Australian police have launched an official investigation into the virus-related deaths linked to the Ruby Princess, a cruise ship which travelled from New Zealand and is responsible for more than 430 of Australia's COVID-19 cases.
Australia correspondent Jason Morrison told the AM Show the investigation will come down to determining "whose negligence" led to the deaths of several Ruby Princess passengers. As of Friday, seven of the country's deaths have been linked to the cruise ship.
"The beauty of this is that it's been done by the police, not by an official inquiry - because official inquiries set up by politicians tend to focus on tiny little slithers of things... this is a homicide investigation," Morrison told The AM Show on Monday.
"It will come down to determining whose negligence, whose culpability, lead to the deaths of people... if there is wrongdoing, [police] will put the spotlight on it."
However, Morrison says an emerging "cocktail of bureaucracies" is feeding miscommunication.
"What will happen is another thing entirely... there are areas in which the bureaucracies don't have authority, [they're] not really working together... [there are] these huge bodies of people who are responsible for things, but don't talk to the people next door who are responsible for other things," he explained.
"There will also be the question of what the cruise ship company told the Government at the time."
As of Monday, Australia's COVID-19 death toll stands at 35, with more than 5680 confirmed cases and 757 recoveries. While seven deaths have a confirmed connection to the Ruby Princess as of Friday, Morrison claims a third of the deaths so far in Australia can be linked to the ship.
"I guess they're looking for negligence and if[ they can find negligence through acts of criminality - through deceit, through shortfalls of exchange of information - I guess through half-stories and half-truths, that's what they're looking for.
"I don't think anyone will be charged with a homicide but they may be charged over the death of someone or actions that talk to it."
Morrison says Australians are desperate for answers and resentment towards the mishandling of the cruise ship and its passengers continues to grow.
"People want answers... you can just feel the simmering anger, people out there saying, 'how the bloody hell did this happen? How did that ship end up in the heart of the biggest city in Australia and people just told to go home'?" he explained.
The Ruby Princess remains a floating cluster of the virus and is currently sitting off the coast of Australia, with many sick crew quarantined on board.
On Friday, a new COVID-19 cluster was detected in Hawke's Bay and has been linked to the cruise ship.
The Ruby Princess' last stop in New Zealand was Napier, which became a new official cluster on Friday. Thirteen cases in Hawke's Bay, seven of which were confirmed between Thursday and Friday, have been linked to the cruise ship.
The cluster has been traced back to a Hawke's Bay tour guide in contact with the Ruby Princess. They infected an elderly relative at the Gladys Mary Rest Home, where four other residents contracted the virus. A bus driver also tested positive.
Newshub understands that New Zealanders nationwide who travelled on the Ruby Princess have since tested positive for COVID-19.
The Ruby Princess made five stops throughout New Zealand - starting in Fiordland on March 11 and finishing in Napier on March 15 - but questions continue to be raised regarding whether it should have maintained its normal operation amid the pandemic.
Cruise ships were banned in New Zealand on March 14 but the Ruby Princess was given an exemption, allowing it to travel to Hawke's Bay.
