Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I simply reject the assertions just put out there by the member who has put this question. As Australians understand and as states and territories understand, the vaccination of those who are involved in the quarantine process, which was put in place by a decision of national cabinet in March last year, is administered by those states and territories. The Labor Party can seek to pointscore all they like, but what Australians know is that there is not one—to the best of my knowledge—person right now who is in an ICU in an Australian hospital as a result of falling victim to COVID. What I also know is, as you look around the world, that is not the case. If you look at the United Kingdom, the most recent information I have is: over 16,000 new cases in one day, almost 250 people in hospital and almost 20 deaths. That's just in one day.

For the Labor Party to come in here, into this chamber, day after day, and talk down the achievements of the Australian people and how Australia has been able to come through this pandemic to this point in such a situation, where Australians are not falling victim fatally to this COVID virus, where almost a million jobs have come back into the economy after the pandemic hit—we have more people in work today than there were before the pandemic started. This is a great achievement of the Australian people. And all we get from the Labor Party day after day—

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