Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Our ability to keep Australians safe is the envy of the world. The quarantine system, which came about as a result of national cabinet, using hotels for quarantining, has worked largely successfully. It has. We have indeed placed health as the No. 1 priority as we work through COVID-19. We've also made sure we had the economic outcomes. We've put the money into the budget, in successive budgets, to build into a better place out of COVID-19.

So we've made sure that we're strengthening the economy, but we're doing it at the same time that we're placing at the heart of everything we do the welfare and the health of Australians. Indeed, the federal government stands ready to take any detailed submissions from state governments to build quarantine facilities, but there will be criteria around such facilities. They will have to be close to an international airport where there are international routes. They will need to be close to a tertiary hospital such that there are extremely good medical facilities and medical experts there to help with any outbreaks. We are making sure that, if it comes to quarantining, we've got an MOU with the Victorian government on quarantining. But, when you look at the statistics worldwide, you see the latest figures in the United States—615,000 deaths—and that is tragic. They have a very good health system in the United States. In the UK 127,000 people have lost their lives.

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