monitored in the largest global vaccine rollout in history.

“Most side effects are mild and go away within a few days.”

In promoting an investigation, Senator Rennick claimed that there was a strong coincidence of a jump in deaths following the vaccine rollout.

While he said there had been an increase in deaths in 2020 associated with the original Covid wave, that year excess deaths had been suppressed by the national lockdown and longer ones in states like Victoria.

Lockdowns prevent road deaths and other accidents that happen to people in everyday life.

Senator Rennick argued that following the vaccine rollout in April 2021, all-cause deaths increased by 1,000 and later by 2,000 per month.

He argued that states with little or no Covid, such as Western Australia and Queensland, saw a 9 and 10 percent increase in deaths, respectively.

“We have to look at how many people have died within days of the vaccine, we have to look at the average number of daily deaths,” Senator Rennick said in parliament.

This is despite only 14 deaths caused by vaccines in Australia, compared to 10,000 deaths caused by the virus itself last year alone.

Countries around the world are experiencing an increase in deaths, not all of which can be explained by Covid.

In Britain, 650,000 additional deaths were recorded in 2022, an increase of nine percent compared to the more ‘normal’ year 2019.

Peak doctors’ organization the Australian Medical Association (AMA) told Daily Mail Australia in September it was “worrying” that Australia’s death toll is rising, but it mirrored what is being seen abroad.

“We have seen the ABS statistics reflect a disturbing trend in other countries such as the UK,” said AMA President Professor Steve Robson.

Prof Robson said it was unclear what caused the additional deaths.

“Some research needs to be done into why this is happening,” he said.

However, he pointed to some “probable factors” that could be a hangover from the Covid period of isolation and restrictions.

A major probable cause was that people could not see a doctor or were afraid of the risk of infection.

“People have been avoiding going to the doctor for regular checkups or talking about a problem with their health or have been delaying a visit to the doctor and seeing their condition worsen as a result,” said Prof Robson.

“We need to do more to prepare the health system, both to address the impact of COVID on things like waiting lists, but also to deal with patients who have delayed access to care and now need more serious intervention.”

Health Secretary Mark Butler has been contacted for comment.