Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I don't accept the characterisation by Senator Thorpe in her question. This is a challenging global pandemic. As I said in response to the primary question, more than 4½ million people around the world have lost their lives. We've sought to provide the best protections possible for Australians from the outset, through the closure of Australia's international borders; through the scaling up of a range of different health responses across the country, working closely with those state and territory partners; and now, at this stage, through the vaccine rollout—