Furious row on Q&A as Nationals senator calls for lockdowns to be lifted IMMEDIATELY - as irate viewers slam the ABC for letting him on the program after claiming Australia was spending '$330million to save a single life'

A former minister launched an extraordinary attack on the national cabinet's strategy of lockdowns, saying policy-makers are too 'embarrassed' to provide accurate financial data and accusing them of hiding behind 'weasel words'.

Matt Canavan, a Queensland Nationals senator, called for an 'immediate end' to Covid lockdowns this week and doubled down on Q+A, claiming the real cost of lockdowns was so 'eye-watering' that Treasury did not want to release the real costs.

On social media, Q+A viewers were furious the ABC featured Senator Canavan at all, who is a vocal critic of lockdowns, on its panel.

Some belligerent social media activists even refused to watch the show, harshly calling his choice as a guest 'an insult to intelligence'. 

The ABC Q+A panel discussed Australia's current Covid situation with one guest saying Sydneysiders were suffering and needed clarity on when the current lockdown would be over (pictured, a Penrith pharmacist in full PPE on Thursday)

Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan launched an extraordinary attack on lockdowns, saying policy-makers are too 'embarrassed' to provide accurate data and accused them of hiding behind 'weasel words'

Senator Canavan's presence on the show was also slammed as 'a slap in the face to everyone doing the right thing' while many accused him of spreading 'misinformation'.

The former cabinet minister and economist raised eyebrows in a comment piece in The Australian Financial Review this week by claiming the cost of saving each life during pandemic lockdowns was '$330million'. 

Senator Canavan bickered with Q+A host David Speers on Thursday over Treasury's recent finding that early intervention was the best way to get on top of the virus until we reach high vaccination rates.

When Speers tried to summarise the Treasury findings, Senator Canavan interrupted him saying 'where's the numbers?' and calling some of the findings 'weasel words'.

Matt Canavan (pictured with his wife Andrea) claimed that Treasury officials could not release accurate figures on the true cost of lockdowns because they would be 'eye-watering' and would 'embarrass' officials

'You can take that up with Josh Frydenberg,' Speers shot back.

Senator Canavan, who is based at Rockhampton in central Queensland, maintained his claim that lockdowns had never been properly costed. 

'There hasn't actually been a cost benefit study from our officials of lockdowns... compared to other policies,' the senator argued.

'That is a gross abrogation of their responsibilities as regulators and policy makers.'

Senator Canavan said lockdowns were probably 'the most costly policy that we've ever adopted in peace time'. 

'I fear that the figures would be eye-watering and would embarrass the officials making these decisions.'

He also refused to condemn rogue fellow Nationals MP and Queenslander George Christensen who told Parliament face masks did not work to control the spread of Covid.

'I'm not going to condemn it, David,' Senator Canavan said.

'That's ridiculous, that's a crazy word. I disagree with it but condemnation comes with some kind of view that the statement should never have been expressed.' 

ABC viewers attacked the public broadcaster for having Matt Canavan on the Q+A panel. Some called Canavan's place on the panel discussing climate change and Australia's Covid situation 'a slap in the face for everyone doing the right thing'

Sydneysiders have no spent 99 days in lockdown since the pandemic began as of Thursday (pictured, a local in Alexandria) 

Thursday's Q+A panelists discussed how Australia could end the cycle of costly lockdowns, which health economist Angela Jackson said were causing too much 'suffering' to the people of Sydney.

She said it was time to give the people of New South Wales more clarity about how lockdown will end.

'Sydney needs to know what are the vaccination targets, what do the case numbers need to be at, at each level of vaccination, for them to come out safely. 

'The NSW should have that modelling and I think it is time to share it.'

'People need certainty and they need a plan.'

Labor frontbencher Catherine King, who holds the infrastructure, transport and regional development portfolios, slammed the Morrison government over the 'debacle' of the vaccine rollout.

She said the sacrifices made by Victorians during that state's long lockdown in 2020 'have been squandered'.

Long lockdowns around Australia have led to frustration with the strategy which Matt Canavan believes is far more expensive than we have been led to believe (pictured, police at an anti-lockdown protest on Wednesday)

'We've only got 19 per cent of the population fully vaccinated and were having this Hunger Games between priority populations versus states about how we manage this because frankly the Morrison/Joyce government did not do its job.'

ABC finance journalist Alan Kohler called Australia's Covid response in 2021 an 'epic stuff up'.

'We've learned the PM doesn't run the show any more, it's the states who do it.'

Mr Kohler said one of the major issues confusing the public and creating uncertainty was the projection of exactly how much of the population need to be vaccinated.

A recent theme has been the claim that with 70 per cent of the population fully vaccinated many restrictions could be eased. 

'What percentages are we talking about? Is it the whole population or the adult population? Nobody really knows,' he added.