Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say that quite frequently the member for Macarthur and I are in furious agreement. That's because we're both paediatricians. We both understand the healthcare system, including the public healthcare system, and we both understand the difficulties that this country has faced with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is something that's happening not just here in Australia but right around the world. But, in this instance, unfortunately, I have to violently disagree with the member for Macarthur's private member's motion today. In fact, I find it quite astounding, as someone who sits on the National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee, that he put this particular motion in writing. The reason I say that is this: I understand the member for Macarthur knows how difficult the situation has been, globally, over the past two years, but I'm disappointed because this is about Labor having to talk down the COVID response.

I understand that in opposition it is important to pick out things that you'd like to point out or highlight, and it is true that this has been an awfully difficult period in Australia's history. But, if we take a step back as a country and look at the leadership that the federal government, the Morrison government, has provided to Australia, it has been quite simply extraordinary. That leadership started from the get-go with an understanding that Australia as a country was going to have to learn to live with the virus. We knew that this was here to stay. This is a prime minister who had the maturity to realise this wasn't a short-term thing, that it wouldn't be over in two weeks, that there was going to be a very different approach in the weeks, months and years to come.

Further, I think the Prime Minister's leadership has clearly shown that he understands the balance between lives and livelihoods, that we need to be able to get the balance right, that saving lives is absolutely essential—every life needs to be saved—but the impact of this COVID pandemic on livelihoods also needed to be given consideration. Unlike premiers, who are actually being assessed for their impact on healthcare outcomes, the federal government is being judged on both health and economic outcomes. With that in mind, we acted quickly and we acted decisively. Throughout this pandemic, on critical issues, we've acted responsively, flexibly and nimbly. That started with the closure of international borders. It moved through to the development of the national cabinet, which has brought all the state and territory leaders together with the federal government. There's been an enormous amount of work on expert committees. The member for Macarthur and I sit on one of these bipartisan expert committees, which enables all the experts in Australia to provide information and expert evidence to government. That's been incredibly important.

One of the biggest bugbears for Australia has been securing our supply chains. There's absolutely no doubt that there have been rolling critical issues with supply chains. That started right back in March 2020, when we as a country had issues with obtaining personal protective equipment. It's hard to remember now, but we had problems with masks. We were running out of masks. We've had problems with toilet paper. We've had problems with all sorts of things with regard to sovereign supply. The minister for health, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, had secured these supply chains by stepping up local manufacturing capability. And then there were the COVID PCR tests in April 2020. Again, it is hard to believe these things. We were moving at speed to respond with diligence and care to all of these things.

More recently we moved to the vaccine rollout, which we have now delivered ahead of time, actually. In fact, I was in the media saying that I was hoping that we might have 'freedom day' by Melbourne Cup. In fact, we had freedom day well ahead of that. The vaccine rollout had difficulties—there is absolutely no doubt about that—but the government's hard work was able to deliver the outcomes that this country so vitally needed.

We move to rapid antigen tests. There is no doubt that the PCR testing for COVID was the gold standard for delta. We needed aggressive suppression because delta had a much higher mortality rate and had a different underlying set of data behind it. But, when you look at omicron, it's been more important to move to having access to rapid antigen testing. And there is no doubt that this government has moved very quickly, in a number of weeks, to rolling out RATs and to making sure the general community can have access. We've also made sure that the fringe benefits tax availability for businesses means that businesses can use them more readily. And we've also made sure there's concessional card support for those who can least afford RATs. It is worth mentioning that this government has provided an excellent outcome for Australia.

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