Tony Abbott has been accused of sinking to a new low after suggesting some elderly coronavirus victims should be left to die naturally.
The former prime minister has delivered an incendiary speech railing against so-called health dictatorships.
Mr Abbott said governments were failing to consider the economic costs of the crisis, raising the spectre of sacrificing older lives to protect the livelihoods of younger Australians.
"Governments have approached the pandemic like trauma doctors instead of thinking like health economists trained to pose uncomfortable questions about a level of deaths we might have to live with'' said Mr Abbott.
His comments caused the reaction of Labour's Anthony Albanese.
"Tony Abbott was never known for his compassion. This is a new low," Mr Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
"To make the comments that he did, I think, will cause a great deal of hurt for Australians who read those comments, particularly the families of those who have been impacted by COVID-19."
