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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 22 August 2022; Hits: 113

A royal commission into Australia's COVID-19 response will be held as soon as is practical, Anthony Albanese says.

The inquiry will examine the role of state and territory governments in managing the pandemic, as well as that of the federal coalition under former prime minister Scott Morrison.

"Clearly you need to look at the response of all governments ... the different jurisdictions," the prime minister told Sky News on Sunday.

"The pandemic exposed (the fact that) some of the issues with our federation can often be quite difficult with overlapping responsibilities."

Mr Albanese said he could not envisage a circumstance where a once-in-a-century global pandemic, and in response the largest economic stimulus Australia has seen, was not evaluated.

An investigation would help ensure governments learned how things could have been improved and what lessons could be learned.

"Upon coming to government we've been dealing with another wave of COVID," Mr Albanese said.

"The priority has been getting through that but my government will give consideration to an appropriate form of analysis going on."

He said a royal commission would place the healthcare system under the spotlight including the interaction between government departments, hospitals, GPs and pharmacies.

Meanwhile, a leading infectious diseases expert warns Australia is losing its long-term battle with the virus.

Burnet Institute director Brendan Crabb says current strategies to combat the country's caseload are not working.

"What the numbers say is that we're simply not winning," Professor Crabb told Seven's Sunrise.

"The latest wave we just had ... was the worst wave we've had this year. More hospitalisations and more deaths."

Australia has reported more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities on Monday, with the nation on track to record its 10 millionth case within a week.

Prof Crabb says there is an attitude problem.

"We haven't quite grasped the fact that having lots of virus in our community is bad. We have to change to reduce transmission, to be intolerant of the amount of virus in our community," he said.

US researchers have been analysing people who have repeatedly contracted the virus and finding the risk of acute and chronic disease accumulates with each new infection.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:

NSW: 5031 cases, four deaths, 1962 in hospital with 50 in ICU

Victoria: 2600 cases, six deaths, 414 in hospital with 28 in ICU

NT: 98 cases, no deaths, 26 in hospital with none in ICU

Tasmania: 214 cases, one death, 59 in hospital with two in ICU

Qld : 1587 cases, no deaths, 383 in hospital with 11 in ICU

SA: 786 cases, no deaths, 227 in hospital with seven in ICU

WA: 1119 cases, no deaths, 237 in hospital with four in ICU

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 22 August 2022; Hits: 99

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be briefed on Monday afternoon on legal advice about whether Scott Morrison breached any rules after he appointed himself to five portfolios.

Mr Albanese said he intended to publicly release advice from the solicitor-general on Tuesday, following a cabinet meeting.

Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Glyn Davis has already received the advice after it was handed over on Monday morning.

"I intend to release that advice so that people can see it and be transparent about it, and we will," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"We have cabinet meetings tomorrow. I think politeness and proper process mean that they should have access to it. I will do that and I intend to release the advice tomorrow."

It comes amid growing calls for an inquiry into the former Liberal prime minister's decision to secretly appoint himself as a joint minister in the health, finance, treasury, home affairs, industry, science, energy and resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.

One of his decisions, as joint resources minister, was to block the PEP-11 gas exploration licence off the NSW coast after the then resources minister Keith Pitt approved the project.

The final decision is now the subject of a Federal Court appeal.

Mr Albanese said questions needed to be answered about Mr Morrison's ministries.

"There is a basic fundamental weakness in checks and balances - if no one knows who the minister is, then how can they be held to account for decisions which are made?" he said.

"There is a question of legality. There hasn't been a suggestion of illegality but there have been questions raised about how this could occur, how it fits in with the conventions."

Greens leader Adam Bandt wants an inquiry to examine Mr Morrison's conduct and whether he misled the parliament or pressured the governor-general or public service.

"The longer that this goes on, the more questions that are raised about exactly how much damage has been done to Australian democracy," Mr Bandt told ABC News.

"You're entitled to expect that when the prime minister stands up and says 'here's who the ministers are in my parliament, here's what my responsibilities are', you're entitled to expect that they are telling the truth and it's becoming clear day by day that that's not the case."

The Greens have already asked House of Representatives Speaker Milton Dick to refer Mr Morrison to the powerful privileges committee over the scandal.

Mr Bandt said an inquiry would also need to examine who was asked by Mr Morrison to keep his ministries secret from the public and most of his colleagues.

"One of the things that we don't yet know is whether or not that was done at Scott Morrison's requests, whether or not he made requests of the governor-general to keep some of these appointments secret," he said.

"Similarly, with respect to his own department, what did ... the former prime minister do?"

Coalition MP Bridget Archer said she would also welcome an inquiry into the conduct of the former prime minister.

She said she had an open mind about how an inquiry would be conducted.

"Australians generally agree that we don't want to see this sort of situation occur into the future, so we need to examine how we got here and how we stop it happening going forward," she told ABC Radio.

Ms Archer said while she was reluctant to ask for other MPs to resign, the former prime minister should "reflect" on his behaviour.

"It also is forcing other colleagues to ... kind of having to defend themselves and their own records. And I think that that's unfair," she said.

"(Mr Morrison) should reflect on that and, and certainly consider whether it's the best thing for him to do going forward."

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 22 August 2022; Hits: 99

Pressure is mounting on the Albanese government to make the system of ministerial appointments more transparent, as the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General backs making them public.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will release advice from the solicitor-general on Tuesday on whether Scott Morrison's decision to secretly appoint himself to five ministries raised any legal issues.

Cabinet will discuss the advice before it is released.

In a statement, an Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General spokesman acknowledged administrative appointments "were not communicated" by the government.

"The office supports a more transparent process to ensure that any appointments made under section 64 (of the Constitution) are made public," the spokesman said.

"Noting that these reporting responsibilities are the prerogative of the government of the day, the office will await the recommendations of the current process before commenting further."