Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'The most severe acute health emergency seen in modern times' is what the World Health Organization has said. 'The Ebola outbreak in Africa constitutes a threat to international peace and security' is what the UN Security Council has said. 'We are witnessing a humanitarian and public health crisis of the highest order' is what our own AMA president Brian Owler has said. There are so many experts around the world telling us that we have a limited window of opportunity to act to contain Ebola in West Africa or this crisis will go beyond anything we have the capacity to respond to.

Ebola has already killed 4½ thousand people and infected around 10,000 people in West Africa. The Centres for Disease Control estimate that, by the beginning of next year, 1.4 million people may be affected if we do not get this virus under control. On 1 October, the United Nations said that if we do not get Ebola under control within 60 days it was likely to be impossible to get under control.

We have been told by our government that our responsibility is here in the region and that we are prepared to help in the region. We have had information suggesting that the government was preparing to perhaps deploy in our region should it become necessary. Peter Dutton, the health minister, said just a few days ago that 'Australia had the capacity and the capability to rapidly deploy forces out of Darwin into our near neighbours.' On Monday, the Prime Minister visited Port Moresby and said to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea that Australia could support a regional outbreak should it become necessary.

Unfortunately, today in Senate estimates we heard wildly different accounts of whether this is in fact the case. We have heard differing accounts from the Chief Medical Officer, from the Department of Health and from the Department of Defence. This afternoon, the health minister was caught out by the ABC for saying that the government was funding the Red Cross to fight Ebola in West Africa—even though they are not. The government's chaotic response to this serious health crisis is absolutely extraordinary.

House adjourned at 20:00