Thursday, 24 February 2022

Ministers statements: COVID-19

Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:06): I rise to update the house about how the Andrews Labor government has opened schools and is keeping them open. I know the opposition hate hearing that, but while those opposite have been desperately hoping that schools are shut so they can make some cheap political points, the Andrews government has been putting in place the measures to keep schools safe and open. We promised to deliver 51 000 air purifiers before the start of term this year, and that is exactly what we have done. At the same time we established an expert technical advisory group to look at what more we can do.

The key issue is that natural ventilation levels in schools will drop as winter comes and doors and windows are closed more often, making rooms that are currently low risk higher risk. That is why we announced the delivery of a further 60 000 air purifiers before winter, bringing the total number to 111 000—all classrooms in all government and low-fee non-gov schools. That compares to just 10 000 purifiers in New South Wales and next to nothing everywhere else. Our air purifiers complement a suite of measures all based on public health advice: 39 million rapid antigen tests, 30 million face masks, mandating third-dose vaccines for school staff, and vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds. And on that, let me remind everyone that the national child vaccination program is the responsibility of the commonwealth government—but you would not know it. Last year we stepped in to fix the commonwealth’s shambolic vaccination program, and now we are having to do it all over again with our kids. We are running statewide pop-up vaccination clinics. There are grants for primary care providers in hundreds of schools. While those opposite are cheering on the coronavirus we are doing everything we can to keep— (Time expired)