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

This is and has been one of our priorities. The achievements in protecting Indigenous Australia through the course of the pandemic have been one of the signatures of the Australian result.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

As the Prime Minister says, acknowledged by Pat Turner and acknowledged by Indigenous communities. It's a considerable and ongoing task. In relation to the Western New South Wales outbreak, and in Dubbo in particular, we have established five ADF teams. Those ADF teams are being based in Dubbo and over the coming days the teams will rotate between Bourke and Warren, Dubbo West and Parkes, Dubbo West, Narromine and Parkes, Dubbo West and Parkes, Trangie, Grawin, Nyngan, Coolah, Mudgee, Forbes, Lightning Ridge and across the region. That ADF work is also supported by 50 ADF members who have moved to be Dubbo based and working out of western New South Wales to focus in particular on compliance and assistance within the region.

Further, an AUSMAT team has landed. That is the first of five teams. That AUSMAT team is ensuring that we have clinical governance, and they will vaccinate and they will work on testing. But, above all else, they are there to ensure that any support which is needed for any of the health services in the area is put in place. In addition to that, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is also providing assistance and vaccination across the area. Over the course of this week, their forward schedule includes Menindee, Hungerford, Yunta, Ivanhoe, Louth, Wanaaring, Euston and Tibooburra. That's over the course of the coming week.

So we are seeing that there are resources in place and they are adding to that which is already there. We have the ADF, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and AUSMAT, and all of that supports the existing clinics that are on the ground. There are 118 Commonwealth clinics in western New South Wales. That includes nine Commonwealth vaccination clinics and nine Aboriginal community controlled health services as well as 100 pharmacies and general practice clinics that are providing vaccination support on the ground. All of these things are coming together to save lives and to protect lives.

See this speech in context