Doorstop - Castle Hill, NSW

14 March 2021

PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Well, it's been three weeks since I was here with Paul Kelly, of course, the Chief Medical Officer, and Alison, the Chief Nurse, as well as Jane Malysiak and the many others who I’ve joined again for our second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. It's great to see everybody looking well after their last vaccination and just like last time, they've done a great job here, like so many have been doing over these last three weeks as we've commenced the vaccination program right across Australia.

Over the past three weeks, more than 150,000 doses have been delivered around the country. As of this morning, in addition, which will be an improvement on some of the figures you'll see from the Secretary of Department of Health, Professor Murphy, in a few moments time, 437 aged care facilities have had the vaccination program come to those facilities, and more than 40,000 residents also have been vaccinated with their first dose of those vaccines. As we said early on, we hope to achieve early on about 80,000 vaccinations a week and that's what we have been able to achieve in this just this third week of the rollout of the vaccines and Professor Murphy will take you in a lot more detail this morning about where we see that going into the future and how that's performed over these past three weeks. We remain on track for the first doses of all of the vaccines, for all of those who are seeking them in Australia, by that I mean the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccines, to be available for those who want in Australia by the end of October. That timetable and that goal remains absolutely, as we set it out in early mid February, where we said it was the first doses that we believe we could achieve, having been administered by that time of the end of October. We said we'd get underway with the vaccinations in mid to late February, and that's exactly what we did and here we are again today, three weeks later for the second of those vaccinations for that first, first, very first group led by Jane Malysiak three weeks ago.

We've always had a very clear plan for the rollout and that strategy was developed last year. It went through both the Federal Cabinet and including through the National Security Committee of Cabinet, but also was endorsed by the National Cabinet. It's been worked through by experts over a long period of time and it ensured that we also get the full cooperation of states and territories, which we are very grateful for. This is a program where the Commonwealth is investing more than $6 billion. $6 billion. This is a huge vaccination program and it is well and truly underway. We are now moving into the phase where we've gone from a careful start, as you would expect us to do, to protect the health and safety of Australians receiving that vaccine. And remember, in this first phase we are dealing with the most vulnerable of Australians. We're dealing with Australians in aged care facilities, Australians living with a disability. Of course, we're also vaccinating those working in the front line in our quarantine and ICUs and that program continues to be rolled out by the states and territories, together with the Commonwealth Government.

This plan is expert prepared and evidence-led on the medical evidence. And this is a critical point, on vaccinations just like a year ago. Let's think back a year ago. It was a year ago we established the National Cabinet. It was a year ago that we put in place so many of the mechanisms that were so successful that has put Australia in the position where we are leading the world out of the global pandemic and out of the global recession that the pandemic caused. And those decisions then also were the subject of much discussion, much criticism, much debate. There are a lot of others who offered opinions on how these things should run. And that's understandable in a country like Australia. That is the Australian way and I've always welcomed that. But I want to assure you that the program we’re rolling out is led by our experts who not only have the qualifications to do this, but they also have the responsibility. They have the responsibility for making this work and I think that's a critical factor. Everyone can have a view, but only some are actually responsible for putting these matters into their proper context and ensuring that the program is professionally and expertly delivered. And particularly, I want to thank Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly, who Chair and Deputy Chair our vaccination taskforce and with all of their counterparts around the states and territories for the fine work that they've been doing. So a careful start and we're ramping up.

One of the things you'll see from Professor Murphy's presentation today that the critical factor in controlling the pace of the vaccination program is the supply and production of vaccines. That is the critical swing factor and that is what we've been seeking to provide regular updates on. In these early phases, that has obviously been impacted by the fact that we'd anticipated on our contracted arrangements to have some 3.8 million vaccines imported from overseas. That's been 700,000. Now, I can tell you with what's been going on in Europe, in particular, that to have been successful in getting 700,000, that has been quite a Herculean effort and that has enabled us to get the program underway and to build the bridge to the place where we are producing our own vaccines. And that day is not very far away now. The events and the disruption we've seen in the supply chains from overseas has only confirmed the wisdom of a decision that we took last August. We knew there'd be vulnerabilities around international supply chains. We contracted for the best, but we planned for the worst. And planning for the worst meant that we needed our own domestic capability to produce vaccines here in Australia. Now, I can't tell you how important that decision has been. That is the game changer. That is the game saver for Australia. If we had been right now solely reliant on the international importation of vaccines, then we would not have a vaccination program in this country this year. But because we took the decision as a Government, backed it up with the support of taxpayers and the arrangements we went into with CSL, with the long lead times to gear up their production and to make that a reality, not just a plan, it is happening. Those vaccines are being produced in Melbourne. They are being filled and finished, as they call it, in that process to ensure that they are ready to go. And that decision has been critical for Australia's vaccination sovereignty as we go throughout the course of this very important year.

Now, what I'll be asking Professor Murphy to do, along with Greg Hunt as Health Minister, Health and Aged Care Minister, he'll return to those duties on Monday. He's been discharged from hospital and we're looking forward to his return on Monday, is starting Monday week, he and the Secretary of Health will provide in a format like this, an update to media on the progress of the vaccination program. What that will do for you as we show and you'll see some from the presentation today where we are at with supply, where we're at with distribution, where we're at with dealing with the various events and disruptions that can occur in any program and how we're responding to meet those. And so I'll leave it to the Secretary to go through those issues with you in just a few moments time.

In addition to all of that, what we're also announcing today is the very successful COVID-19 health response national arrangements we put in place with the states and territories early on. It was about this time last year, I think from memory Brendan. Those arrangements will be extended at a further cost of some $1.1 billion. Now, they're the arrangements that deal with the 50/50 cost sharing of our COVID-related health responses of states and territories and that has already meant that the Commonwealth has provided an additional $5 billion over and above what we would normally have provided to the states and territories in supporting them to handle their end of the of the COVID-19 health response. We're also extending further out the telehealth services to the 30th of June of this year, and we'll consider that further in the months ahead. So far, more than 51 million telehealth services have been delivered to 13 million patients at a cost of some $2.6 billion. This has been a life-saving program, the telehealth program, and particularly where it relates to issues like mental health. In addition, the support for rapid pathology testing of tracing will continue. Some 14.5 million COVID tests have been concluded to date. The GP-led respiratory clinics has delivered more than one million consultations and 934,600 COVID-19 tests. That is continuing. Culturally safe testing, treatment, electronic prescription services, some $3.8 million electronic prescription repeats to patients were issued and almost 1.7 million are dispensed to date. The delivery of home medicine services across the country, more than 2.1 million services already. The continued dispensing emergency measure, some 289,000 people have had at least one supply of medicine so far. Of course, then there's the important mental health supports beyond telehealth. Beyond Blue Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing support service to meet ongoing demand. These will continue. The aged care workforce surge support capability and financial support for aged care facilities affected by COVID-19, they will continue as well.

So, you know, we're not out of this yet. We've been very careful about that. We are moving into the sort of post-emergency phase, particularly economically from the end of this month, which is the same time that the COVID-19 response with the vaccination program ramps up to a whole new level. But fully understanding that until we get through this vaccination program and further developments elsewhere around the world, then our COVID-19 health response continues. And there's a further $1.1 billion today to expend that, to extend those arrangements that have been so incredibly successful over the course of the past year.

Now, the other thing we're announcing today is we continue to need to counter the impacts of misinformation and we will be ramping up our campaign against misinformation. Australians can get all their questions answered on the Health website to find out where they want and need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine. The new material on the website is called ‘Is it true?’ www.health.gov.au/covid19vaccines . That will help answer questions people have about the vaccine and to respond to vaccine misinformation that they have heard. I've said all along, go to the authorised sources of information when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. Don't go to Dr Google, don't go to Dr Facebook. Don't go to any of those places where everyone can have an opinion but no one has responsibility. You've got to go to the people who have the responsibility for the opinions that they put forward when it comes to medical advice. They have to have the professional qualifications and they have to be backed by the medical evidence. And then I think the overlay of having the actual medical responsibility in advising me as Prime Minister and Greg Hunt as Health and Aged Care Minister, that adds an added weight, I think to the care and professionalism that is needed to provide that advice. So Australians, you'll have access to that as well through our official websites and the way we put that information into the public arena. And I think that will be very, very important.

But three weeks down from the start on this program, it has been a careful staff. We have dealt with the significant disruptions to supply. We got under way when we said we would. We said we'd get to around about 80,000 of those in those initial phases a week and we have and we will see that ramp up from here. But the thing, I must say, I'm most pleased about is that I'm so pleased that last August we took that decision, knowing that in COVID-19 you can never take anything for granted and you have to make your own certainty when it comes to COVID-19 and Australia has been doing that. And by ensuring that we have a domestic capability to produce our vaccines, more than 50 million doses being produced here in Australia, that gives us the options we need to manage this. That gives us the options to respond to this, and that includes helping out our Pacific and South East Asian neighbours. You would have noted the announcement we made as part of the Quad the other night, which involves Australia's support as part of a Quad effort to be supporting vaccines in the region. We're also forward leaning on addressing the issues in the South West Pacific and particularly in Papua New Guinea, where we have some genuine concerns and we will be working very closely with them to help our Pacific family in their time of need as well. I'm going to hand to Professor Murphy and he's going to take you through a presentation. Thank you, Brendan. Good to have Alex Hawke here with me, too.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, Prime Minister. Back to my old slide shows. The Prime Minister was reflecting on a year ago. Reflecting on a year ago, there's no one in the world who would have thought we would have two highly successful vaccines being rolled out just in early 2021. Nobody thought in their wildest dreams we would have really, really good vaccines for perhaps the end of this year and even then, we weren't sure how effective they were. As the Prime Minister said, we have invested over $6 billion and we have three main vaccines in our current armamentarium. The Novavax vaccine will not be coming until much later in this year and won't have a major part in our first vaccination program. But we have the Pfizer vaccine coming in steady but relatively small supplies from overseas and will continue to come all year. And the AstraZeneca vaccine, 53.8 million doses, but 50 of those produced in Australia.

Again, I want to say something very important. Both vaccines on the real world data that we have seen from the UK are equally efficacious. They are both very, very good vaccines that prevent severe disease, hospitalisation in all age groups, including the elderly. So I want to again kill off any sort of narrative that there might be a suggestion that one is better than the other. The data simply do not support that. We also have invested in the COVAX facility, that gives us access to an extra 25 million vaccines from a variety of companies should we need to do so in the future for Australian boosters or for overseas use. So we're in a very good position. It's a very substantial investment of over $3 billion in vaccines. Next slide, please.

So just to remind, this is the stuff that my colleague, Professor Kelly, normally shows where our epidemiology is at the moment. We are in a very good place. We have very little community transmission. As you can see, very, very few cases. Our testing numbers are pretty good. Nearly all the cases we're seeing in Australia at the moment are overseas acquired. But of course, our biggest risk remains hotel quarantine, border quarantine. That's where the cases are. And that's where, of course, we will continue to see occasional episodes of transmission like we saw with a doctor in Queensland from yesterday. And that vindicates our approach to prioritise those border and quarantine and frontline health care workers in the first vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine. So we are in a good place in Australia. We don't have a burning platform. Next slide, please.

That is in stark contrast to most of the rest of the world where the vaccination program is being run out with an emergency use authorisation in many countries in late last year because they had an uncontrolled pandemic with overwhelmed hospitals, people dying, and huge community transmission. We are so fortunate that we don't have that burning platform in Australia. Of course, we want to vaccinate as quickly as possible, but our strategy is careful, measured, ramp up to protect our population. We are not out there trying to control an uncontrolled pandemic. Next slide, please.

So this is our strategy and this slide you have all seen many times before. We have, under the advice of our ATAGI, our expert medical group that have provided these prioritisations, a series of phases. But it's a dynamic program. It's a program that needs to move according to logistics, according to vaccine supply, and according to the circumstances it moved from week to week. So, for example, we have brought forward the start of 1B by vaccinating health care workers in 1B earlier than we thought because there was some spare capacity in some of the state and territory clinics. The program will be regularly reassessed and modified. We will start each phase where it suits and where we have vaccine supply. As the Prime Minister has said, the overwhelming determining factor of the pace and scale of the rollout is vaccine supply. Next slide, please.

These are the data from close of business on Friday. As the Prime Minister said, we've got more data from yesterday's vaccinations and you can see that we've vaccinated over 160,000 people in Australia, over 430 now residential aged care and disability facilities with over 40,000 residents, a huge and complex logistic exercise in sending teams. And I'm pleased to see Sonic Healthcare here today. They've been leading some of those teams that have been going into these facilities and very respectfully and carefully vaccinating these frail Australians. The states have also, they had the prioritisation of most of the early vaccine. We had the early Pfizer vaccines were the first ones we got and we gave 84 per cent of that vaccine to the states so that they could cover their quarantine and border workers and their frontline health care workers. So they have been progressively ramping up.

And if you can see on the next slide, we can see how the ramp up has occurred. The ramp up has occurred more quickly in the states and territories because we, as I said, we gave them 84 percent of all of that initial Pfizer doses so that they could prioritise those most at risk. Over 90 per cent of the doses we allocated to the residential aged care and disability sector have now been administered. And that sector, we are increasingly ramping up the teams. Our friends at Sonic and Aspen and Healthcare Australia are increasing their team size and going into many more facilities every week. Next slide.

This is a really important slide because, as the Prime Minister said, we did expect to get 3.8 million doses of AstraZeneca and even a little bit more Pfizer than we got early on in February and March. So in February, we had expected to see a line somewhere up there. But in fact, we only got 300,000 of the 3.8 million in February and then another 400,000 of AstraZeneca from overseas has only just arrived recently. So we're 3.1 million doses short of AstraZeneca vaccine from what we thought we would have in that initial ramp up. And again, we also thought we might have had a little bit more Pfizer. But Pfizer have worked incredibly hard. They're a wonderful company. They have been delivering on a regular weekly allocation. But again, it is subject to all of those international supply constraint considerations that the Prime Minister talked about. The critical thing is you'll see that - go back again, sorry, back to that, just go right back to that slide - that's it. So the critical thing you can see here is that whilst the Pfizer doses continue in the dark blue, it has steadily increased throughout the year. But it’s a steady, predicted increase, and they will keep those Pfizer clinics going. Once we finish the aged care and disability care residents, all of that Pfizer doses will go to the states and territories to run their Pfizer hubs, and they will keep vaccinating health care workers initially, emergency workers, and then they will vaccinate the broader population. The international AstraZeneca we are not confident, we haven't factored in getting any more of that. But the big thing is this grey line. This is our locally, domestically produced from CSL in partnership with AstraZeneca. The vaccine that is being made in Parkville is being put in bottles as we speak and will be delivered not the coming week, but the week after. And that is a really, really exciting moment for us and you can see that ramps up rapidly to right throughout the year. We have factored in the potential availability of some Novavax later in the year, but we're not counting on that in our vaccination strategy. Next slide, please.

So just to give you an idea of how that first week distribution has gone, as I mentioned in the early month, we put just about everything into state and territory Pfizer clinics. And so they have had most of the vaccine that was available in that first month because we all agreed at National Cabinet that those border workers and quarantine workers and frontline health care workers with the highest risk of getting in contact with someone with COVID. So that's been a very important rollout. And of course, we are also rolling out aged care and disability care, and we're ramping that up progressively, safely and carefully. Starting on the 22nd of March, tomorrow week, the very exciting primary care rollout starts. It starts gently and rapidly increases over the course of several weeks and you'll see that the primary care rollout is going to be the mainstay of the general population in 1B, the over 70s and over 80s that we will start vaccinating from tomorrow week in general practice and like in the respiratory clinic associated with where we are now, they will be getting going in the next week. So that gives you a real idea of where the vaccines are going and where they will be going in coming weeks. Next slide, please.

This is an important slide. This is showing how we are planned and are on track to deliver our vaccines over the course of this year. The bottom line is where we think current expected guaranteed supply will take us. And as the Prime Minister said, that will take us to everybody getting their first dose by the end of October. There will be some, a small proportion of people, who will still get second doses after that, but they are protected with that first dose. It is highly protective, that first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. Of course, that is dependent on things going absolutely to plan. It is dependent on the logistics working with the aged care rollout. It's dependent on that supply issues. If CSL have any issues with the rollout of the supply of vaccine, if there were any issues with a vaccine that might where the science or the evidence change, we might have to change our strategy, if there were any safety concerns that might occur from around the world. Of course, those things are subject to provisos and that might shift. But on our current plans, we're pretty confident we can get those first doses into the arms of everybody by the end of October.

Now, we are actively working in the top line with CSL to increase their production, to increase the number of doses that they can churn out from above a million a week to a bigger number so that we can roll out more. Because we've got lots of people who want to give more vaccines. As you'll see in the general practice clinics and the GP respiratory clinics, they want to do more. The states and territories want to do more. The critical limitation at the moment is simply vaccine supply. So if we can achieve that, we will get first doses in everyone's arm in September and essentially get second doses in arms for everyone in October and we're working hard to try and achieve that. We are working as hard as we can with the available vaccine supply that we have, and CSL are doing a mammoth job. They're running their fill and finish line 24 hours a day and we've said that's good, but go harder. So we're working very hard with them and there are fantastic Australian company. Next slide, please.

I want to talk a bit about the really, really exciting primary care vaccination rollout that's starting tomorrow week. This is a huge logistic exercise. This is showing you the number of points of vaccination sites that will be rolled out. They include a number of general practises doing 400 doses a week and a big number that will do 100 doses a week, an even bigger number that will only start off with 50 doses a week. Some GP respiratory clinics like the one next door to here who will be doing a bigger number and very importantly, our Aboriginal community controlled health sector, which is, which is going to be ramped up too. So well over a thousand sites rolled out in week one, progressively ramped up to get right through to week eight to 15. We will have over 5,000 points of presence. Logistics teams are starting to roll out AstraZeneca to over a thousand points of presence next week to get them ready for that start on Monday week. A huge logistical challenge. But we're so excited that just about every general practice that has been notified that they can be in week one have already signed up and they've already ordered their vaccines. They're on board. They're excited. Practices like this one we're in now want to be part of this. This is a very exciting initiative because they know their patients. They can contact their elderly patients and bring them in for a vaccine and environment when they can be safe and looked after. If we go into the next slide.

This just shows you the sort of doses that will be rolled out to general practice over this period. Again, that ramps up progressively. Now, you'll note that even though we're producing a million doses from CSL, we're not allocating that out because, of course, we have to hold back second doses. And when we get into second doses from this end point here, there's a huge ramp up and we have to ramp up even more points of presence. We will be rolling out additional general practice sites, community pharmacies, and if we have enough vaccine, more mass vaccination clinics in partnership with the states and territories. So we'll be ramping up after a month to about half a million doses a week in general practice. But of course, we're continuing 230,000 doses in state and territory clinics, aged care in-reach until we finish that and disability care in-reach. This is a hugely complex and dynamic process, but we and our general practitioners and the nurses and all the teams who work in these clinics are really excited about doing it. Next slide please.

I just want to show you the first few weeks trajectory of how we started off and just show you that it’s very much the same as every other country. These other countries that started with emergency use late last year or in January. Everyone starts gently and ramps up, exactly what we're doing, exactly what New Zealand is doing. We are ramping up as fast as we have vaccine and we are ramping up in the safest and most effective way that we can. This program is working well. It's a really exciting partnership with the states and territories, with the health care community, and it's very exciting to be able to talk now about the next exciting phase of for 1B and the primary care rollout. Next and last slide, I think.

Just to remind people that this is the source of advice, and that's the 1800 number for those who aren't or don't want to go on the Internet can get advice. And later, if you're wondering about when you can get access to vaccines in your general practice later this week on that website, you can be directed to a site. At the moment, you can find it when you're eligible and later on, you'll be able to find out which clinics have vaccines and how to arrange a booking and the same can be done through the 1800 number. I’ll stop there. Thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: I might ask you to stay with me here, Brendan, at the lectern. Happy to take questions. Let's take questions on the presentation, on the vaccination rollout and, as usual, we can move to other matters later. 

JOURNALIST: Given that we've got so much or so many doses of the domestic AstraZeneca vaccine coming down the track soon, is there no virtue in bringing forward that first dose rollout to get more people the first jab sooner rather than withholding a significant amount of supply for the second dose, which won't start until week 16 of the of the vaccination rollout?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So it is really important that we're not holding back, we’re only holding back a proportion, holding back half like we did with Pfizer. Because Pfizer has a three week vaccination. We're holding back less than 40 percent of AstraZeneca. But the critical thing is if you don't hold back second doses and in fact, the very first week of the GP rollout, we're rolling out everything we've got. And that's international AstraZeneca because the domestic won't be available until the second week. But if we don't hold back second doses, we might come to a point where we don't have any more first doses to give. We want to keep growing the first dose population. We've got to be able to account for those second doses. Very careful modelling, happy to share it with you. But we are keeping back only the necessary contingency to make sure we have second doses available. And we also have to keep back contingency. For example, we may need to help a neighbouring country with an outbreak. If we had an outbreak, another outbreak, heaven help us, in one of our states from hotel quarantine, we'd want to have vaccine that we can roll out and we would use that second dose contingency for that.

JOURNALIST: On the graph, Prime Minister, it looked like not all of the first doses will be administered by October?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Well, that's not true.

PRIME MINISTER: That's not true. It actually says that all are done by the end of October. That’s what the graph actually shows.

JOURNALIST: So just to clarify, so you’ve received your second dose today. So can you still say, according to that graph, that most Australians, when will they receive their second dose?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Most Australians will have received it by the end of October. But there will be some, and if we get the extra AstraZeneca production from CSL, I imagine all Australians will potentially have achieved it by the end of October. But if we keep on the more conservative production line, there will be a small proportion of Australians that will be protected already by their first dose by the end of October but will need to come back over coming weeks to get their second dose.

PRIME MINISTER: And it is important because that chart also indicated that where we can boost supply, then it is potentially possible for us to bring forward, I think the achievement of the first dose goal. Equally, we are being very clear with you, just like we did back in February. That supply disruptions, unforeseen events, issues with logistics, major breakouts in our region, anything like this can of course impact on what we’re talking about. That is the nature of COVID-19. It writes its own rules, as I've said before, and the best we can do is create as much certainty in our own country as we possibly can and that's exactly what we're doing. But this is not an undertaking, particularly of such great scale, that is not free of risk. Of course, there is risk because, of course, there are disruptive events. And that's why I think it's very important that we've been so granular in what we've shared with you today and we will continue to share that on a weekly basis so we can update you. This is a dynamic process. It's also a dynamic process with the states. Premier Berejiklian and I were discussing this just on Friday, that there is a capacity in New South Wales and I'm sure many other states that where, for example, when we're going through, as Brendan and I discussed the last few days with the GP rollout, you know, we'll be sending doses to those who can get through them. Now, those who are actually meeting the targets and ensuring the doses are administered. Now, where there's spare capacity in state systems, well, we’ll send doses there too on a dynamic basis to ensure that we are keeping pace. But it's not a race. It's not a competition. It's about the health and safety of Australians.

JOURNALIST: There is a new case, apparently, speaking of dynamic, there is a new case that’s emerged of COVID in a worker at Sydney hotel quarantine. Are you concerned about hotel quarantine as being another leak, another case?

PRIME MINISTER: I’m aware of the case in New South Wales, the Premier and I discussed that earlier today and New South Wales make their own announcements about that. So I won't speak more than simply know that we are aware of that and that the individual in this case was vaccinated. But this is an important point. The vaccination isn't immediate. I've just had my second dose and the second after I had my first dose. It does take a while and Professor Kelly might want to comment on that. And so once you’re vaccinated, you still have to try and observe, as you should, the COVIDSafe behaviours. I'm wearing a mask today, I've had two vaccines. And it's important that we continue that. And that's been the evidence overseas as well, where vaccination programmes have been in place. Our quarantine system has been remarkably successful, remarkably successful. When you think of the throughput would be close to now 250,000 people that have been through this system and there have been a small number of breaches of that system. Now, that is a success rate that any country in the world would exchange places for in a heartbeat. That doesn't mean its risk free. There are no risk free responses when you're dealing with COVID-19. It is unrealistic and naive to think so. There are always vulnerabilities and you do whatever you can to counter those vulnerabilities. And of course, the vaccination programme is a huge part of that. These are incredibly powerful and effective vaccines.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned people might go about their business thinking they have some immunity because they have had one vaccine?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's the point I was just making.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yeah, so I've had my second vaccine today and I have no ill effects and I'm still wearing a mask. I think it's very important that we know that this is not a silver bullet that's going to fix everything right away. So what's happened, as the PM has said, we're aware of that. I was speaking to my colleague Kerry Chant about it earlier. New South Wales will be making announcements on that particular case. So I'm not going to go there. But the point is that we have to continue with all of our protections that we have and the key protection to the Australian community is hotel quarantine. We have, we will continue to have people coming across our border. Most of the rest of the world, as Dr Murphy has shown from one of his slides, remains in a global pandemic of massive proportions. And so there will be leaks. There will still be outbreaks even as we go through this vaccination programme. And that's going to help. But it's not the only thing that we need to keep doing.

JOURNALIST: How common is that, though, that you only after one shot could then get sick? How common is that? Is that unusual or is that normal?

PRIME MINISTER: It is also about the timeframe from your vaccination to when something like that might occur. Professor Kelly?

PROFESSOR KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It's unusual. So both of the vaccines that we have rolling out in Australia, the Pfizer vaccine that the Prime Minister, myself and the Chief Nurse had today, very effective, but not 100 percent effective against mild and moderate disease. Very, very effective, almost 100 per cent effective, against severe disease, hospitalisation and death. AstraZeneca, almost identical in relation to that. So there will be a small proportion who will be infected with the virus and may get mildly sick with the virus and can transmit the virus. It's a small proportion, but it's not zero. And so I don't know the full details of this particular case. But there is a time lag between getting the vaccine and that protection kicking in of a few weeks. And as you get the second dose, particularly the Pfizer vaccine, that increases. In the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first dose is actually very, very high protection and the second dose, 12 weeks later, it's mainly about the duration of that protection rather than increasing the efficacy.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’ve had the hotel worker today and the Queensland doctor already vaccinated also in that case. It does not help confidence in the rollout, does it?

PRIME MINISTER: It doesn't help when events like this, I think, are put in the wrong context. That's what doesn't help. There are exceptions to every rule. There are no certainties or guarantees in COVID-19. And I think in reporting, I would urge you to be cautious in allowing a perception to be created that that does exist. That doesn't exist. What you do is you put in place the strongest possible protections that you can. Australia has done that. As a result, Australia is one of the most successful countries in the world for protecting against the impact of COVID-19. That is just a fact. And Australians, I think, can feel very pleased and very assured and more confident, frankly, than almost any other people in the world today because of that response. So I would urge people to put in context these events that can occur. We've never said they can't. Of course they can. But they are exceptions. They are a very small minority of cases. And what we're dealing with here is the vast balance of the population where the protection comes from. So, no, I'm not disturbed by it. I'm not surprised by it. Because you would expect these things to happen on the odd occasion. And that's why it's important that we can never be complacent about COVID-19. It writes the rules, not Australia, not us, not doctors, not commentators, not anyone else. And we have to ensure that the protections we put in place are as strong as they possibly can and I can assure Australians, that's exactly what the Government is doing, undistracted, undeterred. 

JOURNALIST: And those possible outcomes, small in numbers as they may be, they'll be reflected in your truth in vaccination website, I gather, when people go to the website and ask questions about the rollout of the vaccine?

PRIME MINISTER: We've always been totally transparent about these issues, totally transparent. And that's why I would urge people to listen carefully to what Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly have been saying. We've been very transparent. I believe Australians believe that, too. I mean, over the course of this last year, it is a countless number of times that I and Professor Kelly and Professor Murphy have stood before the country and been very open with the country about what we're facing and how we're dealing with it and I think Australians appreciate that. And Minister Hunt and Professor Murphy will continue to do that on a weekly basis. I'll continue to do it as the events require and certainly as National Cabinet meets to reassure Australians that we are leading the world out of this pandemic and we've put in place, if not some of the best protections in the world, as good as and we lead the world here. And that's why Australians, I think, can feel more safe and secure than almost any part of the world.

JOURNALIST: With regards to the extra capacity on vaccines, PM, you said you'll be sending doses to the states who can get through them and who are meeting their targets.

PRIME MINISTER: I was talking about both primary care as well.

JOURNALIST: So what is the target?

PRIME MINISTER: Take me back to the slide, if you could go back about three or four.

JOURNALIST: Broadly on the question?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, no, I get the question, but I'll show you what I mean. OK. So what Brendan was saying before is you get this massive ramp up in the number of doses that are going through your primary care network. And they're being administered, as well as they're being done through the GPRC and the - this is the one we're dealing with, Aboriginal services and so on. And so we will want in the shaded areas here for those doses being administered in accordance with, we're not going to have them just having doses sitting around. And if they're not meeting that, then we won't send them more doses. We will send those doses to those doctors that are meeting their targets and are getting through their doses and we will also have the option of sending those doses to states and territories through their distribution methods, where they're also pulling forward later phases of the vaccination programme.
So we're not going to have doses sitting on desks or in fridges. We're going to have them going into jabs into people's arms and ensuring that's the way we dynamically manage our planned pace of vaccination.

JOURNALIST: What about state jurisdictions that are currently rolling out phase 1A, what happens if they don't use their doses? We know that in the first week of vaccines, Queensland only did 22 percent, Victoria, 30 percent of the doses had been allocated. We now don't know the proportion of the vaccines allocated that are going into people's arms. So what happens if a state government in Phase 1A isn't using their allocated doses?

PRIME MINISTER: I believe they all will, that's the first point I'd make, and I'm confident that they will, and I think it would be premature to be suggesting otherwise. We're in the first three weeks of this rollout and we're also working hard on the data side of this to ensure that we're getting very timely updates. At our last meeting of National Cabinet, we had that honest conversation about why it's so important that we're sharing information between which cohorts have been vaccinated and at what rate and where that's being done most effectively and we all need to have eyes on that data at a state level and a federal level. Because that helps Brendan and his team as they're making calls about the distribution of doses. But it's important for all states and territories to be on pace with this. It’s not a race, it's not a competition. I mean, the whole state parochial thing about performance on COVID-19, that doesn't concern me. What concerns me about Australia's performance nationally as a country together on the vaccination programme. So I'm confident that the states and territories will meet their marks, that they'll do the best possible job they can. They have highly competent and professional people doing this. This is not the first vaccination Australia has ever run. We run them every year and we do them incredibly effectively. This is on another scale, granted, but I'm confident that they will meet their marks and they'll work carefully with our team.

JOURNALIST: On the subject of National Cabinet, I understand that generally an acting premier is not allowed to attend. Will James Merlino be at the cabinet table?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s not for some weeks yet. So let's just see. I've been in contact with Dan and I've had a message for him this morning, actually, I was checking up on his welfare and I'm pleased to see that he's out of ICU and I wish him and his family all the best as he goes through his recovery. Obviously, we'd like to see him back around that table as soon as possible. But if we have an acting premier there who was sitting around chairing the Victorian cabinet table, and that's a formal arrangement that's been put in place, then I would see no reason why under those circumstances that that would be, that they would be very welcome to sit around that table. Now, normally, we don't have acting arrangements. If someone's on leave, for example, or it's a temporary arrangement, then no, we don't do that. And that's an understanding and agreement we have between the states and territories and myself. But I think this is a very different situation given the health status of the Premier.

JOURNALIST: Premier, in relation to, sorry, Prime Minister, Gladys Berejiklian here has said that if the 99 vaccination hubs that the New South Wales government is using in phase 1A and phase 1B, are taken offline, then it could take months longer than expected to complete phase 2A and 2B. And so can the Federal Government guarantee that the state governments, if they want to, can keep those vaccination hubs online, delivering jabs it could have otherwise gone to the primary care network?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let Brendan speak to that.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So, look, of course, we want to keep all the state and territory clinics going. We will give them, as we've said many times, as much vaccine as we can spare, but we have made an agreed national commitment to roll out this primary care phase. And so some of the states who had really most of the vaccine for the first months, at 84 percent, are keen to have more and to grow bigger. But I think we just have to balance that supply. Many of the some GPs, some GPs are only getting 50 doses a week. They say they could do a lot more. And so as we grow the supply, we will work with the states. We're having a big workshop with them in coming weeks to look at those scenarios of supply and what they can realistically run. So I think those clinics that they've stood up can be run at different scales. So you can run them Monday to Friday business hours or in many cases, they're currently running well into the evening or on weekends. So there's ways of scaling them up and down and keeping them going. But it's a dynamic process. We're not holding anything back from the states. We are giving vaccine across the country to all those sites of vaccination according to our agreed plan and according to the vaccine doses we have available.

PRIME MINISTER: This is a national vaccination programme. The Commonwealth is investing over $6 billion and footing the bill for this programme. And that's why we developed, given we have responsibility and carriage of this, we developed a national vaccination strategy which Professor Murphy has led the development of with Professor Kelly as his deputy chair, working with state and territory agencies as well. So it's a nationally run programme. We'll run it according to that national strategy, and we'll work closely with the states and territories. I spoke with Premier Berejiklian on Friday and we discussed all of these issues and we're working very closely together. I want to assure Australians we are just working together, as we have worked together on the medical elements of the COVID response as we have all year. As I said earlier, we've extended those arrangements out further at a cost of a further $1.1 billion. We've put additional $5 billion from federal taxpayers to support state expenditure under our COVID response agreement. That's $5 billion already. So we're working closely with the states and we've been paying as well to support the great efforts that they've put in place.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask a couple of things while we’re still on the vaccine. Firstly, the website that you have set up to counter misinformation, was that prompted by the feedback that the misinformation is causing problems with the rollout?

PRIME MINISTER: No, it was prompted by good judgement and wisdom. That’s what it's prompted by. I mean, we see this all the time and sometimes, I'd say this to people as well and we know also working through CALD communities and Alex, as the Immigration Minister, has been working closely on this. People are getting sometimes their information from overseas, particularly for various ethnic communities across the country. Go to the Australian information is my message to them. Go to the Australian information, because there are different vaccination programmes in different countries. They are in different pandemic situations than in Australia. And so it's very important that to get the right information on the Australian vaccination programme, you go to the Australian Government source of information to get the best information and to answer any questions that you may have.

JOURNALIST: So just on that, businessman and former politician Clive Palmer has taken out ads in newspapers which contain misleading and false information about the approval of coronavirus vaccines, prompting criticism from some health officials. Are his ads misleading and dangerous, do you believe?

PRIME MINISTER: Where they are completely at odds with the official information, of course they are. Of course they are. And don't go to Dr Palmer either. Go to Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly and the Chief Nurse Allison. That's where you should go. Don't go to other sources. They're not reliable. It's not good for  your health to be relying on non-official sources of health information. It's a free country. People can spout all sorts of nonsense and it'll get printed. It'll get run, it'll get broadcast. It's a free country. But go to the official sources of information.

JOURNALIST: PM, have you changed the national vaccination strategy by allowing the state vaccination hubs to stay on board phase 2A and 2B when otherwise they would’ve shut down. You would have sent vaccines [inaudible]?

PRIME MINISTER: I would say no. And Brendan can comment on this. The programme is dynamic. You know, it's not set and forget, that's not how you run any successful programme. You run a programme, you put a strategy in place, you follow that strategy and as events and capabilities change over the course of time, well, you adjust and you adapt, but your goal doesn't change. Our goal hasn't changed. And we remain very focused on that job and we are making great progress to that goal.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So the strategy always envisaged the state Pfizer hubs going right throughout the year because once we're finished aged care, they will be having all of the Pfizer vaccine. We've also envisaged a small number of state run AstraZeneca clinics for 1B to do their health care workers and if necessary, to do some of the general population. But that was always the primary source of the general population in 1B, it was always going to be primary care, supplemented where GP market failure might occur or in special circumstances by other states. It's a partnership.

JOURNALIST: Is there any concern that CSL will have delays bottling the domestic AstraZeneca? Apparently it is quite difficult.

PRIME MINISTER: It is a massive logistical task. And of course, I mean, with any vaccine production on this scale, then of course there will be challenges. But I'm confident that they can address those challenges and where those challenges give rise to any disruptions in supply, then we will be very transparent about that and we'll deal with it within the strategy.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the boyfriend of the woman who accused…

PRIME MINISTER: We’re still on health, I’m happy to come to those other matters. But right now, I’m sure Australians, as important as those issues are, they’re very interested also in understanding how the vaccination programme works. So I'm happy to come back to it. 

JOURNALIST: I’ve exhausted my health questions.

PRIME MINISTER: If we go to questions on that matter, I’m going to excuse health professional colleagues. Thank you all very much. The Immigration Minister will stay with me and local member here.

JOURNALIST: If I might then return to that question.

PRIME MINISTER: Sure.

JOURNALIST: The former boyfriend of the woman who accused Christian Porter said that he has recollections of conversations both with her and with him but there is no independent investigation even in Canberra, one in which he can share of have those recollections tested. And at the same time, senior women in your Government are not meeting, it's been reported, with women who are planning to march on this issue and the broader treatment of women in politics and public life. Does that risk creating perception that your Government is stonewalling on the issue?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll be happy to meet with a delegation from the group that is coming to Canberra. Meet them, as I do, with many groups. I meet them privately in my office and I'll listen carefully to what they're coming to say.

JOURNALIST: Will you go out to the march?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I won’t be going to the march. I'll be in Parliament that day and dealing with the very issues we've been discussing. But I'm very happy to receive a delegation, as I would normally in these circumstances, and in many of the issues that have been raised, issues that the Government itself have been very focused on. I mean, right now, the issue of violence against women continues to be a very high priority of my Government. The fifth national action plan we are now moving to with the states and territories, it’s been a high priority item that we've had on the National Cabinet agenda and the National Federation Reform Council agenda. The work and funding that we've put into things like 1800RESPECT and the many other measures are things that we've been moving forward and acting on and that's been in a bipartisan way. The issue of dealing with violence against women and families, these are things that should be bipartisan in this country. And in most of my parliamentary experience, they have been and should be. And so I understand there is great feeling and understandably so on these issues. What we need to keep focusing on, what we need to keep focusing on is the protections and the resources and the programmes that we're putting in place. And that includes the response to the Respect@Work inquiry done by Kate Jenkins. As you know, Kate Jenkins, we've put in place the independent enquiry that is looking at the broader issues of treatment of staff and their protections. I've already acted to put in place new reporting mechanisms and support mechanisms for staff. We haven't waited for the inquiry to come back. We've been getting on and doing those things and we'll continue to do that. We are equally committed and equally concerned about addressing these issues. And our record in Government, I think demonstrates that.

JOURNALIST: Why won’t you go to the march if it is a high priority for you?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't had a habit of going out to do any marches when they've come to Canberra, because as Prime Minister, when you're in Canberra, it's a very busy day. But I'm very happy to receive a delegation and I'll respectfully receive that, as I'm sure they will respectfully engage with me and they will raise the issues that are being raised as a course of that series of engagements that day. And I look forward to speaking with them about those and discussing what the Government is doing and what we're doing with the states and territories.

JOURNALIST: How do you expect that delegation to be organised, PM, and if you have time to visit a delegation from this march in your office, you don't have time to go out to attend the march and hear the concerns in public?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm very happy to meet with those. I meet with people that come to Canberra all the time. You know, I do it in my office. I do it privately where we can discuss the issues they wish to raise in a very, I think, a very respectful way. And we can talk through the issues that they'd like to bring up. I think that's the right way to do this. They're very welcome. The delegation is a matter for them. I don't set the delegations of people who come to see me. They advise in the usual way of who they'd like to attend, you know, how many people can come is obviously limited by the size of the small room in my office. But they are the same rules that apply to anyone else.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the WA Liberal bloodbath, as it is being referred to, your response to that result? What’s the future of the Liberal Party in WA and does it reflect on the timing for your federal...?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I've always said, the federal election is in 2022. That's when it's due and that has been my position. It's been others mainly in the media who have been saying that another time, not me. So there's been no change, in my view, about these issues. We've got a lot to do this year and the most significant thing we're doing this year, we've been speaking about this morning, is the vaccination programme. Whether it's that or the important work we're doing internationally. You’ve seen the Quad meeting we held just over the course of the weekend. The economic recovery programme which is underway. Australia's comeback on the economic front is surging again and there are many more programmes rolling out. So that's where my focus is. 

Last night, I had the opportunity to congratulate Premier McGowan. This is a resounding victory, an endorsement of his leadership during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. I've been very pleased to be working with Premier McGowan and we have a very excellent working relationship. I'm sure no doubt, as he indicated to me last night, it is a very humbling victory for him as well. And I was impressed that was the tone in which he accepted such a strong mandate there in Western Australia. It goes very much to his leadership during the course of the crisis and I look forward to picking up from where we left off before the election process began because he and I still have much work to do. But I think it very much does reflect very strongly personally the leadership that Premier McGowan has shown. I think that showed in all the various research that was done around this poll. And so he's got a big job to do and a resounding mandate to get on and do it. But as you've seen in the past and if you’ve been around a while like I have, you'll know that probably like at no other time I've seen there is a real distinction between state politics and federal politics. I mean, you only have to go back to the 2001 federal election which saw in the same year a very, very negative result for the Coalition at the state election, where we got some 28.5 per cent of the vote only to then go and get 45.6 percent of the vote in the federal election in the same year. Australians understand the difference between federal and state and I think this is a resounding endorsement of Mark McGowan's leadership, which I didn't find surprising.

JOURNALIST: Do you think the result could have been any different if you had gone there to campaign?

PRIME MINISTER: It was state election and I was quite restricted by the restrictions, but I don't think it was necessarily a result that was going to be influenced by federal leaders one way or the other.

JOURNALIST: What went so wrong for them?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's about what went so right for Premier McGowan, to be frank. I mean, this was an election that Premier McGowan won and I congratulate him. I've worked closely with Mark now ever since he became Premier. I mean together, we ensured that the GST for Western Australia, got the GST. That's something we did together. One of the reasons why his budget is as strong as it is, is because the Federal Government actually ensured that Western Australians got the appropriate recognition of the GST that they have long craved and my Government delivered. The work we've done on JobKeeper and the economic supports that we've put in through this crisis, Premier McGowan understands that most of the decisions that were made by the states were ultimately bankrolled by the federal taxpayer and the comprehensive supports we put in place that have supported the Western Australian economy. And so it has been a strong partnership and I commend him on his leadership and he has thoroughly deserved that victory there in Western Australia and I look forward to working with him closely going forward. Thanks very much. 

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43274

Is it true? Countering the misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines

14 March 2021

The Australian Government is ramping up its campaign against misinformation on the COVID-19 vaccines, as the vaccination program ramps up moving into Phase 1B.

Australians can get all their questions answer on the health website to find out what they want – and need – to know about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The new material on the website, called Is it true? – www.health.gov.au/covid19-vaccines – will help answer questions people may have about the vaccine, and respond to vaccine misinformation they may have heard.

This new function will provide trusted, credible information on COVID-19 vaccines for everyone in Australia. It will sort the fact from the fiction.

The information on the website will be clear, accurate and timely. This will help reassure Australians about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and answer commonly asked questions and misinformation relating to the COVID-19 Vaccination program.

The vaccines are the next, crucial step on the road out of this pandemic – and it’s the one step that we can all take to protect ourselves, our families, our communities from severe illness.

It’s essential that people get their information on the vaccines from credible sources – and that should be on official government websites.

With new vaccine developments every day, it’s very normal for people to have questions and possibly feel hesitant about getting the vaccine. That doesn’t make them anti-vaccination.

The new section on the website will address the most common questions being asked by people and will be updated regularly.

The Government is running an extensive $31 million education campaign through the rollout, providing people with information about the approval process for the vaccines, details on what phases the rollout is at and who is now eligible to be vaccinated.

As the vaccination program starts to move into Phase 1b , which covers more than six million people, it’s essential people understand the facts about the vaccines as they make their appointments to get vaccinated. 

The more people vaccinated, the more people protected from severe illness and death, keeping themselves and the broader community safe.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43273

Over $1.1 Billion to Extend Australia’s COVID-19 Health Response

14 March 2021

The Government will invest more than $1.1 billion to extend our successful national COVID-19 health response and suppression strategy until 31 December 2021.

Australia is leading the world out of the global COVID-19 pandemic and recession. As COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the nation, protecting Australians from the ongoing threats of the pandemic remains a priority.

This $1.1 billion is in addition to more than $22 billion spent in these areas to date, including more than $6 billion to support the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.

Australia’s suppression strategy has been extremely successful to date, particularly when compared with the devastation caused by the virus in many places overseas. Australia’s remarkable performance in saving lives is evident – we have the second lowest case rate and third lowest mortality rate amongst countries in the OECD.

The Government’s focus on containing the virus through testing, tracing and border and travel measures, building and investing in the capacity of our health system, and collaborating with states and territories, the health sector and others, has helped stop the spread of COVID-19.

We thank the community for their ongoing adherence to physical distancing and hygiene advice.

This new commitment will ensure that key measures remain in place throughout 2021 to protect the community while vaccinations roll out over the coming months.

This investment will extend:

• Our partnership with the states and territories to manage COVID-19, by sharing 50 per cent of the cost of testing and treating people with COVID-19 through our public hospitals, and of public health measures to prevent the spread. To date the Commonwealth has provided an additional $5 billion to support the states and territories, including $1 billion in additional public hospital funding

• Continue telehealth services and care until 30 June 2021. So far more than 51 million telehealth services have been delivered to 13 million patients and almost $2.6 billion in benefits paid. More than 82,000 providers have used telehealth services nationwide. The Government will continue to review the ongoing role of COVID telehealth to support the pandemic in the short term, while we plan the permanent post-pandemic telehealth arrangements with peak doctor groups.  

• Support for rapid pathology testing and tracing building on the more than 14.5 million COVID-19 tests conducted to date

• GP-led Respiratory Clinics, which have delivered more than 1 million consultations and 934,600 COVID-19 tests

• Culturally safe testing, treatment and evacuation preparedness in the most remote and isolated parts of the country which has so far provided more than 15,500 point of care tests

• Electronic prescription services with 3.8 million electronic prescriptions and repeats to patients issued and almost 1.7 million dispensed to date

• Delivery of Home Medicine Services across the country with more than 2.1 million services delivered already

• The Continued Dispensing Emergency Measure where around 289,000 people have had at least one supply of medicine so far

• The Beyond Blue Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service to meet ongoing demand for services as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and provide continued support while COVID-19 restrictions remain and the COVID-19 vaccine program is implemented

• Aged care workforce surge support capability and financial support for aged care facilities affected by a COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the ongoing safety of senior Australians.

These measures have supported our response to COVID-19 outbreaks when they occurred. Extending them will ensure Australians remain COVID safe.

Our Government will continue to monitor the pandemic and the progress of our vaccination program so we can take the swift action needed to ensure we keep Australians safe and the economy on the road to recovery.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43272

Election of Mathias Cormann to be Next OECD Secretary General

13 March 2021

I am delighted that the 38 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have chosen Australia’s representative the Hon Mathias Cormann to be the organisation’s next Secretary-General.

The appointment is recognition of Australia’s global agency and standing amongst fellow liberal democracies and our practical commitment and contribution to multilateral co-operation.

This is a great honour for Mathias who has worked tirelessly over several months to engage with leaders, senior ministers and officials of OECD member nations from Europe, Asia and the Americas.

This is the most senior appointment of an Australian candidate to an international body for decades.
Australia overcame great odds for Mathias Cormann to be successful in the contest, which comprised nine other high calibre candidates, including six from Europe.

For 60 years, the OECD has been one of the world’s most important international economic institutions.

As the global economy recovers from COVID19, the OECD’s role in shaping international economic, tax and climate change policy will be more critical than ever.

Mathias’ work and life experience in both Europe and Australia, his outstanding record as Finance Minister and Senate leader and his expertise in international economic diplomacy will ensure he makes an outstanding contribution as leader of the OECD.

I thank my ministerial colleagues, the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the broader diplomatic network for their determined efforts in support of this effort.

I also thank the Federal Opposition for their bipartisan support for the candidacy.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44047

Quad Leaders' Joint Statement: 'The Spirit of the Quad'

13 March 2021

We have convened to reaffirm our commitment to quadrilateral cooperation between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. We bring diverse perspectives and are united in a shared vision for the free and open Indo-Pacific. We strive for a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion. We recall that our joint efforts toward this positive vision arose out of an international tragedy, the tsunami of 2004. Today, the global devastation wrought by COVID-19, the threat of climate change, and security challenges facing the region summon us with renewed purpose. On this historic occasion of March 12, 2021, the first-ever leader-level summit of the Quad, we pledge to strengthen our cooperation on the defining challenges of our time. 

1. Together, we commit to promoting a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law to advance security and prosperity and counter threats to both in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We support the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity. We commit to work together and with a range of partners. We reaffirm our strong support for ASEAN’s unity and centrality as well as the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Full of potential, the Quad looks forward to the future; it seeks to uphold peace and prosperity and strengthen democratic resilience, based on universal values.  

2. Our common goals require us to reckon with the most urgent of global challenges. Today, we pledge to respond to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19, combat climate change, and address shared challenges, including in cyber space, critical technologies, counterterrorism, quality infrastructure investment, and humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief as well as maritime domains. 

3. Building on the progress our countries have achieved on health security, we will join forces to expand safe, affordable, and effective vaccine production and equitable access, to speed economic recovery and benefit global health. With steadfast commitment to the health and safety of our own people, we also recognize that none of us can be safe as long as the pandemic continues to spread. We will, therefore, collaborate to strengthen equitable vaccine access for the Indo-Pacific, with close coordination with multilateral organizations including the World Health Organization and COVAX. We call for transparent and results-oriented reform at the World Health Organization. We are united in recognizing that climate change is a global priority and will work to strengthen the climate actions of all nations, including to keep a Paris-aligned temperature limit within reach. We look forward to a successful COP 26 in Glasgow. We will begin cooperation on the critical technologies of the future to ensure that innovation is consistent with a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific. We will continue to prioritize the role of international law in the maritime domain, particularly as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and facilitate collaboration, including in maritime security, to meet challenges to the rules-based maritime order in the East and South China Seas. We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, and also confirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the issue of Japanese abductees. As long-standing supporters of Myanmar and its people, we emphasize the urgent need to restore democracy and the priority of strengthening democratic resilience.  

4. To advance these goals and others, we will redouble our commitment to Quad engagement. We will combine our nations’ medical, scientific, financing, manufacturing and delivery, and development capabilities and establish a vaccine expert working group to implement our path-breaking commitment to safe and effective vaccine distribution; we will launch a critical- and emerging-technology working group to facilitate cooperation on international standards and innovative technologies of the future; and we will establish a climate working group to strengthen climate actions globally on mitigation, adaptation, resilience, technology, capacity-building, and climate finance. Our experts and senior officials will continue to meet regularly; our Foreign Ministers will converse often and meet at least once a year. At the leader level, we will hold an in-person summit by the end of 2021. The ambition of these engagements is fit to the moment; we are committed to leveraging our partnership to help the world’s most dynamic region respond to historic crisis, so that it may be the free, open, accessible, diverse, and thriving Indo-Pacific we all seek. 

Fact sheet on outcomes from the Quad Summit

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44046

Doorstop - Croydon, NSW

12 March 2021

Dr Fiona Martin MP, Member for Reid: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I’d also like to acknowledge our veterans and our servicemen and women who sacrifice their lives for our freedom. Welcome to Reid, Prime Minister and Minister Cash. Thank you Edwina for hosting. We are here at Phil Gilbert Motors in Croydon which is in Reid. Everyone in Sydney knows that if you want to buy a car in Sydney, you come to Parramatta Road. This is where we have an incredible range of car dealerships and today is an exciting day for the car industry association. Phil Gilbert Motors has been in Reid for over 30 years, an incredible family-owned business with over 180 employees across two different sites and 12 new apprenticeships, very exciting. Today, we have some exciting news for the car association so I would like to hand over to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: Thank you, Fiona and Michaela. Edwina, thank you for having me here today, it is great to have representatives of the dealers here today and those deals are made of trade-ins. 

Before I come to that, though, I just want to make a couple of points about some international matters before dealing with the announcement of today. First of all, I'm looking forward very much to later this evening, in fact, the early hours of tomorrow morning. I will be joining President Biden and Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga from Japan in what will be the first ever leaders meeting of what is known as the Quad. This is a historic meeting of four leaders from these nations, which are such close friends. And I'm looking forward to the discussions that we will be having over a range of topics, in particular how we're dealing in the region with COVID-19, the challenges that we have with security and maritime domain here across the Indo-Pacific and also, of course, how we're working together to achieve net zero into the future on emissions and move to a new energy economy right across the Indo-Pacific region and indeed around the world. And I'm sure there will be many other issues that we address and the technology partnerships will be necessary to achieve those goals. So it is an historic moment and I think it does demonstrate Australia's agency in the world. This is something that we have been working towards for many years now. It has been a goal of ours to see the leaders meeting of the Quad come together. There have been meetings of foreign ministers. There have been many other meetings. But when governments come together at the highest level, this shows a whole new level of cooperation to create a new anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and working with important other partners in the region, and particularly the ASEAN nations and their view of the Indo-Pacific that so much informs our own. So looking forward to that tonight, it will be in the wee small hours of tomorrow morning. But I can assure you I'll be bright-eyed as we engage in what is being an incredibly important gathering for Australia. 

Also on international news, the OECD candidacy has gone into extra time, it’s into golden point I can tell you right now. And while Mathias Cormann may not have been an NRL fan but an AFL fan, I'm sure he is getting all the support that is necessary. And I really want to thank him and the whole team and all of those around the world that I've engaged with over these many months, a very important role that Australia is seeking to have our nominee a seat to. The OECD brings together like-minded countries from all around the world, like minded-liberal democracies from the Americas, from Asia-Pacific, from Europe and across the United Kingdom. We've been a member since its foundation, and we're very pleased for the first time to be putting ourselves forward for such a unique international role. 

But we're here today at this dealership because for me, motor dealers have been a touchstone through the course of the pandemic. Early on, I was one of those, in fact, on some occasions a very lonely voice when there were those who thought we should shut the car dealerships down during COVID-19. I said we can’t do that. There's no need to do that. Many of the dealerships, as we see here, people are outside, they are very large buildings with the room and the space where these things can be managed. And we fought very hard to ensure that dealerships stayed open, but we didn't stop there. JobKeeper has been a lifeline to the dealerships right across the country. In fact, at Phil Gilbert's here and the operations they have and hundreds of employees they have, they graduated off JobKeeper at the end of September. But for that six month period, it held this business together. It held the employees, the apprentices, the others who are part of this business, together. Now, they've graduated from JobKeeper. And as they've graduated from JobKeeper, they've seen their own business really start to improve. And the most recent data for new vehicle sales is showing, particularly amongst utes and ute sales, that that is driving a lot of the recovery we're seeing in retail sales across the country. And that is the evidence of the comeback of our economy. And it is the evidence of how businesses, small, medium and large family businesses like the one we have here, have been able to make their way through, their Australian way through the COVID-19 pandemic and be part of what is a striking recovery here in Australia that is leading the world out of the COVID-19 recession. 

But there are not just COVID-19 impacts that hit dealerships like these and many around the world. The agency model, the way dealers work with manufacturers, is changing. And recently, you'll know that the Government took very strong steps to hold the big tech multinational companies to account and redress the balance of power, the imbalance that existed for media companies and that existed for news media organisations in this country. We have a reputation as a Government of standing up to large multinationals to ensure that Australian companies get a fair go and the same is true for motor dealers here in Australia. And so what we're announcing today, after much consultation and working with the sector, is we'll be moving forward on a very similar basis to the way that we've been dealing with those big tech companies, with the big manufacturing companies and multinationals from overseas. Now, I know many of those companies will welcome those changes, those big manufacturers from overseas. And I'm pretty confident that the ones that Edwina works with will welcome those sorts of changes. But there will be others, they're going to need a bit of the treatment that we had to apply to those big tech multinationals to get them around the table and to ensure that Australian companies got a fair deal. 

So the arrangements we're announcing today is to put into place mandatory requirements, mandatory requirements on good faith bargaining that is required, increased penalties for those who breach those arrangements. We expect big multinational companies to deal with Australian companies fairly and to do the right thing. They're not allowed to come and ride roughshod and justify it on the changes to their business models, the decisions taken in other parts of the world. We want to ensure that our Australian companies continue to provide the great service. And here in this company, you can see what that means for ordinary Australians. New apprentices taking on boosting apprenticeships around the country, getting their chance. People have come to this country from other countries, migrated here, got their skills, like Reza who runs this shop floor right here, now training others and bringing them forward. That's what family businesses like this do and we're backing them in and we will stand up to the multinationals on their behalf and make sure they get a fair deal. 

I'm going to ask Michaelia Cash to take you through the details and then we'll hear from the dealers and then we'll take your questions.

Senator The. Hon Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills and Family Business: Thank you, Prime Minister, and it really is a delight to join the Prime Minister, Dr Fiona Martin, my very good friend and colleague, but also Edwina and Simone who are running the dealership that we're at today, but also James Voortman and Stavros, who are here today on behalf of the thousands of car dealers across Australia. A small family business, they are the backbone of the Australian economy. There are around 3,000 dealers across Australia. They employ around 60,000 Australians. And here in Edwina and Simone’s business alone, they employ over the two sites around 180 Australians. And I was just delighted today to meet some of the new apprentices that they've taken on, 12 this year under the Morrison Government's boosting apprenticeships commencement initiative. And that, of course, is the 50 per cent wage subsidy for those 12 apprentices. 

But today we are here because when you back family businesses, small and family businesses every step of the way, you need to ensure that the playing field that they play on is a fair one. And certainly the consultation that we have had with the dealers across Australia has shown the Government that it's not. And that is why we were announcing today very, very strong changes in relation to the franchise code, but more specifically, the automotive schedule to the franchise code. The three changes that we will implement almost immediately are an increase in the penalties. If a manufacturer breaches the good faith negotiation part of the code, they will now face a fine of up to $10 million. The feedback we received from dealers was very much that the current penalties of $66,000 per breach, they were seen by the manufacturers as just the cost of doing business. It can never be just the cost of doing business. And that is why we will now increase the maximum penalty that a court can apply to $10 million. We will also ensure that the agency model is covered by the automotive schedule. As the Prime Minister has acknowledged, businesses do change the way they do business. But we want to ensure that when a car manufacturer decides to change the way they do business in Australia, they still have to abide by the strict laws that we have in place. So we will explicitly now include the agency model in the automotive code. And, of course, the voluntary principles which we released early this year, in particular to ensure fairness. When a car dealer is negotiating a new agreement with a manufacturer, they will now become mandatory. And that means that when you're actually negotiating that new agreement, the car dealer, they were able to say to the manufacturer, we need to include a clause that is all about compensation in the event that the manufacturer decides to close its business or leave Australia, that car dealer will get fair and reasonable compensation. We will also now, though, continue to consult in relation to a standalone automotive code because many of the issues the car dealers face, they are unique to this industry. But as the Prime Minister has also said, we will also seek to consult in relation to picking up what we've done with the media bargaining code and applying it to the automotive industry. And that is in the event that a car dealer and a car manufacturer cannot come to an agreement, for example, in relation to the amount of compensation that a manufacturer will pay to the dealer in the event that they terminate the agreement, compulsory arbitration will apply. 

I think that any Australian listening to this today will say, isn't that just fair? And the answer to that question is yes. 3,000 thousand dealers, 60,000 Australians who every day rely on their job with their dealers. We're going to back the dealers every step of the way. And that's why today we're announcing the strengthening of the automotive code. Thank you.

James Voortman, Australia Automotive Dealers Association: Well, today is a great day for the automotive industry, dealers in country towns and cities across Australia will be celebrating because today the Government has made an announcement which will see a fair and reasonable standard set. A fair and reasonable standard that many of the most-ethically minded manufacturers are already adhering to it. It also provides dealers with confidence, confidence to employ more people, confidence to take on more apprentices, confidence to invest in their businesses, continue to pay their taxes in Australia, and also support those sporting teams and community groups that they already do. I want to say a massive thank you to the Prime Minister for making this announcement today. A big thank you to the Small and Family Business Minister Michaelia Cash for sticking up for Aussie dealers. Thank you to the local member, Fiona Martin, who has been taking this issue up in Canberra. Thank you to everyone involved and to the Morrison Government for all you've done over the past 12 months.

Stavros Yallouridis, CEO Motor Traders Association of NSW: I can only relay what the Prime Minister, Minister Cash and my colleagues from the industry have said. We are very grateful that the Morrison Government has taken this initiative. And we've worked hard for many decades tabling the concerns for a fairer retail and dealer agreement with the franchise laws and to hope that we can have a fair trading agreement for the future. Thank you.

Prime Minister: Thank you. As usual, Let me just take a few questions, as many as you like, on this announcement today, particularly while we have the industry representative here with us if you'd like to raise some questions on that. And then I'm happy to take any if you would like we can move to other issues. So,  I'm standing up for Australia's motor dealers. Well, I'm pleased to see there's so much support for that. OK. Well, thank you very much for joining us, particularly Edwina, for allowing us to come here today, and for Reza for allowing us to be in the shop.

Journalist: Prime Minister, what’s your message to China as to how its position is following the Quad leaders meeting? Should Beijing be concerned?

Prime Minister: No, I don’t see why. I mean, this is about four nations that have had a long-term interest in the Indo-Pacific. For us, this is where we live, this is where Japan lives, this is where India lives and, of course, the United States across the Pacific has had a long-term presence. And so, this is about an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and that benefits all nations of the Indo-Pacific, it benefits all the sovereign nations, and particularly our ASEAN partners, that we’ve been a close friend of for so long. This is about ensuring that we can trade more easily, it’s about ensuring we can do that more peacefully, that there is freedom of movement within the seas and the overflight of the area to ensure that there is facilitation, trade and movement across our great region. And before these four nations, liberal democracies, standing up for our values, coming together and ensuring that we are an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo Pacific.

Journalist: Prime Minister, on the tourism package – how crucial is it that state governments give a guarantee that borders remain open for this package to be successful? And why is so much funding going to Queensland destinations when the Queensland Government was one of the main states to keep the borders closed?

Prime Minister: Well, let me make a couple of points. First of all, I am very pleased, I learnt overnight there is some 75% increase yesterday in Australians searching for domestic holidays in response to the announcement – that was just yesterday. Hearing that back overnight from the airlines from that initial announcement yesterday. It all starts on the 1 April and that means over the next couple of weeks, we spoke to some large wholesalers last night, they are putting their product together – discounted product to go with the discounted airfares, to package that up and make sure it’s ready for Australians, who, frankly deserve a holiday. Sydneysiders, Melbournsiders, Melburnians or wherever they are in the country, they deserve a break. They have been working hard for this last year, it has been a really tough year. And by ensuring that they can get that break with them and their family and they get the opportunity to support those parts of our tourism industry around the country that are most and most reliant on the international tourism sector, then that is what this is all about. Now, of course, of course, we want to see the domestic borders remain open and that’ll ensure the benefits of this package flows through to those who need it most. And so, of course we would expect premiers to want the flow of this benefit into their states, and particularly their regions that are most reliant on international tourism, and this is the key point. That is all about addressing what the ongoing impact of the closed of international borders are – international borders. And so, what we've done, with the support of Austrade and other advisers, is to identify those initial places that not only where tourism is a very significant part of the local economy, but international tourism is a very significant part of their tourism economy, and that is how we have selected the places. It’s not selected on the basis of which premiers and states have been naughty and nice, that is not what this is about. This is about trying to get targeted support to those Australians on the ground who need more tourists in those communities. That's what it is designed to do. All of our responses to the pandemic have been targeted, they’ve been proportionate, they’ve also been very disciplined, seeking to respect the taxpayer. The taxpayer is providing $1.2 billion in support – that’s no small amount. That is a significant amount. I used to work in the tourism sector. This would be the single largest support package specifically for the tourism and travel industry in Australia's history. So it is a big package that taxpayers are putting their hands in their pocket to put money in the pockets of those who are in these distressed regions. And so that is what has driven our decisions and as other locations we think can become part of this scheme, then we will look at that, and we’ve already indicated that right from the outset. But the places we’ve picked, at this point, are really those who are most disproportionately impacted by the closing of international borders. And so to ensure that we can get the help to them, then we need those domestic borders to stay open.

Journalist: Prime Minister, a number of European countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine – are you concerned about this, and should we be following suit?

Prime Minister: No, I took advice again this morning – as you know, I’m the Acting Health Minister as well as Prime Minister for the next few days – from Professor Murphy and no, that is not the view of our medical advisors. And the TGA obviously looks at these reports when they come through, but they do their own batch testing, as I was visiting just this week, on the batches that were made available going across Australia – there is some 300,000 doses that are already out and being distributed from AstraZeneca, and there is another 400,000 which about to go out. Now that, of course, is a lot less than what we had anticipated of international supply in these early phases, we’d anticipated to be around 3.8 million. Now, that obviously has an impact on the amount of doses available in this early stages of the rollout and that, as Professor Murphy said yesterday, that has an obvious impact on the early-stage rollout. But the fact is, we should be at around 150,000 doses administered by the end of this week. We said many, many months ago, in fact about a month ago in particular, that we would hope to get in those early phases to around 80,000 a week. Now, we are getting up to those levels now as we conclude our third week. The other point I would make about the vaccines, given you’ve raised the topic, and I note the response to what was evidence given yesterday by Professor Murphy, this is not news. The Health Minister made it very clear on the 16 February, I was standing right next to him as was Professor John Skerritt in the courtyard in Canberra, where we made it very clear that the change in the advice that the second dose being received after 12 weeks, rather than four weeks meant that the second dose having been received for AstraZeneca by the end of October wouldn't be possible. That was made very clear by the Health Minister a month ago. So that isn't new information. It's important that as we continue to update, that it's important to stay up-to-date on where the goalposts are on this, and so that was not a surprise yesterday, certainly not to me – that is what we had advised the country a month ago. But as the vaccination rolls out, as another thousand GPs come into this system over the next week, and in the weeks ahead, ramping up to more than 4,000 – that army of dose administrators will be significant, and we will get to the point also with the rollout of the domestically produced vaccines from AstraZeneca out of Melbourne and that will really enable us to ramp up.

Journalist: Prime Minister, why shouldn’t the showgrounds, football stadiums, carparks or perhaps, raceways be used to help utilise and boost the rollout of the vaccines?  

Prime Minister: Well, the vaccine strategy worked up, particularly for these early phases, we’re not talking about the balance of the population in these early works. We're talking about 82 year-olds in aged care facilities. We're talking about healthcare workers, we’re talking about those who are working in quarantine and we’re making great progress through the state-based arrangements for those workers and we have given additional doses, particularly here in New South Wales because they carry the major load of the quarantine system here in Australia. And they’re working steadfastly through that, and here in New South Wales they are making great progress on that. Our priority at this time is getting to those aged care areas and about one-quarter or thereabouts of the total amount we have been able to vaccinate so far, I think it's about 380 facilities, just over that, that we've already been able to reach. So we're not going to pick people up out of aged care homes, put them on buses and take them to stadiums. That's not the right thing to do, that's not the care way to administer these vaccines in these early phases. We are also going to be going out to Indigenous communities very soon, and those 400,000 AstraZeneca, which obviously don't have to be stored at sub 71 degrees, that gives us the opportunity to be reaching out into those Indigenous communities – and so we need to go there, rather than bringing them to where we are. Now, as we go on we’ll continue to work closely with the states. The GP system will have up to around 5,000 GPs involved in this process, and a handful, a handful compared to 5,000. I was advised this morning, roundabout only 30 have decided they don't want to participate. Thousands are saying they want to be involved in this. They do it with flu jabs every year. And so we’re involved with that. We do millions upon millions of these vaccinations on flus every year. This is a specific type of vaccine and that’s the primary method through which we are administering that system and the states have their systems as well which we’re boosting as well. There’s the GP respiratory clinics as well which is the larger system for administering these doses, and so that is the right plan for Australia. We’re not in the situation that the United Kingdom is, or Italy where 300 people are dying a day. That’s not the crisis situation that we find ourselves in, so we can do it in this orderly way and do it in a way where we can provide the appropriate care, particularly the most vulnerable, those who are disabled and those who are aged.

Journalist: So Prime Minister, yesterday, you said everyone would be vaccinated by October and you said that on television. Today you are now saying that they’re not?

Prime Minister: No, you are misunderstanding me. The first does will be administered by the end of October – that’s what I meant.

Journalist: So, when are you going to be honest with people as to how delayed the vaccine rollout is? Because the information that you’ve been giving has not been consistent on this.

Prime Minister: No, I totally reject that. We were clear a month ago that the October deadline would not include the second dose. The Minister said that a month ago, and that's what Professor Murphy said yesterday. So that's what the Government's saying. What you're reporting is up to you, but what the Government has said has been very clear and it was the move from four weeks to 12 weeks which meant the second dose being completed by the end of October, for all of those seeking them, that wasn't going to be possible – the Minister made that point. The early stage, we have been very clear, we were supposed to get, and contracted to get, 3.8 million AstraZeneca vaccines in these early weeks. We've got way less than that, 700,000, but the fact we have been able to get 700,000 out of Europe, given what they’re going through in Europe, has been a Herculean effort by our agencies to achieve that and already now we are getting to those early figures of around 80,000 a week, which we hoped to get to in those early phases and we’ll continue to update the Australian people as we have been doing, and I would encourage you to follow those updates carefully.

Journalist: China has donated vaccines to the IOC for athletes. Would you be comfortable with Australian athletes taking a Chinese vaccine?

Prime Minister: That is something that those athletes have to decide, based on their own medical advice. My only advice is - that I can give - is the advice that I receive from the Therapeutic Goods Administration about the vaccines that we believe are safe for Australians. They have been tested here in Australia and in the majority of cases they will have been produced here in Australia. I'm sure the AOC is very mindful of that and ensure that our athletes get the best possible advice to support them in the health decisions that ultimately they have to make.

Journalist: Prime Minister, how long have you known that Haha Liu has been an agent of foreign interference and what have you done to respond to his links to Michael Sukkar and Gladys Liu?

Prime Minister: Look, I’m not going to go into the details of those matters – I don't tend to comment on national security matters. But I think the implication in your question, I wouldn't, I wouldn’t agree with the implication.

Journalist: Back to the Europe situation, I mean, these must be really concerning reports for you of people dying after getting blood clots following the vaccine. Has the TGA requested data on this and should Australians be worried about this, given the fact that there is no one with COVID in Australia, let alone dying of it?

Prime Minister: Well, all the data from all of the places that we have relationships with, which obviously includes Europe, is being fed into the TGA, as I indicated in response to an earlier question. That data is examined and that is what informs the decisions that we take here in Australia. Remember, the batches that we distribute across Australia, those batches are tested here in Australia – they’re tested here by the TGA. I was watching them doing it just earlier this week. So we have a very robust process for examining that and as additional data, as I said late last year, we would have a front row seat on the roll out of the vaccine in many other countries where they have had to do that because of their urgent crisis situation. And the learnings from that have been taken into account as we've been rolling out the vaccine safely here in Australia.

Journalist: So you’re not worried by these reports?

Prime Minister: I trust our Therapeutic Goods Administration. And the advice that they give me, and the data you are saying that they should seek, they get and they analyse it – and if they have any change to the advice then they tell me.

Journalist: But you’re not worried personally about these reports?

Prime Minister: No, I'm not, no.

Journalist: Prime Minister, yesterday Brendan Murphy said that the first dose of the vaccine is almost as good as the second dose. Do you think that sends a dangerous message considering that you want people to go and get that second dose?

Prime Minister: We must get two doses and he didn't say get two doses. What he said was, exactly as you’ve just outlined and that was that the first dose of the vaccine has a very good effect. And you may be interested to know that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is a single-dose vaccine, not a two-dose vaccine is reporting its results and they are very similar, I understand, to what the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is producing in those other jurisdictions. So what he's saying is that the first dose is a good dose, the first dose actually provides quite an effect but the course of those doses is to have two and that's what we've invested $6.5 billion in ensuring Australians will have across the portfolio of vaccines that we've committed to – and that means we will be in a position to ensure that that first dose, that has been our target and we will continue to update against that target. We are providing, at least weekly, if not daily now, updates on the vaccination program and I look forward to that scaling up in the weeks ahead. Thank you very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43270

Backing Australia's Family-Owned Automotive Industry

12 March 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Employment Skills Small and Family Business

The Morrison Government will protect Australia’s family-owned automotive businesses and their employees from the growing power imbalance with multi-national car companies by introducing new significant financial penalties for wrongdoing under the Franchising Code of Conduct.

A fine of up to $10 million could be given to international car companies that undertake systemic breaches under the Code, including unilaterally changing contracts, poor compensation and reneging on warranties.

The existing voluntary automotive principles will be made compulsory and a new mandatory automotive code will be strongly considered, following consultation.

The Government will also explore mandatory binding arbitration provisions within this new code, similar to those in the Media Bargaining Code, which were developed to curtail the power of the Big Tech platforms.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s automotive dealers employed more than 60,000 Australians, including 4,000 apprentices, and contributes more than $12 billion to the economy.

“We stand up for Australian jobs and Australian businesses,” the Prime Minister said.

“We stood up to Big Tech companies and we will stand up to multi-national car companies who are riding roughshod over many family-owned Australia car dealers.”

“By protecting these businesses, we will be protecting the thousands of jobs that rely on the sector, including many apprentices.

“Car sales are surging and it’s further proof that the Australian economy is on the comeback. We need to ensure Australian family-owned automotive businesses continue to reap the rewards of this growth and the support from our supercharged instant asset write-off.”

The new measures announced today will:

• Increase available penalties under the Franchising Code to up to $10 million. This will strengthen penalties for wilful, egregious and systemic breaches of the Franchising Code by large and profitable multinational companies.

• Establish best practice by transforming existing voluntary principles into mandatory obligations under the Franchising Code. This will address concerns multi-national manufacturers won’t follow voluntary principles.

• Ensure that the Franchising Code keeps pace with changes to business practice by explicitly recognising that dealers operating as a manufacturer’s agent in relation to new vehicle sales are still protected by the Franchising Code.

Minister Cash said, “This is a decisive suite of reforms for automotive dealerships and the many local businesses, apprentices, charities and broader communities that they in turn support.

“The Government is fully committed to enacting reforms that are impactful and deliver for the nation and regions where transport is integral for economic and social needs.”

“This is a landmark set of reforms for the automotive industry, building on the critical work done by the Government, most recently with the announcement of the automotive principles to deliver for consumers in December 2020.

“I am looking forward to working together with the industry to ensure the reforms made will better the overall experience of consumers, who ultimately drive the demand that underpins the viability of the automotive sector.”

In addition, the Government is committed to working further with the automotive franchising sector and will consult on:

• Ensuring appropriate protections for automotive dealerships from unfair contract terms in their agreements with manufacturers;

• Options to achieve mandatory binding arbitration for automotive franchisees, to address power imbalance when there is a dispute; and

• The merits of a standalone automotive franchising code.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43269

Doorstop - Sydney Domestic Airport, NSW

11 March 2021

Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO Virgin Australia: Welcome, everyone. It's great to have everyone here today on a very cloudy Sydney morning. It's a day of great optimism with the announcements that have been made today by the Federal Government. It's a time for everybody to get excited about getting out and about and leaving home and travelling interstate. The packages that have been offered are enabling Virgin Australia and the industry to start to get back into the air, get more people travelling around the country and get our people back to work. The commitment to international flying in October is a really positive thing, I think, for all of Australia, and it's definitely a positive thing for our employees. We've got lots of people that are still stood down and not working full time hours, and this package enables us to be able to get people back to work, get more people stood up and get people excited about the future in aviation. So with that, I'll introduce Alan Joyce, who will give you a few comments from his standpoint. 

Alan Joyce, CEO Qantas: Thank, Jayne. Can I say, this is great news for Australian aviation? This is great news for Australian tourism. This is great news for Qantas, but particularly for Qantas employees who have suffered pretty badly over the last year. The first, and I think this package is the most comprehensive and has so many different components, Prime Minister, I think it has more components than an A380. But we're just going to talk about two of them. The two components that I think makes the big difference towards first of all is the 800,000 discounted tickets. That will stimulate the market, that will get people to go to the 13 destinations, the 13 regions, and it will cover 57 different routes on our network to get people to travel to those destinations at non-peak times. Now, that's good for the local tourism in those states, tourism that's been devastated. And we've been worried about the ecosystem of those little tour operators. The hotels that are there, making sure that they can survive until we can get international tourists back as well. That ticks the box in helping them. It also means we activate more aircraft and the two aircraft behind me here are being reactivated because of this programme. The aircraft, the 737 in front of us, that aircraft has been parked on the ground since last April. It's being reactivated from today. It goes through two weeks of maintenance, between five and a thousand hours, and then it takes a flight before we put it back in service. But this programme, that programme is allowing us to do that. That means more Qantas people back at work domestically, more Qantas people flying domestically, more engineers, more cabin crew, more pilots, which gets our domestic operation back up and running. 

I have to say, the second big component that I'm actually probably most pleased about is the assistance plan for the employees linked to international operation. That's 7,500 of our employees. Now, we know international is some time off, it's probably not going to happen until the end of October when we have the full adult population vaccinated. But this programme allows those people to stay connected with Qantas so we don't lose them. And that's going to be really important because when the borders open or we need the capability to start as many flights as possible. And this will allow us, we believe, at the end of October to start 22 of the 25 Qantas destinations that we had before COVID and all 13 of the Jetstar destinations that were there. So this is great news for tourism, great news for aviation, great news for our capability being maintained. And I'd like to personally thank the Government, it's been weeks of conversations on this. I think this package for us ticks all the boxes. It's met all of our concerns and it's put in something that is truly comprehensive and I think gets us through to when the borders open. More importantly, I think it also is an incentive for the states to keep their borders open. And that's important because we can't keep on going through the yoyo of the ups and downs of that. 

So thank you, Prime Minister, in particular. Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer, and Dan Tehan, and for all the work that you've put into this. Qantas and its people are going to be very pleased with this today. And I'm going to hand over to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Alan. And thank you also, Jayne. And I know Jayne's got to catch a flight this morning. So if you see Jayne having to move off, you'll know that's why. Because we're getting our airlines back in the air again and there's lots of work to do. So we don't want to hold Jayne back from getting that done. 

This is another ticket to recovery for Australia. Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and we're leading the world out of the COVID-19 global recession. And the way we've been able to do that is we've had targeted, we've had proportionate, we've had focused, we've had significant support right across the economy. And now as the economy is coming back. Now as we've seen more than 90 per cent of the jobs that were lost during COVID comeback, we know there are still those sectors impacted, particularly by the close of international borders and have been hit hard by the close of domestic borders as well. So as we go into the next phase, as JobKeeper ends at the end of this month, together with the COVID supplement, we go into a new phase where we'll see the economy continue to grow and continue to support jobs all around the country. But in the aviation, in the travel, in the tourism sectors, we know it will continue to be tough, particularly in those parts of the country most reliant on international tourism and that's why today we have brought together, working with the sector, the Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer and the Tourism Minister to bring together this package, which gives a shot in the arm to the travel, tourism and the aviation sector. 800,000 tickets to ride for Australians to go out and ensure that they can experience this amazing country. That's what this is about. To keep people in their jobs, we've got to put planes in the air and we've got to put tourists on the ground. The Australian tourism industry needs more tourists. They want to get on and run the businesses and welcome the tourists and provide the World-Class services that they do. They don't want to stay at home. They don't want to be sitting there just receiving taxpayers money endlessly. They want to be running their businesses. They want to be giving Australians and ultimately later to be welcoming international tourists to their businesses and giving them the greatest experience that anyone can give in tourism anywhere in the world. 

We have a world class tourism industry, and this is ensuring that they can get back to work and doing what they do best, flying them around the country, giving them that great in-flight experience and getting to the places where they want to go and enjoying and having a great experience with their families. It's been a tough year and as the economy continues to build, as we go into these next two school holiday periods, in particular, this will ensure that there are a lot of Australians who have got a well-earned break coming and to spend that time with their families and we want to give them that opportunity to do that, while at the same time helping us to ensure that our aviation, our travel agents, our tourism operators, can get to the other side. Australians have been amazing during COVID-19. That is the rock on which we've built our recovery. The generosity and the resilience and the kindness and the million acts of patience that we've seen from Australians to get us through. So here's an opportunity for a few more. 

The other thing we're doing today and the Deputy Prime Minister will speak about this, it's not just the tourists. It's what goes in the bellies of these planes, the produce, the goods, the things that are exported overseas, the things that are keeping jobs happening and continuing in so many other sectors. We've been subsidising those flights all through the pandemic and we're extending that out again here today. Travel agents who are processing people's bookings and refunds from times past without any income coming in, they're getting continued support today from taxpayers to help them get through. So it's another step today, an important step today and I'll hand over to my colleagues, starting with the DPM who has been the real architect of bringing together particularly the aviation side of this package. Michael?

The Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. You can hear the roar of the engines behind me and we want to hear more of those engines roaring and we want to see more of those planes in the air. Because planes in the air equals jobs on the ground. And we've got the world's best airlines, Qantas, Virgin and so many other airlines. And we've got the world's best destinations to visit. For every dollar spent on an airline ticket, that equates to ten dollars spent at the destination. And we want to get more Australians visiting this wonderful country because it's the best country in the world with the best destinations, the best beaches and the friendliest people in hospitality and tourism. 

Now, we're extending, as the Prime Minister has just said, the Domestic Aviation Network Support, DANS. We're extending the Regional Airline Network Support, RANS. We're also adding the aviation, the tourism aviation network support, TANS. So we've got RANS, we’ve got DANS, we’ve got TANS, and I know Virgin and Qantas are going to be big fans of what we're doing today. I know all Australians are going to be big fans of what we're doing today because it's going to get those tourists to their places. 13 destinations, we'll look at that, we’ll make sure that we all the way through support our aviation network, support those wonderful workers in those airlines. I know that Alan Joyce and I know that Jayne Hrdlicka would agree with me. They've got the best workers, they're ready, they're ready to rock and roll on these wonderful planes. We want to get them back in the air. 

We're also, as the Prime Minister indicated, looking at that IFAM and extending that, that international freight assistance mechanism has seen so much of the produce, the food that we produce, the fibre, it's the world's best. We want to get it to those trade locations. Dan Tehan, our Trade Minister, is doing a wonderful job making sure that we get our food and fibre on the world market and you do it in the belly of those planes. You do it because we've got initiatives such as this today. So we're extending those airline network support mechanisms by which those regional centres, those capital cities, get flights. Some of those regional centres but for that assistance that we have provided would not have got face masks, would not have got respiratory devices, would not have got the frontline medical personnel to their airports and to their communities, but for the RANS assistance that we've provided. So that is continuing, along with DANS, until September 30. So it's vital support. We're backing the economy and we're backing the country to get back in the air. And there's just one thing that I would like to add. We really need those premiers, of course, to keep the borders open. That's what it's also going to be about. I'm so pleased that Alan Joyce has acknowledged that. We need the premiers to play ball with us as well. I'll hand over to the Treasurer.

The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thanks very much, DPM. Thanks, Prime Minister. Thanks Dan Tehan and thank you Alan for your leadership of the sector. Well, today's package of $1.2 billion and the extension and the expansion of our $40 billion small and medium sized business enterprise loan scheme is all about one thing - jobs. Jobs taking off in the air and jobs taking off on the ground. JobKeeper has been a remarkable success story. It has supported 3.6 million Australian workers at its peak and a million Australian businesses. Today, 2.7 million Australian workers have graduated off JobKeeper. But we know that some sectors and some regions across the economy are still doing it tough. That's tourism. That's that long supply chain from the airlines to the tourist operators, to the cafes, to the hotels, to all those who benefit from our $100 billion domestic tourism industry. And that's why today's package is so broad based. It has so many different components because it's designed to be, as the Prime Minister said, that next stage of support after JobKeeper comes to an end at the end of March. And it had to come to an end. It's the most expensive wage support programme the government has ever undertaken in Australia's history. 

One key component of today's programme is that expansion of the loan scheme. So businesses that have been on JobKeeper at the start of January that have a turnover of less than $250 million will be able to apply for loans of up to $5 million up to 10 years in length and with up to a 24 month or two year repayment holiday. These loans are designed to support businesses to refinance and to support their staff being employed. We are backing businesses that back themselves and the Government is taking on the bulk of the risk of those loans and we're working in partnership with the banks. And yesterday, I spoke to the bank CEOs of the big four, and they're all very supportive and engaged with this announcement. So this announcement today, this broad based package, is all about jobs and helping Australians get to the other side of this crisis.

The Hon. Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment: Thanks, PM, Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer, Alan, Jayne. As Australia's Tourism Minister, it's wonderful to be here today. 46,000 discount flights a week. We want Australians to do their patriotic duty, get out, book a flight and take a holiday. And if you do that, you'll be supporting over 660,000 jobs in our tourism industry. But this package today isn't just about ensuring that we get people travelling to our wonderful destinations right across the world. It's also about supporting specific parts of the tourism sector. So there's another extension of our travel agents programme. We will be providing $128 million again of additional support for our travel agents. For business events, we will be making sure that the business of $50 million business event spending that we're undertaking is further targeted to make sure that we're driving business events right across this country. And the very successful zoos and aquariums programme that we've rolled out, we’ll be extending that to make sure that people will be able to have that tourism experience that they need in visiting our wonderful zoos and aquariums and seeing the wonderful wildlife that we have at our zoos and aquariums. So I've got a simple message for Australians today - book a holiday and what you're saving on your airfare, spend it in a pub, in a restaurant, on a tourism experience. Because if you do that, you're supporting jobs right across our wonderful nation.

Prime Minister: Thank you, Dan. I'm asking for cooperation from the media, particularly for Jayne, who has a plane to get to very soon. If you'd like to direct questions to Jayne and Alan first, and then I'm happy to take questions on this package and, as usual, move to other matters later. So questions have to Jayne and Alan. 

Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO Virgin Australia: Happy to take any questions. Going, going, gone.

Prime Minister: There you go, fantastic. To Alan? Sure.

Journalist: [Inaudible]

Alan Joyce, CEO Qantas: Can you speak up? All the engine noise.

Journalist: Qantas’ plan for international flights resuming from October depends on this vaccine rollout and that sort of with the targets succeeding by October. Are you concerned about the pace of the rollout thus far?

Alan Joyce, CEO Qantas: No, well, I mean, what we've been assuming it's working and looking at the numbers that we should get to a stage to be, I think, the Government's plan that 20 million people are vaccinated by the end of October. And we know there's lots of things that the governments need to see before we can get there to the borders opening. We need to look at making sure that the vaccine stops transmission and helps with that, which looks very positive from the data that's coming out. We have to have the successful rollout of the vaccination, which we're hopeful, we can see the Government putting a lot of effort in to get there. And I think even in the Government's press release today, they are talking about that being a potential date, still the potential date, for international borders to be opened up. And I think this package is designed to get us to that date. So we are putting all of our plans around getting ready by then. But we've always said we have flexibility. If things happen better than that, we can activate aircraft and crew earlier. If it takes place that's going to take a bit longer, we can still park the aircraft but we'll be ready. And the great thing about this package is it gets us ready and allows us to keep those employees, the 7,500 people connected to the airline. It gives them some income to get them through until that flying is up and running and it gives us confidence we can start to put a massive network from day one. And I think that's the important thing. Given this virus, lots of things have happened in the past and you have to have flexibility around that. We will maintain our flexibility. This package allows us to do that and have full capability of starting international up at scale when the borders do.

Journalist: And that October deadline, sorry Mr Joyce, that October deadline, is that the health advice that you’re receiving from the Government?

Alan Joyce, CEO Qantas: So I'll let the Prime Minister talk about it.

Journalist: Prime Minister, is that the health advice, that deadline?

Prime Minister: Well, we haven't made any firm decision on these things, but I mean, exactly as Alan Joyce has just set out, that that's our hope and that's our expectation. But I've learnt all through the pandemic is you don't get too far ahead of themselves. Businesses have not done that. And as Alan has just said and as Jayne has supported, this is about getting us through this next phase. And the vaccination programme is rolling out over 100,000, and a quarter of those have been in aged care facilities. As we build up to the next big phase, which is when the Australian produced AstraZeneca vaccine will come online and we'll be able to turn things out very, very, very significantly; around a million doses a week when we get to that stage. And that's when we start moving more broadly through the other priority areas of the population. And so that is going to create more and more opportunities. You won't have to wait until October for there to be opportunities. As each day passes, the strength and resilience of Australia to the virus builds each and every single day, which is why state Premiers and Chief Ministers, as I've discussed with them on many occasions, can have growing confidence every day about not having to do the things they did have to do last year. And this package is very dependent on keeping Australia open. To keep those jobs in all of those places, we need to keep Australia open internally and that's critical. And I really want to thank Jayne and Alan for their commitment on those 8,500, particularly international employees. I mean, more than 20 airlines around the world have gone under during the course of this pandemic. And here in Australia, we've maintained our two big airlines. We went through a rough patch there. And here they are standing strong, taking their part in the, in the aviation industry going forward. That's about 27,500 jobs specifically, in both of these companies alone, that were kept in those companies over the course of this pandemic. That is a Herculean effort from our aviation sector. It's a huge part of our economy because it enables so many other parts of our economy. You want to get tourists on the ground, you've got to get planes in the air. That's how it works, particularly for those destinations this is impacting on. So thank you very much, Jayne and Alan, and for, for the leadership.

Journalist: Prime Minister, there are five Queensland destinations on this list from the statement. They seemed to specialise in border closers for a period of time. There’s one NSW destination. What about Dubbo? What about Ballina? What about Newcastle? What about the many other regional NSW areas? Why have you left NSW out in the cold?

Prime Minister: Well, we haven't, and this is an initial program that we're working on here and the Deputy Prime Minister can add to this, we're starting with these with these destinations, and I would foresee that as the program rolls out and the travel industry responds - see a key part of this is once we put these tickets in the marketplace, what happens next is Alan and Jayne and their teams, they sit down with the travel industry and they start packaging it up. The 50 per cent discount on the airfare gets combined with a hotel deal, a tour out on the Reef or wherever you happen to go, and you package it up, and that's how the travel industry works and they're very, very good at it. And so as the travel industry responds, I think we'll see more opportunities for this program. I really do think we will. And we're looking for those responses to come. In New South Wales in particular, in many locations we've seen, because of the internal travel, and the returning strength of the Australian economy, we have seen those tourism parts of New South Wales, down the South Coast, up the North Coast, out west. I mean, you couldn't get a hotel in Orange over the summer break. That's fantastic for those areas. What we're focussed on here are those areas, in particular, that are heavily dependent on international tourists, and on planes coming in to support that tourism. And, you know, these destinations -- take Kangaroo Island, for example, devastated by those bushfires, and the Kangaroo Island mayor couldn't be happier today. An absolute game changer for them down in South Australia. Michael, did you want to add to that?

The Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development: Yeah, I just will. And I'll acknowledge Geoff Culbert, the CEO of Sydney Airport, who's here today. And it's not just the airlines, it's not just the tourism operators. It's also the airports that are going to benefit from this. And as the Prime Minister has just said, there are 13 initial locations - the keyword there is initial. So, we'll look at what we can do and we'll work with the airlines. We'll work with the tourism operators to see what other destinations may well be potentially added to the list. But in New South Wales, certainly in regional New South Wales, many of those locations are already going very nicely. Thank you to, the, what the New South Wales Government has actually been doing, the standard-bearer, the absolute benchmark for COVID treatment, for making sure that keeping businesses open has been the order of the day. And Gladys Berejiklian and John Barilaro have done a great job keeping the borders open and keeping New South Wales people travelling around, going to businesses. And regional Australia is going pretty well at the moment, in certainly regional New South Wales. I come from there and there's 54,000 jobs in regional Australia right now as identified by the Regional Australia Institute. And we want people to visit those regional locations where they're in a car or taking one of the half price airline tickets. And we want them to even potentially stay, to take a job, fall in love.

Journalist: Prime Minister, how can you expect people to book a flight to Queensland, when the Premier has shown she’ll shut down the border on one case, with the case of the ACT with as little as zero cases. Why are they being rewarded with all of these flights with New South Wales missing out? And have you had a guarantee from the Queensland Premier that she’s willing to be a bit more lenient?

Prime Minister: At the most recent meeting of National Cabinet, we had a very significant discussion on the issues of border closures and how in 2021 the rules are different to 2020 and the need to ensure that as our tourism industry gets back up on its feet, that borders need to stay open. We've made those points very clearly, and in fact, the New South Wales Premier has made them equally as clearly as I have. And so, it is essential for those parts. And let me be clear, this support is not for a premier -- this is support for people in the tourism industry, in particularly in regional locations, a long way, away from our capital cities who depend on those flights coming in. In the past, they've come in from Japan, they've come in from other parts of the world, and now we want those flights to be coming up again and getting into those locations. And, you know, to Queensland is a very big tourism industry state and it has relied heavily on international tourism. And so this is about helping them, this isn't about interstate politics. This isn't about arguments between premiers. This is about jobs for people on the ground, and we'll go to those locations where we think the program can best drive those jobs on the ground and help people who are really hurting, particularly right up there in north Queensland.

Journalist: [Inaudible] What would you say to the suggestion that politics has played a role in the picking a destination?

Prime Minister: I'd say it's absurd, it's ridiculous. I mean, the northern parts of Tasmania is the regional part of the state which needs that additional support. We already have lots of flights going into Hobart. We're already supporting those flights through the program that the Deputy Prime Minister has already announced. And so this is providing that additional support into those locations. And so this is, this has been based on the advice that was received about those areas that best can use this support. And as the Deputy Prime Minister has said, it's an initial list. We've shown all the way through this pandemic, our flexibility. We've been very agile where we've needed to move, we've moved. Where we've needed to change, we've changed. And that is why Australia is leading the world out of the global COVID-19 pandemic and recession.

Journalist: The tourism industry has been asking for help for several months. Isn’t this package too late?

Prime Minister: They've been getting help for the last 12 months, they've been getting help in the tens of billions - when it comes to JobKeeper and JobSeeker support, apprenticeship support, all of the supports we've put in, cash flow assistance. The tourism industry has been receiving all of those supports in a way that, frankly, tourism industries all around the world probably have not to the same extent that they have in Australia. What we've done is ensure that when the current round of support finishes with JobKeeper, because you cannot run the Australian economy on taxpayers money forever, we've put in place a new plan to pick up from when that program finishes because we recognise that tourism, that aviation, the travel industry is uniquely impacted as a result of the pandemic and that will be ongoing. So the tourism industry has been getting strong support, unprecedented support all the way through to now. And we heard very loud and clear, and Treasurer may want to speak, Josh has just been up in North Queensland, been through these areas and heard directly from them. And I'll tell you what they want - they want to be running their businesses. They don't want to be sitting at home. They want to be welcoming tourists to their region. They want to be engaged in what they set their businesses up to do. They don't want to be living forever on taxpayer assistance. They want to be able to run their businesses again, which is what they love doing more than anything else. Josh, did you want to talk about that?

The Hon. Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer: Well, thanks, Prime Minister. Yes, I was in Cairns on Sunday and Monday and then in Townsville. To give you an example of the size of the support from the Morrison Government to Cairns alone, we have put $800 million through JobKeeper, to Cairns alone. And this has helped see more than 20,000 people in Cairns come off JobKeeper between September and December. But the message I got from the tourism operators in Cairns is that they needed some additional support once JobKeeper ends. And that's what we're announcing today. They needed to see more tourists on the ground, because while those international borders are closed, they would welcome more domestic tourists. So today's list of destinations includes Cairns. We'll see more tourists from around the country flying to Cairns, use the charter boat operators, use those cafes, use those hotels, go and shop at in those, in those streets and help drive jobs across Cairns. It's vitally important that we continue to provide the tourists that are going into destinations like Cairns. And the other clear message is the one that Michael and the Prime Minister and Alan repeated, which is they don’t want to see those domestic borders closed. As Alan told me, in the month of January alone, he cancelled 1,500 flights into Queensland. That's flights that were otherwise going into Brisbane, to Hamilton Island, to Maroochydore and into Cairns. Hundreds of thousands of bookings that were ultimately cancelled because of those border closures. So, if we're going to drive more jobs in Cairns and in Hamilton Island and across the Whitsundays and across the tourism sector in Australia, we're going to need to keep those state borders open.

Alan Joyce, CEO Qantas: Can I make a comment on that as well, that might be helpful on this, because given the network that we have, we mentioned our 57 routes covered in those 13 different regions. We've been in dialogue with the government about what we can see is actually struggling, what we can see as actually needing a stimulus. So, for example, on Cairns, this package will allow us to put 21 extra flights every week into Cairns. Into the Gold Coast, we'll be putting 35 extra flights, return flights, into the Gold Coast every week. To Ballina, we've already doubled the amount of capacity to pre-COVID levels. It's full there and the demand is huge in a lot of these destinations. So this needs to evolve, so I'm assuming the first 57 routes won't be the same that we'll have all the way through, because the scheme is set up to do that and it needs to be directed where the demand is weak, where we need to support the tourism industry - that's what it's designed for. And we'll be putting thousands of seats into Cairns, into the Gold Coast, into Kangaroo Island, into the places that need it. Ballina, at the moment, doesn't need it. It has huge capacity growth that's bigger than where it was pre-COVID. So that's why the scheme, I think, is a really good scheme.

Journalist: Prime Minister [inaudible]

Prime Minister: I’ll let the DPM deal with that, but the routes are based on interstate.

The Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development: Yeah, at the moment, it is interstate. But what we want to see is people getting on those planes and travelling to another state. But again, I say it is the initial rollout, it is the initial rollout. But we want to see people in planes. So, again, planes in the air means jobs on the ground and it is going to make such a difference. I'll get Dan to add to my remarks, but it is going to mean such a difference for those tourism operators. They've been so hard-hit and they need a break and they're going to get one. And so do Australians need a break – it's been a very, very tough 12-14 months. So take a break, take a holiday, have a half price fair on us and visit one of those wonderful locations.

Journalist: [inaudible] One of the inequities in this program, essentially pulls tourists out of regional New South Wales. Why would someone fly into Hunter Valley in NSW and then stay in Dubbo when they can get a half-price ticket to Queensland. Won’t it reduce the number of tourists?

The Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development: Well, many of those people drive to those locations at any rate, and so many of those locations are in regional areas. And regional people, they are great travellers. I mean, it's on, two days ago, I drove 630 kilometres right around my electorate and back to Canberra. Honestly, that's just a walk in the park for me. I mean, I do it regularly and so do country people. They don't mind jumping in a car, they also don't mind jumping in an aeroplane. That's what regional people do. It's a big, big country. There's lots to see and do, and I urge people to get on board. These tickets will be available very, very soon. Ring your friendly travel agent, get onto one of those airlines, get one of those tickets and don't miss out.

Journalist: Prime Minister, just on the subject on international borders, you’re saying October 31 or let’s say the fourth quarter. Is that envisaging travel without quarantining when you come in? And on the subject of quarantine, have you had a chat to Anastasia Palaszczuk about her paying the New South Wales quarantine bill?

Prime Minister: Well, that's a matter between New South Wales and Queensland. And there's no need for the Prime Minister to get in between the squabbles between states. They can sort that out amongst themselves - I have other things that I need to focus on. On the other issue, look, I think it is still too soon. As I said yesterday morning when I was with the Secretary of the Department of Health, Professor Murphy, about some of those matters, they are, there's currently work being done within the National Cabinet, led by my department secretary with all the director generals of all the other premiers' departments, which is increasingly informing a lot of those decisions. We're starting now to get a lot more data out from for the rest of the world, as the vaccination program is increasingly global - we're getting more data, more evidence and the data and the evidence is good. And so that is very encouraging. The vaccination programme done safely, done properly, which is what we're doing here in Australia. It's not a race. It's not a competition for the sake of people's health - you get it right. And that's exactly what we're doing and, where we are, our October deadline is the one we're absolutely working to - there's no change to that. But what's important is, as we see the changes, as the data shows us the impact, particularly on how it protects transmission from one to another, well, of course, that can have major ramifications for how quarantine works. It has major ramifications for the ability of Australians who are vaccinated in Australia. And we will know that because of our registration scheme of the vaccination and which vaccination they've had, then that obviously provides opportunities for them, in the first phases, for them to be able to travel and to be able to return and potentially not have to have certainly hotel quarantine, but home quarantine or perhaps no quarantine at all. But that will depend on the medical evidence. All the way through this, we've been guided by the medical evidence and that's what will continue to condition our decisions going forward. But what's really important about this work I'm doing with the premiers now is the health issues have always been important. But as we recover and the health position strengthens, the economic issues become even more important. So it's just not an issue about health. That's critically important to the decision, but we also have to take into account the balance of the risk and the impact it means on peoples' livelihoods and jobs. And that means, you know, with this ticket to ride for Australia, we want to keep Australia open and we look forward to that strong cooperation. I welcome the additional support that has been provided by States and Territories, whether it's the vouchers that have been done in Queensland, New South Wales or other places. States can come on board, they can get in as part of this program and get people moving around. So thanks very much for being here today. Thank you. Thank you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43268

Interview with Today Show

11 March 2021

Karl Stefanovic: PM, good morning to you. Thank you for your time. 

Prime Minister: G'day Karl.

Stefanovic: Is this package anywhere near enough?

Prime Minister: Well, we believe it is. This is taxpayers putting an additional $1.2 billion, 800,000 additional tourists getting into the regions most effected by international tourism. This is keeping our airlines and the employees in those airlines - I mean, to get, they’ve got to get planes in the sky, we have got to get tourists on the ground and that's what’s going to keep people in their jobs. I mean, we put billions and billions into supporting these industries over this past year and that's got us to where we are now. This is going to get us over the next hump as we move into these next few months. We’ve got people going on school holidays. What the tourism industry needs is more tourists, and it’s a $100 billion industry, the domestic tourism industry. And just like we have seen in many parts of within states where people have been getting in their cars and going to those tourists destinations, we need to get these fights to those more far-flung areas in Cairns, the Gold Coast, in Kangaroo Island, down there in northern Tasmania and ensuring that those visitors are getting there. Because every dollar spent on a ticket in the air is about $10 spent on the ground and that's what the industry needs right now. 

Allison Langdon: Prime Minister, I mean, looking at this package, and there are 13 specific locations that you have talked about here, it is for interstate travel only, we had Graham Turner on the show just moments ago and his language was really strong – just take a listen to what he had to say.

Audio: “There is nothing in it for us. I don't think it will help tourism either, unfortunately.”

Langdon: I mean, they’re pretty strong words Prime Minister that someone within the industry is saying that this isn't going to work.

Prime Minister: Well, plenty of others in the industry are saying the opposite, and he’s entitled to his opinion. But $1.2 billion which includes direct support further to travel agents over the months ahead as we have already put in hundreds of millions to support those travel agents, that's taxpayer's money going directly to support travel agents’ businesses. So, I’m sure travel agents as they’ve said to us have been appreciative that their fellow Australians paying their taxes, are supporting them at this time and we are going to keep doing that. But the tourism industry needs tourists. That's why 800,000 tickets is about getting those tourists to those places where the money is spent on the ground. Now, those cut-price tickets means the airlines will work ,together with the industry, the travel agents, do what they do best, package the product up, get it to their customers, get people in their doors, start selling these packages and tickets and keeping the Australian tourism industry moving during a very difficult time 

Stefanovic: PM, what Skroo Turner is saying is that 800,000 tickets doesn't even touch the sides. It is just not enough.

Prime Minister: Well, I just don't agree with him, Karl. Taxpayers putting out $1.2 billion to help that sector I'm sure would think that that is a very important thing for them to do to support these sectors. But as we have always shown, Karl, all the way through, it’s always been targeted. We’ve watched the data. If there are different locations we need to add to this, we will. And we’ll work with the industry to see what is going on. But there’s a plane standing behind me – they’re going to rip the coverings off those planes and that plane is going back into the air because of what we’re doing today. I mean, over 20 airlines have gone bust over the course of the pandemic, Karl. Our airlines have stayed in the air and we’ve kept them in the air. Those planes you’re seeing flying around – we’ve been subsidising those flights now for the past year and we’re going to keep doing that, because if the planes are in the air the tourists are on the ground and that means people are in their jobs.

Langdon: Ah, but Prime Minister, I mean, no-one doubts the enormous effort that’s been put in so far and how you have saved those industries to this point, but Skroo Turner is not alone, we had Margy Osmond on the show, she’s the Forum Chief of Tourism and Transport. We’ve been speaking to operators in Far North Queensland who are saying they’re gutted, they’re furious with this. They’re also saying we’re going to see mass job losses at the end of March, that that’s not enough to stem that. Would you disagree with that?

Prime Minister: Well, I do. And we’ll see this work out as we move over the next few months, and we have been very responsive with all of the programs that we’ve run over the past year and we’ve watched them very closely. But this is the package we have pulled together, and this is particularly for these sectors recognising that they need this additional support and Australian taxpayers are providing that additional support. And they are giving them that leg up and Australians themselves will put their hands in their own pockets and be paying the other half of these tickets and getting themselves and their families and going to these places and supporting Australian tourism businesses through the period. So, I'm positive about it. And I think the way to approach this, as we’ve always been, is to be positive about embracing these initiatives, working with them, getting on with it, keeping people in their jobs, focussing forward.

Stefanovic: The problem is you have no control over the borders with the states and also international tourism is not opening up because of the reopening of the borders. So if you don't control that, then what do you control long-term?

Prime Minister: Well, you make a very good point about the domestic borders and 2021 is different to 2020. In 2021, what’s appropriate with state borders, I think, is completely different, particularly with the vaccination program rolling out. And both of the airlines have said pretty plainly, um, that for this to work best the states have to keep their borders open. Now, this package has been put together because we do know the international borders will remain closed and that's why there is 8,500 international aviation jobs specifically being protected through the package that we’re announcing today. We need to keep those people in those jobs and in those airlines because we can't have them sort of waste away. We need to ensure those airlines are there internationally when those borders open up again, at a much greater level than they are now. So we’re keeping that capacity, we are keeping those skills and those jobs in our international aviation sector. This is a large number of jobs. We‘re standing where many of them are here today in Sydney but they’re up in Brisbane, they are all around the country. And the fact we’ve kept so many aviation workers in their jobs is a marked contrast to what is happening all around the world.

Langdon: Now Prime Minister, just before you go, because we know you are a busy man, our vaccine roll-out is behind schedule. Are you still confident of meeting that deadline of October and will you consider NSW help to help to speed things up?

Prime Minister: Well, yes, Brendan Murphy tells me, just as recently as yesterday, yes, October, that's the date and we are comfortable with that. And we’re working with all the states and territories. Right now we’re focussing on the most vulnerable. We have over 100,000 people who have been vaccinated and some of those from next week will start on the Pfizer vaccine going through to their second dose from next week. The states and territories were part of the planning. And when we get to the next phase, which is when our Australian-made vaccines are coming off the production line, that's when it will go to a whole new level of scale and that's where there will be a lot more – over, I think 4,000 or thereabouts GPs who are involved in that process. And so, the key is, it’s not a race, right. It’s not a competition. You’ve got to do it safely, you’ve got to do it carefully and you’ve got to do it in partnership. And that's what we are doing. We’re vaccinating Australia, that will open Australia again, and importantly, that will be great news for the tourism industry together with the packages we’ve announced today.

Stefanovic: Good on you Prime Minister. Thanks for your time today, and how good is the sound of a jet engine first thing in the morning?

Langdon: And the smell of the fuel.

Prime Minister: I want to hear more of them and I want to see them in the skies –

Langdon: So do we.

Prime Minister: With 800,000 tourists.

Stefanovic: Same, same. Thanks PM.

Prime Minister: Good on you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43267

Interview with Sunrise

11 March 2021

Samantha Armytage: The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, joins us now. Prime Minister, good morning to you. Welcome.

Prime Minister: G’day, Sam.

Armytage: The tourism industry has obviously been crying out for help. Talk us through the details of this plan. Is this enough to get people out into these areas again?

Prime Minister: As you say, 800,000 tickets and every one of those tickets, when they are sold, is helping those tourism industry regions right across the country. This is all about keeping people in their jobs by putting planes in the air and getting tourists on the ground. We know that when one-dollar is spent on a ticket, around $10 is spent on the ground and what the tourism industry needs is tourists. That is what they have said to us and so we are sending 800,000 tourists to them over these months, which takes us out to the end of September, you book by the end of July and we’re looking at life getting back to normal as we go through these next two school holiday periods. By school holidaying in Australia you are helping those travel and tourism industries around the country. And it’s saving jobs, we have been successful in saving jobs in this industry. We have seen over 20 airlines around the world go bust. We’ve kept our two big airlines, they’re here today and they are working with us to keep planes in the air and the jobs in place.

Armytage: And the government, taxpayers, will subsidise half these tickets. Is there any way you can ensure the airlines don't jack up the prices before these tickets are bought?

Prime Minister: Yes, this is based on pre-announcement prices so you can't change the past. So there are those protections in place. But I have got to say, working with both Qantas and Virgin and other airlines like REX, they have been great in working with us because they want to see their planes in the sky, they want to keep their staff, they want to see these regions recovering as well. So they are working closely with the travel industry as well. There is further support for travel agents today, not just airlines and the operators. And that means the whole industry is working together, with the government’s support, to keep their employees and their businesses going.

Armytage: OK. Prime Minister, what are you hearing, are you confident that we will be having overseas travel by October?

Prime Minister: It's still a bit too early to say and that is what the Chief Medical Officer says. And so we will take this one step at a time. I think one of the first steps is that Australians, once we’ve gone through the vaccinations and once the confidence is there from the data overseas which is looking great, that Australian's will be able to travel overseas and return and hopefully won’t then have to quarantine, all of those things. That’s still a way off yet, Sam, we’ve just got to do it one step by one step. Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re leading the world out of the COVID-19 recession. And the reason we’ve been able to do this, the great strength of the Australia people, doing it carefully, targeted, proportionate, just like the announcement today. That’s what’s got us through til now and that’s what will keep getting us through to the other side.

Armytage: Yeah, we have done so well so far. The vaccination rollout has been slow in some states, prime Minister. Are you worried about that? We have vaccinated 100,000 people so far.

Prime Minister: We have, and over a quarter of those have been in aged care facilities. So the most vulnerable of Australians. But we will get this done by October as we said we would. But we have got to do it safely and as Brendan Murphy said yesterday, this is not a race, what is most important is the health and safety of Australians in the vaccination programme and that is what we are principally focused on. And that rollout will gain speed towards the end of this month and we will see the Australian produce vaccines coming into the program and that means we will be able to be rolling them out in terms of supplies, around a million a week. When we get to that scale, I think we will see a real gear change. But right now, it is about the most vulnerable, the quarantine workers, those working in the frontline of our ICUs and in places like that, elderly Australians, those with disabilities. So we are just very focused on getting that right and it will continue to increase in speed as time goes on. But as Brendan said, it is not a race, you have got to get right and it has got to be safe.

Armytage: Yes. Are you concerned some states are stockpiling the vaccine? I know Queensland and Victoria have been outed for holding quite a few supplies back, does that worry you?

Prime Minister: Well, look, obviously we are watching all of those and I think some of those stories are misrepresenting. I'm not being critical but the reason you hold a vaccine will be for a second dose and there are other reasons why the vaccine may be prepositioned. So just because a stock is there doesn't mean it can automatically be rolled out. But, obviously, we will keep working with the states and territories to keep ramping this up. It is a partnership. As I say, it is not a competition between the states. I am looking for people to work together not against each other.

Armytage: yes, we are all like that, prime Minister. Tough week for the Government, you have got three senior ministers on leave. Health Minister Greg Hunt is out of action in hospital with a leg infection. Is he OK? When will he be back to work? Because it is a pretty important time for him.

Prime Minister: Yes, I am the acting Health Minister at the moment because I have been working so closely with Greg, particularly on the vaccinations.

Armytage: And are you enjoying that, Prime Minister?

Prime Minister: Well, I love all the aspects of my job, Sam. Just as I know you would have over the last eight years. You are thankful for every day you get to serve the Australian people in this job, and you have done a wonderful job over these last eight years as well. But Greg will be back in the Parliament on Monday, I got a text from him again last night, he will be fighting fit and, of course, the Attorney-General and the Defence Minister, they have health issues they are attending to. Linda has a cardiac issue that she is dealing with and that’s a serious matter. So we will allow them to get better and while I’m at it, all the best to Dan in Victoria. I hope he is on the mend, it sounds quite serious. And to him and his family, I hope they are all OK and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Armytage: It does sound quite serious without Daniel Andrews. It appears politicians are dropping like flies at the moment, so take care, Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: I am fighting fit, Sam.

Armytage: Good, good. Linda Reynolds, as you said, off work for another month. Has her position now become untenable? 

Prime Minister: No, I don't believe so. Linda Reynolds has on her cardiologist’s advice been asked to take that month off. If that happened to any other Australian, I am sure they would want simply that person to get well and listen to their doctors and get the treatment they need and that is what is occurring. So I am looking forward to her doing that. In the meantime, Marise Payne, a former defence minister herself, we’re not skipping a beat in any of these areas. We are just getting on with the job and our job is pretty straightforward. Lead Australia out of the COVID-19 recession, ensure we are leading Australia out of the global COVID-19 health crisis around the world. That is what we're doing, that is what we’re doing today, we’re getting on with the job and getting stuff done.

Armytage: Prime Minister, while we have got you, before we let you go, the buzzwords this week, Harry and Meghan. The interview has stirred up debate about Australia becoming a republic. Where do you stand on that? Is it time to open up this discussion again?

Prime Minister: We have got far more important things. My personal position is I have always supported the constitutional monarchy. But that is not going to change anything when it comes to coming out of the COVID recession or the COVID pandemic. Jenny and I watched the interview the other night, I'm sure many Australians did. We met them both when they were out here in Australia and I've got to say, they were just lovely. And I wish them and everyone, this is obviously a traumatic time for them and all of their families and I just wish them the best.

Armytage: I love that you and Jenny sat down to watch it because Rich and I sat down to watch it too. It was compulsive viewing. Prime Minister, we will let you go, thank you for the last time, from me from Sunrise, thank you for your time over the years.

Prime Minister: Thank you, Sam, for everything you have done for the country and your journalism over all these many years. I wish you all the best in the next stage of your life.

Armytage: Oh, thank you, I appreciate that. And well done on leading us through these last 12 months or so, we appreciate it.

Prime Minister: Thank you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43226

Tourism and Aviation's Flight Path to Recovery

11 March 2021

Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Treasurer, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment

Australia’s airlines, hotels and caravan parks, restaurants and bars, travel agents and tourism operators are set for a rush of hundreds of thousands of tourists as part of a new $1.2 billion support package from the Morrison Government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said while Australia’s economy had recovered 85 per cent of its fall from COVID-19, the next step in the Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan would target the businesses, workers and regions still doing it tough.

The Prime Minister said the package’s mix of half-price airline tickets, cheap loans for businesses and direct support to keep planes in the air, and airline workers in their jobs, would be a bridge to a more normal way of life for Australians.

“This is our ticket to recovery - 800,000 half-price airfares to get Australians travelling and supporting tourism operators, businesses, travel agents and airlines who continue to do it tough through COVID-19, while our international borders remain closed,” the Prime Minister said.

“This package will take more tourists to our hotels and cafes, taking tours and exploring our backyard. That means more jobs and investment for the tourism and aviation sectors as Australia heads towards winning our fight against COVID-19 and the restrictions that have hurt so many businesses.”

“Our tourism businesses don’t want to rely on government support forever. They want their tourists back. This package, combined with our vaccine roll-out which is gathering pace, is part of our National Economic Recovery Plan and the bridge that will help get them back to normal trading.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the measures would work hand-in-hand to boost interstate tourism and aviation in key regions significantly impacted by the loss of tourists.

“The new Tourism Aviation Network Support (TANS) Program will give Australians clear incentives to travel to key domestic tourism areas,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“Discounts will be offered on tens of thousands of fares per week across an initial 13 key tourism regions.

“We’re working with airlines to increase the number of flights to these tourism areas – giving travellers the flexibility needed when organising dream holidays to destinations such as Tropical North Queensland and Kangaroo Island.

“In a big win for local communities, especially in regional Australia, we will continue to financially support flights which are so key to health services, employment opportunities and social activities.

“We’re also backing the workforces of our international airlines and the teams and infrastructure they need so that when tourism takes off again and our borders reopen, our airlines are ready to go.”

The half-price ticket program will initially operate to 13 key regions including; the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays and Mackay region (Proserpine and Hamilton Island), the Sunshine Coast, Lasseter and Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula, and Kangaroo Island. Flights, routes and the total number of tickets will be driven by demand and are subject to final discussions with the airlines.

The discounts will be off the average fare and will be available on airline websites from 1 April.

Other new measures in the support package include:

• New International Aviation Support to help Australia’s international passenger airlines maintain more than 8,000 core international aviation jobs

• Support for regular passenger airports to meet their domestic security screening costs

• A new Aviation Services Assistance Support Program to help ground-handling companies meet the costs of mandatory training, certification and accreditation to ensure they maintain their workforces so they can stand them back up when the market expands again.

• The reinstatement of domestic aviation security screening cost rebates for more than 50 regular passenger airports

The Morrison Government will expand and extend its ‘SME Loan Guarantee Scheme’ as part of its commitment to support up to $40 billion in lending to small and medium enterprises.

Under the existing Scheme, more than 35,000 loans worth more than $3 billion have already been provided, helping thousands of small businesses get to the other side of this pandemic.

As we move into the recovery phase, the Scheme will be targeted and tailored to support those businesses that have been relying on JobKeeper during the March quarter.

The SME Recovery Loan Scheme will benefit from an increased Government guarantee, increasing from the current 50/50 split between the Government and the banks to an 80/20 split. This will encourage more banks to support small businesses and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to back those businesses that are prepared to back themselves.

The expanded Scheme will also increase the size of eligible loans, increasing from $1 million under the current Scheme to $5 million. Businesses with a higher turnover will also benefit under the expanded Scheme, with the maximum eligible turnover increased from $50 million to $250 million.

Maximum loan terms under the expanded Scheme will also be increased from 5 to 10 years – providing businesses and lenders with greater flexibility.

The expanded Scheme will also allow lenders to offer borrowers a repayment holiday of up to 24 months.

Importantly, the Scheme will also be able to be used by eligible businesses to refinance their existing loans. This will allow SMEs to access the more concessional interest rates available under the program and to better manage their cash-flows through an extended loan term and lower combined repayments.

More than 350,000 current JobKeeper recipients are expected to be eligible under the expanded Scheme. Loans will be available from 1 April 2021 and must be approved prior to 31 December 2021.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this latest package of measures was all part of the Federal Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan.

“We know there are sectors and regions across the country that are continuing to do it tough, which is why we will continue to support the economy with proportionate, timely, scaleable and targeted assistance,” the Treasurer said.

“Our support for the aviation sector will not just keep planes in the air but will also provide a boost to domestic tourism while our international borders remain closed.

“This SME Recovery Scheme is part of the next step in our plan to help small businesses stand on their own two feet as the economy recovers from COVID-19.

“The expansion and extension of the loans will back businesses that back themselves and will help businesses who continue to do it tough build a bridge to the other side of the crisis and keep their staff employed.”

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the Government was also extending temporary, targeted measures for parts of the tourism sector impacted most from border closures.

“The thing our tourism operators want more than anything is tourists so we need Australians to do their patriotic duty and book a holiday this year because every dollar spent on an Australian holiday is a dollar that supports a local job and a local business,” Minister Tehan said.

“Our Government’s support package will help get more Australians into those tourist areas most impacted by border lockdowns, and we need states and territories to do their part by agreeing to a nationally consistent approach to using border closures and lockdowns as a last resort on medical advice.”

The Government has also extended the following programs to 30 September 2021:

• the successful Domestic Aviation Network Support (DANS) and Regional Aviation Network Support (RANS) programs

• the 50 per cent waiver of domestic air services charges for Regular Public Transport (RPT) and aeromedical flights

• the International Freight Assistance Mechanism.

The $50 million Business Events Grants Program will also be extended by three months to support Australian businesses to hold multi-day business events, covering up to 50 per cent of costs incurred in participating business events during the 2021 calendar year. This will help restart Australia’s business events sector.

The $94.6 million Zoos and Aquarium program will be extended by six months to support zoos, aquariums and wildlife parks to maintain their animal populations where their tourism revenue has been affected by travel and social distancing restrictions.

The COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program will also be extended for three months beyond 13 March.

For more information on the Government’s COVID-19 support for aviation visit Assistance to the Aviation Sector

For further information on the COVID‑19 tourism support plan visit Tourism and business

For further information on the Small and Medium Enterprise Recovery Loan Scheme visit SME Recovery Loan Scheme

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43265

Doorstop - Symonston, ACT

10 March 2021

RIME MINISTER: Well, good morning everyone. It's good to be here at the Therapeutic Goods Administration. I learned as I arrived this morning that I'm indeed the first Prime Minister to have ever visited the TGA here in Canberra, and I suppose that's appropriate given the year that we've just had. This has been an extraordinary year of heroic and courageous sacrifice and incredibly hard work and professionalism by so many Australians. We often think of those on the frontline of the pandemic, and rightly think of those working in our intensive care units and those attending directly to those who've had the most severe effects of the COVID-19 virus, and those working in aged care and disability care. But I can tell you the front line of Australia's effort on the pandemic has also been right here at the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Over the course of this past year, they have been working night and day, literally. Whether it's been the testing of materials and equipment, of medical equipment, that has come in over the course of the pandemic – or indeed this most important task now over many months, both in preparing for the approval of the suite of vaccines that Australia has pulled together, as part of our vaccination strategy. But then to go through the meticulous process of once they've arrived, to ensure that those vaccines go through the appropriate batch testing and other tests to ensure that they can be distributed across the country safely, and so Australians can have that confidence. As Professor Murphy and I have said on so many occasions the people who work in this building, they are the same people who ensure that the vaccines that our children take, that we take them along to each year, every day of the week when Australians do that with their own families. These are the same people who test those vaccines to make sure your children are safe, to ensure that you are safe. Professor Skerrit, who can't be with us here today, now, he heads up this incredible organisation and that's why I think Australians have such confidence and it was a great thrill for me this morning to go, to go and thank all of those staff. It was a great thrill to be able to see, as you have been able to see as you accompany me this morning, to see all of the meticulous processes that have to be gone through, and that's also essential to keeping Australians safe. The good news is, is that over the course of just this week, starting last weekend, a further 414,000 AstraZeneca doses have been able to be secured, and they've arrived in Australia as of last Sunday. A further 149,000 Pfizer vaccines have also arrived yesterday. That brings to a total of 1.3 million - 1.3 million - doses of both the AstraZeneca and the Pfizer vaccine here in the country. And yesterday, we went past the mark where 100,000 of those have already been jabbed into the arms of Australians. And I'm pleased to say that a quarter of those vaccines have been administered to the most vulnerable Australians, in aged care facilities and those with disabilities. And so the vaccination program is underway. It's sure, it's steady, it's safe, it's well planned, and it's overseen by the best medical experts in the world. And so we welcome that development and we look forward to the continued rollout of the vaccine. As I said last Friday, we are now providing regular information and that will increase as time goes on and those data channels become firmed up with the states and territories, and we can provide more information on how that vaccination program is rolling out. But that's certainly what it's doing and Professor Murphy will speak a bit more about that in just a second.

The other point I wanted to make today is you will have all learnt that the first ever meeting of the Quad leaders will be taking place this weekend. I'm very much looking forward to that, and joining President Biden and Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga on what will be the first ever meeting of Quad leaders. The Indo-Pacific is our world. This is where Australia lives. And our security, our peace and stability that all Australians rely on for their freedom and for them being able to live the lives in the way that they wish to in a liberal democracy, such as Australia, that depends on the peace and stability of our region. And to see the Quad now move to a whole new level, something Australia has been championing for many years now, and particularly under my Prime Ministership, this has been a key focus that we could get the Quad leaders meeting together. It was one of the first things, the first thing I should say, I discussed with President Biden and I was so pleased the new administration were also so enthusiastic about this program, and that President Biden is taking this to another level and seeing the Quad as his first engagement in this way, and to elevate it in this way. So I'm looking forward to those discussions – of course, it will deal with security matters and maritime issues and a range of other topics of that nature. But it'll also be dealing with the challenges and the environment, the climate and, of course, the COVID-19 response in our region. So I'm looking forward to that meeting - it is another key step forward in how Australia has sought to keep Australians safe, by ensuring that we're working with our partners, with our allies in particular. And these relationships have been strengthened individually with the United States, with Japan with India. This has been a core focus, and to see that all come together with the Quad, I couldn't be more pleased and I'm looking very much forward to attending that meeting. It may be in the wee small hours of Saturday, which Prime Minister Suga will also be up late that night. But it's certainly worth staying up late for that night because it will be an historic moment in our region. And it sends a very strong message to the region that our support for a sovereign, independent Indo-Pacific.

Final point I want to make before handing over to Professor Murphy is that I'm very pleased that Anzac Day is on. I'm very pleased that we're seeing changes being made to facilitate that happening right across Australia. This is a sacred day for Australia. Last year, we did it in the quietness and solemnity of our homes and on our driveways, as we, as Australians held up lights in the early hours of the dawn. But this year, as a sign that Australia is back on track with the comeback is well underway, Australians will come together in the way we always have – and we’ll remember those who have gifted us our peace, our security, our sovereignty and our freedom. I'm very pleased about the response that I saw yesterday from around the country.

With that I'll ask Professor Murphy to say a few words on the vaccination rollout. And we're happy to take questions. But we'll start, first of all, with vaccination, then I'll excuse our medical professionals who are with us.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks very much Prime Minister. It’s very exciting today to have the Prime Minister see the testing of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the TGA. As we’ve said on many occasions, we’re not in this position of other countries who have not had the luxury of being able to test these vaccines as thoroughly as we test every other vaccine that we rollout to the Australian people. We’re in a wonderful position and these vaccines are going through all those normal tests. The other exciting thing is that the AstraZeneca vaccine is going to be the workforce vaccine for Australia because that’s what we’re going to have most of from the wonderful production of CSL. And I really want to make again the point that all the data now that’s coming out of the UK where, particularly, and other countries where there’s good real world experience is that we now have two vaccines that are indistinguishable, they are both really, really good vaccines. They are both highly effective at preventing severe COVID hospitalisations and deaths, and both are probably going to have some impact on transmission. There was some narrative around several weeks ago that maybe one vaccine was better than the other. The data, the real world data now has put to bed that argument. We have two vaccines that are indistinguishably effective. Australians are in this position that we couldn't have dreamt of 12 months ago, that by early 2021 we have two brilliant vaccines, really brilliant vaccines, much better efficacy than the flu vaccines we get every year. So this is a wonderful position. We're also in the position because we've got no community transmission, we can take our rollout of the vaccines safely and carefully and scale it up according to the experience we get with the early rollout. We can do the aged care residents respectfully and carefully. And so we're working hard to expand and increase our rollout of the vaccines, but we are in this wonderful position of not having a burning platform. The rollout is going really well – over 300,000 aged and disability care facilities. As the Prime Minister said a thousand, over 100,000 jabs in arms – one in my arm last Sunday didn't hurt at all. Great, great vaccines. Very exciting time to be here at the TGA with the Prime Minister. Thank you. 

JOURNALIST: Professor, has the TGA started batch testing the locally produced AstraZeneca yet?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So the locally produced AstraZeneca is being tested at the same time as the international ones. So that the locally produced AstraZeneca, the main issue with it now is getting it into bottles. So that's what CSL is focusing on at the moment. The actual bulk vaccine is produced and it's being tested here and it's looking very good.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how many vaccines are you expecting to have any Australian arms by the end of March? And how are we on track to ask for it? 

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Brendan update on that. But the important point about the 1.3 million that we've been able to secure and have in-country now means that that has built the bridge to get us to the commencement of the locally produced vaccines. So we took the decision to have sovereign capacity to produce the AstraZeneca vaccine here in Australia because we did not want to be reliant on overseas supply chains. Now, we've seen just how threatened those supply chains can be. But Australia has been successful and I particularly want to commend Professor Murphy and Minister Hunt, together with Minister Payne and Frances Adamson at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the great work they've done to ensure that we've been able to get 1.3 million doses into this country. That gets us on the bridge to the start day for the Australian produced AstraZeneca vaccines. And we'll be at a stage where they're rolling out about a million a week once that is in full production phase. And so we are watching in these early phases of how the rollout is progressing. We're obviously working with states and territories. And once the data becomes a bit clearer, I think we'll be in a better position to provide more accurate estimates. But we're moving as quickly and as safely and as surely as we can. But Brendan, did you want to add to that? 

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, Prime Minister. So the major target has always been to offer every adult Australian a vaccine by the end of October. And that's what we're working to, and particularly to get those vulnerable people in phase 1A and 1B vaccinated as quickly as possible by the middle of this year. So that's what we're targeting. It's a dynamic programme. So some of the states have been a bit slower starting up. Our aged care has we've had to start a bit more slowly than we looked at, but we're scaling up. In the meantime, we've brought forward some of the 1B and we're vaccinating some 1B health care workers across the country much earlier than we thought. But as the Prime Minister has said, the real ramp up starts with the release of the locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine. That's when we'll have lots of supply. We'll be able to distribute it to simply thousands of GP points of contact, and that's when we'll see the real scale up. 

JOURNALIST: But do you believe you will get to four million vaccinations by early April as you yourself and Mr Hunt had previously indicated?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we said at the time that any of these estimates that we give are always subject to the progress of the rollout and the events that we encounter along the way, and when we're in a better position to give an update on those figures, then we will. And we're certainly working to the sort of targets that we would hope for. But they are always subject to events. So I think Australians know that they want the vaccination programme rolled out safely and surely and done in a way and I think Professor Murphy's made a very good point. Right now, we're dealing with the most vulnerable of Australians. We're dealing with elderly Australians. You know, we're not going to put them in buses and take them off to military sites and, you know, have them herded into tents where they're going to be vaccinated. No, they're going to go to their GP. They're going to go to a proper place where they can get the care and support that they need when they're having these vaccines administered. What matters most is doing this safely, and that's exactly what we're doing.

JOURNALIST: Are you certain Minister Hunt hasn’t had any negative reaction to the vaccine and how is he?

PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I am certain of that. The medical advice that I've been provided and Minister Hunt and probably Professor Murphy is better equipped to give you an update on his medical situation. But he'll be fine by next week. He'll be back up on his feet. Minister Hunt and I have worked hand in glove over this last year, in particular on this matter. And until he returns, I'll be personally addressing the ministerial responsibilities of Health and Aged Care, together with Minister Colbeck.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned data channels. National Cabinet agreed last week for states that they wouldn't disclose to the public how many of their allocation each week they didn't get through. Obviously, there are legitimate reasons for not getting through it all. But given supply is still limited, don't you think the public deserves to know if there are vaccines out there not being used? What we, you know, they deserve to know where they are and what states aren't using them?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're finalising what we call the common operating picture. And there's a data board that we're currently using between the premiers and myself to track all this and we have sufficient doses now to get us to the start of the locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine. So we don't have a concern about the number of doses we have here in Australia. There are 1.3 million and we have vaccinated over 100,000 people now and that will continue scaling up in the weeks ahead as we get to the point of the locally produced vaccine being in place. There are vaccines that are being forward deployed not for immediate distribution. There are others that are available for that. And I'll let Professor Murphy speak on that issue.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So obviously, it's a huge logistic exercise getting these vaccines around the country. So we have, for example, deployed two or three weeks’ worth of supply to state and territory hubs. So mainly because it helps us with the logistics when you're deploying minus 70 vaccines. So we won't expect them to have deployed them all over in the first week of a three-week period. So it's really hard to say, you know, what someone should have used in a week, so the most important thing is we're being absolutely transparent about how many doses have come in the country, and how many doses have gone in arms. Remembering, of course, that we have to keep back enough of the Pfizer vaccine particularly, and also the AstraZeneca later on, for second doses. We can't be in a position of not having vaccine in reserve for second doses. And the second doses of Pfizer will be starting very soon. I think the Prime Minister's due for his fairly soon.

PRIME MINISTER: Very soon, I will be back with Jane Malysiak. So, I mean, this is the data that we agreed that we were releasing, certainly weekly, and we're already doing that. And this will be released daily as well and we're moving pretty close to that now. I mean, this is the data at the close of before yesterday morning. And so these updates and we hope to add further to the granularity of this information as time goes on and to ensure that it's presented in a way which doesn't allow it to be in any misleading way of suggesting things that it doesn't seek to suggest. And so we're working with the states and territories to make sure that data board can be provided, not obviously just to the media, but to all Australians, can give them a shot in the arm themselves of confidence knowing the progress of the vaccination programme.

JOURNALIST: Do you see the elevation of the Quad arrangements to a leaders level as a balance to China? How would you describe it? What's the purpose of this?

PRIME MINISTER: I would call it what President Biden said Australia was - and that is an anchor of peace and stability in the region. That's what it is. What the Quad is about is ensuring an open, independent, sovereign Indo-Pacific that enables all countries and nations within the Indo-Pacific to engage with each other, all of them, and to do that in a way which is good for their own citizens and good for the peace and prosperity of the region itself. That's what we all want. That's what the Quad leaders want. And we want to work together to achieve those goals and to work with many others to achieve those goals as well as we currently do. ASEAN Quad leaders are a very, very firm on this. We look into the Indo-Pacific through the same lens as the ASEAN nations and we understand the critical role of ASEAN within the Indo-Pacific. We respect it and we see what is not, you know, a formal gathering with secretariats. It's not a mini UN of four nations. That's not what it is. This is about four like-minded countries coming together that have significant interests within the Indo-Pacific region, that has fantastic relationships with countries throughout the Indo-Pacific region to ensure that all of us can have the assurances about the peace and stability of the region.

JOURNALIST: The ABC is reporting this morning the Attorney-General-

PRIME MINISTER: Just before we go to that, I'm happy to, while we’re still on health and I have my health officials with me.

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy,  in the full approval of the TGA gave the AstraZeneca vaccine, they specifically said that social distancing measures and a lot of those protections and restrictions we have in place now would still need to be practised around the elderly, even after they've had the vaccine, which was mostly due to a shortage of data on the efficacy. Will that advice now change? Do you have sufficient evidence that the elderly will be protected without masks and social distancing? Or are we still waiting on that?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: I think the evidence is emerging that these vaccines are really effective in preventing against severe disease. The TGA takes its decision very carefully on the best available evidence, and they will be reviewing on a regular basis the product information advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine. You'll recall that when they originally approved it, even though they approved it for each age group, there wasn't a lot of data for the over 65’s. There’s now really good data for the over 65’s from England showing that it's really effective. So I think once we’ve vaccinated all the elderly, we will certainly be able to relax some of those measures. But TGA is always conservative in its advice and it will take its time and look at the published data and review it as necessary.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it tenable that-

PRIME MINISTER: Any more health questions?

JOURNALIST: Just one more. Sorry, Professor, then I will let you guys go. We have 1.3million doses in the country right now and 100,000 given out. Even if you silo another 100,000 for the second dose, that's still only one in every ten doses.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: No, it’s more. We have to silo half of the Pfizer for second doses. 

JOURNALIST: Sure. There's still going to be shipments coming in every week. So can we expect that before the CSL arrival kicks in that hopefully we will have given out more than that one million or 1.3 million?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: We are. This is not a race. We have no burning platform in Australia. We are taking it as quickly and carefully and safely as we can. We're not like the US or the UK or most other countries in the world where they've got people in hospital dying. We can take our time, set up our systems, do it safely and carefully, we are expanding our rollout every day. Every day, there are more aged care facilities being done. Every day, the states and territories are setting up more clinics. We're setting up clinics for aged care workers and for health care workers over coming weeks. But the big, big, big shift will be in that last week of March when we roll out to over up to 1,000 general practise sites. And then over the next month after that will be expanding up to over 4,000 general practice sites. And that's when the real rubber hits the road. So we're not in any hurry to race this rollout. We want to do it safely and carefully, and we're in a great place to do that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, look, the former solicitor general, Justin Gleeson- 

PRIME MINISTER: Ok. I'm going to thank you very much for joining us today. Appreciate that. 

JOURNALIST: Former Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson has called for the current Solicitor-General to assess whether Christian Porter is a fit and proper person to remain as Attorney-General. Is that something that you will ask him to look into? 

PRIME MINISTER: No, and that's not the advice that I've received from my Department as I've dealt with that issue. I mean, he's entitled to his view. He's not someone who's been a particularly big fan of our Government, I should say. But that said, he's entitled to his opinion on this. But that is not the advice that I've been provided at any time during the course of managing this.

JOURNALIST: Is it tenable for Christian Porter to continue as the Attorney-General given he'll now be responsible for implementing the Respect@Work report? And will you consider moving him to a different position in Cabinet as something of a circuit breaker, assuming he does return? 

PRIME MINISTER: No, I wouldn't consider moving to someone else. He's a fine Attorney-General and a fine Minister for Industrial Relations, and he is an innocent man under our law. And to suggest that there should be some different treatment applied to him, based on what have been allegations that the police have closed the matter on. I think that would be grossly inappropriate to take actions against him on that basis. And there's no basis for doing that at law at all. And when it comes to the principles upon which we run our country, that would be highly inappropriate. 

JOURNALIST: So would you be comfortable with him being the one implementing Respect@Work campaign for your government? 

PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I would.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Kylie Moore-Gilbert has said she wished the Australian Government would have gone to the media earlier to try to secure her release from Iran. Do you stand by Australia’s handling of the case?

PRIME MINISTER: Kylie's home and I couldn't, I'm probably more than most in this country, other than her own family, I could not be more happy about that. I had the great privilege of inviting Kylie to our home in Sydney in Kirribilli. And she met with Jenny and I, and her bravery, her courage, her resilience is something extraordinary. And I know she's deeply grateful for all the work that was done by the Government and by the officials, and particularly in DFAT, those who were on the ground there and others who have been involved. Now, Kylie Moore-Gilbert obviously can't be aware of all of the things that the Government has been involved in to secure her release over a long period of time, and the many other matters that were running over that period. And there are obviously things that sit within the national security dimension of what the Government handles on a day-to-day basis. I am aware of those issues and have been directly involved in many of the decisions, in fact, all of the decisions that ultimately ended up in securing her release. And I know Kylie Moore-Gilbert is very appreciative of that. And there will be views about this matter – but what I know is that, at all times, this was our top priority, our top priority consular case to get Kylie home. And the day I learned that we'd finally secured it and that she was on the plane and getting out, I spoke to her en route back to Australia. And she was still, I think, still quite numb from the experience and ordeal she'd been through, and the fact that she was coming home, that when we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss these issues at length, I listened carefully to what she had to say and she reflected to me her experiences. And we've ensured that there's the opportunity for all of those to be debriefed, also with DFAT, which is very important. So I'm just so glad Kylie is home – she's an amazing Australian and she's a great example. 

JOURNALIST: The New Zealand opposition is pushing for a two-way travel bubble. How far away is a reciprocal arrangement given New Zealand has had more cases than Australia recently? Is it time for them to open up?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a matter for the New Zealand Government. If the New Zealand Government doesn't wish Australians to visit Australia, New Zealand and spend money in Queenstown or Wellington or other parts of the country, that's a matter for them. It's always been a matter for them. And I'm happy for them to open it up as soon as the Prime Minister and her Government would like to do that. And we've had very amicable conversations about this. Australia is open to New Zealand and has been for some time, with the exception of a couple of the brief pauses in that arrangement, that is benefiting our economy. It's benefiting particularly our travel and tourism industry and the aviation sector, which has been most hardly hit by the pandemic. But if Australians can't go to Queenstown, I'm hoping they'll go to Cairns.

JOURNALIST: PM, I'm sorry, the ABC is reporting this morning the Attorney-General is being referred to the Legal Practice Board of WA by a group of high profile academics. Are you aware of that? Are you concerned by that?

PRIME MINISTER: It's been brought to my attention, but that's a matter for them. All I know is what the criminal law procedures are. And I know that in this case, they have been followed and the rule of law applies in this country and applies equally to every single Australian. I just want to reinforce this point once more. No Australian faces a different law to any other Australian. If anyone here at this press conference was accused of a matter, you would face the same process that the Attorney-General would, and you would have the same rights and the same presumptions made about you as he would. Now that is fair – that's the fair go you get under a rule of law in this country. And I, for one, will not be one to undermine it. Thank you very much.

JOURNALIST: I'm sorry. Have you spoken to Dan Andrews? 

PRIME MINISTER: I sent him a text to see how he was going. 

JOURNALIST: Did he write back?

PRIME MINISTER: I haven’t heard back from Dan, but I imagine he’s been a bit busy. But I wish him all the best and hope he’s very well. You know, Dan and I get on very well. 

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43264

Thousands of New Apprentice and Trainee Jobs

9 March 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Employment Skills Small and Family Business

Tens of thousands of new job opportunities will be created for apprentices and trainees across Australia with the expansion of the targeted wage subsidy program as part of the Morrison Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan. 

The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy program is fully subscribed, helping to create 100,000 apprenticeships in less than five months.

The Program will now become demand driven and expanded for a full 12 months for new apprentices and trainees signed up prior to 30 September 2021.

It is estimated that this demand driven expansion will generate around 70,000 new apprentice and trainee places, with the Government investing around $1.2 billion.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said training and skills were at the core of the Government’s response to the economic challenges faced by the COVID-19 recession.

“Creating jobs, generating economic opportunities and boosting the skills of workers right across Australia are at the heart of our National Economic Recovery Plan, as we build back from the COVID-19 recession,” the Prime Minister said.

“Last week’s National Accounts showed the comeback of the Australian economy is underway, however many businesses still need support and it’s important our apprentices and trainees get opportunities to boost their skills and stay employed.

“With 100,000 new apprenticeship positions already snapped up, it highlights the confidence businesses have in the future of the Australian economy.”

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash said this will help more people into jobs.

“Growing our skills pipeline is an incredibly important part of helping our economic recovery,” Minister Cash said. 

“The Boosting Apprentices Commencement program has to date assisted almost 40,000 businesses to take on a new Australian apprentice or trainee.

“This initiative has supported the creation of more than 8,000 bricklayers, 6,000 electricians, and almost 11,000 people in retail and hospitality work.

“I’m so pleased that we’ve helped create 100,000 new registered apprentice and trainee places so far and we intend to help even more people get the chance to upskill or reskill.

“By expanding this wage subsidy for another 12 months, we’ll be helping businesses to create even more jobs, further supporting our National Economic Recovery Plan for Australia.”

The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements was one of the COVID-19 skills measures announced as part of the $4 billion in apprentice wage subsidies.

The Morrison Government is providing record levels of support to the vocational education and training sector in 2020-21, which is not only helping rebuild our economy but preparing for the future.

This includes the $1 billion JobTrainer Fund, which is supporting more than 300,000 additional free or low-fee training places for job seekers and young people.

We have also established the National Skills Commission which harnesses contemporary data with labour market analysis to forecast the skills needs of the economy and inform the qualifications and skills Australians need to train for.

We have also funded the National Careers Institute which provides future apprentices, trainees and Australians looking to reskill or upskill with the information and support they need to take the next step in their career.

Further information on the support available to eligible businesses and employees is available at: https://www.dese.gov.au/boosting-apprenticeship-commencements

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43260

Doorstop - Pyrmont, NSW

9 March 2021

Anna Cesarano, CEO Doltone House Group: I’m delighted to welcome our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and Minister Cash today at Doltone House. We really are celebrating the industry and the road to recovery for hospitality and what a day it has been. Getting our hands into some dough, making some pasta, and a reflection of our commitment to rebuilding hospitality and the industry sector. So welcome thank you. The apprenticeship program has been very significant for us to date. It’s been a challenging year, one that has sort of, as we all know with COVID, we now have an opportunity to further be supported by this Government. JobKeeper has been monumental for our survival and now as we build, family business is all about tenure. But now we have the ability to retain the talent of apprentices to our industry and I’m delighted by that. So thank you.

Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Anna. I’m delighted to be here with Anna and Paul Cesarano. They run, together, a great Australian family business with the Doltone Group and it is great to be here with Minister Cash. Their father stepped off a migrant ship just over here in 1954. And built, starting from a small grocery shop, and built it into this amazing venue business. Starting out in my own electorate in the Sutherland Shire and then reaching across the city. There are few people in Sydney, I think, who haven't found themselves in the business community of this great city at an event that has been looked after by the Doltone Group. So it is quite fitting to be here with a small family business, getting bigger and bigger by the day, though, Paul, that has gone through a really tough year. An industry in hospitality that has been under the pump during COVID-19. But what has been so impressive is how that business has held together through COVID-19, and it's businesses like the Doltone Group, in the hospitality industry, and in so many other industries across Australia, which are the reason why Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 global recession. Australia is leading the world. And one of the ways we've been able to do that is, of course, the resilience of these amazing businesses to push through and hold their staff together and maintain the capacity of their businesses for when the recovery comes. And they haven't done that alone. They've done that with significant support, whether it's through JobKeeper, which has been a lifeline to businesses like the Doltone Group and so many others around the country. 

One of the first things we did as a Government as we went into the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first items in our first package of support to the COVID-19 pandemic, was to ensure that we kept apprentices in their jobs. They would have been the first off. They would have been the first to be casualties, economically, over the COVID-19 pandemic. They had made a decision to go and get trained, to put in the hard yards over four years and establish a career for themselves and get the skills that are so needed in the many industries where apprentices go. So they made that commitment and we decided to commit to them to ensure that they could stay in those apprenticeships throughout the course of the pandemic. So the apprenticeship program has kept 122,000 apprentices in their jobs, just like those we've met here this morning. But whether it's in a hospitality business like this, or it's on the tools in a toolmaking shop, or it's out on a building site, or wherever I have met these apprentices over the course of these last many months, I have seen them stay in their jobs, stay in their training, stay in their study, and now, as the economy recovers, they are seeing further opportunities ahead of them. 

So our way out of the COVID-19 recession is to keep investing in these skills and ensuring that we're bringing more and more people into these industries to meet the country's challenging workforce needs into the future. The Supporting Apprenticeships Program in the second iteration was all about getting new apprentices. 100,000 apprentices, new apprentices, already secured in just five months. And so, today, we're announcing that we're removing the caps on this program. We're extending it out until the end of September of this year, a full 12 months of support for these new apprentices coming on board. So that means anyone who is looking to get into an apprenticeship, and anyone who needs an apprentice as they're recovering from the COVID-19 recession, this says that our Government is going to carry that with you. And we're going to get that person into a job. And those people aren't just young people. About a third of those who have come into this program have been aged over the age of 35. I've met plenty of people around this country who have changed course during the COVID-19 pandemic. They've been working in one sector and now they're working in another sector. They might have been working in hospitality and now they're working in manufacturing. Or indeed, the other way around. And that's what this program is designed to support - people to make decisions so they can get through and come out the other side of the COVID-19 recession. 

So, we are thrilled to be here today, Paul and Anna. We're pleased to be supporting you and what you're doing and your family business, and we're pleased to be doing that for businesses all around the country. And we know for those who are looking to take on those apprenticeships, for those parents who, through the course of the COVID-19 recession, were worried about; where are my kids going to get that job? where are they going to get that training? Where is their future going to be on the other side of COVID-19? Well, our answer - we're delivering today, once more. $1.2 billion of estimated additional support. We think it will generate at least another 70,000 new apprenticeships, but I suspect it will do better than that, as we've seen with other programs exceed our expectations, like HomeBuilder and others. 100,000 in just five months.

I’m going to ask Minister Cash who has been critical for this program right from the outset to talk you through the details.

Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employemnt, Skills, Small and Family Business: Thank you, Prime Minister, and it really is fantastic to join the Prime Minister here today at an iconic business Doltone House with Paul and Anna, a great family business here in Sydney. And the Morrison Government, we back family businesses, just like Paul and Anna's, every step of the way. The Prime Minister has openly stated that he has put skills at the heart of Australia's economic recovery. And when COVID-19 first hit in Australia, one of the first policy measures we put in place was to ensure that our apprentices and our trainees remained on the job where we needed them. And we put in place the supporting apprentice and trainee wage subsidy. As the Prime Minister has said, to date, over 122,000 apprentices and trainees have been supported by that wage subsidy, and that doesn't include those that have been supported by JobKeeper. That's exactly where we needed these apprentices and trainees - on the job, doing what we need them to do. Helping to build Australia. But we also understand, as a Government, that as we come out of COVID-19, and as Anna said, we enter that recovery phase. We need to put in place the policies to ensure that businesses out there, small, medium and large businesses of any size, are now able to bring additional people into their businesses. And that is why last year, we announced the boosting apprenticeship commencement wage subsidy. We put in place a target for ourselves. It's a 50 per cent wage subsidy that we would create in around 12 months, 100,000 new commencements. We have now done that, and I'd like to thank all of the employers out there, because they are the ones who have taken on these additional apprentices into their businesses. Businesses like Doltone House here today. 

Paul and Anna, the Prime Minister and I have had the opportunity to meet a number of apprentices, but in particular, one whose day, it is his first day on the job, making pasta with the Prime Minister. But brought on board into the business because of the boosting apprenticeship commencements wage subsidy. We've created 100,000 new commencements in less than five months. And that is why today, I am delighted to join the Prime Minister to announce that we are now removing the cap on the programme and we are extending it out so any business that signs up a new apprentice up until the 30th of September this year will now get a full 12 months of the 50 per cent wage subsidy. And for those businesses who did the right thing and they assisted us, getting those 100,000 new apprentices on the job, helping to boost those numbers, their apprenticeship wage subsidy will also be turned into a full 12-month wage subsidy. That's an additional $1.2 billion that the Morrison Government is investing in ensuring that we have that skilled pipeline to keep Australia going. 

So today, $1.2 billion, 100,000 new apprenticeships commenced within five months. Today, we uncapped the programme so across Australia, any business, any size, any region, can now sign up apprentices until September 30th this year and get a 12-month wage subsidy, 50 per cent of the relevant apprentice's wage.

Prime Minister: Thanks. Let's deal with the announcement today and then we can deal with other matters as usual.

Journalist: Is this in regards to only first year apprentices or second, third and fourth?

Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employemnt, Skills, Small and Family Business: If you are recommencing and lost your job, say as a result of COVID, and you need to recommence your apprenticeship, you're able to do that. And we've had around 9,000 do that under the programme. Anyone else on the apprentice announcement? It's a pretty good announcement.

Prime Minister: Well, I can tell Australians, I am absolutely interested in creating jobs and my first job is to ensure that Australia continues to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and that we come out with the comeback from the COVID-19 recession. That's the focus of my Government. That's where Australians need my focus and that's where it will continue to be.

Journalist: On other matters, have you spoken to Christian Porter in recent days? Do you know when he will be returning?

Prime Minister: I have. I've spoken to Christian, as have many colleagues in providing their support. And at this stage, he hasn't advised the date he's returning. I don't anticipate him to be back in the Parliament next week. But he'll give me further updates as we go through the course of this week and we're making arrangements to ensure that next week in the Parliament, that his responsibilities are handled by other ministers.

Journalist: Do you believe his denial? And if so, how does that fit with your statement in 2019 that people making sexual assault allegations need to be believed?

Prime Minister: I believe in the presumption of innocence and the rule of law and he's entitled to that. And the competent and authorised agencies through the police and the court system, that's what determines these matters at the end of the day. And every Australian is entitled to that, whether they're a minister of the Government or anyone else in this country. There are not two rules. There are not two laws in this country. There are not two processes. There is one. And we're all subject to it. The Attorney-General has certainly been subject to that, and, of course, I believe in his presumption of innocence, and why wouldn't anyone on the basis of the proper process which has been followed?

Journalist: Have you read the letter detailing the allegations since the question was last put to you? And if not, why not? Don't you want to know what the allegations are?

Prime Minister: The actual formal documents provided to my office were provided on a Friday afternoon in Canberra when I was in Sydney. And so, those documents were immediately passed on to the Federal Police. So I was not in the same place as those documents. They were immediately provided to the Federal Police, as they should be, because they're the competent and authorised agency to deal with these matters. And I had been briefed on their contents earlier as a result of other documents that had come through a colleague, and they were the matters that I presented to the Attorney-General, which he completely rejected as false.

Journalist: Prime Minister, just on another matter, the recovery which we've been talking about is going to be very dependent on the vaccines rolling out. Are you concerned at all about reports that the vaccines will not be administered in full dose by the states and territories, that there's not as much transparency around that as we might have seen? And are we still optimistic that everyone who wants the vaccine in Australia will be able to get one by October?

Prime Minister: Really, in relation to the last question, yes, I am and that's the advice I have, too. We're in the early phases of the vaccination rollout. I think we're currently at about 84,000 vaccinations that have been completed. I said this morning, this week, we expect to go over the 100,000 mark. The other important point, as we've been able to secure the supply of the overseas produced vaccines, and that is enabling us to continue with the pace of our vaccination rollout. We will soon be at the stage where the Australian-produced vaccines will be coming off the production lines and hopefully we'll be seeing that heading out across the distribution network at a rate of about a million a week being produced. As you know, we have some 50 million vaccines being produced by CSL of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In the early phases of the rollout, as we anticipated, there are some early issues that have been quickly identified and resolved and I want to continue to assure Australians that the very confidently prepared plans, plans put together by Australia's expert medical professionals, led by Professor Brendan Murphy, working together with the other experts, including the Chief Medical Officer, deeply consulted through with the states and territories, is rolling out that vaccination strategy and it's a strategy that was pulled together last year and has been meticulously worked through even to now as we roll the vaccines out. So, yes, I do remain confident about that. That doesn't mean we won't hit some obstacles. It doesn't mean there won't be the odd frustration, the odd logistics issue that needs to be addressed. That's to be expected with a project of this scale. But I want to assure Australians that they can have confidence, A, that we've got the vaccines, B, that the vaccines are the best in the world, and that we'll be able to get them to everybody who wants to take them. And we, of course, are encouraging people to do that, according with the priorities that we have set.

Journalist: What's your response to Julie Bishop's comments that a group of male politicians, calling themselves "The Big Swinging Dicks", tried to block her career aspirations?

Prime Minister: I would agree with Julie Bishop that, if that were the case, they weren't very successful.

Journalist: Do you think that's a sign of the cultural problems at Parliament House, given how recent that was? Are you concerned how far there is to go?

Prime Minister: Well, as far as I'm aware - I didn't see the interview - but I understand she's referring to issues about a decade ago.

Journalist: Should Australians be concerned that two of the eight members of the National Security Committee are currently on leave?

Prime Minister: No, they shouldn't, because I have highly competent ministers that are taking over their duties in the meantime. I have a very accomplished legal professional in Michaelia Cash and a former Minister for Industrial Relations who is taking on the responsibilities of the Attorney. And I have absolute confidence in Michaelia. And as I said earlier today, Minister Cash has had quite a bit of experience getting important industrial relations legislation through the Parliament in the past. And in relation to the Defence portfolio, the Defence portfolio has been taken up in the time when the Minister, who was on leave because of physical health reasons, and quite serious ones, I should stress, as media would be aware. I mean, I have, at the Minister's permission, spoken to her doctor about this issue, and it is a serious issue. And so we are supporting her in getting the physical health treatment that she needs over this period the doctors have advised that she needs to take. And in the meantime, Minister Payne, who was the first-ever female Defence Minister in Australia, is taking on those responsibilities. She was, of course, very involved with all of the issues that we're currently dealing with in Defence. And I'm just very pleased that in the case where we've had two ministers who have had to stand down for health reasons, I can turn to two very good other female Cabinet ministers who can confidently take up their jobs. And, of course, as Prime Minister, I maintain a very close watch on all of these issues, chairing the National Security Committee, as you would expect me to do.

Journalist: Prime Minister, it's been 50 days since we've had a COVID case here in New South Wales. On the weekend, about 30,000 people partied COVID-safely for Mardi Gras. Are you concerned that still for Anzac Day they’re saying still that only 500 veterans will be able to march in Sydney, and the veterans community is concerned they're not going to be able to march on Anzac Day with the numbers they'd like to be able to?

Prime Minister: Look, I am. I respect ultimately these are calls that have got to be made by state governments. But I want Anzac Day on. If people can party, and if people can protest, then we can remember as a nation, and honour our veterans on Anzac Day. And I would like to see that done as fully and as safely as possible and I think that is not beyond our wits to achieve that. Of course, last year Anzac Day was very different. Just as many things a year ago today were very different, it was a very solemn occasion. And despite the fact we couldn't gather together at Remembrance Services, standing at the end of our driveways, and that was, I think, a very poignant moment as we remembered the great Anzac spirit and the great sacrifice of so many. But this year I would like to see us return to normal as much as we possibly can, and so we can gather together and honour our Anzacs.

Journalist: Just on Christian Porter, have you, or will you, speak to the Solicitor-General about the allegations? And, if not, why not?

Prime Minister: Because there is not a separate legal process that applies to the Attorney-General or anyone else. There's only one rule of law here. And I'm standing firm on that principle of the rule of law. I'm not going to indulge in other extrajudicial processes that suggest that one Australian is subject to a different legal process to any other Australian. If we do that, we are eroding the very principles of the rule of law in this country. So, there are not two laws in this country and I won't allow that to be eroded. Thanks very much.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43263

Q&A - AFR Business Summit Sydney, NSW

9 March 2021

Phil Coorey: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. My name is Phil Coorey and I’m the political editor at the AFR. We’ve only got time for a couple of quick ones. So if I could just ask you about I think an interesting aspect of your speech about the migration, your comments on migration, temporary visa holders. Would you, I mean it is early days, but would you let us into your thinking, would you be looking at changing the overall migration cap to allow in more skilled temporary migrants or just changing the migration mix? What’s your thinking?

Prime Minister: Well, temporary migration isn’t capped, it is demand driven and always has been. But it is really about the design of the classes of the visas and the Ag 2030 Strategy which has been developed by David Littleproud, I think will play a key role in particularly in how those visas can address workforce challenges in the ag sector in particular. But it is not just about the ag sector. Anyone who runs a hospitality business will be aware of these issues and particularly if they’re operating one in regional Australia as well. I mean, backpackers play an important role in that process but our systems to date have not been as direct as they might be. So all I’m saying really is that I’ve got a very open mind on this. We have tried in the past to first get Australians into these jobs and having tried to do that with any number of incentives, and I’m sure Peter Costello remembers the things they were trying back two decades ago. It has been incredibly difficult and we have to call it as it is. And that is, when Australians won’t do the jobs, the jobs still need to be done and I can’t have, as is occurring, horticulturalists ploughing their produce back into their fields because they can’t get the workers. That is a tragedy for our economy and particularly for those producers. So this is a clear area where I think we are going to have to lean more forward on. Not at the expense of Australian workers, as I said. If you’ve got a missing link in your workforce, then that actually impedes growth of your economy, which costs the economy jobs. It’s cost those businesses those opportunities and so I see this as a value-add at the end of the day and we’re going to have to make our case on this but the regional members of my team, my Nationals colleagues who sit in the Cabinet, the Liberal members from right across regional Australia have been very consistent on this view.

Coorey: Would there be conditions tied to these visas, though? You’d have to go to the regions, would there be the lure of permanent residency perhaps at the end?

Prime Minister: I think you have all of those options that you have to consider and you need to think about their broader impact on population growth. I mean, obviously, we’re not seeing any of that at the moment. But yeah, that conditionality is one of the great advantages of the temporary visa system. As a former Immigration Minister, I know it pretty well. You can’t put conditions on permanent visas about where people can live. Rightly, you’re a resident. You’re a citizen, you’re a citizen. You can go wherever you like. But if you’re on a temporary visa, you’re here on conditions. And those conditions can help us direct where people can go which can ease population pressures in metropolitan areas but also hopefully create opportunities in regional areas.

Coorey: PM, you’ve announced another $1.2 billion for apprentices. Since March last year, I think this is your fourth announcement on wage subsidies for apprentices and trainees. We’re up to nearly over 300,000 positions now. Is there an assurance, because it is a wage subsidy for the first 12 months of that apprenticeship. Do you have an idea of what the completion rate would be in terms of getting value for money? I mean, I know you can't prescribe.

Prime Minister: It would be difficult to predict in the current environment, Phil, and one thing I've learnt during COVID-19 is don't get too far ahead of yourself about what the economic conditions are going to be. But, you know, I don't think businesses lightly take on young people into their businesses. I think they do it with intent, taking those people into their employment, particularly in small and medium sized businesses. These are predominantly family businesses in many cases, so many of them in regional parts of the country. And so I don't think they see this as a short term measure. I see a lot of confidence out in these businesses as I move around the country. I was up at a quarry service business just the other day and up in the Hunter and they're growing their business, they're taking on apprentices. I mean, other apprentices that started in the middle of COVID and at the start of COVID and they know the reason they're still in that business is because of these programmes. Those businesses want to take them on because they know they need them and they need to build up those skills. But as we know, when you're in those early parts of the skills development, apprentices won't add as much value as they ultimately will. So by sharing what is the heavier part of that load in the early parts of their training, I think we're giving business the leg up to give them a long term future.

Coorey: You spoke on the vaccine. You talked about hopefully we'll get the results coming out of the UK and Israel and so forth, the efficacy and we’ll be able to treat this hopefully as a bad flu in the not too distant future. But we're still not there yet. And a lot of people in this room I know and outside this room will be worried about the ad hoc nature of border closures and the inability of the Federation to come to an agreed set of rules for shutting them. Isn't that just the way we're going to be for the next six to eight months as the vaccine comes out? 

Prime Minister: Yeah, look, I understand the frustration. Believe you me, I've shared it on many occasions. At the end of the day, I think one thing we've learnt during the past year is that states have some sovereign responsibilities and they’re responsible for the decisions they take and they have the authority and power to take them. Wherever possible, we seek to try and get some consistency on that. And we've had some great success on that in some areas, but regrettably, on the borders that has not occurred. What we're now doing this year, though, I think is very different to 2020. The 2020 response to COVID-19 must be different in 2021. Why? Because the risk has changed. I mean, when you don't have a vaccine, when you're building up your health system and you're highly vulnerable at the start of a pandemic or running the quarantine system under great stress, well, you're going to be more cautious because as we see with an outbreak in an unprotected way, then it can have catastrophic effects on your economy. So that is that is understandable. But if you go back to the start of COVID, what were we most concerned about? Thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of Australians dying an undignified death in ICUs right across the country, potentially without ventilators in an agonising and horrific scene. We saw those scenes overseas. These are not made up scenes. We saw the mass graves in New York, we saw the large tents in fields in the UK where the bodies were just lined up, one after the next. Let's not kid ourselves how serious this was. And this year is different. This year that risk with the vaccine means that serious and severe illness don't become that risk. That is changing every day, around about 25,000 or thereabouts aged care residents have already now been vaccinated with their first injection. That's about 270, I think, facilities that have already been reached. They are our most vulnerable. They are the Australians who would be most likely to be victims of COVID-19 without these protections. So once you're able to protect the most vulnerable, once you're able to vaccinate your quarantine workforce, once you're able to vaccinate your frontline health care and aged care and disability care staff, well, it changes. And so the parameters for the decisions that premiers are making this year are different from last year and the justifications for actions will need to be different. Now, good news is it has opened up a lot more this year. You can even get the West Australian now. There you go. That’s great. I hope to get there soon. It's been a long time since I've been to West Australia and for most people. But, you know, those decisions I understood. But this year is different and Phil Gaetjens has been tasked together with all the director generals of the premier's departments to develop a new risk management framework for the states and territories and the Commonwealth to inform these decisions this year. And so that means, you know, it's not just about the health because the health risk is diminished. It's about the economic risk, the impact on livelihoods, the impact on regions. And it's important that all premiers, chief ministers, prime ministers make decisions that are very commensurate with the new risk framework that we are facing this year, which is different to last year. And so for that reason, I expect the decisions made this year should be different to last year.

Coorey: And just finally, PM, I must ask you about the current issues of the day. Issues surrounding your Attorney-General and the Defence Minister does go to workplace culture and they are things people in this room, CEOs and so forth, have had to deal with themselves in their own internals. A couple of questions. Is it still your view you don't need a separate enquiry into the allegations against your Attorney? And he's also your Industrial Relations Minister. Senator Cash is now doing that. What's it mean for the IR Bill, the Industrial Relations Bill, which you were hoping to have next week? Is that now going to spill over into the Budget session?

Prime Minister: Sure. Well, first of all, I believe in the rule of law. I believe in equality before the law. I believe every Australian should face the same legal processes as any other Australian. And on that basis, I see no justification for any extra judicial inquiry that might be set up by a prime minister or any other politician. All Australians are equal before the law. We have competent and authorised agencies to deal with these matters, both through the police and through the courts. And that's where I will make my assessments of those matters, and that's where it should be done. You don't have to go too far from this place to see countries where the rule of law doesn't operate and the chaos on the streets and the mayhem that that can ultimately lead to. So I don't take the rule of law for granted in this country, and I would never do anything that would undermine the rule of law in this country. It is the basis of our democracy. It's also the basis of our strength and stability of our economy. And so for all of these reasons, I'm not entertaining that proposition. Coroners should follow their own processes, they should make their own decisions and if there should be a coronial enquiry, then that is, of course, the process. And I'm happy to see those processes proceed as coroners see fit. On the other matter, the great thing about my team is one of my team, in this case, the Attorney or indeed the Defence Minister, if they're unable to do their duties currently for health reasons, then I have wonderful people I can turn to. In Defence, I can turn to Marise Payne, the first ever female defence minister in this country who understands these issues up and down and backwards and frontways. And she's all over it as am I and we will continue to address those matters each and every day and we won't skip a beat. But I can also say in Industrial Relations and matters of the Attorney-General, I can turn to another great woman in my cabinet, Michaelia Cash, a very accomplished lawyer in her own right, and a former industrial relations minister who has got some experience in getting important industrial relations reforms through the Senate on other occasions when she previously had that portfolio. So once again, we know what our job is. We know what issues are serious and important, and they're important issues to deal with and the sensitive matters raised in Canberra over the course of this last month. But I also know what Australians are relying on me to do, and that is to lead us out of this COVID-19 pandemic and to lead us out of this covid-19 recession and that's exactly what we're going to do. 

Coorey: Thank you, Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: Thank you.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43262

Interview with Gavin King, 4CA Cairns

5 March 2021

Gavin King: We've all had a hell of a tough 12 months, there's no doubt about that, but spare a thought for my next guest on the King Review. He went from managing one of the worst bushfire disasters in our nation's history to leading the way through the worst pandemic, hopefully, that any of us will experience in our lifetimes. Plus a million things in between. His name is Scott Morrison and he's the prime minister of Australia. PM, welcome to the King Review. 

Prime Minister: G’day Gavin.

King: First, JobKeeper. It's the biggest topic here in far north Queensland. Are you considering some kind of extension in one way or another of JobKeeper, particularly for cities like Cairns and industries like tourism?

Prime Minister: Well, we've consistently said we're not extending JobKeeper, that comes to an end at the end of this month. But what we have been very conscious of is the impact, particularly of international tourism and the broader impacts in the travel and tourism industry. And the Treasurer and I have been working sort of hard on a plan to deal with the next phase beyond JobKeeper. And that is very much about ensuring that our aviation industry is moving, that we can get more and more visitors up to north Queensland in particular, because at the end of the day, when Dan Tehan was up there recently, many issues were raised. But a key one of those was making sure people can get there. And that means keeping the borders open. I mean, people up in north Queensland know the impact that had on north Queensland tourism, we need to keep those borders open. We need to keep people coming up from the southern states and we need those planes flying because when the visitors are in town, then the jobs are more secure.

King: JobKeeper ends in just over three weeks. Doesn't the tourism industry need some certainty, some clarity about whether there will be any targeted support for them post the end of JobKeeper?

Prime Minister: I agree with that, and that's why we've been working hard over many, many weeks to ensure that we can get the ongoing arrangements that we would have in these sectors are well thought through. We've been very careful to plan these. That's one of the reasons why we've been so successful. That is, Australia has been successful during the course of the pandemic economically. The various supports of things that we've done have been well thought through and very targeted. And that's what the Treasurer and I have been working on together with the Tourism Minister. So we're very close now and we look forward to making some announcements soon.

King: And so those announcements will happen in the next couple of weeks?

Prime Minister: Well, of course, because JobKeeper ends at the end of March. So we're moving. We're moving quickly, but we're moving to ensure we get it right. And there's been a great deal of consideration that has gone into this.

King: Do the states need to do more heavy lifting when it comes to supporting business? I interviewed Kate Carnell, the National Small Business Ombudsman, about this very topic. She says Victoria, as one example, needs to do more. The Feds have done an incredible job, an incredible job, particularly with JobKeeper. Queensland has something like the lowest per capita spend in terms of business support. Do you want to see the states do more of the heavy lifting?

Prime Minister: Well, there has to be a partnership. And you're right, if you add up all the things all the states have done combined, double it and add up quite a bit more, and that's what the Federal Government has done. And, obviously, JobKeeper and the COVID supplement. But it was also things like, you know, the $10 million we put into far north Queensland's recovery of regional tourism fund, or the $2.5 million we put in for 13 far north Queensland zoos and aquariums, the support we've put in for freight assistance, getting the freight out of north Queensland up into markets. I mean, the Federal Government has done enormous heavy lifting across all of these different areas. And you're right. I mean, the figures speak for themselves. Even as a share of revenue, Queensland government support is well below that of other states. Now, that's for them to explain. But I do know in New South Wales, in particular, but also in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria also had a very big budget, which focused heavily on the support in recovery from the pandemic. So it's not along partisan lines. The numbers speak for themselves.

King: You've got National Cabinet on today, of course, I think Australians absolutely loved almost a sense of bipartisanship and collaboration between the states and the feds at the peak of the pandemic. That, of course, seems to have fallen away. And we're back, we're back to the old to and fro, the jousting, if you like. Premier Palaszczuk and Treasurer Frydenberg were at it again this week, a war of words. You know, Aussies really love that sense of bipartisanship because it was in the national good. What happened there? Do you feel like it's broken down with that sense of bipartisanship?

Prime Minister: Oh, look, I think it's overstated. I genuinely do, because every time we get in the room, we work things out. I still think there's a bit of theatre that goes on which, frankly, we could do without. And I think that, you know, that does create unnecessary anxiety in the public's mind. And through the National Cabinet and I've always sort of tried to stay above all that and. And but when we get in the room, we do try and work these things out, that'll happen again today. An important issue, obviously, on the vaccination rollout programme today, but also focus very much on how the risk is changing of COVID-19. I mean, we're not dealing with the same virus this year as we were last year. With the vaccination programme underway, the sorts of things that were being done last year to protect the health of Australians become less and less and less necessary this year. And by that I particularly mean restrictions on people's movement and border changes and things like this. That case gets weaker and weaker every day as the vaccination rolls out. And that's good, that's important that as premiers and I as Prime Minister that we understand the risk is changing. As time goes on, the COVID-19 turns more like into a flu than it is the virus we're currently dealing with. And that means we can sort of get a lot more back to normal. But, you know, the virus is not going anywhere. But the vaccination programme, both here and overseas, is critical to bringing it under control and restoring so much activity. But on the economic front, I mean, yes, it's true, Australia has one of the best COVID health results in the world. But equally, that is true of the economy. I mean, the national accounts figures that came out for the end of December showed that Australia is leading the world, the advanced economic world, out of theCOVID-19 recession. We are at the top of the top of the list there.

King: But I guess there's the point, though, isn't it, that there's a two or three speed economy, where Cairns is obviously not enjoying the benefits of some other parts of the country. PM, I know you're absolutely-

Prime Minister: That is true, Gavin, and we understand that. And that's why the Treasurer and I and Warren Entsch, I've got to say, and I'm so pleased that Warrens’ going around again.

King: He’s back, he’s going around again.

Prime Minister: He is back. North Queensland needs him. The Government needs him. And Warren's always someone who's put his community first. I've known Warren for a very long time, since when he first came into the parliament. And he made a big impact then and he's still having a big impact now. And the fact that he's answered the call of his community, I couldn't be more pleased for because we need him there doing the great job he's always done for the people of North Queensland.

King: Well, you could give our listeners the national scoop and tell us when we can all vote for Warren at the upcoming election for him.

Prime Minister: Well, there's a lot of work to do this year. The election's due in 2022. So my focus is on all the things, getting this vaccination rolled out, getting the economic recovery going. And Warren is a key part of that plan and I really appreciate his candid and frank advice that he gives us. You know, he never pulls his punches. He tells it like it is, and he has always puts his community first. He's frank with me, as I'm sure he is with everybody out there. So I think that's great. 

King: Final question. I know you absolutely have to run. The development of northern Australia. It was a big announcement, a big agenda five or six years ago. A lot of disappointment, if you like, here in Cairns that it hasn't really delivered, certainly not for our part of the world. Your thoughts on developing northern Australia? Is it a thing? Is it on your agenda going forward?

Prime Minister: Yes, it is. And Keith Pitt, who's the Minister now, I think he's doing a really good job in looking at things like the funds that are available there, the financing facilities that are there, and making sure that they can become more practical. They can get to projects of size that can really make a difference, but also smaller projects. We've learnt a lot about, you know, some of the issues with how we've tried to develop the north. And, you know, immigration is critical to that. The support for the agricultural sector, open up the north west minerals province is a huge part of that. That's why we're supporting so strongly things like the Copper Spring Project and Hughenden Irrigation Scheme, things of that nature. You've got to put that in there. And there's some very big commitments up there now. But, you know, in the north, they've really had their share of environmental, climate and weather challenges. And whether it's the floods or whether it's the recent cyclones, you know, these have been tough things. So we understand the insurance issues there as well. And I'm working really closely with Warren on that, a big passion of his. 

King: That’s a big one, yeah, that’s a big one.

Prime Minister: And I can tell you he is on mine and the Treasurer's case on that constantly. And we're working very hard on that right now.

King: Well, politicians cop a lot of flack. Having been one very briefly, I can attest to that. But PM, I think people appreciate the extraordinary effort and the extraordinary, unprecedented challenge that you've led the nation through over the past 12 months. So I thank you for that. PM Scott Morrison, thanks so much for being on the King Review.

Prime Minister: Thanks Gavin, and looking forward to getting up there again soon. Cheers.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43258

National Cabinet Statement

5 March 2021

The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response and the Australian COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy.

National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions to the health and economic consequences of COVID-19.

The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, provided an update on the latest epidemiological data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19.

There have been 29,020 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 909 people have died. There are currently 24 people in hospital. More than 14.5 million tests have been undertaken in Australia.

To date Australia’s existing systems built around social distancing, testing, tracing, local health responses and quarantine have effectively mitigated the broader spread of COVID-19 virus and new variants of COVID-19 into the Australian community. COVID-19 vaccines will further strengthen Australia’s ability to control the virus.

Australia has done well on both the health and economic fronts compared to most countries around the world. National Cabinet noted the significant increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries and the comparative strength of Australia’s effort in addressing COVID compared to most other developed economies. Globally there have been over 115.5 million cases and sadly over 2.5 million deaths, with around 446,000 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.

National Cabinet received a detailed update from Professor Brendan Murphy, Chair of the Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group, and the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly on the Australian Vaccination and Treatment Strategy.

Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out is on track. To date 71,867 Australians have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Commonwealth Government has allocated over $6 billion to support the vaccine roll out with contracts for over 150 million COVID-19 vaccines, through a diverse vaccine portfolio. Since the last meeting of National Cabinet, the roll out of the Pfizer vaccine commenced on 22 February 2020, with first vaccinations of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine starting today in South Australia. Onshore supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine is on track to commence during the week commencing 22 March 2021. The COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Strategy, agreed by National Cabinet, prioritises those Australians most at risk of COVID-19, including Australia’s front line health workers, aged care residents and staff and quarantine workers.

National Cabinet also discussed this week’s economic growth figures which showed that in the December quarter the Australian economy grew a record 3.1 per cent, the second consecutive quarter above 3 per cent.

The Australian economy has now recovered 85 per cent of its COVID-induced fall, six months earlier and twice as fast as expected in the October Budget.

Our recovery continues to lead the world with our economy outperforming all other advanced economies in 2020. While the United Kingdom contracted by 9.9 per cent, Italy 8.9 per cent, France 8.2 per cent, Canada 5 per cent, Japan 4.8 per cent, the United States 3.3 per cent, Australia was only down by 2.5 per cent.

These results occurred at a time when emergency support was tapering off, with the private sector stepping up.  In the December quarter, direct economic support from the Federal Government halved, yet at the same time, the economy grew by 3.1 per cent, 320,000 jobs were added and 2.1 million Australian workers graduated off JobKeeper.

National Cabinet will meet again on Friday 9 April 2021.

COVID-19 Risk Analysis and Response

Today the National Cabinet received the first report from the COVID-19 Risk Analysis and Response Taskforce (Taskforce), led by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mr Phil Gaetjens.

The Taskforce advised on Australia’s risk profile over the next six months and options for changing policy settings to ensure greater consistency and coordination across jurisdictions in the management of the pandemic.

The Taskforce identified several factors influencing Australia’s changing risk profile, including improvements in testing and tracing; improvements in quarantine practices; the vaccine rollout; vaccine effectiveness against transmission; and new variants of the virus.

Reopening the economy is critical for Australia’s international competitiveness. If we do not progress our economic reopening as the vaccine rollout occurs, we may fall behind our international competitors.

There are some unknowns in Australia’s changing risk profile. Decision-making related to reopening the economy will be informed by expert advice on the economic, social and health considerations.

Over coming months, the Taskforce will consider the changing risk environment in 2021; the impact of Australia’s vaccine rollout; economic, social and health considerations; and options to implement consistent policy settings across jurisdictions to ensure predictability and community confidence.

The Taskforce will continue to report to the National Cabinet monthly.

Pacific Workers

National Cabinet agreed to pilot pre-departure quarantine arrangements for Pacific workers in their home countries. South Australia has indicated its intention to opt into the arrangement to support their local agriculture sector, subject to finalisation of arrangements. Other states are considering the arrangement with further details of in-country testing and quarantine arrangements.

Since the National Cabinet agreed to recommence the Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme more than 2,600 Pacific and Timorese workers have arrived in Australia. However, there remains significant labour shortages and more support for our agriculture sector is needed.

The Government will explore in-country quarantine arrangements for Pacific workers with eligible, low-risk Pacific Neighbours.

COVID-19 Vaccination Roll Out Strategy

National Cabinet noted the detailed vaccine roll out plans. Published efficacy data, particularly from the United Kingdom, strongly supports Australia’s choice of both the roll out of the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines.

The Commonwealth, states and territories are progressively scaling up vaccination sites as increased supplies of vaccines become available.

National Cabinet agreed that states and territories should harmonise legislation and regulation to allow COVID-19 vaccinations to occur in community pharmacies.

International Passenger Arrival Caps

National Cabinet reaffirmed a shared priority to supporting Australians to return home.

Current international passenger arrival caps will continue to 30 April 2021 pending a further review of arrangements at the next meeting of National Cabinet.

National Cabinet noted Western Australia’s staged return to a cap of 1025 passengers per week from 26 March which commenced with an increase to 900 passengers per week on 1 March. This follows a decision by the WA Government to reduce the number of international air arrivals as it undertakes a review of hotel quarantine processes.

National Cabinet also noted a commitment from Victoria to resume international passenger flights into Melbourne as soon as possible. International flights into Victoria were suspended on 13 February with the exception of flights under the New Zealand safe travel zone arrangement, and international freight.

Howard Springs

The Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments reached agreement to increase the capacity of the Centre for National Resilience at Howard Springs after the end of the cyclone season in the Northern Territory.

This will increase the capacity of Howard Springs from 850 persons per fortnight to 2,000 persons per fortnight with a ramp up from late April 2021, subject to capital works, and full capacity between June and December 2021.

The Commonwealth Government will also continue to support repatriation flights for Australians through to the end of 2021, as required.

Final details are being worked through including the scope of works required to upgrade the facility, and strategies to recruit additional clinical and welfare staff.

The Centre for National Resilience is the Commonwealth Government’s response to the National Cabinet commissioned National Review of Hotel Quarantine conducted by Ms Jane Halton, AO PSM.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-44045

Using Our Resources Strengths to Grow Manufacturing

4 March 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Industry Science and Technology, Minister for Resources Water and Northern Australia

The Morrison Government is leveraging Australia’s world-leading critical mineral and resources sector to create more jobs and economic opportunities for manufacturing businesses with the release of a new ten year plan.

The Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing road map shows how businesses can capitalise on Australia’s access to resources, which will be needed to manufacture many new technologies.

Applications under the Government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative also opened today to projects in the priority area, to help manufacturers scale-up production, commercialise products and tap into global supply chains.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was focused on continuing to rebuild and grow the economy, with manufacturing playing a key role in the COVID-19 recovery.

“Yesterday’s national accounts showed the comeback of the Australian economy is well underway and manufacturing businesses and jobs will be central to our National Economic Recovery Plan as we build back from the COVID-19 recession,” the Prime Minister said.

“Our $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy is at the heart of our JobMaker plan and it’s focused on growing our entire manufacturing sector.

“Our Modern Manufacturing Initiative will help position Australia as not just a global leader in the resources sector but also in the manufacturing of the technology used, as well as turning the raw materials into value-added products.

“Today’s funding will help unlock investment from industry to help build manufacturing capability and competitiveness in Australia’s resources sector while taking advantage of a significant global growth sector.

“This investment and this Roadmap will support jobs across Australia, particularly in our resource rich regions like the Hunter, Western Australia and Central Queensland.”

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the new Roadmap set out a ten-year vision to build sophisticated manufacturing capability in Australia in the resources sector.

“Opportunities outlined in the Roadmap include turning critical minerals into high value products like batteries and solar cells, as well as technologies and equipment that makes mining more efficient and safe,” Minister Andrews said.

“This funding will back businesses to pursue those opportunities and turn innovative ideas into high-value products so we can build on Australia’s competitive advantage and secure greater investment and market share.”

This Roadmap complements the Government’s initiatives to reduce electricity prices, boost liquid fuels security and invest in low emissions energy technology through Australia’s Technology Investment Roadmap.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said it also complements the Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

“The Government is committed to bringing on new supplies of critical minerals and developing this emerging sector to meet growing global demand,” he said.

“Developing our critical minerals processing capability will ensure Australian companies can move down the value chain, getting greater value out of the products they produce.”

The Roadmap also identifies how we can develop our resources technology to maximise efficiencies in our high performing resources sector.

“Our focus on resource technology will also support the development of new ideas to improve mine productivity, process efficiency and safety. As the sector’s productivity grows so does the Australian economy, benefiting all Australians,” Minister Pitt said.

The road maps in the remaining priority areas will be released in coming weeks to coincide with the opening of their respective MMI funding rounds.

The remaining road maps are; Food and Beverage, Recycling and Clean Energy, and Defence.

Initial applications will be limited to the Translation and Integration streams of the MMI, with expressions of interest for the larger Collaboration stream to open in coming months.

For more information on the road maps and available grant funding visit Make it Happen: The Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43255

Respect, Care and Dignity: Aged Care Royal Commission $452 Million Immediate Response as Government Commits to Historic Reform to Deliver Respect and Care for Senior Australians

1 March 2021

Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Minister for Sport

The Australian Government welcomes the Final Report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which has today been tabled in Parliament, noting its significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector.

As a country it is important that we all acknowledge that we need to do more to ensure senior Australians are treated with respect, care and dignity and have access to quality care as they age.

The Royal Commission’s Final Report recognises the immense effort of our nurses and carers but also brings the challenges of aged care services into clear focus. The Government is committed to transforming aged care and the Royal Commission’s monumental report, with 148 recommendations, delivers a challenging, but achievable road to reform.

Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said it was clear from the Royal Commission’s work that while significant progress has been made, there is a clear roadmap to improve respect and care for our older Australians.

“I called this Royal Commission to ensure our oldest and most frail Australians could receive the respect and care that supports their dignity, and recognises the contribution that they have made to society,” the Prime Minister said.

“I warned when I called the Royal Commission there will be stories that will be hard to hear. And that has been the case. But at the same time, we have also heard heart-warming cases of dedication and with the challenges of COVID-19 in the past year, we need to acknowledge the hard work performed by our aged care workforce.

“As I noted at the time, Australians must be able to trust that their loved ones will be cared for appropriately and the community should have confidence in the system. This remains our clear goal.

“Today, the Australian Government is continuing to drive reforms with additional funding of $452.2 million to address immediate priorities in the sector.”

These immediate steps will drive improved quality of care by strengthening aged care provider governance, and improved oversight of home care which will ensure senior Australians and taxpayers are getting value for money.

It will provide additional financial assistance for residential care providers so they can improve care, whilst building the much needed workforce of the future to support Australians who want to age in their own homes.

Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, reiterated the Australian Government’s commitment to the necessary reform of aged care.

“The Royal Commission’s report is a significant document, the culmination of a two year inquiry, and demands a carefully considered response,” Minister Hunt said.

“We thank the Royal Commissioners and commit to the two fundamental principles of respect and care for our elders. We responded quickly to the Royal Commission’s interim report and its special report on COVID-19, with additional investments in the priority areas identified by the Royal Commission.

“The Government announced a $537 million package in November 2019 in response to the Interim Report, with a focus on more home care packages, reducing the number of young people living in residential aged care, and improving medication management.

“As part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in aged care $1.8 billion was committed last year, including a $132 million package in November 2020. This funding is increasing access to mental health support and allied health services for aged care residents, and has provided significant additional financial support to improve infection prevention and control and workforce capability in aged care facilities during the pandemic.

“Today, we announce a further $452.2 million package as an initial step in responding to this Final Report.

“Our comprehensive response to the Royal Commission final report will be driven by the principle of respect and care and through the lens of five broad pillars –

1. Home Care,

2. Residential aged care quality and safety,

3. Residential aged care services and sustainability,

4. Workforce, and

5. Governance.

“The five pillars will underpin the Australian Government’s response, along with its reform agenda and the implementation of those changes.”

1. Supporting older Australians who choose to access Home Care

The Australian Government knows with more Australians wishing to stay in their own homes as they age, there is increasing demand for appropriate services to help them do so. This has been a key focus of the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

Since the 2018-19 Budget, the Government has invested a total of $5.5 billion in new funding to deliver more than 83,000 additional home care packages, including 10,000 packages announced in December 2020.

Minister Hunt said service providers must focus on the senior Australians at the centre of their work, to ensure their needs are met and that the care they receive continues to be tailored as those needs change.

“The Australian Government will immediately invest more than $18 million to enhance the oversight of the Government’s Home Care Packages Program, to deliver better value for senior Australians and the Australian taxpayer,” Minister Hunt said.

“Our Government expects home care providers to offer real value for money – and for the delivery of care, rather than any unjustified administrative fees, to make up the lion’s share of the cost. I expect our increased oversight will put downward pressure on any unfair administrative charges while supporting providers to deliver quality and safe services.”

Enhancing oversight of the delivery of home care packages will lead to more care and services going directly to care recipients and reduce the potential for fraud in the system.

2. Quality and safety in residential aged care delivers dignity alongside care

The Australian Government is committed to driving improvements to quality of care and safety for senior Australians.

Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said the Government will review and enhance the sector’s quality standards with a focus on areas of concern identified in the report, including governance, diversity, dementia, food and nutrition.

“Funding worth $32 million will immediately be allocated to enhancing the capacity of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and greater regulation around the use of restraints in care,” Minister Colbeck said.

Eligible providers will be able to access programs to build their corporate and clinical governance across their Boards, to support increased accountability through strengthened legislative obligations. This will complement broader reforms, including improvements to provider governance and regulation.

“The use of physical and chemical restraint is a particular area of focus for the Royal Commission, and our Government has announced a number of measures to drive cultural change in this area following an independent review into the issue.

“In response to the Royal Commission, the Government will further establish clear new obligations and guidelines around the use of restraint to protect older Australians receiving care. A Senior Restraint Practitioner will be appointed to the Commission to lead an education campaign for the sector and general practitioners, to minimise the use of restraint, and bring practice into line with those in the disability sector.”

3. Investing to drive improvements in residential aged care Services and Sustainability

 

Minister Colbeck said the Australian Government wants to ensure there continues to be stable and reliable residential aged care options for senior Australians.

“The Australian Government committed more than $14.1 billion in 2020-21 towards residential aged care, up from $9.2 billion in 2012‑13 and reaching an estimated $17.1 billion by 2023‑24,” Minister Colbeck said.

“In response to the Royal Commission report, the Australian Government will immediately invest an additional $189.9 million for residential care providers to provide stability and maintain services while the Government considers the recommendations of the Royal Commission’s Final Report.

“This support equates to around $760 per resident in metropolitan residential aged care, and $1,145 for those in rural, regional and remote areas.”

In addition, the Government will invest $90 million to support a Viability Fund to assist those facilities which are facing financial challenges, particularly as we see the sector start to restructure and respond to the changing choices of people to live at home longer.

4. Workforce: growing a passionate and skilled aged care workforce

As more Australians are supported to remain in their homes, there will be an increasing demand for skilled personal care workers (PCWs).

In response to the Royal Commission, the Government will immediately invest $92 million to create over 18,000 places for workers between now and mid-2023.

“There will be a significant increase in activity to attract job seekers into the sector, and a new Home Care Workforce Support Program will provide additional targeted support, including assistance to employers to access support and training for new recruits,” Minister Hunt said.

“The total value of measures to grow the skilled and professional aged care workforce is almost $92 million over four years.”

5. Governance: oversight, standards and accountability – a new era

The Prime Minister said community confidence and the trust of senior Australians and their families would be bolstered by changes which bring transparency, accountability and oversight.

“Along with the measures to further develop residential aged care governance, our Government is also strengthening the arm of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, by appointing an Assistant Commissioner for Sector Capability with responsibility for leading a transformative change program,” he said.

Minister Colbeck said the enhanced oversight of the home care system will ensure senior Australians receive the quality of care they expect and that they get good value for the considerable investment made by families themselves and by Government in aged care.

In response to the Royal Commission, the Government will immediately invest $30.1 million to strengthen the governance of aged care providers and legislative governance obligations on the sector.

Minister Hunt also confirmed that work will immediately commence to replace the Aged Care Act 1997, providing a strong, fresh foundation to enable the reforms to be implemented and drive a cultural change with the focus on responding to the needs of senior Australians.

All of these immediate measures announced today are a starting point for further reform.  Careful consideration will be given to the Royal Commission report and the Government will outline the path to transform aged care in the Budget.

The Prime Minister said, “Ultimately I called this Royal Commission as one of my first acts because I believe we owe a duty of care to every older Australian to ensure they have respect and quality care.

“This report provides an honest assessment and an important roadmap to deliver still greater respect and care for our older Australians. As a nation we commit to further honouring our elders and giving them respect and care.”

The Government thanks the Royal Commissioners, the Honourable Tony Pagone QC and Lynelle Briggs AO, for their considerable work in conducting the Royal Commission and all those who contributed throughout the course of the inquiry.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43253

300,000 AstraZeneca Vaccine Doses Arrive in Australia

28 February 2021

Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Aged Care

Signalling yet another major milestone in Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 300,000 doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Sydney today.

Australia has secured 53.8 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The first doses of this vaccine have arrived from overseas ahead of 50 million doses to be manufactured by CSL here in Australia on behalf of AstraZeneca.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will now batch test the vaccines to ensure they meet Australia’s strict quality standards.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today was a significant milestone for the vaccine rollout.

“This is the next step as we ramp up the vaccine rollout,” the Prime Minister said.

“The University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will undergo the same rigorous TGA process to batch check the vaccine that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine underwent.

“We will now be able to scale up the vaccination rollout to our priority groups, including our most vulnerable Australians and to our frontline border and health workers.

“Most Australians will receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with the rollout of these due to commence from 8 March 2021 – provided they clear the TGA’s rigorous batch testing process.

“Australia is in a unique position because importantly this vaccine gives us the ability to manufacture onshore. Every Australian who wishes to be vaccinated will be able to receive a vaccine this year.”

The approximately 300,000 doses that arrived this morning will be distributed via logistics partners DHL and Linfox, and made available to priority groups in Phase 1a.

A further 50 million vaccines will be manufactured onshore and 1 million of these doses will be delivered each week from late March.

For AstraZeneca the second dose of the vaccine will be administered at 12 weeks after the first dose.

On 15 February 2021, the World Health Organization said, “This regimen was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 14 days after the second dose.”

On 3 February 2021 the Lancet Journal said, “COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca confirms 100% protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death in the primary analysis of Phase III trials.”

Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said this vaccine provides the option for the majority of Australians to get their vaccination through their usual GP, local respiratory centre and eventually community pharmacies.

“Importantly the TGA has conducted a full and thorough, and world class assessment process,” Minister Hunt said.

“As the rollout begins, the people in priority groups who need the most protection will receive a vaccine first. This includes aged care and disability care residents and workers, frontline healthcare workers, and quarantine and border workers.

“Having AstraZeneca available in Australia provides an easier avenue for distribution across the nation, meaning people in rural, regional and remote areas will not have to travel as far to receive their vaccine.

“The cold chain requirements of this vaccine – it can be stored and handled in the same way as any other vaccine – make it a very good candidate for a country like Australia.

“As well, vaccine providers can use some of the vaccine vial, put the rest back in the fridge for 48 hours and use the rest the next day.

“This will save lives and protect lives.”

Australia has maintained a diverse portfolio of vaccines, and we are constantly engaging with international counterparts and vaccine sponsors to access the best available information on vaccine developments worldwide.

Pending TGA approval, the Government has also secured 51 million doses of the Novavax vaccine.

The Australian Government has also signed up to the international COVAX facility, which provides access to a range of vaccines to immunise up to 50 per cent of the Australian population.

This diverse portfolio ensures access for everyone in Australia, and is likely to equip us to support our neighbours in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

The University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is the second vaccine to receive provisional approval for use in Australia by the TGA. The TGA bases such decisions on the safety, efficacy and quality of the vaccine candidates.

https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43252