This is no way to build trust, Mr Albanese.

Family First has long called for a Royal Commission into Australia’s Covid debacle.

It is clear that State and federal governments massively overreacted to the pandemic and there should be a reckoning.

We’ve had bushfire Royal Commissions but this is denied for a pandemic response which ripped through the economy, public finances, mental and physical health like an out-of-control bushfire.

The inquiry announced yesterday by the Prime Minister will be a whitewash, giving a leave pass to the state governments which did the most damage.

It’s ludicrous that a Royal Commission with the power to compel witnesses and subpoena evidence has not been called.

How can we learn whether or not the crippling lockdowns imposed by state governments stand up to any cost-benefit analysis?

Why can’t a spotlight be shone on the public health orders mandated by state governments?

Why should Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews not be cross-examined about the deadly failure of his hotel quarantine scheme?

Surely the border closures should be scrutinised not to mention wasteful spending on quarantine facilities in Queensland that were never used.

If the above can’t be investigated, lessons can’t be properly learned.

It is yet another cynical ploy by the Albanese Government to protect his Labor comrades and sheet home blame to the Coalition which was in power federally at the time.

It will only further erode trust between voters and the political class at a time when it is already at rock bottom.

Mechanisms like Royal Commissions exist so confidence can be maintained between citizens and governments.

Some useful information will be gathered from Albanese’s inquiry, but it won’t be the whole story.