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

Today, Victoria hit 70 per cent vaccinated for those aged 16-plus, which will trigger the easing of restrictions after our second COVID winter. Wyndham, my home town, hit 70 per cent earlier this week, and if the rate from last week continues we'll reach 80 per cent double-vaccinated some time next week. But imagine my shock this morning when I woke to read an op-ed by the Prime Minister and my shock yesterday at the Prime Minister wanting to wrap himself in the glory of what the Victorian public have done—what the people in my electorate have done and people across this country have done. Make no mistake: we had a second COVID winter because this Prime Minister failed to do his job. He failed to order the vaccines that we needed and that would have meant that we were vaccinated before this winter hit. He failed to build quarantine facilities to ensure the leaks didn't occur. Make no mistake: he failed and that failure has meant, according to today's COVID LIVE statistics, that 125,000 people across this country caught COVID this year and, tragically, 681 Australians have lost their lives. The Leader of the Opposition has acknowledged these statistics in this chamber; it's time that the Prime Minister did. To my locals at home, enjoy coming out of lockdown. You've earned it; the Prime Minister hasn't.