Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said economic confidence will be reinforced by the rollout of the vaccination program. What will be the economic-confidence and jobs impact of ripping away JobKeeper while the vaccine rollout falls behind schedule? Why is the Prime Minister so quick to rip away JobKeeper but so slow to roll out the vaccines?

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

I'm reminded by the Treasurer that 18,000 people in the member's electorate have already graduated from JobKeeper. Those opposite jeer and sneer at that comment, but I tell you, for those 18,000 people who live in the member for Corio's electorate, it is a significant development in their lives that they are no longer having to depend on taxpayer funded income support and that the businesses they work for are getting back on their feet.

The Australian economy is getting back on its feet. It is recovering. The comeback has been on for some time now, and that is enabling Australia to move away from the emergency supports that were so necessary at a time of crisis, delivered in record time and with record efficiency as a partnership—not just the government but the business community and the financial community—to ensure that we could preserve the lifeline of income and preserve the lives of Australians who in that period of time were facing the most incredible uncertainty that they are likely to face in their lives.

That has been a very necessary program, but we said very clearly that that program would have to withdraw when the economy was returning, and that is what we're seeing. The vaccination program is rolling out, with over 200,000 Australians already vaccinated. A thousand doctors have signed up, and that will grow to over 4,000. With the AstraZeneca vaccine, in a few weeks time, we will move to the production and rollout of a million vaccines every week. This is because of the sovereign decisions taken by our government to ensure we have the domestic capability to deliver on that need.

The confidence is growing, the economy is coming back, and Australians are getting up on their feet again. The last thing they need is a negative Labor leader and Labor Party who want to pull the rug from under them by seeking to undermine the most important vaccination program that this country has ever seen.