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

This Prime Minister and this government have failed my community—in the bushfires, in the floods and repeatedly throughout the pandemic. It's becoming a joke, but not a funny one, because this incompetence is hurting the people I represent here and fight for in this place. We're entering the third year of the pandemic and we're watching the way other countries are navigating ahead of us and still not once did it occur to the Prime Minister that he should focus less on marketing himself and more on rolling out the vaccine smoothly and not once did it occur to the Prime Minister that he should ensure that there were plenty of rapid antigen tests available as we began to open up so people could use them as a tool, not to protect themselves but to protect their families, workmates and communities.

Unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister, who doesn't know how much a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol is, didn't think he needed to provide rapid antigen tests for free. Why? Because he doesn't understand how much the ever-rising cost of living is weighing down on Australians. He thinks that spending up to $2 a litre for petrol to drive around looking for rapid antigen tests, at $25 a pop, is something everyone should have the time and the money for. He's out of touch and, hopefully, soon he'll be out of a job.