Senator AYRES (New South Wales) (15:16): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator McCarthy today relating to federal quarantine facilities. I do so in the context of the last few question times having had a slightly different quality, with the absence of Senators Rennick and Antic—without Heckle and Jeckle. I've missed Senator Rennick's heckling during the course of— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Ayres, please resume your seat. Senator O'Sullivan on a point of order? Senator AYRES: This will be good! Senator McDonald: It's not appropriate for a senator to reflect on the absence of another senator. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That is true. Thank you for reminding me, Senator O'Sullivan. I'll just remind Senator Ayres of that. Particularly during this COVID period, when it has been difficult for senators to attend this place, the agreed custom is that we don't refer to senators being here or not being here. Thank you, Senator Ayres. Senator AYRES: I'm just worried about them. One of their offices is next to mine. The lights are on, but nobody is home. The question is: are they in witness protection, or are they voluntarily not attending? I'll leave senators to reflect on that question. Senator McMahon and Senator Canavan, the other two rebel senators, the vaccine senators—at least they've got the courage to be in here. What I am really here to talk about is the government's failure to deal with the COVID pandemic and the government's failure to manage its quarantine responsibilities. In the face of a national crisis, some governments rise to the occasion and some governments wilt. Former Prime Minister Menzies wilted in the face of Australia's existential crisis in the Second World War. Prime Ministers Curtin and then Chifley rose to the occasion, united Australia, got the strategy right and built a postwar Australia that was the foundation for the second half of the 20th century. The Morrison government's approach to the COVID pandemic looks a lot more like Menzies's approach—and failure—to the Second World War than it does to a government that really grasps its responsibilities. In the face of the COVID pandemic, Mr Morrison has been incapable of taking action when it's required. He's certainly been incapable of taking responsibility, and he's been incapable of grasping his own role in a time of national crisis. The failures on quarantine are of course not the only failure of the Morrison government. Its failure on delivering vaccines for Australia at the promised time, in time to avoid the Southern Hemisphere winter, have been described as the biggest public policy failure in Australian history. Mr Morrison failed to purchase the vaccines in time, and when everything went wrong— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Ayres, resume your seat. Senator McLachlan? Senator McLachlan: As much as I'm enjoying my honourable friend's contribution to the chamber, I listened carefully to Senator Birmingham's response to Senator McCarthy's answer, and the question and the answer directly related to quarantine facilities, not vaccines. I ask you to bring my honourable friend back to the question and answer. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator McLachlan. There was a question on quarantine and in relation to the new outbreak. So I would ask Senator Ayres—whilst this is a broad debate, I think he's probably gone broader than the question. I ask you to bring your response back to those issues. Thank you, Senator Ayres. Senator AYRES: I certainly will. What did Mr Morrison do when confronted with these failures? He blamed the states. Blaming the states is a bit like blaming the fire brigade, when they turn up to your house, because you get a little bit wet. The pandemic took off because of Mr Morrison's failure on vaccines and on quarantine. That's why we've had almost six months of lockdowns on the east coast: failure on quarantine and failure to do his job, set out clearly in the constitution. It's not just Labor who says that quarantine is fundamental to getting the national strategy right. Ms Halton pointed that out in her report. The responsibility is clear. This morning Ms Westacott said she couldn't understand why the federal government hadn't got this right—quarantine, vaccines. Who will Australians trust next year to deliver sufficient quarantine capability? Who will they trust to deliver booster vaccines? Well, I can tell you, you wouldn't trust this lot; that's for sure.