Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sick of my community being vilified by government leaders and by the media. The virus didn't start in my community; it started from another breach of quarantine spread from Bondi. We've followed the health advice and we have complied. We've only left the house for the allowed essential reasons. There were lines kilometres long to get tested so that we could simply go to work. Yet my community has been subjected to innuendo, police on horseback and now the Army, with boots on the ground. Just yesterday, we had major news publications' graphics pointing out in red that we are the worst vaccinated part of Sydney. There is a very good reason for that. The vaccination rollout in south-west Sydney has been abysmal. Opportunities for vaccinations have just not been available. Add to that mixed messages and constant changes about who can get vaccinated and when. The consequences are just heartbreaking. Yesterday, Aude Alaskar, a 27-year-old man, died. He was a man who had his life ahead of him. He leaves behind grieving family and friends. Today, there were five more deaths and families have been affected. I send my sincere condolences to everyone who is grieving today. My community would be out of lockdown if we had taken the lead of other states and gone hard and gone early. We need governments, particularly the federal one, that take responsibility for quarantine and vaccinations.