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

Touchy, touchy! They are that it should provide quarantining capacity and work alongside hotel quarantine, meet the health requirements and be for a national facility for use by all Australians. Further criteria include proximity to an international airport taking regularly scheduled international commercial passenger flights, and closeness—within approximately an hour's vehicle transport, because this is important—to a tertiary hospital, otherwise known as a principal referral hospital. States and territories need to identify the most appropriate potential sites for quarantine capacity, reflecting their experience in the practicalities of an effective quarantine system, which needs to bring together health care, logistics and law enforcement aspects to minimise risks. And that's what we all want. We want to minimise risks. We want to continue what we are doing, and that is keeping the case rates low, keeping the death toll where it is now—910. We do not want any more deaths and we mourn those Australians who have lost their lives and for their families who are left behind.

But I thank, again, on behalf of the government, on behalf of a grateful nation, all of those Australians who have done the right thing during COVID-19, who have worn masks when asked to do so by premiers in far-off capitals, when they were a long, long way from any COVID cases. I thank Australians for what they have done to keep their communities safe.

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