The claim
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, has faced increasing criticism over his decision to attend a cricket match rather than a sitting of the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19.
In response, Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently took to a Brisbane radio station to defend the senator from Tasmania.
Asked by 4BC host Neil Breen whether Senator Colbeck should have appeared at the committee hearing, Mr Morrison responded:
"He has appeared, as you know, at that hearing on many, many occasions."
"[H]e's appeared before that [committee] on countless occasions."
Is that correct? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.
The verdict
Mr Morrison is wrong.
At the time of Mr Morrison's claim on January 28, Senator Colbeck had appeared at only two of 55 public hearings of the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19.
The context of the claim
The Prime Minister's claim came amid a media storm surrounding a decision made by Senator Colbeck to turn down an invitation to attend a public hearing of the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19.
In publicly available correspondence between Senator Colbeck and the committee's chair, Labor senator Katy Gallagher, Senator Colbeck said he was "concerned about the impact of the timing" of the hearing, which was slated for January 14.
"Diverting time and resources, including that of senior leaders within the Department who are playing a key role in the management of the current Omicron outbreaks, to give evidence before the Committee at this crucial time would impact the urgent and critical work the Department is undertaking with other Government agencies, states and territories to manage these outbreaks," Senator Colbeck wrote in a letter to Senator Gallagher on January 9.
It later emerged, however, that during the period the hearing was set to have been held, Senator Colbeck had attended a cricket match in Hobart.
In a statement to the ABC's 7.30 program, Senator Colbeck said he attended the Ashes Test "as part of his commitments as Minister for Sport and Senator for Tasmania" and that in addition to attending the match he had also taken part in a number of meetings in relation to his role as Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Minister on January 14.
How many times has Senator Colbeck attended committee hearings?
The Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 was set up in April 2020 to "inquire into the Australian Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic".
Chaired by Labor's Senator Gallagher, the six other full members of the committee hail from the Labor, Liberal, Nationals and Greens parties, in addition to independent senator Jacqui Lambie.
Senator Colbeck does not sit on the full committee, nor is he a participating member.
(Participating members take part in public hearings and private meetings, but do not have voting rights).
Transcripts from past public hearings of the committee show that in his role as a minister, Senator Colbeck had appeared as a witness at committee hearings twice when Mr Morrison made his claim on January 28.
As of the date of Mr Morrison's claim, the committee had held 55 public hearings.
In an email to Fact Check, Jeanette Radcliffe, the secretary of the committee, confirmed this count.
No hearing took place on January 14. The first hearing of 2022 was on February 2, when Senator Colbeck appeared.
Fact Check has not assessed whether or not Senator Colbeck has been invited to appear on more occasions, as this is not encompassed in the claim made by Mr Morrison.
Both of Senator Colbeck's two appearances, which took place on August 4 and August 21, 2020, occurred when Senator Colbeck was the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians.
In December 2020, Senator Colbeck was made the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, while Health Minister Greg Hunt took over the Aged Care portfolio.
Principal researcher: Ellen McCutchan
