“An independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it and addressing it, about the openness with which information was shared” by the WHO, said Payne.
Responding to a question about who should conduct the review, Payne said there was precedence in past reviews of “egregious human rights issues.”
She then ruled out the WHO. “That strikes me as a bit poacher and gamekeeper,” she said.
“It’s important that the WHO ... and all parties part of the WHO, act with great transparency. ... It’s important for public health globally that there is a transparency in the way that you can get access to this important information early,” he told reporters in Canberra on April 21.
Another three days passed before Chinese authorities implemented the first containment measures for the surrounding Hubei Province—by which time the disease had already spread around the country and overseas.
Yet at the time, the WHO advised countries such as Australia against implementing bans on travel from China. Against the WHO’s advice, Australia announced a China travel ban on Feb. 1.
This came after U.S. President Donald Trump cut $400 million (AU$635 million) in annual funding to the WHO.
Former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer agreed with Payne. He said the world’s policy toward China needs to change and China needs to be held accountable for the crisis it unleashed.
CCP Response and Cooling Relations
On April 20, CCP Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang denied that the Chinese regime had done anything wrong in relation to the pandemic.Australia and China are currently experiencing a cooling of diplomatic relations, with Payne saying that Australia is currently reviewing its strategic partnership with the communist regime.
“All of these things will need to be reviewed, [and] will need to be considered in the light of changes in the world economy,” she said.
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, chairman of the Australian Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, has called for just such a review.