Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McAllister for the question. It is true that, over the last few days, the number of cases per day in New South Wales has been the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. We are seeing the very, very difficult effects of the delta variant of the virus, which is clearly transmitted much more quickly in the community, and we've seen a number of states now struggle with that. We're seeing exactly the same concerns being expressed in Victoria, where there were 70-odd cases today. So, clearly, the delta variant, which the government has been quite open and upfront with the Australian people about, is a completely new ball game with respect to the management of COVID-19. We've seen here in the ACT how quickly the numbers increased once the variant arrived in the ACT. We're seeing concerns expressed by state leaders all around the country. The New South Wales government, working with the Australian government, is doing everything that it can to suppress the spread of the virus. That is our responsibility. That is what we're trying to do.

Alongside that growth in numbers, we are seeing every single day an increase in the number of Australians who are vaccinated. We've passed 17 million vaccinations administered in this country, and that rollout continues to develop at speed, as we said it would.