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

Mr Speaker, good luck on your last day in the chair! My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Why does the Prime Minister claim he is opposed to mandatory vaccinations when he has imposed mandatory vaccinations on aged-care workers, Australians returning home, quarantine workers and even journalists attending his own press conferences?

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

The Leader of the Opposition is wrong. He is completely wrong. The government doesn't oppose mandatory vaccinations for health workers, aged-care workers and disability workers. In particular, I can advise the Leader of the Opposition that it was as Prime Minister that I took the proposal, supported by the AHPPC, the medical expert panel and the Chief Medical Officer, that it was essential that we mandate vaccines for aged-care workers. That was done in November, and it was not until mid- to late August that all states and territories had followed through on the commitment to put that in place. Mandatory vaccines for health workers, for aged-care workers, for those who are working with vulnerable people, was the clear medical advice. That was supported by the Chief Medical Officer and that's what the government acted on, and we sought to have those arrangements put in place through the states, which they have done.

Over the course of these past few years, it has been essential to take a series of decisions to protect Australians. The national plan that was agreed, that was pulled together by the government and supported on two occasions by all premiers and chief ministers, provides the pathway forward to ensure that governments can step back and Australians can step forward. There is a time and a place for controls and restrictions to be in place, and there is a time for governments to step back. And the government has always been clear in acting on the advice and listening carefully to the advice of the medical experts that have informed the positions the government has taken.

The government have not supported the campaigns of anti-vaxxers; we have not done that. We have supported the sensible balanced approach, listening carefully to the medical advice and commissioning the Doherty institute to provide the specific scientific hurdles for vaccination rates to be reached that would enable Australians to be given their lives back and those restrictions to be lifted. I won't be verballed by the Leader of the Opposition. If he doesn't think Australians should have their lives back, he can make that case to them.