Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Western Sydney, including my electorate of Greenway, is struggling as a direct result of the Morrison government's failure to plan for and manage the COVID-19 pandemic. They failed to secure our borders with fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities. Then they failed to secure enough vaccines. September is nearly upon us, yet we still don't have a genuine plan for Australia's reopening when we reach 70 to 80 per cent vaccination coverage. The Prime Minister needs to explain what the Doherty modelling means on the ground for when we reopen. A vaccination target is no substitute for laying out a plan to manage the lifting of restrictions as best we can. Reports today say that Westmead and Blacktown hospitals are already setting up makeshift triage units and are diverting patients to other hospitals to manage the surge of COVID-19 patients. Where's the plan for how our frontline health workers are going to cope when we reopen? What's the plan to manage the case load in hotspot areas like mine, with persistent high rates of infection and where hospitals are already under strain? What's the plan for vaccinating the last 20 per cent of people who need protecting? Why is there still no plan for the vaccination of all children aged 12 and over? My deepest thanks go to all our frontline health workers, who are doing such a massive job in such trying conditions. These workers, as well as the people of Western Sydney, deserve a Prime Minister who provides a real plan for our reopening, not someone who always does too little too late when it comes to keeping Australians safe.