The consequences of “damaging and divisive actions” of states to lock down should be considered as part of any royal commission to COVID-19, according to a key witness at a Senate inquiry.
A Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee hearing on the appropriate terms of reference for a COVID-19 Royal Commission was held on March 13.
Discussing the impact of lockdowns on businesses, Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) head of industry development and policy, Louise McGrath, said, “That was the element that really had the most impact on our members.”
“The complexity of the shutdowns, the mixed messaging, the lack of communication, lack of consistent, and clear communication, made a challenging situation almost impossible to bear.”
Ms. McGrath was responding to questioning from One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts about the Ai Group’s submission to the inquiry.
“Such a terms of reference is essential if we are to get a complete understanding of the different responses of state and territory governments such as comparisons between Victoria’s world’s longest lockdowns (262 days) and NSW’s far more moderate approach (107 days),” the Ai Group said.
“If we don’t come to grips with the consequences of the sometimes damaging and divisive actions of states to lock down everything from buildings and suburbs to entire states, we ignore the impacts across our community.”
The Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee are due to report by March 31 on what the appropriate terms of reference for a COVID-19 Royal Commission would look like.
Before the election, Labor said it would support a royal commission or some kind of inquiry into the pandemic while in Opposition.
Australia’s Border Closures
The Ai Group also said border closures needed more attention than that was being given to the government’s current COVID-19 inquiry.The group suggested the terms of reference should look into state border closures and review the High Court response.
“Each state has different laws regarding dealing with health emergencies and there is no consistent approach or guide that would help the states to jointly manage a national public health risk,” the Ai Group said.
Tasmanian Government Says No Need for Royal Commission
The committee received a submission from the Tasmanian premier saying it did not see the need for a COVID-19 Royal Commission.The government argued every state and territory had already undertaken “numerous reviews or inquiries” into their response to the pandemic.
Legal Centre Raises Concerns About COVID-19 Fines
Meanwhile, the Redfern Legal Centre in New South Wales (NSW) raised concerns about the issuing of crippling fines and rapidly changing orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.The non-profit legal centre also noted that public health orders were only published in English for a large time during the lockdown, leaving many people vulnerable.
Redfern Legal Centre added that the on-the-spot fines for not complying with the public health directions was “largely chaotic, unfair, and discriminatory.”
“Historically, on-the-spot fines are for strict liability offences, where the elements of the offence are simple and unchanging, and the penalty amount is low. Yet when it came to COVID fines the reverse was true,” the group said.
The legal centre also highlighted that 4,000 COVID-19 fines worth $2.1 million were issued to children between 13 and 17 years.
This raises concerns that children and adults are being treated the same within the NSW fine system, the centre noted.
“Generally speaking, children do not have the capacity to pay fines issued to them. Many children study full-time and if they are employed, their employment is usually casual, for a low number of hours and on a low wage,” they said.
