...By Gift BADEWO for TDPel Media.
Australia is experiencing a high rate of deaths, which is comparable to wartime.
This has led to calls for an inquiry, but the government and crossbench Senators voted down the motion.
The majority of excess deaths in 2022 were Covid-related, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.
However, there was also a significant increase in those dying from diabetes and dementia, and a marginal increase in heart-related and respiratory infection deaths.
Some people have linked the increase in deaths to the Covid vaccines, but the Therapeutic Goods Administration has insisted that the vaccines are safe.
Although the reason for the increase in deaths is unclear, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Professor Steve Robson, has suggested that a possible cause is that people are not seeking medical treatment due to infection risk.
The High Rate of Deaths
In 2022, the number of deaths in Australia exceeded the expected number of deaths by 25,235, which is calculated based on the historical average of mortality for a given period.
The excess mortality rate was running at 15% above the expected number of deaths, which is a rate of death that Australia has not seen since the 80 years since World War II, according to ABS figures.
The final ABS figures for 2022 are higher than the 12% rate of excess mortality reported for that year by an Actuaries Institute report in March.
Calls for an Inquiry
The increase in deaths has led to calls for an inquiry, but the government and crossbench Senators voted down the motion.
Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick spoke in support of the motion, saying that such a jump in deaths statistically was a ‘one in a thousand events.’ Sydney talkback radio 2GB host Ben Fordham has also called for a probe into why Australians are dying in such comparatively high numbers.
Fordham noted that biopsies, scans and surgeries for cancer had plummeted in 2020 because of Covid lockdowns, meaning up to 20,000 cases may have been missed.
Covid-Related Deaths
According to the ABS, the majority of excess deaths in 2022 were Covid-related.
The bureau said 10,095 people died because of Covid, with an estimated 3,000 other deaths recorded where the virus was ‘a contributing factor.’ However, there was also a 19% increase in those dying from diabetes and a 15% jump in dementia mortality.
There were marginal increases in the number of heart-related and respiratory infection deaths.
Vaccines and Deaths
Some people have linked the increase in deaths to the Covid vaccines, but the Therapeutic Goods Administration has insisted that the vaccines are safe.
Fordham noted the TGA had been so resistant to his inquiries about potential vaccine-related deaths that it raised suspicions of a cover-up.
The TGA has consistently insisted that the Covid vaccines are extremely safe and severe adverse reactions are ‘rare.’
Possible Causes
Although the reason for the increase in deaths is unclear, the AMA President, Professor Steve Robson, has suggested that a possible cause is that people are not seeking medical treatment due to infection risk.
Prof Robson said that it was unclear what was driving the excess deaths, and there needs to be research into why this is happening.
However, he pointed to some ‘likely factors’ that could be a hangover from the Covid period of isolation and restrictions.
