Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

That's 15 minutes of my life that I'm never going to get back, but I did actually learn one thing from Senator Canavan and that is this: cookers are going to cook. That's what we've learned here this evening. The pandemic that we've been living through for years, and we continue to live through today, is an extremely serious issue. As we continue to grapple with the ongoing challenges of this global pandemic and as large numbers of Australians continue to die of COVID-19, it's critical that we reflect on the lessons we learnt, the mistakes that we've made, the mistakes that we continue to make and the work that still needs to be done.

I want to start by acknowledging the incredible efforts of healthcare workers over the last few years. We need to acknowledge and thank the people who work in the health system from the bottom of our hearts, whether they be support workers, doctors, nurses, first responders or all of those other essential workers who do such a terrific and critical job of looking after all of us when accidents befall us or sickness takes us, because they have put their own health and safety at significant risk to look after us, to try to keep us safe and to keep our country running. We owe them a debt of gratitude that can never truly be repaid.

We also need to understand and recognise that the pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in our society, particularly in the areas of health care, housing and employment. What the pandemic has revealed ultimately is that we are far more units in an economy than we are human beings to those who govern us. We've seen that time after time when basic protections for people such as income support and health frameworks have been removed in order for the economy to keep on trundling along. We have to address those issues that have been exposed by the pandemic, ripping off some of the bandaids that have covered up some of the gaping chasms in our society and some of the inequalities in our community and economy. We have to commit to addressing those issues and ensuring that everyone has access to the things that they need to stay healthy and to have a good life. We also need to make sure we are prepared for future pandemics because, believe me, colleagues, they will be coming down the line. That's going to mean investing in public health infrastructure, in the research of things like vaccines, in things like testing for particular viruses, in things like ensuring our supply chains are resilient and in ensuring our emergency and pandemic response plans are up to date. Absolutely the Australian Greens support research and review of the ongoing handling of COVID and the lessons that can be learnt for the future.

I want to be really clear about something: it really beggars belief that a Labor government isn't working hard to do more to look after people and to create jobs in our society by engaging in a significant retrofitting of public buildings in this country with clean air standards, ensuring adequate ventilation and filtration of our air and ensuring that new builds in this country comply with rigorous standards. One of the most significant things that a government could do in this space at this time is ensure that, to the greatest degree possible, the air that we are all breathing and that we rely on to survive as human beings is clean and virus free. The Greens also support global cooperation in addressing pandemics and public health emergencies, and we believe that the World Health Organization plays a critical role in coordinating international responses to these crises. We do believe that a global pandemic treaty with a focus on prevention, preparedness and response represents an important step forward in our efforts to protect public health on a global scale.

What is always amusing—and I'm glad Senator Roberts and Senator Babet are in the chamber—is when we get a little peek behind the curtain of what the cookers and the right-wing conspiracy theorists are actually worried about. Senator Roberts wants to put on his white coat and use the Senate's valuable time and resources to annoy public servants about the illuminati, Agenda 21 and probably the lizard people, and we're not going to have a bar of it. I have to say, Acting Deputy President McGrath, it must be absolutely terrifying—