Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Minister for Finance, Leader of the Government in the Senate and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:37): I thank the senator for her question. Australia's decisions taken and led by the Prime Minister from 1 February last year to close our international borders have been a key feature of Australia's success in protecting Australians from COVID-19 and ensuring that we have saved lives—some estimated 30,000-plus lives, compared with the OECD averages for deaths around the world. Alongside that, we've been fortunate, thanks to economic responses, to be able to save businesses and jobs and to ensure that Australia weathers the global storm caused by this global pandemic— The PRESIDENT: A point of order, Senator McCarthy? Senator McCarthy: It's on relevance. I asked specifically about the building of new quarantine facilities. The PRESIDENT: I'm listening carefully to the minister's answer. I will allow you to bring the minister back to the question. Minister, you have the call. Senator BIRMINGHA M: Those border closures have served Australia well. The quarantine arrangements that have been associated with those border closures have, overwhelmingly, also worked effectively and served Australians well. In the vast majority of cases, hundreds of thousands of Australians have been able to move back into our country safely and securely. Part of that has been the crucial role that the Howard Springs facility has played in the Northern Territory; it received a significant expansion to a capacity of 2,000 during this time frame. In addition to the work at the Howard Springs facility, work is underway on additional quarantine facilities in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth following the encouragement and partnership agreements struck by state governments in each of those jurisdictions. The first of those is scheduled to see beds handed over to the Victorian government by the end of this year. That remains on track and remains the case to provide longer term capabilities to respond to COVID or other emergencies into the future. The PRESIDENT: Senator McCarthy, a supplementary question?