Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Down in Tasmania, we normally like to take a team approach—'Team Tasmania', as many colleagues call it. Just yesterday some great news came out of Tasmania, and that was that 50 per cent of the eligible population have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine—a fantastic milestone—and 25 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Senator McDonald interjecting—

Thank you, Senator Macdonald, This is a great piece of news but I was surprised that a couple of senators in this place from Tasmania—not from my party, I might add—wanted to run down this good news. Instead of giving encouragement to Tasmanian who've done the right thing and rolled up their sleeves and got the jab, instead of encouraging more Tasmanians to do the same thing, they just sat there and found holes and problems—not one word of encouragement, which is bitterly disappointing. We need to remember that this is about encouraging those who do the right thing and encouraging more Tasmanians to do the right thing. It is not about whipping up politics and finding division. This is not a political game. This is a life-and-death matter for many. So I encourage my Tasmanian colleagues to get on board, stop running down Tasmanians, stop running down our state and acknowledge the good work our state has done. The people of Tasmania, with 50 per cent vaccination, are leading the nation. Get on board. Join Team Tasmania.