Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As rallies around the country coalesce again this weekend, mainstream Australians are just horrified that we would throw COVID-19 arrangements into the fireplace and ignore them completely. But that appears to be what's happening. We know that the more public officials claim we shouldn't be rallying, the more it will simply encourage people to attend. Clearly, we need a much stronger signal. There are public health directions in place that we should be adhering to. It doesn't mean that we don't support the causes for which these people are congregating, but the message is clear: Australia's done the right thing. We've led the world in our COVID-19 response. At the cusp of being able to relax, assembling in large numbers, particularly if we're barracking or screaming, is probably one of the most dangerous things we can do, particularly when surrounded by complete strangers who aren't from our own immediate family or family unit. We've worked so hard to quarantine vulnerable populations that to have rallies based around these populations is absolutely crazy. For that reason, I am calling for the nation to contemplate that breaking public health directives is so serious that a penalty equal to the JobKeeper and jobseeker payments should be levied on those who rally and defy the police. You have to have a very clear signal here. While the federal government won't be making these penalties come into effect, state judiciaries will. They are completely independent of politics, but it's completely reasonable to say to the general public, to those considering attending a rally, particularly because every group will have a cohort that do take public payments: if you're specifically in receipt of a COVID-19 payment on the one hand but willing to risk the health of innocent taxpayers on the other then there should be some price to pay. I'm encouraging those attending to remember one thing: many will have had thousands of dollars a month in support—COVID-19 payments paid and funded by taxpayers—on the simple understanding that one does one's best and sticks to public health directions. In Queensland, there are very clear signals of 100 penalty units for defying that. It's up to $13,000. While the judiciary will independently make these calls, police have made it very clear and stated that they will enforce these laws.

I need to make it super clear: if you are turning up to a rally this weekend, the penalties may well be that large. If they were, I think the average Australian would say that's a completely reasonable assessment, because we have been in receipt of public moneys to support the way through COVID-19, only to have some spit in the face of the taxpayer and engage in conduct which, by all public and international evidence, is highly unsafe, with separations of up to seven metres required where people are barracking, screaming or singing. I urge organisers to find a better location to engage in a rally, where distancing is preserved, because otherwise financial penalties are the only way that protesters will listen.