Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to remind the chamber of the motion we're actually debating here tonight because that hasn't been clear in the contributions of those on the other side. This motion, which was put forward by Labor, talks about the disastrous COVID summer. It accuses the government of failing to listen to warnings, failing to take responsibility for ordering rapid antigen tests and failing to learn from past mistakes.

I wonder if Labor would have done anything differently. When you actually look at the time lines, when you actually look at what was happening right around the world, and when you consider the scientific and expert advice that we are always told we've got to listen to—listen to the experts, listen to the scientists, take on board what they're saying and act according to that advice.

Let me remind people that, even as late as August last year, the advice from the AHPPC discouraged the use of rapid antigen tests when the prevalence of COVID was low. In August last year, they said RATs should only be used as a precautionary surveillance measure, and they recommended their use only for healthcare settings. But, according to Labor, somehow we should have ignored that advice and pre-empted things even before the Therapeutic Goods Authority had approved RATs for home use. We were actually ahead of the game. As soon as the TGA approved point-of-care use of RATs, we entered into agreements with suppliers. We secured 4.45 million RATs and commenced a trial for point-of-care RAT testing in aged-care settings. But Labor would like to ignore that fact and pretend that it all only occurred over our summer. Our summer was the European winter, at which time the whole world was struggling to source enough RATs. But somehow we should have miraculously been able to access them, when the United States, Europe, the UK and Canada could not fulfil their own demand for RATs. We should have been immune to a global supply shortage during a global pandemic, according to Labor. That's just living in fairyland.

Don't forget, as well, that even after the TGA had approved use for RATs in home settings, even after the government had started a procurement program, the states had still not approved their use. Let's not forget that when omicron raised its ugly head in Australia in late November, and when the states responded by shutting their borders, it was the states who insisted that they would take nothing short of a PCR test as proof of COVID negativity. Queensland kept that up all the way until January, such that the demand for PCR tests in New South Wales went through the roof—not from people showing symptoms from COVID, not from who were close contacts, but from people who wanted to go on holiday and from people who wanted to visit their families. Senator Sheldon talks about the squeeze on our freight and supply chains. Well, the squeeze was exacerbated by these state based policy principles that required all truckies to have PCR tests because RATs weren't good enough. This was a state Labor government demanding PCR tests so that their trucks, carrying their groceries, could get over the border to deliver to their supermarket shelves.

Labor somehow thinks that we had a crystal ball. Somehow, according to Labor, we should have been able to foresee omicron. The World Health Organization only declared omicron a variant of concern on 26 November. By that stage, we had already entered into these RAT trials in aged-care settings. We had already commenced a procurement program. But we still didn't have omicron in our country, and no-one could have predicted the scourge that omicron brought.

I want to also talk about issues in aged-care settings. COVID has always represented a risk in aged care, from the very first COVID outbreak in aged care that occurred in New South Wales in 2020. We established a surge workforce to support facilities where staff were sidelined through COVID infection or being a close contact, or where they just needed support. This surge workforce has been in place ever since, available for every state and for any facility that requests it. To date that surge workforce has covered over 80,000 shifts. Yes, omicron is rapidly spreading at the moment and our workforce needs to adjust. Yes, we now have the Defence Force assisting in that area. But somehow Labor think they would have foreseen all this.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our aged-care workforce, the surge workforce and the Defence Force, who have all worked tirelessly to do their utmost to keep the residents of our aged-care facilities healthy and safe. I want to acknowledge that working in aged care is difficult at the best of times, regardless of COVID. It is a very sad fact that people in aged-care facilities pass on. It's worse when they pass on separated from their families due to quarantine requirements in response to a once-in-100-years pandemic. I feel for those who work in this situation and I feel for the families who have lost their loved ones. I don't care whether the resident has passed away from COVID, with COVID or without COVID; it's always sad. It's always a loss.

But Labor seem to be implying that, if they were in charge, things would be different. I want to know how. It's all well and good to stand here and throw stones when you've got no responsibility for cleaning up the shards of glass afterwards. How would Labor have addressed this situation to ensure that facilities were not locked down during the various waves of COVID, to ensure families still had access to their loved ones? I don't see how. I have family in hospital right now who cannot be visited by anyone, because they are all operating under COVID restrictions. We are operating under COVID restrictions in this place. But somehow Labor would wave a magic wand, and it wouldn't be occurring. How would Labor make sure that staff at our aged-care facilities would not come into contact with COVID and would be available for 100 per cent of their shifts so that they don't need a surge workforce or the Defence Force?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you cannot judge our government on what you know now with hindsight. Judge us on where we are at today, on how we have responded and learnt and adapted to ensure we continue to have a strong economy, record low unemployment, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and one of the lowest COVID death rates in the world. I think we've done quite well, all things considered.