Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly, those opposite are consistently listening to some form of echo chamber, the land of Danistan cheer squad focus group, with their constant negativity. Do you want Australia to fail? Why are you constantly rooting for Australia to fail? I would have thought Senator Keneally, as a senator for New South Wales, might have been able to muster some state pride, if not national. Australia is now vaccinating people at a rate higher than that of any other country in the world. In fact, the only thing more impressive than that is the fact that New South Wales is actually leading that charge. What that means is that New South Wales is now vaccinating people at a faster rate than that of any other jurisdiction globally.

As a fellow New South Wales senator to Senator Keneally, I for one am extremely proud of the people in my home state who have gone out and gotten vaccinated. When Gladys Berejiklian set a target of six million vaccinations this month, New South Welshmen heeded the call and exceeded those six million vaccinations, with still a week to go in August. That is something we should be celebrating. Instead, here we go again with the political pointscoring and the talking down of Australians and of what Australians are actually going out to do in record numbers. In fact, there have been over 17 million doses of vaccine delivered to date. But what's really so remarkable about that is that just three days ago we were at 16 million vaccinations. For those of you who struggle with the maths here, that means that in the past three days we've seen one million doses delivered. Now, no-one could have gotten their first and second jab within three days, which means that one million Australians have received a vaccination over the past three days. So I would like to say thank you—thank you to them for making themselves safer, thank you for making your loved ones safer and thank you for assisting all Australians to get back to their lives without lockdowns. But perhaps that's where we find the problem. Perhaps you don't want to return to any form of normality. Perhaps you've developed some form of fetish for lockdowns. Each to their own, but this predilection affects millions of Australians and hundreds of thousands of businesses.

We need to break the lockdown cycle, and we know via the Doherty modelling we can start to do that at a 70 per cent vaccination rate. Just let me break it down for you. More than 85 per cent of over-70s have received their first dose and 58 per cent their second, more than 75 per cent of over-50s have received their first dose and almost 45 per cent their second, and more than 50 per cent of over-16s are protected with their first dose and 31 per cent their second. But what we also know is that in both New South Wales and the ACT over 60 per cent of all of those eligible have received their first dose. Unfortunately, Queensland and Western Australia are lagging well behind, with their numbers in just the mid-40 percentile.

Those opposite are very fond of asking questions about it being a race, so here you go. Have your race. Get onto your state premiers and start encouraging them to get their citizens vaccinated. Maybe those of you from outside the premier state—that is, New South Wales—could get onto those premiers and CHOs and get them to understand this requirement. While we're on it, perhaps Senator Keneally might like to ask the member for Maribyrnong, who's such a fan of AZ, to give the current opposition leader a call. Firstly, he could teach him how to actually say the word 'AstraZeneca'. Then, perhaps he could start to get out there and practise by encouraging people to get the vaccine rather than by desperately trying to slow it down with his fearmongering, because those of us on this side actually understand the toll these lockdowns are taking.

But perhaps the mental health toll that these lockdowns are taking is beyond you. The rate of teenage suicide and self-harm is rising and we have a generation of kids that, quite frankly, these lockdowns are breaking. We know that Lifeline is receiving record-breaking numbers of calls each and every day. This morning I heard Roderic Rees on Sky News speaking with Peter Stefanovic. His business, Cairns Adventure Group, is unlikely to survive if he can't at the very least get interstate travellers to visit Cairns, and I'm sure Senator Green will be on the phone to Premier Palaszczuk pleading with her to ensure that fellow Australians are able to travel interstate at Christmas not only to see their families but to support these businesses that are absolutely at breaking point. But, when these premiers, who agreed to the plan and then walked outside to politically point score and further jeopardise the wellbeing and the livelihoods of so many within their own states, go against what the national cabinet devised, do they even begin to comprehend the damage that they are doing to not only the business owners—I know those opposite aren't too fussed with small business owners—but the workers employed in those small businesses. Do they comprehend the uncertainty that this prevarication causes for those workers when they don't know if the small business they work for will be able to survive.

I remain an optimist. I am hopeful that very soon your focus groups will tell you that the day of lockdowns being a vote winner is over. I am forever hopeful that you will start to support Australians. You don't support all Australians and their families, their jobs and their businesses. If those opposite don't start to understand the devastating consequences of refusing to accept that we need to start to live with this virus in the same way that we live with the flu, the mental health consequences will far outweigh the damage that COVID could ever have.

Whilst those opposite continue their scare campaign and fearmongering, I'd actually like to congratulate Victor Dominello, the New South Wales Minister for Customer Service and Minister for Digital, on the creation of the inclusion card. What he's doing here is allowing businesses to check people in rather than the other way around. It's this sort of innovation that's going to assist in opening up New South Wales. If only all the premiers had the same focus. We know that there are people who struggle with using a smartphone, who aren't that tech savvy. In fact, I still have a giggle when I think about one of the posts I saw last week. Someone mentioned that their mother wasn't sure what to do with all the photos of the QR codes. She'd been taking photos of the QR codes, rather than checking in, because the technology was maybe a little too sophisticated for her. But it's also really good, and an important move forward, for people with a disability who would also struggle with the check-in technology.

I would also like to acknowledge that, from tomorrow, 25 August, all NDIS participants over 12 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated. Every NDIS participant over the age of 12 will be eligible. For those wondering why it's not under 12, it's because no vaccine is approved for anyone under 12. So when we all start chiming in about how many children are going to be vaccinated—no vaccine is approved anywhere around the world for children under 12. My son, gorgeous 'Freddo Frog', is 12. I, for one, will be getting him vaccinated as soon as possible because I understand, unlike some of the antivaxxers out there, that vaccines don't cause autism. What they do, though, is ensure that people with autism don't suffer this serious illness. I'm also pretty sure vaccines contribute to decent spelling and the use of correct grammar, but that's a whole other matter for us to discuss on another day.

What I would like to say to those opposite—and, really, it's a very simple message; I think even those opposite may be able to understand it: please stop the politicking. Please start to back Australians. And, to Senator Keneally: be proud of your state. Let's get back to life. Let's get back to travel and help support the mental health of all Australians.