Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Wallace, following that untidy interaction between you and the member for Bruce, I think it's probably important that I inject some reality into this debate. Let me start by saying that the vaccine rollout in this nation is the single most significant peacetime undertaking our nation has embarked upon, full stop. It's the single most significant peacetime undertaking—roughly 40 million individual consultations; no small feat.

Where are we at, if we're talking about a reality check? One in four eligible Australians will be double-dose vaccinated by the end of the week; one in two will have received their first dose by the end of next week. In the last day, 260,000 Australians have received the jab. For those that come from AFL states, that's 2½ times the number of people you see at the MCG on grand final day. That is a Herculean achievement, and it is appropriate at this moment to thank those frontline professionals that are delivering those jabs, not to mention those Australians that have rolled up their sleeves.

Now, at 260,000 doses a day—I spoke about that being 2½ times the MCG on grand final day—over a week, that's not the population of Adelaide; that's the population of all of South Australia. That's South Australia done in a week, if you like. But those opposite come into this place and, I think, secretly—I might be being unkind—they're disappointed by the trajectory, the ramp-up, that we're seeing. I might be being unkind, but I got a sense of that in the halls as I arrived. You'll get coalition members cheering on the numbers; we want to see them as high as possible every morning. I think there's a collective sigh amongst those opposite, because they set the standard, and the standard they set is perfection. I'm not doing so well on my footy tips this year, but I reckon, if I could submit my footy tips on Monday, I'd be doing okay! Those opposite, of course, are setting a standard of perfection. They're saying, 'We would have done things differently because of course we would have known about the complications with delta, we would have known about the supply issues with AstraZeneca, we would have known that ATAGI might make that less-than-ideal determination in terms of the rollout.' That's the standard they're setting.

If you don't believe me, have a look at the standard they're setting for hotel quarantine. They've come in here full of criticism for that system, a system that is seeing success rates in excess of 99.9 per cent. I can think of some government programs that didn't have a success rate of 99.9 per cent. Do you remember 'cash for clunkers'? Do you remember that little nugget? What about overpriced school halls? That was a classic. But my personal favourite, tragic as it was—my personal favourite because it underscores the inability of those opposite to implement government programs—was of course, famously, pink batts.

Earlier this sitting fortnight, we heard from the Leader of the Opposition that he had a plan. That plan was to dole out $6 billion, effectively, to encourage people to get the vaccine. Someone like me, presumably, would get the $300. I've been vaccinated. It's not going to incentivise me anymore. I've been double-dose vaccinated. But all of this, quite frankly, is nonsensical.

I'm going to set a challenge for those opposite. It's particularly directed at those who made a contribution to this debate, but the challenge is to all of you. You want to talk down where Australia is right now? Put your hand up and tell me what country you'd rather be in, quite frankly. Put your hand up and tell me what country you'd rather be in. I reckon there will be silence, because, quite frankly, you're looking for perfection. This was always going to be a challenging time. We are talking about the single most-significant peacetime undertaking. But if you're fair dinkum that you don't reckon Australia is a place that is safe relative to the rest of the world, because of the actions of Australians and this government, come to the dispatch box and tell us what country you would rather be in. There will be silence, quite frankly, because you know—well, those opposite know, Mr Speaker, but I'm certain you might know as well!—and I certainly know that this country is the safest in the world. (Time expired)

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