Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] My thoughts are with the residents and families of the BlueCross Western Gardens aged-care facility in Sunshine. It is disgraceful that vulnerable residents of Victoria's aged-care sector are once again at risk. So much of what Victoria is experiencing was foreseeable and avoidable. This government failed to learn the lessons of 2020. Yesterday, the government fumbled with even the most basic statistics. How many staff have been vaccinated? Who knows? Minister Colbeck says the government can't be sure how many aged-care workers have been vaccinated, but not to worry, he's comfortable with the situation. We know that staff working across multiple sites is an issue. Victoria has implemented measures to deal with this, but in aged-care facilities which the Morrison government regulates workers are forced to work across multiple sites because the government hasn't funded or regulated the sector properly.

We know that this outbreak arose from a weakness in our quarantine system. Jane Halton said today, 'I'm disappointed that it certainly appears that we don't have continual adoption of best practice right across the system.' She continued, 'To say that I'm disappointed about that I think is the minimum, I would say.' Well, we all feel that way. But those most disappointed are Victorians who are today asking themselves why an avoidable lockdown, one that was just extended by another week, should have occurred at all under this hopeless government's watch. It's simply not good enough, and the most vulnerable Victorians are the ones most at risk.