When the Iraq War Inquiry Group (of which I am a member) issued a public call for an inquiry into the decision-making that lay behind Australia's participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, members of the then-Howard government dismissed it in effect as yesterday's news.
They argued that the focus should be on today's and tomorrow's security challenges rather than on trying to re-guess matters and decisions of years past.
The response by the Howard government Cabinet ministers was hardly surprising. But the response from the present Labor Government was surprising, considering its firm and principled opposition to the Iraq war back in 2003. Both the defense and prime ministers rejected the call, saying that since lessons had already been learned, a fresh inquiry is not warranted.