Lockdowns and the Andrews Government
Transcript … August 2021
Senator VAN (Victoria) (15:21): I rise to respond to Senator McAllister and Senator Keneally because they've just got it plain wrong. They were so silent last year when Victoria was in lockdown; we did not hear a peep out of them. There was not one peep about how badly managed the pandemic was in Victoria.
Senator McAllister was quoting Professor Blakely just now. He was the one who was calling for better contact tracing in Victoria last year. Victoria has had over 200 days of lockdown. So when you're banging on about the people in south-western Sydney, think about the people in Victoria. Think about the people in Melbourne who have done it so much tougher than on your patch. I have full empathy and sympathy for the people in south-western Sydney. The government has been doing an exceptional job of getting the vaccine out to protect those people.
I was flicking through some materials over the weekend and I pulled out a media report from 5 November 2020. It was talking about how the government had just completed its fourth order for a total of 135 million vaccines for Australians and for our Pacific neighbours; that's more than five times the population of Australia. Now, if we look at the figures of what vaccine supply we have agreements for, there are 255 million doses ordered or under contract, plus over $25 million for the COVAX facility. There is going to be more than enough to go around. There is more than enough now.
I was listening to Premier Andrews yesterday in his daily little press conference—and it just chills Victorians to the bone every time they see him stand up and hear him speak about how we've got to go harder. He was saying that, even in the state-run facilities, there were over 70,000 vaccine appointments available that Victorians could go and get. There would be even more in the Commonwealth-run ones—probably two-thirds of that again. So there is ample work being done to protect Australians and protect Victorians.
When it comes to Premier Andrews, is he a man of his word or not? This is the question that all Australians, and particularly Victorians, have to ask. He went to national cabinet. He sat down with his colleagues, all the premiers, and they agreed on the national plan. That plan was phase A, the current phase, where we accelerate vaccination rates and where we have lockdowns. But now he's stepping back from what he agreed to with phase B. He's going: 'Maybe not, once we hit 70 per cent. Maybe not, when we get to 80 per cent.' Does this man not keep his word? Is that all his word is worth? It's the same with Premier McGowan. Are they just going to back away from their word? These are people who Australians voted in, putting their trust in them, and now they're backing away from their agreements with the national cabinet. This is not an election promise that you can back away from when you don't feel like sticking to it. This is an agreement with the national cabinet. How dare these people not accept that agreement and work towards its delivery? It's ludicrous. Premier Andrews can stand there every day and go, 'You've been bad little children'—
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Please resume your seat, Senator Van. Senator Urquhart.
Senator Urquhart: A point of order: I bring to the attention of the Senate standing order 193, which says that you cannot make an imputation or a personal reflection on people from other parliaments and other jurisdictions. I would encourage the senator to come to order on that point.
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Urquhart. I must say I was listening but I didn't hear any breach of that order. Senator Van, I know you're a reasonable person.
Senator VAN: The people of Victoria are having their say about Mr Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, every single day. There are people who are just sick of lockdown, and by 'sick' I mean mentally unwell. You say the word 'lockdown' and Victorians recoil; their bodies jump at the mention of it. People are sick of being locked down. They need hope. Where is this hope going to come from? It's coming from the vaccine rollout—the amount of vaccine that is available for people right now, which people must go out and get. There's hope in the national plan: 70 per cent, then 80 per cent and then life gets back to some semblance of normal. That's what Victorians want to hear, and Daniel Andrews had better back up his agreement to national cabinet.
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Van, you need to refer to people by their proper titles.
Senator VAN: Premier Andrews must stick to his promise to national cabinet. If he backs away from it, the people of Victoria should judge him incredibly harshly.
