Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the past year, nurses have been on the frontline of the coronavirus, tirelessly working as society fights an invisible foe. They ask for no thanks and no favours, all the while doing so with smiles on their faces and generous attitudes. In fact, it was Mother Teresa who said, 'It is not how much we do, it is how much love we put in the doing'. They love their work, yes they do. As Pam Sessions, a Mona Vale nurse recently said in a Australian College of Nursing article, 'I always feel proud to be a nurse and am proud to be working at a COVID clinic.' When the northern beaches faced our own wave of infection and subsequent lockdown, many frontline medical staff gave up their Christmas and worked around the clock to help others. Jasmine Couvret, who worked at the Mona Vale and Brookvale testing clinics has said:

During the lead up to Christmas, staff were virtually going home just to sleep, wake up and continue as though the day had not ended.

Tom Fitzsimmons, who managed the Brookvale testing clinic said staff were showing up on their days off, just to deliver food and coffee to the nursing staff. I'm proud of the women and men on the frontline of this crisis, and on behalf of my community, I thank you.