Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's COVID on the Central Coast and in the Hunter because this government failed with the national quarantine system for the 27th time. There's COVID in the Hunter and on the Central Coast because this government egged on the New South Wales Premier not to lock down the eastern suburbs of Sydney when she had the chance. There's COVID in the Hunter and on the Central Coast because COVID spread throughout Sydney because there were insufficient vaccines—because of the incompetence of this government. There's COVID in the Hunter and on the Central Coast because this government forced the New South Wales government to steal our Pfizer vaccines—because they couldn't supply Sydney with sufficient COVID vaccines.

There are now 12 Lake Macquarie aged-care residents in hospital because this government failed to vaccinate aged-care workers by Easter, which they promised to do. There's COVID on the Central Coast and in the Hunter—24 cases today alone. The lockdown has been extended another week because this government had two jobs to do this year—to deliver the vaccine and have a functioning national quarantine system—and they failed at both, and they aided and abetted an incompetent New South Wales government, which didn't lock down the eastern suburbs when it had the chance. They egged it on and they then assisted and aided in its stealing of Pfizer vaccines from the Hunter and Central Coast.

My community is suffering because of the incompetence of this government. They're furious, they're scared and they're worried about their health and their economic future, all because of the incompetence of this government.