Grievance Debate

COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:31): Over the last 24 hours, I think every Australian has had a moment of pause, reflection and thought for those people currently in Victoria who now face the prospect of yet another lockdown: seven days of being unable to live their lives normally and seven days of lockdown that we know have the potential for grave and severe consequences on people's livelihoods and the Victorian economy more broadly.

Those Victorians will again make those sacrifices willingly in the name of their health and of the health of their families and their fellow citizens, and we wish them well during the course of that endeavour. No-one wants to see this happen, no-one on the government side of this chamber, no-one on the opposition side of the chamber and certainly no-one within the crossbench, yet here we are.

It is pertinent—indeed, it is appropriate and responsible—for everyone in this chamber, and I think every person in a position of leadership in this nation, to actively contemplate what can be done to prevent further lockdowns into the future. I think it is fair to say that there is an answer that is well and truly before us and has been for many months now, and that of course is a complete overhaul of our quarantine system regarding COVID-19 in this country because it does not work. It does not work.

As the Premier rightly identified, we have now seen approximately 20 breaches of medi-hotels that have resulted in very severe and grave consequences to our country. They are not just medi-hotel failures in South Australia; they have happened in every state within our federation. At some point, we have to acknowledge that it is not working and that something else has to be delivered.

Throughout the course of COVID-19, as an opposition we are being very deliberate and concerted in our effort to provide bipartisan support to the Marshall Liberal government in their endeavours to manage the health crisis of COVID-19. Part of that exercise, of course, has been that the opposition and I have offered constructive suggestions to the government in the hope that they will take up those suggestions in the name of keeping our community safe. To the government's credit, they have taken up a large number of our suggestions.

However, one they continue to ignore is our call for purpose-built quarantine facilities in this country. Section 51(ix) makes it abundantly clear that the responsibility of quarantine is a commonwealth responsibility. We continue to advocate for the state government, for the Premier, to exercise the function of leadership and advocate to the Prime Minister that they fulfil their responsibility and design purpose-built quarantine facilities that serve the purpose of keeping the virus in.

The great tragedy in regard to this most recent case is that Case A, as identified by the SA Health's report, contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine. Quarantine is supposed to contain the virus. In this instance, it spread the virus. That individual only got COVID-19 because they went into quarantine, which of course is an absurd situation.

The Premier in response to some questions that we asked on this subject today said that he is listening to the experts. We applaud the government for that approach, but we know that there is now a very consistent cohort of experts who are advocating for purpose-built quarantine. I cite Dr Andrew Miller, the Western Australian President of the Australian Medical Association, along with the AMA themselves who are advocating for change.

Professor of Biostatistics from the University of South Australia and a former World Health Organization epidemiologist, Professor Adrian Esterman, said that virus leaks are inevitable while hotel quarantine is relied upon, 'The hotel quarantine system always leaks no matter how hard you try.' Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology from the University of Melbourne; James McCaw, a prominent epidemiologist again from the University of Melbourne; University of New South Wales infectious disease expert, Bill Bowtell; other premiers, business leaders and epidemiologists—they are all calling for purpose-built quarantine. That is what this nation needs.

The Premer also said earlier today that we do not have a crystal ball, that we do not know what the future looks like, that we do not know how long COVID-19 will be with us. If that is the case, now more than ever is the time to act. If we had acted six months ago when we first called for this, then maybe those facilities would be in place today. Let's not wait any longer, let's use the resources of government, let's use the function of leadership to commit ourselves to purpose-built quarantine facilities to keep our community safe, to give people the best chance of remaining in a job, not just here at home but throughout our country, particularly in states like Victoria.

Time expired.