Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unfortunately this pandemic is not over, and unfortunately the federal government is withdrawing support and withdrawing the JobKeeper support way too early, right now, for businesses across the country. As we woke up this morning in Victoria, we were confronted with the really difficult and frustrating news that there was a health worker, someone who was working in the hotel quarantine system, who had contracted this virus. My thanks and the thanks of the Victorian people go to that worker, who did the right thing and got tested straightaway and who has been extremely helpful and provided all the information for our contact tracers. Our thanks, of course, go to the huge public health team that has immediately snapped into action and is doing all of the contact tracing work in Victoria at the moment. They have dealt with outbreaks before, and they will throw absolutely everything at this current situation. Victorians can be confident that we have an outstanding team, led by Jeroen Weimar, Brett Sutton and Allen Cheng—outstanding Victorians who will do everything they can to minimise the amount of transmission of this virus. But it is another stark reminder that this pandemic is not over, that coronavirus is still rampant not only in this country—via those coming from overseas—but across the world and that, until we eliminate this virus everywhere, we haven't eliminated it anywhere.

The other thing we know is that vaccines will likely have an effect on transmission. The news out of AstraZeneca overnight that there will be a reduction in the rate of transmission is very encouraging but it will not eliminate transmission of this virus. Therefore, we need to remain vigilant. We need to make sure that the footing on which we are managing this pandemic remains.

What does this mean for businesses? What does this mean for those in the events sector, the arts and entertainment sector, the university sector? It means we need to continue supporting them throughout this entire pandemic. It does not mean that we should pull support from them while the pandemic is still going on. Frankly, it is a reflection of the way in which this pandemic has been managed of late that the state governments have been left to tidy up the contact tracing and quarantine and the federal government has stood back. Contact tracing is the responsibility of the states but, frankly, quarantine is the responsibility of the federal government; it is not just the responsibility of the state government. And supporting businesses through JobKeeper and JobSeeker is absolutely the responsibility of the federal government.

Unfortunately, this pandemic is not over. It is still with us. For months and potentially years ahead we need to be supporting businesses throughout. We cannot and should not be pulling JobKeeper, and I call on the federal government to stop the cut to JobKeeper in March.