Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to take some time today to thank our critical frontline workers, in particular our healthcare workers and our police. We are under stress in my electorate of Macarthur because of the recent outbreak of COVID-19. There have been over 260 active cases in the last four weeks, and without our critical frontline workers we would not be able to cope. I thank Amanda Larkin, the area general manager of our health services, and Dr Sellappa Prahalath, our hospital general manager, for making sure that we have the resources to cope with this outbreak of the pandemic. I'd like to thank also the area director of the Macarthur police, Julian Griffiths, for the work that he's doing with his force, who are making sure, with their softly, softly approach, that our residents feel comfortable with the restrictions and are able to deal with them.

I thank all our doctors, nurses, pathology workers, cleaners, GPs and pharmacists. They're helping us deal with this very difficult pandemic. Words pale in comparison to the significance of the contributions that our healthcare workers and our police are making to keep us all safe. If you want to protect those who are protecting us or you want to thank those who are working to keep us safe, please get immunised. Please do the right thing. Please get tested if you have symptoms. Please make sure that you care for those who are struggling, and please make sure that you comply with the rules that are put in place to protect our society and to protect Macarthur.

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