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

[by video link] We have sought through this pandemic to work as best we can with state and territory governments, who have the public health powers and abilities to put in place the restrictions that have so effectively kept Australia safe. Despite the very challenging, very difficult circumstances we know that Australians in lockdown face at present and the tragic circumstances for those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, be it in the current New South Wales outbreak, last year's Victorian outbreak or other circumstances in Australia, as a nation we have still performed far, far better than almost any other developed country around the world in terms of suppressing COVID-19, in terms of saving lives and in terms of ensuring that our country is as strongly placed for the future as is possible. We're going to continue to build on that through the rapid escalation we've seen in the vaccine rollout, working with the states and territories, with health professionals, general practitioners and pharmacies, to keep that momentum in vaccination rates.