11/06/2020 

Ms SWANSON (Paterson) (11:31): Australia's collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic-Australia's greatest challenge in 75 years-is something that we should all be proud of. In terms of health outcomes, with 7,276 cases and 101 deaths, we're doing much better than many other countries. But we still have a long way to go. The world is still in this crisis, and this virus is still circulating. We must acknowledge how far we've come, but we have a long way to go. In the Hunter region, we have had no new cases in the last six weeks. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Health, the Department of Health, the Chief Medical Officer and the New South Wales Premier for this good outcome. I want to thank our frontline workers, particularly the staff of Hunter New England Health and our hospitals and doctors, who have made such an effort to protect our community.

I went to the Raymond Terrace Community Respiratory Clinic and got tested. It wasn't a pleasant experience; it stung! I want to thank Doctors Damien Wellborne and Sarah Bailey for their exemplary care. It was an uncomfortable but quick test, and it obviously came back negative. I want to thank them for setting up a professional practice that is helping many people in our community. And please keep getting tested. Don't just think it's okay; it's all over. If you feel unwell, go and get a test.

Whilst all Australians have had to sacrifice, the burden-let's face it-hasn't been shouldered equally. Those working on the front line and in the tourism, hospitality and the arts sectors have had the most job losses, and the businesses have been impacted the most. Women have disproportionately lost the most jobs, while taking on most of the caring and responsibilities at home. Many young people have lost their jobs. With their working lives ahead of them, they've been faced with that first sting of not being employed, and they're going to have to carry these economic cans for years to come. The costs of the decisions that we make right now in this place will be carried by those people.

Significant economic policies have been rolled out rapidly, with well over 750 a week, whilst others have lost their income and are getting absolutely no support. JobKeeper does need to be better targeted. It's creating a big debt that we'll have to repay in the future, and it must be used to support critical industries. We on this side of the chamber know that that has to include education. This government really needs to come to terms with the value of education. For the life of me, I can't understand why my free-market colleagues don't get this. From early education right through to university, our educators have been on the front line and not getting the assistance they need.

Whilst early educators are set to lose JobKeeper next month, university workers have been locked out of the program from the get-go. Today it was revealed that the brilliant University of Newcastle has climbed into the ranks of the world's top 200 universities. That is a fantastic thing. It's a regional university-it was started by the steelworkers at BHP-but it's under incredible pressure. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, Professor Zelinsky, projected and told me last week that they're going to lose $46 million in fees for 2020. This is a well-run organisation. The University of Newcastle not only employs many people in our region but is a breeding ground for our brightest minds and, more importantly, best ideas. It's through collaboration with the university that local manufacturers were able to develop ventilators to help us tackle this virus. But the government is happy to expose them to the ill winds of the moment and cast them to those winds.

Universities need to be supported and treated decently because they are the petri dish where we grow the cure for corona. It is no more basic than that. We need to be supporting them because fundamentally we need them. We need their bright ideas and we need their research. We need them for our future and we need them for our economy.

Another critical industry that has been overlooked is the arts. While everyone that has had the luxury of being able to do so can cocoon at home and perhaps catch up on Netflix or binge on whatever they want to binge on, we don't want to look after the people who are artistically creating this stuff that we rely on when we're cocooning. And small businesses, mum-and-dad businesses in my electorate are really suffering. I want to send a shout-out to all the businesses that completed my small business survey. We'll keep working for you and keep supporting you. (Time expired)