Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for McMahon proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The shortcomings of the Government's ongoing COVID-19 response.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Listening to the government over recent days their political tactics have become clear. In order to distract from their shortcomings, particularly in relation to aged care, they launch partisan political attacks on state governments. Apparently we're all in this together until it suits the Prime Minister not to be. Apparently the national cabinet is an important non-partisan decision-making body until it suits the Prime Minister to put it in the bin and launch an attack on state premiers.

If the Morrison government really wants to have a debate about shortcomings in relation to COVID-19 we're happy to have it. Let's bring on a discussion about the respective responses of governments in Australia to COVID-19, because back when Dan Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian were suggesting that this needed to be taken more seriously, that we needed sharper lockdowns, that we needed more action, the Prime Minister was going to the football. That's what this Prime Minister was doing—sending the wrong messages to the Australian people when the premiers of the two largest states were sending different messages. Premier Berejiklian said it herself: 'Premier Andrews and I did talk and both of us had similar concerns representing the two largest states. We felt we had to act quickly and strongly and I'm glad we did.' She was right then, Premier Andrews was right then and Prime Minister Morrison was wrong then. If we want to have this discussion, let's have it.

This is a government which says we're all in it together unless you're from Western Australia, unless you're a premier trying to defend your borders, unless you're a premier trying to keep your state safe. Then this government cosies up with their preference buddy and launches an attack on Western Australians and the Western Australian government. They should be ashamed of themselves. They pulled out when it was too late, when the damage was already done.

At least Premier Palaszczuk, who was attacked as late as today in this chamber—it's only rhetorical, at least they're not taking her to court. When the Prime Minister and Treasurer said that Premier Palaszczuk should open her state's borders to Victoria she was right and they were wrong. They need to be reminded of that regularly. Premier Palaszczuk was correct. Premier McGowan is correct.

On this side we've supported all the premiers making the actions they've had to take—all the premiers, regardless of partisanship. They've had to take tough decisions. They've needed to know that we've got their backs, and we've given them that. The other side of politics has played partisan politics. When the nation needed leadership they got politics from them.

We'll have a discussion about shortcomings. When it comes to shortcomings none are greater for this government than aged care. As was outlined by my friend the member for Franklin very well yesterday, these are people who built Australia. These are people who raised us and our nation and who in their retirement just ask to be looked after, just ask to be kept safe, just ask to be kept healthy and just ask to be kept alive. And they've been let down.

Latest figures are that 335 have died on our watch as a parliament. It is one of the highest death rates as a proportion of COVID-19 in the world—as much as the Prime Minister might want to deny it, as much as the minister at the table just denied it then—as the royal commission heard. We entered this pandemic in aged care from a position of weakness. The government says, 'Of course elderly people are more exposed.' Yes, we agree. That's the point. That's why we needed to be better prepared. That's why we shouldn't have had the budget cuts which this Prime Minister imposed, as much as he denies it. That's why we need an aged-care minister who's up to the job. This Prime Minister showed a lack of judgement in appointing somebody who's not up to the job, who's not in the cabinet and who can't do the job that Australia requires of him.

We know that this government ignored the warnings. Newmarch House, where 19 people died, should have been a warning to this government. Counsel assisting put it well. He said:

… there is reason to think that in the crucial months between the Newmarch House outbreak in April and mid-June a degree of self-congratulation and even hubris was displayed by the Commonwealth Government. Perhaps they were reflecting the general mood in the country that we were through it.

…   …   …

The time between the two Sydney outbreaks and the increase in community transmission in Melbourne in June was an important period … What did the Commonwealth do to ensure that the lessons of the first two … outbreaks … were conveyed to the aged care sector. We say it's not enough.

That's what counsel assisting says, and we agree. We'll have the debate about shortcomings. We'll have the debate about shortcomings on the vaccine.

This time last week the Prime Minister was out there congratulating himself on every morning TV and radio program, announcing that we had a deal, that Australia had secured a deal to get the vaccine. Well, it wasn't true then and it's not true now. There is no deal. Other countries have deals. The United Kingdom entered their first deal in mid-May, signed and sealed—not a letter of intent, not good intentions, not hopes, not aspirations but a signed deal. The United States, which I must say has not covered itself in glory in response to this pandemic, has, at least, secured six deals—six advance supply agreements for vaccines. The United Kingdom's got five, Japan's got three, Indonesia's got one, Brazil's got one, Mexico's got one, Argentina's got one. Australia's got zero. There have been more than four billion doses of the vaccines under development accounted for by these advance supply agreements. We haven't got any. We've got none. The Prime Minister says we're ahead of the pack. No, we're not. It's demonstrably untrue. We're behind the pack. And the Prime Minister says we're going to make it here, in Australia. He says we're going to manufacture it here, at CSL. This time last week, he said:

If this vaccine proves successful we will manufacture and supply vaccines straight away under our own steam and make it free for 25 million Australians.

There's only one large company in Australia capable of making vaccines, CSL. What does CSL say? They say: 'Well, we'll do whatever we can to ensure Australia gets a vaccine. It may well be, though, that ultimately it comes from another source.' Fair enough. They're moving fast.

Australians just expect a bit of honesty from this government. Just tell us what you can do and what you can't do. Australians will cut you some slack, just as the opposition has cut you some slack. We want the government to succeed. We want the government to do well. We want the government to do what is necessary. We supported the government on the app. We provided more support for the app than the National Party supplied to the minister and to the government. We said: 'Okay. We'll take you on your word. We'll back you. We'll download it.' We encouraged Australians to download it. We're in the middle of a significant outbreak. Do you know how many contacts have been traced by the app that hadn't been found manually? According to the latest information it's 14. Fourteen cases have been traced that hadn't been traced manually. That's the last evidence before the COVID committee. The Prime Minister uses numbers to say, 'There've been many more than that.' 'It's been involved in finding others,' he said. It's been involved. That means they were found manually and then the app found them as well. As the member for Gellibrand very eloquently pointed out, it's like saying that we're involved in an AFL game when we turn up to watch it. It's been 'involved' in finding them. It's found 14 cases in the middle of a major pandemic. That is not good enough.

When it comes to mental health, that's an area of some bipartisanship. And I don't doubt the bona fides of those opposite and the good faith of those opposite to try and get a breakthrough in mental health. I wish they'd respond to the Productivity Commission report. I wish the minister would release the Productivity Commission report into mental health so we could look at it, so we could discuss it—not necessarily debate it—so we could pursue it. I wish the minister would respond in the October budget; he's indicated he won't be responding until next year.

When it comes to mental health in this pandemic, the government has extended the Medicare rebates for mental health consultations from 10 to 20—good—in Victoria—not good enough. This pandemic's impacts do not stop at the Murray River. There are people undergoing great strains and stress because of the economic impacts, because of concerns about the health impacts, because of concerns about the impacts on their families. People are in a very dire situation right across the country. I say to the minister in good faith, in all seriousness: do what you've done in Victoria for all Australians. All Australians are doing it tough. All Australians need extra help at this point. Extend the rebates for mental health consultations from 10 to 20 to every single Australian who needs them. Give every Australian access to pandemic leave, not just Tasmanians and Victorians. All Australians need that. That's an important matter of public health.

This government has started a partisan debate when it comes to the response. They've chosen to attack Premier Andrews, Premier McGowan and Premier Palaszczuk. We will stand with those premiers and the other premiers as well. We will support the actions they need. We want them to succeed. We want this government to succeed. We just wish they'd do a better job.

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

In a world with 23.8 million cases and 817,000 lives officially lost and no doubt countless more, in a pandemic the likes of which we have not seen for 100 years, all countries have faced great challenges. Few have met them like Australia. The people of Australia have been through a hardship unlike anything seen in the course of the lives of virtually any Australian—certainly those that have been in this country in the period since the Second World War.

We know 25,205 Australians have been diagnosed. We know that 549 Australians have lost their lives, as of the latest figures provided to me by the national incident centre before coming to question time today. At the same time we have been through a first wave, where eight out of eight states and territories were able to follow the plans put in place by the Commonwealth and were able to beat back this disease in a way that few countries in the world have. Since then, seven out of eight states and territories have continued to maintain that low or negligible level of community transmission. Today we saw five states and territories with zero community transmission, and one case in Queensland, five in New South Wales and 149 in Victoria.

As I said yesterday, what we've seen is that 95 per cent of the cases in Australia since 1 June have been in Victoria. Agonisingly, 99 per cent of the lives lost and, at present, 100 per cent of the cases in aged care are in one state, overwhelmingly in one city and overwhelmingly in one part of that city. What we see is what we said from the outset—that community transmission is the greatest threat to the nation, and containment of community transmission is the single greatest and indispensable defence.

Having said that, we set out from the outset with a containment plan and a capacity plan. Both of those elements, to flatten the curve and to boost the capacity, have four pillars. In particular, in relation to the containment plan, the border controls that we put in place have seen 2,270 positive cases identified in hotel quarantine. These are cases which would otherwise have escaped into the community, which would have ravaged the nation. We put in place border protections as early as 1 February, for which we were criticised by many, including the World Health Organization and China. But we did that because we wanted to take all steps possible to prevent community transmission.

In so doing, what we also put in place was a second pillar of testing. We have now had almost 5.9 million tests done within Australia. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine identified Australia as maintaining one of the highest testing rates in the world. We're maintaining that as many parts of the world struggle. We fought every day to make sure that Australia had the testing supplies and the testing quality. Perhaps most importantly, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine identified us as having one of the world's most accurate testing regimes, and that has protected Australians.

The tracing has been strong and powerful in seven out of the eight states and territories. In particular, we brought the ADF in to assist Victoria with the tracing. Over 400 ADF personnel have been involved in adding rigour. One of the elements here is that seven million Australians have adopted the COVIDSafe app. I will read from a NSW Health press release of 1 August 2020. It's a document that has been on the public record for over three weeks now. In relation to the use of the app, the NSW Health department said:

For one of the cases where NSW Health accessed the COVIDSafe App data, a previously unrecognised exposure date from a known venue, Mounties, was identified. This resulted in the identification of an additional 544 contacts. Two people in this group presented for testing and were subsequently confirmed to have COVID-19.

Those two people could have created an entire Victoria—that's what the app has done. New South Wales, through its tracing regime, has been able to ensure that at least six events, which each could have been of the magnitude of the Victorian outbreak, have been traced to the ground. That has meant that we now have single figure community transmission outbreaks.

The distancing has been important but, in Victoria, the distancing has been agonising. We see the state locked down, with people confined to their homes and with curfews, distanced movements, required masks and compulsory shutting of businesses. They're actions that are extraordinary in a democratic regime. At the same time, the Leader of the Opposition talked about the parliament being opened here. The parliament is closed in Victoria. The Victorian parliament should reconvene and teleparliament, if they need it as we have, can assist them achieve that outcome. It's a sensible, practical measure. However, all of these things were supported by our capacity. Whilst we flattened the curve, with the two significant breaches in Victoria of the hotel quarantine scheme and the challenges they faced with their tracing, on which we are now helping to support after having endeavoured for a long period of time to have the ADF included, we are seeing progress there.

The capacity has been fundamental. That's capacity in terms of primary health. We now have over 26 million cases which have been done through telehealth. A system that was to be 10 years in the making was developed in 10 days. It was implemented to save and protect lives, of which the most significant element has been mental health support, along with our $78 million national mental health package, along with the $48 million national pandemic response mental health package, along with the $20 million investment nationally in mental health research and along with the specific Victorian actions that we have also taken in relation to mental health in Victoria.

Significantly, with regard to aged care, what we see in Australia is not just a billion dollar investment but the four great elements that we put in place over March and April. First, there was the creation of a $101 million surge workforce package to provide a surge workforce for the moments when there would be threats to a particular facility. Second, on 13 March there was the national public hospitals partnership to provide additional surge workforce and capacity. Third, on 31 March there was the historic private hospitals partnership, which has seen over 450 patients transferred to private hospitals from aged-care residents in Victoria alone. Fourth, there was the national testing capacity contract, which ensures that wherever there is a case in an aged-care facility every resident and every staff member is tested. This was developed and put in place in April. All of these four elements were put in place months and months ago to prepare for what might come, but it is being utilised now. With regard to our hospitals, we've seen an 89 per cent survival rate with the near quadrupling of ventilator capacity—there are just over 20 Australians on ventilation—and with the research elements, which I set out today.

I very specifically want to deal with one thing which was raised by the shadow minister, and that's in relation to the loss of life and the comparison internationally. I think it's very important to reaffirm that Australia has one of the lowest rates of loss of life in aged care of any of the countries for which we have data. We have a tragic figure—because every life matters, and every life lost is a cause of sorrow and grief—of 0.19 per cent of residents in aged care who have lost their lives. In Canada, that figure is 600 per cent higher on a per capita basis. What we see is that in France it's 1,300 per cent higher. We see that in Spain it's 1,400 per cent higher, in Italy and Ireland 1,800 per cent higher and in the UK almost 3,000 per cent higher. To look at it another way, in terms of residential care deaths per one million population over the age of 65, in Australia it's 82 residents, in Belgium 2,258, in Canada 1,100, in Ireland 1,600, in Italy 694, in Spain 1,073, in the UK 1,364 and in the United States 1,280. All of this shows that lives have been saved on a grand scale in Australia. In a pandemic, lives have tragically been lost as well. So we will fight to make sure that the plans we put in place continue to save lives and protect lives.

Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the start of this pandemic, the Prime Minister loved to parrot the phrase, 'We're all in this together.' As someone who's spent my life working to the values of solidarity, I didn't quite believe that the PM could manage the 'we're all in this together' vibe, and yesterday the Prime Minister's true colours were on show as he and his fellow ministers spent the day attacking the people of Victoria. This has been on show again today, just now from the Minister for Health. My office has been flooded by emails from angry and despairing people who are affronted by this ugly display. The whole country knows this is nothing more than a blame-shifting tactic, but it is one that cuts to the very heart of every person who's gone through the hell that is having a loved one in aged care or, indeed, having tragically lost a loved one in aged care.

One of my constituents, Julie Game, emailed me just this morning to say the following: 'Our Prime Minister should not blame Melbourne and Victoria for this virus. Scott Morrison needs to remember that Victorians are still Australians. We don't need the blame factor. We don't need our Prime Minister and senior coalition politicians pushing us into a corner and treating us like naughty children. Our health workers are under extreme pressure and our health system is struggling. Part of the reason for this is the ongoing mismanagement of our aged-care system. This mismanagement has allowed the virus to impact dramatically on the aged-care system, which is largely controlled by the federal government. But our Prime Minister seems unable to take responsibility for this.' She goes on to say: 'Aged care has been under scrutiny for many years and the issues have been inadequately resolved. Our Prime Minister needs to show support and leadership to all Australians as we battle this pandemic. "We are all in this together, except for Victorians," seems to be the new catchphrase, and it's very disappointing.' Julie, I couldn't agree more.

There has been no bigger shortcoming than the government's complete failure in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of older Australians in residential aged care. The Prime Minister tried to blame Victorians for these tragic deaths, saying community transmission was to blame and that he could not put a special force field around aged-care facilities. Well, I'm here to tell you that that is exactly what he should have done. What else was he supposed to be doing other than putting a force field of well-skilled staff with plenty of PPE, ready to fight infection control, around nursing homes? Instead, we know that nurses were having to choose which hand to put a single glove on. The government ignored recommendations about how big the surge workforce needed to be, leaving aged-care facilities chronically understaffed. We know that only one in five workers undertook PPE training and that the government failed to prevent staff having to work between multiple facilities. The Prime Minister's plan was nothing more than guidelines offered up by an incompetent minister who never acted with the urgency this sector needed, and it failed. It's a nonsense and an absolute insult to say otherwise.

As of yesterday, 335 aged-care residents had died of COVID-19 in aged-care facilities, and there are now 1,100 active cases. They're not just numbers; they're people with lives, families and grandkids.

In my electorate, I had two aged-care facilities with COVID outbreaks. The calls and emails from constituents with loved ones in these facilities have broken my heart. How many of those deaths were preventable? How many of the coronavirus outbreaks in residential aged care were preventable? If only the Prime Minister and the Minister for Aged Care had heeded the warning calls—and there have been so many. The shadow health minister reminded us of this—the counsel assisting the royal commission and what they said about the outbreaks in Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge, and the degree of self-congratulation and hubris displayed by this government. 'What did the Commonwealth do to ensure the lessons of the two outbreaks?' asked the royal commission. Not enough.

The aged-care sector has been failing for some time, and the providers in aged care have, unfortunately, shown they are not all to be trusted to do the right thing by their charges. One only has to listen to the tragic findings of the royal commission to know that. The title of the royal commission's interim report was Neglect. 'Neglect' is not a word that anyone relying on the aged-care system wants to hear. Neglect outlines the litany of long-term systemic problems that this government has failed to fix during its seven-year term. We need mandatory minimum staffing levels, minimum skill mix of professionals, proper access to training, decent pay, recognition of skills, transparency of funding, a regulator with teeth and the rights of residents. The government has failed to act on any of these key issues for our most vulnerable, our elderly. (Time expired)

Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the people of Brisbane to place on the record the Brisbane community's support for the Morrison government's policies and leadership during the global COVID-19 crisis. In this pandemic, we face a challenge unlike anything this country has seen in the lifetime of almost any of us. In the face of this rapidly evolving global situation, and in response to some of the unfortunate commentary we've heard proffered over recent days, I think it's worth pointing out once again that there is no playbook for a once-in-100 years pandemic like COVID. There aren't simple answers to the enormous challenges posed to the health, jobs and prosperity of millions of Australians by this insidious virus; we wish there were. To understand this, we need only look at the tragic experiences of so many other countries around the world to which we would normally compare ourselves.

We should treat with some scepticism those who come into this place implying that there are silver bullet solutions on offer or that there is some set of magical policy prescriptions that would result in zero harm, whether on an economic basis or a health basis. And we should extend that scepticism to any who come into this place attempting to sow the politics of division when Australians are asking us to leave our differences at the door and work together to protect lives and livelihoods.

As I said, there is no playbook on how to respond to COVID-19. But I can also say with confidence that in the 20-odd years of my professional career, much of which has involved working in or around government policymaking, I have never before seen policymaking as dynamic or as responsive to the needs of Australians as what I've seen from within this federal government over the course of this crisis. We saw this responsiveness with the rollout of JobKeeper, the largest single support package in this nation's history, designed and delivered by the Morrison government in a matter of weeks to provide to nearly one million businesses and about 3½ million Australians the urgent lifeline they needed during this time of unprecedented economic turmoil.

We saw this responsiveness with the establishment of a national cabinet—the first time in the history of our Federation that leaders of the Commonwealth and of the states and territories have worked in such close and frequent collaboration to make the urgent decisions needed to steer Australia through a crisis. And we saw this responsiveness with the government's fast-moving policy response in so many areas—telehealth, childcare, other support for specific industries, foreign investment and so many other areas.

We've seen the results of that responsiveness on policymaking in the economic results that we are starting to see so far. As the Treasurer noted in question time earlier today, the June quarter GDP figures for so many other like countries are seeing substantial falls right now—figures like more than 20 per cent falls in the UK, almost that in France and 10 per cent in the US and Germany. Yet, here in Australia, we've managed to maintain our AAA credit rating, and, of the 1.3 million Australians who either lost their job or saw their hours reduced to zero since the start of the crisis, more than half of them are now back in work. Without JobKeeper and other government policies—according to Treasury, that support has helped to save 700,000 jobs and the unemployment rate would otherwise have been around five per cent higher in Australia than it is today.

When we consider the challenge, the scale of the challenge, we of course acknowledge that, as we continue to learn and respond to the virus, our response will continue to evolve. What we don't claim—as seems to be being implied occasionally—is that anything short of perfection must be considered total failure. And, like many members of this chamber I'm sure, I've been hearing from thousands upon thousands of local constituents and local businesses who've looked to the federal government for help this year and have been able to rely on the economic lifelines provided by the Morrison government in a moment of such significant need.

I want to take this moment on the public record to pass onto the health minister, the Treasurer, the Prime Minister and so many other ministers who've been working so tirelessly in the best interests of our nation the sincere thanks I've received from so many constituents, businesspeople, charities and sporting organisations from right around Brisbane. We'll keep working hard to save lives and save livelihoods.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the serious failures in this government's attempt to combat COVID-19. When I sat down to think about those serious failures, I have to say, my problem was containing myself to the five minutes available for me to speak in the chamber today. Since the member for Brisbane has referred to the national cabinet—I wasn't going to mention it, but I am going to mention it now.

If there's one thing I've seen that's consistent about the approach of this government to its much fated national cabinet, it's that Friday afternoon seems to operate something like this: the Prime Minister comes out of national cabinet, tells the whole country in a press conference what has been agreed by national cabinet, and then we have a succession of state premiers coming out and correcting the Prime Minister about how what the Prime Minister thinks is good for the country actually won't work because of the circumstances in their states. So, as a way of getting people together on a videoconference, which I think we're all getting very familiar with—it seems to be very effective. As a way of getting national agreement to things, I think the Prime Minister's completely missed the boat, or maybe he's not attending at all. He's got a lovely prewritten media release to go when he walks out, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the reality confronting Australians or the reality confronting our state governments right now.

I want to also touch upon this government's digital response. They've made much about the COVIDSafe app, the COVIDSafe app that our shadow minister for health and the Labor side of politics were very happy to support in messaging to the community that we need to take all steps available to us to make sure that we are able, as an entire society, to move back towards the lifting of restrictions, and this was seen as a key part of that. But, of course, we did know, in the backs of our minds, that this government that gave us the 2016 census and this government that gave us myGov was also the producer of the COVIDSafe app.

I point out that, with this COVIDSafe app on my iPhone—it's not a particularly unique type of phone across Australia—I have to make sure I restart the app every time I go into my phone, make sure that I've got my battery pack to go with my phone to deal with the battery charge problem that the app has created and make sure I don't keep my phone in my pocket for too long because it's going to burn a hole in my leg because of the way it's using the battery on my phone. All of these are issues that this government has failed to deal with.

Of course, that's not the only digital blunder we had. We had the minister for Services Australia come out and say that the government was under cyberattack because the myGov site wouldn't work. People couldn't lodge their claims with Centrelink. It turns out, unexpectedly—who would have thought!—if you shut down the entire economy and hundreds of thousands of Australians need to go and get payments from Centrelink, they might need to log on to make that claim. I saw queues down the street—down the block, to the train station, around the corner—from my local Centrelinks because of the incompetence of this government in supporting Australians to get through the pandemic crisis and the economic effects that come with it.

The government finally came to the program with a wage subsidy: JobKeeper. It's a great outcome. We're glad that you did that. We have been happy to support the legislation that enabled it. But for some reason the essential service that is child care—the service that helps workers go to work, especially our healthcare workers—is the one area that, at least, you gave JobKeeper to and then you took it away early. That is capricious, that is unhelpful, that is stopping people from getting back to work. That is stopping our healthcare workers from being able to support those that need their assistance in our community right now—let alone the complete stuff-up of providing those childcare support services with the additional support that they need, leaving them vulnerable for too long. Then giving them an additional subsidy which didn't help with some of the childcare system because it is a differential system. It has different aspects to it. The government could not deal with that issue.

We now have the changes to JobKeeper that are coming forward under this government. Remarkably, what the government has proposed, that we have been dealing with in the House today, is a system to extend JobKeeper—a good outcome—but at a lower rate. What's going to happen under these lower rates of JobKeeper? This is the government's plan for jobs in the country—wait for it—400,000 more unemployed people. That's not a plan for jobs. The government doesn't have a plan for jobs. The government literally has a plan for no jobs. It has a plan for 400,000 more unemployed people. That is what they want the Australian people to support. That's not a plan. That is leaving the entirety of Australian society worse off. That is not looking after Australians, not looking after their welfare and not looking after their jobs.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I reject the assertion of the statement put by the opposition and the member for McMahon. While I admit nothing is perfect, I am of the view that the government's COVID-19 response has been spectacular. This government has shown leadership, unity, flexibility and a measured approach to a disaster from which many other countries will struggle to recover.

People in my electorate of Mallee are overwhelmingly grateful for the federal government's comprehensive response to the pandemic. If I had a 'gratitude-o-meter' measuring how thankful people in my electorate are, I can assure you it would be off the chart. I have never received so many emails, letters, messages and phone calls about how grateful individuals are for the support that they have received.

The plan to flatten the curve by developing an appropriate systemwide health response was nothing short of brilliant and our plan has performed extraordinarily well. Ventilators, hospitals, workforce and PPE had to be developed and this occurred in a timely way. Our national response plan provided guidance for all in the health sector, including for residential aged care. The rapidity with which our health force had to be supplied with PPE posed a serious challenge, but the government engaged with the manufacturing industry in Australia to supplement our national supply. When the world was scrambling for PPE we made our own—evidence of our ingenuity and the assistance of this government to back homegrown Aussie businesses.

The formation of the national cabinet has also seen great efficiencies in policy development, facilitating the coordination of Australia's response to the virus and allowing major decisions to occur in a timely way. This initiative, by the Prime Minister, displays this government's leadership and adaptability in a critically evolving situation.

The government's economic response has matched the health response in effectiveness and timeliness. Whether it's the creation of the single largest economic support measure in Australia's history in the JobKeeper program, now worth over $100 billion; or the increases and amendments to the JobSeeker payment that have been a lifeline for millions; or the instant asset write-off scheme, which allowed Rod Stuart from the Dunolly Bakery to purchase new ovens to improve his small business; or the cashflow boost that has provided much-needed stimulus to thousands of employer, the flexibility and responsiveness of this government to the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of astounding.

Further to that, we have been on the front foot in terms of planning and implementing these economic support packages. The Treasurer has been extraordinary in his forward planning and strategic thinking. I dread to think where we would be if this government had not been at the wheel when COVID-19 struck our shores. This government has not shied away from its responsibility to confront the dual crisis on both health and economic fronts. When others, who will remain nameless, dropped the ball in hotel quarantining or in testing, tracing and managing outbreaks, it was the federal coalition government who offered assistance and was finally permitted to send in the troops, whether it was a health workforce or the Australian Defence Force.

This government has considered what the potential outcomes of COVID-19 will be for years to come. We have not had a kneejerk response; rather, there is clear evidence of planning for the future. Other key programs, such as JobMaker and JobTrainer, are clear evidence of this government's strategy for economic recovery. Our focus on jobs and training will assist people to get back into work or change careers should that be necessary.

The federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been outstanding and stands well in comparison to responses from around the world. Suggestions to the contrary only serve to display the ignorance, wilful or otherwise, of those who make them.

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to speak on the shortcomings of the government's ongoing COVID-19 response. The first thing I would note is that they have done their very best to not allow the parliament to make a response to COVID-19. It is an ongoing source of frustration and genuine democratic objection that people who were elected by 110,000 Australians to come to this place and put their views and ensure that their needs are looked after have been so shut out of such an important process, at such an important time of policymaking for this country, on a policy that will have consequences for decades to come. So the first thing I wanted to note is the government's petty small-mindedness in the way they have gone about the business of Australian democracy and in the way they have conducted themselves with respect to parliament this year.

There is a difference between politics and governance. Politics is the art of the possible. It's how you go about policymaking. But good governance requires both an opposition and a government. It requires members from all parts of the country, who have a diversity of views and different experiences, to work together. We on this side of the House have done our very best to be constructive and to work together where possible. But, week after week, month after month, we have found that parliament has been cancelled and there has been a transfer of powers, with decisions that should rightly be made by the parliament being made by one minister alone, transferring things that should be in legislation to regulations. Things are being decided, for example, by the Treasurer, at the stroke of a pen, rather than through a vote in parliament by those elected by the Australian people.

The Prime Minister says that he isn't interested in the politics of the pandemic, but I do not think it is politics to ask genuine questions that people ask us, as their representatives, to put and to consider with respect to a policy response. For example, is it politics to try and improve the disgraceful state of the private aged-care system in this country? No, it isn't. Is it politics to try and support young people through the second economic crisis of their lives? No, it isn't. Is it politics to ask the government what they're going to do for the people that they have chosen to exclude from JobKeeper—people like casual workers, childcare workers, staff at universities and the dnata workers, as part of our broader aviation workers, who are in severe financial stress after the events of this year? When you have chosen to exclude them from a program, is it politics to ask what you are going to do for them instead? I do not think it is. I do not think it is unreasonable for us to ask those questions and to expect legitimate answers from the Prime Minister in places such as question time.

In the time I have left I want to briefly touch on two areas that are of crucial concern to the people in my electorate of Lilley, the first being mental health. The member for Brisbane and I literally share road borders. I have the northern half of the road and he has the southern half of the road. It was news to me that he has had an outpouring of people writing to thank him for the dynamic and agile response of the government, because on the other side of the road, when those neighbours are taking their wheelie bins out and consulting with my constituents, there seems to be a very different experience. With respect to mental health, we know there have been shortcomings in the government's response to this emergency. We know it must be a priority. They've said that it will be a priority, but that is not being backed by the funding and the policy heft that is needed to address this problem.

We welcome absolutely the efforts that they have made so far, including those announcements and the things that have happened in recent weeks in Victoria, but more needs to be done. I did a town hall with my young people last week ahead of this sitting of parliament to make sure that I was across what they wanted to be raised in this place. They said mental health was their No. 1 concern. Specifically, young people are going to places like headspace to get support. I had a woman, Kayla, who's in her early 20s, say that she went at a point when she felt like she really needed help—so probably a long way beyond when she should have or could have first gone—in May and was told that she could not get in until September. When she said that, the nodding across the Zoom windows was emphatic. Everybody is having a universal experience of having to wait three months too long to get support, and that's at the point when they already have recognised that they need it. We need to do a great deal more.

I'll wrap up by saying that the mental health crisis doesn't stop at the Murray River. The mental health crisis is real for young Australians right across the country. We need to step in—this parliament, this sitting—and provide more funding immediately.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lilley for her contribution today, but I would say that JobKeeper is not about politics. JobKeeper is about supporting the millions of Australians, the 3.5 million Australians, who are on JobKeeper, and that is what it's about. I think we'd all agree that that is well above politics.

In Moncrieff, there is overwhelmingly positive support for the government's decisive action in managing the economic impact of the pandemic. In fact, there were audible sighs of relief outside my office, in the streets of Surfers Paradise, when it was originally announced and again with the announcement of its extension, when there was much relief in the business community and among those who are employed by the local business community. At the Reimagine Gold Coast forum last week business leaders gathered to create a brighter future for Gold Coast industry, skills and jobs. What so many of those business leaders and the City Heart Taskforce executive members said is that they give the federal government a great big tick of approval for its economic response to the COVID-19 crisis. JobKeeper was on everybody's lips at the Reimagine Gold Coast forum. Business operators endorse JobKeeper as a great success in keeping Gold Coasters employed.

At the last census there were 32,111 small businesses in Moncrieff, which is just over half of all the small businesses on the Gold Coast. There are 9,700 businesses on JobKeeper in Moncrieff. For anybody doing maths today, that is 30 per cent of businesses in my electorate that are currently relying on JobKeeper to keep the doors open and to keep Gold Coasters in jobs. So it's very, very important for my electorate on the Gold Coast that JobKeeper continues, for certainty for businesses and, indeed, for people to remain connected to their employers.

Keeping employers and employees connected has been vital, and particularly crucial for the economic security of women. The importance of job connection is well understood by the Prime Minister and all members on this side of the House. It is very, very important. Why is that connection particularly important to women and the economic security of women? It's because we women have to carefully balance our jobs, our lives and our community life. Stability matters to the good women of Moncrieff so they can have certainty moving forward, so that they can manage their lives. When a woman loses her job, even if she's fortunate enough to find another job, she's got to then rebalance her life and the lives of her family. So JobKeeper is about so much more than a $1,500 fortnightly payment to so many people in my electorate. It's about hope. It's about confidence. It's about business confidence. It's about keeping our economy running and keeping open the doors for Australians. JobKeeper has given many women in Moncrieff a degree of stability, and that's really important too—stability, confidence and hope for the future.

I'm running a Love Your Local campaign on Facebook, where I go around to businesses in the electorate and visit them and do a video to promote them online as a destination for locals. With the border closures, we only have locals on the Gold Coast feeding our tourism industry and our small business sector, which are hurting so badly. The Bavarian Haus on Cavill Avenue is an institution that's been in Surfers Paradise since 1975. Carol has worked there for 25 years. When I went to her place of business, to her fine establishment on Cavill Avenue, she outlined to me that, without JobKeeper, they would not be open. They have three levels in their restaurant, and only one of them was open. They're limping along on JobKeeper, thanks to the federal government. It's the longest continuously standing restaurant on the Gold Coast. We hope to make sure that it's standing on Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise for the months and years ahead. It's very important. JobKeeper is a vital lifeline to bridge that business from pre-pandemic times to today and into the future. Many other businesses in Moncrieff have been affected. I commend the federal government for the work we're doing with JobKeeper.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I speak on the government's inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the outset, let me say that this is a health crisis that required a political response. Let there be no mistake about this. Australia has done quite well compared to other countries around the world. With a population of 25 million people, Australia has had 25,000 cases. Unfortunately, we've had about 525 deaths. I give my commiserations and condolences to all the families affected. Sweden, with about a third of Australia's population, has had 87,000 cases and 5,900 deaths. I mention Sweden because the member for Hughes, the captain's pick for the last election, proceeds all the time with conspiracy theories and false medical advice, with no response from the government. It is disgraceful that the Prime Minister, who picked this man to be a candidate at the last election, does not acknowledge the terrible comments he makes on Facebook and all sorts of media all the time, which is really impairing our response and giving food to the conspiracy theorists. It's terrible.

Australia has done well because politicians have listened to expert advice from scientists and medical experts. But they almost didn't. If you remember, at the beginning of the pandemic, the Prime Minister was off to the footy, wasn't he? But, luckily, someone tapped him on the shoulder—I suspect it may have been the health minister—and said, 'You have to listen to this advice,' and the right thing was done. Australia did well because the politicians listened to the advice of the experts and dealt with the expert management by our bureaucracies. Our Public Service very rarely gets commendations, but we are very lucky to live in a country like Australia, where our bureaucracies and public service can respond so well. I'd like to give my congratulations and thanks to all of our public servants, state and federal, who have done so well.

Australia has done well, but there have been missteps, particularly in aged care. Aged care has been a national tragedy. This was something that was foreseen by the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport in an inquiry in 2017. We were given lots of evidence on the inability of the aged-care system to cope with infectious diseases such as influenza, gastroenteritis et cetera. This was a predictable outcome, yet nothing was done. There may have been a plan, but it was a catch 22 plan. It was the plan you had when there was no plan.

Border protection was terrible—not just the Ruby Princess. Even recently, I've had complaints from constituents about our airport health screening. This is something that was predicted, and yet nothing was done by this government and this minister for months and months.

Our messaging to young people has been terrible. First of all they were told: 'You'll be okay. This won't affect you. You'll be fine.' Then they were severely criticised for going to Bondi Beach on a good summer's day. We need to get our messaging right. We are also getting our messaging to culturally and linguistically diverse communities wrong. We need to make sure that the messages we're giving to people are ones that they understand and can act on.

Our lack of pandemic leave for people who were not going to get any support if they had to leave work to be tested or if they were sick was terrible. We need to have a national plan for this, not state by state.

The other thing I would take issue with is the national cabinet. The national cabinet is a good idea, but I personally was very disappointed that the Leader of the Opposition was not appointed to this. The true national cabinet we had in the Second World War, under the Curtin government, included the Leader of the Opposition. It needs to be national. Our state borders need a national plan (Time expired)

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier today I stood here and spoke for about 15 minutes in support of JobKeeper, which is just one element of the Morrison government's response to COVID-19, and I'm glad to be back for another opportunity to talk about this, so I thank the opposition for that opportunity to show where we have met the challenges. Months on from the first crushing impact of the coronavirus, we are leading many other countries in the world. You only have to look at the situation across the world—in Italy, Spain, the USA, the UK and, of course, Mexico and Brazil—to understand how effective government policy and action have led the way here in Australia. These are uncharted waters, a dynamic and evolving challenge. But Australians, including those in northern Tasmania, have confidence in our government's response. The decisions made by the Morrison government have been decisive to protect the health of all Australians while trying to balance the devastating economic impact this crisis would bring, and it is working.

JobKeeper has effectively acted to protect the lives and livelihoods of Australians, keeping many Tasmanian businesses going and their valued employees connected. Over 2,800 businesses in my electorate of Bass are utilising the system, and each and every time I'm out in my community I am told what a lifeline it has been for employers and employees, providing certainty and security in a time of so much upheaval. I'd like to pay tribute to those many small businesses—in northern Tasmania in particular—that, with support from the government, have reimagined their businesses and adapted so quickly to this situation thrown their way, which was unimaginable just six months ago.

Other significant responses to the crisis include over $16 billion in payments to more than 750,000 businesses to boost cash flow; a 50 per cent wage subsidy supporting around 180,000 apprentices and trainees; up to 340,700 JobTrainer places for school leavers and jobseekers to upskill; the HomeBuilder program, supporting the residential construction industry, which has proved to be enormously popular in northern Tasmania, with many in the industry lauding the support the government has provided to them and the security that this will bring to them and their families; JobSeeker and the coronavirus supplement; and $750 payments in April and July to millions of Australians, including pensioners.

In particular, I am very proud of the quick response in providing access to health services, particularly in mental health investment and telehealth. In a community with high representation of the elderly, the vulnerable and those with chronic disease, there was always a concern that, beyond being susceptible to COVID-19, the general health of many in northern Tasmania would suffer as people stayed away from seeing their general practitioner or specialist. This is where the $600 million telehealth package—years of work put together in just a matter of days—has had a significant impact. Again, in our northern Tasmanian community, I have heard much positive feedback on the impact that this has had on the ground.

The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of those in the northern Tasmanian community has also been of much concern to me. Once again, that challenge was met by our government under the steady hand of Minister Hunt. Hundreds of millions of dollars has been invested into additional mental health services across the country, including providing additional support services for Lifeline and Kids Helpline and creating a dedicated coronavirus helpline with Beyond Blue—all of which have seen a marked increase in demand for their services over the past six months.

While we're all keen to get back to life as normal, we know this will likely not be the case until a vaccine is available. I commend our government for their commitment to providing a free vaccine to all Australians should trials prove successful, safe and effective. The letter of intent with AstraZeneca is the first step towards making this a reality. Whilst there is no guarantee it will be successful, it does provide hope, and the government will continue to take advice from the best medical, scientific and manufacturing experts.

I know and have seen the real impact of the government's health and economic response to the crisis. I would like to take this time to again thank the healthcare workers in my community for turning up day in and day out under immense pressure to keep our community safe. To my constituents in Bass, I say: thank you for the sacrifices you have made over the past few months. Much has been asked of you, but our government does have your back and will continue to stand up and support you.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The discussion has concluded.