Page 1495 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In my maiden speech I said that Canberra is a city of migrants in a country of migrants, and it is very much our nature and our approach to welcome many different people to call Canberra home. Because of the diverse nature of our city, I think that there has been a particular interest in the decision for a temporary pause in travel between Australia and India. It must, however, be acknowledged that the temporary pause has been effective in stemming the flow of positive cases into Australia’s quarantine system in hotels.
Facilitated commercial flights into Howard Springs will resume this Saturday, with one flight every seven to nine days, with an estimated 1,000 Australians expected to return under these arrangements by the end of June. The government had very good reason for the pause and it was based on medical advice. As you would expect, the commonwealth government will continue to listen to the medical advice and make decisions in the best interest of all Australians. Just this week, on Tuesday, the Minister for Health said in the chamber:
Over the past several weeks we have seen COVID-19 cases rise in many parts of the world. Concerningly, in late April we saw new peaks in global daily cases since the pandemic began, largely driven by the situation unfolding in India.
The minister went on to say that this is obviously distressing, that it is placing a terrible strain on the health system in the country and that their health systems are struggling to cope. She acknowledged:
I know this situation is extremely distressing for Australian citizens and residents who have family and friends in India and other countries that are seeing waves of new COVID cases.
Our thoughts are with those Indian, Nepalese and other communities who are experiencing loss and anxiety as the global pandemic spreads.
This is the appropriate way to acknowledge the suffering that this pandemic is causing, without driving a wedge in our community at a time when we should be banding together.
Meanwhile Ms Orr’s motion is an attempt to divide. I think that is unfortunate. Therefore, I will be moving an amendment to remove part (3) of Ms Orr’s motion. This part is an unnecessary attack on the commonwealth government which I am surprised has been accepted by the Labor Party and the Greens, who have operated in a collaborative fashion during the pandemic in keeping unnecessary politics out of what has been at times a very delicate situation.
Of course, the temporary pause is very difficult. It is a very difficult decision to make and it has caused distress. This is the case for so many aspects of the response to this pandemic. But most of those I have spoken to are very understanding of the decision, so long as it is temporary and short term, which it certainly has been. I encourage the Assembly to do all in our power to continue to encourage and support a cohesive and harmonious society while we deal with this great area of challenge.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video