Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Hansard source

In response to the notice passed in the chamber, I advise the chamber that the government maintains its public interest immunity claims advanced in response to the request from the Select Committee on COVID-19.

I thank the select committee for its important work this year in overseeing the government's response to the economic and health challenges of the pandemic. Coalition senators acknowledge the important role of parliamentary oversight in our system of government, which has been even more important during the COVID-19 crisis.

On both the economic and health fronts, Australia has fared better than most countries in dealing with COVID-19. Australia's critical response has been underpinned by a combination of extensive testing and contact tracing, high vaccination rates, quarantine of people returning from overseas and measures to control community transmission. Of the 38 developed OECD countries, Australia has the second-lowest number of COVID cases on a per capita basis. By avoiding the death rates seen in the OECD, it's estimated that we've saved over 30,000 lives.

Commendably, 87 per cent of the eligible population aged over 16 are fully vaccinated, and hence we are one of the most highly vaccinated societies in the world, with a national booster program already underway. While Australia has been doing it tough, our economy has proved to be resilient. Australia was the first advanced economy to have more people in work than prior to COVID-19; nearly 900,000 jobs have been created since May 2020. The RBA has recently revised up its forecast for wages and now sees the unemployment rate reaching four per cent by the end of 2023. After last year's recession, Australia's economy—GDP—recovered to be larger than prior to the pandemic, ahead of any advanced major economy in the world.

While Australians have experienced public health restrictions this year, the federal government—