Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The envy of the world, Australia is a leader in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. This is because the Morrison government's world-class response is evidence based, expert informed and timely. Across the country, experts have worked together to deliver ongoing advice and guidance. Consistently, the government has listened to and acted on this advice, advice that Australians have listened to and engaged with, and this has resulted in outcomes that all Australians can feel extremely proud of.

As we've always said, no system for managing the COVID-19 pandemic will be perfect. This is not simply due to human error, but additionally because the incubation period of the virus and its variants can be beyond the 14 days required for self-isolation. Quarantining has safely brought home more than 350,000 Australians, 3,500 of which had COVID. Unfortunately, 21 leaks occurred, but only 21 leaks occurred. That is remarkable in itself with such an incredibly infectious virus.

Last year we took rapid and proactive steps to close the border and implement quarantine measures, but, just as importantly, we understood that this was not the only defence mechanism that we needed to deploy in our response. Indeed, as for all public health measures, we've exercised a diversified armamentarium towards COVID. Whether this is the triple protection for individuals, of masks, handwashing and physical distancing, whether it is the triple protection for those arriving from overseas, of quarantining, contact tracing and social-distancing measures, or whether it's the investment of this government in a diversified portfolio of vaccines, of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novavax and Moderna, our government has understood the ability of this country to respond. And it's included a rapid development of CSL manufacturing capabilities for the AZ vaccine.

The Morrison government's targeted approach of safeguarding those most at risk ensures that they are the most protected. This includes residents of aged-care facilities and frontline workers who've been prioritised in our vaccination program, starting with stage 1a and stage 1b. These are the approaches that the Australian people know they can trust and rely on to get us through the pandemic.

We all know that a one-size-fits-all approach to the pandemic doesn't work. It requires a dynamic approach, one that prevents and responds to COVID. As we've seen with the New South Wales government, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rolled out a targeted and dynamic method with hotspot containment as opposed to entire state lockdowns, which means, time and time again, not only has she protected the citizens of New South Wales from the ravages of this disease she's saved businesses from the devastation of economic lockdown.

My fellow Victorians: my heart goes out to you all. You have lived through one week of lockdown and are now staring at a second week of lockdown. Thank you to all Victorians for your efforts ensuring that you, your family and your friends are safe, for keeping us all safe. Thank you for all who've already received the jab. Just yesterday, 20,492 Victorians received a dose of the vaccine. That is a record number.

As the vaccination program ramps up, I'm proud the Morrison government is continuing to deliver a free, safe and effective defence against the scourge of COVID-19. The first one million doses were delivered in 47 days—the fourth million doses were delivered in just 13 days. The ramp-up of the vaccine is happening at speed. This is, indeed, the biggest vaccine rollout in our country's history, one that has had to be delivered when there have been supply constraints outside of this country's control.

On this side, we understand a calm, open, transparent and accountable government is best suited to deliver the public health outcomes this country needs and deserves. In contrast, those opposite play blame-game tactics. That is all that they can muster. Australians can see through these tactics of playing politics with the pandemic, of playing the blame game. I want to re-emphasise for those listening across Australia the calm message from this government: if you have symptoms, get tested; if you've been in contact with someone with the virus, isolate and get tested; and, finally and most importantly, if you're eligible, get vaccinated.

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