Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I listen to members opposite I wonder what planet they live on. Yes, of course we want to get out of these terrible lockdowns, but people also want to be vaccinated. That isn't easy to do if you live in the Blue Mountains or the Hawkesbury and you're not able to spend hours and days online or phoning GPs to try and get an appointment. Even when you do get one it's typically not until October or November, unless you're lucky—especially in the case where you need Pfizer. Not for the mum who's a nurse and doesn't want to risk taking COVID home to her unvaccinated children in her home, because she works in an area where COVID is much more prevalent than the Blue Mountains, but she can't get an appointment for her kids. The year 12 students in the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury can't get appointments. Breastfeeding mums can't get appointments. The aged-care disability and childcare workers and teachers see residents in the areas where they work being prioritised, yet they are not prioritised.

There is no hub. The health minister has ignored requests for the Defence Force to get involved in operating hubs. Instead of telling people daily to get vaccinated we need to get enough supply for that to happen, and it has to be easy for it to happen. We need drive-throughs. We need mobile teams who can go into more remote communities or go into schools. These are the things that will get us out of this mess.