Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to commend all Australians on their outstanding work in following the evidence based recommendations that the Prime Minister of Australia and the national cabinet have executed on behalf of us all. We have all seen the devastation of the outbreak that COVID has caused across the world, in particular in the US, Europe and England. But with less than 100 deaths currently in Australia, we are faring better than most. This can be attributed to the strong border protection measures implemented very early on in this outbreak, strict quarantining measures that Australians have engaged with and followed, and the strong physical distancing measures that have been carried out across Australia. We know this has had an effect on all Australians. We have done it because it's been important. Staying home has helped contain the COVID pandemic, so that our fatality rate is now lower than an annual flu season. That's something we should celebrate and feel that we have done the right thing. We are fighting this virus and we are winning, but it is now time to get ahead of a mental health curve that may occur. It is now important to balance the state of the economy with the health of the nation. We cannot forsake the prosperity of Australia; but, more importantly, the mental health of Australians represents a very important aspect of our nation. I'd like to congratulate the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, for putting this front and centre for all Australians. Failure to ease restrictions now that we are in a safe harbour and to keep the economy strong will see a mental health crisis that could be more damaging than the pandemic. Modelling conducted by the University of Sydney has predicted a potential increase of suicides of up to 50 per cent. These are horrifying numbers, which should be taken seriously. With the projected increase of unemployment up to 10 per cent, the significant changes to people's livelihoods and the social distancing required for people with regard to their loved ones mean that mental health professionals have a big job ahead of them.

Our best defence against these outbreaks in our community is by encouraging everyone to use the COVIDSafe app. That is our ticket out of here. We know that there will continue to be cases. Unfortunately, coronavirus will continue to see deaths. But these are proportionate to the measures that we have taken. We need to make sure that we continue to use evidence based approaches. We have seen the worst of the COVID epidemic. We now have the tools at our hands to test, to track and to trace COVID. We need to make sure we continue to use and evidence based approach and to remain calm. We know that when overseas gets a cold or sneezes, we get a cold. We want to make sure that when overseas gets COVID, we stay safe.

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