PAT CONROY, MEMBER FOR SHORTLAND: My region is a sitting duck due to the incompetence of the Federal Government. Let me repeat that: my region of the Hunter and Central Coast is sitting exposed to all of the economic and health impacts of the COVID pandemic because of the incompetence of the Morrison Federal Government.
Let’s be very clear what’s occurred. We saw an outbreak in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney due to a breakdown in the national quarantine system, the 27th outbreak from the quarantine system. We then saw the NSW Government weak and pandering to the wealthy Eastern Suburbs and refuse to lockdown when they had a chance to stomp down on the outbreak, egged on by Scott Morrison who encouraged Gladys to not lockdown, in fact bragged about their approach nine days into the outbreak. So what happens? COVID spreads through to Western Sydney and the Central Coast, and inevitably up to the Hunter region, and it spreads because we don’t have sufficient vaccines in this country because yet again this Government has bungled the vaccine rollout.
So it’s my community of the Hunter and Central Coast that is exposed. It’s my community that’s had its vaccines stolen by the NSW Government because there aren’t sufficient vaccines in Sydney because of Scott Morrison. It’s my community where there is a four day wait for test results. It’s my community where in some parts of my region, you can’t get a test on a Sunday. You’ve been at a contact site, you’ve been told by NSW Health to get tested urgently, and you can’t get tested.
The entire system has broken down. The Hunter is exposed. The Central Coast is exposed. People are getting sick right now because this Government failed in its two jobs: the vaccine rollout, and national quarantine system.
I am sick and tired of Scott Morrison making excuses. He is a disgrace. He has hurt people in my community, he has bungled his job, and he is not fit to be Prime Minister.
REPORTER: Pat there are still daily cases in Newcastle, do you expect the lockdown to lift on Thursday?
CONROY: No I don’t. The system is breaking. How can we end the lockdown if people wait four days for their test results – if they can get a test. We’re still trying to trace people from exposure sites from 10 days ago all because the NSW Government and the Federal Government don’t have sufficient supports in place.
Just imagine that for a second. You’re being told that you’ve been exposed. You’re being told urgently go and get a test. You then try and find a place on a Sunday and you can’t and when you’re lucky enough to get one - get a test - you have to wait four days to get a result. This is having a huge impact on my community like the communities of Sydney, and it’s all down to the incompetence of the Federal and NSW Governments.
REPORTER: Do you know what the reason for that lag is?
CONROY: They just don’t have the resources. Whether they’ve just stripped everything and sent it to Sydney for understandable reasons given the outbreak in Western Sydney, or they just haven’t done sufficient coordination, they do not have the resources to do the testing, and that means people in my community are going to get sick because they are going to be exposed because we can’t trace the outbreaks. We’re seeing contact sites pop up every day that are 10 days old. The NSW and Federal Government have just lost complete control of the situation, and this all would have been avoided if we had a quarantine system that worked, if we had sufficient vaccines, and if Gladys had the guts to lockdown the wealthy Eastern Suburbs of Sydney when she had the opportunity.
REPORTER: Pat the Government’s lost skin in the latest Newspoll but it showed Mr Albanese’s satisfaction rate has flatlined, so is he capitalising on this situation?
CONROY: The Australian people don’t give a fig for polls. What we care about is getting out of this COVID pandemic. When I’ve got people who go to special schools who are waiting in their cars for over six or seven hours to get a test, that’s what people care about being fixed.
Thanks guys