Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I am speaking from Kogarah in the St George region in New South Wales in Sydney. It is one of the local government areas, the Georges River council, that is of great concern. The other local government area in the region that I represent, the seat of Barton, is the Canterbury Bankstown council. I listened carefully to the previous speaker who spoke about Labor entering into petty politics. You come and tell the people who live in Georges River council and come and tell the people who live in Canterbury Bankstown that this is petty politics. My office has been inundated with residents, business owners, workers and householders. They are anxious, they are fearful, they are upset and, in many instances, they're confused. They are finding it almost impossible to get the answers that they need. They are good people from very many different cultural backgrounds, as people would know.

I absolutely endorse the member for Griffith's comments and the member for Macquarie's comments: Sydney is in the grip of a terrible, terrible situation. Today was the worst day on record for not only the number of infections but also the number of people in the community who circulated whilst infected, and we're seeing the extension of lockdowns in New South Wales. People in the electorate that I represent are asking the government and this Prime Minister: 'Why do you always wait until something goes wrong before you take action? We saw that happen in the bushfires of course.

The Prime Minister didn't take the pandemic seriously. While medical experts, state and territory governments and Labor were calling for a national response, the Prime Minister was still attending football games. But, as the lines formed around Centrelink right across this country, there was the realisation: 'Oh, there might be a problem.' Well, let me tell you: there is a problem. We are now 18 months into this pandemic and we still do not have a national quarantine system—18 months and the Prime Minister is only considering incentives and other ways to accelerate the rollout. I hear the members of the government saying that the vaccine rollout is on track. Well, come and tell the people of Georges River and Canterbury Bankstown that things are on track. They are losing loved ones and they are being hospitalised. The Prime Minister is always playing catch-up. He never takes responsibility and just does enough to say, 'I'm a man of action.'

I also want to highlight the disparity in the number of First Nations people who are receiving a vaccine. Yesterday, I met with the Shire of Broome, the Shire of Derby and West Kimberley, the Shire of Halls Creek and the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley. They are terribly worried about the vaccine rollout. It is the responsibility of the federal government, not to pat themselves on the back saying, 'Haven't Indigenous communities done well'—that's because of Indigenous organisations—but to actually recognise that there is a problem with the vaccine rollout and the vaccine take-up. It has to be addressed; otherwise the good fortune and good luck will not continue.

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