Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister please update the House on the Morrison government's effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and outline the importance of avoiding a second wave of the virus?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Chisholm, who has been an outstanding community leader throughout this. I would say this: what we have seen has challenged Australia, but it's been a great challenge for the world. We need to remind ourselves at this moment that approximately 420,000 people have lost their lives, and the number of cases is growing at a faster rate, according to the World Health Organization, than ever before. The challenge that we see is real and significant.

At home, we have had extraordinary national success, and there are many people who have been involved in that. The great protections that we've put in place—the borders, the testing with over 1.7 million tests, the tracing and the distancing—have all played their part. Those first three have been fundamental, and I'm very confident about them. On the distancing, Australians have done an amazing job, but it has come at a huge economic cost. It's come at the cost of isolation for individuals and the challenge in terms of anxiety—all of these things. But I'm confident that the first three protections—of borders, testing and tracing—are absolutely secure, and, as we follow the medical expert panel advice and we work through the national cabinet, the distancing is also being well managed. Australians are on the road to recovery. They're on the road to protecting themselves in terms of their health, but they're also on the road to regaining their future with regard to their economic livelihoods. These things matter. They are about lives and livelihoods.

However, we do know that there is a risk, and it's not the careful, calibrated removal of restrictions; it's about a breakout through mass gatherings. Just today we have heard there was a protester at the Melbourne marches—the most noble of causes, but the marches themselves were mass gatherings, and that's what matters; the health advice beforehand was absolutely critical—who has been diagnosed with coronavirus. The AHPPC has just met and has said: 'The medical expert panel emphasises once more the very high-risk environment of a protest, with large numbers of people closely gathering and challenges in identifying all contacts. AHPPC again urges the Australian community to not participate in mass gatherings.' The medical experts have been absolutely clear. There are not safe mass gatherings. Please do not go. Please do not endanger your fellow Australians.