Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

No, we don't make that concession. We acknowledge that managing COVID-19, managing a global pandemic, remains incredibly challenging. Australia has done far better than the rest of the world in the management of the pandemic, but tragically 932 Australians have lost their lives from COVID-19—932 in total. Twenty-one have lost their lives during this New South Wales outbreak. Our government is determined though that Australia will continue to do the best we can in managing the pandemic according to the medical advice that we have. That's why we commissioned the Doherty Institute to undertake the modelling there. It's why we have made sure that we progress and advance the plan built on that advice and evidence. Australia's not immune from COVID-19, but we are absolutely able, as we've done, to continue to respond to the changing circumstances of the delta variant and to other challenges thrown at us but to do so in world-leading ways.