COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-118621

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (16:59:17):

I move:

That this House:

(1) Acknowledges the significant efforts of citizens across New South Wales in working together to manage COVID and get vaccinated in high numbers.

(2) Acknowledges the importance of the Government's road map to reopening as we begin to get back to normal.

It is fantastic to be back here in Parliament advocating for the people of this State, and it is all thanks to our strong vaccination rates right across New South Wales. Cash registers are ringing once again. Pubs and clubs are pouring beers. Hairdressers—I have not been to mine yet—are finally open. New South Wales is the envy of other States and Territories in Australia. Our Government has worked alongside NSW Health to put the call out for local residents to come forward and get vaccinated, and our community has heard this appeal loud and clear. As it stands, more than 90 per cent of people aged over 16 right across New South Wales have come forward and received their first dose. With almost 75 per cent now fully vaccinated, I think we will get to 80 per cent by the weekend.

Our schools will be back next week, which is great news for parents—including me. Businesses are reopening and we are already seeing many employees return to work. New South Wales is the engine room of our national economy, and our strong economic plan for stimulus and recovery will set our State and our community up for a bright future: onwards and upwards. I note the Treasurer is present in the Chamber to hear this wonderful debate. New South Wales is the envy of many countries around the world, including Germany and the United States. This State's vaccination rate is higher than the rates across the national population there. Under the leadership of former Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Premier Dominic Perrottet this Government has continued to protect the health, wellbeing and economic needs of our State.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic our leadership, our compassion and our advocacy has played a pivotal role in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of local residents and their families. Examples include business grants that provide businesses with cash flow support if they have experienced reduced demand; payroll tax deferrals and reductions with industry repayment plans for businesses experiencing a decline in turnover; land tax relief to cover lost income experienced by commercial, retail and residential landlords; test and isolate payments to help meet the cost of lost wages for those self‑isolating and awaiting their COVID-19 test results; and eviction notices moratorium to protect tenants during this period of uncertainty. No matter who you are or where you are from, the New South Wales Government has and will continue to provide appropriate support during this difficult period.

Yesterday was a great day for the people of this State. Many people took the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends, get a haircut or visit their favourite cafe. As vaccination rates increase so too will our ability to unite with loved ones. With the 80 per cent double dose vaccination target only one week away, we are just around the corner from getting back to community sport, regional travel and receiving greater access to the many events and entertainment precincts that make New South Wales the best place to live, work and run a business. Without the leadership and commitment of this Government, that would not be the case. Our State provides a beacon of hope for the nation as we demonstrate our ability to open up safely, while some States remain in lockdown. The New South Wales Government's ability to innovate and lead by example is second to none, as is demonstrated by the exceptional intake level of returned travellers and the pilot of home quarantine. Our work is far from over.

Just today the Government announced the expansion of the small business fees and charges rebate to supercharge the economy, and last week it established a new hardship review panel to add to its ongoing support for small businesses across New South Wales. Through the support of small businesses we are investing in jobs, safeguarding employment opportunities and stimulating our economy both now and into the future. After the first COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 we lost close to 300,000 jobs across New South Wales. We have not only recovered every single one of those jobs but also added a further 30,000. Our track record of economic success speaks for itself, and we have the fiscal and monetary plans in place to deliver sustained economic growth while protecting the health and wellbeing of our community. This is our plan and it is exactly what we will work towards. New South Wales will continue to be the leader in navigating the health and economic challenges of COVID-19, and this Government will prepare us for the issues we face both now and into the future.

Mr GUY ZANGARI (Fairfield) (17:04:31):

For the first time since June, I speak in this Chamber as the member for Fairfield. My thoughts and feelings go out to the people of not only Fairfield but also the people of south-west and western Sydney, who have gone through the most difficult period in the history of the region and the State ever. I admire the member for Oatley. I know he is a good member—I really do—and I know he comes into this place championing the cause for the people of Oatley. That is fine; it is great to do that. His speech was positive, upbeat and straight from the script, because there is one thing about fighting COVID and the road map to reopening. When you have got the map in your hands, you need to know exactly where you have been. The road that we have come from has been ugly. There have been bumps, twists and, at some point, significant crashes. I can say that hand on heart as someone who lives in, works in, worships in and represents south-western Sydney.

Today in the House, the member for Penrith, a Minister and the new deputy leader of the Liberals in New South Wales, said that he had not seen the tale of two Sydneys. What planet is he on when he says there was no tale of two Sydneys? There was, and every constituent in south-western Sydney that those of us on this side of the House—and those on that side—represent will tell you that. Ask the member for Auburn, the member for Prospect, the member for Bankstown, the member for Lakemba or the member for Canterbury about the difficulties their constituents faced when they would see images coming out of people in the eastern suburbs.

We are not begrudging our brothers and sisters and family members in the eastern suburbs, but when the images would surface of people going about their daily lives, going to the beach, sunbaking and strolling along the sand without masks, that certainly triggered many people in western Sydney. They triggered the thousands of students disadvantaged for the HSC and the kindergarteners and year one students who have not seen full years of schooling, as well as the year 11 and year 12 students. They triggered the vulnerable members of the community who could not go out and who do not have access to technologies and are apprehensive about going to places without vaccination passports and things not being ready, and having to wait 14 days after the so-called opening up yesterday.

There is a long road ahead. We have to think about the thousands of families who have had to rely upon non‑government agencies to put food on the table. I thank those agencies. Over the next few weeks I will acknowledge many of those agencies, not just in Fairfield but beyond and not just in western Sydney but further than that—north, south, east and west of this great land. I thank the member for Oatley for bringing this important public interest debate to the House, but fighting COVID and the road map to reopening does not put smiles on our faces because it is tough. There are very hard roads ahead. We will get there, but the Government needs to come to the party. It needs to ensure that it takes people on the journey, including the families who have lost income, the students who have stressed and the people in my community who suffered anxiety and PTSD after all those choppers were flying around. I thank the member for bringing the public interest debate forward and I look forward to the contributions from other members.

Mrs WENDY TUCKERMAN (Goulburn) (17:10:08):

Via video link: I thank the member for Fairfield for his contribution and acknowledge how difficult the road has been for everyone. In the Goulburn electorate we have faced [inaudible] significant challenges as a rural electorate during the past 100 days of this lockdown. Whether it was adjusting to the stay-at-home orders, managing patients in hospital wards or reaching out to the elderly people and those at home in a time of upheaval and great personal challenge, the people of my electorate once again demonstrated their resilience to face a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic with a generous community spirit and a sense of compassion for others. That sense of compassion is demonstrated particularly by the vaccination rate in the Goulburn electorate, which is currently standing at a very reassuring rate of 94.3 per cent for the first dose in people over the age of 15, and 72.5 per cent for double vaccinations in people over the age of 15. Sadly there has been one death in the electorate and I express my sincere condolences to the family who have lost their loved one.

It has been such a hope‑filled time to see so many people working in health giving so selflessly to their vocation. I thank each and every paramedic; nurse; doctor; all hospital staff, whether they be administration staff, cleaners or security staff; pathology collectors; and those who have worked at our GP practices, including the administration staff, who have faced a lot of frustrating clients about access to vaccinations. The way each and every one of them have dedicated their service in the face of this pandemic is to be commended. I make particular mention of our local health districts, of which there are three in my electorate, and their staff who have kept us informed and worked with us to better serve our community. I commend the New South Wales police and emergency service workers, who have dutifully served their State during a time of tremendous social upheaval and protected the lives of so many in the community by ensuring that the people of the electorate adhere to the public health order. Particularly, I commend the police district situated around the ACT border, which has worked hand-in-hand with its counterpart in the ACT to manage the cross-border requirements.

But it is the businesses of the State and my electorate that I commend. We have seen so much endeavour in many of the local businesses that have managed to pivot their retail strategy exceptionally well during this lockdown. I commend the New South Wales Government and the Federal Government for the support measures provided to support businesses to ensure that they could maintain their staff and be ready when the vaccination targets were met. The New South Wales Government under the extraordinary direction of the former Treasurer now Premier, Dominic Perrottet, provided microbusinesses of my electorate a microbusiness grant. Across the State over $390 million has already been paid out to support those businesses.

Small business support in my rural communities has been welcome and provides a lot of hope for the wellbeing of our community. Without the business support, we may not have seen so many returning to open to their loyal customers this week. The Government has also introduced tax deferrals weighted to provide cash flow to businesses. We have also seen increasing payroll tax thresholds and a reduction in payroll tax rates, all of which assist our businesses. We have seen a total Government response to COVID and recovery commitments announced since March 2020 of, sadly, $39 billion. These measures enabled an appropriate health response and timely support for communities and the local economy. I commend our local business chambers, which have also provided great support by advocating on behalf of their businesses. They welcome the certainty of the road map, which will provide the certainty of getting businesses open. I also thank our wonderful educators, who have delivered intensive learning support for students. We are on a long journey and I thank everyone in the community who has taken the time to get vaccinated to get our road map underway.

Ms LYNDA VOLTZ (Auburn) (17:15:20):

I thank everyone who put so much into keeping people safe during the COVID outbreak, particularly those in areas of concern such as community organisation staff, workers at all levels of government, public servants, other workers and business owners, as well as everyone who showed kindness and patience. To say the recent lockdown was anything but horrifically challenging would be an understatement. My electorate of Auburn, which sits at the bulkhead of western Sydney, was in trouble before the latest outbreak, with March quarter unemployment figures sitting high at above 10 per cent and even touching 20 per cent in some suburbs. There has also been a 16 per cent downturn in the jobs and wages index for the electorate since those figures were released.

Inequality, overcrowding and homelessness in Auburn are rife. This March quarter data should have rung alarm bells for the Government. When a person does not have much money, they rely on the people around them, and that is how our community works. In our community, families are not islands—they are co-dependent and interlinked. Rather than lecturing western Sydney for doing the wrong thing and breaking the rules, the Government should have taken a harder look at its own indifference to the needs of those in electorates other than the ones it holds.

The Western Sydney Local Health District, which worked extremely hard during the outbreak, was completely swamped. In my electorate those who tested positive were often stuck in isolation for well over 20 days, with 27 and 28 days not being unusual. Discharge papers were not being processed due to the sheer volume of cases, and people were being locked in their homes as a result. As word spread in the community, that translated to a reluctance to get tested. I have to ask: Why did healthcare employees carry such a heavy load? Where were the other government departments that should have been flooding in to help with data entry, food delivery, checking on the elderly, making sure that NDIS workers were still coming in and that there would be an alternative if they were not, contact tracing and looking after large families in need? Instead, a lot of that work fell on the shoulders of healthcare workers. Why did the Government take so long to give businesses assistance?

It has been a tough and distressing time in western Sydney. One local tragedy saw a mother who was desperately ill call an ambulance. Despite her being a single mum, no other family members were allowed to mind her three children. She did not want to leave them. Ambulance workers stabilised her but she died later that night at home, alone with her children. I received one call from a woman in Queensland. The previous night her brother had been taken away in an ambulance with COVID. His two dogs and cat were locked inside the house. Despite her desperation, no-one would enter the house. In the end, after two days had passed, I fed the dogs myself and cleaned up. It took me four days to get his employer to take the animals.

Then there was the mother with a disabled adult child who did not tell her NDIS workers of her positive test result, as she was too desperate for the help. She spread COVID to many households. There was no mechanism in place. No-one checked on her circumstances when she tested positive. My daughter had COVID. Days after her positive test she called me. She was suddenly very ill. It took hours to find anyone to help her. Eventually, the Virtual Hospital said they would get a doctor to call her. Hours later she rang me to let me know that an ambulance had just left but because she still had not been put in the system, the Virtual Hospital could not treat her. No-one ever called her to do any contact tracing.

Those examples are a snapshot of what was happening in locked-down areas. Children were desperate to see elderly parents but were not able to do before they died. People suffered because they were cut off from confused and distressed elderly family members with dementia or Alzheimer's. People were found at home having passed away. On top of all this distress, our large Afghan community has been dealing with the grief of what has happened since coalition troops withdrew from the country. In south-western and western Sydney we have been hit, and hit hard. The question for the future and for this Premier is: Will the road map out of COVID continue to grow the inequalities between the people in my electorate and the people in electorates to the north and the east? Will our businesses and workers who saw their jobs go to businesses outside locked-down areas of concern continue to bear the brunt? The Premier claims to be for western Sydney but the proof will be in the pudding.

Mr DUGALD SAUNDERS (Dubbo) (17:20:01):

I thank the member for Oatley for the opportunity to speak on the important issue of fighting COVID and the road map to reopening. I feel qualified to speak on this issue given the outbreak across the Western NSW Local Health District since August 10. There has been a total of 1,500 cases across the local health district, with over 950 coming from Dubbo alone. So far in this debate we have heard from a couple of speakers who have expressed passionate thoughts. Most people would agree that this has been a tragedy for so many reasons. In Dubbo alone we have lost 12 lives. It is a tragedy not just for south‑western Sydney. Regional New South Wales has been impacted enormously, as have areas of Sydney. I am not taking anything away from what Opposition members have said. We need to move forward and look for the hope that we now need. Rather than just trying to highlight everything that has gone wrong, it is also worth noting that there have been things that have gone right, some of which I want to talk about. The member for Oatley summed it up well when he used the phrase "onwards and upwards". At this point in time it is sometimes hard to see that because there have been so many challenges, but we need to find a way of moving forward. The extra 30,000 jobs that were created after the last COVID outbreak is an example of the better times ahead that business and the community can look forward to.

During this time in my region, collaboration between local government, the State Government and the Federal Government—as mentioned by the member for Goulburn—has been seen like never before. Emergency services—from the police, the ambos, the SES and the RFS—all pitched in to help with testing clinics and the like. The Western NSW Local Health District and the region's local emergency management committees were amazing. A combination of health district staff, police, the Australian Defence Force, Aboriginal land councils and other non-government organisations were all part of the community effort. That needs to be recognised. I spoke to police commander Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie basically every day for 40 to 45 days in a row. He is now retired and enjoying a bit of a change. I have also done the same thing with his replacement. I spoke to the CEO and the mayor of Dubbo Regional Council every day during the crisis. I also spoke to mayors of other councils. Councils were important in this. Gilgandra Shire Council, Warren Shire Council and Orange City Council, to name just a few, were not in my area but I constantly kept up to date with them.

It is worth recognising that businesses in all parts of the State, including in regional areas, have been through huge upheaval during this time. Over the past couple of months I have been to a couple of meetings with local chambers online and spoken with members and hundreds of business owners. Businesses of every shape and size have had to deal with COVID, from small one-person sole traders to massive operations like Fletcher International in Dubbo, which employs hundreds of people from all sorts of different ethnic and language backgrounds. We need to recognise that every business is slightly different but resilience is a common thread in regional areas and in regional businesses. Government support for businesses has been there and, as we have heard, will continue to be there to help businesses get going on the way out of this pandemic.

We are on the way out; that is the good news. Part of the reason is the vaccination rates. As we know, New South Wales has reached just over 90 per cent first-dose vaccination of the eligible population, with over 74 per cent double vaccinated. In Dubbo 94.8 per cent of the eligible population have had a first dose and over 79.9 per cent are double vaccinated. In the mid-western region around Mudgee 94.9 per cent of the eligible population have had their first dose and over 75.1 per cent have had their second dose. In Narromine shire 94.7 per cent of the eligible population have had a first dose and over 76.8 per cent are double vaccinated. The list goes on. Blayney Shire Council, Cowra Shire Council, Orange City Council and Warren Shire Council are all over 95 per cent first-dose vaccinated. Gilgandra, a small community with a massive heart, has seen over 95 per cent of its eligible population first-dose vaccinated and a whopping 83.7 per cent have had two doses.

People of western New South Wales have realised the challenge. They have taken up that challenge and have done extremely well. We all know that the vaccination rate is the way to moving forward, getting our businesses open and getting people back to our region. We are at the 70 per cent mark—happy days! Lots of things have changed as of Monday and we have got more on the way, with the 80 per cent double dose target firmly in our sights. That will mean more visitors to the home and more ability to see family and friends as we head towards a more normal Christmas, which is what everybody wants to see. The reopening is not just about returning to normal; it is also about getting the economy back on track. We are absolutely focused on that and this road map is definitely the way to help us get back to that.

Mr JIHAD DIB (Lakemba) (17:25:05):

I thank the member for Oatley, my electoral neighbour. We do a fair bit of work together, even though he has always got the wrong idea when it comes to politics. During the pandemic we worked together at different places to support community. I thank every member who has spoken in this debate, and also I acknowledge that 444 people lost their lives since 16 June. I know that I speak on behalf of everybody in the House when I say that our thoughts, condolences and best wishes are with their families because that is what it is about—the lives that have been lost.

What a time we have had. It has been quite extraordinary, in some ways. Members—including the member for Goulburn, who participated remotely—have described their experiences. As the member for Dubbo said, it is not about western Sydney or south-western Sydney; it is about all of New South Wales. COVID affected us in so many different ways. I note that every single MP who spoke had notes, but they did not refer to them because they spoke from the heart. The member for Fairfield spoke about some of his experiences, as did the member for Auburn, who talked about the family experience. All of them turned up for their community groups and did whatever they could, as did every member of Parliament.

It is not all sunshine and rainbows. The pandemic has been pretty tough, and there are some lessons to be learnt from it. We got through COVID, to an extent, only because the community picked it up. When we left here on 24 June, only 20-odd per cent of people had been vaccinated. Our first job was to tell people to stay safe, get tested and stay indoors. I remember doing a video in different languages with the member for Fairfield, in his broken Italian and my broken Arabic, and a number of other MPs saying, "Stay home, get tested and stay safe." At that stage we did not have the vaccinations. We were not even talking about vaccination as our way out. We were saying, "Look after yourself." Then we moved to the vaccination rate and then we found the so-called local government areas [LGAs] of concern. Before that, Fairfield had a massive problem. We had people lining up for hours to be tested. That was the reality. Overlaying all of that was the fear people felt. Then it started coming into the Canterbury-Bankstown area and suddenly there were LGAs of concern.

There will be many private members' statements about this, but the reality is that we became a divided city. We cannot get away from that. I appreciate the sentiments of members on the other side of the House. I appreciate the sentiments of the Premier and others who might basically say, "Get over it." It is not that easy to get over. It is not that easy to get over when every day people were coming to our office and finding a way to contact us because they had lost their jobs, could not get food on the table and were trying to deal with really difficult situations while seeing things happen across other parts of the city that were not acceptable to them. I do not blame them.

Many people in those so-called LGAs of concern are the essential workers: the ones who we rely on, the first ones to lose their jobs, the ones who do not have job security and the ones who effectively were blamed, on some occasions, for what was going on. There was no indication of the reality of the situation: the multigenerational households living together or the fact that somebody would go to work and come back and catch COVID in that time. There was a narrative that "It's these guys' fault; it is western Sydney's fault". I did worry. I worried when COVID went into the regions and I worried when it went into Dubbo and Wilcannia. I have been to Wilcannia and I know they do not have much there. COVID would rip straight through.

We did get through to an extent, but it was a community-led response—the community groups that found generosity wherever they could, the healthcare workers who stepped up every single day and looked after one another, those who inspired others and those who managed to find things. The truth is that we lost employment. So many jobs were lost. We hope they bounce back, but so many businesses will not. It is not as easy as flicking a switch. There is psychological damage that we also need to address. In the road map out of the pandemic, we cannot just look at finances; we need to look at what those 12 so-called LGAs of concern do not have. We do not have nice green spaces that people can go to. We had basketball courts where the hoops were taken off. We had helicopters flying above parks telling kids to go back inside.

We need to address those issues. The COVID pandemic highlighted more than anything else the structural inequities that exist within our society. I do not want to stand here and say, "It is that side's fault or our side's fault." It is no-one's fault. It is our responsibility to fix it, whichever side of the House we come from and whichever part of New South Wales we come from. The COVID pandemic highlighted that some people will do the heavy lifting and others will not. Members on this side and some members on the Government side had to bear an incredibly heavy responsibility for their community. We cannot ever go back there.

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (17:30:10):

In reply: I thank the members representing the electorates of Fairfield, Auburn, Goulburn, Dubbo and Lakemba. I will begin by expressing the condolences of myself and members across the Chamber for the 1,461 deaths from COVID-19 over the past two years right across Australia, including 498 deaths in New South Wales alone. They are all someone's mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, child or relative. I send my condolences to their families. I thank the community groups, churches, places of worship and local councils, who stepped up and provided that much needed support to back NSW Health to ensure that vaccinations and testing occurred right across New South Wales. I thank the frontline staff—the nurses and doctors—who have done an outstanding job over the past 13 weeks.

New South Wales has the highest rates of vaccination in Australia. That has allowed us to reopen safely. NSW Health, members of Parliament of all persuasions and community leaders have all played a critical role to ensure that vaccination rates increase in our communities. Our Government has been appropriately managing the biggest economic crisis to impact our nation since World War II. There is no rule book or precedent for this in any way, shape or form. The Government has been following the health advice every step of the way. I thank every citizen in this State and across Australia. They have made huge sacrifices in the past couple of months to keep themselves, their loved ones and their community safe.

Saving lives and protecting livelihoods is at the forefront of every decision made. All members of our Government and those on the other side as well have a great working relationship with NSW Health and we will continue this into the future. Our Government has a comprehensive plan to manage the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, whether it be in a health or an economic sense. We have always showcased our commitment to providing appropriate support to those who need it most. More than 90 per cent of those aged over 16 in New South Wales have come forward to receive their first dose of a vaccine, with almost 75 per cent now fully vaccinated. I thank all members who have participated in this debate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.