Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Centre for Disease Control Bill 2025 and the Australian Centre for Disease Control (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025. This is essential and very important. These bills will establish the Australians Centre for Disease Control, a long overdue and essential step to strengthen our national public health preparedness. I actually called for this during the 2022 election, and the crossbench engaged with the Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing in the last parliament on the establishment of this agency. Key in that consultation process were discussions around, for example, where it should be based to make sure it genuinely is a national centre for disease control. I commend the government for implementing this as a matter of urgency during this term of government and for progressing this very important organisation.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed just how critical clear, science based communication, information and coordination are to policy responses. A CDC will play a vital role in preventing and responding to future pandemics and in addressing the growing health impacts of many other challenges, in particular from our changing climate. I very much support the amendments proposed by the member for Mackellar and the member for Kooyong because they will strengthen the transparency, integrity and focus of the CDC to ensure Australians can have trust in this very important institution.

I was in parliament during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I saw firsthand the upheaval within our communities and the frustration at the inconsistency across our country—it has a unique system; there were seven different policies across different states and territories—in our response to COVID-19. One of the things that will always stand out for me, and that I welcomed, was the fact that decisions of government, of premiers and of the Prime Minister were made with scientific evidence and fact. Those images of doctors and chief medical officers standing next to premiers and the Prime Minister to inform advice absolutely helped save lives. They built the social licence and the acceptance from the vast majority of our communities in such incredibly difficult and important times. Australians overwhelmingly accepted curtailing their freedoms on the basis of expert medical advice to keep the more vulnerable in our communities safe, and that was so incredibly important.

I have to note that, while I know the nation had the effort of her expertise, in particular the community in Warringah and I had the assistance of the incredible Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, an extraordinary epidemiologist who gave clarity and calm amid chaos. She was an invaluable source of information and support for me personally, for the Warringah community and, I think, for Australia at large, helping us understand such complex facts and situations. She helped us understand what was happening and why and what we could do to mitigate it. She took the time to explain the complex concepts in clear terms. She helped to keep the community informed and calm during a time of turbulence and uncertainty. Her loss is very deeply felt. This bill in many ways honours her legacy of science based, transparent public health leadership.

I would also like to thank, from my office, Julie Giannesini, an electorate officer in my team who has been with me for six years. She worked tirelessly during the COVID pandemic to assist so many people within my community with urgent visas and exemption requests around business and personal travel arrangements, sick parents, attending funerals, and people stranded around the world. Her incredible work was recognised and appreciated by so many in my community. I want to make sure that is on the record.

Of course, so many helped during that time. The frontline services and health professionals that worked tirelessly around the clock really showed just how much we as a society need to value the importance of those frontline services and health professionals. Before COVID-19, Australia's public health system was largely state based and fragmented. I think COVID-19 really exposed the gaps in not having a single coordinated body. While we fared better than many other nations, it was due to an evidence based direction informed by our top medical officers. I know that wasn't always easy, so I very much thank them.

The health impacts of climate change are among the most significant and growing threats facing Australians. I dearly wish for the same scientifically backed approach that we took with COVID-19 to be taken with other risks, particularly in relation to climate change and the risk to health that that poses. I call on the government to ensure that this is also the focus of the CDC, because the national climate risk assessment highlights that climate change will have a severe impact on our health and social support system by as early as 2050 unless we can mitigate and address it and invest in preparation for it. Heatwaves are an enduring feature of Australia's climate and have significant social, health and economic impacts. Rising temperatures are increasing the incidence of heat related illnesses, cardiovascular stress and dehydration, especially among older Australians, outdoor workers and the more vulnerable. In New South Wales, heat related deaths may rise by some 444 per cent under the scenario of an increase of three degrees, which we are, sadly, on track for. Bushfire smoke and other air pollution are driving higher rates of respiratory disease and asthma. So it's clear that, if we want a comprehensive health approach, these issues have to be addressed by the CDC as well.

Establishing an Australian CDC provides an opportunity to build a proactive, integrated and independent health protection system. For this to be effective, we must ensure that it is science led, nationally coordinated, future focused, community connected and globally engaged. To do this, the implementation will be the key. The CDC must be properly funded and staffed by qualified public health professionals. It must have robust independence and transparency over appointments to ensure integrity and build trust with the community around its work and effectiveness.

We have seen the impact of politicisation of appointments to the CDC in the United States. The appointment of Robert F Kennedy Jr to head of health has replaced science with ideology, and the ripple effect of this will negatively impact the health of Americans and will be felt for years, but it will also have an impact in Australia and around the world. We're seeing the withdrawal of funding from science and research, and that will have catastrophic consequences for so many. So it's so important that this CDC, to genuinely serve the Australian people, be robustly independent of the government of the day so that there can be no question of public service in terms of the public interest and better good. It has to be fearless advice.

We must have the ability to invest in data integration, which is already contemplated in the bill, to ensure the linking of environmental health and demographic data to provide early warning systems to emerging health threats. Of course, we also need to be mindful that First Nations Australians need to be a priority in these considerations, working alongside these communities to recognise the unique challenges First Nations Australians face in relation to their health and in relation to environmental change and health resilience. It is critically important that special consideration be given.

Finally, public communication must be a cornerstone. Clear, consistent and accessible communication is vital. It must be available to all communities in all languages to make sure we truly have a CDC that works for the multicultural and diverse Australia. All communities, all Australians, must have confidence that the CDC is working and really looking out for everyone's health.

Ultimately, this bill establishing a CDC is about lessons learned. The pandemic showed us what happens when science, communication and community willpower align. It also showed what happens when we don't—fear, confusion and division. The next crisis might look different, but the principle remains the same. The bill is a step forward towards embedding that preparation in our national framework, and so I commend the bill to the House.

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