Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

STANLEY (—) (): In the last six months, my community followed health orders to the letter. They lined up for hours to get tested because they were asked to on health advice. Now we find out it wasn't the health advice at all. Yesterday it was revealed the key advice from the Chief Health Officer of New South Wales was ignored on multiple occasions by the former Premier and the current health minister.

My community has a right to feel aggrieved with these revelations. We were consistently singled out, as we had police on horseback and the Army brought in. It was clear at the time that measures should be consistent across all of greater Sydney. There was always a problem with the ridiculousness of determining risk based on lines on a map. Since June, more than 22,000 people in my community have contracted COVID and there were 175 deaths. My community lost loved ones, were in lockdown for 107 days, lost jobs and businesses and have increased anxiety. HSC exams were postponed and families' and friends' lives were turned upside down.

We can only imagine how much quicker that outbreak might have been resolved if there were clear and reasonable orders that did not divide communities. How many people would be alive today? The tale of two Sydney's must come to an end. There is only one way forward for my community. Everybody has to be treated the same no matter what their postcode is.