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

Emphatically, no. Our government would like nothing more than for COVID-19, the threats it poses and the costs it imposes, to be a thing of the past—but the reality is they're not. Australians have made enormous sacrifices over the last 18 months to get us through this pandemic and to save the lives of their fellow Australians. I thank Australians—individuals, families, households, businesses, healthcare workers and service providers—right across this country who have made sacrifices that have saved the lives of an estimated 30,000 fellow Australians.

As we enter the final stages, hopefully, of managing this pandemic, as we get to the point where we're seeing some 42 per cent of Australians over the age of 16 having had at least their first dose of the vaccine and as we see around 80 per cent of Australians over 70 having had at least their first dose of vaccine, we can have confidence that Australians will undertake widespread uptake of the vaccine. Not only do we thank them; it's appropriate to reassure them that we're not going to blow the sacrifices of the last 18 months midway through the vaccination program and cause unnecessary loss of life. We are going to make sure that we see it through and get to the point where Australia, informed by evidence such as that from the Doherty institute, can reopen safely and in a way that allows us to bank those dividends that have seen Australia not only save lives but also keep our economy as one of the strongest in the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.