Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

We agree that building quarantine facilities not just in Victoria but all across the country is urgent. We agree that the government has made the decision not to refer this to the Public Works Committee because this matter is urgent. But where has the urgency been for the last year? Where has the urgency been in the Commonwealth actually accepting responsibility for what is in the Constitution as a Commonwealth responsibility? Where has the Morrison government's responsibility been when it comes to quarantine? It has been nowhere.

They did a deal back in March 2020 with the states and territories, when all of us thought that coronavirus was going to be over very quickly. We all thought, when this pandemic started: 'This is going to be like SARS. It's going to be over very quickly.' So they did a deal with the states then to look at hotel quarantine. It has been evident for over 12 months now that hotel quarantine is simply not fit for purpose. We have seen I think it is over 22 or 23 outbreaks recently from hotel quarantine and, particularly when we get to the delta variant, it is clear that hotel quarantine is no longer fit for purpose. It is no longer fit for purpose, and it is absolutely a disgrace.

The Morrison government had two jobs: roll out the vaccine program and fix quarantine. And what has it done? Absolutely nothing. It is failing at both. It is long past time that this government accepted responsibility for quarantine. It is terrific that they are now building a facility in Victoria. That is important, and that should be done, but it should have been done over 12 months ago. Every single state and territory should have a Howard Springs facility. Every single state and territory should have the capacity to ensure quarantine is done properly in this nation, and it is an absolutely damning indictment on this government that they have failed to do this. So, while we accept and agree that there is some urgency about this, where was the urgency over 12 months ago?

The best time to have built proper quarantine facilities was a year ago. The next best time to build them is now. So this is good news for Victorians, but what about the rest of the country? What about Queensland? We know there has been an outbreak from hotel quarantine just this week in Queensland. Where is the Commonwealth quarantine facility for Queensland? Again, we've seen outbreaks because of transmission from people transporting flight attendants in New South Wales. Where is the Commonwealth quarantine facility for the people of New South Wales? Where is the quarantine facility for South Australia or for Western Australia? Where is it for Tasmania? This is an absolute failure of governance on the part of the Morrison government, and it is something that should be called out every single day.

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