Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Why has the Prime Minister, yesterday and again today, continued to spin that 97 per cent of aged-care facilities don't have an outbreak of COVID-19, when this has resulted in more than 300 aged care residents losing their lives, 10 aged-care homes in Victoria experiencing more than 100 cases and more than 1,100 aged-care residents battling COVID-19 as we meet here in this parliament today?

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

All of the facts that the Leader of the Opposition has just referred to, particularly in relation to the terrible fact of the 335 deaths in residential aged care—the seven home-care recipients—the government has acknowledged all of these. But it is also true that in 97 per cent of cases of the more than 2,700 aged-care facilities in this country there have been no COVID infections. It is also true that when you combine those facilities in Australia that have had staff infections as well as resident infections, that is eight per cent in Australia and in the UK it is 56 per cent, which is seven times worse. I'm happy for facts to be brought before this place, but it would seem that the Leader of the Opposition is not happy for this fact to also be understood. The fact is that, while COVID has taken a terrible toll on the lives of 335 Australians in residential aged care and seven home-care recipients, the plan that we put in place, the arrangements that we have been able to deliver on the ground and the work that we have been able to do in partnership with state and territory governments have saved lives and saved livelihoods. The figures that were just cited by the Minister for Health comparing Australia's outcome to those overseas are important encouragement and hope for Australians. They demonstrate that here in this country, despite the terrible toll for those who have suffered, were it not for the way Australia has dealt with this together, we would have been seeing far-worse situations.

It is true that in Victoria we're seeing the worst of it. The protective measures that were put in place and built up as part of that national strategy employed by all states and territories have failed in Victoria. That is true. The testing, tracing and quarantine arrangements have proven to be unacceptable and have led to what we have seen with community outbreak in Victoria. And that has resulted in the heaviest restrictions we have ever seen. We want to see those restrictions come off and we're doing everything we can to help Victoria right the situation and stabilise the situation so it can be opened up again.

But these restrictions that we are seeing across our country must be the last resort, not the first resort. The testing, the tracing, the quarantine, the COVID-safe measures, the outbreak containment—that is what enables Australia to live alongside this virus without destroying livelihoods, as we are seeing in New South Wales right now. That state has faced equal risks—and, I would argue, even more risks than we have seen in all other states and territories—but their system has withstood. That means they can keep businesses open— (Time expired)