The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 was appropriately established with bipartisan support on 8 April 2020, notably under the broadest possible terms of reference and with a tenure that effectively does not expire until the end of this term of parliament. It is beyond doubt that both government and opposition parties acknowledge and respect the important role parliamentary oversight plays in our Westminster system of government. The principles of responsible government were no less important during the rapidly escalating crisis we saw in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic confronted Australians with extraordinary challenges.
To date, the committee has held 39 public hearings, published 524 submissions by interested organisations and individuals and it has published 726 documents. It is noteworthy that officials from the Department of Health have appeared before the committee in public hearings no less than ten times, and officials from the Department of the Treasury have appeared before the committee in public hearings no less than eight times to answer questions on how they responded to the dual health and economic crisis. Indeed, departments and their agencies right across the portfolios of government have duly appeared before this committee to give evidence on the implementation of the government's response to the pandemic, notwithstanding the substantial constraint this creates on our public sector resources.
The committee has received nearly 2000 answers to questions on notice throughout this period, mostly from government departments – a remarkable feat of cooperation and transparency especially when considering they did so while managing the day to day fight against a once in a generation global pandemic and associated economic crisis.
The relatively few disagreements between the committee and the government about a handful of public interest immunity claims should be viewed in this light.