Top doctor Nick Coatsworth exposes the one major flaw in Australia’s new Covid research

One of Australia’s top doctors has exposed the major flaw in the recently announced inquiry into how state, territory and federal governments responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler officially announced the inquiry into the pandemic in Adelaide on Thursday morning, stopping short of calling for a full Royal Commission despite previously calling for one when Labor was in opposition.

But Dr Nick Coatsworth, the country’s former deputy chief health officer during the pandemic, highlighted a key omission in the inquiry’s remit.

The mandate shows that “actions taken unilaterally by state and territory governments” are not within its scope, which Dr. Coatsworth was ‘a bit worrying’.

“That’s pretty much all they did…,” he tweeted.

That would indicate the study would not scrutinize lockdowns and the first state border closures since the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic.

Dr. Coatsworth previously called for an inquiry into whether independent public health powers should remain with states and territories during a pandemic.

“Who determines the proportionality of the response to a pandemic and how are the social costs of pandemic restrictions assessed and balanced against the need for disease control?” asked Dr. Coatsworth.

He took aim at Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, who “believes Covid research should focus on vaccines, national medical supplies and personal protective equipment”.

‘None of these relate to the core question. Proportionality,” added Dr. Coatsworth added.

“It’s a word he would rather never enter into the historical record of our (and his) pandemic response. But that will happen.’

On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Albanese said at a press conference that it was ‘important’ that the Covid investigation take place.

“We said before the election and I have said since that given the enormous disruption, the stress, the loss of life and the economic impact of the pandemic – it is appropriate that when we reach a certain period, we should conduct an investigation Mr Albanese said.

He added: ‘We need to examine what went well (and) what can be done better, with an emphasis on the future, because the health experts and science tell us that this pandemic may not be the last – and probably won’t be are – one that occurs.’

It will look at more than 20 different investigations that have already taken place and has a 12-month timeframe before issuing its report.

The watered-down Commission of Inquiry will lack the powers of a Royal Commission to compel witnesses to appear and testify truthfully.

It will be led by economist Angela Jackson, epidemiologist and regular Covid commentator Catherine Bennett, and public administration expert Robyn Kruk.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised during last year’s successful election campaign to set up a royal commission into the opposition that saw him oust Scott Morrison.

Senator Bridget McKenzie has already accused the Albanian government of going back on its word.

“It’s another broken promise from Anthony Albanese,” Senator Mckenzie told Sharri Markson on Sky News on Tuesday.

‘He went to the election promising a royal commission.

‘They have led a select committee in the Senate during the Covid expert hearings for more than a year. They heard from experts across the country and based on that research they decided they would get a royal commission.

“They don’t provide a royal commission.”

She accused Albanese of seeking to shield Labor premiers still in power during that period, such as Victoria’s Dan Andrews and Queensland’s Annastacia Palaszczuk, from full investigation into their actions during the pandemic.

“There are some things in which we have led the world, and in some things politics have gotten in our way,” said Senator McKenzie.

Although Mr Albanese said in August last year that he planned to launch a Covid investigation, he has not mentioned it since.

On Thursday he defended the decision to launch an inquiry instead of a Royal Commission.

“Frankly, a royal commission can take more time (and) it is normally headed by a judge,” Albanese told Adelaide’s 5AA radio station.

‘What we have appointed are three experts. The advice we have received is that this is the best form of research.’

Mr Morrison, who led Australia through most of the pandemic that the World Health Organization declared an end to in May, has said he will only cooperate with a Covid inquiry examining the record of both the states and the Commonwealth.

“Any serious retrospective study seeking to enter this field would be obsolete if it did not require the same attention and commitment from all state and territory governments that shared in Australia’s response to this once-in-a-100-year event,” he said.

After the virus hit Australia in early 2020, lockdowns and the closing of national and interstate borders kept the continent largely Covid-free compared to other countries.

The draconian measures taken to control outbreaks, including one of the world’s longest lockdowns in Victoria at 262 days and Western Australia effectively cutting itself off from the world for almost two years, sparked a backlash.

While Australia’s low Covid death rate contrasted with the much higher toll elsewhere, this has not been the case since the Omnicron strain defied containment efforts in early 2023.

Australia’s infection rates and deaths have quickly caught up and even surpassed other countries, with the country having the third-worst per capita statistics in the world for these measures per capita as of mid-2022, data from the Burnet Institute.