To be clear, this article is not to be taken as any accusation of corruption or wrongdoing, I am sure that all of this was done “by the book”. However, when these same people write the book – making their actions completely legal, you can decide if they pass the traditional Australian standard of “The Pub Test”. During the pandemic, politicians intruded into our personal lives more than any other time in Australian history, therefore it is only fair to check up on where these “leaders” are now – and how their time in public office may have helped their new employers and facilitated their careers after politics. This article will focus on the most prominent members of the Covid pandemic response: The Prime Minister, the Head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the Federal Health Minister and the State Premiers. Prime Minister Scott Morrison – the least interesting on the list. The “Man of Many Ministries” himself (after secretly making himself the minister responsible for Health, Finance, Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Home Affairs and Treasury during the pandemic – not illegal by the way) has continued to wear many hats in his post politics career. He has taken on many chairman/advisory roles in a range of fields, connected to the US, China, defence contractors and others. While his roles are many, being Prime Minister opens many doors and there isn’t too much interesting here, so let’s move on to the juicy stuff. John Skerritt – Former Head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) 2012-2023 This is where things get interesting. As the head of the TGA, John Skerritt was responsible for the safety and efficacy of all drugs approved in Australia. Under his leadership, the TGA made many major reforms to the approval pathways for pharmaceuticals. He resigned from his position at the TGA in April 2023 and only 7 short months later, Skerritt joined the board of Medicines Australia – the peak industry body representing the pharmaceutical companies regulated by the TGA. The Medicines Australia board consists of representatives from major pharma companies such as GSK, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Merck, Pfizer and many more. Furthermore, when they announced his acceptance of his board seat, Medicines Australia Chair Anna Lavelle said: Skerritt’s knowledge of Australia’s therapeutics regulatory environment was “unmatched”. And she specifically said his understanding of government and policy would be valuable as Medicines Australia worked on reforms needed to speed up patient access to new medicines. So, what exactly did change at the TGA under John Skerritts leadership? 1. Introduced the Priority Review Pathway in 2017 This allowed qualifying vital and life-saving medicines to receive an accelerated assessment. The target assessment time is 150 working days, up to three months shorter than the standard pathway. The first priority-review determinations appeared in the TGA’s 2017 annual report, which was signed by Skerritt as Deputy Secretary. 2. Introduced the Provisional Approval Pathway in 2018 This was a significant departure from the conventional model. Under the normal pathway, a company had to provide a substantial body of evidence establishing the medicine’s safety, quality and efficacy. The provisional pathway allows certain promising medicines to be registered using preliminary clinical data, where there is potential for substantial patient benefit. This was the pathway used to approve the Covid vaccines. The provisional registration can last for a maximum of six years, during which additional clinical evidence must be generated. The TGA says the pathway can bring medicines providing a major therapeutic advance to market up to two years earlier than the standard framework. 3. Comparable Overseas Regulators (COR) Framework 2018 Under this system, the TGA can use assessment reports produced by trusted overseas regulators instead of conducting a completely independent assessment from scratch. This also contributed to the approval of the Covid vaccines, as the TGA did no independent testing and instead relied upon information supplied by the US FDA. All three of the above reforms resulted in faster and less costly approvals for the companies Skerritt now shares a board seat with. The next logical question would be: Have these changes had a negative impact on the safety of approved medicines? TGA data show that medicine recalls attributed specifically to adverse reactions became more common after the introduction of Australia’s accelerated and provisional approval pathways. Between 2014 and 2017, adverse reactions accounted for 2.4% of medicine recalls. Between 2018 and 2022, that figure rose to 7.4% - a relative increase of approximately 211%. However, the data do not establish that the new approval pathways caused the increase. The number of medicines entering the market also changed (and the TGA does not hold easily obtainable public records of the number of new drug approvals), recalls are not equivalent to permanent withdrawals, and the post-2018 figures are highly volatile, with major spikes in 2020-21 and 2022-23. So in summary, I can’t answer whether safety standards have dropped since these new pathways were introduced, however given the complete unwillingness of the TGA to investigate and publicly acknowledge covid vaccine side effects it certainly isn’t a good look. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact an estimated 80%-90% of the TGA’s total funding comes from pharmaceutical companies either. Pub test indeed – moving on! Greg Hunt – Former Federal Health Minister Famous for saying on live TV that “the world is engaged in the largest clinical trial, the largest global vaccination trial ever” before going on to say the vaccine is safe and effective (walk down memory lane here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTndr9O4hbA ), Greg Hunt stepped down from his post and retired from politics in May 2022. He has picked up multiple roles such as Honorary Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne, chair of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health Advisory Council at Monash University, but his most interesting new job is a Special Board Advisory role for Connected Global Pty Ltd. Connected Global Pty Ltd is a company registered in November 2022, and Greg Hunt accepted his advisory role the next month (7 months after his resignation from office). It is owned by the Grace family, who also own the company Westlab Pty Ltd. Westlab was a huge beneficiary of government contracts awarded during the pandemic, with various contracts awarded to supply pandemic-specific medical supplies such as RAT tests, PPE and face shields. Westlab received $54.1 million for these contracts during Hunts period as health minister and a following $80.8 million in the 11 months after he left. To be clear, the Australian National Audit Office examined these covid procurement arrangements and found that procurement was handled by public servants rather than ministers. A spokesman for Hunt stated that Hunt had no involvement in the procurement decisions, and that the relevant contracts were administered independently by the Australian Public Service. So there is no evidence that Hunt himself personally directed a contract to Westlab. It just seems awfully convenient that the owners of a company that gained over $130 million in government contracts just happened to create a new company and employ the former health minister only 7 months after his resignation. Pub test! The Premiers The public faces of the pandemic, the Premiers were the salespeople holding press conferences every single day to keep us up to date on the “covid death rate” and vaccination numbers. While their influence undoubtedly destroyed many people’s lives, I personally hold John Skerritt and Greg Hunt at a higher level of accountability as the “health experts” during that period. So, I will keep the following descriptions as brief as possible and limited to the most public examples (sorry SA and Tassie, do your own research). Annastacia Palaszczuk – Former Queensland Premier After leaving politics in December 2023, Palaszczuk’s most interesting new role was being named an International Ambassador for the Smart Energy Council in May 2024 – 6 months post politics. The Smart Energy Council is the peak industry body representing Australia’s renewable-energy and renewable-hydrogen industries. Palaszczuk spent almost a decade as Queensland Premier establishing one of Australia’s most aggressive renewable-energy policy frameworks, including a $2 billion renewable-energy and hydrogen investment fund and legislated renewable-energy targets. Her government released the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan in September 2022. It established the framework for: • 50% renewable energy by 2030; • 70% by 2032; • 80% by 2035; • the Queensland SuperGrid; • renewable-energy zones; • publicly owned generation; • significant transmission investment. The government explicitly described this as creating the framework for a massive expansion of renewable generation. The Smart Energy Council is precisely the organisation whose members stand to benefit from the development of that market – and now she is their international Ambassador. Gladys Berejiklian – Former NSW Premier Resigning after an ICAC investigation into corrupt conduct involving her previous relationship with former MP Daryl Maguire in October 2021, Gladys didn’t play much of a role during Covid. However, she joined Optus only 4 months later in a newly created executive position as Chief Customer Officer, Enterprise and Business. During the pandemic, the Berejiklian government dramatically increased digital-government expenditure. In November 2020 it announced more than $700 million in additional digital investment as part of a $1.6 billion Digital Restart Fund, including digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and remote education. The NSW government also had a number of telecommunications/digital initiatives during her administration. Optus was among the major telecommunications providers involved in emergency-service connectivity arrangements during the bushfires. Daniel Andrews – Former Victorian Premier It would take an entire blog to run through the Covid authoritarianism Daniel Andrews inflicted on the Victorian people, but that is for another time. Most people are aware of his links to China. In 2018 his government signed Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative MOU with China, making Victoria the first Australian state to do so. The agreement specifically sought Chinese participation in Victorian infrastructure and investment. In 2019 Victoria signed a further framework agreement covering: • infrastructure; • innovation; • biotechnology; • agriculture; • trade; • market access. The infrastructure component specifically contemplated increasing the participation of Chinese infrastructure companies in Victoria. Andrews personally travelled to China repeatedly to promote Victorian infrastructure and investment opportunities. He also made a final taxpayer funded trip to China for 6 days in March 2023 – announced by his office only the day before his departure, and controversially no Australian journalists were invited or allowed to accompany him. After resigning as premier 6 months later in September 2023, Dan went on to register Glencairn Street Pty Ltd (his personal corporate vehicle), and Wedgetail Partners Pty Ltd (trading as Forty Eight & Partners - of which Glencairn holds 9 of the 10 shares) on the 17th and 18th of January 2024. The details on his business dealings are scarce as his company is private, however the most notable case is his assistance of the Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest owned Fortescue Metals Group to sell “green iron” into the Chinese market. So after a decade of using taxpayer funds to build connections in China, it appears his new career is in facilitating business relationships in the Chinese market using those connections. Mark McGowan – Former WA Premier King of the Hermit Kingdom of WA, McGowan was notorious for two things during the pandemic: locking everyone out of his state until the majority were THREE dose vaccinated (making the WA 2021 excess death data exceedingly interesting as they experienced the same uptick as other states without covid in the community) and also the most embarrassingly racist clip of all time (treat yourself - https://youtu.be/MtmzzIcgPKA ) He announced his retirement from politics in May 2023 and left office at the end of the same week. He has since taken up a host of advisory roles in the minerals, renewable energy and NDIS sectors, with his most obvious post politics reward of strategic advisory roles with BHP and Mineral Resources. While McGowan was Premier, his government approved BHP’s enormous Pilbara strategic mining proposal. The approval covered a 50–100 year strategic plan, with the government saying it could reduce future approval timeframes by up to 50%. His government also supported BHP’s $4.7 billion South Flank project, which subsequently became one of the world’s largest iron-ore operations. During the covid period, McGowan’s government changed mining regulations to provide expenditure exemptions and shorten objection periods for mining tenements affected by the pandemic. And in 2022, the McGowan Government passed further mining reforms intended to streamline administration and increase certainty for the resources industry. Now, I’m a big fan of Australia’s resources sector, as it is the primary driver of our economy – but going straight from government to advisory roles for big mining companies is a pretty obvious fail of the pub test. Michael Gunner – former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Famous for one of the most unhinged rants against people who were anti-mandates, regardless of their vaccination status (relive it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hIKhtCB8PA ) and also the only state leader to impose $5000 fines on workers for refusing to take the jab, Michael Gunner resigned as Chief Minister in May 2022 before leaving politics altogether in July. He followed the NT’s 6 month cooling off laws before taking on the role of Head of Northern Australia with Twiggy Forrest’s renewable energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI). Gunner’s government had been aggressively pursuing renewable-energy investment. In March 2022, shortly before his departure, his government introduced legislation specifically designed to facilitate the $30 billion Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project, including provisions intended to provide project certainty and help secure financing. His government was also promoting renewable-energy infrastructure as part of the Territory’s post-COVID economic recovery. And Fortescue was simultaneously developing a huge green-energy strategy in Northern Australia. When he joined FFI, the company was actively pursuing major projects in the NT, including its proposed green hydrogen and green ammonia facility at the Middle Arm industrial precinct. The NT government subsequently allocated land at Middle Arm to FFI for this production and export facility. According to his successor, NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, Gunner did not lobby her regarding FFI’s shortlisting… He has since moved from FFI to KPMG in 2025 as a Partner in its consulting practice in Perth – a company receiving hundred of millions of dollars in government contracts despite countless controversies such as leaking private data to win new contracts and mishandling of whistle blowers. Final note As the old saying goes, “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. There are still people defending the covid actions of those listed above, saying “they just did the best they could with what they knew at the time”. And that they did. Clearly, they did an extremely good job at using our tax money to prepare for very lucrative careers before they left politics – and the collateral damage of their pandemic decisions – in their wake. It is also interesting to note the current Labor smear campaign against Pauline Hanson’s connection to Gina Rinehart, indicating she is “owned” by Gina and will do her bidding – conveniently leaving out the fact that two of their ex Labor Premiers (Dan Andrews and Michael Gunner) went straight from their posts to work with Labor’s billionaire backer Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest. Pub test that.