House debates
Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Motions
COVID-19: Member for Dawson
3:06 pm
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
by leave—I move:
That the House:
(1) applauds the sacrifices made by the Australian people to keep each other safe;
(2) thanks the heroes of the pandemic - our scientists, doctors, nurses, aged care and disability workers, cleaners and other essential workers;
(3) condemns the comments of the Member for Dawson prior to Question Time designed to use our national Parliament to spread misinformation and undermine the actions of Australians to defeat COVID-19;
(4) rejects statements that 'masks don't work', 'lockdowns don't work' and the describing of our health professionals as 'dictatorial medical bureaucrats'; and
(5) calls on all members to refrain from making ill-informed comments at a time when the pandemic represents a serious threat to the health of Australians.
Just prior to question time is the key position for the last speaker for the government—one which exposes, to the Australian public, tactics on both sides of the House. That's the key slot prior to 2 pm that occurs in the parliament. The government chose to give that spot to the member for Dawson, which is why I move the motion I read out. The fact is that the member for Dawson has engaged in behaviour over hydroxychloroquine, over unproven and indeed dangerous remedies, which are completely contradictory to the scientific advice and to the advice of our health professionals.
There has been some debate in this parliament about the two jobs that we say—and indeed the Prime Minister, when he addressed the National Press Club in January this year, said—are a priority for the government: the rollout of the vaccine, and quarantine facilities that are purpose built and keep people safe. The fact is that, when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine, our scientists have done an absolutely magnificent job. There's debate over the speed at which our rollout has gone. When we look at the rollout, the fact is we are last in the developed world. We're struggling to get in the top 80 in the entire world for the rollout of the vaccine. Last year, when companies like Moderna and Pfizer were promoting the idea of an mRNA vaccine, there was some scepticism as to whether it could be achieved and what the time frame would be. But, as we asked about in questions today in relation to Moderna, between the outbreak of COVID-19 originating in China and the end of 2020 Moderna had already delivered 100 million vaccinations to the US government. Pfizer was being delivered. Our scientists and our health professionals performed miracles to take what was an unknown disease, beginning in China and then spreading around the world, and come up with real solutions based upon science.
What parliaments have done around the world, and what the Australian people have been magnificent on, is respond to the threat that this pandemic represented. Australians have listened to the advice of our health professionals. They have made sacrifices. They've stayed at home. They've kept safe from each other. They have in many cases made sacrifices that have cost them their jobs and their incomes. Certainly every Australian's way of life has been impacted as a result of this. But what we have also had throughout this pandemic is a very small minority of people here in Australia but also overseas—and we saw the actions of some of the conspiracy theorists in the United States, leading to a raid on the White House in January earlier this year—promoting through Facebook, through a range of social media posts, ideas that are frankly not based upon science but based upon conspiracies, based upon spreading fear and based upon spreading misinformation. We saw the end result of those consequences in the rallies that took place just weeks ago. The violent rally in Sydney should have been condemned, and anyone promoting it should have been condemned, just like the minister was quite right to condemn any violence and the inappropriate way of protesting that occurred outside this parliament and at the Prime Minister's residence earlier today.
What we saw, from the punching of a horse down to attacks on police—attacks on those brave men and women who take the duty of keeping us safe—was people having those mass demonstrations in order to promote civil disobedience. For many people, you would think that they might have been on the fringe of society. They'd heard misinformation. They were concerned about the sacrifices they were being asked to make and didn't have a clear explanation as to why. For many people who turned up, just frustrated, you can perhaps think that maybe they were just misguided. But for a member of the House of Representatives to attend a rally in Mackay, as the member for Dawson did, supporting these violent demonstrations that took place is an insult to those heroes of the pandemic.
That's why this motion recognises our scientists, our doctors, our nurses, our aged-care and disability workers, our cleaners, our truck drivers and our supermarket workers, who've made all those sacrifices to keep us safe. Yet we have a member of the government, a member of the Liberal-National Party, coming into this parliament and, in the key slot before question time, promoting these conspiracy theories by saying, as he did in his contribution, that it's okay to say, 'Masks don't work—fact,' to say, 'Lockdowns don't destroy the virus, but they do destroy people's livelihoods and people's lives,' to refer to our medical heroes not as heroes of the pandemic but as 'dictatorial medical bureaucrats' who 'need to recognise these facts and stop spreading fear.' This is at a time when in the last days, each and every day, there have been fatalities in New South Wales, including over the weekend one of my constituents—a constituent in an aged-care home in Summer Hill who caught the virus because an aged-care worker had not been fully vaccinated. That person died because they had not been kept safe. What we had from this member of parliament today was: 'Some people will catch it. Tragically, some people will die from it. That's inevitable, and we have to accept it.' That's what he said. He then went on to say: 'Open society back up! Restore our freedoms! End this madness!' I'll tell you what madness is. Madness is saying let this disease rip; let people die; let whole economies be shut down; let's stop our being able to return to our way of life. That is what is madness—the madness of conspiracy theorists, the madness of the rump in the National Party who replaced the former Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Riverina, as its leader as a result of the idea of the tail wagging the National Party dog, because the former Deputy Prime Minister wouldn't have a bar of this sort of nonsense. But the current one is quite happy to give it a tick.
The Liberal and National parties are quite happy to give a voice to the member for Dawson. He's not sitting on the crossbench. I'll tell you when we'll take you, the government, seriously. We'll take the government seriously when the member for Dawson is expelled from the party and is sitting over there with the member for Hughes. The member for Hughes also has spouted these sorts of conspiracy theories and was allowed to do it day after day, week after week, month after month at a time when our heroes of the pandemic have been doing great work each and every day. They are being undermined by someone paid by the taxpayer and with the great honour of sitting in this House of Representatives. But with that great honour of sitting in the House of Representatives comes obligation: an obligation to be fair dinkum, an obligation to promote truth, an obligation not to promote conspiracy theories, an obligation to listen to the health professionals.
The health professionals have had a difficult task. It is true that this was not anticipated. Anyone early in 2019 who would have said at the time of the contest of the last election that this would be a dominant issue during this term of parliament—not even Nostradamus could have done that. But the fact is that Australians in workplaces, some of the poorest-paid Australians—our cleaners, those people who look after people in aged-care homes—are risking their lives by going in and helping vulnerable Australians each and every day, and they are prepared to do that. Aged-care workers, who were told they would be fully vaccinated by Easter but who were then told, 'No, just go and see a doctor; you're on your own when it comes to being vaccinated,' are our heroes, and they deserve so much better. Under 40 per cent of our people in disability care have been, we learnt yesterday, vaccinated—pretty close to one in three—and under half of our aged-care workers have been vaccinated. They are our heroes. They deserve our thanks and our gratitude. But what they get is an insult from the member for Dawson, and what's worse is that those people who are members of grieving families actually heard in our national parliament a member of parliament stand up and essentially say—as he did explicitly, not essentially—'COVID-19 is going to be with us forever, just like the flu.'
This is not the same as the flu—this is not the same as the flu. The member for Dawson went on to say, 'And just like the flu, we will have to live with it, not the constant fear of it.' Well, I've got to say this: I'm scared and Australians are scared of COVID. There is fear because they're fearful of something that's scary. This is having an impact. People are dying. People are getting sick. There are almost 30 people in hospital today who are on ventilators. They're on ventilators and being kept alive by a machine. There are almost double that number, or around about double that number, who are in hospital in ICU. This is a scary disease that requires an appropriate response.
This parliament needs to dissociate itself from the member for Dawson's comments. He was let go for far too long with his mad theories about what drugs people should take. We didn't quite have what they had in the United States, drinking bleach and various other things, but we've had quite inappropriate theories promoted by the member for Dawson. That's why this motion should be supported, and that's why the member for Macarthur has seconded this motion.
Tony SmithAnthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
He will be—
Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
as a doctor, and as someone who is a strong advocate for people's health and who has played such a constructive role during this pandemic.
Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I second the motion and I reserve my right to speak.
3:23 pm
Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
On 20 January 2020 the National Incident Room for COVID-19 was activated by the government. It wasn't until 12 March that the World Health Organization declared a COVID-19 pandemic. But by that time Australia had already called it. Australia had already begun its response. Australia had already closed its borders. It was only the day after that that the governments of Australia, the states and territories, came together. I remember the day very, very well. We were out in Western Sydney, at Bankwest Stadium, and we were updated during the course of that meeting on the rapid escalation in cases that had been unanticipated. I recall at the commencement of that meeting that the then Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, had already reported to the premiers, the chief ministers and me and those who were also in attendance that day. The Governor of the Reserve Bank was there on that day to speak about what the potential economic consequences of this were. And the head of the National Coordination Mechanism, which had been set up in the Department of Home Affairs to ensure there was integration between industry, business and governments in handling our response to the pandemic, was there. Later that day, on the 13th, we agreed that the federation had to operate in a very different way to how it had previously throughout its entire history.
Since that day we have come together on 50 occasions, as Australians of different political persuasions, as governments, small and large, to work together to manage our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 50 occasions we have met in good faith and in good sense to take the necessary steps needed to protect Australian lives and protect Australian livelihoods. It's true that over the course of that time, from that day to this one, no government has got everything right, whether here in Australia or anywhere else around the world, but I remember those fears at that time very vividly. I remember the fears of what this could do to our most vulnerable communities, and I particularly recall—and I remember discussing it with the Minister for Indigenous Australians—the community we feared for most was Indigenous Australians and the impact it would have on them.
We thought that across our country, where we have strong public health systems—and aren't we grateful for that, and the investments that we've made in our health systems in this country? We knew that would provide us and afford us some measure of protections, and we were also thinking of what this might mean for the countries around us, particularly our Pacific family and friends and what this virus may do to them. We were already activating and engaging with them as to how we might help them through this crisis.
If I had told you on that day, on 13 March 2020, as the world was struck down by this pandemic over the next 18 months, that Australia would have one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, compared to countries just like Australia, and would save over 30,000 lives, you certainly would have believed me. If I'd told you we were going to go into recession at that time because of the pandemic, you certainly would have believed me when I said that. But if I told you that less than 12 months after that a million people would be back at work and Australia's economy would be stronger at that point on the other side than what it was before, if I told you that we'd work together with the states and territories so that around about half a million people would come through our borders and that the quarantine system, put together by states and territories with the Commonwealth, would have a 99.9 per cent effectiveness rate in stopping the transmission of the virus as those half a million people came to the country, you wouldn't have believed me.
Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
And those opposite might mock, but this is what Australians have achieved. More than 30,000 lives saved, working with our industry and businesses, JobKeeper COVID supplements, cashflow bonus and now the COVID disaster payment. Australians have been carrying Australians through this crisis, and they have had the great support of their governments at unprecedented levels—working each and every day as 'team Australia' to get this as right as we possibly can.
One of the key things we have done throughout this is we have been informed by the best possible medical advice and by the best medical advisers in the world. Whether it be the Therapeutic Goods Administration, whether it be our Chief Medical Officer, whether it be the expert medical panel: all of these people and organisations have been informing us. These groups have been meeting on an almost daily basis for 18 months, and my government, and the governments around this country, have listened carefully, taken that advice and acted accordingly. And Australia, together, has saved lives and saved livelihoods.
That is what we've done, and that's why my government does not support misinformation in any way, shape or form. We do not. That is not the position of the government. My government will not support those statements where there is misinformation that is out and about in the community, whether it's posted on Facebook or in social media or it's written in articles or statements made in this chamber or anywhere else.
But what I'm not going to do is engage in a partisan debate on this. I'm not, because what I know is that Australians aren't interested in the politics of COVID. They're not interested in the noise of COVID and they're not interested in the shouting of COVID. What they're interested in is that we make our Australian way through this crisis. And I'll tell you what: our Australian way through this crisis has stood tall in the world. Australia's role in this crisis has stood tall in the world—whether it's Bill Gates or others who have looked at what has happened around the world and have said that Australia has stood out. Now, we haven't got everything right, but where we haven't, I tell you we've applied ourselves to address those problems, to fix those problems and to get it right. It doesn't matter how you start the race; it's how you finish the race. It's how you finish the race—
Opposition members interjecting—
Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
and we are going to finish this race, as a government, when it comes to this issue. We're going to finish this race and we're going to run the race all the way to the finish line, but we're going to do it as team Australia. We're not going to do it in a way which seeks to divide Australians and set Australians one against the other. We're not going to do it in a way which seeks to demonise people in this country. We're going to listen carefully to the people of Australia. We're going to listen carefully to their anxieties and concerns, and we're going to work with them.
Our vaccine is free. Our vaccine is not mandatory. It is necessary that during the suppression phase we have the lockdowns and we have the restrictions. They're necessary for the public health of this nation. So my government will continue to focus on the job at hand. My government will continue to focus on the public health of Australians. It will continue to focus on working together with Australians, not on setting them apart from one another. My government will focus on the results that Australians want to achieve. For others, it is up to them. If they want to undermine that effort with misinformation and if they want to undermine that effort by undermining the government's attempts and talking Australia down—if they wish to do that—that is a matter for them. My government will remain focused on the public health, lives and livelihoods of Australians.
As we continue to roll out the vaccine we will, by the end of this year, be able to say that we have saved the lives of over 30,000 Australians, we have put a million people back into work, we have vaccinated the country and we're achieving the goals that we have set. That is what Australians are focused on. They're interested in their health, their jobs and their futures. They're not interested in the politics of COVID. They're not interested in the phony debates. What they're interested in is the results in Australian lives and livelihoods being saved. That's what we're focused on and that's what we will focus on every single day. We do not support misinformation in any way, shape or form. (Time expired)
3:33 pm
Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Fifteen minutes and, like the name Voldemort, he couldn't even mention the member for Dawson's name. So the race that was not a race is now a race. For me, this is very, very personal. I have been contacted on multiple occasions in the last few weeks by my medical colleagues and by my relatives who work on the front line in intensive care in hospitals that are really under the pump—under pressure—because of the outbreak that's occurring in Sydney. There were 356 cases today and 60 in ICU, many on ventilators. Six deaths were associated with the outbreak at Liverpool Hospital because of a healthcare worker who was infected. To have the Leader of the Opposition move this motion today, I can only say thank God and thank you. It is about time those in government called to account those on their side who are undermining our response to the pandemic.
To those whose statements are costing lives and to those who are doing everything they can to undermine our national response to the biggest health crisis in over a century—I don't just mean the member for Dawson; I mean the member for Hughes, of course, the captain's pick at the last election; Senator Rennick; Senator Canavan; and others who are doing their best to cause increasing fear and distrust and undermine our response at a critical time in this pandemic—this delta variant, make no mistake, is a different game. We still do not know how this is going to end. We have to do everything we can to maximise our response, to maximise our immunisation rates and to maximise our social distancing. Of course people are fearful of what's happening, and with fear comes distrust. Many in my electorate have lost their livelihoods. Many in my electorate cannot see how they're going to pay their next mortgage repayment, can't see how they can protect their own kids and can't see their kids even going back to school. Yet we have people on the government benches who are actively undermining our response.
I don't like to see healthcare workers as heroes. I'm sure the member for Higgins can understand this. They get up every day and they go to work—some of them putting their lives at risk—because that's the job they do, because they care about people and because they want to make sure that our response is the best it can possibly be. That's the job they've signed up for. The nurses, the doctors, the cleaners, the pathology technicians—they're the people that save lives. I don't save lives sitting here as a member of parliament, but I recognise that it is a huge privilege. And with that privilege comes a huge responsibility.
When I see people on any side of politics doing active harm to our response to this health crisis, it makes me angry. They should not be ignored; they should be called out on every occasion, because what they are doing is disgraceful. I think any sensible person would understand that the time has to come for them to be called out. In countries like India, Brazil and Indonesia, we've seen thousands, hundreds of thousands and, indeed, even millions of deaths. To call this pandemic a virus like the flu is surely beyond any reason, beyond any acceptability. That we have a government, a Prime Minister and members of the government who ignore it, don't call it out and allow it to be propagated on social media and in the national media as acceptable is just wrong.
The member for Dawson needs to be called out, the member for Hughes needs to be called out, the senators need to be called out, because we need to recognise the harm that they are doing. The Prime Minister was right: we have fantastic medical professionals in infectious diseases, epidemiology, vaccines, and we are very grateful to have them and very grateful for the way that they have tried their very best to keep us all safe. But to see members of the government, and members of other political parties as well, doing what they can to destroy our response and not criticise them and not call them out is just wrong. I should also mention a previous member of this House, Clive Palmer. It is shameful what he is doing. He is actually letterboxing and messaging those in some of the most vulnerable electorates in Sydney, trying to undermine our response to this pandemic.
Every one of us should take that responsibility very, very seriously. And I know most members of the government do. But I think it is no longer acceptable to ignore the absolutely disgraceful comments from the member for Dawson—things like: 'Masks don't work,' 'Masks make no significant difference to the spread of COVID-19,' 'Lockdowns don't work,' 'Lockdowns don't destroy the virus, but they destroy people's livelihoods.' Imagine if you are locked down in Sydney and you're a tradesman or a manual worker and you're hearing this message from a member for parliament. Imagine what that does to your confidence in the medical advice you're being given. Now, just think about that.
All of us in this place have a responsibility to keep people safe. What we do does actually matter. We're not there in intensive care sucking the secretions out of people who have a tube down their throat, breathing with the use of a respirator. We're not there with people who aren't able to visit their grieving mother or father who is terminally ill with COVID-19. But we can make a difference, and we can make a difference by calling out people who actively seek to undermine our response.
I'm so grateful for the Leader of the Opposition moving this motion. It's one that everyone in this House should support. I think it is time that we do all work together and condemn these people—condemn members of our parliament that are undermining our response to this great health crisis and condemn those in the media who are doing the same thing, who are undermining our response. We all have to do that. If we all do it together, that's what will make a difference. I worry about all my colleagues, and my relatives, who are working at the front line of health care, because they are putting their lives at risk. If we can reduce the number of patients in intensive care, if we can reduce that risk for our healthcare workers, that is a very, very good thing. They are doing the job that they signed up to do to keep us safe.
I mention also our police forces, who are charged with compliance and making sure people do the right thing. In Sydney at the moment, they are doing a fantastic job as well. I really fully respect the very softly, softly approach that the New South Wales Police have taken on this, and I congratulate them on the job that they are doing. But, as leaders in our community, all of us should be doing the right thing and we should be calling out those, like the member for Dawson and others, who are actively seeking, for their own benefit, to undermine our response.
Question agreed to.