Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the comments and contributions made by my Greens colleagues in relation to this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2) Bill 2021, and I pay tribute to Senator Faruqi, who has so eloquently spoken about the realities facing people in lockdown right now in Sydney. I'm sorry you are not here with us, Senator Faruqi, but thank you for representing your constituents as well as you can from there at home. I say to all of our friends and loved ones in Greater Sydney and in the rest of New South Wales right now, and those in Queensland, as a South Australian I am really sorry you are continuing to have to go through this.

I'm really sorry for those in industries that have been hardest hit by the pandemic—the arts industry, the entertainment industry, hospitality and tourism—that government support has really waned throughout this pandemic over the last 12 to 18 months. For so long arts and entertainment workers, for example, were left out in the cold. They got nothing until months and months after others. And then the government prematurely stopped JobKeeper well before there was any horizon for arts and entertainment workers.

Senator Van interjecting—

I'm speaking about the hardship of people in lockdown, those who have lost their jobs, and all I can hear is Senator Van mouthing off aggressively. I just want to make it clear to everybody listening that this is what this senator thinks of your hardship.

Senator Van interjecting—