Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's very clear now that the delta variant of COVID-19 has new rules of contact. In South Australia we've watched as it has taken hold in New South Wales, with over a thousand cases being reported a day, and in Victoria, where it has reared its ugly head again—or, in the case of delta, for the first time—and it is currently displaying a very similar trajectory to that in New South Wales. The question is: can Victoria tame delta with the lockdown? I think the answer to that is probably that it is doubtful, sadly.

In South Australia we've been watching and hoping—watching whether it will be brought under control and hoping that we can keep it out of South Australia. But, on 27 August, two truck drivers, I think originally coming out of Sydney—who weren't doing anything wrong, I point out; they were tested, as is industry practice—were tested in Perth and found to be positive. Obviously, to get from Sydney to Perth, you have to drive through a fair bit of Grey, and they'd passed through Port Augusta, where they stopped at roadhouses for fuel and food, and through Ceduna and Nundroo on the 21st and again on the 25th. So I don't exactly know their travel path. But, either way, we're about five days in from that last point where they could have infected people. So the alerts are out and the QR data, credit card purchases and CCTV are being examined to see who was at these premises at the allotted times. Very disturbingly, quite a number of people are not using the QR codes, and I think perhaps that's a sign of complacency in living in South Australia, where we've had a pretty clear run for some time.

There are now 100 people in isolation—just precautionary. Ten are firefighters in Port Augusta, which is just because of where the fire truck was at the time, in proximity, and that's a concern for the local community. Thus far, 20 have shown negative tests. That's encouraging. So far, so good. But it does remind us of the reality of COVID and its presence with us today. It reminds us that we need to follow the rules and use the QR codes, and, I point out, get vaccinated.

The latest figures I have for Grey suggest we are around the national averages, with around 30 per cent fully vaccinated and more than 50 per cent having had one jab. There's a bit of variation between communities, but I think that's generally not bad. I accept there's some resistance to vaccination and individuals are unhappy about the compulsion, particularly in the aged-care and disabilities industry, but I say to them: 'It's an increasing trend. We're seeing more and more countries around the world, more and more jurisdictions, and more and more businesses actually signalling the fact that they are going to insist on vaccination.' I think, if you look to the future, it's difficult to see us travelling on international airlines, for instance, without having to be vaccinated.

I've heard all kinds of arguments about the reasons not to get vaccinated: 'It's not safe', 'It's not tested', 'It doesn't stop you getting COVID', 'COVID's not dangerous', 'COVID's not real' and, 'There's no COVID around here at the moment, so why would I worry at the moment?' And there's been a lot of bad reflection on AstraZeneca: 'Why would I have AstraZeneca? That's the bad one.' I point out that the Prime Minister said today, just after question time, that 9.6 million Australians have had AstraZeneca vaccinations. I believe the number worldwide—I can't quite verify it—is around one billion, and it's a very safe and effective vaccine.

I use the New South Wales figures to try to convince people that it is a good idea to get vaccinated. There are currently 813 people in hospital as a result of COVID infections, with 126 in ICUs and 54 on ventilators. Of the 126 in ICUs, 113 are not vaccinated. Of the remaining 13, 12 have had one dose and just one has received two doses. There have been 76 deaths in total in the latest outbreak. The death rate, encouragingly, in New South Wales is much lower than Victoria's was last year when they had their outbreak, which really hit seniors. I think that's a reflection of the fact that we have quite high vaccination rates now amongst seniors. So, as someone summed up before me, and I think it nails this pretty well, COVID is going to be a disease of the unvaccinated.

House adjourned at 19:59