I recognise the nurses and midwives and the many community members who are taking strike action today. That nurses and midwives—heroes on the front line of our State's fight against COVID-19—have to take to the streets to be heard is frankly an embarrassment. Over the course of the pandemic, our local nurses and midwives have faced long hours, understaffing and overwork, literally putting their lives and those of their families on the line to keep our community safe. I thank them for their work but acknowledge they deserve much more than thanks. They deserve a government that listens to their concerns, respects their work and is in their corner.

I too acknowledge the Nurses and Midwives' Association and the extraordinary work of nurses, midwives and all other workers in our health system, as well as everything they have done to protect us from COVID-19, particularly those at the Canterbury Hospital and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and across the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. To every nurse, midwife and health worker in the inner west, please know that I stand with you.