Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not a Victorian, but I stand with all Victorians in the midst of this latest COVID outbreak. If this government had taken seriously its responsibility to vaccinate Australians, more Victorians would now be vaccinated and they might well not be in the midst of their fourth lockdown. It beggars belief that this government could not even ensure that residents of nursing homes were fully vaccinated and they still have no idea how many residents have indeed been vaccinated. If there were a safe national quarantine system, this outbreak might well not have happened. I want to thank all Victorians for their sacrifices on behalf of their fellow Victorians but also on behalf of all Australians during a lockdown for which they are getting absolutely no help from this federal government.

I urge all Australians to go and get vaccinated as soon as they are able to. If you are in my electorate of Brand, you can book your appointment at the mass vaccination clinic in Kwinana. Just give them a call and get your booking. If you are over 50, please go and get vaccinated. My husband has done it. I would get vaccinated if I could, but I am a resident of Western Australia who is under the age of 50, so, like everyone else under the age of 50 in WA, I do not know when I will get vaccinated. This government has said time and time again that the vaccination rollout is not a race. Well, it absolutely is a race. The world is racing to vaccinate itself against COVID-19, and this country has been left behind by this ridiculous, rotten Liberal government.