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

I am reminded of perhaps the most infamous of the opposition leader's speeches to the National Press Club, when he said that these are serious times, and these need serious people—except for the fact that he was plagiarising a fictional American president who never existed. Having been caught out with that, I am reminded that these are serious times, but this was not a serious intervention today, in policy or in other terms.

The idea is that, instead of the reason for people to be vaccinated in Australia being to save their lives and the lives of their friends and family and to protect others in the community, we would retrospectively pay the eight million people who have been vaccinated in Australia to date, we would retrospectively pay the wealthiest Australians, we would retrospectively pay for that which has already been done and we would risk undermining the vaccine program. This isn't just a bad idea, as Professor Peter Collignon said; it's an irresponsible idea and it's a dangerous idea. The reason it is an irresponsible idea is not only that it is paying people for what's been done; it is paying people for what they were going to do in any event. I can disclose to the House today that our latest COVID Shield research is that 79 per cent of people are intending on being vaccinated. That number has gone up again.

In addition to that, very significantly, what we see is that we also have a situation where those opposite risk undermining confidence in vaccination. Let me quote the Journal of the American Medical Association:

… considerable research shows that payments in some contexts can send the signal that an action is undesirable, unpleasant, or even dangerous and not worth taking based purely on personal benefit. Financial incentives are likely to discourage vaccination (particularly among those most concerned about adverse effects); instead, contingent nonfinancial incentives are the desired approach.

Or perhaps I could just quote the health minister here in the ACT, Rachel Stephen-Smith, only a few hours ago, when asked about the opposition leader's proposal: 'For my money, this is probably not the most cost-effective way to do incentives for people. I think a number of your listeners on the text line have indicated that it's actually what you're allowed to do when you're vaccinated that's going to give people the incentive, and that's the conversation that you know is occurring at the national cabinet at the moment.' Professor Peter Collignon said: 'This is bad idea. Currently, judging by long vaccine lines, not enough vaccine is the main issue, not hesitancy.' I'm happy to accept his comments. We accept that, as more vaccine comes in, more is delivered. Further, he said, 'Plus, this may make some needlessly defer getting vaccinated, because they may think if they defer for a few months they're more likely get $300.' Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said: 'Australians are very good at uptaking vaccines—they really are. They reach about 94 per cent'—actually, it's 95.2 per cent—'for children's vaccines.' That is for the zero to five-year-olds. She said: 'I don't think we need it yet. I actually don't think Australians are that hesitant.' Jane Halton said: 'If you look at the US, say, they didn't think about these kinds of incentives until right at the end. So I don't think we should lead with that. Let's call on people's better instincts to do the right things.'

The strongest possible reason to be vaccinated is to save your life. It's to save the life of your friends and family. It's to save the life of your community. It's to protect others. To imply in some way, shape or form that this is not worth doing, that it might be unpleasant or dangerous and therefore you need cash is a very dangerous path. Will the opposition be paying for the booster next year? Will they be adding an extra $3 billion for the booster next year? It's a simple question. There's no simple answer. As is potentially likely and as all the medical advice suggests—will they be paying for a booster in 2023? Because, on their logic, once they've established this principle, the moment they stop, the incentive to be vaccinated evaporates, so therefore they are locking in a COVID vaccine payment forever—or maybe they're not, but what is the logic with that?

I see the Manager of Opposition Business. I quite like him; I think there's a certain degree of integrity underneath. We go back a long way. He gave one of the most half-hearted interviews of his life today in relation to this. I know his heart is not behind what they are doing, and I commend him for that. He was honest through his intention.

Here's what we've done. In the last month, there have been 4½ million vaccinations. Since this parliament met, there have been over 5½ million vaccinations. In the last week, there have been almost 1.2 million vaccinations. In the last 24 hours, there have been 200,000 vaccinations. If that were the United States, that would be the equivalent of over 2½ million vaccines in one day! Then, when we look at that progress, across Australia four million people today are fully vaccinated and over eight million people have had at least one dose—in particular, 41.4 per cent have had that first vaccination dose so far. Then, as we go forward, what we see is that for the over 50s, it's at 66.1 per cent; for the over 60s, it's 73.1 per cent; and, for the over 70s, it's 79.6 per cent. Within a matter of days we will have hit 80 per cent in that age group alone. And all of these things are being done for the right reasons, through the right way, without risking undermining a vaccination program, without calling into account its fundamental purpose, which is to save lives and to protect lives. The opposition are the people who gave us cash for clunkers, and they have learnt nothing since that time.

Now we'll look at where Australia is in comparison to the rest of the world. We see a world where, as I mentioned earlier today, there has been 631,000 cases in the last 24 hours, and there has been 11,000 lives lost. To date, well over four million lives have been lost, each one of them a tragedy, including every one of them in Australia. If, at the outset of this pandemic a year ago, it had been said that the world would have reached almost 200 million cases by now, that there would have been 4.2 million lives lost worldwide officially—but according to the World Health Organization it's likely to be two to three times that, so close to 10 million lives lost. In Australia, tragically, we have lost 925 souls. But, in a world where a likely 10 million souls have been lost, 925 is an almost inconceivable national achievement. And every Australian has played their part; everyone has done that.

Our health workers are at the top of the list: our pathologists, our doctors, our nurses, our pharmacists—all of the people who have played their role. To do that, it's involved not just one action but multiple: the borders, the testing, the tracing, the distancing—and I do commend New South Wales on, arguably, the most outstanding tracing system in the world. What that has done is help prevent, along with what they have also done with their distancing measures, what could have been thousands of cases on a daily basis. Then, of course, there is the vaccination program. All of these things have come together.

Australia's achievements in saving lives and livelihoods are almost unparalleled around the world. At the same time, there have been 4.5 million vaccinations in the last month. There have been 5.5 million vaccinations since this parliament last met, with 200,000 vaccinations in the last 24 hours. These are the real outcomes for this nation, and it's every Australian that is stepping forward. I thank them and I honour them.

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