Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Centre for Disease Control Bill 2025. This is a significant measure in strengthening our nation's public health system. The bill establishes the Australian Centre for Disease Control, a dedicated and independent Commonwealth entity. It fulfils a key election commitment of the Albanese Labor government and responds to the pressing need to prepare our country for future health emergencies. Experts, consumer groups and the independent COVID-19 response inquiry have long called for this reform, and today we can say we have listened and we are delivering.

This legislation gives Australians confidence that future health emergencies will be managed by a modern, nationally coordinated body that can provide authoritative and evidence based public health advice. The centre will be independent and protected from politicisation. Its leadership will rest with the director-general, supported by an advisory council comprising experts who will guide priorities and offer sound recommendations. The centre will not operate in isolation. It will work in close partnership with the states, territories and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. This collaboration ensures no state or territory is left behind and that all Australians benefit from consistent, science driven public health strategies.

Importantly, this bill will streamline the way public health data is collected, linked and shared across jurisdictions. Strong and coordinated data systems mean that emerging trends can be identified faster and responded to more effectively.

Transparency will also be a cornerstone of the centre's work. It will publish the recommendations it provides to governments, allowing the public to see the evidence behind decisions and building trust in the advice given. This legislation is about protecting Australians and strengthening our resilience for whatever health challenges lie ahead.

COVID-19 was a difficult time for a lot of Australians. Sometimes there is a reluctance to talk about it. However, as a progressive government, we always accept the responsibility of planning for the future. We do not bury our heads in the sand. We ensure that we are always striving to make sure that the government can better support the Australian public. This means examining this challenging period with clear eyes and identifying where mistakes were made and where we can do better. We must acknowledge that delayed action in areas like acquiring sufficient vaccine stock and inconsistent responses between states cost lives and erode public confidence in the government.

Establishing a centre for disease control is about addressing those shortcomings by creating a permanent institution that can detect risks, coordinate responses and better prepare us for future threats. It is about establishing and delivering on our responsibility to protect Australians' health, both now and for generations to come. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed deep-rooted weaknesses in our ability to respond to public national health emergencies. The failures in leadership by the Morrison government left the burden to fall on the states. Responses were fragmented, data often failed to move between jurisdictions, and the absence of a single authoritative national body meant that at times communities were uncertain about the facts. The rampant spread of misinformation, combined with a lack of a national source of truth, left Australians vulnerable and confused. It was only when the government announced an independent COVID-19 response inquiry that these systematic failures were laid bare. That inquiry's central recommendation was the establishment of this centre. We are here today to act on those findings.

A modern public health agency must be able to identify threats early, share data seamlessly across borders and coordinate responses with speed and efficiency. For too long, our system has relied on ad hoc arrangements, outdated legislation and decisions made by individual jurisdictions. Not only does this increase the risk of worse health outcomes, but it's also inefficient, requiring each state and territory to come up with their own responses, to duplicate resources and to come up with their own policy solutions. This centre is designed to close those gaps. It will unite expertise in epidemiology, infectious diseases, data science and public communication under one roof—one trusted message for all Australians.

Of course, we hope there will never be another pandemic, but, while we can hope for the best, we also have a responsibility to prepare for the worst. We cannot afford to wait for the next outbreak to build the infrastructure and expertise we need. We cannot simply assume that, because we endured COVID-19, we are safe from future threats. This is about protecting Australians from the health risks that lie ahead, from emerging infectious diseases to climate driven health challenges that are growing in frequency and complexity. By investing in a CDC now, we are equipping our country with the tools to mitigate risks before they escalate into national emergencies. As a government, we understand that public health is not just about individual wellbeing. It is also a matter of national security and economic stability. Without a healthy population, we do not have a productive workforce. Without that workforce, our economy suffers. Australians deserve a health system that is fit for the challenges of the 21st century.

It is worth reflecting on what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments across Australia acted quickly to stop the spread of the disease. Restrictive measures were enacted: enforcing the closure of businesses and schools, mandating social distancing and limiting movement, to name a few. The necessary swiftness of these measures saved lives and protected the health system, but the economic, social and mental health impacts were not always fully understood. I say again that we cannot forget the failures of the Morrison Liberal government in being too slow to acquire vaccines and distribute them. Vaccines were our main path out of the measures that we had to put in place to protect public health, and a slowness and delay in acquiring them meant that lockdowns had to be longer than needed.

We can also look further back to understand how we reached this point. The truth is that Australia once had a dedicated public health agency, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency, established by a Labor government in 2010. In 2014, that agency was abolished by the coalition government. At the time, the decision was justified under the guise of reducing the size of government and achieving greater efficiency, but what efficiency was achieved? Instead of strengthening the health system, this decision dismantled our national preventive health infrastructure and left us without a central body to coordinate and advise on emerging threats. That gap in leadership came at a profound cost to Australians. So, when the pandemic struck in 2020, we paid the price for this lack of foresight. Instead of having a ready, independent source of expertise to guide national decision-making, each state and territory was left to handle the crisis largely on its own.

Here we see the dangers of the Liberal ideological opposition to a strong Public Service. In the last election campaign, we saw the Liberal opposition put forward an arbitrary number to cut the Public Service by, without regard for the measures that were needed and the way that public services needed to have sufficient resources to perform its functions, for example, protecting public health. The absence of a national coordinating body left us vulnerable to inconsistent approaches and delayed action. There was no failure of our public health professionals in the COVID-19 pandemic. They served the nation with courage and skill. It was a failure of planning and investment by the coalition government.

Health care is at the heart of Labor's mission. We understand that protecting public health is essential. When the coalition cuts, Australians pay. The Albanese government is determined to ensure that never happens again. This bill demonstrates our commitment to rebuilding and strengthening Australia's public health capacity after nine years of coalition cuts and neglect. The Australian Centre for Disease Control will not only safeguard the public from future health emergencies but also uphold transparency and accountability. In an era of misinformation and political opportunism, the CDC will be required to publish the recommendations it provides to government. This will help the public see the evidence behind decisions and build trust in the advice given. That stands in stark contrast to the confusion and secrecy that too often characterised the coalition government's approach. The CDC will be a statutory authority with clearly defined responsibilities and a mandate to advise not only the federal government but also the states, territories and even international partners such as the World Health Organization.

This is a genuine reform, driven by evidence and shaped by the hard lessons of recent history. Before we came to government, Australia was the only OECD nation without a dedicated CDC. That absence left a gap in our ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. That is why we are prioritising this bill. Establishing the CDC will deliver practical and measurable benefits for the public, for governments and for the health system. It will ensure that our country's capacity to protect Australians is on par with, and in some areas better than, comparable nations in the OECD. The benefits go beyond infectious diseases. While the CDC's initial focus will be on communicable diseases, its remit will expand over time to include chronic and occupational illnesses, climate related health risks and other emerging challenges. Establishing the CDC is not just a response to the challenges of the past; it is investment in a safer, healthier and more resilient future.

This bill lays the foundation for a national agency that will protect Australians from the health threats of tomorrow. That is what Labor governments do. We strengthen the health system and invest in the long-term wellbeing of our communities. The last time Australia had a national preventive health agency was under a Labor government. Once again, it is Labor taking the responsibility to ensure that Australians have the health protection they deserve. That is the vision of the Albanese Labor government: an Australia where health decisions are guided by science, where transparency builds trust and where the systems are strong enough to protect every community—an Australia where the public can rely on and trust the information they receive, safeguarded from misinformation and political opportunism. This legislation brings us closer to that vision. That is why I commend this bill to the House.

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