Senator Scrutinises Albanese Government’s $100 Million Donation to WHO

Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra, April 6, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick has lambasted the Albanese Government for its pledge to donate $100 million (US$66 million) to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Addressing the Senate today, Mr. Rennick said the government should redirect its focus to assist those who suffered adverse side effects from the COVID-19 vaccines.

“I find it quite amazing that the federal government thinks they can find $100 million to spend on bureaucrats over in Switzerland, rather than actually addressing the issues from the last pandemic and trying to sort out those issues,” Mr. Rennick said.

“I think that those people injured by the vaccine, and I speak to them everyday, my office is still inundated with people who have gone through the protocols. They’ve got specialists saying they’ve had an injury and Services Australia won’t address the issue.”

Mr. Rennick also criticised Labor for its aversion to a royal commission into governmental conduct throughout the pandemic.

“The Albanese Labor government said that they were going to have a royal commission into COVID-19 and they’ve effectively backed down on that. They’re going to have a bunch of bureaucrats, a team of three professional ‘experts’ look into this issue and they won’t allow a Senate inquiry to occur.”

Mr. Rennick has long opposed the government-enforced COVID-19 mandates, particularly vaccines.

In late-2021, Mr. Rennick and a number of fellow Coalition Senate colleagues, namely Alex Antic and Matt Canavan, consistently crossed the floor to withhold support from the Morrison government in regards to COVID-19-related legislation.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced in September that the Albanese government would provide $75 million over three years to the WHO in voluntary core funding and a further $25 million for the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.

The official purpose of the donation is to aid the organisation in mitigating the risk of future pandemics by strengthening national health systems. Ms. Wong maintains that a robust WHO is in Australia’s national interest.

“Australia is committed to playing our part to strengthen the global health system, so we can be better prepared for future shocks. We need a strong global health system to help keep Australia, our region, and the world safe,” Ms. Wong said in a media release.

“This means a strong, capable WHO with the authority to respond quickly and decisively to complex health emergencies.”

Australia’s Contributions

Substantial amounts of Australian public funds are directed at a number of international bureaucratic organisations.

The Global Fund—an international financing organisation aimed at ending epidemics and fulfilling United Nations (U.N.) health goals—has received over $1 billion from Australia to date.

In 2022, the Albanese government pledged to contribute $266 million to the fund’s seventh replenishment between 2023-25. It followed a $242 million contribution as part of the fund’s sixth replenishment between 2020-22.

According to the U.N.’s official statistics, Australia is also the 11th largest contributor to its budget, contributing over US$181 million to the U.N. itself between 2006-23.

However, this number effectively becomes larger when the funding delivered not only to U.N. subsidiary agencies, but to various other nations and entities through U.N. agencies is considered.

In 2013-14 for example, Australia’s official development assistance delivered through U.N. agencies was $601 million (pdf); with $94 million going to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and $109.2 million going to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Vaccine-Related Claims

The federal government introduced the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme for those injured as a result of injecting a COVID-19 vaccine. Claimants are only eligible if they experienced a number of listed side effects, which the government has consistently updated.

For instance, in April, three claimable clinical conditions were added to the list of vaccine side effects made eligible for claims. Before April, those who experienced these adverse side effects were not eligible for compensation.

Despite this, Mark Briggs, a 55-year-old Queensland miner who suffered a heart injury and almost died three times after being injected with a single dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, has struggled to attain compensation.

Mr. Briggs is barred from seeking compensation from AstraZeneca as a result of the government granting pharmaceutical companies legal indemnities during the vaccine rollout.

He has also been refused compensation from the government because his injury is not a known side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite being one for a number of other COVID-19 vaccines.