Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for allowing the member for Moreton to stay here and enjoy my contribution as well. It's a much greater punishment than if you were to send him out of the chamber, so I'm happy he's here. To go to the very point raised in the question from the honourable member opposite, the Australian public has seen the government's response to COVID. And I'll tell you what: Australians look at what is happening around the world and are grateful that we are living in the country that we are today. We made a decision in the National Security Committee of Cabinet over 12 months ago to lock our country down and to close our border with China—the greatest decision we have made during the period of COVID because it stopped that virus coming to our country. At the same time, the Prime Minister has demonstrated the leadership to stand up with the premiers to make decisions in relation to the health system that have saved this country tens of thousands of deaths. Do you think we're going to be lectured by those opposite, with their cheap political—

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