Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I'll ask the minister for aged care to add to my answer. As I remarked in response to a question earlier today from the Leader of the Opposition, this pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the entire world and on Australia. In particular, our most vulnerable and our frailest are in the most vulnerable of all positions. I think we all understand that. While I know international comparisons provide no comfort to those who have lost loved ones, we do know that the outbreaks in Canada, for example, are around 13 times greater than what we see in this country. We do know that Australia's fatality rate is one of the lowest in the world, certainly amongst the OECD countries. We do know that the investments that we have made—the changing of close contact rules and the investment in the boosted wage payments of aged care workers, including those working in non-care settings—are all assisting the sector to deal with a big challenge. But those who pretend that the pandemic can have no impact are misleading Australians and are diminishing the scale of what is a very difficult challenge. I will ask the minister for aged care to add further to my answer.

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