David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Can the Minister advise the Senate how the Australian response to the COVID-19 pandemic, from our frontline and essential workers to our small businesses and farmers, is helping Australia address the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic—indeed, before the World Health Organization declared it to be a pandemic—we have had frontline workers, be they those working on our borders or in our health systems, or, indeed, scientists and others who we rely upon for advice and information, doing an incredible job in the service of our country. It is the work of all of those people that has enabled governments across this country to achieve world-leading outcomes in terms of protecting Australians, keeping people safe, and to achieve outcomes in the saving of lives that are far in excess of the tragic, terrible circumstances we've seen in so much of the rest of the world. Many of those people are today engaged in activities across the country, in helping with testing, in helping with contact tracing or in helping with the vaccination rollout, and we extend our thanks to all of them for all that they are doing in helping the country. We send our thanks to the many essential workers in food, manufacturing, production, distribution and other industries who have been so important, as well as the other care sectors who have had to step up at times when restrictions have been imposed on so many other activities.

I want to acknowledge the many Australians continuing to turn out in record numbers to get vaccinated. We have seen, in the last 24 hours, 262,314 vaccines administered across Australia. This, once again, is another daily record. To administer those vaccines, we have many GP clinics opening late at night—additional hours—alongside increasing numbers of pharmacies putting in extra hours, alongside those working in state clinics or seeking to get into specialist centres, aged care, remote populations or otherwise. It's a huge effort by those individuals in the largest peacetime logistical undertaking our nation has seen. (Time expired)

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

Senator Van, a supplementary question?

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, how is the health response by Australians, including through the vaccination rollout, providing the foundation for us to chart our way back from COVID-19?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the record number of doses administered in the last 24 hours, we now see close to 14.5 million doses administered across Australia. Our country is administering vaccines to the tune of being able to provide a jab to the entire population of Adelaide every single week. It has been a huge scale-up, as I indicated before. In doing so, we have seen some of the most important cohorts who have primary access turn out in record numbers, taking responsibility for themselves in doing so but responding to that call. Of Australians aged over 70, some 82.2 per cent have now received their first dose and 49.9 per cent have now received their second dose of vaccine. Of the entire eligible population aged over 16, some 46 per cent of all Australians have now received at least that first dose.

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

Senator Van, a final supplementary question?

David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, how has the Liberal and Nationals government's economic plan supported Australian jobs and businesses through the pandemic?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We've always been very conscious of the reality that responding to COVID-19 has been about saving both lives and livelihoods, and, despite the many difficulties and uncertainties that Australia and the rest of the world have faced, we've continued to outperform the rest of the world in terms of saving the lives of Australians and in terms of saving the jobs of Australians, the businesses of Australians and the fundamentals that will enable Australia to come out of this pandemic more strongly than so many other nations who have been much more badly affected.

Prior to the recent challenges of additional lockdowns across the country, we saw unemployment having dipped below five per cent to 4.9 per cent—a comeback, in terms of unemployment, far exceeding expectations, with the strong jobs growth putting Australia in a position of seeing employment at levels in excess of those pre pandemic. Our economic responses have helped to achieve these outcomes, and we continue to deliver record support to families, households and businesses to get them through this. (Time expired)