Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the sad decay and decline of the Centre for National Resilience, the quarantine facility at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, under the watch of the Gunner Labor government. This facility was considered world-class, gold standard, under Professor Len Notaras and his AUSMAT team. It has gone from gold standard to winning the wooden spoon.

Just last week we had three people presumed to have actually caught COVID within the centre. We had one person abscond. They got out of the centre and were found hours later at a bar in Darwin's CBD. Just today we have news of three people absconding from the centre and being found in Palmerston. People are just going over the very small fence and getting out. This never happened under Professor Len Notaras. That's why it was considered to be gold standard. It wasn't the physical buildings of the facility itself; it was the management.

Less than six months since the facility was handed over to Michael Gunner it has gone into absolute decline. It has gone from being the shining light of quarantine facilities around the world and around Australia. We've had people come to the Northern Territory to examine the facility and see what we're doing that is working so well. It was working well until the management of the facility was handed over to Michael Gunner. It has gone from being the shining light to a chaotic failure. It's very sad that in less than six months it has been torn apart and is no longer functional.