Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Seventy per cent of Australians aged 16 years and over have met the call to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. With such a tremendous effort and with more milestones to come, will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's national plan for reopening is working by putting restrictions like lockdowns behind us so we can safely live with the virus?

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

I thank the member for Higgins for her question and her constant advice when it comes to managing the issues of the pandemic, given her great experience. It is great news for Australia. Seventy per cent of Australians aged over 16 have been fully vaccinated. Our full vaccination rate is now in excess of that of the United States. Indeed, not only has our first dose vaccination rate passed those of European Union countries like Germany and so on, as well as Israel, but, within days, we will pass the first dose vaccination rate of the United Kingdom as well. Victoria, in particular, and Tasmania will go through that 70 per cent gate in the next 24 hours, joining New South Wales and the ACT, as Australia's vaccination rates surge to what we expect will be one of the highest vaccination rates of anywhere in the world. That has been a great effort by Australians, and I thank Australians for keeping their side of the deal of the national plan, which said, 'Go out and roll up your sleeve, and we will get through this together.' That is what Australians have been doing. They have been keeping their side of the deal of the national plan, and that has enabled them not just to save lives—they've saved more than 30,000 lives over the course of this pandemic—but also to have one of the strongest economic performances throughout the course of the pandemic, as we now move towards having one of the highest rates of vaccination around the advanced world today.

This means that, as a result of the national plan, the Melbourne lockdown will end on Thursday night. It means that, in New South Wales and the ACT, the lockdown has already come to an end. It means restaurants, cafes and pubs are open. It means that barbers and hairdressers will be able to fix many of the home haircuts that have been done during lockdown over the last few months. I know there are plenty of people looking forward to that. Live theatre is open again in Sydney now. Hamilton is back on the stage, and Harry Potter will return to the stage in November as the national plan takes effect. Kids are going back to school, and what is great is that kids are getting together again and having play dates and sleepovers again. That's what the national plan has been designed to deliver. In Queensland, I welcome the fact that they're opening their borders again in December. I welcome the fact that they're introducing home quarantine for people returning to Queensland. But there are 8,000 Queenslanders who need to be able to get home and have access to home quarantine, and I encourage the Queensland government to go further down that path, as I also do the governments of South Australia and Tasmania. Australia is opening up because of its great efforts. Thank you, Australia.