Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith for the question. Governments around Australia are monitoring this fourth wave of omicron closely. Data released last Friday over the last seven days suggests that the current wave is likely to peak towards the end of November and into early December. The case numbers are up by 10 per cent in the last seven days, compared with 47 per cent in the seven days before that and 38 per cent in the seven days before that. So, it's important that people continue to take precautions against COVID, and the best precaution is to be up to date with vaccinations.

The Albanese government is working with states and territories through national cabinet to ensure that we have a strong national response. In the recent budget, total spending on COVID measures is around $2.6 billion, including funding for the stockpile, vaccines and treatments and significant investment in aged care. We will continue to work constructively with all state and territory governments, because we know that a cooperative, collaborative approach leads to better public health outcomes.

Having governments working closely with their communities is also vital, and we saw evidence of this in the Victorian election on the weekend. No-one has done it tougher during this pandemic than the people in Victoria, and the strong, focused leadership of Premier Daniel Andrews through the pandemic has been endorsed with this extraordinary victory. On the weekend Victorians voted for a competent government. The strong leadership of Premier Andrews and his government shows that, during the challenges thrown at Victorians during the pandemic, accepting the public health advice, accepting the evidence, making tough decisions but being honest and up-front and transparent does reward you electorally. The government looks forward to working with the Andrews government and all state and territory governments as we tackle this next wave of COVID-19.