Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm sure the good people of Leichhardt would know that their MP, Warren Entsch, is an outstanding representative who will always fight for their interests in this place and wherever he has an opportunity to advocate for their best interests. He's done that for many, many years, and I have every confidence that he will do it after the next federal election as well.

Let's have a look at this matter of public interest. The first thing I note about it is that it's backward-looking. It's talking about what was said in March 2021. We were talking about this the last two weeks of sitting, and we're back here today. It's a matter of public interest that's backward looking. It's looking at the past. It's not looking at the present. It's not looking at the future. It's playing a blame game in the past, looking at words that were uttered in March 2021. The Australian people have moved on. They're looking at today, and they want to look towards their future.

If Senator Green is interested in correspondence with the Premier of Queensland, maybe she should pick up the phone and talk to the Premier of Queensland about her comments over the past few days, and those comments of the Deputy Premier Steven Miles, which appear to suggest some sort of resiling from the national agreement that was entered into by the national cabinet. Maybe Senator Green needs to communicate with the Premier of Queensland—just as the MP for Leichhardt, my good friend Warren Entsch, has communicated with the Premier—because some of the rhetoric coming out of Queensland is disturbing. It's political and disturbing.

Let's look at the facts of where we're up to at the moment. There have been 1.8 million doses of vaccine delivered in the last seven days. I don't remember that being referred to in Senator Green's contribution to this debate. There was absolutely no recognition whatsoever as to what the current status is with respect to the vaccine rollout. There was no balanced commentary. How can someone take seriously a contribution in this place when there's a total lack of balance in the representation of what the current facts are? More than 85 per cent of over-70s are protected with a first dose of the vaccine. More than 85 per cent of that most vulnerable cohort are already protected by a first dose of the vaccine, and more than 55 per cent have received a second dose.

Going to the next cohort, more than 70 per cent of over-50s are protected with a first dose and more than 40 per cent have received a second dose. That means more than one in two of the eligible population aged over 16 are protected with a first dose. Look at the facts involved in the case, and if you want to criticise the existing government, make a contribution that's balanced, that takes into account the current situation, and then make some sort of constructive proposal with respect to moving forward. All of that was totally absent from Senator Green's contribution to this debate. It hasn't been absent with respect to the Prime Minister's contributions. While he might have said what he said in March, he also said this subsequently:

… I take responsibility for the early setbacks in our vaccination program.

So when those speakers on the other side get up, they should at least recognise the fact that the Prime Minister has taken responsibility. They should also recognise the fact he said:

I also take responsibility for getting them fixed and that we are now matching world-best rates, with more than 1 million …

Make a balanced contribution to this debate. Stop looking backwards. Move on. Look at the current situation and provide something positive for the Australian people to move forward with.

The Australian public is sick and tired of rank, base politicking on these issues. They really are. The rhetoric is just dreadful, and it continues to be dreadful. We need to come together as a civic society and deal with these issues. It should be recognised that, up to today's date, Australia has done as well as any country on the face of this earth dealing with this COVID-19 pandemic. We've done as well as any other country. Just as we're uniting as a country to assist those poor Afghanis in Kabul and provide them assistance, we've done as well as anyone. Has it been perfect? No. But there was no dress rehearsal for a one-in-100-year pandemic, so there will be mistakes. There will be things that need to be adjusted, but at least be balanced in your commentary. If you're balanced I could at least have some respect for the positive suggestions that come from the other side. Otherwise all your contributions are just tainted with that rank politicking.

The Prime Minister made some extremely positive comments today with respect to our pathway out of this pandemic. The first point he made was this: we need to live with the virus, not in fear of it. That is absolutely crucial. The fact of the matter is that we are not going to eliminate COVID in the foreseeable future. We just won't. I think, generally, the Australian people understand that, and we have to assist them to come to grips with the reality of the situation, which is well documented in the national plan—it is a plan on a page.

We're currently in the first phase, the current phase: vaccinate, prepare and pilot. The next phase, once we achieve that 70 per cent threshold, is the vaccine transition phase, which, and this is the important point, seeks 'to minimise serious illness, hospitalisation and fatality as a result of COVID-19 with low-level restrictions'. It doesn't seek to eliminate it, because that's not possible. It's not possible to eliminate it. It seeks to minimise serious illness, hospitalisation and fatality as a result of COVID-19, with low-level restrictions. Then phase C, once we hit the 80 per cent threshold of vaccinations, is 'seek to minimise serious illness, hospitalisations and fatalities as a result of COVID-19 with baseline restrictions'. Then the fourth phase, phase D, as it's referred to, is 'manage COVID-19 consistent with public health management of other infectious diseases'.

We all have to get on the same page, on the one-page national plan. We all have to be on the same page if we're going to defeat the ramifications of this virus and move forward as a united country. We need to be on the same page, and it's there in black and white for all of us to follow and to support with our community.

If there are constructive suggestions from those opposite, absolutely make those constructive suggestions. But when you do it, at least be fair with respect to assessing the current situation and with respect to Australia as a country—and I include local-level government, the states, the federal government, civic society generally and the Australian people. Be fair and balanced with respect to where we are today, instead of running our own country down. The rhetoric is quite deplorable. We're absolutely not going to get out of this crisis with this sort of rhetoric. This has to be a team game. We can't go on in lockdown indefinitely; we just can't do it. We don't have the financial resources to do it. We can't bear the mental illness that flows from these lockdowns. We're crushing people's mental health. Small businesses are being destroyed. Senator Green referred to the impact on tourism in Cairns, and she's absolutely right: there's a devastating impact in Cairns. But we absolutely have to unite behind the national plan and move forward. There's absolutely no alternative whatsoever.

As we unite behind that national plan, we need to do it with mutual respect for the views of all of those in the chamber and all of those in the community. So many people in this country are struggling on so many levels, and we need to respect and appreciate that everyone has a right to their own views in our democratic society. We need to do it with empathy, appreciating how difficult the current situation is for everyone in this country. We also need to look forward in hope, rather than backwards in bitterness. That's what people are looking to us to do—look forward in hope, not backwards in bitterness.