Interview with David Koch, Sunrise
19 August 2020
DAVID KOCH: Joining me now, Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Prime Minister good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning David.
KOCH: Gee this sounds exciting and hopeful doesn’t it? How hopeful are you that these trials are going to be effective?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I am hopeful, but also naturally cautious and it is good news, I mean as people are going through each and every day, dealing with the restrictions, businesses, particularly people down in Melbourne and across Victoria. People in border towns. I know the real strain and stress and today is a day of hope for all Australians. That the work that has been done out of Oxford and we have been able to strike this deal with AstraZeneca and this would mean a vaccine for every single Australian with the vaccines manufactured right here in Australia. This is important news. We have got into this early and that will mean, should the trials prove successful, that we can get on with it.
KOCH: So they send us, if you like, the recipe for the vaccine, and then CSL, which is the old Commonwealth Serum Laboratory, would produce it in Melbourne. And they reckon it could be ready by the end of the year, is that right?
PRIME MINISTER: Well my advice, well in terms of the manufacturing arrangements, there is still a bit of work to do there, but I’m very confident about how that’s proceeding. And it would take a couple months to get the manufacturing underway, once we were able to receive, as you say, the recipe. And so I would expect to see it in early 2021, if we can get it done earlier than that, then we will.
KOCH: Okay. And it will be a staged introduction will it? The most vulnerable will get vaccinated first and our health workers and the like?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the next step is to roll out that plan for how it would be put in right across the country. And you’re right, I mean it would take in clinical and medical advice, on how that would be done, that would also of course be influenced by further information that is discovered through those trials about what particular vulnerabilities were et cetera. That is why we take that medical advice and then we’d roll it out. But as you say, for everyone dealing with the difficulties of COVID-19 everyday, this is one of those days where we are getting on top of it.
KOCH: Have you bet the house on Oxford University? Or have you done a series of other deals with other potential candidates? Like Queensland University?
PRIME MINISTER: Well of course there's the University of Queensland arrangement which we are already involved in as a funder. There are 160 different projects all around the world and some of those are obviously quite unlikely but some of them are also in a much better position. And we have pulled together an expert panel, which is being led by Professor Brendan Murphy and they are advising us on those that are the right ones to put further if you like, positions on to ensure that we can spread our risk. We are not putting everything in the AstraZeneca basket but that is one of, that is the most advanced and the most likely, based on the expert advice we have. But it won't be the only one.
KOCH: Okay. For this to work, you have got to have a lot of people vaccinated. We are hearing reports today that a lot of your Ministers are being spammed by the anti-vaxxers. What do you say to them in terms of safety and why we need to be vaccinated when this comes out?
PRIME MINISTER: It is the same with any vaccination. And look, I, we have been subject to those things before. I was the Minister for Social Services that introduced ‘no jab, no play’. You have just got to put forward the medical evidence and the science, and I think there is a strong wave of community opinion. You have got to get to herd immunity with any vaccines, and for those who are unable for absolute medical reasons, not able to take vaccines, and that happens with many vaccines in the country, they are the ones who rely on everybody taking it even more. So you have got to do it for yourself, your family and for your fellow Australians. I mean people can’t think of just themselves in these situations.
KOCH: What do you need to get to, what level do you need to get to to make it effective in the community?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s about, well my advice is it's around about two thirds coverage when it comes to any sort of herd immunity. But we will take the medical advice on that but we are looking for universal coverage here David. I mean, this pandemic has devastated economies, it’s devastated livelihoods and it has taken over 430 lives in Australia. And sadly, I fear worse news still to come on that front in the days and weeks ahead, given the outbreak in Victoria. And so it is important that we make this as far and wide an application as possible.
KOCH: And also, we have got to get borders open again, don't we? And get the economy moving and this is the best way to do it?
PRIME MINISTER: A vaccine is the ultimate answer but it also means that the work on contact tracing and testing, that hasn't changed, social distancing and cracking down on outbreaks, the information we are starting to see out of Victoria is improving. That is welcome. But there is still quite a distance to go there. In the rest of the country, I mean we are doing very, very well and we obviously want to see the economic side of this also addressed and that will be a key topic for discussion again on Friday at the National Cabinet.
KOCH: While we have got you, this move by China to start an investigation into Australian dumping it’s wine in China is starting to hurt local producers. We saw Treasury Wine Estates share price drop over 10 per cent yesterday as a result of it. How worried, is this to you, that this trade war with China is going to go up a notch?
PRIME MINISTER: Well it’s concerning obviously, there’s about a billion dollars or more on exports to China in wine. It is not the, it is our biggest export market, but it’s, our producers have been diversifying pretty significantly in recent times, I think it’s about 37% of the export market. We are taking it seriously but obviously we completely reject any suggestion that Australian wine is subsidised. Our wine is well respected and loved around the world because it is the best. And it is appropriately priced. In fact, the second highest priced wine in China. So we will obviously be dealing with the facts of that matter. We are taking it seriously. And as we said yesterday, this is about an 18 month process with no impact right now. And wine sales will continue with some other permit issues for some time yet. So we are taking it seriously. But at the same time, we completely reject any suggestion that there is dumping of Australian wine in China.
KOCH: Prime Minister, appreciate your time with some really good optimistic news.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, let’s hope.
KOCH: Thank you again.
