Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too want to start my remarks by paying condolences to Khalil's family, which Senator O'Neill mentioned. It is a personal tragedy for so many families through this pandemic when lives are lost. Hundreds of Australians' lives have been lost through what is a terrible pandemic.

Before I get to the issues that Senator O'Neill raised, it is always very important for us to reflect about why we're suffering through this pandemic, and we must always remember that the reason this is happening—the reason four million people have died around the world—is the gross cover-up of the Chinese Communist Party. They are to blame for this and they deserve condemnation constantly for their lack of ability to be upfront with the world about this virus. Whether or not it came from the lab, which is an open question, they certainly should be condemned for their cover-up of what they knew was going on and what has been unleashed on the world.

Given what was unleashed on the world, this government has been upfront that not everything has gone right, that not every decision, in hindsight, is what we would have chosen to do, and we have accepted that. We understand that. But, on any measure, this country has managed this pandemic as well as, if not better than, almost every other country in the world. Most importantly, of course, people have been largely kept alive more than in other countries. We have, largely, kept people safe, but we have not been able to stop every fatality. No government can guarantee that.

Senator O'Neill spoke a lot about the past and, as I say, there are legitimate criticisms to make of government decisions and responses, but I don't think there is any government in the world you can point to and say, 'That's perfect; they've done everything right.' At these sorts of times, that is an impossible goal to aim for. What we do need, and what would be better from the opposition here, is: What do we do in the future? What do we do going forward now? Here is where the opposition, in particular, is showing a distinct lack of leadership and a distinct lack of forthrightness with the Australian people, because they seem to be at least implying that somehow all we need to do is make the right decisions and everything will go away. We will have zero COVID and there will be no fatalities. They are putting forward a proposal for a dreamland that does not exist. Anyone in this place—anyone who thinks of themselves as a leader of this nation—who propagates such a myth is no leader, because they haven't got the guts to be upfront with the Australian people about the challenges we face and how we are going to respond to those challenges in the months to years ahead.

It is almost certain, as Professor Shine rightly said today in the Australian Financial Review, that the coronavirus, unfortunately—coming from the Chinese Communist Party or thanks to the Chinese Communist Party—will be with us forever. It will be somewhere around the world forever. So what's the plan to deal with that? What is the plan? We cannot lock down forever. We cannot impose these massive, cruel costs on the poorest in our society forever. Like Senator O'Neill, I recognise the tireless efforts of our frontline health workers, but we should also recognise the efforts of poorer people in society who have had their incomes taken away from them and their livelihoods stripped. Their ability to see and congregate with their family members, including dying relatives, has been restricted by our responses to this crisis. Those things have to be considered as well, and we have to come to a point where we make mature decisions as a nation in responding to threats as severe as this one that is facing us. If we fail to do that, we will divide our community and we will never get to a conclusion where we can move forward into some sort of manageable way of dealing with this virus from the Chinese Communist Party. But, if we continue to propagate false hope, we will not be able to show leadership to the Australian people, we won't be able to take them with us and it will lead to much, much worse outcomes from the coronavirus over the long term.