Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and I acknowledge the work of the New South Wales government in dealing with this latest case today. They have not just one of the finest systems in Australia for contact tracing; arguably they have one of the finest systems in the world. It's the gold standard for Australia. It is the gold standard, we think, for the world.

One of the critical things Australia has done is put in place border protections, beginning on 1 February, at the earliest stages as part of our national plan to deal with COVID. At the time, that was criticised by some in the international community and specifically criticised by the World Health Organization, but we made those decisions. Another critical element has been to follow the medical advice. What we have done—perhaps above almost any other nation—has been to follow the medical advice. As part of that, we have developed arrangements with the states, and I would respectfully note that the states embraced and took full responsibility for delivering the hotel quarantine scheme under their public health responsibilities and as part of the national cabinet process. They are overwhelmingly doing a great job. Obviously, Victoria had a significant challenge. As long as we have engagement with the rest of the world—

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