Page 2091 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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saw Australians get out there and help each other, both practically and emotionally; and we have seen this happen in different ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the whole, the community has embraced the calls “we are in this together”, “together we are strong” and “staying apart keeps us together”. In Canberra’s case, the catchcry has been “be strong together”, cleverly taking the middle two letters from Canberra’s name and linking them and Canberra to a statement of resilience.
Our emergency services and defence people have gone above and beyond, often in the face of dangers themselves. Even our political leaders have largely put aside political differences to work together against an especially vicious virus.
While I am about giving shout-outs, I pay my particular appreciation to the ACT’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, for what she has been doing with her staff through this very difficult time. Her calm and measured but supremely expert advice and decisive actions have been exemplary. Yes; there have been criticisms but, in the end, the ACT’s excellent record of COVID safety in our community is, in large part, thanks to her good officers.
I pay special tribute today to the people working in our health system: the frontline workers who have done nearly 70,000 COVID tests; the people who have counselled families who have lost loved ones to this insidious disease; the people who have kept our stocks of PPE in supply or testing equipment in supply; the people who have provided mental health support; the people who have kept our health facilities clean and operational; the doctors and nurses who have cared for COVID suffers, especially in the early days; and all those who worked above and beyond to keep Canberra safe through this crisis. I pay tribute to these people because they are the source of our safety at the moment and they are our defence in maintaining our safety into the future.
I was disappointed that I was forced—not “forced” but decided to update—
Ms Stephen-Smith: No, you were not forced. No-one made you. You could have asked the question in question time.
MRS DUNNE: My motion yesterday was on the basis—and I think that the minister will get her time to speak—of ongoing discussions that I have had with staff at various levels across Canberra Health Services and elsewhere, and it prompted me to amend the motion. It is simply not good enough to utter banal words about how we thank these people if we do not follow it up with actions.
Actions speak louder than words, which is why the motion was amended to take into account the fact of almost a resurgence in the last little while of staff coming to the opposition about concerns about salaries and conditions that they work in in Canberra Health Services—people not getting proper breaks, people working 12-hour shifts, seven days on, seven days off, who are supposed to have statutory breaks and they are not getting them. They are not getting them because they have to keep a pager with them at all times because the staffing is so thin that they do not have the time to have a proper break.
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