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

I want to thank the member for Mackellar. Today's a great day. Kids in New South Wales are going back to school. People are going back to work. We're seeing people regain their lives. Looking at the member's own electorate and his community, there's a 95 per cent first-vaccination rate in the northern beaches and over 90 per cent with second vaccinations in the northern beaches. People are being protected, and, as a result of those protections, they're following the national road map, and, as a result of that, they are regaining their freedoms and their lives and all of the things which represent the very best of Australia.

All of this is happening in a world where we're now at over 160 million cases of COVID this year. We're at over 3.1 million lives having been lost this year. So the threat is real, the challenge is clear, the danger is present, and that's why what we've been doing in Australia has been so important.

We know that, over the weekend, there were another 320,000 vaccinations. We're now at more than 34.3 million vaccinations for the nation—86.8 per cent first doses. These are things which are of profound importance in saving lives and protecting lives. In terms of saving lives, we've seen that Australia has the third-lowest rate across the OECD, of the 38 nations, of lives lost this year and across the entire pandemic. Our success is measured in 30,000 lives saved, compared with the OECD average; and 45,000 lives saved, compared with the United States and the UK, which have done it so hard. And we continue to see vaccinations rise: 94 per cent of the over fifties have had a first vaccination, 96 per cent of the over sixties, 98 per cent of the over seventies, the most vulnerable, have been vaccination. All of these things are leading to the freedoms and protections as different states and territories follow the roadmap. What we're seeing in NSW and the scenes of joy we saw in Victoria over the weekend, of families being reunited, of mums and dads being able to see their sons and daughters, of grandparents and grandchildren coming together: these things are of the greatest human meaning and importance. The vaccination program is driving that. We're going to have one of the highest rates in the world, with one of the lowest death rates and with one of the strongest economic recoveries. That is about saving lives and protecting lives and following the plan.

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