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

I completely reject the many assertions Senator Patrick made in his question. If we were to have the type of fair dinkum independent inquiry that Senator Patrick wants to speak of, and it were to do a global comparison, I am confident it would find that in Australia the fatality rates are some of the lowest in the world, the vaccination rates are some of the highest in the world, and the employment outcomes and business security and safety and survival rates are some of the best in the world.

As I have acknowledged, as the Prime Minister has acknowledged, as Senator Colbeck and Minister Hunt have acknowledged: have we got absolutely everything right in a period of enormous global uncertainty? No, and we don't pretend we have. There are those rear-view-mirror experts opposite who are experts in hindsight, who of course pretend that they would have got everything right. There's no chance they would have. Nor has any other government around the world got everything right. But we have done very well in Australia relative to many other countries, and we continue to respond as comprehensively as we can— (Time expired)