George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When will the madness end? How many more freedoms will we lose due to fear of a virus which has a survivability rate of 997 out of a thousand? It's time we stopped spreading fear and acknowledged some facts. Masks do not work—fact. It has been proven that masks make no significant difference in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Lockdowns don't work—fact. Lockdowns don't destroy the virus, but they do destroy people's livelihoods and people's lives. Studies have shown that they can even increase mortality rates. Domestic vaccine passports are a form of discrimination—fact. We are all human beings; nobody should be restricted from everyday life because of their medical choices, especially when vaccinated people can still catch and spread COVID-19.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our posturing politicians—many over there—the sensationalist media elite and the dictatorial medical bureaucrats need to recognise these facts and stop spreading fear. COVID-19 is going to be with us forever, just like the flu. And, just like the flu, we will have to live with it, not in constant fear of it. Some people will catch it. Tragically, some people will die from it. That's inevitable, and we have to accept it. What we should never accept is the systematic removal of our freedoms based on zero-risk health advice from a bunch of unelected medical bureaucrats. Open society back up! Restore our freedoms! End this madness!

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

South-East Queensland has just come out of its fifth lockdown. We know such lockdowns are necessary, but there's a financial and human cost with each one. Local businesses suffer, casual staff lose wages and the education of our children is disrupted. And, with each lockdown, people are getting more and more frustrated.

And so they should be. Prime Minister Morrison has been paid well to do two jobs during this pandemic: to provide a safe national quarantine system and a speedy and effective vaccine rollout. He has failed on both counts. He promised we would be at the front of the global vaccine queue. He promised that four million Australians would be vaccinated by March. He promised that all Australians would have the opportunity to be vaccinated by October this year. He promised all Australians who wanted to come home that they would be home by last Christmas. Instead, Aussies have been prevented from coming home because we're still relying on tourist hotels to quarantine travellers. Hotels were never meant to be used for quarantine purposes—they leak.

Today, three states are in lockdown. About 13 million Australians are in lockdown and the New South Wales lockdown alone is costing about a billion dollars a week. Eighteen months into this pandemic there are still more than 35,000 Australians stranded overseas, waiting to come home—many in dire straits. We're still waiting for fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities to be built, people want to be vaccinated but there just aren't enough vaccines available and lockdowns are our confronting reality.

Prime Minister, you had two jobs. You have failed to do both and it's time you went.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Stirling has about 20 seconds.