Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] In my state of New South Wales, we are now seeing the tragic consequences of Mr Morrison's lack of urgency on vaccines, on quarantine and on protecting First Nations communities. We have seen the first death of an Indigenous person in the pandemic—a man in his 50s in Dubbo. Nowhere in New South Wales has a higher rate of infection than that of Wilcannia, where more than 10 per cent of the mostly Indigenous local community have contracted the virus.

Mr Morrison was warned about the potential for a COVID crisis in Wilcannia 18 months ago. In March 2020, the Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation wrote to the Morrison government. That letter said:

We cannot wait until the first case turns up in the community, or worse, the first hospital case presents.

The poverty and extreme vulnerability of Aboriginal people and communities in the Murdi Paaki region is a direct result of decades of failed government policies.

The letter went on to say:

I'm sure you can understand our anxiety that these failures not continue, or worsen, throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

That was in March of last year. As of yesterday, there were 73 cases in Wilcannia, which has a population of just 745 people. The worst fears expressed by Maari Ma 18 months ago have, tragically, been realised. In a separate letter sent to the Prime Minister just last week, Maari Ma said,:

Disappointingly, no tangible plan was in place prior to this outbreak that could have been easily implemented.

As a result, we've been playing catch up from day one.

Our systems and services are ill-prepared, actions are too slow to be implemented, our responses have been substandard, existing resources and expertise is not sufficient.

It's clear, based on these comments, that there has been an utter failure of preparing and planning by the Morrison government.

Dr Peter Malouf from the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of New South Wales said yesterday:

Our community-controlled health services in those areas certainly expressed to government 18 months ago about preparedness and investing in resources in those communities.

But those requests had obviously been silenced by both the commonwealth and NSW governments, and now we're seeing these high numbers of cases.

He went on to say:

It's just horrible.

While Mr Morrison is doing the rounds in the media talking about a 'national plan', it's worth remembering that, under Mr Morrison's earlier plan—his vaccination plan—First Nations people were part of phase 1b of the rollout and were supposed to be fully vaccinated by this winter. Winter has come and gone. Spring is here, and just 12.5 per cent of Indigenous people in New South Wales are fully vaccinated. So not only has Mr Morrison not heeded the warnings of Maari Ma and other groups and not only was there no plan in place to prevent the outbreak in far western New South Wales but he has also failed to hold up his own vaccination plan.

I want to contrast that with the inspirational leadership you're seeing from those in the local community. Last night, NITV shone a spotlight on Leroy Johnson and Warlpa Thompson, who are making five-hour round trips to hunt kangaroo meat in the Mutawintji National Park, which Mr Johnson manages, and deliver it to Wilcannia to prevent the local community going hungry. They call this 'Operation Deliver-roo'. If only the big platform Deliveroo had a sliver of the integrity and community spirit that you have shown. I commend Mr Johnson and Mr Thompson and those who are supporting their efforts, including the CEO of Barkandji Native Title, Derek Hardman, Barkandji elder Robert Kennedy and local broadcaster Brendon Adams for stepping up and demonstrating some sorely needed leadership during this outbreak. I hope the Prime Minister is taking notes.

Quite clearly the government does not know how to represent and support regional Australia, and quite clearly the concerns raised by this community are a rallying call for the government to get its act together— (Time expired)