Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. In June, the Prime Minister congratulated the New South Wales Premier for not going into lockdown. In July, he said lockdowns were a 'necessary tool'. In August he pushed New South Wales to lock down harder and also said, 'For the lockdown to work the lockdown must work.' Today he switched again, saying lockdowns must end. When the Prime Minister's story changes so often, how can Australians have confidence going forward?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition is deliberately mischaracterising.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Members on my left!

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's quite simple. It's very simple. I'll set it out for the Leader of the Opposition. The national plan says we are, right now, in the suppression phase. In the suppression phase—that is, until we reach 70 per cent of the country being vaccinated—lockdowns are an important part of the suppression tools used by state and territory governments. And that position of lockdowns becoming the more prominent tool was arrived at after the lessons learnt in New South Wales as a result of the delta variant. It's that simple. The Leader of the Opposition now wishes to suggest that, moving to a point after we reach 70 per cent, we should have lockdowns in that arrangement.

The plan is very clear. Right now, the national plan is to suppress the virus as much as we possibly can. The delta variant was a changing circumstance which has adjusted the responses that states and territories are making. All through the COVID pandemic, we have sought to adjust our responses to deal with the information that is in front of us. This national plan means that, when we reach 70 per cent, we can begin saying goodbye to those lockdowns, because, once you hit 70 per cent, lockdowns on the scale we are seeing today will do more harm than good at that time. That is the medical advice, that is the scientific advice and that is the economic advice.

That's why the national plan is so important. Those opposite may seek to undermine the national plan, they may seek to run down the national plan, they may seek to steal the hope of Australians and hope for the worst, which is the woo-hoo moment that the Leader of the Opposition might seek, but we will keep faith with that plan and we will keep faith with the implementation of that plan. So I call on the opposition to support the national plan, rather than seek to undermine it, as they have sought to undermine the government every step of the way through the pandemic.