When it comes to the matter of whether people should be forced or not forced to take a COVID-19 vaccine on threat of losing their job, bodily autonomy is suddenly about as popular as bat soup in Wuhan.
Covid: The Australian government MUST support an open and transparent examination of Australia’s Covid response.
BILLS – COVID-19 Response Commission of Inquiry Bill 2024 – Second Reading, Thursday 22 August, 2024
Senator BABET (Victoria—United Australia Party Whip) (09:02): I rise here today to speak on the COVID-19 Response Commission of Inquiry Bill 2024, a bill that I proudly co-sponsored with Senators Canavan, Antic, O’Sullivan, Rennick and Roberts. This bill would not have been necessary if this Labor government had just done the right thing. This Labor Party, this Albanese government, should have initiated a full royal commission to investigate the response of federal and state governments to the COVID-19 pandemic. I and many other Australians expected no less than that, but, instead, the Australian people got a narrowly scoped, watered-down ‘wish.com’ COVID-19 inquiry, which barely touches the big issues.
It’s August 2024, well after our health bureaucrats got together and decided it was time to call off the so-called pandemic, but we are still none the wiser about what really went on during those COVID years. The entire country was shut down, and we still can’t really explain why. Nothing that was done made any sense. We threw out the pandemic handbook, and we made decisions that were frankly crazy. The government spent hundreds of billions of dollars, and the RBA did everything it could to flood the country with cheap cash. The banks loved it, obviously, but the Australian people continue to pay the price of high inflation and unaffordable housing to this day, with no-one taking real accountability or giving no real answers. People’s civil liberties were restricted in a way that would have made a communist dictator blush, and yet I still, for the life of me, cannot pinpoint the exact reasons why.
We have real-world evidence from countries like Sweden and from states like Florida, where the worst of the draconian restrictions were not implemented—like what we had in my home state of Victoria—or were quickly rolled back. They didn’t have rings of steel. They didn’t have full-on curfews, and their police officers definitely didn’t shoot people in the back with rubber bullets. They arguably fared better than we did.
Yet our government’s response has been to shrug, sweep it under the carpet and just insist ‘nothing to see here’. I am still waiting to find out why I was made to stand 1.5 metres from someone else. On whose advice was that? On what scientific basis was that decision made? On what scientific basis could I go to a restaurant and sit down and have dinner but not stand up? On whose advice and on what scientific basis? How was it that one hour of exercise outside was okay but not 1½ hours? On whose advice and on what scientific basis was I forced to keep within five kilometres of my house but not six kilometres? How did any of this keep me safe from a virus with a near 100 per cent survival rate for most healthy people.
In New South Wales people were told, ‘It’s not safe to talk to your neighbour.’ Can you believe that garbage? In South Australia, people were locked down without the right to exercise or even walk their dog. Whose idea was it to lock us down and on what scientific basis? We were like prisoners in maximum security. Playgrounds were closed. Sport was banned. Why were children kept from going to school when they had an almost zero per cent chance of dying from COVID and bounced right back? Most of the kids who caught COVID recovered very quickly or showed no symptoms at all. Who made that decision? What data was used to inform that decision? How was it that Victorian bureaucrats decided that it was too dangerous to play golf or that a curfew was the most effective way to fight COVID? Which health expert came up with the idea that I could have one friend come to my house and visit me but not four?
I could go on and on, listing all the outrageous impositions that destroyed businesses and families and kept people from being by the bedside of their dying loved ones. The maddening thing is that we are still, for the most part, completely clueless as to who decided what and exactly how those decisions were made during that time. As for the cost of those decisions, we can only guess, but it is in the hundreds and hundreds of billions. The Albanese government won the last election, promising Australians answers. The Prime Minister stood up and he told Australians, ‘If you put me in the Lodge, I’ll hold a royal commission or some other form of similar inquiry.’ Like I said before, I just didn’t imagine that it would be the wish.com or Temu version of an inquiry. Australians trusted Mr Albanese, just as we trusted our state premiers and our health officers during the pandemic. Well, I didn’t trust them, actually. I didn’t trust them because I could see through their lies. But, sadly, most Australians did put their trust in these people, and they have been made to look like fools—like fools!
The Prime Minister has announced, in my opinion, a sham inquiry that would address everything except the things Australians were demanding to know. Where were state premiers getting their advice from? Were decisions to lock down based on science or perhaps on polling? Were restrictions on people’s movements based on data or focus groups? Were the public being protected or being played? What is in the vaccine contracts? Where did all the money go? Where did COVID come from? Was COVID a bioweapon? Was it a mistake? Was it bat soup? Was it released on purpose? Was it an accident? The Prime Minister promised responsibility, accountability and transparency. But no sooner had he unpacked his bags that he gave us a weak inquiry that will provide neither responsibility nor accountability nor transparency. Australians just want the truth. When will we get it? Australians want some accountability.
So many lives were destroyed by the pandemic response. Will anyone admit fault? Will anyone put their hand up and just say they got it wrong? To simply move on, as if nothing ever happened, would be an outrage greater than the multiple outrages perpetrated during the pandemic itself. This commission of inquiry bill will finally give us the best chance to forensically examine how government and public institutions handled the COVID era. To deny Australians that opportunity would represent an epic failure of curiosity, a dereliction of public duty and heap insult upon injury onto the millions of Australians whose lives were devastated not by the virus but by the government’s response to the virus.
University of New South Wales professor of economics Gigi Foster analysed the economic, health and social impact of government imposed COVID lockdowns and estimated that the cost was 68 times greater than any benefit provided. If she’s even half right, just half right, we need to investigate that. A panel chaired by former top bureaucrat Peter Shergold found that the government response to COVID smacked of overreach; lacked compassion, consistency and clarity; and actually worsened inequalities. If this is even partly true, then decency, let alone duty, demands a full and frank inquiry.
I could stand here all day and give you examples of how state and federal governments, first driven by fear and then drunk on power, hurt and harmed citizens with their manic COVID response. All of this demands a full investigation, and that’s to say nothing of vaccine mandates, which threatened free men and women with punitive measures, effectively turning them into second-class citizens by destroying their livelihoods and breaking up their families if they declined a drug that has since proven to be, shall I say, less safe and less effective than what was promised. Worse, there’s now overwhelming evidence of vaccine injuries and deaths. Are we not the least bit curious? Do we not care even a bit? Are we really going to tell Australians that we’re just disinterested? If there is any truth at all to these reports, should we not investigate to ensure that lessons are learned and mistakes are never again repeated?
A once-in-100-year pandemic demands a once-in-a-lifetime commission of inquiry, and that is why the COVID-19 Response Commission of Inquiry Bill 2024 is not something which we should merely consider; it is something that we should approve—and with haste.
To the Liberal Party, you were in power for most of the pandemic, and, if you have nothing to hide, just support this bill. To Labor, you were not even in power for most of the pandemic and your Prime Minister didn’t wear five ministry hats at that time. Crossbenchers, you’ve got nothing to lose by pushing for transparency and accountability. My Senate colleagues, support this bill. It is the least that we can do for those that we represent.
The Senate divided. [10:04]
(The President—Senator Lines)
Ayes…………………..10
Noes…………………..26
Majority ……………..16
AYES
Babet, R. Cadell, R. Canavan, M. J. (Teller) Colbeck, R. M. Hanson, P. L. McLachlan, A. L. O’Sullivan, M. A. Pocock, D. W. Rennick, G. Roberts, M. I.
NOES
Ayres, T. Bilyk, C. L. Birmingham, S. J. Brown, C. L. Chisholm, A. Ciccone, R. Darmanin, L. Ghosh, V. Green, N. L. Grogan, K. (Teller) Henderson, S. M. Lines, S. McAllister, J. R. McCarthy, M. O’Neill, D. M. Paterson, J. W. Polley, H. Pratt, L. C. Sheldon, A. V. Smith, M. F. Sterle, G. Stewart, J. N. A. Tyrrell, T. M. Urquhart, A. E. Walsh, J. C. Watt, M. P.
If you are a proud Australian, a lover of truth and defender of freedoms Join The Movement to fight for a better Australia!
If you are concerned about the erosion of liberty and opportunity in our nation, and are alarmed at the growing restrictions on our freedom, do something about it.
If you want to protect your family and ensure that your Government exercises fiscal responsibility, step up and hold them to account.
If you want your hard work to be rewarded and leave Australia better than you found it, fight for it.
If you want our nation to remain great and want to see your politicians make decisions based on the national interest, not that of unrepresentative globalist bodies, this is your opportunity.
If you value individual freedom and transparency, demand it.
If you want to protect the rights of children, stand up.
Join The Movement today and support me.
Yours sincerely,
Senator Babet
Senator for Victoria
https://senatorbabet.com.au/join-the-movement/
Digital ID and CBDC must be resisted:
Editors note: In a country like India, where political corruption and self-serving leaders are all too common, Ralph Babet’s leadership style is a breath of fresh air. Many Indians look to him with admiration and wish that they had a leader like him in their own country. His commitment to honesty, integrity, and the well-being of his people serves as a shining example for politicians around the world to emulate.
Source: Senator Babet, Youtube
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