Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will support this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, to provide financial assistance to Australians who are enduring lockdown. Ten million people in New South Wales and Queensland are in lockdown right now, and it's not that long since Victorians and South Australians were locked down as well. We know from the Treasurer's statement today in a press conference that lockdowns across the country can cost $3.8 billion a week. That's a massive impact.

I just did a Zoom call, hosted by the member for Werriwa and our shadow energy minister, Chris Bowen, with people in south-western and Western Sydney. There, we were talking to those communities directly about the difficulties that they are having at the moment: the difficulties because people are losing their jobs, the difficulties because people don't have an income and the difficulties because of the very strict restrictions that are in place. That's why, as soon as these restrictions were in place, we called for support. The government reluctantly, bit by bit, changed the support for people—four times in one week. We had four different announcements out there.

One of the issues that came up in the consultation with those communities in south-west Sydney just an hour ago was the confusion that's out there about what support is available. We know that so many Australians are not going to get support. Too many Australians are either directly or indirectly impacted by these lockdowns because of the nature of their work and the nature of where they live, too, because we know that people who aren't living in lockdown areas can be impacted by the economic impact of a lockdown. I certainly heard that in Queensland. Whether it was Bundaberg, Maryborough, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Mackay or Rockhampton, all those communities are impacted by the fact that New South Welshmen and Victorians aren't able to travel to those communities. We know that's having a massive impact in the electorate of Gilmore and the electorate of Eden-Monaro, surrounding the ACT. The pundits tell us that this could be the best ski season ever. There's only one thing missing—skiers. They can't travel. That's having an enormous impact on those communities as well.

There's been a tale of two political movements today in this House, because we think there are weaknesses in this legislation. We think there isn't enough support in this legislation. We think people are missing out under this legislation. But we'll support it because throughout this pandemic we have never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. When people have needed support we have been there, offering to provide that support. When ideas are put forward, those opposite say no. This is a government that is acting like an opposition in exile and that doesn't recognise the responsibility it has. This is a government that rejected the idea of wage subsidies and called them a dangerous idea. The only time the government changed its mind was when the queues formed around the block of Centrelink offices right around the country. Only then did it move, and, when it did move, of course, it left out the arts sector, the university sector and casual employees. Too many people were left behind by the support that was there.

The Prime Minister had two big jobs this year: the rollout of the vaccine and national quarantine, and he botched both of them. On the rollout of the vaccine we know that we're still under 20 per cent, languishing at the bottom of the developed world with the rollout numbers and struggling to get into the top 80, let alone the gold medal position that the Prime Minister likes to talk about. On quarantine, when our Olympians arrived back this morning, where did they go? Howard Springs, because it is safe, because it's purpose built and because people are separated; they're not sharing ventilation. They went there because it's a safe place for them to go. But where are other people going? They're going into hotel quarantine. The current lockdown in South-East Queensland is a direct result of another failure of hotel quarantine. The lockdown that spread from Sydney's eastern suburbs is a direct result of a failure that occurred there as well, and yet this government refuses to move.

Labor proposed wage subsidies. We also opposed the early withdrawal of JobKeeper. We said that, if the mechanisms had been put in place, and if a business was under the same conditions that allowed JobKeeper to be applied, it made sense to keep the mechanisms there, to keep that relationship between employers and employees. So we do welcome these measures, even though they should have come much earlier.

The fact is that this always was a race, which is why we were absolutely determined to advocate for getting five or six vaccines last year—getting enough deals with enough companies to get enough supply early enough. That is the other part of the problem that we've seen. We continue to be in circumstances where vulnerable Australians are really doing it tough. I say this: in my electorate today, 19 older Australians have been hospitalised. They're aged-care residents in Summer Hill. They were infected because an aged-care worker had not been vaccinated. This government said that they would all be done by Easter. It's now August, and 19 of my elderly residents, vulnerable Australians, have been let down by this government.

How is it that we've reached August and aged-care workers still aren't vaccinated? How is it that disability care workers aren't vaccinated? How is it that there are still some aged-care residents who've been unable to receive vaccines? How is it that we raised in question time today a fact about a real person—a real teacher in a real community in the Central Coast—who had their appointment for a vaccine cancelled because that vaccine is being transferred to a student, perhaps even a student at a school that they might teach at in Sydney? How is it that this has been bungled so badly by this government?

When we have put forward a constructive idea, as we have today for a $300 payment for Australians, we have had all sorts of opposition from the government. They've rolled out some academics to talk about how this doesn't work. I say to the government: you need to get out more. You need to come to my community and walk around and ask people if a $300 cash payment will make them more likely or less likely to get the vaccine. I just spoke on triple J, on Hack, and one of the text messages that came in that the announcer read out was from a young person who said that she's waiting for Pfizer but that if there were a $300 payment she'd get AstraZeneca tomorrow—after consultation, one would assume, with her doctor.

The fact is that there need to be incentives put in place. That's why incentives are a part of the Prime Minister's four-phase plan. They're a part of phase B, which was announced just last Friday. That's why the Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, said that that was the case. That's why, around the world, you have a range of mechanisms, even lotteries in some countries. I was reading today about how, in some communities to our north, you can go in a lottery to get a cow. Incentives in order to change behaviour are something that is used around the world. That is why they were used by the then social security minister, now Prime Minister, when he introduced the No Jab, No Pay program for childcare payments and family assistance. At the time, in his second reading speech, he said it was because of the need to increase immunisation rates amongst children.

It's extraordinary that this government has just rejected a constructive idea. I don't write off all hope for them, because they did the same on wage subsidies. They did the same on lockdowns. When parliament last sat, the Prime Minister was standing at this dispatch box congratulating Gladys Berejiklian for not locking down, for leaving everything open. And we know how that worked out; that worked out with Sydney still locked down as a result of the failure to move early enough. And we've seen the opposite in real time. This isn't an academic exercise. We're seeing Victoria and South Australia—one Labor government, one Liberal government—locking down early enough to make a difference, and the Palaszczuk government once again protecting Queenslanders, as they have the whole way through, in spite of the Prime Minister's quite sad campaign where he went to Queensland and campaigned alongside Deb Frecklington, criticising the Palaszczuk government for a whole week. That's the only time he's ever spent a week in Queensland, I've got to say, as a member of parliament. I've had an opportunity to spend a fair bit of time in Queensland in recent times, and I certainly enjoy the company of Queenslanders. They're straightforward people. They're straight talking. The Prime Minister has a different thing to say every day and even contradicts himself on what he has done as a minister, which is what he's doing when it comes to the incentives that we're putting forward.

So we will be supporting this legislation. We say to the government: 'Do your usual thing: adopt the idea that we've put forward today, then claim it was yours.' That would be the consistency that this government applies to these measures. And that will be okay, because we're prepared to support anything that is positive and that makes a difference. Quite clearly this government is struggling with any new ideas. We're pleased that it adopted some support for individuals suffering from these lockdowns—as a result of pressure from Labor, it must be said, and also from Labor and Liberal state governments. We saw Brad Hazzard's comments on Sunday. We've seen Dominic Perrottet also put forward advocacy for increased support. It's a pity that it takes such strong action in order to get this Prime Minister to ever move his position, to do what is right and to do what is necessary.

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