House debates

Thursday, 24 June 2021

Questions without Notice

COVID-19: Vaccination

2:10 pm

Photo of Mark ButlerMark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. A driver of international aircrew who was reportedly unvaccinated and unmasked is at the centre of the New South Wales outbreak. The government's hand-picked adviser, Jane Halton, says she warned the government last year that transport arrangement were 'a potential hole and had to be a high priority'. Why did the Prime Minister ignore that advice, and does he now take any responsibility for the Sydney outbreak?

Photo of Scott MorrisonScott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | | Hansard source

[by video link] As the member would be well aware, the vaccination of those workers in quarantine is the responsibility of state governments. What we're seeing again from the opposition is a deliberate attempt to try to politicise this terrible outbreak in Sydney. As a Sydneysider, I'm not going to have to the Labor Party add to the hardship faced by Sydneysiders by seeking to politicise what they're having to go through now. There are responsibilities that are held at a Commonwealth level and at a state level. As the Premier said this morning in New South Wales, there is an investigation into that transport worker, who should have been vaccinated. The doses were available and, in this case, that worker was not vaccinated, and the New South Wales Premier has made it very clear that they're investigating how that occurred.

I would encourage the opposition, rather than to seek political pointscoring in the middle of a pandemic, to grow up and focus on supporting the government as we seek to take Australia through this pandemic. Australians do not need bickering from the opposition. They need a constructive opposition which will support the government as we continue to lead Australia through this crisis.