Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The New South Wales COVID outbreak is worsening and borders are closing around the country as we head into school holidays. The Prime Minister says 'it's not a race', but the New South Wales Premier said today there is 'a real sense of urgency' and 'until the vast majority of our population is vaccinated these threats will be real'. How many outbreaks will it take before the government fixes the bungled vaccine rollout and creates a safe national quarantine system?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left.

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

[by video link] I spoke to the Premier earlier today. We spoke specifically about whether there was any need for further vaccine doses to be distributed in New South Wales, and the Premier advised me that she was pleased with the dosage distribution based on observation.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left.

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

That was her clear advice to me today and that was advised to me in national cabinet by Lieutenant General Frewen earlier in the week. I commend the New South Wales Premier for the way that she is handling the outbreak in New South Wales, the fact that she hasn't gone to lock down Australia's biggest city. She has taken, I think, the very positive decision to keep Sydney open and to keep New South Wales open for its residents and to continue to rely on what is Australia's best contact-tracing system, the one in New South Wales. I can advise that as of today 66.27 per cent or just under two-third of our population over the age of 70 has now been vaccinated and 49.1 per cent of those over 50 have received their first doses as have 27.4 per cent of those aged over 16. In the last 24 hours 140,819 doses have been administered. We are now at 6.86 million doses having been administered in Australia. It might suit the politics of the Leader of the Opposition to run down Australia's performance. It may suit the politics of the Leader of the Opposition to undermine Australia's efforts as we lead the world when it comes to managing COVID in this country.

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left will cease interjecting. The Leader of the Opposition, on a point of order?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Speaker, on relevance. The question went to the Prime Minister's responsibility—his responsibility.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, the Leader of the Opposition will cease debating points of order. I made that point yesterday and I am going to say, in response to the question, it was a very long series of questions with a series of claims. The Prime Minister is in order and I've been listening to him carefully. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition needs to understand that carping negativity is not a substitute for policy positions. The opposition has been invited for more than a year to join the government in our efforts to combat the virus. But throughout the pandemic they have chosen, time and again, just to pursue political pointscoring, rather than joining and supporting the national effort. We saw in the Lowy poll today that 95 per cent of Australians believe that Australia has handled this pandemic well. The evidence shows that when you look at the case numbers in Australia. The fatality rate in Australia could have been 30,000 more were it not for the steps taken by governments, including our government, to ensure that Australia has positioned itself as one of the best countries in the world as we move through this pandemic. The opposition seems to believe that, when there is a global pandemic, there can't be transmission of a virus. That is a foolish position and a misleading position. We've taken a realistic approach and are working with governments around the country to keep Australians safe, to protect lives and to protect livelihoods. The opposition continues to focus on politics and pointscoring, rather than just supporting a national effort. I commend Lieutenant General Frewen for the great job he's doing in ensuring that we are moving as quickly as we can to vaccinate as many people as we can.