Twelve months on since the North West was shut down due to COVID-19, I want to thank the entire community for their outstanding efforts to contain the outbreak and ensure our State is now one of the safest places in the world.

Our number one priority throughout the pandemic has always been to keep Tasmanians safe, and when it became clear we had an outbreak, we acted swiftly and made the hard but necessary decisions to get on top of it.

We shut down businesses, sent our health staff and their families into quarantine, and flew in an Australian Medical Assistance Team and the ADF to help staff our hospitals.

These measures were drastic but necessary as we knew we had to make the hard decisions needed to get on top of the virus and prevent the outbreak spreading further, as we saw in Victoria.

I want to again reiterate my sincere condolences to those who lost loved ones, and thank all affected by the outbreak for their efforts. In particular, I want to thank our health staff and their families for their sacrifices during what was a very difficult time for all involved.

There is no doubt this was an extremely tough time for everyone in the North West, but the strength and resilience of the community shone through and thanks to their efforts, we were able to contain the outbreak and return to a more normal way of living.

Tasmania is in a good place and with jobs returning and our economic recovery leading the nation, and our vaccination program well underway, Tasmanians are looking to the future with optimism.