As the secrecy of national cabinet decisions look set to be tested, an academic who raised serious concerns about the government’s highly secretive National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board has criticised efforts to address its conflicts of interest, saying they do nothing to improve transparency.
Elizabeth Hicks, a law academic at the University of Melbourne who wrote a policy brief last year scrutinising the commission's function, told Crikey its updated terms of reference were “window dressing”.
“There is still no transparent process for reporting conflicts,” she said.
Join the conversation
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login or sign up for a FREE trial to engage in the commentary.