Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is pleased to support the Australian Immunisation Register and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017, which makes two minor changes to the No Jab, No Pay arrangements. Firstly, it adds four medical specialists to the list of providers who can grant medical exemptions to vaccination requirements: paediatricians, public health physicians, infectious disease physicians and clinical immunologists. Secondly, it clarifies that only recognised vaccination providers, GPs and those four specialists can tell the government whether children and families have met vaccination requirements.

Labor supports this bill and the practical benefits which will arise from its passage. Speaking on this bill today gives me a good opportunity to talk about the importance of immunisation. Ensuring vaccination rates are as high as possible is one of the most important health responsibilities of a government. While this bill is minor, the issue at hand is not. In early March, Senator Pauline Hanson went on Insiders and questioned the safety of vaccinations, sparking renewed debate on this issue. Senator Hanson later backed down from her suggestion that parents should use a non-existent test for vaccine allergies, but she has not apologised for her earlier comments linking vaccines to cancer and autism. Medical experts said Senator Hanson's comments were ignorant and dangerous, and I have to agree.

I have to put on record that it is completely unacceptable for any politician to use their public platform to put a shadow of doubt in someone's mind about something as critical as vaccinations. Australia's strong immunisation program is critical to eradicating life-threatening diseases. Failure to vaccinate is a threat to public health. Our leaders need to be doing everything possible to ensure parents know about the deadly risks of failing to vaccinate their children, not spreading misinformation. When we're elected to this chamber and to the other chamber and to all parliaments around this country, we have to accept the responsibility that is bestowed upon us. Vaccination is not just about protecting personal health; it's a social responsibility.

One of the most naive things I hear from people talking about vaccination is that, because there haven't been current outbreaks of diseases that were commonplace 100 years ago, their kids will be safe. Let me make it very clear: comments like this are not only misinformed; they're dangerous as well. Comments like this encourage complacency about vaccines, and the result is that, according to official statistics, there were 340 measles cases in 2014, almost double the 158 measles cases in 2013. This complacency, mixed with all the misinformation and myths floating around, highlights how critically important it is that the public continue to be educated about the importance of vaccines.

Nobody understands more just how important vaccination is than the countless number of parents who have experienced what no parent should have to go through: losing their child to a vaccine-preventable disease. The issue of immunisation has been highlighted through media coverage in Tasmania recently, including the story of a two-year-old Tasmanian toddler, Arthur Long, who contracted a deadly strain of meningococcal earlier this year. On 26 February this year, little Arthur Long woke with cold- and flu-like symptoms. His parents called a doctor to the house and were told that he was getting a virus. Little Arthur continued to deteriorate, so his parents took him to the Launceston General Hospital. It was not until after Arthur got to the hospital that the telltale meningococcal rash appeared. The deadly bacterial infection was spreading throughout his body and causing his vital organs to shut down. He was transferred to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, where he was operated on immediately. The situation was so deadly and so serious that Arthur was put on life support for 10 days and then into intensive care for a further two weeks. Little Arthur survived but he will live with the permanent disabilities for the rest of his life. His feet have been amputated and his hands are damaged.

This is the heartbreaking reality of vaccine-preventable diseases. Arthur's parents were shocked to learn that he could have been immunised against this disease. This is why it is so critically important that parents in our community know the facts and have accurate information, and why it is so critical, in any debate, for those facts to be laid out on the table—and, as elected politicians, we have that responsibility. We need to ensure that parents can make informed decisions, and that they do not have to endure the stress associated with trying to come to terms with what is accurate and what is just myth—and the misinformation of Senator Hanson has only been detrimental to us ensuring that the message is out in our community. We cannot stress enough in this place the importance of having our children vaccinated. As somebody whose sister still lives with polio, I know only too well, as does my family, about the importance of vaccination.

David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 1796, when Edward Jenner successfully used an inoculation of harmless cowpox vaccination to immunise a child against smallpox, he little realised the technique he pioneered would later be used to save millions of lives. Today most of take for granted the gift of artificial acquired immunity and do not think twice about vaccinating our children against the diseases which were once a major reason for a limited life expectancy. There are, however, some who, for religious, philosophical, or other reasons—some of which are decidedly bizarre—do not accept that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh the risks. But whether or not vaccination is a good idea is not what this bill is about.

The Australian Immunisation Register and Other Legislation Bill 2017 seeks to establish an Australian immunisation register to facilitate the creation of statistics on immunisation coverage, identify areas at risk of outbreaks and help individuals keep track of what they have been immunised against. The bill implements measures to improve immunisation rates across Australia and complements other Australian government initiatives, including No Jab, No Pay, and new catch-up incentive to GPs and other immunisation providers. Currently, only general practitioners are able to enter a medical exemption from vaccination on the Australian Immunisation Register. The bill will extend that power to paediatricians, public health physicians, infectious diseases physicians and clinical immunologists. It will ensure that getting a bona fide medical exemption through these avenues means that a person continues to receive welfare under the government's No Jab, No Pay policy.

Opponents of vaccination have sought to claim that the No Jab, No Pay policy makes vaccination compulsory—but this is false. As a vet myself, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the benefits of vaccination. However, as a libertarian, I also support the right of individuals to choose not to be vaccinated. I do, however, want to clearly state that I have no problem supporting a bill which reaffirms that vaccination is made a condition of welfare. Individuals remain free to reject vaccination; they just need not take the money. If they want to receive the welfare dime, individuals need to realise that the government is entitled to place conditions on their payment, just as an employer is entitled to specify the conditions under which they are prepared to employ and pay you. These conditions may comprise restricting what the welfare can be spent on or requiring that the children of welfare recipients are vaccinated to protect them and others in the community. Receiving welfare from the government is not a right. It is welfare. It is other people's monies. Quite reasonably, it can therefore be subject to whatever conditions the government may choose to impose. So, if you want to reject the benefits of vaccination, feel free, but just don't expect taxpayers will underwrite your choice.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank senators for their contributions and commend the bill to the Senate.

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill be now read a second time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.