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

Right now, New Zealand faces its own lockdown as part of a global pandemic. The message which all shared, though, was that through this we need hope and safety. These are the paths to recovery. These two things are the way forward.

In that context, what we've seen over the last 24 hours is 307,000 vaccinations, 43,000 higher than on the same day last week. That's a 15 per cent increase in one week on that day's results. There have been 6½ million vaccinations over 30 days—that is the population of Melbourne, Adelaide and Townsville together, over 30 days, and almost five times the population of Adelaide being vaccinated in that period of time. That's what Australians are doing and that's what does give us hope.

Yes, the national plan does set some challenging targets. Some would say that it's too conservative. But 70 and 80 per cent are real milestones that will provide significant protection and safety and fundamentally change the equation. These vaccinations are bringing us closer to those marks every day. So I say to Australians, thank you for coming forward. But to those who have not taken the opportunity, please do so. And to those who become eligible: this is your chance, your time and your capacity to help protect every Australian.

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