Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take great pleasure in joining the debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. This bill builds on the federal government's support for the Australian business community in a time that has been absolutely unprecedented in our lifetimes.

Before I get to the finer details of the bill I'd like to reflect a little bit on the situation on the ground in communities like Gippsland. As you'd be well aware, before coronavirus became a household name large parts of regional Australia, including my electorate of Gippsland, had endured multiple years of drought, leading up to the black summer of bushfires. The black summer of bushfires caused incredible social, economic and environmental disruption and damage to my community. At their peak, the bushfires resulted in the evacuation of 60,000 people from the East Gippsland community, which obviously devastated the hospitality sector and the visitor economy in my region. To lose their guests during a peak period of visitation had a dramatic impact on their incomes. At that time, disaster payments were provided for people who had to evacuate. There was support for the business community and commitments to build back better to make sure that the infrastructure that had been damaged would be repaired and in fact built back to a higher, more-resilient standard. And I must say, that is still happening. It's ongoing. It's been painfully slow, but it is still happening.

Then, quite fortuitously for us, the recovery began. There was an enormous amount of goodwill within the community from people wanting to return to visit the bushfire-impacted regions. So, my hospitality sector, my accommodation providers, experienced an incredible surge in booking numbers—only to be hit by the COVID outbreak in Victoria. So, it's been a rollercoaster ride for the business sector: being open for business and taking huge surges in bookings and having a promised income flow, and then being closed down as lockdowns occurred in the state of Victoria on a longer and more-frequent basis than in many other parts of the nation.

So, it is with great empathy, sympathy and trepidation that the community looks on at our friends and family in New South Wales who are experiencing a very long lockdown right now. It does have a major toll on the economy as well as a toll on the social wellbeing of families, people of all ages. And even though a region like mine at many times during the last 18 to 20 months has had weeks and months with zero cases, that region is still impacted by association, if you like, whenever there's an outbreak in Melbourne and a lockdown is applied. For one, it restricts travel of people to our region, but also there is the potential for exposure sites when people who later test positive for COVID have visited those regional locations. We had that experience on several occasions. And I must say, the small business owners who have been exposed in that way and have had to shut their doors and have borne the reputational damage that goes with being an exposure site, have done incredibly good work in keeping their staff and their customers safe. Their business plans—their COVID plans around social distancing, around QR codes and around mask wearing, where appropriate—have ensured that we haven't had outbreaks in my community of Gippsland.

The federal government's response over the past 20 months has I think been commendable and, again, unprecedented: the JobKeeper arrangements, the support for the airline industry, the investment in economic stimulus packages for local government for regional development. All those initiatives have come at incredible cost to taxpayers, but they've been critical to ensuring that our economy has bounced back and has been more resilient than perhaps we ever would have expected.

But, in particular for the hospitality and visitor economy—the tourism sector—it has come at an enormous cost as well. The loss of confidence among people to want to make bookings and the loss of confidence among business owners to invest in their properties—to commit to future capital upgrades and infrastructure improvements—has really had an impact on the sector. I do fear that, despite our best initiatives and despite the initiatives included in the legislation before the House today, we will lose some of those businesses, who just won't be able to cope with all of these lockdowns, with not only the roller-coaster of emotions but also the roller-coaster of income going up and down. They won't be able to trade their way through it.

The government response in terms of income support during the lockdowns, I think, has been extraordinary. When a lockdown occurs, we see Australians who, obviously, face many immediate questions about their income, about what the weeks ahead look like for them and about how they navigate their pathway back to normal life. But, for Australians who are facing lockdowns, we have been working to deliver financial support to individuals and businesses through Services Australia. I want to commend the minister, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and everyone involved in the ERC for working quickly through some of these challenges.

We are seeking to share the costs with the state governments in delivering that much-needed support to small and medium-sized businesses. Keep in mind, in a community like mine, the typical business is a small or medium-sized business. It's a family owned enterprise. It's mum and dad and half a dozen or a dozen staff at best. The more dominant business in those communities is the small enterprise, so making sure that we work with the state governments to share the costs of this much-needed support for small and medium-sized businesses is critical.

We know that people who have lost more than 20 hours of work in the previous week can claim $750 and that people who have lost between eight hours—a full day's work—and 20 hours can claim $450. That's the same level of support that we provided with JobKeeper last year. This is intended, obviously, to keep some cash flowing through the households, but it's also an incredibly important part of how we support the business community. Households with cash coming through them are in a position to support their local businesses. But, as much the government has a role to play in supporting the business sector, and I do commend the legislation before the House today, we as individuals also have our role to play.

In my community, we have a promotion which we call Putting Locals First, and we need to keep putting locals first. It's about supporting those local tradies. It's about recognising that, if you can go into a local shop and purchase the item you need from the local shopkeeper, that money will flow through your community. It's about going to a local hairdresser, hiring a local tradie or eating at a local restaurant whenever you can, because it multiplies out through the community. It gives that business confidence to hire another apprentice or another trainee. It gives them the capacity, when sporting clubs and community groups walk in seeking sponsorship, to invest back into their community. So, by putting locals first as individuals and making those individual decisions, particularly in times like those of the bushfires or the coronavirus, we can all have an impact with our own salaries in supporting our local communities.

One of the things that I've done in my role as a local member—and I'm sure, Deputy Speaker Vasta, if you get the chance to visit my community, you will happily embrace this particular challenge—is the Great Gippsland Pub Challenge. This year I've made a New Year's resolution I'm sure to keep, which is to visit every pub in my electorate and have a meal there to support the hospitality sector. There are 52 pubs in Gippsland; I've got through about 30 now. I'm still in the same sized T-shirt, but I'm not going to guarantee that by the end of the year! The idea is to challenge my constituents to visit pubs, because they're hospitality venues, and support those local jobs as well, and in return they'll get a '100 per cent Authentic Gippslander' T-shirt. If you're ever in my electorate, Deputy Speaker, I'm sure you'd be welcome to join me for a parmie or a steak at one of the fine establishments across Gippsland. So it is a partnership. It's a partnership with the community, but it's also a partnership with the states. We need to keep supporting these business owners to help them get through what has been a very difficult period.

We've got to be honest, though. We've got to be honest with the Australian people and have this conversation: governments, in this difficult time, are not going to get every decision right. Our federal government has endeavoured at all times to take the advice of the experts and health authorities, to make decisions to keep Australians safe and to protect lives and livelihoods, but we have to acknowledge that we're not always going to get every decision right, just as some of the state premiers haven't got everything right on every occasion. But we have done better than almost every country in the world, and, as Australians, we should be proud of that. We should be proud of the fact that we've been able to get ourselves to this position, where we have saved lives, suppressed the virus and started the recovery process, even if it has been a bit of a roller-coaster in recent months. What we all have to do is keep following the public health advice, maintain social distancing as required to be COVID safe and, if you haven't already done so, make an appointment to get vaccinated.

In relation to the legislation before the House today, it does continue the government's commitment to respond but also lead the recovery process. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No.2) Bill there are five schedules. Schedule 1 has amendments relating to the COVID-19 economic response payments. That schedule to the bill amends the payments of benefits act to allow the Treasury to make rules for economic response payments to provide support to an entity where they've been adversely affected by a restriction imposed by a state or territory to control COVID-19. Schedule 2 relates to the disclosure of tax information to Australian government agencies to facilitate those COVID-19 business support programs. Schedule 3 allows for the tax-free treatment of payments from COVID-19 business support programs. This schedule introduces a new legislative instrument, making a power in the income tax laws to make eligible Commonwealth COVID-19 business grants free from income tax. It makes sure that the benefits that are being distributed have the greatest impact for the business owners themselves. Schedule 4 is a modification power. This measure will reinstate a power that allows responsible ministers to change arrangements for complying with information and documentary requirements under Commonwealth legislation in response to ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic. Schedule 5 includes the tax exemptions for COVID-19 disaster payments. They are a good range of measures that, as I said, continue the government's commitment to not only respond to the challenges of the pandemic but also help lead the recovery and ensure that Australians can get back to work and back to supporting their families and contributing to the productivity of our nation, which is so critical to our future growth prospects.

Finally, in the moments I have left, I think it's important that we count our blessings and be a bit thankful as a nation. We should be thankful for the frontline health workers who have been out there every day during this pandemic. They have been out there every day, undertaking the testing, responding to people's health needs when they become unwell and ensuring that Australia's world-class health system is there for Australians and doesn't become overwhelmed. To our health workers, our nurses, our doctors and the people in the clinics, administering the vaccines or coordinating the program: thank you for the work you've done. Thank you to the shop workers, the people at the front line in those essential businesses. Even when we've had outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne, where the biggest outbreaks have occurred, they've still been going to work every day, fronting the public and potentially exposing themselves to some level of risk. The transport operators and the truck drivers have been through an incredibly difficult year as well, often facing border restrictions, which to them—and, I must confess, to me as well—must have seemed pretty stupid at the time, being stuck on the side of the road for hours, waiting for testing to occur, when they wanted to continue delivering their loads and supplies around the nation. To people like that, to the medical professionals, to the retail workers, to the truck drivers, to the emergency services personnel, to our police, to our ambulance and fire authorities, to everyone who has been called on to play a role during the COVID pandemic: thank you for the work you've done.

Of course, the Australian Defence Force has been called on enormously over the last couple of years. At the outset, I mentioned the bushfires in Gippsland. At the same time, they've been called out to respond to floods and storms and have then undertaken duties in their humanitarian aid and disaster relief capacities, both at home and abroad. Their capacity to respond when required, when the circumstances become too difficult for state authorities, is a capability we should be enormously proud of as a nation, and I thank them for their service.

But the pathway out of this, the pathway for us as a nation, is the vaccine program. The Prime Minister has outlined his national plan in great detail, and I have every confidence in his capacity to deliver that with the support of his cabinet colleagues. Our challenge is to keep building hope, confidence and optimism amongst the Australian people and amongst the business community and to make sure that Australians know that their government has their back and that the government is working to overcome the challenges that they face. Without particularly seeking to single out any individuals, I do caution the House more generally that we mustn't talk Australia down at this difficult time. We mustn't be too negative, notwithstanding the challenges of identifying any flaws in the systems that have been put in place. Let's not talk Australia down. Let's keep working together as best we possibly can.

The other point I'd make is that COVID cannot be an excuse to not get things done on the ground. COVID shouldn't be an excuse for things not being rolled out in a timely way when we make commitments for infrastructure and community activities. We have been able to deliver 12 million vaccine doses under the program, so it's rolling out. We have got an incredible range of economic stimulus packages available for local governments and state governments. We need to roll them out. We need to get stuff done on the ground. As a local MP, as the member for Gippsland, my absolute commitment is to keep putting locals first and making sure we're all working together, making good decisions and delivering a safer, stronger and fairer community. I thank the House.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. Labor has been calling for more financial assistance from this government and supports getting money out to communities in lockdown, such as mine. So Labor will be supporting this bill. Along with my Labor colleagues, I have been calling on this government to do more to support the millions of Australians impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 delta variant. Western Sydney, including my electorate of Greenway, has been hit particularly hard by this lockdown and by the failures of this Prime Minister. Until recently, we were in the perverse situation where this lockdown was hitting Western Sydney so much harder than last year and the impact on small businesses was so much greater than last year yet the amount of federal government support on offer was actually less. This bill will make several changes to implement support for communities in lockdown. These changes are of course welcome but they are also a concession from the government that, once again, they got the support packages wrong. Unfortunately, they were dragged to it kicking and screaming, and it's too late for too many local businesses in my electorate. Getting support right is critical to ensuring workers are still employed and businesses are still around on the other side of a lockdown. Labor know this absolutely and, though the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this point, we will support this bill.

As I said, the residents and small businesses of Western Sydney are paying the price for this Prime Minister's failures. Eighteen months into this pandemic they are paying the price for his failures on vaccines, quarantine and timely financial assistance. As a result of this Prime Minister's sheer incompetence—incompetence that is costing the economy billions of dollars each week—residents in my electorate of Greenway are paying the price. Health is at risk, lives are at risk, livelihoods are at risk and small businesses are at risk. The economy is bleeding billions each week. As I travel through the northern end of my electorate in particular, there is an eerie silence on building sites which were once occupied by tradies, where homes are under construction but are surrounded by fences and locked up.

As I said, this Prime Minister had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing by the residents of Western Sydney but, unfortunately, for too many of them that has come too late. It is typical of this Prime Minister, who doesn't take responsibility for anything—who doesn't hold a hose and who said the vaccination rollout wasn't a race. For so many small businesses, the additional assistance that's on offer has in some cases come too late and in other cases is simply not enough.

It's also typical of this Prime Minister to show he is completely out of touch with reality and loose with the truth. This is a national emergency, and it needs national leadership that we are not getting. Instead we have a Prime Minister who went around saying the vaccination rollout wasn't a race and then attempted to deny as much in parliament today. We all know that he dragged his feet on the vaccination schedule. We all know that, despite his promise, he failed to get all stranded Australians home by last Christmas. We all know that he has offered incentives for vaccinations and then denied doing so. These empty words and lies are not helping anyone. They are not helping any of the small businesses I represent. They are not helping any of the families in Greenway. People need help—real action, not empty promises or this Prime Minister's delusion and denial.

Mr Deputy Speaker, what did the Prime Minister answer during question time today when I asked him if he still commends the New South Wales Premier for resisting an earlier lockdown, as he did on the Sunrise program on 24 June?

What did Australia's Prime Minister say today when I asked him about the hundreds of thousands of working parents across Western Sydney, including in my electorate, who are bracing themselves for remote schooling with no end date? I'll tell you what he did. He spoke about himself. That's right: Australia's fully vaccinated Prime Minister, who doesn't live in Western Sydney, made it all about himself. The people of Western Sydney need a competent Prime Minister who is in touch with their struggles, not someone completely out of touch with their everyday reality.

One area in which this government demonstrates that it is completely out of touch with the needs of Western Sydney is in the provision of translations of COVID information in the languages that are spoken in Western Sydney. In the Blacktown local government area alone, there are some 180 different languages spoken. And it's not just about getting information translated; it's about socialising that information as well. It needs to reach people who need to understand the rules and the vaccination options available to them. I represent an electorate where nearly half of the households speak a language other than English at home. When I look up some of the information on publicly available government websites, it is actually easier to find specific information in Icelandic than it is in Tamil. This should not be happening. We need to ensure that everyone in our community understands the rules and can access information as readily as possible.

It is the case that the vast majority of local residents want to do the right thing, but the reality is that some of these rules are extremely confusing in terms of how they apply in practice, and there is the fact that they have been changing so rapidly. I held a community Zoom meeting last week with hundreds of local residents and there were very practical questions asked, but there was also a high level of confusion in some areas, and these were from people who are predominantly proficient in English. It is hard enough for native English speakers to keep track of the evolving COVID safety messages, let alone Australians for whom English is their second language. Unfortunately, as I said today, neither the New South Wales nor federal government health websites are consistent or comprehensive when it comes to the provision of in-language translations about COVID. The vaccine eligibility checker, for example, isn't translated into the range of languages you would expect it to be given the spread of COVID that has occurred in Western Sydney. As I said, people want to do the right thing. Everyone is grateful to their neighbours for doing the right thing. No-one wants to be locked down and be under the restrictions that we currently have. But, to ensure compliance and to encourage vaccinations, governments at least need to ensure the right information reaches the right people at the right time, so I call on the better use of the resources of government needed to ensure consistent information is given to our diverse communities. I acknowledge the efforts of many local champions in my area with whom I continue to work on outreach and getting the messages out there.

Labor haven't been calling on just more financial assistance. We have been calling for more vaccination support—not only more vaccines but also more vaccination clinics. I welcome the recent rollout of walk-in vaccination clinics offering COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccines to everyone aged 18 and over. At present and according to the New South Wales government website, there are several walk-in clinics established in Western Sydney. However, there are no walk-in clinics currently listed in the electorate of Greenway, including in the southern end of my electorate, which has been particularly adversely affected by COVID. I have written constructively to the New South Wales health minister urging him to expand the number of walk-in vaccination clinics in my area to help make it easier for my residents to get vaccinated without needing to make an appointment. I note that, according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald today, fewer than one in 10 are fully vaccinated in parts of Australia. I quote:

Sydney's south-west, at the epicentre of the latest outbreak, has one of the lowest rates of fully vaccinated people in the state ...

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, social disadvantage is a key driver at this outcome. This is part of the reason why Labor has announced its plan to give $300 to every Australian vaccinated by December. There is no doubt that incentives can play a role in getting Australia's vaccination rates up and our lives and our economy going again. Yet this Prime Minister decries this constructive suggestion from Labor, saying it's wasteful. That's right: the same Prime Minister who delivered $13 billion of JobKeeper payments to businesses whose earnings went up, rather than down, during the pandemic, engineered massive rorting of taxpayer funds through sports rorts and car park rorts and thinks paying $30 million for airport land worth $3 million is okay got up in the parliament today and decried the idea of cash incentives for vaccinations as wasteful.

The Prime Minister oversees a government that failed to secure enough vaccines, talked down the race that we are in to vaccinate our population and has failed to provide consistent and comprehensive in-language translations about vaccination eligibility in the languages for our diverse communities who need it. He sees fit to talk down the need for financial incentives for Australians to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Australians whose pockets are hurting just as much as their emotions are hurting are far and wide. We need the vaccination schedule to be done much faster. Australians are worth it. It is worth getting our tradies back on the job in Western Sydney. It is worth our children being able to see their friends and socialise and learn as they are used to doing. It is worth being able to conduct a working day that is actually conducive to productivity and efficiency.

In my concluding comments, I would like to note that my parliamentary colleague the member for Fenner—and I'm so pleased he's in the chamber—has pointed out this government's historic $13 billion in JobKeeper waste:

Some of those big firms that got cheques they didn't need have handed them back. Dominoes, Iluka and Toyota are among them, and together they have collectively handed back around $225 million dollars across 25 firms. But that is a small drop in the bucket of what I'd estimate to be $13 billion of taxpayer money that went to firms whose earnings went up during the pandemic, rather than down.

I conclude by saying: Australians are worth it. We are worth getting our lives back to normal as soon as possible, and the pathway to that is getting us vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. This bill makes the necessary amendments to the legislation to enable the COVID economic response package which has been announced in recent weeks, following the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in New South Wales and around Australia. The consequential lockdowns in New South Wales have been really, really hard, and testament to that is my appearing by video link to represent the people of Warringah in parliament.

I welcome the assistance that the Commonwealth government has provided to the businesses and individuals of New South Wales who are being greatly impacted by the current lockdown measures, but I have to say that this support doesn't go far enough. The small businesses have used up all their savings. People—especially small-business owners, especially here in my electorate of Warringah—are at breaking point. They were locked down already during the most profitable time of the year—at Christmas and in the holidays—while the rest of Sydney roamed free. They're confused and distraught, with no end to this lockdown in sight and with case numbers that continue to rise. People are really at breaking point. I feel for businesses, and I'm doing all I can to support them and to advocate for their needs. It is so important that the government hears this message loud and clear. These measures are welcome, but much more is needed. It's not enough. I would say to the Treasurer, who I know is going to address some businesses in Warringah this evening by video link: 'It's not enough. You need to really listen to businesses, to listen to how they are coping, and to understand the cracks. Don't be too proud to think that this is all perfect. You can do better and things can be adjusted. It's important to attend open forums to take questions and really listen to people on the ground for their experience.'

Many local business owners have been speaking to me and—like many other members of parliament, I'm sure—I've been attending numerous forums over Zoom to understand their plight and make sure that the issues they're having are conveyed to the government. There are issues with the packages from the state government but the issues are mostly with the federal government's JobSaver program. There's so much confusion and bewilderment for small business about why the government couldn't continue with the JobKeeper plan. It was a system that they knew, that they understood and that worked. It was a success story. If you tightened up the areas of excess and where money had been wasted, this was a program that worked. But now these businesses, absolutely distraught with lockdown and facing all the challenges, have to adjust to a whole new system—and there are issues with that system.

The new JobSaver program and the COVID disaster payment actually act as disincentives for employees to actually work where work is available. The fact that the employees now receive a payment when there's been a reduction of hours, and that payment comes directly from Services Australia rather than from their employer, which was what was occurring under JobKeeper, means that it's more akin to a social security payment than a wage subsidy. It no longer ties employees to their employers. Whereas JobKeeper did tie employees to employers financially, this new combination of JobSaver and the COVID disaster payment doesn't have the same effect. For example, a small business that has pivoted and is staying afloat by, for example, serving takeaway still needs to pay staff directly to come in. But, at the same time, staff are receiving the disaster payment and some are, in fact, not making themselves available to work.

Small businesses who are trying desperately to maintain their business need to meet their fixed liabilities and, in addition, wages—and it's simply not possible. Fixed liabilities like rent, insurance, stock and energy bills are things that they need assistance with, and the current structure of the program simply doesn't address these things. One large hospitality venue in Warringah estimated that they are about $70,000 a month worse off under the latest package than they were under the supports last year before they even pay wages, which are no longer subsidised. So there really is an issue with the current structure of the package. Some of the wages that they have to pay include wages for COVID marshals and additional cleaners to improve the safety of venues.

Another issue that has been raised is the hard thresholds for support. I do agree that there needs to be evidence of reduction of turnover. We simply can't afford to see that kind of abuse of the system where businesses that have not suffered a loss take so much public funds. But I've also got feedback from local businesses that the hard cut-off of a 30 per cent, 50 per cent or 70 per cent reduction to qualify for support is creating an uneven structure. For example, a business that has suffered a 28 per cent reduction gets nothing and yet it is substantially in the same boat as a business who has suffered 30 per cent. Likewise, a business with a 68 per cent reduction receives significantly less than one with a 70 per cent reduction. So I would urge the government to think about these threshold categories, because what you are creating are very uneven outcomes for businesses that are all in the same boat. A more gradual approach to tiers would be welcomed by many businesses.

Another issue that has been raised with me is that basing the grants on the payroll liability alone is not an accurate reflection of the cost for a business and the challenges they are facing in staying open. For businesses that have been struggling since the beginning of the pandemic and are operating with skeleton staff it means that their fixed costs such as rent, power, insurance and indemnity—all those aspects—are not covered in the assessment of the level of support they receive through JobSaver. They are simply not being supported to the extent that they need.

Staff wages are often only about 20 per cent of the operating costs of a small business. So the government is essentially only assisting 40 per cent of 20 per cent of those costs. That's not enough. So whilst the name of this policy, JobSaver, is nice in theory, it simply won't save jobs, because businesses will not be there when the lockdown finishes. So it's really important for the government to listen and for the Treasurer to listen and adjust this program to take into account the needs. The grants don't reflect all those expenses.

Rental support is a major issue so part of those fixed expenses are that rental cost. Many local businesses are calling for a return to the mandatory code of conduct for leasing that was implemented last year. While there are concessions and incentives for landlords to provide the rental relief, and they're welcome, they're not having the desired effect. I see from the ground, from businesses here in Sydney, in Warringah, that are under lockdown, that this is not working. They are still being met with demanding landlords and this is just not tenable for them. Especially if landlords, for example, are benefitting from reductions and benefits themselves and then not passing them on. That really is unconscionable. I appreciate that incentivising landlords is an approach that is preferred but it's simply not enough at the moment. With an extended lockdown period we have businesses here in Warringah that have been shut for five weeks now. We have another three weeks to go. On the numbers announced today it is highly likely we will be in lockdown for some more weeks to come. Businesses will not survive. At the moment the only reprieve is in the form of a deferral of rent where the businesses are permanently suffering losses. The landlords will get their rent back eventually but businesses will not get their lost turnover back. I would urge the government to consider a return to the mandatory code to make landlords come to the table because at the moment many are not willing to negotiate.

The current New South Wales regulation only applies from the period of 13 July to 20 August. Ironically the lockdown started on 26 June and will continue beyond 20 August, so national cabinet needs to work to reconsider these time frames. I urge the government to redesign some of these support packages. It needs to provide the subsidy to business owners—such as one-third of cost of rent payment, a third paid to the landlord and a third by the tenant. There are a lot of proposals that have been put forward. There needs to be progress on these issues.

A key issue of concern is support beyond the lockdown. There's going to need to be support for a good three to six months beyond lockdown. Many industries and businesses work way in advance and all of their bookings have been cancelled. They will not emerge with a full trading capacity at the end of this lockdown. They need that certainty to know what will happen on the other side. At the moment it is a deadly silence coming from government, from national cabinet, on what happens beyond lockdown. I urge the government to deal with that, to give businesses some certainty. The events industry, for example, takes bookings three to six months in advance. They've lost all their bookings for the remainder of the year and they won't miraculously appear again the other side of the lockdown. Businesses like events, conferences, major sporting events, performing arts are all on their knees. They have already been suffering so much since the start of the pandemic. They are calling for some clear policies, like a COVID cancellation insurance policy, to be jointly funded by the government and the industry so that there can be some confidence for people in businesses in these industries to be able to schedule and plan events, so that if they have to be cancelled they are covered to an extent. This includes mass participation sporting events. They bring huge value to our society. They've been decimated in the last 24 months—even outside lockdown zones because as states shut down borders we simply see events cancelled. We have recently seen the Port Macquarie ironman cancelled with millions lost to the local community but also lost to local charities because so much is erased through our events like this. It really is important to understand.

I have met with the members of AMPSEA—the mass participation events alliance. I know they have met with the minister for trade and tourism. I urge him to come up with that plan and that event cancellation policy. Travel agents have been suffering since the beginning of this pandemic—they are still—with no end in sight. Whilst under JobKeeper they at least had some level of subsidy while they processed cancellations they are now left at a loss. They need some certainty. There needs to be further announcements from the government in relation to grants packages beyond the current round, the consumer travel support grants. There really needs to be more certainty.

In relation to individuals, I welcome the announcements of the COVID disaster response payment. But it would have been so much better if this could have been announced in a timely way, at the beginning of the lockdown, so people could know they were going to be covered and could comply. Instead what we see is two or three weeks delay in announcing, people still going about with business because they fear for their ability to feed themselves and meet their liabilities, and transmission continuing in the community. It is so important for government to provide certainty.

I'm pleased the government has finally given additional support to those on JobSeeker and payments and those who have lost work, especially students, but there are still many that aren't getting access to that. We need to make sure all those individuals in those groups are able to get support. In particular, tradies who, for example, are under 18 and may have left school and lost their hours of work. They are not eligible for the support packages. So there needs to be that flexibility in the programs to ensure that all of those who need help are able to receive that support. The Australian National University has found that people on JobSeeker, with the COVID supplement at that higher rate, were demonstrably more likely to find work when the coronavirus supplement was in place because they experienced reduced poverty and less housing stress. So if we want people in work—and we do want people to work—then we need to ensure they are appropriately supported to be able to do that.

So I welcome the measures, but I do urge the government to be realistic. To save jobs, you need businesses to survive. The programs need to be tailored to ensure businesses' needs are met and that they are able to deal with it. It is a shame it is always reactionary policy that is not proactive. We have all been calling for plans and for more proactive policy in providing support. Finally, I thank everyone around the northern beaches for doing such an amazing job at complying with orders and the high levels of testing. Please, please get vaccinated.

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. As I speak, millions of Australians are in lockdown, including in my electorate of Lilley in the north side of Brisbane. I am joining parliament for the very first time virtually from Nundah today. In my community, frontline health workers at Prince Charles Hospital are working night and day treat people with COVID. We now have six testing sites on the ground here in our electorate testing north-siders, with umpteen more administering vaccine doses to keep us safe. Aged-care workers are protecting our senior citizens who are most vulnerable to the disease—and for insufficient pay, I would add. We have retail workers and service workers here on the north side at places like Westfield Chermside, Woollies at Sandgate, Aldi at Toombul and Coles at Stafford who are continuing to work and to put their own health and safety at risk so we can buy groceries and feed our families. Healthcare workers, nurses and GPs are doing their bit to get as many jabs in arms as possible. Their receptionists and other healthcare workers are bearing the brunt of the Morrison government's bungled vaccine rollout.

The common thread uniting north-siders and all Australians is that no matter where they are, where they live or what they do for work, all we want is for our pandemic recovery to succeed, and to succeed as quickly as possible. Today we are debating a bill to implement administrative arrangements to support communities that have recently been locked down. Of course I welcome any financial support for workers and businesses in Lilley who are struggling because of COVID. But lockdowns like the one in Sydney and the one we are experiencing here in Brisbane right now have been made necessary by the Prime Minister's failures to deliver on vaccines and fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities—failures which are hurting workers and small-business owners and are costing the economy hundreds of millions of dollars a day. Roughly $300 million a day is the price that Australian workers and small businesses are paying for his incompetence. The government's failures on vaccines and quarantine are putting lives, jobs, the economy and the recovery at risk.

The Morrison government had two jobs throughout COVID: to roll out the vaccines as efficiently as possible and to make sure that our borders are safe, with fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities. Sixteen months into this pandemic, we are the last in the OECD for vaccines, and there wasn't a dollar in the latest federal budget for fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities. The Morrison government may not be pulling the trigger on lockdowns, but they are the ones responsible for them.

A few weeks ago I spoke with Dr Conor Calder-Potts at Shaw Road Medical Centre in Wavell Heights about how we can improve the vaccine rollout in our electorate. In March 2021 Dr Calder-Potts applied to become a clinic to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine. He increased his clinic's infrastructure, purchased extra vaccine fridges, hired more nurses and found more space to vaccinate people. Shortly after that, the Morrison government announced that patients should contact their GP to book a vaccination. There was a small problem: GP clinics hadn't actually received any GP doses yet and did not know how many doses they could receive or how many patients they could book in to be vaccinated. The consequence of this policy blunder was that medical receptionists and nurses were copping abuse from confused and frustrated Australians who were receiving mixed messages while they were just trying to do the right thing.

Shaw Road Medical Centre had to wait almost two months before they finally received their allotment of AstraZeneca doses. Their capacity in the clinics was about 700 vaccines per week, but they were given only 150 vaccines per week. That is 25 per cent of their potential realised. Since ATAGI changed their advice regarding AstraZeneca, demand for Pfizer is growing, but the clinic is yet to receive any Pfizer doses whatsoever. The latest reports that the clinic has received are that they are only likely to receive Pfizer doses in September or October, if at all. As Dr Calder-Potts said, 'As a GP, I think the best way for us to escape this pandemic is to vaccinate Australia. Unfortunately, we haven't received the vaccines to be able to do that, and I hope the vaccine rollout will improve in the near future so that we can move forward and vaccinate everyone.'

Since COVID-19 reached our shores in 2020 we have seen 26 leaks from hotel quarantine, which have wreaked havoc in our communities. The solution to this problem is just common sense: we need fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities. Hotels like the Novotel at Brisbane Airport and Eagle Farm were built for tourism, not for quarantine. So, I welcomed the federal government's agreement to work with the Queensland state government to finally build a fit-for-purpose quarantine facility in South-East Queensland. This is urgent infrastructure for which federal Labor has been calling for some time.

However, I am extremely disappointed in the lack of community consultation with my community before the Morrison government decided to leak their decision to the press. Because neither the Prime Minister nor the Deputy Prime Minister could not be bothered to do their due diligence and consult with the people of Pinkenba, I thought I would bring the feedback from Pinkenba, and more broadly, to the parliament here tonight. During the winter break I doorknocked Pinkenba Village to listen to the feedback of Lilley locals about the proposed quarantine facility at Damascus Barracks, near Brisbane Airport. I followed up that day's doorknocking by attending the Pinkenba Community Association meeting at the Trade Coast Hotel. Overall, Pinkenba locals agreed that the Damascus Barracks is well situated, and they welcomed the proposal. But it's not a done deal yet, and there are some really important issues that we need to resolve first.

Dr Richard Alexander from the Pinkenba Community Association said that the Damascus Barracks is a logical site but his major concern is that the site is heavily contaminated with asbestos. So, for the safety of quarantined residents and workers, it is paramount that 100 per cent decontamination of this site occurs before the site is fit for occupancy. And for the Pinkenba site to be an effective and safe operation, critical issues of air quality, noise levels, human rights concerns, health and infection control, time, cost and the site's potential future use need to be addressed.

These issues can be resolved, but it will take time and money to do so. Not only do Lilley locals want the best quarantine facility that meets the health and wellbeing needs of its staff and residents; they also want to make sure that the facility provides economic and social use opportunities into the future. Rob, the president of the Pinkenba Community Association, raised a great point during the meeting: that we have the international cruise terminal in Pinkenba. So, in the future, this quarantine facility could be used for disease outbreaks onboard international ships. It's really important that the Morrison government engages with the community, to maximise local benefit and, wherever possible, to ensure that all manufacturing and supply opportunities come from local businesses. We have such a proud history of local manufacturing on the north side, particularly in places like Eagle Farm and Pinkenba.

Dr Alexander was also worried about transparency. He suggested that a community person should be involved in the consultation, construction and management committee process, to make sure that the building and the ongoing running have some community input and transparency—much like the community has on major works by the Brisbane Airport. I think this is a great idea, and it came about by their representative actually going and listening. I encourage the Morrison government to do the same. Gary told me that we have a responsibility to look after people with COVID, and it's clearly not working well in hotel quarantine. He thought that Pinkenba was a great fit, but was frustrated by how long this seems to have taken. An agreement hasn't even been reached yet between the state and federal governments. We've been in a national emergency for over a year now but the Morrison government has not acted with urgency when it comes to international quarantine. The best time to build a fit-for-purpose quarantine facility was a year ago, but the second-best time is right now. It is time that the Morrison government stepped up, did their job and injected some urgency into building a fit-for-purpose quarantine facility at Pinkenba.

At every step of the COVID crisis, Labor has called for crucial financial support to protect jobs and the Morrison government have been dragged along, kicking and screaming. The changes in this bill are welcome but, 18 months into this pandemic, workers and businesses are still paying the price for the Prime Minister's failures on vaccines and quarantine, and for the Morrison government's decision to cut JobKeeper prematurely. Getting support right is critical to ensuring that people are still employed and that businesses are still around on the other side of lockdown. Australians need certainty, not continued policy changes and policymaking on the run.

This bill is a concession from the government that they, once again, got these support packages wrong. Since March 2020 I have called for specific, targeted support for our 6,600 aviation workers here in my electorate of Lilley, whose livelihoods have been decimated by COVID-19 through no fault of their own. I wrote to the Prime Minister and to the former Deputy Prime Minister about this and I've spoken in the parliament about this at least half a dozen times. I have even met with the now former Deputy Prime Minister on this very issue, in person in parliament. At every step of the way I have been ignored or shrugged off by the Morrison government.

Yesterday, the new Deputy Prime Minister hosted a press conference to announce further support for the aviation industry. Great! But how many times do I have to say that support for the industry is not the same as support for the workers? Qantas has received $2 billion in financial support from the federal government, including $200 million in JobKeeper. With $2 billion in his pocket, Alan Joyce tried to outsource the jobs of 2,000 baggage handlers last year—a decision which, on Friday of last week, was found to be illegal by the Federal Court. This morning, not 24 hours after the Deputy Prime Minister announced further unconditional support for the aviation industry, Alan Joyce announced that he will be standing down a further 2,500 workers. This is exactly why public money given to giant private companies like Qantas should only be given on the condition that this taxpayer money will be used to keep local workers in their jobs.

The Prime Minister has Alan Joyce's number on speed dial. He now needs to pick up the phone and tell Alan Joyce that any taxpayer support given to Qantas must be used to keep workers in their jobs here on the north side of Brisbane. I thank the House.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment be disagreed to. I call the member for Dobell.

Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021.

I have lost count of the number of times I have spoken in this House about the failures of the Morrison government during this pandemic and the devastating impact it's had on the community I represent on the Central Coast of New South Wales. As a pharmacist and local MP, I am deeply concerned. The Prime Minister likes to try to shift blame whenever he can, but there's no getting around the fact that the biggest failings of this pandemic response are squarely his responsibility. The government is responsible for aged care, the vaccine rollout and hotel quarantine. And what have we seen? Tragically, 685 lives lost in aged care, 28 leaks from hotel quarantine and Australia rated dead last in the OECD for fully vaccinated adults. This is a prime minister who won't accept responsibility for anything. He doesn't take responsibility for the leaks from hotel quarantine and doesn't take responsibility for the botched vaccine rollout.

I'd like to go back to when the rollout first began, in February. My electorate on the Central Coast was completely overlooked. The nearest hospital hubs announced were the Hornsby and the John Hunter in Newcastle. When nurses at the front line of COVID and other healthcare workers in my community were told they would be among the first to get vaccinated, the nearest hubs were based at the RPA, Westmead and Liverpool, meaning workers would have to travel, in their own time, over an hour and a half to be protected and to protect those people they were looking after.

We're now 18 months into this pandemic, and, once again, I find myself asking the Morrison government to explain why the people on the Central Coast are being left behind. Just last week, six months into this rollout, I launched a petition with my Labor colleagues calling for a mass vaccination hub on the coast. There are now three hubs in Sydney, which are welcome, one in the Hunter at Belmont and one being set up in Wollongong—all important as part of our national response to this global pandemic. But there are still no plans for a hub on the Central Coast, in a community where one in five people are aged over 65—and we know the greater risk older Australians are at if they catch COVID-19. We've had recent active cases, including a healthcare worker at a local hospital, and fragments in sewerage. This is urgent.

It gets worse. Many people on the coast have just had their long-awaited Pfizer vaccine appointments cancelled, in yet another example of this government's botched rollout. Locals received text messages or emails across the weekend saying that their vaccine had been redirected to year 12 students in Sydney. That's after they had already been forced to wait more than 60 days to get an appointment in the first place. That's after they've been forced to spend six weeks in lockdown, with no end in sight, and after they've been repeatedly told by the Premier that vaccination is the way out of this lockdown. It just does not make sense. This wouldn't be happening if the Prime Minister had done his job and secured enough vaccines earlier for all Australians.

What's even more frustrating is that some of my constituents who have had their appointments cancelled are high-school teachers who work at the various schools in Sydney where these vaccines are being redirected to students. Many of them are frontline healthcare workers who are yet to be vaccinated. They are people like Ana, a high-school teacher living on the coast who teaches in Sydney. She told me: 'Since the stay-at-home orders, I feel I have done my bit. I have only travelled to and from work to provide supervision to students whose parents are essential workers. I have also continued to work with students who need access to the college facilities to continue their work on HSC major work projects. After countless attempts to make a booking I have managed to secure a booking for the Pfizer vaccination at Gosford Hospital on 2 September.' Then, on Sunday, Ana received a message telling her that her appointment would have to be rescheduled, because the vaccine was being redirected to year 12 students in western and south-western Sydney. In her words: 'To say that I'm angry with the New South Wales Premier is an understatement. I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes'—this was in late April—'and, as soon as I was diagnosed, I was advised by my GP to get the Pfizer vaccination. To be informed that my vaccination will now be cancelled is upsetting. All I can ask is that all current bookings for Pfizer be closely examined rather than all being redirected to year 12 students. I need Pfizer.'

Then there's Catherine, recently diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and currently undergoing chemotherapy. Her oncologist has recommended the Pfizer vaccine between her second and third rounds of chemotherapy, before, in his words, her immune system becomes too weak to handle the vaccine. She tried to book in for a vaccine everywhere on the coast, and even tried the Homebush vaccination hub in Sydney, but hasn't been able to get in any earlier than September. She said: 'I don't understand. I'm severely immunocompromised. My time frame is so short. My doctors have advised Pfizer for a number of reasons, and I can't find anyone to assist me in getting this vaccine. I spend hours on the phone. I check the website eligibility regularly when it's not crashing. The earliest appointment I can get is 15 September, but my doctors tell me it's likely my blood count will be too low by then. I literally don't know what else to do. To fight one disease is enough. To not be able to fight the second and be at high risk, if I ever contracted COVID, both astounds and upsets me and my family immensely. We are considered Greater Sydney for lockdown but not for to access for vaccines.'

These are just two of the many people in my community who have been devastated by the botched vaccine rollout, and none of these people would be in this situation if the Morrison government had done its job and secured enough vaccines for everyone earlier. We wouldn't be facing months of lockdown, which is a major financial burden for local businesses and workers who haven't been given enough support to help them get through.

There are people like Nicole, who was working as a casual autism swim instructor, but she hasn't been able to work since lockdown and is ineligible for the disaster payment. She told me: 'I'd like to know how I'm supposed to support myself and three teenagers on a JobSeeker payment of $683 per fortnight. I'm scared I won't be able to pay my rent and bills over the next month in my current financial position.' That was the situation for Nicole, and there are others who are missing out on financial support altogether because of the government's eligibility criteria.

There are people like Ben. Ben is a musician studying for a Bachelor of Music at the University of Newcastle. Before COVID, he supplemented his youth allowance with live performances. He told me: 'Many of us are sole traders and don't earn enough to reach the tax free threshold of $18,000, which makes it very difficult for us to be granted a government payment such as the New South Wales business grant, which can only be handed out to a businesses with an income of $79,000 or more. These lockdowns have made it extremely difficult for us to secure work and to keep ourselves financially stable with the limited government support available in our industry. When these lockdowns first came into force, our whole industry was essentially destroyed overnight. Gigs that were planned for several months down the track were all of a sudden cancelled on us. The effect these lockdowns have had on our industry will mean a slow recovery for the live music scene and will be felt for many years to come.'

Other micro businesses are in a similar position. I heard from a beauty therapist who told me her business was under the threshold for support. She found out through social media that her business would have to close, with a few hours notice. She scrambled home and tried to rebook clients. She told me being forced to seek government support for the first time in her life was challenging, confusing and frustrating. And the uncertainty about the length of the lockdown was adding to the stress of her situation. While her partner in this business did qualify for support, some five weeks into the lockdown he's yet to see any money come in—five weeks in a lockdown with no support coming through. Deputy Speaker, people on the north of the coast are struggling. They've been left behind for far too long, and this government has failed to support them.

Before I finish, I want to turn to mental health and the serious mental health impacts of this pandemic, which has sometimes been described as a shadow pandemic. But we know about the link between financial distress and mental health crisis and the tragic consequences. I saw this working in adult mental health inpatient units, where a relationship breaks down and someone finds themselves unable to pay their mortgage or find money for the rent in a business. They end up in financial distress and a mental health crisis and then in an acute inpatient unit. What we know, and what peak bodies like the Black Dog Institute and others have said, is that one of the most effective mental health measures that this government could make is to introduce more robust financial support. And coupled with that financial support is the necessity to keep an employee linked to their employer—a genuine wages subsidy. Because people need financial support and they also need job security. They need to know they've got a job to go back to.

I also want to touch on pharmacists and their role in the vaccine rollout. The Prime Minister mentioned this today. I have heard from so many pharmacists who are just exasperated. Like me, they're trained immunisers, they're ready and they've been prepared. They put in expressions of interest back in February and welcomed the health minister's announcement earlier in the year that they'd be part of the rollout. But up until now very few of them have been part of the vaccine rollout. In my community, they've only been able to start this week. What we know is that in countries across the world where pharmacists have been involved in the vaccine rollout they have seen higher rates of vaccination. We know that in some countries we've seen rates of 60 or 70 per cent where they've relied on a network of pharmacists and GPs who are known in their local community and who are trusted. In communities where there's no other health support, there's often a pharmacy there. While I welcome pharmacists' involvement in the vaccine rollout, I am so disappointed, as are pharmacists across Australia, that their skills and expertise weren't drawn on earlier. They've just been sidelined, waiting to contribute, to do their bit to help with the vaccine rollout.

Just to finish, I want to go back to my community and the two failures of this government to provide proper financial support. The backbone of my community comprises tradies and microbusinesses. So many of them have found themselves ineligible for financial support or, if they are eligible, waiting weeks for any financial support to come through. For workers who have lost their jobs and, in the absence of JobKeeper, who don't know if they'll have a job to go back to, this is a desperate situation in my community that the government either hasn't recognised, doesn't care about or isn't willing to do something about.

The other part is the vaccine rollout. From the very beginning, the Central Coast of New South Wales has been overlooked. It has been left behind. In a community where one in five people are aged over 65 and are at significant risk if they contract COVID, this is a serious concern to me as a pharmacist, as a trained immuniser and as a local MP. Just this week, we've seen Pfizer vaccinations redirected without consultation from a community like mine to western and south-western Sydney. What has this meant for the people that I've mentioned? Teachers with type 1 diabetes are unable to get a shot when the students they teach are being prioritised over them. It has meant a mum with advanced ovarian cancer, who is trying desperately to access a Pfizer vaccine, between her second and third round of chemotherapy, has been unable to do so. This is not good enough. This government's botched vaccine rollout is putting communities like mine and those across Australia at risk. All of this was avoidable. It could have been prevented if the Prime Minister and the government had just done their job and secured more vaccines for all Australians at the very beginning. The Prime Minister says it's not a race, but it is, and it's one we're losing.

I conclude by going back to where I started. I asked the Prime Minister in question time today—when I asked him about Pfizer vaccines being redirected from the Central Coast to Sydney, what did the Prime Minister say? Again, he dodged, shifted responsibility and was unwilling to help. He said that he disagreed with the Premier of New South Wales's decision and that it was a state government decision. Prime Minister, this isn't about blame shifting. This isn't about dodging responsibility. This is about the health and wellbeing of all Australians in a global pandemic. Our community deserves better.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. Listening to the speeches in this place today, it does feel like we live in two different worlds. On our side, people have been speaking about the pain and distress that our constituents are experiencing now, and yet I have heard so little of that from the other side. I don't know if it's that they don't know it, don't see it or just don't want to talk about it. It has been really stark. Listening to the member for Dobell and her plea that pharmacists get brought in—I'm looking forward to that rolling out, because we have very similar problems in the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury to those that she describes on the Central Coast.

I absolutely support getting this bill through parliament. I support whatever financial assistance there's going to be to help people. But it is week 6 of the lockdown. In the last week, the conversations I've had with individuals and small businesses have been those of despair, because so many have not yet seen a cent of support come through to them. These are tough, resilient people. We've been through fires; we've been through floods; we've had the first lot of COVID. But this last wave has been more profound. I heard the Prime Minister say a couple of weeks ago, 'People have built up a buffer in the last six months.' I don't know where he has been talking to people. Perhaps that's big business, but for small businesses in my community in most sectors, particularly hospitality and anything involving tourism, there's no buffer. That buffer's gone, and this wave is really hurting. I've had people in tears.

It's not unusual for my office to have people describing their distress in emails, and phoning us and having conversations. They are literally in tears, partly because of the confusion about the payments and the lack of clarity in this system. They have to wait on the phone for hours and hours, particularly with Service NSW, to see if they meet the very strict eligibility criteria for the business stuff. They can't apply for the Commonwealth COVID disaster payment until they know for sure that they're not going to get the state one. These things don't work together; they work against each other.

As I was coming into the chamber, I had people messaging me, saying, 'I have just spent another four hours on the phone waiting' or 'I've just spent a couple of hours on the phone; they told me yesterday that I was eligible, but nothing has come through.' I really can't stress how profound this financial anxiety is that's been created, and the Prime Minister bears responsibility for it. I know he's tried to pass business off and say, 'That's for the states,' but, in the end, he's had to come on board and recognise that the states are not going to provide the sort of support that's needed. I'll talk about JobSaver in a moment.

When I'm talking about small businesses, I want to clarify that I'm not talking about businesses with a $50 million a year turnover. Some of them are microbusinesses. They're sole traders, partnerships and family businesses. They might be mums running businesses while parenting. They might be older workers who've chosen self-employment. They're tradies, creatives, people trying to turn their passion into a steady income. They are the people who are really struggling, and the system the government has chosen is fraught for them.

The first grants offered by the state were never going to be a targeted and appropriate response to the start of what everyone could see would be a long lockdown, and the JobSaver program falls short. It doesn't even keep the positives of JobKeeper, and it creates a whole lot of other gaps. What gets me is that they've had 18 months to get this system right. This is not just something that happened yesterday. This is something that we had an opportunity to respond to over a year ago and look at that response and say, 'How could we have done it better?' That's what a decent government would have done. That's what a competent government would have done. But it's not what this government has done. There was a whole lot of, 'Oh, great, we got through that; there's nothing to worry about now mate, she'll be right; let's all sit back and relax.' That complacency is causing enormous stress in the electorate of Macquarie.

What we're seeing is not a plan but something that's being done on the run. It's being announced at media conferences and sometimes updated within 24 hours to try and plug the gaps. Then we don't see any detail for weeks and weeks and weeks. Or, in the case of the legislation today, we've got legislation to make good what was an ad hoc announcement that the Prime Minister made around the disaster payment not being taxed, which is quite different to JobKeeper, and that's one of the things we obviously have to fix today. If you run a business the way this government has rolled out financial support, you'd be out of business; you wouldn't deserve to be in business. Sadly, the consequence of this could be that some businesses in my area go out of business. It will be a failure of this government if they don't survive through this COVID wave. They've been through fire, flood, COVID and another flood. I've just never seen people as strung out as they are now, and we're not in the harshest lockdown areas. Parents are supervising schooling at home. Teachers are teaching remotely but also planning to be back in the classroom. Seniors are isolated. They're losing those important incidental community contacts, like the chat you have when you go shopping, which they're told they're not allowed to have anymore. Construction workers had to suddenly secure their sites and abandon work. Builders tell me that a two-week shutdown is going to take weeks to recover from because of the time lag of materials, which were already in short supply and times pressured. They do an intricate job, and there are lots of moving parts. If you get one bit wrong, the rest falls apart. The small microbusinesses that don't meet the criteria might have been affected by bushfires and never been able to recover, or they might have grown significantly since 2019, so they don't look like they've suffered as much as they actually are. For tourism, people like the coach drivers and the family companies owning coaches and mini buses have been left abandoned anyway. This is another nail in the coffin, because the support is so confusing and that makes it really hard for people to plan their spending. In fact, that's having a flow-on consequence to restaurants and cafes. They have valiantly switched to takeaway. Some of the smaller ones are telling me they're quite busy, but many can see that there just isn't as much money in the community as there was last time we went through this, which is why the Prime Minister's comment that people have built up a buffer just does not ring true. Many of these businesses are paying extra overheads because they're repaying the extra on their deferred mortgage or loan from last time. They are really stretched.

The demand for emergency food is up and there's your evidence that people are doing it tough. Every single service I've spoken to tells me they're seeing people they've never seen before, who have never needed to reach out for help. Much of this is because of the Morrison government's failure to work with New South Wales to ensure that the support was there right from the starting, not week three or five, or, as we are now, week six.

This has also taken a huge personal toll. I have got the family trying to get a visa in a locked down city for a rising javelin star so she can take up her US college scholarship. I've got the apprentices under 17 who are missing out on any financial support. I've got the people who lost a job right before lockdown and they have seen not a single extra cent on the JobSeeker payment. I've got people like Chris who is a music teacher. He has lost hundreds of dollars in income but less than the minimum eight hours a week. He now has to find a way to pay his mortgage. I've got the mum who's worried about the mental health of her daughter, locked down on her own and working from home in the inner west. There is Rochelle, who is a wheelchair bound woman. She is a very strong woman but she requires special care. Without access to her usual hairdressing salon she can't have her hair washed. The advice she was given by the New South Wales government was that she could lie on the grass to do it. The parents and early childcare operators are each in a terrible position with the voluntary waiver of the gap fee, but there's not a cent of support for the centres to provide it. Then we've got flood victims whose repairs had to stop when they were so close to being able to go back home five months after the floods.

So much of this could have been avoided had the Prime Minister just done his job—in fact, his two jobs. We wouldn't be here if he had done the things he needed to, if he hadn't been complacent during summer, if he'd used the time to make good progress. We needed the dedicated, purpose-built quarantine facilities happening. The delay in doing this has literally cost lives and livelihoods. And he needed to get us enough vaccines and enough variety of vaccines to be able to vaccinate us—lots of us.

I will finish by talking about the reality of trying to get a vaccine in the Hawkesbury or the Blue Mountains. There is the most cumbersome and flawed booking system that's about as effective as the COVID app. It's no wonder a clever software developer has created a shortcut site to help people find appointments at the big vaccine hubs—although sadly it doesn't cover my electorate. Instead, people are sharing tips, and many are resorting to either waiting until September or October for an appointment, or travelling into the more intense hotspots if they can get an appointment to get to a hub. But we need our own hub. Constituents are reporting cancellations of appointments for Pfizer in order for the year 12 students in the real hotspots to be protected. They understand that, but they want to know when we going to be able to have it. People can't fathom why you can't get an AstraZeneca appointment when everyone is saying there is so much of it washing around. The bottom line is it's a mix of supply issue but also a workforce issue. Both councils have offered to set-up a hub but we still need the people.

The confusion of the proclamations by the Prime Minister—the Friday night, breathless announcements that either induce panic or are unintelligible don't engender confidence that we're going to see the things we need to see so that everyone can be vaccinated. It is hurting the mental health of my community and it's hurting people financially. We had an advantage. It was squandered by this government, by this Prime Minister. While we in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury recognise how lucky we are to be able to exercise in a World Heritage area, what we also know is that things are tough and they're tough for our neighbours. Of course, this is a time for us to be grateful. But, if ever there is a time for us to walk in someone else's shoes, now is the time. We think of those with very harsh lockdowns. We urge this government to do the right thing. Pull the finger out. Let's get this vaccination program rolling out properly.

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians have been plunged into uncertainty and disruption because of a leaky quarantine system and a slow vaccine rollout. It's certainly the case in my electorate, on the south side of Brisbane, that people are now going through a lockdown, and that lockdown can be laid squarely at the feet of the Prime Minister, who had two jobs this year and has managed to botch both. His two jobs were a speedy, effective rollout of the vaccine and a safe and effective national quarantine system. He has botched both.

Australia has seen 27 leaks from hotel quarantine and, as a consequence of that, numerous lockdowns, with families separated from loved ones, yet it's still not clear what it's going to take for this Prime Minister to step up and do his job. We saw that question time today, where he was defensive and belligerent and was not willing to face up to the shortcomings of his government's vaccine rollout and of quarantine. We have seen that in his unwillingness to consider constructive suggestions put forward by Labor as well. That's because this is a Prime Minister who refuses to take responsibility. He doesn't hold a hose. He says it's not a race. It is a race. He needs to start acting like it.

Labor has called on the government to lift its performance in the race to vaccinate the nation. The Morrison government should make a one-off $300 payment to every fully vaccinated Australian, as Labor has proposed. This would be another incentive for Australians to be fully vaccinated. It would deliver a much-needed shot in the arm—pun intended—for businesses and workers who are struggling from lockdowns. Frankly, the cost of this incentive payment pales in comparison with the cost of lockdowns. The current lockdowns are costing billions of dollars a week. That's what the current economic cost of these lockdowns is. Of course, there's a substantial human cost in terms of the feeling that people have, the uncertainty, the anxiety. It's a very, very difficult time for mental health. It's a difficult time for households and families; it's a difficult time for people who are home schooling; and it's a difficult time for frontline workers, who are once again leaving the home at a time when their sacrifice is allowing this country to continue to run.

We're now 18 months into this pandemic. But only 15 per cent of Australians are fully vaccinated. We're the last in the developed world when it comes to the vaccine rollout. We're the last in the developed world when it comes to having our population vaccinated. We're lucky to crack the top 80 in the whole world. There are still people in the vulnerable priority categories in our country who are yet to be fully vaccinated. We've got a full-blown national emergency on our hands because the Morrison government failed to do its job properly. Despite what the Prime Minister would have people believe, this is a race. It's a race that Australia is losing under the Morrison government. That's why the government should seriously consider Labor's constructive proposal for an economic incentive. The Prime Minister immediately refused to consider it. He ruled it out, just like he did with our proposal last year for a wage subsidy, which you will remember he said was a dangerous idea. Back then, after his initial knee-jerk refusal, the Prime Minister changed his position and accepted our wage subsidy proposal. And so JobKeeper was born.

Let's hope the Prime Minister changes his position on today's proposal for a vaccine incentive, just like he did last year on wage subsidies. After all, it's pretty rich for the party of No Jab, No Pay to argue against economic incentives to boost vaccination rates. The now Prime Minister was actually the social security minister who introduced the No Jab, No Pay laws in 2015. In doing so, in the first sentence of his second reading speech, he said:

This is an important initiative aimed at boosting childhood immunisation rates.

That was the purpose of No Jab, No Pay. The Prime Minister has either forgotten how economic incentives work and forgotten his previous support for them, or he is just being cynical and hyperpartisan. I think it's the latter, especially since the government's own COVID response plan, released only a few days ago, includes measures encouraging uptake through incentives under phase B. The idea of using incentives to increase vaccination rates should be a priority. Labor will work constructively with the government, as we have long done, about how best to implement this important incentive.

Lockdowns, made necessary by the Prime Minister's failures on vaccines and quarantine, are costing the economy around $300 million each day—every lockdown, including the one affecting my electorate, which is in South-East Queensland, right now is a direct consequence of the Morrison government's failures. Every lockdown is happening because the Prime Minister hasn't done his job properly. As I said, the economic damage is billions of dollars a week. This is the price workers and small businesses in my electorate are paying for the Prime Minister's incompetence. At the same time, the Morrison government's stubborn refusal to bring back JobKeeper—without the rorts, mind you—means that one of the supports isn't there. That's just more stubbornness from the government: they just don't want to admit that they were wrong on JobKeeper and the decision to end it pre-emptively.

The Prime Minister's failures on vaccines and quarantine are putting lives, jobs, the economy and the recovery at risk. They're being held hostage to the bungled rollout, and that needs to change. Workers in local businesses in my electorate are suffering, as I said—and they're not the only ones. Everyone in our community has faced disruption from the lockdown. I feel like this is almost missing attention because we are so focused on the big issues, but community groups, schools, not-for-profit and childcare centres—all of these organisations that are part of the glue that holds our communities together—are suffering too. It's like Camp Hill school, which had to cancel its fun day. I know that the P&C had been working towards that for months and months, to get that under control. Or, on a bigger scale, Brisbane State High School had to cancel 'State High Day', which was planned to celebrate their centenary year. It's like my nine-year-old son's footy club and every other sports club that had to cancel games at short notice.

I know there are so many other community groups and schools whose long-planned events have been affected. On the same day in my electorate, just as there were everywhere across all the lockdowns, there were brides and grooms whose weddings were affected, there were mourners whose ability to go to funerals was affected and there were people who couldn't see family on their birthdays. There's a big cost to the delays and the stuff-ups; it's a big economic cost and it's a big human cost as well. The Prime Minister's insistence that this is not a race, and his failures on vaccines and quarantine, have direct, immediate and serious consequences for Australians, including those in my electorate affected by the South-East Queensland lockdown.

I want to say a big thank you to Queenslanders in my electorate who are doing everything they can to keep people safe. Thank you for wearing masks; thank you for getting vaccinated when vaccines are available to you; thank you for staying safe at home if you can; thank you for going to work if you need to do so because you're an essential worker; thank you for getting tested, even when your symptoms are only very mild; thank you for continuing to support local businesses, where you can, to help them make it through this difficult period; and thank you for checking on those in your community who might be doing it tough—caring for mental health is part of the health response to this pandemic. Thank you to everyone for pulling together to help our communities get through this.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] I am very pleased to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021.

Of course, Labor will support these changes—just as we have been constructive throughout this pandemic. But, unfortunately, again, and like so many of the government's responses in this pandemic, it seems that they've been ill prepared and delayed in their response. Often during this pandemic, the government has seemed surprised that COVID is still with us and they seem surprised that lockdowns continue to happen. This is despite Treasury having predicted in the budget papers that there would continue to be lockdowns. Since we were last in parliament, there have been lockdowns in Melbourne, lockdowns in South Australia, lockdowns of course through that whole time in New South Wales and lockdowns in Brisbane. So the Morrison government shouldn't have been surprised and therefore scrambling for a response for how to support communities.

Of course these lockdowns come as a result of the Morrison government's failure to sort out quarantine and to roll out the vaccinations. Now we're seeing both the health and economic consequences of that around the country.

The bill before us today does provide legislation that enables support to be implemented, particularly during the lockdown currently happening in Greater Sydney. The changes will ensure that both business support and COVID disaster payments will receive tax-free treatment. As I said, obviously Labor will support this, but we are 18 months into the pandemic and it is disappointing that the government has not learnt from some of the gaps that have appeared.

One of the areas where the government just can't seem to learn that support is needed is in the early learning and care sector. This sector is critically important to the running of our nation, but we've seen the early learning and care sector in Sydney be left behind during this current lockdown because this government just doesn't seem to understand how it operates. Early learning centres are considered essential services. Through this whole pandemic, early learning centres have been keeping their doors open, and educators have been turning up to work. This ensures that our doctors, our nurses, our health professionals, our hospital cleaners, our police officers—just to name a few—can go off to do their essential work and have a safe place for their children to go to, to be cared for and to be educated. I want to take this opportunity to again thank all our early educators, all our early learning centres and their directors, and everyone who has worked so hard to support families over the last 18 months. You are all essential workers, and Australia couldn't keep functioning without you.

Right now, families in Sydney are doing the right thing. They are keeping their children at home during this lockdown, and they are not using early learning services. The government was slow to act on calls to ensure that these families would not be legally required to pay the gap fee, to ensure that, if services could, they would waive the gap fee for these families. Understandably, families in Sydney who are doing the right thing and keeping their children at home don't feel it's fair that they are being charged fees during this lockdown and exhausting all their allowable absence days. Labor called on the government to give early learning services in Sydney an exemption in relation to the waiving of these gap fees. And, of course, belatedly, the government responded. But what they've done is only a half-baked measure. While they've allowed centres to waive the gap fees, they haven't provided extra support for centres to be able to afford this financially. This has led to a really big dilemma. The government, as is the case many times during this pandemic, has put the responsibility back onto families. So services are now faced with a difficult decision. Do they give families a break from fees, perhaps stand down educators, perhaps stop paying educators and sustain huge losses? Or do they continue to charge the gap fee to ensure that their businesses remain viable? This is an impossible choice, because families deserve to have fee relief, but childcare services still need to pay rent and still need to pay wages.

It's been estimated that family fees can comprise up to 40 per cent of the total revenue for childcare services. Giving families fee relief is a big deal for many services. According to the Morrison government, the problem is that, in some cases, the services haven't lost enough income to qualify for business support. When the government introduced its COVID support package for Sydney, many early learning centres were ineligible because their income hadn't dropped by 30 per cent. According to the Morrison government, losing 30 per cent of income is not good, but losing 25 per cent in early learning is okay. The centres still have to keep their doors open and they still have to take the children of essential workers, but they don't get any extra support. I've been contacted by families and services from all over Sydney who are suffering. Some families are still having to pay fees because their centres just can't afford to give them fee relief, and other centres are giving waivers but struggling to keep their doors open. Other providers have not been eligible for this COVID payment, not because they haven't had a severe enough downturn but because they have a higher turnover, above the threshold determined by the Commonwealth and New South Wales. Many are non-profit providers. There are providers such as KU Children's Services and Goodstart Early Learning which turn over above the threshold to qualify for the business support payment. Despite a huge drop in revenue, they are now being penalised for running a large number of centres. Once again, they are still expected to keep the doors open and are still expected to take essential workers' children and care and educate them but are deemed by the government of not being worthy of support.

Providers are telling me that in some parts of Sydney attendance levels are down to below 20 per cent. This is particularly the case for outside school hours care. This is having a huge impact and I am concerned that many of these providers may not make it through to the other end of this extended lockdown without government support. What is particularly baffling about the government's response and particularly baffling about the belated ability to waive fees for families and the lack of understanding of the sector is that this has happened before and the government responded with a package. During the prolonged Victorian lockdown last year, the government waived fees for families and introduced a financial support package for early-learning services that allowed them to stay open for essential workers, allowed them to survive on low attendance and allowed them to waive the gap fee for families. There was a dedicated $6 million fund for out-of-school-hours care, recognising the significant impact that the lockdowns were having on out-of-school-hours care, but also recognising the importance that these services played for essential workers. That wasn't that long ago. That was just last year. But, as I said in my introductory remarks, it seems that the government have amnesia. They've forgotten about what may have worked in the past, they've forgotten that this has happened before and that the early-learning sector is a unique sector that needs essential support to keep going. I don't know whether it's amnesia or whether this is deliberate, but it is incredibly frustrating for families that have services saying that they can't waive the gap fees—services that are trying to do the right thing but cannot keep their doors open.

Providers want to keep their doors open to serve essential workers. Families need fee relief. The government have a playbook that they used in the prolonged Victorian lockdown. I urge the government: please talk with the sector; please listen to families and implement a support package that supports our early-education sector and ensures that early educators stay connected to this important profession, because we know that they are already experiencing a shortage of educators, who left in the last prolonged lockdown. We don't want to see that happen again. I urge the government to respond quickly and swiftly. They don't need to reinvent the playbook. The playbook is there; they just need to follow it. I urge the government to start listening.

Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is, of course, in support of the measures outlined in the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, which will assist with money and support for communities in lockdown. I want to pay tribute to all of the families and small businesses in the south-west of Brisbane and Ipswich that I represent that are currently dealing with the latest lockdown, courtesy of the Morrison government. We are a constructive opposition and will continue to be. That's why we're supporting this bill tonight. But we would not be doing our job as an opposition if we did not call out the obvious failures that have put us in this position, and I would not be doing my job as the member for Oxley if I did not hold the government accountable for the damage that their failures have wrought upon the local community that I proudly represent.

It must be acknowledged that these measures are made necessary by the government's failures on their two key jobs this year: rolling out the vaccine and implementing a safe and effective quarantine solution. These failures are costing the economy hundreds of millions of dollars each day and billions of dollars each week. In my electorate of Oxley, it's dearly costing the families and small businesses that I represent. There's a real human cost to the government's failures. Just last Friday, before this lockdown was announced, I visited a small business in my electorate—the Middle Park Bakery Cafe. They'd invited me along to celebrate the launch of their new coffee venture. Tony and the team were excited about the future of their business, and they were hopeful that the devastating lockdowns were a thing of the past. They should have been right to hope. They should have been right to put their faith in a federal government to do the two jobs they had this year: roll out the vaccine and fix our quarantine system. The very next day, as we all know, along with all of South-East Queensland, millions of Queenslanders and tens of thousands of businesses were plunged into lockdown.

The evidence shows that quick responsive lockdowns are the best way to control the outbreaks of delta—and I applaud the Queensland government for their quick action—but the reality is that this should not have been necessary. We should not have been seeing this deadly virus leaking out from hotels that were designed for tourists, not quarantine. We should not be faced with outbreak after outbreak while our community is left completely vulnerable by dismal vaccination rates. We're near last in the OECD. We are losing the 'Vaccine Olympics'. We are coming almost stone last in the 'Vaccine Olympics', and that is not good enough. How does this government not hang its head in shame? How do they stomach turning up to the chamber and bragging about their failed pandemic response?

We will be supporting these support mechanisms that allow our community to deal with this. This side of the chamber is a positive opposition. We are a constructive opposition. It's pretty clear that the announcement by the Leader of the Opposition today, which will give confidence, economic security and reward to those Australians doing the right thing, should be supported by the federal government. Federal Labor is proposing a $300 one-off payment for all Australians who get fully vaccinated by 1 December. Our economy needs a shot in the arm, and the small businesses and families that are struggling through lockdowns need a shot in the arm. It's pretty clear that our vaccine rollout needs a shot in the arm. That's exactly what the Leader of the Opposition has laid out with our positive plan. We're a positive opposition with constructive ideas. Just for once could the government put aside its partisan blinkers and start listening to ideas that are on the table. If this isn't a good idea, I ask the government: 'What is your plan? What is your plan to raise vaccination rates in this country? What are the incentives that the so-called Prime Minister of this country has announced? Where are they, what are they and how will we get the vaccination rates up in this country?'

I know, from speaking to businesses and families today who have warmly welcomed the $300 vaccination injection into the community and into our local economy, that they are crying out for a government to start leading. Here is a plan on the table by federal Labor. Here is a positive, constructive policy. It's time the government started listening to ideas and delivering a real plan to help Australia get through this pandemic.

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

Labor will support this legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, to provide financial assistance to Australians who are enduring lockdown. Ten million people in New South Wales and Queensland are in lockdown right now, and it's not that long since Victorians and South Australians were locked down as well. We know from the Treasurer's statement today in a press conference that lockdowns across the country can cost $3.8 billion a week. That's a massive impact.

I just did a Zoom call, hosted by the member for Werriwa and our shadow energy minister, Chris Bowen, with people in south-western and Western Sydney. There, we were talking to those communities directly about the difficulties that they are having at the moment: the difficulties because people are losing their jobs, the difficulties because people don't have an income and the difficulties because of the very strict restrictions that are in place. That's why, as soon as these restrictions were in place, we called for support. The government reluctantly, bit by bit, changed the support for people—four times in one week. We had four different announcements out there.

One of the issues that came up in the consultation with those communities in south-west Sydney just an hour ago was the confusion that's out there about what support is available. We know that so many Australians are not going to get support. Too many Australians are either directly or indirectly impacted by these lockdowns because of the nature of their work and the nature of where they live, too, because we know that people who aren't living in lockdown areas can be impacted by the economic impact of a lockdown. I certainly heard that in Queensland. Whether it was Bundaberg, Maryborough, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Mackay or Rockhampton, all those communities are impacted by the fact that New South Welshmen and Victorians aren't able to travel to those communities. We know that's having a massive impact in the electorate of Gilmore and the electorate of Eden-Monaro, surrounding the ACT. The pundits tell us that this could be the best ski season ever. There's only one thing missing—skiers. They can't travel. That's having an enormous impact on those communities as well.

There's been a tale of two political movements today in this House, because we think there are weaknesses in this legislation. We think there isn't enough support in this legislation. We think people are missing out under this legislation. But we'll support it because throughout this pandemic we have never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. When people have needed support we have been there, offering to provide that support. When ideas are put forward, those opposite say no. This is a government that is acting like an opposition in exile and that doesn't recognise the responsibility it has. This is a government that rejected the idea of wage subsidies and called them a dangerous idea. The only time the government changed its mind was when the queues formed around the block of Centrelink offices right around the country. Only then did it move, and, when it did move, of course, it left out the arts sector, the university sector and casual employees. Too many people were left behind by the support that was there.

The Prime Minister had two big jobs this year: the rollout of the vaccine and national quarantine, and he botched both of them. On the rollout of the vaccine we know that we're still under 20 per cent, languishing at the bottom of the developed world with the rollout numbers and struggling to get into the top 80, let alone the gold medal position that the Prime Minister likes to talk about. On quarantine, when our Olympians arrived back this morning, where did they go? Howard Springs, because it is safe, because it's purpose built and because people are separated; they're not sharing ventilation. They went there because it's a safe place for them to go. But where are other people going? They're going into hotel quarantine. The current lockdown in South-East Queensland is a direct result of another failure of hotel quarantine. The lockdown that spread from Sydney's eastern suburbs is a direct result of a failure that occurred there as well, and yet this government refuses to move.

Labor proposed wage subsidies. We also opposed the early withdrawal of JobKeeper. We said that, if the mechanisms had been put in place, and if a business was under the same conditions that allowed JobKeeper to be applied, it made sense to keep the mechanisms there, to keep that relationship between employers and employees. So we do welcome these measures, even though they should have come much earlier.

The fact is that this always was a race, which is why we were absolutely determined to advocate for getting five or six vaccines last year—getting enough deals with enough companies to get enough supply early enough. That is the other part of the problem that we've seen. We continue to be in circumstances where vulnerable Australians are really doing it tough. I say this: in my electorate today, 19 older Australians have been hospitalised. They're aged-care residents in Summer Hill. They were infected because an aged-care worker had not been vaccinated. This government said that they would all be done by Easter. It's now August, and 19 of my elderly residents, vulnerable Australians, have been let down by this government.

How is it that we've reached August and aged-care workers still aren't vaccinated? How is it that disability care workers aren't vaccinated? How is it that there are still some aged-care residents who've been unable to receive vaccines? How is it that we raised in question time today a fact about a real person—a real teacher in a real community in the Central Coast—who had their appointment for a vaccine cancelled because that vaccine is being transferred to a student, perhaps even a student at a school that they might teach at in Sydney? How is it that this has been bungled so badly by this government?

When we have put forward a constructive idea, as we have today for a $300 payment for Australians, we have had all sorts of opposition from the government. They've rolled out some academics to talk about how this doesn't work. I say to the government: you need to get out more. You need to come to my community and walk around and ask people if a $300 cash payment will make them more likely or less likely to get the vaccine. I just spoke on triple J, on Hack, and one of the text messages that came in that the announcer read out was from a young person who said that she's waiting for Pfizer but that if there were a $300 payment she'd get AstraZeneca tomorrow—after consultation, one would assume, with her doctor.

The fact is that there need to be incentives put in place. That's why incentives are a part of the Prime Minister's four-phase plan. They're a part of phase B, which was announced just last Friday. That's why the Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, said that that was the case. That's why, around the world, you have a range of mechanisms, even lotteries in some countries. I was reading today about how, in some communities to our north, you can go in a lottery to get a cow. Incentives in order to change behaviour are something that is used around the world. That is why they were used by the then social security minister, now Prime Minister, when he introduced the No Jab, No Pay program for childcare payments and family assistance. At the time, in his second reading speech, he said it was because of the need to increase immunisation rates amongst children.

It's extraordinary that this government has just rejected a constructive idea. I don't write off all hope for them, because they did the same on wage subsidies. They did the same on lockdowns. When parliament last sat, the Prime Minister was standing at this dispatch box congratulating Gladys Berejiklian for not locking down, for leaving everything open. And we know how that worked out; that worked out with Sydney still locked down as a result of the failure to move early enough. And we've seen the opposite in real time. This isn't an academic exercise. We're seeing Victoria and South Australia—one Labor government, one Liberal government—locking down early enough to make a difference, and the Palaszczuk government once again protecting Queenslanders, as they have the whole way through, in spite of the Prime Minister's quite sad campaign where he went to Queensland and campaigned alongside Deb Frecklington, criticising the Palaszczuk government for a whole week. That's the only time he's ever spent a week in Queensland, I've got to say, as a member of parliament. I've had an opportunity to spend a fair bit of time in Queensland in recent times, and I certainly enjoy the company of Queenslanders. They're straightforward people. They're straight talking. The Prime Minister has a different thing to say every day and even contradicts himself on what he has done as a minister, which is what he's doing when it comes to the incentives that we're putting forward.

So we will be supporting this legislation. We say to the government: 'Do your usual thing: adopt the idea that we've put forward today, then claim it was yours.' That would be the consistency that this government applies to these measures. And that will be okay, because we're prepared to support anything that is positive and that makes a difference. Quite clearly this government is struggling with any new ideas. We're pleased that it adopted some support for individuals suffering from these lockdowns—as a result of pressure from Labor, it must be said, and also from Labor and Liberal state governments. We saw Brad Hazzard's comments on Sunday. We've seen Dominic Perrottet also put forward advocacy for increased support. It's a pity that it takes such strong action in order to get this Prime Minister to ever move his position, to do what is right and to do what is necessary.

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a privilege to follow the Leader of the Opposition and his contribution on this topic that is, really, the most important issue this country faces. I'm going to use my time speaking on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021 to shine a national light on the situation of my constituents on the Central Coast, who are in a lockdown directly because of the incompetence and arrogance of the Morrison government.

Let there be no mistake: my constituents know the reason they are in lockdown. Australians are smart and more than aware that this government had two key jobs this year: to sort out the national quarantine arrangements and to ensure a smooth rollout of the vaccine. It has failed totally on both of those. As a result of that, 30,000 of my constituents in Shortland who live on the Central Coast are now in the sixth week of a lockdown. That's 30,000 constituents who have had their jobs imperilled by this government's incompetence, 30,000 constituents who are having to home-school their kids and 30,000 constituents who have had their health endangered because of this government's incompetence. I want to speak directly to those people today.

Lake Macquarie is the largest saltwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere. For those who live around it, like I do, it's a stunning place and it's a real privilege to live there. I echo the comments from the assistant minister; it is beautiful. But the lake has become a cruel border for many of my constituents. Some of the suburbs in the southern part of the lake, such as Gwandalan and Summerland Point, are in the Central Coast local government area and are therefore subject to the lockdown, while they can see suburbs directly across as little as 500 metres of water who are living lives relatively free from restrictions. These are suburbs that are literally on the shores of Lake Macquarie, but, because they're in the Central Coast LGA, they join other suburbs, such as Lake Munmorah, San Remo, Doyalson, Buff Point and Budgewoi, that are in lockdown. This is causing huge distress for my constituents and huge confusion. For example, one mother contacted me. Her family lives on the Central Coast, but her child goes to Hunter Sports High, which is in Lake Macquarie. The child can attend school and even train and play football for the school on weekday afternoons but is not able to travel into Lake Macquarie or Newcastle on the weekend for their teams. This is a small example of the two classes of constituents in Shortland at the moment.

But the impact on businesses, quite frankly, doesn't respect that border. The impact on businesses is massive. For example, I heard from my constituents Christine and Greg Smith, who own Charmhaven Newsagency. Christine had to self-isolate for 14 days after serving a close contact. This has put incredible strain on her business as well as on her personal life. Christine has said: 'I have to stay in my bedroom while Greg is home. I prepare my meal before he gets home, then he has to do his meal.' Last week I chatted with Rodney King, who is the owner of the very well-known Hunter business, Kings Coaches. Their business is down a staggering 90 per cent compared to pre-COVID periods. I spoke to Rodney, and he was incredibly brave and honest and forthright, but he is struggling to see a way through for his business, which is a business that does a great service for my community. If you look further north, for example, during the school holidays, my wife and I took our two kids up to Nelson Bay and went on a whale-watching cruise. It was a beautiful day. We got to see many humpbacks breaching in the pristine Pacific Ocean. But we were on a boat that normally takes about 200 people. This is their peak season. Normally there are 200 tourists, mostly from Sydney, on that boat. There would have been 15 on that day. I just can't think of the devastation that that business suffers.

Then there are the repercussions of the vaccine rollout on people's health. I have the privilege of having the Hunter vaccine hub in my electorate at the old Belmont Bunnings site. Just two weeks into its operation, Pfizer vaccines are now being diverted from this hub to western and south-western Sydney for year 12 students. My constituents are generous people, and they obviously don't begrudge the HSC students being vaccinated in the eight most affected lockdown LGAs, but the most basic point is that this diversion need not have happened if the Commonwealth had sourced enough vaccines in the first place. People who have lost their appointments are rightly distressed about it. Deb is an essential worker from Belmont, and she emailed me the following: 'I'm an absolute wreck. I've been on an emotional rollercoaster since receiving a text to cancel my first Pfizer jab at the Belmont mass vax clinic. To say I'm angry is an understatement. To make matters worse, when I get online to try and rebook, I can click right through to December and there are no appointments available. And, to add salt to my wounds, every time I turn the TV on, there is Gladys and the Prime Minister telling me, "Get vaccinated, get vaccinated."' I've also been contacted by Mary-Anne Jennings, the principal of Saint Kevin's Primary School at Cardiff following the redirection. Mary-Anne says, 'My staff are very upset because their appointments have been cancelled; yet, as teachers, we are essential workers.' That's another example of my constituents wanting to do the right thing—in this case, the teaching profession—but they are being held hostage on this government's Pfizer rollout.

To make matters worse, many of the Belmont vaccine appointments were going to people on the Central Coast because, for whatever reason, the New South Wales government does not have a mass vaccination hub on the Central Coast, despite there being 300,000 people locked down there right now. So people on the Central Coast are making appointments and travelling up to Belmont. All their appointments have been cancelled, including those in priority 1a and 1b. Just imagine it! These are the people that this government said should be vaccinated by March. They promised they would be vaccinated by March. They finally get an appointment for a vaccination in August, September or October, and the Liberal state and federal governments are causing their appointments to be cancelled. This is a disgrace. There was a much simpler way. If they couldn't fix the Pfizer supply, which this government should have done, they should have done what occurred in the UK, which was to double the length between the first Pfizer jab and the second, so that those in the Hunter and Central Coast who were booked in for their first dose wouldn't have had to be cancelled.

My office and I and many volunteers have been ringing constituents in the Central Coast to see how they're going, to just check up on them and to offer assistance. I've been touched by the response. People are incredibly brave and incredibly supportive of the community effort to get through this vaccine rollout. They are loathe to complain and they are grateful for the call, but these people know whose fault this is. They know why we're in this predicament. They hold the Prime Minister directly responsible for them being in the lockdown. One response—in a typical Australian fashion—was, 'Of course, it's a bloody race.'

So I'll finish on this: this is a government that has failed in its two jobs—the vaccine rollout and national quarantine. There have been 28 breaches of national quarantine, causing 11 million Australians to be in lockdown right now. The Australian people know that this federal government has failed them. They are in their sixth week of lockdown in the southern portions of Shortland, as part of the greater Sydney region, because of this government's incompetence. This needs to be fixed urgently.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, which will allow the government to stay true to its commitment to offer business support payments in communities subject to major COVID breakdowns. This bill is a good one but it could have come much sooner and it doesn't provide much certainty for businesses and workers about the level of support that they can expect from the Treasurer either.

It took this government over three months after the end of JobKeeper in April to decide on its economic support arrangements for those whose incomes were ripped away overnight by entirely foreseeable lockdowns. Even when they did announce a policy in June, it had holes right through it which left regional Victorians behind. To be eligible for the support payments offered to Victorians back in June you had to be locked down for over seven days and live or work in a Commonwealth designated COVID hotspot. So when the Victorian government lifted the lockdown for regional Victorians early, after seven days, but kept Melbourne in lockdown, the regions totally missed out on any support.

If you lived in my electorate of Indi you'd know that a lockdown in Melbourne has untold impacts on local tourism, hospitality and accommodation services. Many of these small businesses and workers contacted my office in total distress as their balance sheets and bank accounts dwindled, with no federal assistance in sight. One constituent, a casual worker at a boutique hotel near Wangaratta, had lost at least $1,500 in wages in just over a week. I wrote to the Treasurer to urge him to change the rules, and I spoke loudly in this place calling on him to do the same. It's pretty simple: support should be available to everyone suffering a reduction in income because of the pandemic. That was the rule for JobKeeper and that should be the rule now. The Treasurer has yet to reply to my letter.

The government did nothing after that June lockdown to reassure regional Victorians that it would do better next time. So when Victoria re-entered lockdown 2½ weeks ago, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. Four months after the end of JobKeeper and six weeks after the government rolled out its hotspot support package, full of holes, absolutely nothing had changed. The communities of Indi were on the edge of their seats during that press conference in July waiting to see how many businesses would close and how many workers would be stood down. We had to wait 24 hours to find out what deal the Treasurer had struck with the Victorian government. That's no way to treat communities doing everything in their power to fight this pandemic. The impact on their mental health is enormous. That's no way to promote economic certainty and confidence. That lockdown situation was entirely foreseeable and so was the government's lack of preparedness.

Thankfully, this time some of the holes have been plugged: $600 a week for all Victorians who lost 20 hours or more; $375 a week for all Victorians who lost between 18 and 20 hours; $3,000 for hospitality venues across the state; $2,000 for small businesses; and up to $15,000 for our precious alpine businesses who are on the verge of losing a second ski season. I was also pleased to see small businesses that don't have an annual turnover of $75,000 access the individual payments. While $600 isn't a lot when you're a little newsagent in Violet Town or a clothing store in Yackandandah, it's sure better than nothing, which is what these brave businesses got last time. As the Mansfield District Business Association put to me two weeks ago, in an impassioned letter, 'The initial one-size-fits-all approach through JobKeeper worked very well last year. Our businesses now need a similar level of support and certainty, along with more-targeted industry and regional base support. We're not getting that right now.'

Local business is built on certainty. There's nothing in this bill that gives small business and workers certainty about the support they're likely to receive—and when—from this government should the next lockdown come along, and it will. This bill also leaves the door wide open for the Treasurer to play politics and favourites on a lockdown-by-lockdown basis, and that's the last thing any government should ever be perceived to be doing. Parts of the regional economy are haemorrhaging—they're still haemorrhaging. Economic modelling of the last 12-day lockdown shows that our alpine resorts—those of Mount Hotham, Mount Buller and Falls Creek—lost over $112 million in visitor expenditure. The $15,000 from the state government, and zero dollars from the Treasurer, will hardly touch the edges. The impacts stretch right into the north of Indi, too, where new border-bubble restrictions will come in overnight and punish communities like Wodonga all over again. Families who live in Wodonga could meet at the pub for a meal, but if their nanna lives in Albury, well, she'd have to stay home.

Matt Daly from Posh Plonk in Chiltern said that half the bookings for his business last weekend were from Albury. Well, that will now need to be made up for by Victorians. Cyril Cox, who owns The Other Place, a cafe in Rutherglen, says that these new restrictions are just another nail in the coffin for him. He'll have to reduce staff hours and reduce his expectations for his business. Last lockdown, Cyril lost a $7,000 catering job and had to wait seven weeks to get $2,000 in support. And just this evening a local restaurant owner on the border told me he'll lose 30 per cent in revenue overnight from lost patronage from New South Wales. This bill does nothing to ease the concerns of cross-border businesses and workers like these, because they're not in lockdown, but they're absolutely feeling the economic brunt of public health orders coming out of Melbourne and Sydney alike.

We lived through 138 days of hard border closure last year, and I refuse to let our communities go back to where we were, blocked from crossing the border for critical services like medical appointments and from being alongside their dying loved ones. I, together with my community, fought long and hard to get the border bubble, which kept our communities intact and kept many small businesses alive. They are calling out tonight for more support, right now, particularly on the border. The Treasurer is just not seeing or hearing them, and I call on him to do so.

What's worse, this bill tells these businesses and workers very little about how the Treasurer will show up and provide support when future lockdowns almost inevitably strike. Our businesses, our community members are incredible. They're doing everything they can. They've supporting each other. They're getting out. They're getting vaccinated as best they can. But they can't live with uncertainty, and the one thing that could be certain in this time of great uncertainty is surety from the government about how they will be supported in future lockdowns—not uncertainty; they need certainty.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021. It's obviously so important to make sure that the money and the security is there, but at the same time we have to look at the reasons we're in this situation today. It's because of the Prime Minister's and the government's inaction, failure to roll out vaccines and failure to have quarantine facilities that we are in this devastating situation right across the country.

As we've said, Labor supports the bill. It's important to get that money out to communities in lockdown and also to support those people who have been impacted by the lockdowns. In regions like mine, people who work in industries that have been affected by the reduction of people in our areas desperately need support. Businesses are suffering. The workers are suffering. They need urgent assistance. Particularly for border communities like mine, it has been a challenging time. We're in this very confusing situation for locals, and we're in that situation because the Prime Minister failed to do the jobs he was supposed to do. That's the reason—that's what locals say to me all the time, 'We're in this chaos because of the Prime Minister's failures.' As I said, he failed to get enough vaccines, bungled the vaccine rollout and then didn't establish quarantine facilities. That's why we're in this dire situation. We have called, time and time again over the past 12 months, to fix this situation urgently because it's having massive health and economic ramifications right across the country. Indeed, it's now costing the economy about $300 million each day. That's the price Australians are paying for this Prime Minister's incompetence.

Make no mistake: the Prime Minister's incompetence is putting the economy, lives and jobs at risk. This is an ongoing crisis that's still not being addressed and the nation has been plunged into uncertainty and so much disruption. As I said, the Prime Minister had two jobs this year and he has failed at both. He's a Prime Minister who fails to take responsibility—he always blame somebody else about something. Prime Minister: just start doing your job! Start fixing this problem! He has consistently failed the nation. He has failed people right across the nation. We now only have 15 per cent of Australians fully vaccinated because of the Prime Minister's failures.

We have been calling on the Morrison government to fix this bungled rollout, to deliver quarantine facilities and, of course, to provide the one-off $300 payment to every fully vaccinated Australian. Doing that would make such a difference, it really would, in terms of meeting those vaccination targets. The faster they're achieved then the faster the recovery is as we emerge from the lockdowns. So we would really like to see the government adopt our proposition of that $300 payment to every person who is fully vaccinated by 1 December, and yet the Prime Minister just continues to shirk all responsibility. We're asking him to listen to this idea and to take action. We'll keep putting forward really constructive solutions like this. This would be another incentive for Australians to be fully vaccinated and it would also deliver much-needed assistance for those businesses and workers who are really struggling in the lockdowns.

In terms of COVID in New South Wales: the failure of the New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, to lock down Sydney early enough has also plunged my region, the North Coast of New South Wales, into ongoing chaos. This aversion that the Liberals and Nationals have to lockdowns is now causing this rolling chaos across the nation, and we're living with the consequences of their inaction—because the New South Wales Premier failed to lock down early enough. Make no mistake: this situation is an absolute disgrace and it really shows the people of the North Coast of New South Wales that, when it comes to the Liberals and Nationals at all levels of government, we are the forgotten people. They show this time and time again.

As I have previously said to the House, we saw last week—in a move of utter contempt—the New South Wales Premier taking our already limited supplies of Pfizer from regional New South Wales and redirecting them to Sydney. All throughout regional New South Wales they're being taken back to Sydney. I have been contacted by so many people who are distressed, frustrated and angry and who are having their appointments cancelled. So many have to wait for months and months. As I said earlier in the House, I am calling on the Morrison government, the Berejiklian government and their agencies to come clean and tell us how many they have taken from our region. How many Pfizers do we actually have? Our community just wants the facts and yet we don't ever seem to get them.

We have been left vulnerable again by the New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, who failed to lock down Sydney early enough. The Premier also failed to designate a New South Wales border zone to protect us and the Premier failed to have adequate COVID compliance checks at Ballina airport. We have been consistently in the situation where the New South Wales Premier and the New South Wales government have failed to give us timely information about local cases and exposure sites. People don't know what's happening; they're just not coming clean.

Again, the North Coast community has had to pay the price for the failures of the Prime Minister and the New South Wales Premier. It's a situation that's an absolute disgrace and it does show that we are the forgotten people under the Liberals and Nationals. Whether it's at a federal level or at a state level they're consistently failing our community. As we've said, this is why we're in this situation. The Prime Minister has to start taking responsibility and start doing his job. This crisis must be fixed. We have seen this bungled vaccine rollout and we've seen no quarantine facilities which are adequate in place. This must be fixed—there's an urgency here for the health of people across the country and also for our economy to be able to rebuild. I urge the Prime Minister to act; we need to fix this situation urgently.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Australians have been plunged into uncertainty and disruption because of a leaky quarantine system and a slow vaccine rollout. The Prime Minister had two jobs this year: a speedy and effective rollout of the vaccine, and quarantine. He has failed at both. This is a Prime Minister who refuses to take responsibility. He doesn't hold a hose; he says it's not a race. Well, the Olympics are on and the Prime Minister could learn a thing or two from our athletes. It is a race and it's time to start acting like it. The starting gun was fired long ago, but the Prime Minister is only just getting his shoes on. The government are keen to pass legislation that they only provided to Labor fewer than 24 hours ago. This legislation is required to immediately pass in order to provide urgent support to affected communities. Lockdowns like the ones in Sydney and Brisbane at the moment are necessary because of the Prime Minister's failures on vaccines and quarantine. They're costing our national economy hundreds of millions of dollars a day and billions of dollars a week. We won't stand in the way of providing urgent support for Australians. In fact, we have been calling for it for months. Labor of course support getting money out to communities in lockdown and we will support this bill.

Australian workers and small businesses continue to pay the price for the incompetence of the Prime Minister and his government. Their failures on vaccines and quarantine are putting lives, jobs, the economy and our nation's entire recovery at risk. Australians need greater certainty and comfort that support is there when needed, not well after it's already too late for too many. On Friday, the Prime Minister announced that disaster payments for Australians in lockdown wouldn't be taxed—a change from how JobKeeper was set up and different to every other measure. Meanwhile, the official guidelines from the Treasury, the ATO and Services Australia said these payments would be taxed. At the moment, the government's left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing, so how on earth can Australians have confidence in the government?

This bill will make several changes to implement support for communities in lockdown. There are five schedules put forward in this legislation, but there is nothing on the table to support businesses or individuals who have suffered losses outside the lockdown areas. Why is there no support for businesses and workers who suffer through shorter lockdowns like in WA? Things aren't all hunky-dory for businesses just because they are outside of a locked down CBD. Where is the support for the tourism businesses who lost potential income the second capital cities started going into the lockdowns? We need a national approach from Scott Morrison to provide assurance for our nation's 2.4 million Australian small businesses. States making the hard calls for lockdowns swiftly to stop the spread of the new COVID delta strain within their states and into others should be supported by the federal government, not disadvantaged for taking action and seeking to look after their residents. Without a nationwide approach, we will see continued uncertainty for millions of Australians who own, operate or are employed in various industries. The recent outbreak, right as school holidays got underway, was disastrous for small tourism businesses. For many small tourism industry businesses, the school holiday income that they were going to rely on has gone right down the gurgler. Also, these same tourism businesses are operating at significantly reduced capacity due to staffing constraints brought on by the lack of a seasonal and backpacker workforce. This is an issue that won't be rectified in the most part until borders reopen.

To be clear, the borders are keeping us safe. The problem is that we can't change that until the vast majority of Australians are fully vaccinated, and we still have no idea when that will be, how it will work or if it is even possible without clarity on the vaccination rollout. Australians understand the need to pull together and make sacrifices during these difficult times, but they want to know our national government has their backs to. Labor has called on the Morrison government to urgently offer a national small business survival package that includes rental support, support to retain staff so they can reopen easily after lockdown, and debt relief to help small businesses avoid a debt trap. So the changes in the legislation put forward today are welcome, but we must ask: why are businesses and workers still paying the price for the Prime Minister's incompetence? Why do we not have an effective vaccine rollout or an effective quarantine program?

And why on earth was JobKeeper cut long before the need for it dried up? It's been 18 months. You'd think surely they would have it all in hand by now. A better targeted and better understood replacement for JobKeeper should have been in place long ago.

This legislation is a mere concession from the government that they got the support packages, and indeed their management of the COVID-19 pandemic, awfully wrong. We must get the support right. It's critical to ensuring workers are still employed and businesses are still ticking over on the other side of a lockdown. Be it due to lives lost, illness or business closures, Australians have lost far too much in this pandemic, so let's get it right, government.

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

[by video link] I begin by acknowledging the difficulties that so many people in so many communities around our country are experiencing at the moment. Of course, in doing so I acknowledge the fact that the residents of my community in the electorate of Fraser experienced these difficulties for four long months and have experienced them in subsequent lockdowns since then. What makes this all the more difficult to watch in other parts of the country is that so much of what we are seeing around Australia at the moment was foreseeable and avoidable. What we experienced in Victoria between July and October last year should have sent a message to this federal government that so many risks, which were a result of its inaction, needed to be acted upon.

What were some of those risks? Well, what we saw in Victoria last year was an outbreak that took a great deal of sacrifice on the part of our community to manage, an outbreak that was a result of a breach of our hotel quarantine system. The lesson that should have been learned back then was that our hotel quarantine system wasn't fit for purpose. In my community, here in Fraser, we had a great number of people who experienced a huge amount of mental health distress and economic distress. Sadly, we experienced the deaths of many people. What we saw in Victoria at that time was a four-month-long process that took the whole of our community an incredible amount of sacrifice to overcome, and almost all of it was the result of a single breach of hotel quarantine. Tellingly, it was at the end of that exhausting process for this community, in October 2020, that the Halton report came out and made very clear that hotel quarantine is not fit for purpose and that our country should not rely on hotel quarantine for managing the risks associated with people necessarily returning to our country.

This was not a risk that was unforeseeable. This was not a risk that was beyond the control of the federal government. This was not a risk that was beyond the responsibility of the federal government. This is a responsibility that lies at the heart of what it is our federal government should be doing for our community. As the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out on so many occasions, this government has two jobs. The first of those jobs is to provide a fit-for-purpose quarantine system. The second of those jobs is the vaccination rollout.

As I have indicated, what we are seeing is that our quarantine system is still not up to scratch almost a year after that long lockdown commenced and over a year after so many people in the Victorian community suffered from the results of a breach of that system. It is a system that is still no better prepared for the return of people from overseas than it was back then. We often say that this government isn't up for the race, that this government is too slow when it comes to vaccination. But it is entirely the same situation when it comes to the quarantine system. What we have seen over the last year is the government ignoring the recommendations of the Halton report. What we have seen over the last year is the government being completely reactive when it comes to the necessary improvements we need to see in the quarantine system. We see a government that waits for state governments to come forward with proposals and then decides whether or not to accept them, rather than taking the responsibility it should be taking on and coming up with its own plan for making our quarantine system more rigorous. This government often makes the assertion that our current hotel quarantine system is 99.99 per cent secure, which is a classic case of lies, damned lies and statistics. It's a complete misrepresentation of the kinds of risks that our hotel quarantine system is imposing on our country.

A far better representation of the risks that the current situation is imposing on our country is a recent academic study, which doesn't look at the entire pool of people coming in—which of course includes uninfected and infected people—which shows that out of every 250 infected people coming through that system one leads to an outbreak. It is that statistic which clearly indicates why it is that our country has experienced over 25 outbreaks as a result of the hotel quarantine system. What we have is a situation where over a year since that major outbreak occurred we still haven't seen material action by this government. We still haven't seen a major strengthening of the quarantine system. Any proposals that have come forward have been as a result of actions, ideas and proposals coming from state governments, which is entirely inappropriate given that, as I indicated earlier, this falls squarely within the Commonwealth's responsibility.

The second of the two jobs that the government had, of course, was the vaccination program. This, again, is an example of where the Commonwealth is a laggard when it should be aiming to be on the podium. Again, we find ourselves near last in the OECD. We should be aiming to be near the front of the queue. This is a claim, again, that the government has made on a number of occasions. The government will say that there have been some unforeseeable road blocks in its program but this is entirely not the case. As a number of members of the opposition—including the Leader of the Opposition and including the shadow minister for health at the time Chris Bowen—indicated on many occasions the government was not procuring a sufficient diversity of vaccines. This is what's lying at the heart of the problems that we face as a nation. Indeed, the Minister for Health, in the MPI earlier today, conceded that what is lying at the heart of the problems we face at the moment is supply site constraints. That is entirely due to the fact that—just one example—we didn't take up opportunities to procure as much Pfizer as we ought to have.

We can go back—and I've got pages of quotes here from members of the opposition, including the Leader of the Opposition and the then shadow minister, indicating back as early as January 2021, or back in 2020, that a greater diversity of vaccinations should have been procured. On 3 January 2021 Chris Bowen said, 'The government needs to get more vaccines out as quickly as possible, that is the key.' In January 2021 Chris Bowen indicated that, 'Scott Morrison told Australians that we were first in the queue for COVID-19 vaccines. He wasn't telling the truth then.' It is absolutely clear that on many, many occasions the risks associated with putting all of our eggs in one basket were highlighted by members of the opposition and that those claims weren't given sufficient attention. What we see now is the result of that inaction.

If we go to March 2021 Phil Gaetjens, the head of the Prime Minister's department, said, 'Logistical issues and the slow pace of the rollout are just noise. In fact, there is a very strong signal that the vaccine is going okay.' So, when it should have been clear that this vaccine rollout was way behind schedule, when it should have been clear that we didn't have sufficient diversity of vaccines, we were getting strong signals from the top of this government that there was no problem. Even to this day, there's far too little acceptance that supply side constraints have largely arisen as a result of insufficient diversity of vaccines. It is this dual problem of an insufficient rigor in our quarantine program and an insufficient diversity in vaccines which is directly creating an unnecessary exposure to lockdowns. It is those lockdowns which are now causing so much economic hardship and so much human misery.

Again, it is the government's own documentation which shows the direct link between lockdowns and the economic prospects of this country. The government's own budget papers point to the fact that the number of lockdowns one assumes has a direct impact on economic growth prospects and on employment levels. Of course, there are far more impacts on the community than just GDP numbers and employment levels; it's the human toll that so many speakers have talked about—so many speakers from Sydney, so many speakers from other parts of New South Wales, so many speakers from Queensland. As I've indicated, I can empathise, and people from my community can empathise, with what people are going through.

What makes it all the more galling is that all of this suffering was so avoidable. Lessons should have been learned from what other parts of the country went through, what my electorate went through, and lessons should have been learned from the warnings that members of the opposition gave, that the shadow minister gave for months and months late in 2020 and that the Leader of the Opposition gave. We find now that our economy is experiencing $2 billion a week in costs as a result of lockdowns.

As speakers on this side have indicated, we will support this bill. We will not stand in the way of measures of support that are so needed by the community. We will also, of course, be constructive. As the Leader of the Opposition has indicated, we have developed proposals which we believe supplement, add to and complement measures that the government is putting in place, which include the $300 payment to incentivise people to get the vaccine. It beggars belief that this government rules out, out of hand, dismissively, constructive suggestions as if it's got everything under control, when we're ranked towards the bottom of the OECD with little prospect of that ranking moving up. As the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out on a number of occasions, incentives, whether they be financial or otherwise, lie at the heart of many governments' vaccination programs. So we will support this bill. We will also make constructive proposals when it comes to what else the government should be doing. We hope, as the Leader of the Opposition indicates, that, like with other measures such as wage subsidies, the government eventually come around and accept that proposal, even if they need to do so after a gap in time and even if they eventually need to claim that it was their idea.

But we can't forget that what's underlying the current problems we face, what's underlying our current need to go into lockdowns and, unfortunately, what may require other parts of our country to go into lockdowns in the future is the fact that we still don't have fit-for-purpose quarantine systems. It is the fact that we still don't have a vaccination program rolling out with sufficient speed to give us the coverage so that we can avoid lockdowns. We see a government that is still reacting to proposals from state governments all too slowly. We still see a government that doesn't have sufficient urgency.

There have been all too many analogies with the Olympics this week and the fact that we lionise and celebrate the achievements of so many Australians overseas who are pushing themselves to the limit. This government should be doing the same. This government should be pushing themselves to the limit in their service of this country, because we are facing a national emergency. Our country rightly celebrates what our athletes are achieving overseas. We should expect the same excellence and the same urgency from our government with something that is so important. Nothing is as important in terms of the welfare of our people at the moment. So we support this bill, but we need to see so much more being done. We need to acknowledge that the reason for this bill is government inaction when it comes to their two key jobs: quarantine and vaccination rollout. The government need to urgently address those underlying problems and not just deal with the symptoms.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd love to make a contribution on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, but I think we're about to have the adjournment kick in, the minister has to sum up, and my predecessor—one of the most brilliant men in this place, a man with a PhD in economics—seems to have confused 15 minutes with five minutes, so I'll hand over to the minister.

Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly I'd like to thank those members who've contributed to this debate.

Schedule 1 to the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021amends the payments and benefits act to allow the Treasurer to make rules for economic response payments to provide support to an entity where it is adversely affected by restrictions imposed by a state or territory to control COVID-19. This measure gives effect to the government's commitment to assist any state that is unable to administer its own business support payments in the event of a significant lockdown imposed by a state or territory between 1 July 2021 and 30 December 2022.

Schedule 2 to the bill amends the information-sharing provisions of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to allow the ATO to share data with Australian government agencies for the purpose of administering a relevant COVID-19 business support program. Relevant business support programs are those that have been included in a declaration by the Treasurer for this purpose. The Treasurer can make this declaration by legislative instrument if satisfied that the program responds to the economic impacts of COVID-19 and supports businesses that have had their operations impacted by public health orders.

Schedule 3 to the bill introduces a new power in the income tax laws that enables, by legislative instrument, eligible Commonwealth COVID-19 business grants to be declared free from income tax. States and territories are also able to apply for the same tax treatment where they have grant programs focused on supporting small and medium businesses facing exceptional circumstances related to COVID-19.

Schedule 4 to the bill extends the operation of a temporary mechanism introduced in 2020 which permits responsible ministers to allow electronic signatures for relevant documents in response to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Schedule 5 to the bill makes COVID-19 disaster payments received by individuals from the 2020-21 income year onwards free from income tax. I commend this bill to the House.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The original question was that this bill be now read a second time. To this the honourable member for Rankin has moved as an amendment that all words after 'That' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The immediate question is that the amendment be disagreed to.

Question agreed to.

Original question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a third time.