Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I certainly will. What did Mr Morrison do when confronted with these failures? He blamed the states. Blaming the states is a bit like blaming the fire brigade, when they turn up to your house, because you get a little bit wet. The pandemic took off because of Mr Morrison's failure on vaccines and on quarantine. That's why we've had almost six months of lockdowns on the east coast: failure on quarantine and failure to do his job, set out clearly in the constitution.

It's not just Labor who says that quarantine is fundamental to getting the national strategy right. Ms Halton pointed that out in her report. The responsibility is clear. This morning Ms Westacott said she couldn't understand why the federal government hadn't got this right—quarantine, vaccines. Who will Australians trust next year to deliver sufficient quarantine capability? Who will they trust to deliver booster vaccines? Well, I can tell you, you wouldn't trust this lot; that's for sure.