Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, as you know, I'm the proud member for Lalor, in the west of Melbourne. I'm proud to represent a growing community, a community in a place where I was born and where I raised my family. I see my role in the federal parliament as to carry their stories into this place, to influence people who make decisions in this place and to be a part of that decision-making with the full knowledge of how my community works.

I stand here tonight the incredibly proud member for Lalor, as we have learnt today that the city of Wyndham—a city which Lalor exists inside—has reached a percentage rate of more than 95 per cent of over-16s having had their first dose of vaccination. This is an extraordinary response from my community. We are also celebrating that we are 68.8 per cent in terms of double dosed or fully vaccinated. That's 138,000 people from my community who are now fully vaccinated in the over-16 bracket. That's 22,000 people in the last week. That's an 11.1 per cent increase this week. I have watched these numbers carefully and have seen the rate rise—eight per cent, nine per cent—week on week for first vaccinations and for second vaccinations. But to reach 11 per cent today is an extraordinary achievement.

It is about the community and their willingness to get on board to protect themselves, to protect their families and to protect their neighbours. It's truly an extraordinary movement that has occurred in my community. But I'm not surprised, because I have seen my community called to action before. I've seen them respond before when we have been struck by things or when we have needed to fight for things. It's a community that I very proudly led to beat back a toxic dump when Jeff Kennett was Premier of Victoria and thought that we were a likely locality. They beat that and we are going to beat the pandemic, because the people in my community care about one another and they care about their community.

They have the highest first vaccination rate of local government areas in the western suburbs of Melbourne, as I stand here this evening, and the highest fully vaccinated LGA in the west. We moved ahead of Hobsons Bay this week. This week we had the highest increase in second doses in the state, and we are the second metro-Melbourne LGA to hit greater than 95 per cent first dose, with Nillumbik getting there before us. We did all this with a population that defied what everyone expected. We had op-eds telling us that the west wouldn't vaccinate and singling out Wyndham as slow to vaccinate, without a view of our demographic, which shows quite clearly that we are one of the youngest communities in the country.

We are an area that people come to because we have affordable housing. We are a growth corridor. We have families who come from around the world to join us in Wyndham and raise their children. We have the highest number of children in child care in the country. We have the highest number of families with children in child care in the country. That's how young our population is. I'm incredibly proud of that young population and the way they have gotten on board with all of this.

This is our second COVID winter. We were hit hard in the first winter and we have been hit hard again in the second in terms of transmission rates, the number of families in isolation and the number of those who have actually contracted the virus. Our response is responsible. Our response demonstrates that we respect the science, that we respect the medical advice and that we will take that medical advice on board personally and take responsibility for our actions. People thought there was hesitancy, but there was never hesitancy to get vaccinated; there was only a supply issue. And if this federal government had done its job, then the people in my community would have been vaccinated before this second winter. If the vaccine had been available in March, people would have queued up to be vaccinated, as they have done.

I want to finish by thanking our local GPs, not just for the vaccinations but also for talking to people who may be anxious and getting them vaccinated. Thanks to Western Health, who crossed the million-doses mark today; to the Werribee Mercy Hospital, who reached 10,000 doses today; to IPC Health; to our local chemists; and to everyone who has been involved in this grand effort.