COVID-19
David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:35): (634) My question is for the Attorney-General. The last term of Parliament was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response to it, and those of you who were around will recall that, among other things, I was particularly focused on the impact on human rights. The government argued that these human rights limitations under the charter were justified, and I strongly disagreed in many cases. It has been a big disappointment for me that there seems to be little interest in any kind of comprehensive review to see what we got wrong and what we could do differently next time. While it is less than I would have wanted, at least the Australian Human Rights Commission is conducting an inquiry to see how people’s rights were impacted during the pandemic. While it is particularly focused on the impact on individuals, the website also states that additional stakeholder and agency engagement will occur. My question for the Attorney is: has the government or have any government departments made submissions to this inquiry?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:36): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question. Not that I know of.
David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:36): I thank the Attorney for her brief answer. It is really quite remarkable that there seems to be such disinterest in a critical examination of what happened during COVID. If we have a severe bushfire, there is usually a royal commission or some other examination. If a major industry collapses, there is some sort of inquiry. But when we shut down the state, keep kids away from school, lock people out of the country and spend at least $34 billion with little oversight, there seems to be a response of, ‘Yeah, that was awful. Let’s just forget about it.’ I can understand that from members of the public who want to put the dystopia in the rear-view mirror, but from a government that is responsible for considering the response to any future pandemics it is potentially negligent. So my question to the Attorney is: what work is the government doing to improve its ability to respond to future pandemics, preferably with the least restrictive measures on rights as per the human rights charter?
The PRESIDENT: I might let you rephrase that, because I would have thought that was a question for the Minister for Health rather than the AG.
David LIMBRICK: I am specifically referring to the human rights charter, and that is the responsibility of the Attorney-General.
The PRESIDENT: The minister can answer as she sees fit within her responsibility.
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:37): Mr Limbrick, you put a lot into that question and then tried to link it back to my responsibilities as the minister responsible for the human rights charter. In terms of future planning for pandemics and the like, there is a whole-of-government response in relation to making sure that we have got governance arrangements in place. I have a role more in my capacity as Minister for Emergency Services in relation to that response, so I can assure you that we learn from past experiences in any type of emergency, whether it is a pandemic or a fire, and look for continual improvement. In relation to the human rights charter, the way you have characterised the question is not necessarily the way I would explain looking at the human rights charter and its future or how VEOHRC has views in relation to ensuring that people are aware of their human rights. It is always an ongoing piece of work, and I am more than happy to have a conversation with you about that.