Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Those opposite, who like to interject, like to make out that they're a bit holier than thou on this stuff. But this isn't just me talking. We can't allow this kind of misinformation to stand. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth is on the record with this. He says that allegations that the government lacked urgency when helping aged-care homes to battle coronavirus are insulting. That's what you're doing: you're insulting the aged-care workers who have tried so hard to adapt to the challenge of this time. Similarly, he has said:

… the first thing to say is that there were many words used in the royal commission witness statements today that perhaps don't reflect the totality of the Government's response, both at federal and state level to preventing deaths in aged care.

Here's the guts of it:

This is a virus that disproportionately affects the aged in our community. That is not a statement of futility, it is a statement of fact.

That's a direct quote from him.

You can cast arrows at me all you like, but that is a statement of fact from a man of science who understands how viruses like this work. It is very easy to throw political arrows over this side and try and claim a scalp or two, or try and string up a minister to blame, but ultimately this is the nature of the virus. We are doing everything that can possibly be done to get it under control so that people in our community, people like my family, don't have to experience the death of a loved one alone.