Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Health (Senator Colbeck) to a question asked without notice by Senator Wong today relating to the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

In doing so, I might make the point that it's very interesting that, after a six-week recess, the very first thing the Greens decide to do when they come into the chamber is to attack the Labor Party. They don't worry about attacking this government for the terrible things it is doing to Australia. No. For the Greens, it's always about political stunts targeted at the Labor Party, because we know that it's the Labor Party who they consider to be the real enemy.

But, unlike the Greens, Labor is actually here to defend Australians, no matter where they live, from the incompetence, the bungling and the shambles that we have seen from this Prime Minister and this government in the management of COVID-19. When COVID started and particularly this year, the Prime Minister had two jobs: to get the vaccine rollout working and to build purpose-built quarantine. We know that he has grossly failed in those two jobs. When it comes to vaccine rollout, we are the last in the developed world. When it comes to quarantine, it will be months, if not years, before we have purpose-built quarantine stations—

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, please resume your seat. Senator Scarr.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy President, I can't recollect the word 'quarantine' even being used during the whole of the question time that we've just been through, so I query whether or not Senator Watt is in order in the comments he's making.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Scarr. It is a wide-ranging debate. Senator Watt has referred to the vaccine rollout, and that's been the substantive part of his argument, but I will certainly listen closely, and, if he doesn't stick to the debate in the rest of his time, I will call his attention to that matter.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can assure Senator Scarr that there is plenty to talk about when it comes to this government's vaccine rollout failures, but it is worth mentioning in passing that it will be months, if not years, before they build purpose-built quarantine stations. As a result, we have seen 27 leaks from hotel quarantine. That is the result of this Prime Minister's failures to do his job. Now, because the Prime Minister failed to do his two jobs—vaccine rollout and quarantine—we see 10 million Australians in lockdown across Sydney and across South-East Queensland. Of course there are many more Australians who are suffering outside of the lockdown areas as well. These are the Australians who are paying the price for this Prime Minister's and this government's failure to do their job: to get the vaccine rollout working and to build purpose-built quarantine.

Why are we here? Why are we now at a point where 10 million Australians are in lockdown, with millions more outside lockdown areas also being impacted by this government's failures? If you want one sentence to explain why we are in this situation, it is a sentence that we heard over and over again from this Prime Minister, and that sentence is: 'It's not a race; it's not a competition.' How many times did we hear that from this Prime Minister and other ministers from this government as Labor was appealing to the government to do more vaccine deals, to get more vaccines out to Australians, to build purpose-built quarantine and to do all of the other things necessary to protect the Australian public from the delta variant that we have now seen raging across so much of Australia? But no: every time Labor tried to suggest things that the government could be doing, just as we're doing today when it comes to incentives, we were told by the Prime Minister and his minions, 'It's not a race; it's not a competition.'

Well, how wrong they were! I can tell you it was a race. It was always a race. It was a race for the 10 million Australians who are now in lockdown across Sydney and across South-East Queensland. It was a race for the businesses who are losing money as a result of these lockdowns. It was a race for the workers who are losing their jobs because of the lockdowns, because this government didn't get vaccines out and didn't do its other jobs. It was a race for the families, like mine and millions of others in South-East Queensland and Sydney, who are now homeschooling and who are now unable to do the various things that they would normally do with their families. It was a race for many other people, millions of other Australians outside the lockdown areas, who are also suffering because this Prime Minister and this government didn't do their job and get vaccine deals done and get vaccines into people's arms.

Only last week, before the lockdowns started in South-East Queensland, I was back up in Cairns and Port Douglas meeting with tourism operators. They were telling me that, after hitting very high hotel occupancy rates of around 85 per cent in May, as soon as the lockdowns started in Melbourne and Sydney, their occupancy rates crashed to 30 per cent. Why was that happening? Because we didn't have vaccines in arms, and we therefore had to have lockdowns the minute the variant started taking control. It was the same on the Gold Coast and in other tourism areas as well. Hundreds and thousands of bookings were cancelled, putting businesses and jobs on the line, because this government couldn't do its job.

So it is a race. It is a race for the people in lockdown. It is a race for the businesses and workers outside lockdown areas, who are suffering. It is a race for the aged-care workers and the disability workers who can't get vaccinated. It was pretty interesting that even Minister Colbeck wouldn't associate himself with the Prime Minister's remarks. Imagine Richard Colbeck being too embarrassed to stand with you. (Time expired)

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt asked the question 'Why are so many people in this country in lockdown?' The reason is the delta variant of COVID-19. That's the reason they are in lockdown, not for any other reason. We're seeing all over the world the devastating impact of the delta variant. It's easy to stand on the sidelines and throw bricks at those on the field who are making difficult decisions, who are taking advice from the people they should be taking advice from, the independent experts—the scientific experts and others—and making calls on the run. It's easy to stand on the sideline and throw bricks at people who are making difficult decisions in difficult times. The fact of the matter is that when you look at the most recent results of the vaccine rollout you see they are quite staggering. They are quite incredible, actually, when you consider that the first one million doses were issued in 45 days and we've now reached a position where more than a million doses of a vaccine, whether it be Astra Zeneca or Pfizer, are being given every six days. It took 45 days for a million doses and now it's taking six days for a million doses. The rollout has progressively increased. It took 45 days for one million doses, 20 days for two million doses and 17 days for three million doses. You can see the increase in the doses which are being provided.

We are now, thankfully, in a situation where almost 80 per cent—probably now over 80 per cent—of over-70s are protected with a first dose of a vaccine. Over 80 per cent of the most vulnerable cohort in our community are protected with at least one dose of a vaccine, and 41.98 per cent have received a second dose. More than 65 per cent of my cohort, the over-50s, are protected with a first dose, and 26.67 per cent have received a second dose. We've seen a phenomenal increase in the rollout of this vaccine in the context of a global pandemic, a once-in-100-years global pandemic, with different variants of the virus developing over time and posing new challenges, and the delta variant has presented a number of unique challenges through the speed of its spread.

I say to those opposite: not only should you not be throwing bricks at our Prime Minister, you should not be throwing bricks at the Premier of New South Wales either. That Premier is on the field making decisions in real time, taking advice from everyone who she considers is appropriate to give her advice. Sometimes the result is not perfect. It wouldn't be perfect no matter who was in the position of Premier of New South Wales or Prime Minister of Australia. That's the factor of the actual situation which we're facing at the moment. It's a dynamic situation, a once-in-100-years situation, a global pandemic.

The best and most reasonable way of assessing the success or otherwise of the federal government is to compare the situation in Australia to that overseas. Who in this place can legitimately say, who can reasonably say that Australia hasn't done better than any other country in the world on the two key measurements of protecting lives and protecting livelihoods? We've done better than any other country on the face of the Earth, and if those opposite can think of somewhere else that has done better on protecting lives and protecting livelihoods, then tell us who it is, because I don't know who it is. This country has done an exceedingly good job, and I pay tribute to all of our decision-makers. I don't care which party they come from. These people are in the field making decisions in real time in a challenging situation, a one-in-100-year global pandemic with different variations of the virus developing all the time, and making the best decisions they can in good faith when they're confronted with those circumstances. I think Australians are getting more confident in the vaccine. I was so pleased today that the Chief Health Officer of Queensland has reflected on her opinion with respect to AstraZeneca, and hopefully we'll have more and more vaccines issued.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Scarr, your time has expired. Senator Chisholm.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's compare ourselves to what's happening overseas. What Senator Scarr didn't do was to compare us to overseas when it comes to the vaccine rollout. We're actually 36th out of 38 members of the OECD, so we're coming almost last when it comes to our vaccine rollout. There are two things that we learned in question time today, and one is that they still won't set a deadline for the vaccine rollout. We know why: because every time they have set one, they've missed it, so they've given up on it and they won't provide those incentives. We saw a pitiful display from the senior levels of this government today when Labor put forward a practical solution. They were happy to take pot shots at it without putting forward any practical solutions themselves. But they won't set a deadline, and we saw that in the answers given in question time today. We know why they won't set a deadline. It is because they originally said four million Australians would be vaccinated by the end of March, and they failed to meet that deadline. Mr Morrison has said that all Australians will be fully vaccinated by October. Obviously, we're going to miss that deadline. He said they would vaccinate the first priority group by Easter—and they've missed that deadline—and that they would vaccinate six million Australians by 10 May. When it comes to vaccines, they've actually given up. They aren't setting any deadlines because they know they can't meet them, and they aren't creating the incentives for Australians to go out and get vaccinated. Even when the Labor leader put forward a substantial suggestion today, the government have done nothing but take pot shots at that suggestion, which is so disappointing. They show no ability to adapt or to be nimble and actually deliver for the Australian people.

The second thing that we learned from question time today is that they still won't accept responsibility. Anyone who saw Four Corners last night would have seen that the program laid out that the government are responsible for the failure to deliver. As Kevin Rudd said, they wouldn't pick up the Alexander Graham Bell and talk to the head of Pfizer to try to get more vaccines delivered to this country. COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on South-East Queensland at the moment. We've seen what's happening in New South Wales, with 10 million Australians locked down. We've seen the damage these lockdowns have done economically as well. I think the RBA estimated that about $300 million a day is being taken from these economies because of what is going on in locked-down communities. These lockdowns are absolutely because of the failure of the vaccine rollout. We saw that in the release of the Doherty Institute's report today. It talks about what we could achieve if we actually had the vaccine rolled out, as compared to what is happening in other countries.

As Senator Watt said, it also goes to the quarantine facilities because they did have two responsibilities: one was around vaccines and the second one was around quarantine facilities. They also haven't delivered on those facilities. About a month ago the federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and I went to Toowoomba, where we met with the proponents of the Wellcamp proposal around the quarantine facility. They said they could be operating within 12 weeks. They could set up a purpose-built quarantine facility within 12 weeks, yet the government keep moving the goalposts and changing the rules to rule out doing some sort of deal with the proponents in Toowoomba. What they've instead said is that they will look at doing something at Damascus, near the Brisbane Airport, but that won't be operating until next year. We've seen all of these leaks out of hotel quarantine facilities—I think we're up to 28 now—yet we haven't had one leak out of Howard Springs, in the Northern Territory. The Toowoomba proposal would be similar to the Howard Springs facility, so it shows you that these facilities that are purpose built can work and deliver and, if we actually had that facility, we might not be having the lockdown that we have in South-East Queensland this week.

This question time is the first question time we've had for about six weeks, but we still had the same old excuses from the government. They won't set a deadline on getting Australians vaccinated and they still won't accept responsibility for the failure of the vaccine rollout. When you look at the devastation that this is causing across Australia, it is Australian families, Australian workers and, indeed, those kids who are now doing homeschooling who are paying the price for the incompetence of this government. So I would say to the government that they need to get their act together, they need to start setting deadlines that they will stick to and they need to ensure that the Australian people have confidence that the vaccine rollout is going to be available, that people will be able to get their shots and that they will then be able to avoid lockdowns so the economy can return, as much as possible, to normal. Again, there was a failure by this government to answer any of those questions today.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to respond to some of the extraordinary comments made by those on the other side. I will reflect on how incredibly fortunate we are that we are going through a global pandemic and not a war, because Australians expect their leadership, their politicians, their representatives, to stand together and find solutions to difficult times. And yet, once again, we have listened to the opposition describe a complete lack of understanding of the realities of the world. They have an inability to stand shoulder to shoulder in difficult times and, instead, take every opportunity to throw stones. There has been no manual to the COVID pandemic. Instead, we find the opposition trying to find ways of demonstrating how clever they would have been with the benefit of hindsight—just brilliant!

One of the senators just spoke about the 27 leaks from hotel quarantine, but there have been no leaks from the federally operated Howard Springs. They also mentioned that there has not been a fast enough rollout of the vaccine. So I would like to speak about what's been happening in my state, the great state of Queensland. The greatest impediment to vaccinating Queenslanders has been our own Labor state government. In fact, Queensland Health did not order any AstraZeneca vaccine doses in July and only 1,000 doses in May. How extraordinary is that? With the Queensland Chief Health Officer making extraordinary pronouncements about AstraZeneca in the face of worldwide recommendations to take advice from your medical practitioner, we had no AstraZeneca doses ordered in July. So Queenslanders are not being given the opportunity to consult with their doctor on what decision is best for them. In fact, I think the vaccine hesitancy in Queensland can be sheeted back to some of this messaging.

Queensland has the second lowest rate of fully vaccinated people, at just over 18 per cent, and the lowest rate of people who have had one dose, at just under 37 per cent. Anecdotally, in my home city of Townsville, some young people are saying they've tried six times to be vaccinated and been turned away due to a lack of supply of Pfizer even when they had consulted and were happy and able to have AstraZeneca. Queensland Health stats for yesterday, Monday, show that 591 people received a dose at the new Townsville vaccination station but that not one person received the vaccination from hospitals and health centres across the entire Townsville region—not one person. The Ayr population is 8,700 people, but just 796 shots have been provided in total and none were yesterday. Ingham has 4,300 people. Just 677 shots have been provided and zero were yesterday. At Charters Towers, population 8,100, just 627 total doses have been administered and none were yesterday.

The opposition is also going to talk about consulting with tourism operators in Cairns and Townsville, the very areas that were on their knees because the state government refused to increase the number of people allowed into a space from one person per four square metres to one person per two square metres, as it was on the mainland, if you were going out on cruise boats or other charter vessels. This meant these businesses were unviable for far longer than they were in other states.

They also talked about homeschooling and how difficult that is for parents—and it is! The reason we know that is because we have geographically isolated children right across this nation, which Labor never ever seems to reflect on or remember. But what Labor have come up with is a 'cash for jabs' program. This is Labor's latest version of pink batts or school halls, another example of Labor taking Australian taxpayers' money but not improving the safety or the position of Australian people.

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I make a few comments about what happened during this debate today, I want to say it seems absolutely outrageous that we have poorer people not being vaccinated. The country's highest vaccination rates are in the wealthiest pockets of Sydney and Melbourne, while poorer parts of Sydney's west and south, the hit hardest by the latest outbreaks, have had some of the lowest coverage in New South Wales. Let's go a bit further. Parts of outback Australia are also lagging behind, with fewer than 10 per cent of the population in some regional areas being fully vaccinated more than five months into the rollout.

Has there ever been a more damaging display of negligence in Australian history than the Prime Minister's vaccine 'stroll out'? More than 10 million Australians are in lockdown across Sydney and South-East Queensland. Lockdowns are costing the Australian economy nearly $300 million each day. While countries around the world are opening up, Australia is shutting down. This is because of the Prime Minister's insistence that the vaccine rollout is 'not a race'.

Prime Minister Morrison had two jobs this year: a speedy rollout of the vaccine and effective quarantine, and he has monumentally failed at both. Having failed, the Morrison government must now ensure it does not also fail to support Australian people without work, particularly those in sectors that have been hardest hit, such as aviation. Unfortunately, this is precisely what is happening. Aviation workers have been through 18 months of hell, and today they have received the latest kick in the guts. Australia's highest paid CEO, Alan Joyce, has announced he will be standing down 2,500 Qantas and Jetstar workers without pay. The Morrison government has had more than 18 months to come up with a plan for the survival and recovery of Australian aviation, to keep the skill sets there that are so vital.

The Qantas announcement also came just hours after the government had announced a program to provide COVID support payments to some aviation workers. The payments will only go to 50 per cent of stood-down pilots and crew. There are no payments for any other aviation workers. Our Prime Minister may not be aware, but there are thousands of other aviation workers who keep our planes in the air, including many who live in his electorate raising their families and supporting their communities. Prime Minister, how about you start listening to those people from your own electorate! Thousands of ground crew have been carved out of Mr Morrison's aviation support, many of whom will now be stood down by Qantas without pay, without any plan from the government and without any plan on how to put food on the table.

It just happens that the same workers who have been abandoned by the Morrison government have also been illegally abandoned by Qantas. The Federal Court on Friday found that Qantas had broken the law when it outsourced 2,000 ground handling jobs year. It was a massive victory for those 2,000 essential workers and the Transport Workers Union. But how did the Morrison government respond to the decision? It turned around and cuts ground staff out of the aviation support package.

So who is really calling the shots in this country when it comes to aviation? Alan Joyce received $2 billion from the Prime Minister. He asked for it and he got it. Alan Joyce asked for that money to have no strings attached so that he could outsource 2,500 jobs. And the Prime Minister gave that to him. The vindictive Alan Joyce wanted to take revenge on those workers for beating him in court, and the Prime Minister cut them out of the aviation support package. How's that for the 'spirit of Australia'?

Quite clearly we've seen a number of examples of the horrific nature of what's been happening with this rollout. We see less than five per cent of home-care workers now covered by vaccination. Of course, the government's response is: 'It's not a focus.' Well, 85 per cent of our aged Australians are supported by home-care workers. It's another failing by this government, because it has not got the vaccinations in place. 'It's not a race.' They're not—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Sheldon! The question is that the motion moved by Senator Watt be agreed to.

Question agreed to.