Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has joined calls for a royal commission into Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, warning that the country should not rest on its laurels and needs to be prepared for future pandemics. “I do hope that at the end of this process, rather than just saying, ‘Thank God that’s over,’ and just wanting to forget about it. There will be a serious inquiry, a royal commission, if you like, at the national level to look long and hard at what we did right,” the former prime minister told the Institute of Public Affairs’ (IPA) “Australia’s Heartland with Tony Abbott” podcast. “Because there will be another pandemic. It might be in a year. It might be in a decade; it might be in a century. But there will be another pandemic and it’s important that our successes have the benefit of our considered reflections on what’s …