Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all of the members who have spoken in this chamber on the Australian Immunisation Register and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. It has the support of the House on a bipartisan basis, and, indeed, I believe, by all members of the House. In particular, I want to thank the opposition. It's unusual to say this, but I think the opposition spokesperson gave a wonderful, powerful and moving speech about her own family circumstances, and it deserves to be acknowledged as one of the motivations behind her, and the opposition's, support for stronger immunisation. She had a major loss, and I want to acknowledge and appreciate that. Hopefully, the work we've done with Polio Australia will also provide a way forward for others who have been victims of polio.

I want to address this bill in three phases: firstly, the overarching task in relation to immunisation and vaccination in Australia; secondly, what we will be doing with awareness; and, thirdly, where the bill fits in. We know that we currently have a 93 per cent rate of immunisation in Australia. That has increased significantly. It's the work of consecutive governments. But perhaps our signature effort in that space has been the No Jab, No Pay program. It is in many ways a tough measure, but unapologetically so. I want to acknowledge my predecessor, the member for Farrer, who has really been the pioneer in this space. It may be that, in 10 or 20 years time, she looks back on this as the most important thing from her time in parliament, because, in the end, it will have saved a lot of lives. So I thank and acknowledge her work.

We know that, since the introduction of No Jab, No Pay, the government has seen an extra 210,000 children vaccinated. Those vaccination rates have gone up to 93 per cent, as I said. We have an interim target—because, in the end, it's got to be 100 per cent, minus anybody with a medical exemption—of 95 per cent. We have to keep pushing towards that. Interestingly, some of the highest rates of vaccination in the country are in Indigenous communities, where there has been very strong support for the No Jab, No Pay program, which is a real tribute to the Indigenous community health leaders.

We then move on to what we are doing with awareness. We will shortly be launching the major component of the $5½ million awareness campaign. That awareness is built around the principle that it's not just safe but it saves lives—that your child or somebody else's child could be at risk. We have seen the outbreak of measles in Western Australia at the moment. I have to say to the school involved: please rethink your philosophy on this, because there are 200 kids who are at risk right now.

At a broader level, I want to categorically denounce, in a way that I do not usually do, the antivaccination movement. Unfortunately, this is not a science-based movement. Their comments and approach threaten the lives of young children and people of all ages—but particularly the young and the elderly—whose immune systems are not robust. There is a bipartisan approach to rejecting the antivaccination movement. There was a unanimous response to a Commonwealth initiative at last Friday's Council of Australian Governments health ministers meeting to denounce and reject the antivaccination movement and their material. Our campaign will commence shortly, giving confidence to parents but also telling the stories of families who have suffered from the lack of vaccination by those around them. Think of whooping cough. The Prime Minister and I have met, tragically, with family sufferers where a beautiful little baby was lost because, prior to the ability to vaccinate a very young child, that child was brought within a care situation where others had not vaccinated their children. A mother held her little baby as it literally choked to death in the first few weeks of life. These are strong, powerful reminders to all of us that you don't play with vaccinations.

That then brings me to the bill. There has been strong support through the House, and, again, I thank all members who've spoken and all sides of the House for their support. This bill makes minor amendments to the Australian Immunisation Register Act. In addition to general practitioners, it allows paediatricians, public health physicians, infectious disease physicians and clinical immunologists to assess that a young individual has a contraindication to a vaccine or a natural immunity to a disease. It actually provides some of the protections that some of the critics want. It makes the system even more robust, so it saves time and cost. But, above all else, it protects those patients who might be in the absolute minority. The bill also makes a minor amendment to paragraph 9(b) of the Australian Immunisation Register Act to make it explicit in the legislation that the Australian Immunisation Register can only accept vaccination information provided by recognised vaccination providers and not that provided by members of the public. Again, that's about protecting the integrity of the system.

Ultimately, I want to commend the bill to the House. I want to thank our extraordinary medical researchers. I want to thank all of those who are on the front line helping to issue the vaccinations, whether it's our doctors, our nurses or our maternal healthcare workers who work right across the state. The ultimate message here is that vaccinations save lives. Our national goal is a 95 per cent interim target and, subject to any medical exemptions, 100 per cent national vaccination coverage.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

Sitting suspended from 12:38 to 16:00

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