Speeches
Press Conference - Stirling Community Centre, WA
15 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: To all veterans today, I extend my deep gratitude for your service. I will come to a statement on that in just a minute. But before I do that, can I say I greatly welcome the further reporting on the employment figures today. The unemployment rate has fallen again to 5.6 per cent, 70,000 new jobs, seeing the participation rate climb to the highest level on record. We've seen the youth unemployment rate, which is a great relief to see that falling down to 11.8 per cent from 12.9 per cent. And we're seeing the underemployment rate and the underutilisation rate also fall. This is all good news for Australians, to see jobs continue to come back into the economy. Here in Western Australia, the news is particularly good, with some 28,100 more jobs coming into the Western Australian economy and the unemployment rate now falling to 4.8 per cent from 6 per cent, and so Western Australia can say, with so many other states now, that there are more people employed here than there were before the pandemic and that is another milestone in Australia's great economic comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic recession. Those numbers, I think, will be a great encouragement to Australians all around the country. Later today I'll be heading up to that part of Western Australia that is a key part of this state's great success in the Pilbara, and I look forward to that visit over the next 24 hours or so. So those numbers are very, very welcome. I now want to turn to a very important and serious issue.
Today the Government is announcing that Australia will conclude the drawdown of our contribution to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Over the past two years we've been reducing our military presence in Afghanistan from a high of over 1,500 personnel to around 80 personnel currently.
In line with the United States and our other allies and partners, the last remaining Australian troops will depart Afghanistan in September 2021. The decision represents a significant milestone in Australia's military history. Over the last 20 years, Australia has been a steadfast contributor to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. Australia has fought alongside coalition and Afghan partners to degrade the capabilities of terrorist organisations, including Al-Qaeda. More than 39,000 Australian defence force personnel have deployed on Operation Slipper and Highroad helping to protect the safety and security of the Australian people at home and overseas. But safeguarding Afghanistan's security has come at a great cost to Australia.
Since 2001, 41 Australian personnel have lost their lives while serving in Afghanistan. And many more were wounded, some physically, others mentally, and we'll be dealing with the scars, both mental and physical, of their service, for many, many years. I would like to take a moment to read the honour role of those 41 Australians who sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom.
Sergeant Andrew Russell. Trooper David Pearce. Sergeant Matthew Locke MG. Private Luke Worsley. Lance Corporal Jason Marks. Signaller Sean McCarthy. Lieutenant Michael Fussell. Private Gregory Sher. Corporal Mathew Hopkins. Sergeant Brett Till. Private Benjamin Ranaudo. Sapper Jacob Moerland. Sapper Darren Smith. Private Timothy Aplin. Private Scott Palmer. Private Benjamin Chuck. Private Nathan Bewes. Trooper Jason Brown. Private Tomas Dale. Private Grant Kirby. Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney. Corporal Richard Atkinson. Sapper Jamie Larcombe. Sergeant Brett Wood MG DSM. Lance Corporal Andrew Jones. Lieutenant Marcus Case. Sapper Rowan Robinson. Sergeant Todd Langley. Private Matthew Lambert. Captain Bryce Duffy. Corporal Ashley Birt. Lance Corporal Luke Gavin. Sergeant Blaine Diddams MG. Sapper James Martin. Lance Corporal Stjepan ‘Rick’ Milosevic. Private Robert Poate. Private Nathanael Galagher. Lance Corporal Mervyn McDonald. Corporal Scott Smith. Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG. Lance Corporal Todd Chidgey.
The loss is great. The sacrifice, immense, the bravery and courage, things we can speak of, but not know of personally. These brave Australians are amongst our greatest ever, who have served in the name of freedom. This day, we dedicate to their memories, we think of their families, their friends, the life they would have lived. But they gave that for others they did not know. We can be so proud of them, of their service, we're so proud of the men and women who serve in our Australian Defence Forces, so many of them also represented here in Western Australia. We thank them for their service humbly and gratefully. The memories of all Australian Defence Force members who have lost their lives continue to be honoured for their sacrifice and contribution to Australia's mission in Afghanistan. We also acknowledge all those Australians who have served in Afghanistan, and the impact this has had on their lives. We commit ourselves to supporting them. The conflict has exacted an enormous toll, also on the people of Afghanistan and to President Ghani, once again, we stand with them and the complex task of making peace that lies ahead for those people. Australia continues to support the peace negotiations between the Afghan Government and the Taliban. We encourage both parties to commit to the peace process that so many Australians have died to provide for. While our military contribution will reduce, we will continue to support the stability and development of Afghanistan through our bilateral partnership and in concert with our other nations. This includes our diplomatic resources, development cooperation programme and continued people-to-people links that I know the Afghan Government is very grateful for in my own discussions with President Ghani. Training and scholarship programs amongst so many, particularly supporting women in Afghanistan. Australia remains committed to helping Afghanistan preserve the gains of the last 20 years, particularly for women and girls. I'll take a few questions. We have some other commitments today.
JOURNALIST: This is clearly an emotional moment for you, do you expect that to be the same for the families as you mark this day today, an emotional day for you in this moment and also those families today?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, our emotions are of no consequence compared to those who have lost their family members. I was particularly thinking of Bree Till from my own electorate. Her son, who is also Brett’s son, is in the same class as one of my daughters and I remember when Brett was killed and I spoke in the Parliament. I was in Opposition at the time. It reminded me of what it must have been like in our country when you think back to the first and second World Wars. These 41 lives lost, so terrible and I saw so awfully the pain of Brett's widow and his surviving children and his yet unborn boy. And the hope that that gave to Bree, that story was repeated on a daily basis during those great conflicts and we have some knowledge of it through this terrible experience. And what our veterans deal with on a daily basis is they remember those who fell and so, yes it is an emotional day, but mainly, and most importantly, we must think of those who have been most significantly impacted. The families of those who were lost and that sacrifice which they live with each and every day, but also those who bore arms with them and served with them. They carry that loss with them every single day and it is a reminder to all of us to be so grateful for their service.
JOURNALIST: Was it worth it going into Afghanistan?
PRIME MINISTER: Freedom is always worth it. Australians have always believed that. That is why Australians who have served in our Defence Forces have always pulled on that uniform. As Vince knows only too well.
MR VINCE CONNOLY MP, MEMBER FOR STIRLING: Absolutely, boss.
PRIME MINISTER: Putting on that uniform, serving under that flag, defending our values and standing up for them is what Australians do and those 41 brave men have exhibited that more than any other Australian can ever hope to.
JOURNALIST: You said Australians will be pulling out in September. Will they be out by September 11 like the American Forces?
PRIME MINISTER: September is the date we are currently working to, I’m not giving any further date than that. We are obviously coordinating with the Americans in particular, as I indicated yesterday when I was asked about this matter. These are things we have been working on closely on together for some time, but obviously for operational reasons and other matters, they have remained matters of national security.
JOURNALIST: The war crime allegations in Afghanistan, could we have done better?
PRIME MINISTER: There will be time to talk about those things. Today is not that time.
JOURNALIST: How do you categorise Australia’s contribution [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: One of great bravery. One of great sacrifice. One of great noble service. One of great compassion and care for the people of Afghanistan. I have spoken to many veterans who have returned from Afghanistan, who have shared with me, Andrew Hastie is another who has shared with all of us his experiences there and Phil Thompson and they speak of the Afghan people in such a caring way and empathetic way. What they were doing there was incredibly important to them. That is why they continued to serve and that is why I think we can be very thankful for their service today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister there was a dance performance commissioned on a ship. The Governor-General says that he wasn't there when it happened but it’s been made to look like he was. The dancers now feel unsafe after the ABC broadcast. Do you have a response?
PRIME MINISTER: I am disappointed that this event was so misreported. I think that was disrespectful to the performers to suggest the Governor-General or others were in attendance there in that way, I think was very dishonest and I think standards have failed and so I think obviously Defence will look at these matters and make whatever changes they wish to in the future. I will leave that to them. But it is disappointing that Australians were so misled on that issue.
JOURNALIST: Was it an appropriate performance for the event?
PRIME MINISTER: I will leave that to Defence because it is clear much of the reporting that we have seen of that matter and that has been provided to Australians, in this case by the ABC was wrong, was false and was misleading and I think that is very disappointing. I think the ABC should be reflecting on that.
JOURNALIST: Given the Government won’t supply more money to the states to help create more mass vaccination sites are you going to ask the states to help vaccinate aged care and disability care workers?
PRIME MINISTER: The aged and disability care workers is a program we are working through right now as I indicated to you before when some of you were able to join us for the start of the meeting with the AMA and some local GPs here. I am looking forward to their further input. We have got over 4,000 doctors now, surgeries across the country which are involved directly in the rollout. National Cabinet will meet on Monday and will meet again later in the week. These are the issues that we are working through. But what I am quite confident of is that the states and the territories and the Commonwealth will just work together to get this done. That is what we did all through COVID last year and that is what we will do with these challenges. This is just another set of challenges, we have problems to solve, we have national partnership agreements in place for vaccinations with the states and territories that deal with the distribution as we do have arrangements with the GPs and pharmacists and we will work with them to get the job done. Australians want to see the job get done. I am committing to getting the job done. I am committed to working together with the states and territories and doctors and the many other health professionals in this country to get that job done. But today, but today, let us just pause in solemn silence and sadness for the great loss of those 41 brave Australians and simply say to them, thank you for your service.
Opening Remarks, GP Round Table
15 April 2021
Prime Minister Scott Morrison: Can I start by saying thank you very much to Dr Khorshid for your great leadership with the AMA and all the GPs across the country, more than 4,000 of them now, and that number is growing, actively involved, including the GPs who have joined us here today. Mary, Simon and Mariam, thank you so much for joining us here today, looking forward to the discussions we are going to have.
We’ve got some challenges to deal with so it will be a good opportunity today for me to hear the feedback on how that programme with GPs is working on the ground here in Western Australia. The Premier and I had a good opportunity to discuss that yesterday as well.
In Western Australia, there are always special circumstances, and here COVID has been heavily suppressed for a long time and so encouraging people to take their vaccinations, particularly elderly Australians. And while there has been great success here in Western Australia in suppressing the virus, at the same time, if there were to be an outbreak, we all know the most vulnerable in our population would be very much at risk. And so how we can continue to work together to ensure we are getting the most vulnerable vaccinated at this phase in the process we welcome.
But I have to say thank you. 589,280 vaccines have already been administered by GPs across Australia out of a total of 1.359 million all around the country. There was more than 60,000 doses administered across the country yesterday, and two thirds of those were administered by GPs around the country. So there is no doubt in my mind that the safest place, the best place, for Australians to receive that type of healthcare through the vaccine is with their local GP and I want to thank GPs both here in Western Australia and right across the country, for the tremendous work they’re putting in looking after their patients, which is what they love to do and I want to thank you also for your great leadership and encouraging both the population and giving the calm assurance to support programmes such as this.
Dr Omar Khorshid, AMA President: Thank you very much Prime Minister. I’d also like to thank you, not just for your leadership and the Government’s tough and very deliberate decisions right throughout the pandemic but also for making the time in your busy schedule to meet with on the ground GPs to hear experiences about how we can make this vaccination programme work the best for Australians. And to make sure that we can get vaccine confidence back up to where it needs to be, so that all Australians get their vaccines by the end of the year and that we deliver that in a safe, assured way. It’s the only way out of this pandemic and general practices are here to support the Government in that very important task.
Address to the 6th Raisina Dialogue
15 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Namaste. Greetings from here in Australia, in Perth, in Western Australia, our great minerals and resources state.
I'm very pleased today to be joining you to open this third day of the Raisina Dialogue. I'm delighted to be part of this event, joining other Australian speakers, including my Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, the chief of our Australian defence forces, General Angus Campbell, and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a great friend of India.
I congratulate my good friend, Prime Minister Modi and Minister for External Affairs, Dr. Jaishankar, for initiating this dialogue. Thank you for your leadership at this critical time. In the midst of the most difficult year and three quarters of a century, we know how important this dialogue is and very pleased to participate. I only wish I could have been there with you in person.
We are free peoples, liberal democracies with respect and responsibility, aspiration, the dignity of our people at the heart of who we are as democratic nations. We've been friends a long time, Australia and India. We have so much in common, our values, our passions, especially for our democratic freedoms, our commitment to the rule of law, a free and open Indo-Pacific. And over the last two decades, we've realised more and more of the enormous potential of our friendship.
We've shown what can be achieved when two diverse, pluralistic, multicultural democracies join in a spirit of trust and understanding. Our economic, defence and people-to-people ties have grown strongly.
India and Australia share a deep friendship, or as you say in India: Maitri. I'm told that's India's version of Australia's mateship. The ability of men and women to work side by side, trusting each other. That trust, that shared sense of mission and purpose is what we will need so much in the years ahead.
I want to talk today about what it is about our region, about the Indo-Pacific, where we live, and the challenges that we face together. How the COVID-19 pandemic has created momentum for addressing these challenges amongst like-minded nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Indo-Pacific is the region that will shape our prosperity, our security and our destiny, individually and collectively. That is our shared future.
It is a dynamic and diverse region full of promise. But we're also not blind to the geopolitical realities. The Indo-Pacific is the epicentre of strategic competition. Tensions over territorial claims are growing. Military modernisation is happening at an unprecedented rate. Democratic sovereign nations are being threatened and coerced by foreign interference. Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated, including from state sponsored actors, and frequent. Economic coercion is being employed as a tool of statecraft. Liberal rules and norms are under assault. And there is a great polarisation that our world is at risk of moving towards. A polarisation between authoritarian regimes and autocracies, and the liberal democracies that we love. A liberal democracy and a liberal set of values that underpin the global world order that has delivered so much for the world.
The pandemic has accelerated and accentuated many of the strategic trends that have created this very real strain. However, the pandemic has also given us a fresh perspective and created new opportunities to build a durable strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific.
A strategic balance, as Condoleezza Rice says, that favours freedom. One where like minded nations act more consistently, more cohesively, more often, in our shared interests, on economic security and importantly global environmental issues. And guided by rules based solutions that ensure peace and stability and prosperity for all nations. It's an inclusive notion to achieve our common goals. The pandemic prompted new groupings of like-minded countries to work together like never before. New friendships forged and old ones reenergized. Australia is leading in this area, as is India. We're playing our part together.
Australia has always been direct about our aspirations. It's our nature. We know who we are and we know what we're about. We've been clear about our vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific underpinned by rules of law and respect for sovereignty. And we have acted to defend and shape it.
Last year we launched our Defence Strategic Update, a major strengthening of our force posture to focus on our immediate region. Australia has committed some $270 billion on our defence capability over the next decade. For us, that's two per cent of our GDP. That's our floor, not our ceiling. Other nations know they can rely on Australia.
This is important as we look ahead towards challenges that no country can take on alone. That is what I told the Quad leaders meeting last month when I joined with Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga and President Biden. And I particularly commend my fellow leaders for their involvement and leadership in bringing this forum together at that level. And I particularly say thank you to President Biden for bringing that meeting together and chairing it on that occasion. That meeting was historic, an historic first and a mark of the momentum that continues to be built amongst like-minded countries in our region.
Four leaders of great liberal democracies in the Indo-Pacific, including, of course, my friend, Prime Minister Modi, all leveraging our agency, working on a positive and inclusive agenda for the Indo-Pacific. To deliver peace and stability and prosperity for the shared benefit of all in our region. Their sovereignty, their independence we passionately believe in for all nations within the Indo-Pacific. We pledged to strengthen our cooperation on the defining challenges of our time. Realising a shared vision as expressed through ASEAN for an open, inclusive and resilient region. And to combat COVID-19, combining our significant medical, scientific, financing and manufacturing capabilities for vaccine distribution.
We're building new habits and modes of cooperation and partnership, that's important. And Australia has continued to invest in the relationships in the Indo-Pacific. Our partnership with our great friend and ally, the United States, continues to strengthen as we mark 70 years of our ANZUS alliance later this year. We've announced an in principle agreement with Japan on a Reciprocal Access Agreement, a landmark treaty that will see even closer defence and security ties. And I thank my dear friend, Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister Suga, for the great relationship we've been able to establish so quickly. He is a man committed to peace and prosperity in our region.
We've been working more closely than ever with ASEAN as its oldest dialogue partner, and also enhanced our relationships with Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, all key partners. We continue to strengthen ties with our Pacific family through our Step Up program with additional support during the pandemic, particularly at the moment for Papua New Guinea and for Timor-Leste.
And there is our relationship with India. Australia sees India as such a natural partner in shaping the future of our region. It's way more than geography. Its history, its values. It's our growing economic, security and people-to-people ties. It's our strong sense of mutual obligation and responsibility. In India I know we have a friend who will help build our region where all nations can prosper. We have looked on with admiration as in recent times, India has taken an increasingly active role in the Indian Ocean and the wider Indo-Pacific region. In particular, most recently, we've seen their leadership with the manufacturing and distribution of critical vaccines, helping developing countries in our region. They're building economic capability. They're promoting maritime security, and they're advocating regional cooperation.
We welcome your leadership, Prime Minister Modi, and we welcome India's leadership and engagement. Whether it's on the outstanding vaccines that are necessary and the Maitri campaign that you've engaged in, which has seen over 64 million Indian-made vaccines shipped to more than 80 countries, as I was already referring to. Last June, Prime Minister Modi and I took our relationship to a new level, a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is a declaration of our shared values and interests, our capabilities and the deep trust we have for each other. It will see us cooperate in new ways – commerce, critical minerals, science and research, technology, as well as defence, maritime and cyber and critical technology issues.
And we're already seeing this. In November, Australia participated in Exercise MALABAR. It saw our navies, along with Japan and the United States, work together in highly sophisticated training exercises from air defence and anti submarine exercises to at sea replenishment between ships.
This tells a broader story for Australia and India. A story of deep trust, shared ambition and a united commitment to keeping our region safe and secure. Australia is looking forward to working closely with India on emerging issues such as harnessing opportunities through our Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership, and we continue exploring ways to further deepen our economic relationship.
Our region confronts some formidable challenges, and the pandemic has sparked a renewed appreciation amongst like-minded nations for each other and what we both can contribute, all of us can contribute, to our partnerships and to our region. For the values and goals we share and what we can achieve by working together. It has inspired action to defend our collective interests. Together, we carry the aspirations for the future. A region stable, a region prosperous with healthy people and a clean environment. We will continue to work together to achieve those goals, and we will gather again together soon.
I want to thank you for your kind invitation to be part of this important dialogue. Dhanyavaad.
To all of you, thank you for the great relationship we have, and as we work together to secure the peace and prosperity of our region.
A free and open Indo-Pacific, a strategic balance that favours freedom.
Thank you for your attention.
Press Conference - Christmas Creek Mine, WA
15 April 2021
ANDREW FORREST: We’re very honoured to have the Honourable Melissa Price, the Honourable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, here at Christmas Creek, and it is an historical evening. We’ve shown the leaders of our country what is the future of our country. Here you have miles and miles of solar panels, which we will combine with wind, which will eventually power the entire Pilbara, and we will be building gigawattage which is equivalent to what Australia powers itself with as a nation. I’m really excited that I can make these statements as we stand on the men and women’s shoulders who have built Fortescue, those tens of thousands of great Australians who have made the company which has been able to transform the iron ore industry, exist, grow and thrive here in Australia. With no further ado, the head of Australia, Scott Morrison.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Andrew, it’s great to be here with you, it’s great to be hear with your whole team, and joined by Melissa who’s not just my fellow cabinet member, but also the local member for an electorate that spans about three quarters to two thirds of Western Australia. It’s tremendous to be here, to see first hand, the sheer scale of what is being achieved by Fortesuce, over the last years. The word pioneer is thrown around quite a lot, but it’s one that sits very comfortably on Andrew Forrest’s shoulders. What you see achieved with the scale of the industrial processors here, the people more importantly who have been brought together to make what Fortescue does a reality, is quite breathtaking. But you’d think as tonight we mark 1.5 billion tonnes of product coming out of these mines, you’d think that would be enough, but not for Fortescue and not for Andrew Forrest because he now looks forward with his team bringing the sharpest and smartest minds, working together on projects that are not only going to transform the resources industry here in Australia in the way they use energy but it’s going to change how Australia uses energy. And I think there is every prospect, because of the keen level of international interest in what is happening here and the work that is being done to genuinely change how the world operates, particularly in the resources sector. I’m very passionate and proud of what Australians are doing to change the technology that enables them to achieve great things. Energy is central to that. It’s the thing that drives our economy. It always has. And we need to change gear over the next 30 years, and that’s exactly what’s happened. These things don’t happen by accident, and they don’t happen by the actions of government, certainly not alone. It is a genuine partnership, it is a genuine working together that sees these ideas, exciting ideas, frankly brave ideas Andrew, but you’re no stranger to those. And to get your best people to solve them and get them here on the ground, what we’re seeing the beginning of here, over these last 12 months and Andrew and I have spoken many times now, particularly over the course of this year. We’ve met in Canberra earlier this year, just before Australia Day, with the exciting work that’s being done on green hydrogen and how that works in with the broader resources sector and indeed into the steel industry itself. And there is already considerable interest in how that’s progressing in Japan and so many other countries, where Australia is forming energy partnerships with those countries, and what better way to put the substance in the partnerships when you’re talking about real projects being demonstrated here on the ground. Private capital is going into this project in particular, and we’re in discussion with further players we’re working with in the future, so, it’s really exciting, it is really groundbreaking. The ground that has already been broken here over the past twenty years that’s a story all on itself and I’m looking forward tonight to catching up with the men and women who’ve made that possible here. One of the reasons I was so keen to get to WA this week was to say thank you to Western Australians for the incredible job they've done and particularly over the past year. But I really want to thank the resources industry of Western Australia and of course, everyone here at Christmas Creek and right across the Fortescue family and right across the resources industry, I'm sure Andrew would join me in saying thank you for the amazing job that you have done. The earnings that you've been able to generate in one of Australia's toughest years has kept our economy going. The fact that there are more Australians employed today than there were at the start of the pandemic and the way the Australian economy is coming out of this COVID pandemic recession, in large part you can say thank you to the resources industry, especially here in Western Australia and the leadership that's been shown, the hard work, keeping those operations going, dealing with the challenges of our borders and other limitations and supply chain disruptions and all of these things. But I can tell you that the people who work for Fortescue understand how to solve hard problems. And there's a lot of big challenges ahead. So I want to congratulate you Andrew, and to your entire team, Melissa.
THE HON. MELISSA PRICE MP: I'm very proud. And I just want to have an opportunity to say how proud I am of all the thousands of West Australians, in particular in my electorate, who work in the Pilbara. And I just want to thank Andrew and the Fortescue team for making us feel very welcome here today. And just acknowledge just what powerful work Fortescue did together with all the other mining companies in Western Australia that kept our nation moving in the right direction during COVID-19 the efforts that they made to keep their own community safe, the change in structures, it was just unbelievable. So thank you for your contribution to our economy to make sure that we are coming out of COVID on the right side. So thanks for the opportunity to be here tonight. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks Melissa, look, we’ve got time for one or two questions.
QUESTION: Prime Minister this is the first press conference [inaudible] since Greg Hunt’s press conference with a Chinese Government official last year, has the hatchet been buried and would you like to see Mr Forrest help you in repairing Australia’s relationship with China?
PRIME MINISTER: First of all there’s no hatchet. Andrew and I have known each other for some time. When I was Treasurer, and as Prime Minister, and we've been on the phone to each other, quite regularly, over the last several months and working together to try and assist with this project and in his many travels, particularly last year as he was going through that process of researching and engaging with other countries around the world to gauge interest, he was keeping me regularly, regularly informed. In fact, we were talking about President Ghani earlier today and the last conversation I had with President Ghani, he spoke to me about Andrew, talked about his horse riding skills. But Prime Minister Marape, a great friend of mine, but also now a very good friend of Andrew’s, spoke about him going there and arranging those get-togethers. And I remember that they snapped a selfie of each other at dinner that night and sent it to me. So, look, Andrew and I have worked together for a long time. And the reason for that, we obviously get along well, but more importantly, we believe in what this country can achieve. And I like working with people who know how to get things done and few people I know how to get things done than Andrew. Whatever challenge it is, whether it's the ones you're talking about or others. I'm always looking to work with people who know how to get things done.
QUESTION: Prime Minister there’s been a third blood clot death linked to the Astrazeneca vaccine today. What’s your reaction to that initially? And how concerned are you about the impact it could have on vaccine confidence?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, my advice is that the federal and state authorities are still investigating that matter and seeking further clinical information. So at this point, I don't think it would be helpful to me to say anything more than that at this point. I think there's a lot more to understand and learn about that issue. And I would caution others in making conclusions on this at that point as well.
QUESTION: That woman was only 46. Can you understand that Australians might be a little bit concerned, given that you said the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe for people over the age of 50? That woman was only four years younger than that age.
PRIME MINISTER: All throughout the pandemic, as you know, Lanai, we have been disciplined in listening carefully to the expert medical advice. And Australia has the best expert medical advisers, whether it's through ATAGI or with the Therapeutic Goods Administration or the medical expert panel, these are the best minds that examined this information and give us the right understanding of what events are and what they are, what they mean and how they apply to the various issues that you've raised. And so I think it's important because of the fact that people can have concerns that we follow that important process to inform ourselves properly, to allow those medical experts to make their enquiries and to be able to inform government in an appropriate way. And so for us not to move to any conclusions at this point what's important is that we continue on with the project and we'll certainly do that. And we've been very transparent, very transparent when it comes to information on these issues. And people expect us to do that. OK, thanks very much.
Remarks, Western Australian Indian Community Morning Tea
15 April 2021
Can I start by acknowledging the Indigenous owners of the land on which we meet and their elders past, present and future.
Can I acknowledge any of those who have served in our Defence Forces and our veterans in our communities and for those of you here to serve to say thank you for your service.
Can I say thank you to all of you here this morning for joining me. It is wonderful to be here with you. When I sat down and I looked out at this wonderful place with Jim and Badri I thought to myself, Jenny and I are coming back here. We’re coming back for a meal, we’re coming back for when the Bollywood night is on and we’re going to love coming back here. I can understand why this is a place that people feel very comfortable and happy and I’m sure you’ve had many great times here together and celebrated wonderful times together as a family and as a community and really that’s what I think all of this is about.
Can I acknowledge all of my colleagues who are here with us, of course, Celia and, of course, Michaelia. Can I particularly single out though Senator Dean Smith. Dean is a wonderful friend of the Western Australian multicultural community of this state. I’m sure my colleagues wouldn’t mind me singling Dean out in this way and he has been I think a great leader in the Liberal Party, in particular his engagement across the so many different communities of Western Australia. I want to thank you for that service Dean and for your leadership. Dean and I speak about these issues and I know that in our own region at the moment, in the Indo-Pacific, I know both India and Australia together are very concerned about what we are seeing [inaudible] and this is our neighbourhood, this is our part of the world where we all live and I know we are all deeply concerned when these things happen in our part of the world and we go together to a community opening in solidarity for the many peoples who live across the Indo-Pacific. But it’s called the Indo-Pacific for a reason and that is I think because of the great anchor that India provides within our region. It’s impact on the life and culture of our region over millennia and I’m just so pleased that that life and culture is so intertwined with Australian culture and Australian life. As Michaelia said, the values and principals and the democracy that is represented in the great nation of India attaches seamlessly to Australian culture and Australian life. It is a very easy and a very happy and a very reinforcive coexistence and so that’s why over many years now Indian nationality has become one of the fastest growing, if not the fastest growing, in Australia and we welcome this with open arms. I think this is absolutely tremendous because it is those values of working hard, those values of family, those values of commitment to community, standing up for democracy, and the independence and freedom that Australia stands for and indeed India stands for, the freedom of faith, the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, all of these values are so integral to our societies. And so that’s what we celebrate. So when Australians and Indians come together and particularly as they come together as citizens of the one country here in Australia I think that’s something we can greatly rejoice in.
Multiculturalism is explained in many different ways and in many different places but one way I love to describe it, because as Michaelia let you into a secret and some of you may have seen my cooking efforts on Facebook, it became a tradition in my family some years ago and when my girls were quite young and when you work as a politician and in public life you really try and prize those moments when you can come together as a family and you try and work hard to create them as well particularly when your children are growing up. And so one day I decided, and Jenny asked me, “What are you cooking for dinner tonight?” and that wasn’t something I normally did so this is something I said, “Yeah I will” and I went through all the books and she had this wonderful Indian cookbook and I said I’ll give that a whirl, seven years later it’s still pretty much a Saturday night tradition in our house and I couldn’t tell you the hundreds of meals I’ve cooked since then. I was just sharing the story that when we had family and friends over on a Saturday night and whatever it is I’ve happened to cook and they’ll say to my daughters, “Gee, that was pretty spicy, how do you deal with that?” and my oldest daughter says, “Well Dad cooked us a vindaloo when I was seven and we survived that so now it’s all downhill.”
But when I think of Australia’s multiculturalism the best description of it that I can pull together is one from that experience. A masala. A masala brings together all the amazing spices, each in their own individual way are magnificent, but when you blend them together and I do it that way, I just don’t go to the packet, I get them out, I grind them up, I do the whole thing. [Inaudible] roast them, that’s the best way. Isn’t that the best way? Have we got our Indian chefs in the house? That’s the best way to do it and it’s fresh and it’s real and you blend them together and when you put that, when you put that, that makes something amazing. The aroma, the flavours and for me that is what Australian multiculturalism is all about. When you put in the fennel and the bay leaves and the cloves and the cardamom, the jeera, the coriander, the Kashmiri chilli powder, you put all that in there don’t forget, don’t forget the black and the green cardamom. You’ve got to have both of those, you’ve got to have both of those, and when you put all that together I think that is something quite amazing. And that for me really does say why multiculturalism in Australia is so great. You know when I talk about how great is Australia, how good is Australia, these are the things I am reflecting on and what we are seeing here this morning, these are the things I am reflecting on because it is the great coming together of families and individuals and communities with all of their stories, not keeping separate, but actually coming together that’s what makes it so amazing and I think a masala does reflect that togetherness and the blending together and how the things complement each other, the various backgrounds and differences that we have and that makes me quite positive about Australia’s future.
Let me just touch on one or two other things. I’ve talked about how important our shared democracies are between Australia and India and that is true and today we’ve seen the Dialogue is on in India, I would have very much liked to have been there and Prime Minister Modi who has become a good friend over the many years and we share so many passions and so many shared visions of the future of our region and essential to those is the sovereign independent states of the region and how important liberal democracy is to ensure that we have a region that favours freedom in the balance that is achieved. Right now we are working together in one of the biggest collaborations together with the United States and Japan together with India and Australia in what is known as the Quad. We had our first ever leaders’ meeting of those four nations very recently. It had to be done virtually, Narendra and I were pretty keen on doing it in person but that was not able to be done and we will have a face to face meeting later this year. But what we discussed, were not just the important current issues that we are dealing with in the region but what we discussed was something I think really important to all free peoples of the world, there is a tendency at the moment to think, well in some countries that have a more authoritarian way of doing things, that aren’t democracies, they say well maybe that’s a better way to go, maybe that’s a better way to manage countries, maybe by just dispensing of this thing we call freedom and democracy, that it will make the hospitals better, or the jobs will come more easily. That puts on a great responsibility on the leaders of nations like Australia and India to say no, no, no, no, liberal democracies get the job done, liberal democracies not only give people freedom, but they give them the great services and the quality of life and well-being that can be enjoyed in our country and it is true as we all know in this country and so India and Australia must be beacons of freedom and for liberty and for democracy and we need to live those values out proudly and we need to stand up for them very much in the region and we have a great partnership with India to that end and that partnership is only growing more strongly by the day.
In conclusion, I know that for many of you there will be great heartache at the moment as you see COVID ravage India. It is an incredibly difficult challenge, it’s different in this country in how we have been able to be successful in managing and supressing COVID-19 here in particularly in Western Australia and I want to thank the entire community for the amazing job that you have done supporting each other and ensuring that Australia has come through to this point with great success. Everyone has given up something, everyone has made sacrifices, there have been losses that individuals and communities have had to put up with, holy times when you would gather together in ceremonies, times of family and community that you haven’t been able to have and I understand how important those things are to you as individuals and to you as communities and that has had to be put aside for a time for the safety and security of the wider Australian family.
I’m looking forward to those times as they are already beginning to happen again becoming a part of our daily life but I also know that your hearts will be burdened by what’s happening in India at the moment where there is great loss, where there is great suffering, where there is great challenge but what speaks amazingly of the Indian character and spirit that at a time when they are facing such hardship and such difficulty they are also exporting vaccines for the rest of the world to help other countries and I think that says something amazing about the Indian character and spirit about their commitment not only to do the right thing by their own people but to still be a nation that is able to reach out and provide help and support to other countries including right here in our own region and so my thoughts are with all of you, and from Jenny as well, and we are thinking of you as you are thinking of those loved ones who are maybe still trying to come back to Australia or are there and are dealing with incredibly difficult times but today is also a time for great gathering together and celebrating what we all have in common and to Jim and your family, to Stuart, Badri, to Sara and the Gosavwi family and the entire Indian community here can I say thank you for your tremendous support, we as the Liberal Party, my Government in particular will continue to recognise the great contribution that is being made here, the great community that makes Australian life so viable. I love the masala we are making together and I look forward to ensuring that we can enjoy that for all of our days, thank you very much.
Remarks, Pawsey Supercomputing Centre
14 April 2021
Prime Minister: It’s exciting to be here today with Christian Porter and, of course, Steve. It is fundamental to Australia’s economic future that we harness these capabilities and meet them. The ambitions we have for manufacturing in this country is built on the vision we have for science and technology. That's why we have the investing economy. That's why we can invest in Pawsey right here. And that's why we are committing some $387 million in new funding over 10 years to meet Australia's commitments to co-host the SKA Observatory. And not only will that, you know, enshrine, entrench Australia in this massive partnership, of which we are a key player, and deliver those core capabilities to that partnership, but as you say it feeds in to this waterfall of data that you have in so many different areas that enable you to interrogate and ensure we can crack some of the biggest problems that are there. The quantum computing capability is not just essential for solving deep scientific problems, but it's absolutely essential for national security. This is one of those key areas that are being used, in many respects weaponised, around the world. And so Australia needs that capacity. And what's exciting about this project and what's going on here at Pawsey is by investing in these capabilities, we're not just giving our industry, our scientists and our researchers the tools, but we are developing our researchers. We're developing our scientists. And at the end of the day, that's what will make the difference, we believe. And so whether it’s the 250 or so jobs that are established through the establishment, which much of it is out there in the field where CSIRO is, and ensuring that these amazing Christmas tree looking features that do far more than that - they're the most, they're the smartest Christmas trees I think we've ever seen, and particularly at that scale - but then it's what sits behind it here, with the analytical capability and the processing capability. And even more important than that the, you know, the 230 ongoing jobs, some of the smartest jobs in this country that are made possible by that. So we're very excited to be here, and I know Christian is as well. And Steve has been a passionate supporter of this project over a long time. And the fact that it's all happening here in the West, the opportunities of the big skies, creates great opportunities with the scientific vision, I think. So it's very important to do that. So I'm going to hand it over to Christian Porter to say a few words in his new role, and I tell you, Christian is an absolute science and space junkie on these things, he has the tattoos to prove it. Christian.
The Hon. Christian Porter MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology: Thank you, Prime Minister, and Steve Irons thank you for allowing us into your electorate, and it’s very enjoyable to be here. And to Mark and Kristen, thanks for hosting us today. So, you would have heard the Prime Minister there say something that you wouldn't have heard previously, which is that in the Budget, which will be announced obviously later in May, there will be a $387 million 10-year commitment to the SKA. So, the scale of that I’m sure is not lost on you and your team here, because it ensures what you're doing with SKA in Australia is absolutely locked away. And just to explain the very basic breakdown of that funding - $301.4 million of that is allocated to the construction and operation of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory. Another large amount of $64.3 million over 10 years is allocated to the data processing centre, which, of course, you know, is scheduled and expected to be here at Pawsey. And the remainder goes to site readiness and fibre optic connections, it’s in the [inaudible]. So it is a massive Budget commitment. It absolutely locks away the future of the SKA, the future of Pawsey, and all the wonderful things that you can do and are doing here. And as we've been walking around today, if you are trying to get your head around the scale of the funding that has been put in the Budget, we've been trying to wrap our head around the scale of what it is that you’re doing. And we were discussing it earlier that the Pathfinder, so the prototype of the Square Kilometre Array low antennas, that produces 5.2 terabytes of data. That effectively comes here to be sorted through and understood and analysed. And for those people who download things from time to time, just that prototype that the Square Kilometre Array Low is producing about the same data equivalent of downloading around about 1,300 movies a second, every second. And that's just the prototype. So as Mark was explaining to us, when in the middle of this decade, the Square Kilometre Array Low gets turned on and the entire Square Kilometre Array gets turned on, the amount of data is simply beyond comprehension. And this money, which is in effect 14 per cent of the total global commitment, is now locked away. It secures the future of the SKA in Australia and while we're here, I'm sure we’ll see the Prime Minister interested to know the West Australian angle to all this. In fact, it was as a former state attorney-general and the state treasurer that I had an initial involvement with this project with Colin Barnett many years ago. To be back here and see it come to this level of fruition is quite remarkable. But it is estimated through [inaudible] that the cumulative economic impact globally that will come to Australia over the 30 year operational period of the SKA is about $1.8 billion. So our money leverages $1.8 billion worth of economic growth into Australia. And 95 per cent of that uplift comes into WA, $1.47 billion, and 59 per cent of it to the Mid West region. And the money that we’ve announced today will give you an understanding of how that work cements an immediate future for Western Australia and the Mid West job creation is the money we’ve announced today represents 350 new medium-term construction jobs between 2022 and 2030. 130 permanent jobs being created in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, with 20 additional jobs at the Australia SKA regional centre. And, of course, as I have noted, the majority of those jobs will be in the Mid West region. So the economic opportunity and the immediate opportunities, the leveraging of what we will do terms of technology and science based in understanding of this data, the algorithms that will be developed, the developments in big data, the simple processing application - this will take us to the next level in Australia in terms of our science and technology front. It is a remarkable pleasure to be able to come here with the Prime Minister and announce that $387 million worth of funding which means that the total amount of funding that has been allocated over the life of our Government to the SKA is $710 million. So it is a fantastic project, I wish you all the best here at Pawsey and I look forward to seeing how much bigger those data banks get just in the next couple of years. SO well done to all of you. Thank you.
Address, WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry
14 April 2021
Prime Minister: Thank you very much Nicolle and Chris and Freda, thank you so much for that lovely welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again on many occasions on many return visits.
It's great to be back in Western Australia. It's great to be back here. I've been looking forward to it. I'm here in person. This is not a Zoom. This is not a video message. This is not a hologram. Here we all are together again. And I'm very pleased to be here with you all.
Can I thank you, Freda, for your Welcome to Country and also acknowledge the Whadjuk people in the Noongar nation and pay my respects to the elders past and present and emerging. And can I also acknowledge any servicemen and women who are with us here today or any veterans and say simply thank you for your service on behalf of a very grateful country.
To all my ministerial colleagues who are here, of course, our most senior Western Australian member in my team, the Attorney Michaelia Cash. Tremendous to be here with you Michaelia. And Melissa Price, great to have a Western Australian back in Cabinet as well, to join the many others that are there and you're doing a fantastic job in the Defence Industry portfolio and it's great to have you back around that Cabinet table. It's always good to have another Western Australian around the Cabinet table. And in my Cabinet, there are so many and long may that continue.
Can I also acknowledge the other members who are here today, I can see Celia Hammond is here and Assistant Minister Ben Morton is here and Nola Marino. Nola and I came into the Parliament together many years ago, she’s an outstanding Western Australian, a great farmer. Someone who has done a lot in her own life and brings a great reality and grit, I think it's fair to say Nola, to our Government. Because you keep it very real for us, as do all my colleagues out of Western Australia. Thank you very much for that and for joining me here today.
Thank you for your efforts. That's what I want to say Western Australia today. This is my first opportunity to come back for some time, particularly because of COVID. I simply just want to say thank you Western Australia. Your sacrifices, your work over the past year has been inspirational. They have lifted my spirits from afar.
It has been the most difficult year for Australia in three quarters of a century. These have not been ordinary times for Australians. Our shared efforts to get us to where we are today is a great national achievement and one in which Western Australia has played such a significant role.
The terror of COVID, and I don't mind describing it that way, because I remember vividly looking into the abyss, just over a year ago. The terror of COVID saw a death rate across the OECD over the course of the last year 34 times greater than that that has occurred here in Australia. Let's just think about what that means. Let's get very real about this. That means if that death rate was repeated here in Australia, there would have be 30,000 more deaths in this country because of COVID.
Our country, our nation stood together, came together, even though at times we had to remain apart physically to ensure that that didn't happen in this country. That was the challenge of our watch on this together, and we met that challenge together. Yesterday alone, worldwide, there were more than 8,500 deaths from COVID that we know of. The pandemic is still raging around the world.
Here in Australia, though, our lived experience is very different. On the economic front, nationally, employment is higher now, as Chris was reminding us, than when we entered the pandemic. And we have a growth rate in the last quarter, that was 3.1 percent. A remarkable achievement, again, considering a year ago where we were. Australia continues to lead the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of the recession, the global recession that that pandemic caused.
Now, this did not happen by accident. It was not luck, it was not good fortune. In February last year, we moved as a nation and as a Government, quickly to close our borders to mainland China. I remember being criticised for it at the time. The single most important decision we took at that time in those earlier parts of the year. The same month based on our medical advice, Australia declared COVID to be a pandemic. Two weeks before the rest of the world came to that conclusion. At that time, every day mattered with the decisions that were taken.
March was also the month where many things, almost everything, changed for Australians. On the 1st of March, we recorded the first death from COVID, actually right here in Western Australia, a very sad and very terrible day. Since that time, Western Australia has only recorded, albeit each single one of these is a tragedy, particularly for the families involved, eight deaths out of a total of 951 cases. That really is a truly remarkable achievement and one of which Western Australians I think should be very proud.
And I do commend, quite happily and enthusiastically, the Western Australian government, my colleague, Premier McGowan, for their role in securing that outcome along with all Western Australians. And with the support also of the Federal Government, that I'll speak more of today.
Because as strong as that leadership has been here in Western Australian, it was not done in isolation. They did not act on their own, and nor should have they had to, we had to act together. We were all part of a national effort. We knew very early on that this wasn’t a battle like any other, and extraordinary actions that might normally have been taken in years happened in days. And by the end of March Australia was in lockdown.
We knew very early on that we had to move quickly on the economy with a mammoth fiscal response. Not something that comes naturally, can I tell you, to a former Treasurer who sat around a Cabinet table with Mathias Cormann. That's not something that we would normally do. But as John Howard reminded Josh Frydenberg and I, crises are no time for ideology. It required action and significant action.
And so working to principles that I set out actually at a Financial Review summit before these decisions were taken, we worked out how we were going to make these calls. It had to be proportionate. It had to be timely, it had to be stable. It had to be targeted. This was not a free for all. This was not a blank cheque. We had to be mindful, even in the scale of our response, of future generations. It had to be aligned across the very actions both of government, including the Reserve Bank as well, and the broader efforts of industry.
We had to use existing delivery mechanisms whenever possible. We saw how big the failures were on previous crises, devastating, and we learned from that and we used the existing channels to achieve it. And, importantly, measures had to be temporary and they had to be accompanied by our fiscal exit strategy because that's what responsible people do when it comes to managing the finances of the nation.
I appreciate, Chris and Nicolle, the very kind words about JobKeeper. I doubt I will ever see another programme that has impacted the lives and welfare of Australians more than that one. And I hope Australia is never in a position where we would have to do something like that. But when called upon, we did. It was a significant moment, but I’ve got to tell you, that wasn't the hardest part of that decision. The hardest part of the decision to put JobKeeper on was to say at the same time we will take it off and there will come a time when that will have to come off and we said when that it was. And then while we had to accept it was the nature of the pandemic, we stood by the hard decision to take it off. And others want us to continue it and they made their case, but what underpinned our response to the pandemic was that we while making decisions which were about lifting the economy and ensuring the economy can be business-led again.
And we were not going to let our responses over time crowd out the strong private economy which Western Australians know more about than most in this country, particularly in the business sector. We didn't want a subsidised economy into the future in this country. That's not what made Australia great and certainly not what has made Western Australia great. And so we did not want to do things that while helping Australia back up, held onto it as it then sought to break free and once again, being the business-led economy that it became.
So these principles were at the core of every decision, whether it was Josh and I or Mathias at the time, Michaelia, the entire team that we brought around our Cabinet table. Every decision was made in this way. And importantly, though, Australians approached this, I believe, as one. The National Cabinet was formed, a uniquely Australian innovation to go with a uniquely Australian Federation. We created a functionality in our Federation that we'd never seen before. It's certainly still not perfect and there's certainly disagreements, but I can tell you from direct personal experience that we have never seen our Federation work in the way that we've seen in the past year.
Federation challenges that other nations were unable to overcome. In Canada, in the United States, in Germany, federation nations. And when I would speak to these leaders, they would ask me about this and how we managed to bring that together. And I want to especially acknowledge Mark, Premier McGowan, for his involvement in and support of the National Cabinet over the past year. The National Cabinet had to make some of the most difficult decisions in some of the shortest time frames, at all hours of the night and day, particularly in those areas, about very personal things. Weddings, funerals, Australians being able to come back to the country. Things about everyday life that until then we had all taken for granted. And here we were deciding how long someone should be able to go to the hairdressers or to go barbers. It was a very surreal conversation, a very surreal conversation.
In that early part of 2020, we had worked extraordinarily hard to keep as much as we could open without endangering life and the health challenges that we faced, because we knew we had to save lives and livelihoods. And despite calls from some to simply just shut everything down, as they did in other places, they wanted to shut down car yards, industry, mining sectors. I remember the calls. We shut down only what we really had to. We kept as much open as we possibly could and found COVID-Safe ways to do that. And again, Mark was one of my key allies in keeping as much of Australia open when it came to business.
And I think that is because especially he, like I, understand in Western Australia, the most significant element in terms of keeping the mining sector open. I'd seen in other nations where they were shutting down their equivalent of heavy industry, and the impact it had on their economies and I decided not on my watch. And I was shared in that view particularly by the Western Australian Premier.
Now, these difficult decisions were made in a time also by companies themselves and I want to acknowledge all of those who have done that here today. Adopting world-class protocols to stay COVID-Safe, inventing them in fact, literally on the run. The result last year to the Western Australian mining and resources sector experienced record sales and employment, supporting not just tens of thousands of jobs, but also providing royalty that accounted for 29 percent of the WA state budget, helping found health and the economic support for all Western Australians. That's what keeping WA open within its borders achieved.
Elsewhere in the economy we face the most significant economic circumstances, of course, in our lifetime. And I said this time last year, we didn't just want to win the battle against COVID-19, but lose a broader battle when it comes to our economy. The Commonwealth Government’s initial response to COVID-19 pandemic has provided some $267 billion in supports to Australian businesses and families. Now, this is more than, put it this way- Everything the states and territories spent on both health and COVID economic responses, it's a big number, double it, go a bit further, that’s what the Commonwealth Government did to keep Australia moving over the course of this past year.
Now, that was our job, I don't make that point in any criticism of the state governments at all. They did their bit but it was our job to do that bit. It was our job to underwrite the Australian economy through this crisis. And so we stepped up and we gave the states and territories the ability to do the things they had to do. Where they had the principle responsible for managing the public health management in the state. But I can assure you, no decision could have been taken by any state or territory government in this country over the last 12 to 15 months, were it not for the underwriting that was provided by the Australian taxpayer, from coast to coast. It was a partnership. It was a critical national coming together.
Now, beyond that, the 2021 Budget provided further supports. So now well over half a trillion dollars in the support provided. Central to our strategy was JobKeeper, of course. A uniquely Australian, and I would say Liberal, innovation. A partnership with employers. It wasn't a wage subsidy that just came out of Services Australia. That was JobSeeker, that was the normal social security supports. We needed to find something completely different. As Josh and I saw those queues, we knew we had to do something different and the work had already begun.
We effectively nationalised the private payrolls of this country to deliver social security. And we did that with you. It was impossible without you. You had to go to your banks. You had to decide what you wanted to do and how many staff you wanted to keep on. And the great answer was you wanted them all. And so you went to your banks. And I thank the banks and together Government, the financial sector and employers kept millions of Australians in work at a time when the future was incredibly bleak. At least 700,000 jobs saved, absolutely, we know. And $7 billion supporting almost 100,000 Western Australian businesses and their employees right here in this state.
We worked with the unions to ensure flexibility in the IR system for JobKeeper businesses, working together keeping thousands of businesses afloat. Keeping our labour market and economy strong and resilient as it needed to be. We also provided $3.4 billion directly to Western Australian small and medium sized businesses and not for profits through our cash flow boost to keep them afloat. No an application process, no strings attached. We got the cash to them that kept them going. We backed businesses to succeed with temporary full expensing and temporary loss-carrying for the 99 per cent of businesses with a turnover of up to $5 billion. Combined, these two measures alone are estimated to have delivered over $31.6 billion in tax relief over the forward estimates and support $200 billion in investment.
What we've achieved in this country and this state is no accident. It didn't happen through any advantage or luck. We brought forward stage two of the personal income tax plan. Those tax cuts helped create an additional 50,000 jobs by the end of 2021-22, we believe, and boosted GDP by around $12.5 billion over two years. And more tax cuts are coming in stage three, made law after the last election. Under our personal income tax plan, over 1.2 million Western Australian taxpayers will pay less tax this year compared to 2017-18. We provided great support to individuals. The coronavirus supplement put over $20 billion in the hands additionally of Australians when they needed it most, including more than $2.2 billion to over 321,000 Western Australians.
Western Australia didn't do this alone. They did it with the support of the nation like every state and territory around this country. An additional $1.1 billion went directly to West Australian aged pensioners and veterans and other income support recipients, and eligible concession card holders through the four economic support payments of $2,000. Keeping that economy moving was vital. So we committed an additional $1.75 billion worth of transport infrastructure investment, through an already strong pipeline of priority projects.
And on that I'm going to ask people serve lunch, because I've got a lot to get through here. I've got a lot to share. So bring on the lunch: enjoy.
Our approach reflected the need to invest in projects that were ready to go or shovel-ready. We committed $96 million for these projects. And then set about boosting funding to WA councils by $190 million. And working with the WA government to deliver more than $430 million on road safety projects. These new investments combined with almost $900 million of additional accelerated projects announced at the end of 2019. Keeping regional and remote communities connected was also vital. We established new programs to maintain aviation networks, ensuring communities stayed in touch and had access to health care and education. These programmes keep workers connected too, essential workers involved in the mining sector and heavy industry. Getting across regional and remote Western Australia, which Melissa knows a lot about. These programs remain in place to help bolster the aviation industry. More than 5,300 flights have been underwritten by the Federal Government, to and within Western Australia. Keeping freight moving was essential. So direct funding to international freight routes to ensure Australian exporters could get their products overseas. Some 50,000 tonnes. This is pivotal as freight routes were seizing up, supply chains were seizing up, and that was effectively shutting off the international passenger network as well.
Here in Western Australia the international trade assistance mechanisms supported around 51,000 tonnes of exports from WA, including 17,000 tonnes of pork products, 12,000 tonnes of lamb and 12,000 tonnes of seafood. We kept the planes in the air. Our National COVID-19 Commission led by a great Western Australian. Someone I knew I would have to bring in to advise us on our economic response, so call on Western Australia. Thank you, Nev Power. He worked with the business community to overcome supply chain bottlenecks. To assist business to reopen safely. Working on our COVIDSafe plan. This was incredibly important, especially in Victoria. That was a very, very difficult time. And we needed someone and a series of people through the commission that we established with Nev that just got it. And could talk to the business and were often the link between business, communities and state governments in many cases to ensure these problems were better understood. HomeBuilder, another essential part, also strongly supported here in Western Australia. 17,000 homes being built here, will be, under that programme in Western Australia. Treasury estimates that 270 million in HomeBuilder grants as expected in Western Australia will support $3.2 billion worth of residential construction projects. If you're a builder, you're working in the residential building industry. Or if you're like Rob over at Bunnings, that will keep them busy and will keep people in jobs.
Michaelia Cash led a mighty work. When it comes to the VET sector we are terrified that the first people, the people who would be most impacted would be apprentices. We were over looking at some of those projects today. Wage subsides for existing apprentices supported 120,000 apprentices. Including over 9,500 here in Western Australia in 4,900 businesses. Small and medium sized businesses who would have to let that apprentice go because of COVID. Two, three years maybe of training over, they may never have come back. And what would have happened to them then? It was one of the first things we did, I said we're not going to lose our apprentices. And so we back them in. But we weren't satisfied with that. So we put in place a new subsidy. We thought we reckon we can get 100,000 thousand apprentices employed. Think it will take us 12 months. Michaelia did it in five. It was a tremendous result and we've extended the programme for a further seven months. We are now also working with the states and territories on around 30,000 free or low cost training places through the $1 billion dollars job training fund. In areas of skills that have been identified by the Nation Skills Commission. Workforce, I believe, is the biggest single challenge facing the Australian economy. You will hear me talk about it until you're sick of hearing me say it, about the importance of building the skills our workforce needs.
There are many challenges in our economy whether it's tax, energy, digital transformation, all are very important priorities. But if you ask me what is the single biggest challenge facing the Australian economy is we want to build and grow for the future and come out of COVID. Workforce, workforce, workforce, workforce. Training people with the right skills that you need to build your businesses to be competitive and then we back it up. We're backing it up with significant investments, and we'll continue to do so. Many families are relying on JobKeeper or JobSeeker, but it wasn't the full wage they had been receiving. So we allowed Australians access to their own superannuation. It's their money. And they did. And they accessed it and it helped. Some 280,000 Western Australians in fact.
The unprecedented economic support provided by government has meant that despite the worst economic crisis in a century, over 30 times as bad as the GFC, just think about that, think about the GFC, this was 30 times worse. Household disposable income during that period actually grew by 6.6 per cent in 2020. The government had the back of Australians through the biggest crisis of our lifetimes, and more specifically, we had the back of Western Australians. The Commonwealth's direct spend on Western Australia, eclipsed even the direct expenditure of their own state government. That is not a criticism, it was our job and we did it. That's more than a billion dollars that our Government put into Western Australia every month on top of what our normal commitments were, and that was throughout the course of this pandemic. And that's just the income support. It's what Western Australians were counting on me and my team to do. When you supported me so strongly at the last election that's what you were counting on me to do and my team as you returned us. And I believe we stepped up and it won't end there, it will continue.
Our economic recovery has been much stronger than anyone could have anticipated and better than almost any other country in the world. And while Australia's economy contracted by 2.5 per cent, this compares to falls of 3 per cent in New Zealand to 3.3 per cent in the US, to 4.9 per cent in Germany, 8.2 per cent in France and almost 10 per cent in the United Kingdom. The IMF recently upgraded their forecast growth for the Australian economy in 2021 to 4.5 per cent, up from 3 per cent as recently as October. Business confidence is up, it's at the highest levels we learned again oday in 11 years. Conditions, according to NAB, are at their highest ever on record and job vacancies, the highest level in 12 years. Like the NAB survey, that Westpac consumer sentiment figure jumped to their highest level since 2010, when the mining boom was in full swing.
But challenges remain, the world has not recovered yet and we still have a journey ahead of us. The skies are not yet clear, COVID has not gone away, and it continues to write its own rules. The rest of the world is only now starting to ease restrictions, barely, that we have had eased now for many months in this country. Australians, as we are here, in our homes, we go to restaurants, we go to sporting fixtures, we don't always walk away happy, at least half of us do, cultural events, I'll be at the Eagles game with Mathias Cormann on Friday night, I'm looking forward to that. I congratulate Mathias on his ascension to the OECD Secretary General, a magnificent Western Australian who's done a great job, and we were very pleased to support his candidacy. And I'm sure they'd be an at capacity crowd, something unimaginable in most of the other parts of the world today. Here in Australia our challenge is to make sure that we continue to keep Australia as open as possible so that life can return to normal as soon as it possibly can. Now vaccine programs are critical to protect against any further outbreaks, especially for the most vulnerable.
Almost 1.3 million Australians have been vaccinated so far, that includes 134,000 here in Western Australia. The pace of our rollout is stronger than at a similar stage when compared with rollouts in Canada, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, even France at the moment, and it's on par with places like Germany and Sweden and others. You wouldn't notice that if you picked up a newspaper anywhere in the country at the moment. That's not saying we don't have our problems, we do, and we have some challenges that we need to fix, but you know, we've got to keep perspective on this, where else would you rather be? Where else would you rather be than this country right now. Severe global vaccine shortages, of course, interrupted the early stages of our vaccine rollout. We were getting on top of those and then we were hit with the decision out of the Technical Advisory Group regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But we took decisions early on, all this last year to ensure that we had vaccines produced here in Australia and decisions on which vaccines to select were based on the best medical advice available to us. We selected the vaccines from each of the three different types, we've all become vaccine experts, I think in the last 12 months, adenovirus, protein and mRNA, don't worry there won't be a test after this. But these were the three scientific strands in which the world was working down, and a year ago they hadn't even been invented. mRNA vaccines were science fiction in some respects, and here we were making decisions about which vaccine we are going to be moving forward. So we selected ones carefully in each of the areas, and now we still have three in each of those areas that we know are successful, we didn't put all our eggs in one basket.
The more recent medical advice from ATAGI on the AstraZeneca has had a profound impact. Mind you, today we are back up to 60,000 a day, that came up from around 40,000 the day before. We are watching those numbers very carefully. But there is a profound impact on the program we need to address and that requires us to engage in major reassessment, working with the states and territories on who gets which vaccine, when and how, particularly in the post Phase 1a and b round. Our immediate priority remains the vaccination of our most vulnerable, the most vulnerable in those phases 1a and b and we should be able to complete that by mid-year as planned and using the existing supplies of AstraZeneca for those over the age of 50 in most cases, and the Pfizer vaccines that we have available for that task. However we will still need to see the impact of any potential vaccine hesitancy from that ATAGI advice on overall take-up rates. Our next challenge will be to vaccinate the balance of the population. AstraZeneca was going to be our workhorse for this and it still will be for those over 50s, which there are millions of Australians of that age.
Our under 50s rollout will now need to be recalibrated and use the Pfizer supplies, which we doubled last week, last Friday, and we were able to secure, with Minister Greg Hunt, some 20 million extra doses. So we will now have 40 million. That goes together with our Novavax contracted vaccines. And that is still awaiting regulatory approval but is advancing well. These imports, of the original 20 million doses, have been steady and consistent and they are building up in the weeks and months ahead. And we will need weekly volumes increasing to support the program we are continuing to put in place in the weeks ahead that will take us also through third quarter.
But it's in the fourth quarter, where we are really going to have to ramp things up, which will be very different to what we originally anticipated. In the fourth quarter, we expect that surge of the additional 20 million Pfizer doses and the existing contracted Novavax, which is of a similar order and more. This will provide, assuming the supply chains hold enough of those vaccines to enable mass vaccination in the final quarter of this year. But our task now is to work with the states and territories to find the best method for mass vaccination and to be achieved in that fourth quarter, or earlier, if those doses become available sooner. And if we get that right, it should be possible. It should, assuming supply chains and vaccine hesitancy not getting beyond us. It should be possible to do that the balance of the population this year. But that will depend heavily on whether the states' mass vaccination programmes can achieve that in about a 12 week period. And that will be a big task. And that's why I haven't committed to a timetable. We need to work that out with the states and territories. And that's why I'm calling the National Cabinet it back to the operational tempo we had in the middle of the pandemic to ensure that we can work this problem together and put those things in place. It's highly contingent on those many other areas that are necessary, and in the short term, these uncertainties will prevent us putting a firm timetable in place.
Now given the critical importance of getting it right, that's why, as I've said, I've called them together, I'm confident that as a group, we will get the same outcome that we got when we worked together to deal with the challenges I've spoken so much about today, to get us back on track and restore confidence in the program. And as we do this, what matters is that we continue to keep our economy open, and build on the measures we need. Now, I know it's been a lengthy presentation, I haven't been here in a while. I’m making up for it.
There are some who argue that mining and resources aren't a key part of Australia's future - and I'm not one of them. And I doubt there's one here in this room today. My Government knows this. We know it. It doesn't need to be argued to us, we don't feel the need to demonstrate it. It's a known fact. You're preaching to the choir when it comes to my Government. And particularly its importance for the regions of Western Australia.
I'm heading north to the Pilbara tomorrow and looking forward to that. And my Government will continue to work closely with the sector, to realise the opportunities that are ahead for our resources sector. And that's why the resources, technology, and critical minerals processing is part of the six priority areas for our Modern Manufacturing Strategy. And I launched the Resources, Technology, and Critical Minerals Processing Roadmap making funding available to help manufacturers scale up production, commercial products and tap into global supply chains only recently. And the Roadmap couldn't be more aligned with Western Australia, which as well as being a world leader in mining and resources and increasingly the focal point for the development of critical minerals projects as well, and the opportunities that we know are considerable. Global demand for clean technology applications like high powered magnets and batteries will grow exponentially over the coming decades. And Western Australia's role will not just be extraction, but value-added processing as well. For example, Lynas, the world's largest rare earths producer outside of China, is building a downstream processing plant in Kalgoorlie. That plant will supply a new facility in Texas, to provide rare earths, essential for military and commercial applications. This is a gold standard example of the cooperation on critical supply chains that I discussed with my Quad counterparts from the United States, Japan and India just a few weeks ago. And we were talking about critical minerals, amongst other things, and supply chains that are needed to support those sectors in our economies that are vital to all our social wellbeing and security.
Mineral sands producer, Iluka, already are producing rare earths at its Eneabba - have I got that right? - is proceeding with a feasibility study project, for a full-scale refinery at that site. And I can say unequivocally, that we are building a sustainable critical minerals sector here in Australia, and in Western Australia.
Finally, I think I've done well to get this far in a speech as long as this, and for you all to still be in the room! But I thought I'd save the best till last, and Michaelia referred to it earlier today, as did [inaudible]. But when I first came to parliament, I used to flat some years later with Steve Irons, who is here today, we came to the parliament together. But I can tell you, he has been the Western Australian whisperer in my ear for the last 13 years or more, fourteen years now. And the issue he was raising with me, right from the get-go, was WA must have a fair deal on GST. Western Australians I know, can have assurance about this deal, because you're looking at the person who put it together. If Western Australians want to know who they can trust, to ensure this deal remains now and into the future, it was secured by the government.
I am meeting with the Premier this afternoon to go over a number of projects, particularly with regards to the devastating cyclone in the Mid West. But I will also be able to say to him once again, you have nothing to concern yourself with, when it comes to WA's GST deal. Nothing whatsoever. We put it in place together, and it will remain in place, together. So I look forward to being able to once again give him that assurance. So that's why I think Western Australians can be very confident about that. And when we did this, I wasn't one of those who made one case here in Western Australia and told you what you wanted to hear. On the Western Australian GST deal. And I thank the Chamber too for the great work they did on this. I told you the honest truth. I said I think this is a bit of a raw deal. But I think it's going to be really hard to fix this. I could have come here and told you how important it was. You all would have applauded. And I would have gone back to the Eastern States, when it all proved too hard. But that wasn't what we did. I argued the case, back in my home state. I argued the case, right up and down the East Coast. I didn't say something different in South Yarra or North Queensland, or in Adelaide or Hobart, to what I said right here. And that's why I think Western Australians can trust our Government, when it comes to this GST deal. It is in our marrow, it is in our bones, it is very much [inaudible] within the heart and soul of our Government.
So thank you all for your great patience in listening this afternoon. It has been a great challenge that we've dealt with over the course of the past year, we can all be very proud of what we've achieved. But let us not be complacent, let us not think this thing has gone away, it has not. We have many challenges still ahead of us. And I have every confidence that if we show the great unity of the country, the great purpose of the business community, the great compassion that we are as a society. One for each other. In Australia we can keep going from strength to strength. Thank you so much for your time.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
9 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I’m joined by the Minister for Health, the Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of the Department of Health. Let me start by saying Australia has now had over one million doses administered here and across the country. I’ll come to the issue of the vaccines and National Cabinet in a moment. But let me also advise, and particularly why I’m joined by the Minister for Health today and Aged Care, the Australian Government has secured overnight an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine, in line with the advice of the Scientific Industry Technical Advisory Group on Vaccines, led by Professor Brendan Murphy. Now, through our advanced purchase agreement with Pfizer, these additional 20 million Pfizer doses means that Australia will now receive a total of 40 million Pfizer doses in 2021. It is anticipated that these additional 20 million doses will be available in quarter four of this year. That’s our current instruction, and we’ll obviously be doing everything we can to seek to move that forward where we can. But that is very welcome news, particularly in the light of the information that we received from ATAGI last night. Australia has entered into four separate agreements for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, and these include agreements with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novavax and COVAX. And these agreements now total up to some 170 million doses. I particularly want to thank the Minister for what has been a fairly busy evening in working with Pfizer. I also want to thank all of those in the Department of Health, led by Professor Murphy, and I also want to thank Pfizer, who have been a very good partner with Australia in the vaccination program and working with us with a number of challenges, but particularly given the advice that we received from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation yesterday, and to be in a position where we can move this quickly the next day to ensure that we can have access to those additional vaccines, which means 40 million Pfizer vaccines in Australia in 2021.
I might now turn to the meeting of the National Cabinet which was held today and James Merlino joining us as Acting Premier for the first time today with the other premiers and chief ministers. The Premier of Tasmania obviously joining us in a caretaker capacity, which has been our convention throughout the operation of National Cabinet since it was first established. High on the agenda today, our first item was to deal with the ATAGI advice that we received last night. It was the opportunity for that to be discussed amongst premiers and chief ministers, as they had already had the opportunity to be briefed by their chief health officers last night and I’m sure again this morning with the information being disseminated, and it was a very useful discussion. The decision of the Commonwealth Government, because it is a matter for the Commonwealth Government to accept the advice of ATAGI on these matters, was understood and supported, and I want to stress again that the advice that has been received, the recommendations that have been received from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is not a ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is not a prohibition on the AstraZeneca vaccine. It recommends and notes that the risk of these side effects are remote. They are very rare. We are talking in the vicinity of five to six per million, which is a rather rare event. But it must be acknowledged, and it’s important so Australians can make informed decisions about their vaccination and their health care with their medical professionals, with their doctor. So there was no instruction not to take that vaccine. There is an acknowledgement of the risk that is there, but as is the case always with these matters, these are decisions for Australians. And certainly for those who are over 50, there is a strong encouragement to be taking the AstraZeneca vaccine, which we discussed today, to ensure that we can continue down the path of the vaccination rollout. We discussed the recalibration of our vaccination program because of the advice from ATAGI today, and that was a very constructive discussion, and indeed already today states and territories are working with the Commonwealth to that end. Our focus remains on the delivery of 1A and 1B cohorts for the vaccination rollout. Now, this is particularly important because we’re substantively talking here about people who are over the age of 50. And as Professor Murphy reminded us today, that includes many health workers, many health workers that are in frontline roles, whether in, working in aged care facilities or otherwise within the health system, and particularly amongst the nursing community. That’s not to say there are not those under 50, of course there are, but we are talking about groups where we can continue to proceed with the vaccination rollout at the pace we are hoping to proceed at and to ensure that we meet the goals we have with those 1A and 1B cohorts. This is important because the goal here is to protect the most vulnerable in our community. If we want to treat COVID-19 like the flu then we need to ensure that we’re vaccinating those in our community who are most vulnerable. The most vulnerable people in our community are not just over 50, they’re actually a lot older than that. And so the AstraZeneca vaccine is well suited, is well suited to address those critical vulnerable groups. We reminded ourselves this morning that the key issue that we were concerned about a year ago, as we feared the overwhelming of our public hospitals and all of these rather dire outcomes, was because of the vulnerability of our most elderly Australians. So vaccinating our elderly Australians remains a key priority that also supports the continued opening up of Australia, because the risk factor of severe illness amongst the most vulnerable is therefore reduced.
We also agreed today, very productively, and Professor Murphy will take you through the first iteration of this, data release and transparency measures that will see both daily release of information, and Professor Murphy will take you through very shortly what those daily info graphics, that daily information will be that will be available to the public and of course to the media, as well as weekly information that shows more detailed data at a state, territory and Commonwealth level, across both the available doses and the administration of those doses. And I’m sure you will all find that very helpful in your own reporting and to the public.
Finally, the other issue that was discussed today, as we tabled our response to the Respect@Work Report of Kate Jenkins, the Roadmap to Respect. That was well received and noted today. All states and territories have agreed to our request to make their own responses to the Respect@Work Report by the end of June. So I welcome their enthusiasm for doing that and their cooperation to do that. As you know, the Respect@Work Report deals not only with Commonwealth responsibilities, but many state and territory responsibilities. So the Commonwealth having been the first Government to respond, that will now be followed by all the states and territories, and that will be concluded by the end of June. I was also pleased today to discuss with the states and territories the next phase of the COVID family and domestic violence package. We are working through that information. As you will be aware, it was $130 of the $150 million that the Commonwealth put in place as an urgent COVID response last year. That terminating program, that emergency support, runs to 30 June. As I indicated, I think it was yesterday, that we are looking at the next phase of that program, but in order to do that I have asked from the states to give us an urgent update on their spending, their acquittal, if you like, of the funds that have already been provided to the states and territories this year, highlighting what their ongoing spending programs are in this area, so we can ensure that any Commonwealth program is adding, adding to the overall effort here, and of course wouldn’t be replacing any effort. This remains an urgent issue because COVID is still happening and the impacts, particularly for vulnerable Australians, particularly women and children, as a result of many of the impacts of COVID, are ongoing. And so we are looking at that favourably, but I intend to do that in partnership with the states and territories, equally sharing the challenge both fiscally and in the delivery of programs.
Finally, we noted that yesterday the Women’s Safety Ministers met and they have put in place the date of 29 and 30 July for a women’s safety summit. That is part of the national plan, remembering the national plan process that began under Prime Minister Gillard a decade ago. An excellent initiative, one supported on both sides of politics and in fact right across the political spectrum, I believe. That program is coming to the end of its run and there will be a new national plan on women’s safety, and the women’s summit is a key stepping stone in getting to that next national plan. What we agreed today, and I welcome the recommendation by the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk, it was warmly received by premiers and chief ministers and myself, that our first step would be to have a National Cabinet meeting at our meeting in July. That will be a face-to-face meeting and we will be holding that in Darwin. That National Cabinet meeting will bring together all of the initiatives, all of the spending programs that are being run by states and territories and the Commonwealth in relation to women’s economic security. There will be a special package brought together by the Secretary of Treasury that will be identifying the issues that relate to women’s workforce participation, gender pay gaps and issues related to those to aid that discussion. The purpose here, and what we will consider in July, is whether we can then move, and I hope we do and I think that’s the shared view of premiers and chief ministers, that we can embark on a similar national plan process on women’s economic security, as we have on the protection of women against violence. That has been a very successful model, the women’s violence national plan, because it respects and it acknowledges the roles of all governments. No single government has full carriage of the issues that impact on women’s safety. No single government has full carriage of the issues that impact on women’s economic security. We all have a role to play, so we’re going to work off the information base of all the existing programs and activities, particularly post the development of most state and territory budgets and certainly the Commonwealth Budget, and that provides us with, I think, a very good point at which to then move into a national plan process, which I would expect would also have a summit on those issues as part of that program. So I thank Premier Palaszczuk for that. I thank all the premiers and chief ministers for their enthusiastic engagement with that agenda.
I am going to, I think, I think, why don’t we go particularly to the vaccine Pfizer announcement, which is obviously very significant, with the Minister, and then we will go through what is our more normal National Cabinet run down from Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. And as the PM set out, we have been able to secure an additional 20 million doses of Pfizer by exercising the capacity within our contract and with rapid negotiations with Pfizer Australia and Pfizer Global. I do want to thank the head of Pfizer Australia Anne Harris and all of those within the Department for being able to complete this process for purchasing within such a short period of time. We already had 20 million Pfizer doses which had been committed for delivery in 2021, and this brings an additional 20 million doses on top of the Novavax 51 million, the AstraZeneca 53.8 million and the COVAX facility 25.5 million, taking it to a total available pool of 170 million doses. Significantly, the context, I think, is very important here. And another day of zero community cases of transmission thankfully in Australia, against a figure of over 800,000 cases globally, on the advice we have. 800,000 cases globally, zero in Australia for community transmission, and of course 13,500 lives lost. So the comparison is very stark. What it also means is that the vaccination program has, I think, very importantly continued. We have seen 81,297 doses in the last 24 hours and that’s a record. So in the midst of all of this discussion, all of these discussions, Australians have still come forward. Our general practices, our states, our aged care vaccinators have been able to deliver these vaccinations, making it, as the PM says, well over one million with 1,077,511 doses. So those numbers are increasing very significantly, with the states having delivered over 536,000 and the Commonwealth 541,342 through the primary care or GP program of 408,000, and the aged and disability care of 133,000, including over 1,052 aged care facilities with first doses and 475 aged care facilities with second doses.
In terms of the continuity of the program, I think it is very important to emphasise that the basic settings, as we progress through 1A and 1B and even phase 2A, are largely unchanged. In 1A we will have the aged care residents. We will have the front line workers and the quarantine workers. Those programs in the case of the quarantine and the front line health workers are largely completed and we thank the states for that. The aged care, as you can hear, is progressing very significantly with now over 133,000 people vaccinated, and then we would have to make a change with regards to ensuring those who are under 50 that still haven’t been vaccinated have access to Pfizer. With regards to phase 1B, this is the over 70s and the over 80s and the over 55 Indigenous Australians. All of those can continue to receive, with the strongest medical advice, the AstraZeneca vaccine. And that, I think, is important and we are seeing that in those numbers coming through. For those who may be immunocompromised or front line workers who are under 50, then right now we’re working with the states and territories and the medical authorities to revise that part of the program, so as they have access to Pfizer. That will take time. We recognise that, as those Pfizer doses become available, but we’re working on that front. And then as we move into phase 2A, that itself is also focused on the over 50s and over 60s, and their access to AstraZeneca remains unchanged. It’s really after that with regards to the under 50s, and that is the same time as we start to have very significant doses of Pfizer come onboard. And so that’s how we’re managing the program. PM has said we will provide more advice once the planning is finished, but with the extra 20 million doses I think that should provide very significant reassurance, and in the meantime the program continues with record numbers in the last 24 hours.
PRIME MINISTER: Before I ask Professor Murphy to come forward, there was another very important item which I also need to bring to your attention. The National Cabinet agreed today the principles for Australia’s COVID-19 management and reopening, importantly. So states agreeing and territories to the following principles about prioritising the vaccine rollout, maintaining readiness to ensure suppression, so that goes to the COVID safe behaviours for testing, tracing, etc. Ensuring that measures are proportionate in responding to outbreaks and are consistent, that are focused also on protecting national wellbeing that goes not just to health issues but the economic wellbeing of Australians. Clear and effective and coordinated communications, with a focus on maintaining confidence. The vaccination rollout should be proceeding as efficiently and quickly as possible, that jurisdictions should continue to improve their quarantine management. They agreed to adopt the AHPPC advice of easing venue restrictions to be no stricter than the one per two square metre rule. So that is a maximum now, a maximum. And I know that states have already moved to make it even less restrictive than that, and others will be doing so very soon. Agree to adopt the AHPPC advice that large, ticketed and seated gatherings can have 100 per cent capacity. That the AHPPC advice that the easing of restrictions can occur on the basis of international borders remaining substantively closed and a reduction in the risk of incursion through the vaccination of quarantine staff and their close contacts and health care workers. They agreed to prioritise local containment measures and aim for outbreak responses that keep internal borders open, was agreed today. And they further agreed to task the AHPPC with specific health advice regarding the implications for quarantine arrangements and reopening of Australia of a successful vaccine rollout for the most vulnerable Australians, that is phase 1A and 1B, and the current evidence around the effect of TGA approved vaccines on transmissibility of COVID-19. What we’re asking the medical expert panel to tell us is, what are the thresholds that we need to be able to meet to do things such as the following: Australians who are vaccinated being able to travel overseas and return to Australia and not go into hotel quarantine, potentially go into home quarantine, or not even into home quarantine at all. That will be a major change, and to the extent to which Australians returning from overseas who have had recognised vaccines also approved here in Australia with appropriate accreditation can return to Australia on that same basis, and to enable potentially down the track, travel from low-risk countries with similar vaccine arrangements. Now, no one is saying that any of those things are coming in today, but what we are working and planning for and have tasked the medical professionals who advise us on, is what are the marks we have to meet to enable us to start opening up Australia more than we are now. Now we already have the New Zealand open arrangement. We welcome that and we look forward to the success of that in the coming months. That will give us a greater deal of confidence about when we can move to other countries. I’ve mentioned Singapore before as an obvious next choice, but at this stage that is still some time away. So the message from National Cabinet is, we want to open up more, we want to do it safely, we want to ease restrictions, we want to do that in a consistent way across the country, and we want to do that because we know we’re not just managing the health but we’re managing the economics as well for people’s livelihoods and wellbeing, and this is going to be an ongoing and increasing focus of the National Cabinet. We noted the work that is being done in New Zealand and we also note that of course at the end of the day every state and territory is responsible for public health in their own jurisdiction, so they haven’t offered up their sovereignty on those issues, that wasn’t likely, but I do very much welcome their agreement to those principles today. But now to Brendan.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks PM. So I’m just going to briefly go through a new daily data set that we will be releasing everyday in the vaccine program. National Cabinet also agreed to a weekly, more detailed data set which we will be releasing from next week. Now, Minister Hunt’s covered some of these numbers so I will go through fairly quickly. So the first of this pack will just show the overall picture, and you can see the over one million total doses broken down by Commonwealth in primary care, Commonwealth in aged and disability care, and the vaccines delivered by the states and territories. And all of these sectors are increasing significantly, and as Minister Hunt said, we are growing our vaccination rate. Next slide.
So this just shows the proportion by sector. And again you can see how exactly as we planned there has been a ramp up by the jurisdictions, the states and territories, in the first weeks and a steady progressive ramp up in residential aged care and disability, and the most significant thing you can note there is the rapid rise in our general practice, our primary care, GPRC, Aboriginal community controlled health sector, exactly as planned as we are rolling on more and more of these sites every week and people are turning up to get their vaccines. Next slide.
This just shows, there’s been a bit of chatter about the rate of rollout in Australia, it just shows in that line there that our rollout is pretty consistent with many similar countries. Certainly the UK and the US rolled out more quickly because they have been trying to save lives. The UK estimates they’ve saved 10,000 lives from their vaccination program. Fortunately we haven’t been in that emergency situation but our program is going well and ramping up, along with many similar countries. Next slide.
PRIME MINISTER: And bettering some, I note.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: And better. So the Commonwealth aged care doses, and again you can see this is now broken down by each state and territory. You can see the number of facilities that have had first doses and second doses and you can see that we’ve had 133,000 doses in aged and disability care facilities, and we’re getting very large numbers of visits to facilities every day and we are on track to complete that program as planned. Next slide.
This is showing the, probably the most exciting recent development in weeks has been the huge ramp up of vaccinations in primary care. And these are mainly, these are the 1B population, mainly the 70s, over 70s and over 80s, and other people with underlying medical conditions who are turning up in droves to their GPs where they are known or in their local area to get vaccinated and this has been with the AstraZeneca vaccine. And this is a really, really good news story, and you can see we had over 47,000 in this setting alone in the past 24 hours. And you can see on the map there, and we’ll continue to show that map, what facilities have been stood up each week.
PRIME MINISTER: Just before you move off that one I just want to note that that’s the number of Commonwealth-administered does that are occurring in the states, they’re not doses being done by the states, they’re doses being done within those states by the Commonwealth program.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So finally I do want to just say one thing. The people who are turning up to these clinics are the people who need protection from the AstraZeneca vaccine. As I said last night, I have absolute complete confidence that this vaccine is highly effective and is highly recommended and safe for people over 50. And even under 50, as we’ve said already, it is a very highly precautionary preference statement. This condition is seen more commonly in younger people and the risk of COVID as you get over, as you’re over 50 exponentially increases. The ratio of benefit to risk is massively in favour of getting vaccinated. We need to protect our people, particularly those over 70 and 80 who are the most at risk of COVID. I am completely confident, as are all the medical experts who’ve come out recently, that people should turn up with the greatest of confidence and take this vaccine. I’ve had it, I’d have it again, I’d recommend it to any of my family. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: My mum’s getting it in a couple of weeks. She is back at The Lodge at the moment and we had that discussion last night and she told me she’s booked in and she’s looking forward to having her AstraZeneca vaccine and she was pretty happy for me to tell people about that, obviously. These are conversations that families have. My family’s no different. We have it and she’s off to the doctor. Speaking of doctors, Professor Kelly.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM. So my dad doesn’t want to bother anyone so he, I keep telling him to ring his GP. But I will continue to advise him. He’s 86, he has health conditions and I’ll advise him to take the AstraZeneca. It’s very safe for him and the benefit of him having that vaccine, the two doses of that vaccine, far outweigh any of the risks, even the issues that we’ve been raising today. Which brings me to one important point I’ll make about the vaccine, which is the consent process. So you can imagine through the night, and you saw that we all, the four of us stood up last night within half an hour of having that advice given by the medical expertise to talk about what needs to happen, to change. Of course there’s a lot of processes that have had to go through overnight and thanks again, as others have said, to the staff in Health and also our colleagues in the states and territories in relation to certain matters. One of those key ones is the consent process. So one of the recommendations from ATAGI was to make sure that that informed consent process was absolutely and totally informed by this new information and so that will be available today. In some states there was an issue there because of the lack of that new informed consent process being available. They’ve made changes to the program today. But that’s a temporary matter and administrative. To reiterate, as we’ve all said, that the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risk, particularly and specifically in that over 50-year-old age group.
Just to a couple of matters in relation to National Cabinet. The PM’s gone into all the issues in relation to the AHPPC advice. Again I want to really acknowledge and thank my colleagues, the chief health officers in the AHPPC that I Chair, who came to that consensus opinion, advised their state premiers and chief ministers to go with that approach, which is going to really help in the reopening aspects. In terms of what’s been asked in one of those elements that the PM has mentioned in relation to the future work for AHPPC, this is really just acknowledging the things that are not currently known and the recommendations that we put to National Cabinet were based with those caveats, and so the task in the coming months is to try to identify those issues - what is the role and the nature of the effect of the vaccine program in relation to transmission of the virus, what about variants of concern, how that, how may that change these matters, and what do we need to do, specifically for those that have been shown to be, to cause more severe disease or more highly transmissive virus, what is the length of protection that is given by the various vaccines that are being used, what about children, when they should be vaccinated, how many Australians have been vaccinated, so that relates to the vaccine rollout, and also the particular vaccines being used. So that’s the task we have been given and we’ll work through that in ways that we can and provide that advice so that that can support future reopening.
JOURNALIST: Can I please ask about the pacing of the Pfizer imports. You said the 20 million extra doses will come in the fourth quarter, will the original 20 million doses be brought forward at all and how many doses of Pfizer are you expecting per week in the second and third quarters?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: What's Pfizer's indicated is that we will see an expansion in April. They have asked that we provide the numbers when we have confirmation and so at this stage they are indicating an expansion in April as opposed to the figures which have been approximately 130,000 plus a week. Again an expansion in May, quite a significant expansion in May. Then in June there's likely to be a near doubling - sorry July, there's likely to be a near doubling which will track through to the rest of the year and that would see the full 20 million. I apologise, at the request of the company because they haven't confirmed the exact figures that they’ve asked that we speak in indicative terms. Then the 20 million which has just been purchased, at this point in time is settled for the fourth quarter but we are working with them on the possibility of bringing forward as many of those doses as possible. There's no false promises on that.
JOURNALIST: Can you explain now why your Government didn't sign contracts with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna to protect Australians against exactly this circumstance?
PRIME MINISTER: We took the advice of the scientific advisory group as we have done all through this process. Our entire approach has been to follow the advice of the medical experts who have assessed these matters in great detail and provided their recommendations to Government. That group is led by Professor Murphy so I think he is best placed to answer your question.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, so the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group strongly recommended that we have a stake in the mRNA vaccine and we went with Pfizer mainly because of its capacity to deliver and it was not a new company. And experience has shown that they have delivered a lot more vaccine than Moderna. Had we had a contract with Moderna we would have had not very much delivered at this time, at the moment. So we’re focusing on increasing our Pfizer, the two vaccines are very similar. Johnson & Johnson we have been in discussions with. We have had the AstraZeneca vaccine which is an adenovirus vector vaccine, Johnson & Johnson is one too. We still don't know what the cause of this adverse effect is, whether it relates to just this vaccine or other adenoviruses, we have to wait and see. So at the moment we are still exploring with Johnson & Johnson as we have with every other company but every single recommendation of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group that has been made to Government has been accepted.
JOURNALIST: Last week and this week you said that the problem was supply and yet overnight you seem to have magiced 20 million new doses of Pfizer. Can you understand why some voters would be scratching their head a little bit in relation to how that's occurred? Can you tell us which country they come from, how much they cost taxpayers, and if you have extra left over from the CSL contract from AstraZeneca where will they be going?
PRIME MINISTER: I will let Greg deal with the matters that you raised at the end. The additional vaccines we have been able to secure for the fourth quarter of this year are not vaccines that obviously would have been available here and now. Here and now we have the availability of vaccines of Pfizer from our original contract which is for 20 million as well as the contracts with AstraZeneca. And so supply is the fundamental factor. And the supply of that vaccine and how it's been used in our vaccination roll out obviously is impacted by the events of the last 24 hours, events that were not foreseen. These issues did not come up in the trials as was said last night. And they are quite rare circumstances where these side effects become apartment. And I stress again, that there is no ban or prohibition on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine across the adult population. There is a recommendation for a preference but these are matters that individuals can discuss with their doctor. Even when we get to the next phase, in Phase 2, we are still talking about millions and millions of Australians over the age of 50 for whom the AstraZeneca vaccine is recommended. Not recommended against, recommended for, that AstraZeneca is a vaccine that can be very effectively used and is very effective in supporting Australia's vaccination program. So all up now we have 170 million doses contracted. Prior to today we had 150 million doses contracted. But when there are events that require us to be fleet footed, to shore up our supplies then we have taken those decisions. But in terms of the roll out and the timing I will leave that to the Minister.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Very briefly Sam, I think the key phrase is the timing of supply. So it is the timing of the initial supplies right around the world. Those countries that were producing their own, in particular the United Kingdom and the United States, had access to very large volumes. Obviously I think everybody will be aware of the challenges that Europe has faced. We have been in the fortunate position, just as Professor Murphy has shown with the ramp up, because we have had AstraZeneca with home-grown production through CSL allowing us to ramp up that supply earlier. I think there have been some figures put about but I see it as about 5.5% of the adult population which has now been reached which has multiplied by more than fourfold in just over two and a half weeks. In terms of the origins, it is for the individual companies to identify if they wish to identify the source, the commercial arrangements are such, and the security arrangements are such, that we have been asked not to identify the particular sources. I apologise for that but that is understandable. In terms of the investment, our total investment in vaccines alone is over $4 billion and our total investment in the vaccine program is now over $7 billion.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with the budget coming up in May, how has the change to the health advice surrounding AstraZeneca jabs affected the Budget's parameters? And is the Government willing to pay AstraZeneca so CSL can get out of its contract once it's made enough doses for everyone over 50 so it can start producing Novavax vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll allow Professor Murphy to speak to the issues around Novavax, but the parameters for the Budget are being brought together now and so they haven't been finalised. The Budget is not that far away now and the Budget parameters always take account of the factors at the time of preparing the Budget. On the basis of the medical advice that we've received and the programs particularly that we have and the supplies that we've particularly been able to secure in the last 24 hours to supplement what was already there, I wouldn't be expecting any major impact through those parameters. This is my seventh Budget so I’ve got somewhat of an understanding about the things that impact on these issues and we've always taken a very conservative position when it comes to the parameters. That's the Treasury's way, and I think that is very prudent when it comes to putting these Budgets together. Already the budget is significantly outperforming the parameter estimates that were set in the mid-year statement. Unemployment is well below where we'd anticipated it to be, and the many other things that flow from that, impacts on payments et cetera, on social security and so on, are all impacted by those effects. So I wouldn't consider this to be terribly material with its impact on parameters. Again, I stress and I'm sure Professor Murphy because he has said it enough times to me in the last 24 hours, the AstraZeneca vaccine remains a critical component of Australia's vaccination program. It is particularly essential in those 1A and 1B components of the program which ensures that we are protecting the most vulnerable in the community in a safe way. If we are in a position to have vaccinated 1A and 1B then that has implications for being in a position where we can begin starting to treat COVID-19 like the flu. That's where National Cabinet wants to be. We want to get Australia to a position where we can treat COVID-19 in the same way as we treat many other viruses. That doesn't mean the virus can't be present, it just means that the virus is not going to lead to the disastrous outcomes we are seeing overseas. The flu every year, sadly has impacts on Australians including fatalities sadly, but that being the case we haven't engaged in mass lockdowns of our country because of the flu. But we’re not at that point yet and I think we soon will be. So we'll continue to roll out the vaccines from CSL. We will continue to secure the other vaccines that we have from the other sources and where we have vaccines that we can make available, particularly in our own region as part of the Quad initiative and in the Indo-Pacific and especially for our Pacific family we will certainly be doing that. In fact, I already have diverted a number of those vaccines to assist the effort in both Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. Brendan.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So, just on that issue, what we need CSL to do now, is to continue to churn out AstraZeneca. We need this vaccine in significant quantities to protect our over 70s and 80s. We have to finish that program. Of course, we will work with CSL as we work out planning to see just what production rate they need to keep up over the coming year. Now, in terms of Novavax, sure, CSL can only make one vaccine at a time. We have discussions with CSL about making other vaccines but we want them to focus on AstraZeneca at the moment. At the moment with Novavax they are producing overseas and they are likely to be able to provide us some vaccine in quarter three. It may be the quickest way to get it. We're working through all of the options of potential home production versus international supply with all of our vaccines. But at the moment, CSL is making AstraZeneca. We need it and our elderly Australians need to have in their arms.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you stress there is no ban on the AstraZeneca vaccine, indeed your mother is going to get it.
PRIME MINISTER: Correct.
JOURNALIST: Rightly or wrongly though, isn't the damage already done here in terms of vaccine hesitancy? We're already hearing reports that people over the age of 50 are pulling out of scheduled appointments. How do you intend to combat that now?
PRIME MINISTER: Doing exactly what we’re doing now, being very clear in the communication about what the medical advice is and to place that in context. And I’ve got to say, the media has a role to play in that as well. The information is very clear that if you're over the age of 50, it is recommended that you do have the vaccine. COVID-19, if there were to be another wave in Australia the people most vulnerable to death from COVID-19 are those who are in 1B. And so you would be putting yourself at risk, you would be putting yourself at risk if you didn't get the vaccine, because you would be exposing yourself to the more likely event of a COVID contracted condition that could result in serious illness. So COVID is a much greater threat by a factor many, many, many times over than the AstraZeneca vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine is a life-saving vaccine and particularly for vulnerable Australians. That's why I want my mum to get it, and that's why I want your mum to get it, and your dad, and your uncle, and your aunt, your brother, your sister. That is a life-saving vaccine.
JOURNALIST: On the GP rollout Prime Minister, we are ramping up, there's lots more GPs providing vaccines, but they're providing AstraZeneca and the pharmacies are also meant to provide AstraZeneca. What does this new requirement of Pfizer mean for the GPs and the pharmacists? Will they be able to use Pfizer vaccines or is there going to be a change to the rollout at that stage?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: The GP program continues. There are, most of the people the GPs are vaccinating are over 50s, mostly over 70s and 80s. They need the vaccine, we're providing the vaccine, they're turning up to get vaccinated. So the GP program right throughout 1A and 1B will continue exactly as it is. Then when we get into 2A, there's people over 50 and over 60 who will also be able to go to their GPs to get vaccinated. It's true that we planned in Phase 2 to roll out pharmacies and we are looking at how we will do that now. As we said last night, we need to recalibrate and see, if we can get more Pfizer, how we will deal with the under 50 as we get into phase 2B which is the under 50s when that will become an issue. So we’ll work through that as we’re replanning and recalibrating the program at the moment.
It is certainly true that the Pfizer vaccine now can be, there's TGA registration changes that allow the Pfizer vaccine to be transported and stored at refrigeration temperature for a longer period of time which will make it easier from a logistic capacity if we were to use Pfizer in mass vaccination clinics or in pharmacies. But we're considering all those options at the moment.
JOURNALIST: Given that people are pulling out of appointments as Pablo was mentioning before, the New South Wales state government announcing they were pausing AstraZeneca for all age groups today, are you concerned you are losing control over the vaccine rollout to those voices and giving voices to the anti-vax crowd? And can you stand here today with any certainty and say that all adult Australians would have at least one jab by Christmas?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, I said last night, that we're not in a position at the moment to reconfirm a timetable. We're not in that position. And I'm not going to do that, regardless of the invitation. We're going to work through the implications of this most recent medical advice, for the calibration of the rollout. And the fact that we've now been able to secure an additional 20 million Pfizer vaccines for Quarter Four is very encouraging. In terms of, you make reference to the statement by New South Wales today, I spoke to the Premier about that today. This is an administrative issue, not a medical issue. They are updating their systems to have the new consent arrangements put in place, and the other consent forms are coming out from the Commonwealth today. This happened last night. So to characterise it as some sort of medical ban on New South Wales would be false. It would be incorrect. It would be misleading. And I don't think that would be a good way to describe it in those terms. I have spoken to the Premier. They have put this in place simply to update their forms. It's an administrative process. It's not about the vaccine. I've had that directly from the Premier. So, I would caution people not to be concerned by that process. It is simply a matter of updating the systems, to reflect what has occurred overnight, to ensure the appropriate consent forms are in place, and that we can ensure that that consent provision is being respected by the governments, at a state and federal level, and individuals can have that appropriate consent.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I think, Jonathan, there’s one very important number in the midst of lots of them, might assist with the confidence question. And that is 81,297 Australians were vaccinated yesterday. That was a record number. And it's in an Easter week where many people will still be on leave. It’s when obviously, the day that there had been the reports which were well traversed and understandably so, from the European Union and the UK, and the fact that Australia was going through a consideration process. And yet that number of people came out. And so there will be people who reflect. Our job and with your support, your job is to help convey the medical advice and the confidence and that's a national partnership. So, we've been through hard times in COVID. And there are difficult days and challenges and this is one of the many challenges. But the fact that those numbers are continuing, the fact that the rollout is growing, we would encourage people to have confidence in the medical advice. The people who have kept us safe, they're right here. They're the ones who are backing this vaccine, for the over 50s.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Just to clarify something you just said, you talked about diverting some vaccine doses…
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, AZ.
JOURNALIST: And how many and to which country?
PRIME MINISTER: At this point it was 10,000. That decision was taken yesterday, early yesterday. And we'll continue to review that.
JOURNALIST: To which countries, sorry?
PRIME MINISTER: Papua New Guinea, and we believe we’ll be able to make them available to Timor-Leste as well.
JOURNALIST: Does this new advice on AstraZeneca change how we help our region with AstraZeneca doses? Are you still seeking the one million doses from Europe for PNG?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. I’m just going to move across and we’ll finish up over here.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned once we completed 1A and 1B, we can start treating this more like the flu. If that’s the case, what is stopping the international borders being reopened at some point this year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I said was we need to get to that point before we can consider that. That's what enables us to get into that position. And so, we need to get into that position. And what I've asked, and the Premiers and I have asked the AHPPC to do, the medical expert panel, is to give us advice, that when we reach that, what we can then do. One of the key issues, and either Paul or Brendan may want to speak to this as well, is still at this point we do not have the evidence to support the position on transmissibility. That is the critical factor that relates to the ability to change how we would do quarantine. That's an important factor in allowing people to travel overseas and borders and so on. But the key issue of protecting against our most vulnerable and then being in a position where we can contain and suppress any outbreaks, they are the other factors that are part of this. But Brendan, Paul sorry.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yes, so it was the issues that I mentioned earlier, before the questions, the transmission of the virus, what is the effect of the vaccine on that, there's positive signs that it does affect, but that isn't completely known. The variants of concern, we know that some of the vaccines do not work as well against some of the variants of concern and there's more variants coming every day. So there's another element. The length of protection of the vaccines themselves. That's an unknown. No-one in the world has had a vaccine in their arm for more than a year. And so, that is another factor we need to put in. So there's a range of issues we'll be putting into some modelling over the coming weeks and we'll be discussing that as part of it. But I think it's important to not rush this component. At the moment, Australia is mostly open internally. And that is the agreement as the PM has mentioned about the response to outbreaks that will come from incursions from quarantine. That’s the situation at the moment whilst the vaccine rolls out, to protect our most vulnerable people. That’s the crucial point.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you and the Premiers have made a virtue of accepting medical advice. Why shouldn't some of us see that advice now as being bad advice, terribly risk averse advice, because our regulators here are now taking a…
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I can't quite hear you Chris.
JOURNALIST: Our regulators here are taking a more risk averse attitude than they are in the UK at the moment. And obviously they're measuring the risk against zero. But aren't there other factors they should have taken into account? So why is this good advice? And why can't you reject advice, if you all think it's safe for most of the population, why can't we just do that?
PRIME MINISTER: That's what the advice says. The advice does not put a ban on its administration of the doses across the population. It doesn't do that. It informs as to a very remote risk. And I would think Australians would want to know that. And it advises a preference, where there is a choice of vaccines. And that's what it does. I wouldn't agree, and Professor Murphy or Professor Kelly may wish to speak to this as well, that the advice that we receive is inconsistent with what is happening in other places. I would say, but that is not the case across Europe. In some cases it's even more than where it is in Australia. But our position on 50, as recommended to us, is very consistent with the medical advice across Europe. And if all of those European countries had gone down that path, and Australia had taken a different position, at a lower age group, and our understanding from ATAGI, they're the experts, is that the medical advice supports the age advice of 50. And that means that over 50, they're very, very strong of the view that those over that age are not faced with that same remote risk as there is for a younger population. In fact, the reverse. Not having the vaccine, particularly for elder Australians, is a greater risk to their health. And that's why I encourage them to take the vaccine. So when it comes to medical advice, I think we've been served very well. You don't get to choose the medical advice, that's provided by the medical experts. And as a Prime Minister or a Premier, we consider that advice and we make decisions. We haven't gone beyond the advice, we haven't gone below the advice on this occasion. It is important that we do consider other factors in terms of the impact on the economy and things of that nature and we regularly do. But in relation to this advice, it is sufficiently precautionary. But at the end of the day, it leaves it in your hands, or anyone else's hands, to ensure they can take the advice from their own doctor and ensure that they're vaccinated. Because the more Australians that get vaccinated, the more that happens, then the more options the Premiers and I have. And I think that's what Australians want. And that's why I want to continue to encourage Australians to speak to their doctors and to participate in the vaccination program. At present, we're substantively dealing with populations that are not directly impacted by this advice. Of course there are frontline health workers and others who are, and I'm confident that we’re going to be able to deal with their needs through the supplies we have, more or less in the time frame we hoped to do that by. When we move to the next phase, well we'll be addressing that in the weeks ahead.
JOURNALIST: PM, on the international border...
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, did you want to add anything to that in terms of the consistency with the international advice?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: PM I’d only just say that all of the advice that has been given across all countries in Europe and the UK and here in relation to AstraZeneca is based on the same data. And it's the context specificity which is important. Back to one of the previous questions about what that means for our aid to PNG for example, in a completely different context they only have AstraZeneca available. They don't have a choice, and their risk from COVID, a large COVID-19 outbreak of severe infection, hospitals being overwhelmed, and death, is a real thing. For us it's a different thing. And the medical advice is based on that current context.
JOURNALIST: On the international borders and the possibility of vaccinated travellers being able to come and go from the country, would you anticipate that would be a situation where people would only be able to go if they've got a purpose, like going for business, or be reunited with a terminally ill family member, international students who have been vaccinated coming in, or would it be more broadly for people who want to go overseas for a holiday? And related to that, you’ve got people overseas who are, particularly in Asia, who are getting the Chinese made vaccines. Is there any work being done to recognise their vaccination in the way you might recognise Pfizer and AZ?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly to deal with the latter matter. I mean, that very much depends on the ability of source data for the TGA to be able to make those assessments. Ad so that presents challenges for the issue you nominate. On the broader question, on whether it can mean being able to go overseas, whether to Fiji or for a holiday or something like that, or to go on urgent business, or to visit a very ill loved one overseas, or important business activity, I mean, we're vaccinating people currently who had to go up to Papua New Guinea to be part of the health teams working up there. So there are a range, rightly of circumstances where this may be useful. All we have done today, I want to stress, is ask the medical advisors what are the health implications of these types of options, and what are the preconditions that we would need to be comfortable about before going down that path. And so you're right, the risk may be such you might limit it to exempt categories. And that would be the sort of thing that we would currently allow people to travel for, which is occurring right now, but that could be done with greater confidence because of the vaccination and when they return they may not then have to take up valuable places in hotel quarantine. Or it could be more broad as you say. But I can tell you one thing, this is very much the case, the more Australians who are vaccinated, the more likelihood there is of being able to have the types of arrangements that I’ve mentioned. If the vaccination population is lower, then that of course limits the options of borders, and of the other things that we've spoken about. So all of those options are on the table. But we want to know what the key gateway thresholds are from a medical point of view that could allow those things to happen. Last question.
JOURNALIST: Do you see Australians who have been vaccinated coming home for Christmas? Essentially, are we in a position to make a call?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm pleased to know that since the September meeting last year, more than 120,000 Australians have come home. Around 12,000 vulnerable Australians in particular have come home. That's four times, or thereabouts, what we were trying to achieve at that time. And I’m pleased to note that in the more recent figures we're seeing a reduction, thankfully in the number of people registered to come back. And so that's welcome. And that's actually been achieved at a time when we've had constraints on arrivals coming in. I'm pleased that Victoria is opening up to flights again, that's really going to assist the task. I'm looking forward to Queensland going back to their capacity. I'm forever thankful to New South Wales for, despite having the challenges they've had from time to time, they have kept those flights coming in. If it wasn't for the New South Wales Government, there would be tens of thousands of Australians who would not be home now. And we thank them for the great work they have done to support the Commonwealth in achieving those outcomes, as others states have. So I look forward to that occurring. And I look forward to the time, as more and more Australians are vaccinated and there's greater certainty about the effects of the vaccination, particularly on transmission, that we're able to take these additional steps that National Cabinet wants to take. We really want Australians to know that. That A, we're living in a country at the moment in a way that very few others around the world are living. We are in a position that others envy. If you move around the country, from the west coast to the east coast, people are going out, they're enjoying getting together as families, they're going to sporting and cultural events, they are returning at least domestically to a life they knew before the pandemic. The international borders aren't open yet. Those sort of things are not occurring yet. But if we keep going down this path, we will continue to lead the world in our response to the pandemic and the economic comeback which is growing each and every day. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
8 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good evening. I’m joined by the Health Minister. Of course, I'm joined by the Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of the Department of Health. Australia's journey through COVID has been certainly one of the world's best and there's no place you'd rather be. We've had our successes over the course of the last year, but we've also had our setbacks, and we've indeed had our heartbreaks as well, as so many Australians can attest. Throughout this journey, though, we have always sought to keep Australians as informed as we possibly can. I can recall standing in this room a year ago taking you all through many different issues as a result of the matters being worked through by our medical advice experts who have informed us all the way through this past year and more.
Tonight, we have received advice from ATAGI in the last 15 minutes and we thought it was important that we came and briefed you on that this evening so it was available immediately to Australians. The key principle of our management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been always to base our decisions on the expert medical advice. It has not been our practice to jump at shadows. It has not been our practice to take unnecessary precautions. We've been taking the necessary precautions, based on the best possible medical advice. We've always taken the time to ensure we get that advice, consider it carefully and make decisions in the best interests of Australians. And those best interests principally have to address the health of Australians. This is why we are in the position we are in today, and so many other countries would want to be exactly where Australia is today. And it means that when setbacks occur, then we can still go about our lives here in Australia, perhaps not as much as we may have before when COVID wasn't in this country. But even now to say it's in this country would be an overstatement. We have no community transmission currently being reported around Australia and where outbreaks do occur as a result of arrivals into Australia, we've demonstrated a great capacity to be able to deal with that in a very effective way.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, known as ATAGI, has met to consider the medical evidence regarding unforeseen but yet rare and serious side effects, mostly associated with younger people from the AstraZeneca vaccine. ATAGI has reviewed that matter, drawing on the international advice and data and provided recommendations to government, which the Health Minister and I have this evening accepted. That recommends that an advisory be provided for administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine for persons under the age of 50 and I'll ask the Chief Medical Officer to speak to that in just a moment's time.
We expect that this will require some changes to the arrangements we have as part of the vaccination rollout. We discussed that this morning at my media conference earlier today, that that could be possible and this includes when we might expect our first doses ultimately to be able to be offered to all Australians. As always, we will encourage Australians to seek out the advice of their own doctor in relation to these issues. Australians make choices about their own health and the best people to advise them on those decisions is their own GP and we would encourage them to do just that. So with that, I might ask the Chief Medical Officer to speak to the recommendations we've received from ATAGI this evening. I’ll then ask Professor Murphy to speak on the issues that then relate to the vaccination rollout. And then I'll ask the Health Minister to make some closing comments and then we'll take questions on these issues tonight. I'm not proposing that we have a broader press conference on other matters tonight, I'm sure you will understand. We had one of those this morning and I'll be standing up after the National Cabinet tomorrow. So there'll be ample opportunity at that time. Paul?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, PM. So as the Prime Minister has mentioned, we've received advice from the ATAGI group this evening. So this is a group of experts on vaccines, on epidemiology related to vaccines, on vaccination programmes. And really are- they’re an appointed committee to do exactly what they've provided tonight, to provide advice to government, specifically to Minister Hunt, and so that those decisions of government can be advised by the best medical advice. I was at their meeting today, which went for several hours. That was the second one in two days where they were considering specifically the issues that have been raised and people are aware of through last night and over the last week, particularly in Europe and the UK. Several members of that ATAGI group, as well as the Therapeutic Goods Administration, have dialled into those meetings. And so they had very up to date information on this issue of these particularly rare but serious blood clots that have been associated now with the AstraZeneca vaccine. So they took into account and really balanced the risk and benefit of taking the decisions they took today, which is related to their advice, given to government this evening. And so they took definitely note what was decided in other countries, which has been variable in relation to these matters, and put that into an Australian context, not only as we are now in terms of the epidemiology of the disease in Australia up to this point, but also looking into the future about what might happen if there are outbreaks of COVID-19 in Australia.
So just to reiterate, this is a very rare event at the moment. It seems to be around four to six per million doses of vaccine. It's only been found in the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, usually within four to 10 days after that vaccine. But it is serious and it can cause up to 25 per cent death rate when it occurs. So that was the background and so the ATAGI recommendations are the following. At the current time, the use of the Pfizer vaccine is preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in adults aged less than 50 years who have not already received the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. This is based both on the increased risk of complications from COVID-19 with increasing age and thus increased benefit of the vaccination and the potentially lower but not zero risk of this rare event with increasing age. The second recommendation is that immunisation providers should only give a first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 50 years of age where benefit clearly outweighs the risk for that individual’s circumstances. The third recommendation is people that have had their first dose of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca without any serious adverse events can safely be given their second dose. This includes adults under the age of 50 and people who have had blood clots associated with low platelet levels after their first dose of COVID-19, AstraZeneca should not be given a second dose. So that's the all but one person that we've had so far in Australia are in that category. People who have had their first dose should safely have their second dose. The final recommendation is that the Department of Health further develop and find resources for informed consent that clearly convey the benefits and the risks of the AstraZeneca vaccine for both immunisation providers and consumers of all ages. And that is underway, that work, and that will be provided overnight and into the morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Professor Murphy?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thank you. So I want to start by just reiterating what Professor Kelly said, that this is a very, very rare event and it is a highly precautionary position that Australia can take because we're in a fortunate position with COVID. All vaccines have adverse effects. Some serious flu vaccines do, the Pfizer vaccine has a risk of anaphylaxis, which we've seen. But this syndrome, after all of the work we've done with the UK and Europe, does seem to be a real syndrome and we now feel that at an abundance of caution, given that this syndrome seems to occur mainly in younger people for whom the risk of severe COVID is not so great, that there is a basis to have a preferred recommendation for those under 50. I want to reiterate that we are strongly encouraging those 50 and over to take up the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is a highly effective vaccine at preventing severe COVID. The risk is extraordinarily low. I've had my first dose, I'll have my second dose. It is a vaccine that is very, very effective. And so this is a position that we're in that we feel out of an abundance of precaution on the evidence we have at the moment.
So what does this mean for the programme. For phase 1, which is for the vulnerable people, will pretty much continue as we are. Those over 70 and 80 will continue to get AstraZeneca at their GPs and be confident in its efficacy and its safety. For those health care workers under 50, they will now be prioritised to Pfizer and that might delay that particular phase of 1B, but that's the only phase that might be delayed. The important thing is that all, all of the vulnerable people, those vulnerable to severe COVID, will be covered as we planned by the middle of the year. Clearly, when we move into the broader younger population later on, we will have to recalibrate by reprioritising some Pfizer for younger people. And we are now reviewing all of the vaccine purchases we've made. You know, we have 51 million Novavax coming later in the year. We're looking at when we can bring other vaccines forward and continuing under the advice of the committee I chair to look at all of our vaccine portfolio. We always had a diverse and redundant portfolio and we will look forward, but we will have to replan the prioritisation of the programme, replan with the states and territories who are our partners in this endeavour, how we will deliver vaccines and we'll have to come back at a later stage with better estimates on when things in each phase will be completed. So thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Brendan. Greg?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. Right from the outset, our approach has been to focus on safety. The decisions, based on medical advice, whether it was with regards to what we've done in relation to closing the borders with China. The very difficult decision, but nevertheless the very clear decision not to proceed with the University of Queensland molecular clamp, a safe and effective vaccine under all the preliminary advice but which, of course, carried with it a side effect in terms of a false positive HIV marker, which was not deemed to be medically acceptable within Australia. Similarly, today, again, we're following the medical advice. We’re placing safety first. But what we've heard from Professor Murphy, what we've heard from Professor Kelly, two of the people at the heart of the medical advice to Australia, is that this remains a highly effective vaccine, safe for over 50s on the advice that we've received. And again, like Brendan, one of those that's had the vaccine, and I'll be lining up for my second dose when my turn comes around.
What is the context here? Of course, as the Prime Minister said at this moment, no community transmission in Australia with zero cases again today for the 58th day this year against a world of over 668,000 cases and 15,000 lives lost in the last 24 hours. Against that background, the advice that we received was to procure a broad-based vaccine programme, which we've done, and that was initially four vaccines across three different classes, mRNA, which had never been produced before, Pfizer, the AstraZeneca as a viral vector vaccine, the Novavax as a protein vaccine, and the molecular clamp. We already have 20 million Pfizer which are due this year, reconfirmed with the head of Pfizer Australia today. We have the AstraZeneca, which of course is available for all of those over 50 years of age. We have Novavax, 51 million units. The latest advice is that that is expected to commence, confirmed today, that this remains their intention and their projection subject to clinical trials and approvals within the third quarter for Australia and we also have access to the COVAX facility. And of course, where the committee that Professor Murphy chairs recommends additional acquisitions, we will seek those, but we won't preempt them publicly. I think that's what we need from me. We have a strong, clear vaccine programme that will have passed a million people during the course of today and will continue particularly in that over 50, which will be unaffected. The over 50 components right through the heart of phase 1B and right through the heart of phase 2A.
JOURNALIST: There are going to be lots of people in phase 1B, people under the age of 50, healthcare workers, people with disabilities, people with health conditions. How are we going to get them vaccinated if we’re only getting about 140,000 doses of Pfizer a week?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Brendan to come forward, and as he does that I’ll make this point that we have tasked now have overnight and through the course of tomorrow and over the weekend, there will be a recalibration of how the programme will need to be adjusted to take into account the decision the Government has taken tonight to accept those recommendations from ATAGI. As the Minister has just said, there are, of course, Pfizer vaccines that are in Australia and we are getting a regular supply of those and they can be prioritised against the individuals for whom that will be the more appropriate vaccine for them. But we just have to work through the logistics of that and the calibration of how that is done and that will be our task now. So we'll do that in an orderly way. Tomorrow, I'll meet with National Cabinet. I alerted them earlier today, as I had last week, about these issues, and so we'll update them on those issues tomorrow and I'm sure they will raise questions and that we can take that on as we recalibrate the programme in the days ahead. But Brendan?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So obviously, Pfizer have committed to 20 million doses this year and we are working with them almost on a daily basis to see when they can increase their supply and we are confident that at some stage in the near future we will get improved supply of Pfizer. The other important parameter is we will finish aged care in a number of weeks’ time and that will free up the Pfizer that has been going into aged care and all of that Pfizer will go to those under 50s, particularly in the 1B priority groups. Important to remember, though, that we don't have community transmission. These health care workers are not at significant risk if it means they wait a few more weeks to get their vaccine.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask about, you say it’s an abundance of caution. But it seems to be extraordinarily cautious because the numbers that Paul Kelly gave before were 4-6 per million, which is pretty much what you said today, Prime Minister. But we have allowed for decades millions of Australian women to take contraceptive pills, which has, in effect, a thousand times more risk than this. And yet you're abandoning for all intents and purposes some generations getting this vaccine, which by any reckoning of recent medicine is deemed safe.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I would just point to the expert advice that we've got from ATAGI and chaired by Professor Allen Cheng. They've really weighed up all of those things. They've looked at the fact that we do have an alternative in terms of Pfizer right now. And as Brendan has said, other vaccines will be made available later this year. It is a very cautious approach...
JOURNALIST: Very, very cautious, isn’t it? I mean, it’s more than abundance of caution. This is more caution than you would see in any pharmaceutical, I'd say, in recent decades.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yes, but this is what has happened in other countries as well. And this is the advice that we've received and as the PM has said, that's the advice that has been
taken on.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you disappointed at this? This challenges the logic that you presented in recent hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Well no, I don't know if I'd share that view. What I said is that we would seek the medical expert advice, and that is ATAGI. That's what they're there for. They are considering the situation here in Australia. Those in other jurisdictions are in different situations to Australia. In other countries right now, the death rate is appalling and the risk of not proceeding is very great. As I said this morning, some 6,000 lives saved in the UK because their situation is far more desperate.
But I want to draw you, to answer your question, to recommendation 2, which says that the immunisation providers should only give a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine to adults aged under 50, where the benefit clearly outweighs the risk for that individual’s circumstances. And so ultimately here, the choice is with individual Australians and their doctor and that would be the case for the other treatments and vaccines that are out there currently. This advice is provided into the medical community, and then it's important to have that discussion with your local doctor. And so Greg, well, he's not quite under 50 anymore, but not too far past it. But the point is, we chose to predominantly deliver the vaccine on the advice of Professor Murphy's committee. And to do it through the GPs because that's where primary health care can be provided and you can have that discussion with your doctor and make an informed decision about your own health.
So the advice here today is not to not have the AstraZeneca vaccine. There is not a prohibition on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for persons under 50. There is an expression of a preference. And you're very right, Andrew, Australians will look at that risk. They will ask their doctor about that risk. Their doctor will know their own personal health circumstances and can answer any questions that they might have and for the benefit of they may feel quite, quite strongly that they would be better off having that vaccine, given the risks are clearly understood. So this is not a directive. This is not an instruction. This is advice that has been provided to Australians and the broader medical community who are responsible for administering these vaccines. But you're right, it is an abundance of caution and it's a caution that has been exercised consistent with many other countries around the world and we would expect to see that also continue in other countries now making similar decisions. And why we're here tonight is just to be very upfront with Australians, so Australians can know that they're getting all the information that we have and they can feel informed about the decisions they make about their own health and we want to empower them in those decisions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, despite the advice…
PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to go around the room tonight and just take one at a time.
JOURNALIST: Despite the advice that it's just a precaution, why would anyone now risk giving their elderly relatives the AstraZeneca vaccine, given we don’t have the virus here, we don’t have community transmission. Would it be preferred to perhaps wait for the Pfizer vaccine and is there now a need to speed up the delivery to give people over the age of 50 Pfizer rather than AstraZeneca?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So the advice as I said from the beginning is based on the evidence that we have so far. And we must say that this is very preliminary evidence. There are very few cases of this extremely rare event that have happened anywhere in the world. But the ones we've seen, there's definitely a tendency for it to be in younger people and we're still working out what the mechanism might be for why this is occurring. But it's most likely to be, seems to be related to an immune reaction, probably to the adenovirus of the AstraZeneca vaccine. So younger people have, we know, have a more robust immune system and are likely to have this sort of reaction. So the 50 cut off is based on what we've seen from these events so far, more common in younger people, less common in older people. We know older people are at higher risk of COVID and COVID could come. You know, we could get outbreaks. We've had incursions from hotel quarantine in recent weeks. So it's very important that those people in those priority groups are vaccinated as quickly as possible and AstraZeneca is perfectly safe in people in those older age groups.
PRIME MINISTER: And that goes to the point that the health advice is that the AstraZeneca vaccine for persons aged over 50 is well advised because their risk, should there be an outbreak of COVID-19, they would be very exposed to that risk. They are the most vulnerable group in the country. And so it's important for them to be vaccinated because the vaccine protects against very serious illness. And we have seen in the more than 900 deaths that we've had in Australia, they have predominantly been with older Australians. And so that would mean that the health advice would encourage them taking that vaccine to protect them from what is a global pandemic. We've done very well during the pandemic, but when we're not immune from these uncertainties and then taking the precautions that are necessary when we need to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what impact is this expected to have on the uptake of AstraZeneca? And was that a consideration tonight, the chance that you can scare too many people from taking AstraZeneca by taking this very cautious approach?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me answer the first one. I'll let Paul deal with what was considered within ATAGI. Our purpose here is to reassure Australians, to reassure them that we've been very clear about what the very low level of risk is here. But it is rare, but a serious risk for those who can find themselves in that situation. I'd also note that it was unforeseen. I mean, these are not things that are presented in the trials or other phases, as I understand it, when the AstraZeneca vaccine was going through that process, either here or overseas. You'll recall that the Health Minister and I were very adamant that the process for approving the AstraZeneca vaccine, indeed, all of the vaccines that are being used here in Australia would go through every single process required of our TGA, and it did. No corners cut out, no process not followed. And so in standing here tonight, I'm saying to Australians that we've been very upfront with you. There is this issue. It is an issue of, I'd say, low, low risk in terms of its incidence. So four to six out of a million, that is a very low incidence. But it would not be appropriate, it would not be the right thing to do to not share that information with Australians. So we are doing that. And I would hope that that would provide a reassurance about the way that the Government is seeking to inform people about the programme. Paul, on the issues that we considered and impacts on vaccine resistance?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY: So vaccine confidence is absolutely crucial. We understand that. But I would echo the PM's comments there that one of the most important things, we know this from many years of working in vaccines and vaccine confidence, is about sharing information and being upfront with that information is a key component of that. People should have trust in this programme because this new signal, which has come from the many millions of doses that have happened, particularly in Europe and the UK, and those rare events have started to come out that were not found in the clinical trials. We've taken very rapid decisions to look at that data carefully and to make the decision that has been made today and the advice has come from medical experts on that basis. We are sharing that with the Australian public so that they can be aware and know that if we ever get that information, we will immediately and fully be transparent about it.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm moving all around. So I'll get to you, I promise.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask you about CSL and Novavax? How will or how will this affect I guess the production of AstraZeneca from CSL? Will they still be asked to make the 50 million doses? I know there was some talk a while ago about CSL potentially making Novavax as well, I think you said a few weeks ago, professor, that you said we're expecting that in October or September. Will we see CSL produce Novavax?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: All options are on the table. Clearly, CSL, we still have a big need for AstraZeneca. It is going to be a really important vaccine to vaccinate a significant proportion of the population. So they will continue to make AstraZeneca. We will be reviewing with them over coming months just what the output will be. They can't make another vaccine while they're making AstraZeneca. They made that very clear. We will explore with Novavax if there are any options to manufacture onshore. But most importantly, we are working with Novavax to get their promised deliveries as early as possible. As Minister Hunt said, they are talking about getting some deliveries to us in quarter three and we will continue to explore with every vaccine company, according to the advice of the SITAG Committee. So all options are on the table.
PRIME MINISTER: So in short, yes. Greg?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: And I might just add, I spoke earlier today with the global vice president of Novavax. They remain on track on their advice to us for a likely delivery in the third quarter, commencing then and proceeding from then on. The advice that they have on their published results, albeit early stage, are 100 per cent effectiveness with regards to prevention of serious illness, hospitalisation or loss of life.
JOURNALIST: Just a follow up on the vaccine, I think the last time I remember hearing about Novavax, I think they were still quite early in the process of applying with the TGA and that sort of thing, are they where are they at now in terms of the application?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Well advanced. It's a progressive process. They're providing data as they come. Obviously, final approval will probably await the publication of the main phase three trial in the US, but they are progressively providing information to the TGA and that's progressing.
JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, can I just clarify, the equal aged 50 to 70, when were their vaccinations due to start and are they still starting on those dates and on the point the Prime Minister made about the reliance on one’s individual doctor, obviously, the doctor knows patient’s health state, but he or she doesn't necessarily know much about the vaccines and as we see in you experts getting changing information. So I just wonder how much people can really rely on that information?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So we are providing information to the doctors. That's really important. We're providing preliminary information tonight and we'll be providing information as we have done right through the GP vaccination programme. Comprehensive information, informed consent, patient information sheets.
JOURNALIST: All doctors, instantly?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Preliminary information tonight will go out to all of our vaccination providers and we'll provide new information over coming days. In terms of the general population aged 50 to 70, they’re planned to come in phase two.
JOURNALIST: Which starts…
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Which starts when we've finished most of phase one, around the middle of the year. And for those with AstraZeneca, we'll have plenty of AstraZeneca.
JOURNALIST: Still on track though, that timetable?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: We intend to start them at that time.
PRIME MINISTER: I'd also stress, Michelle, that with vaccines, normally this is what happens. This is not a new process. From time to time., if there are issues with vaccines that occur and ATAGI consider matters on other medicines or vaccines, then this is the same process and GPs and doctors are familiar with that. So they would get their alerts, they would get their information or that is what would normally happen. And so that is a process they're familiar with. And that's the process we will be following on this occasion as well.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I think it is worth understanding with our flu vaccines. We have some flu vaccines for under 65s and some flu vaccines over 65s. So the notion of an age cut-off is actually something which is already part of our current operating vaccine programme. So that's not a new concept, but it's an evolution with this particular vaccine based on the advice.
JOURNALIST: Can you just clarify what this means for the timeline for the wider rollout. And just on targets like these, is a setback like this give you reason to reconsider even setting targets in terms of how many doses are being devices or just the uncertainty around this entire process just makes it impossible to know how to say that we will do this by this point?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in terms of what the overall implications are at this stage, it's too early to give you that answer. And that's what I said in my opening comments. I mean, this now has to be considered, the impacts assessed and the programme evaluated and recalibrated. And once we've done that we’ll be in a better position to understand those implications. The early stage implications of this, though, are far less significant because of the nature of who we're vaccinating right now. I can tell you that at Parkville in Melbourne, they'll be cranking out AstraZeneca just as quickly as they were over the last few weeks. And that will continue. The distribution will continue. And we'll be discussing that also at National Cabinet tomorrow. So the early stage impacts with the groups that we're vaccinating at the moment, we would expect to see less change, obviously, for those who are under 50, who are frontline health workers or quarantine workers. But majority of those will be vaccinated already, then those who are working in aged care or disability care, there will be implications there. And so we will have to look at how you read reapportioned where Pfizer goes and makes it available to those groups.
On the broader question that you've raised about seeking to provide some guidance as to how we think things are going to play out. These are questions that I'm asked as all the others who are joining me on this platform this evening by the media and not just the media, but states and territories and others on a daily basis. I think Australians reasonably want to know how they think things are going to proceed in the weeks and months ahead. But you're right to highlight that, as I did this morning, that the environment in which COVID is existent is not a certain one. There are many uncertainties. There are many, many variables. And when we have indicated these types of marks, we have always qualified them by saying that is subject to the events that may occur. And so I think it's important that when we provide that sort of guidance that the appropriate reporting of the qualifications is noted because things do change. This is not a certain world and we're not on our own. The whole world is dealing with the same uncertainty. The whole world has gone through a process of relying on expert medical advice to define those vaccines that they would seek to contract and have available to their populations. And Australia has made some very sound decisions on that front. And we have access to vaccines that many countries don't. But we also have additional options now to pursue and we will be pursuing those. But the overall impact of this on the timetable of the rollout, it is far too early. As I said, we received this advice formally at seven o'clock this evening. Brendan, anything you want to add to that?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: No, I think that's absolutely right Prime Minister. We will be working with our partners in the states and territories as we have been. It's been a very strong partnership the whole way through working on the recalibration of the programme and working with vaccines suppliers as we've already said, and we will be able to provide further updates in coming weeks.
JOURNALIST: I appreciate- just on that question. I appreciate that uncertainty but does that also include your October deadline to have at least one job for every Australian by that point is that part of- you do have to rethink around things like lockdowns and international border closures because of this and probably risk of sending people to the doctor Google, Professor Kelly. Is there any research being done around giving people blood thinners like aspirin to address the issue of clotting with AstraZeneca?
PRIME MINISTER: Why don't you start with that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I'll just do the easy question. So, look, this is a very new syndrome, as Professor Murphy mentioned. This is a brand new thing. It's only been demonstrated in the world over the last few weeks. There's lots of research going on about what the mechanism is to why it's why it's occurred. It's something similar to a particular type of blood thinner, actually, heparin, which can cause a similar syndrome, but it's different to that. So we have some ideas of the mechanisms, but we need to really understand that before we know what to do. There are treatments, in fact, to follow on from what the question about the advice to general practitioners and others. The Haematology Society of Australia has been very helpful and rapid in their advice about what to do on the basis if someone is diagnosed with this type of disease. But in terms of actual prevention, there's nothing it seems that it comes virtually spontaneously. It can't be predicted because of what people have had in the past, particular diseases. The only only one thing is if it's if you had this with the first AstraZeneca vaccine, you don't have the second.
PRIME MINISTER: And in relation to the other matter, that is exactly what I was referring to about the uncertainty and that's why we will have to look at the impact of this on that broader rollout. I think that's fairly obvious and fairly understandable. That was what I was referring to in my opening comments. So we will look at that. And in terms of the impact on other issues, well, of course, the vaccine rollout provides more opportunity, I think, to be surer to reduce further the risk that can encourage states and territories in terms of how they're managing restrictions. Now, right now, when it comes to community transmission, we're in a good place. But as we know from experience, that can change quite quickly. But what we've also seen is a rather quick responses. Restrictions have come on quickly, but they've gone off quickly, too. And I'm seeing a growing confidence from the states and territories, which I welcome and have long encouraged to move quickly on these things, as Northern Territory has done actually for a very long time, moved quickly on, moved quickly off on a hot spot basis. And same applies with how we are managing things across the ditch now with New Zealand and we're working on it on a very similar basis. So I don't expect to see that. I mean, the fundamental protections we have in place in Australia at the moment with how we've been suppressing COVID have been very important. And Australians are living life here very different to how people are in other countries. And that means, you know, a setback like this, an event like this does not have the impact that it is having it in those other countries, both to risk to life and risk of serious disease, but also risk that it means for the economy. And so we need to stay on our game when it comes to suppressing the virus. And we need to stay on our game and continuing to roll the safe and effective vaccines out to the population.
JOURNALIST: Will all Australians get at least one jab by the end of this year? And if we were to see another Melbourne-style, Victorian-style outbreak, would you change your advice to encourage young people to get vaccinated?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've already answered the first question on several occasions, so I don't propose to do that again.
JOURNALIST: Do you have a rough time?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we don't. No, we don't. Because as I said, we've learnt this at seven o'clock this evening and I think we have to take the time to assess the implications for the programme. And when we've done that, well, we may be able to form a view, but I don't think anyone should expect that any time soon. This will take some time to work through the implications. But it won't stop the work that we're doing in rolling out the vaccination programme right now with the doses that we have, particularly from Pfizer, but also rolling out from AstraZeneca, which are predominantly for older Australians above 50 in phases 1A and 1B. But the other question was?
JOURNALIST: If we were to see another big outbreak, say like Victoria, would you change your advice to younger people about AstraZeneca?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So the ATAGI advice that I read directly from earlier also addresses exactly that point, and it makes the point that the advice is based on the situation at the moment, but that risk and benefit equation can, with increased risk, change. And so the benefit of having vaccination rapidly and that sort of situation could change that advice. So, yes, this is the advice as of today, things may change in the future if the epidemiology of the disease changes in Australia as well as other matters. But that one in particular was looked at.
JOURNALIST: Just to clarify, Professor Kelly, just in terms of this blood clotting, have we only got one instance, the 44 year old chap in Melbourne, and we are sharing everything that ATAGI shared with you? Or is there some other concern, broader concern, that’s come from state departments scouring their records of people who been vaccinated?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Andrew, I've been completely transparent tonight, as we all have. So the advice...
JOURNALIST: It’s one in a million, isn’t it?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Well, I don't think that we've got quite to a million in terms of AstraZeneca. It's a million doses including the Pfizer vaccine. But, yes, so far, we've only seen that one case. That's the only one that we've had and that was subject to a specific response by the TGA, and they think that it fits into this general syndrome.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to take two more. One here, one there. I'm sorry, then we'll have to go.
JOURNALIST: How many people actually had the AstraZeneca shot here in Australia? And is there any general health advice that they should be considering right now, people out there who have already got one of these shots? Is there anything they should be worried about, should they take any precautions or anything like that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I don't have the number of the exact AstraZeneca, sorry, I can provide that. We do know that that is rolling out now, and it's been rolling out to many people. I think the advice that we should say is that people who have had it over two weeks ago, they shouldn't be worried at all. Others should be watching out for the specific symptoms and that'll be part of our advice we'll be giving to GPs, they should talk to their general practitioner about those matters.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, where are our Pfizer doses coming from? It’s not Europe is it? Could they face more export blocks?
PRIME MINISTER: Greg?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So we don't identify, for security reasons, the specific source. Shall we say that we've been very heartened by the continuity, the reliability, of Pfizer so far. I would add, on a general point, Europe has often said that they do not have a dispute with exporting vaccines, they have a specific dispute with AstraZeneca. I think that is very important to understand. So we're very confident in the continuity of our supply from Pfizer, and that's been reaffirmed to me today by the Australian CEO of Pfizer, Anne Harris, and they remain on track not just with their week to week deliveries, but the delivery of the full 20 million doses during the course of 2021.
PRIME MINISTER: Let me finish with just some, we will have passed the millionth dose being administered today. At the end of 24 hours ago, at the end of Wednesday, we had 996,214 doses having been administered, and 75,880 on that day. 361,083 had been administered through that primary care network. And of that 75,880, more than half of those were being done through the GPs. So you can see that that GP network is now becoming the dominant form through which doses are being administered. And 125,260 doses had been provided to the aged and disability services for the residents of that part of that programme. So thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
8 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning. I am joined by the Attorney-General and the Minister for Industrial Relations Senator Cash. And I want to thank, before I start, the Attorney and the Assistant Minister for Women and the Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General and Industrial Relations, Amanda Stoker, as well as thanking Minister Payne as the Minister for Women and co-chairing the Cabinet taskforce in relation to matters that we’re here to report to you on today.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, 39 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in recent times. The events around this building over the course of the past few months have only further highlighted and reinforced the seriousness of these issues, the challenge that we face and the great frustration that is felt by Australians, and in particular women, all over the country. Sexual harassment is unacceptable. It’s not only immoral and despicable and even criminal, but particularly in the context of the Respect@Work Report, it denies Australians, especially women, not just their personal security but their economic security by not being safe at work. Now this is why my former colleague and then Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer established the Respect@Work Inquiry, and asked the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, to undertake that report. That was back in June of 2018. It was the first report of its kind, I understand. I want to commend, again, Kelly O’Dwyer, for her leadership in calling this issue out and initiating what is, I think, been a very important process. I also want to thank Kate Jenkins for her leadership in this role. Not just her conduct of the Report and how she has gone about that Report, but the leadership she has shown in the very inclusive and responsible and engaging way that she has sought to manage and address what are highly sensitive issues, highly challenging issues. I pay great tribute to her respect and the maturity that she has shown through her leadership in the way she has been dealing with this issue.
The Government first responded to this Report, after receiving it in January last year, in the Budget, where we adopted nine of the 20 recommendations that had been directed solely to the Australian Government as part of the Women's Economic Security Statement in the Budget last year. Today, we complete that response, and are the only Government to have provided a response to this Report. And we do so by embracing the Respect@Work Report. All 55 recommendations are either agreed wholly, in part, or in principle, or noted where they are directed to governments or organisations other than the Australian Government, or the Government is able to achieve the intent of the recommendations through other means as set out in the Report. Last night I had the opportunity to speak to Kate Jenkins, and I know the Attorney has also, and the Attorney will speak more to that in her remarks, and we were able to speak through our responses and the support we’re providing right across the board for both the intent and in the overwhelming majority of cases, the specific recommendations, as put forward.
Now Kate Jenkins’ Report, Respect@Work, is a game changer. It is changing the very narrative that will drive the appropriate actions needed right across governments and across our society. We believe our response, A Roadmap for Respect, will do the same thing. It’s about creating a culture of respectful behaviour in Australian workplaces. That is what we are seeking to achieve to stop sexual harassment in those workplaces, so Australians can be safe at work. Our response is based on our Government’s core values - respect, dignity, choice, equality of opportunity and ensuring justice. The response, as you will see set out in our Report, is guided by five key principles as we’ve assessed all of these recommendations. This Report was considered at length by Cabinet on more than one occasion. It was also considered by the Cabinet taskforce, co-chaired by the Minister for Women and I, again only in the course of this week. And there is extensive consideration of both the recommendations and the actions the Government intends to take, but what guided us were these five principles. Everyone has a right to be safe at work. Sexual harassment must be prohibited in the workplace. Policy must be evidence-based. There are many recommendations in the Report that go to the urgent need for better data and research and information to guide the responses, not just of the Australian Government, but all governments and indeed employers and workplaces and employees all around the country. Prevention must be our goal, is the third principle. Stop it before it starts, to put it another way. Fourthly, simplicity and clarity is necessary to make the law easier for Australians to understand and access. This is a complicated area in our legal system. Our response is designed to make it less complicated, wherever possible, and there are many recommendations in this report that go beyond the Commonwealth Government’s responsibility, and in particular, to the legal systems overseen by state and territory governments. The Attorney wrote last week to the Attorneys-General around the country, referring again the Report to them and seeking their responses to those recommendations in that Report, and indeed it will be discussed tomorrow at National Cabinet when I am tabling this response to the National Cabinet members. And fifthly, laws must be consistent with the broader legal framework and fundamental legal principles.
So using those key principles that guided the response to the recommendations that I’ve already out, gave you a summary of our response to, and the Attorney will go into more specifics in a moment, there are many specific responses and actions in this Report and our response. The financial implications of the decisions we’re making in our response will be incorporated in this year’s Budget. The Commonwealth, my Government, will be stepping up to our responsibilities in response to this Report, but not just in this area but in the many other areas that will be necessary, whether that be in women’s safety more broadly, or indeed to the many other issues, whether it’s being harassment that occurs in social media and online environments, and the corrosion that we’re seeing in so much of society that leads to the lack of respect, that from that depleted well of respect comes the many other behaviours that we see that women are so vulnerable to. But in making this response, I make this one encouragement to Australians. This is a culture we have to change right across our society. We will be stepping up to our responsibilities but we all, each and every one of us, individually, have a responsibility for our own behaviours and our own actions and what we can positively do to ensure that we can change the culture of behaviour. It’s important that, as we address these issues, that we do it not in a way that sets Australians against each other. We have to do it in a way that brings Australians together, that work together to ensure that we can change this culture. And the Government is committed to following that path, and again I want to thank Kate Jenkins for the way that she has demonstrated that that is the way forward, not to set Australians against each other but to ensure we bring together Australians to work on the changes and behaviour and the solutions that are necessary. Again, I want to thank the Attorney and Assistant Minister Stoker. We have been working together at a high pace over these last many weeks, as I advised in the House that I was personally and directly involved in ensuring that we were able to bring forward this response as soon as possible in, over this recent month or so. And I want to thank Minister Payne also for the work that she has done and, particularly, most recently in the co-chairing of the Cabinet taskforce. And I want to thank all the Cabinet members. We have brought all the Cabinet together on this and we have one view and we’re of one mind and of one resolve. I will pass you onto the Attorney.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. And I’m very pleased to join the Prime Minister today to release the Government’s response to the Kate Jenkins Respect@Work Report. In terms of the Report itself, without a doubt it provides a series of comprehensive recommendations to prevent, which as the Prime Minister has said, is just so important, and address sexual harassment. What the Report also highlights though is that it’s not about one person or one industry. This is a societal problem that requires a societal response. And in that regard, the Report itself and its recommendations are addressed to the Australian Government, state and territory governments, employers and industry groups. We all have a role, as the Prime Minister has said, in stopping sexual harassment. The Prime Ministers also referred to the statistics in the Report. They are actually just, and continue to be, unacceptable. Finding that 39 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men have recently experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Again, this is unacceptable. In our response, what we do is set out our long-term commitment to preventing and addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. As the Prime Minister has said, we come together as a Government to do this. The Cabinet is united in our response to this Report. And that is why I am pleased that in relation to the 55 recommendations, as the Prime Minister has said, we have agreed in full, in principle, or in part, or noted, for example, where they are addressed to industry, all 55 recommendations in the Report.
I also had the opportunity last night to speak with the Prime Minister and Commissioner Jenkins and I have also had an extensive conversation this morning with Commissioner Jenkins. She is very pleased with the Government’s response, and the commitment both Kate and I made to one another, her as the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, and myself as the Attorney-General, is we are now going to work together to ensure that we implement this response and, in fact, when I leave here, Prime Minister, I’m talking to Kate again.
In terms of sexual harassment in the workplace, I think we’d all agree - in fact, it needs to be just a basic fundamental - everybody has the right to feel safe in the workplace. To lead the national effort, the Government has outlined a number of measures and reforms in the roadmap, including, as you already know, the creation of the Respect@Work implementation taskforce to deliver the legislative and regulatory reform. Kate Jenkins chairs that taskforce. Kate also acknowledged in the Report that the current system is incredibly complex and it is incredibly confusing for both employers and employees. We are going to simplify and strengthen the legal framework. But as the Prime Minister has also noted, you need better coordination between all of the agencies that are responsible for this issue in the workplace. We also though need to continue to support strong preventative action. As the Prime Minister said, we need to stop this behaviour before it even commences. And in that regard, the Australian Government, and we’ve done a lot of work on this in the past, but we continue to be committed to and will work with the states and territories in relation to delivering education and training programs. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, you need to understand both what your responsibilities are, but also what your rights are. Supporting targeted research but also ensuring that the actions, the policy actions we take to address sexual harassment in the workplace, they are based on evidence. In terms of supporting national action, as is set out in the response, the Australian Government, we are committed to leading and facilitating discussions with state and territory governments, as well as the private sector. In relation to the recommendations that are made to the private sector in the Report, we welcome them. We will support any initiatives to help the private sector prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace. I would also encourage industry - utilise the training materials that have already been released and are being put together by the Respect@Work Council. Work with, actively, the Respect@Work Council. In terms of the recommendations that, as the Prime Minister has said, require national action - the Commonwealth, the state and territory governments working together. As the Prime Minister has said, National Cabinet meets tomorrow. I have also already written to my state and territory counterparts asking them for their response to the Respect@Work Report, but also saying to them, how can we work together to deliver this response. I’m also meeting with the work health and safety ministers in mid-May to finalise the response to the review of the model workplace health and safety laws. This is relevant to the recommendations in the Report. I just want to touch on, briefly, those recommendations that are directed to the Commonwealth Government. What the Report found is that the existing legal and regulatory frameworks for addressing workplace harassment, they’re complex but they are also difficult to navigate, for both workers and employers. What we are going to do, and have accepted, is to develop and implement a suite of legislative and regulatory reforms. Our aim is to reduce complexity but also strengthen the national framework for addressing sexual harassment. For example, we will amend the definition of serious misconduct in the Fair Work Regulations to include sexual harassment. We will also clarify that sexual harassment can be a ground, or a valid reason, for dismissal. This will give employers the certainty they need to take action. But what it also says to employees and victims of sexual harassment is there are consequences for this action in the workplace. We are also going to amend the Human Rights Act so that the President’s discretion to terminate a complaint under the Act is extended. Currently it’s six months. As you know, victims don’t necessarily come forward in that six-month period. We’re going to extend that out to 24 months, to enable them and give them the time, they may need to come forward. But what we’re also going to do is clarify the scope of the Sex Discrimination Act, that it extends to judges and Members of Parliament. As the Prime Minister has said, this response today builds on work that has already been undertaken and it was implemented in 2020, in terms of the funding of the nine key recommendations from the Report, which was of course the establishment of the Respect@Work Council and implementation following from that. Sexual harassment, it is just unacceptable anywhere in society. Our response, The Roadmap for Respect, provides a clear path for action to achieve meaningful, cultural change across the nation and to deliver safer workplaces for all Australians. As the Prime Minister has said, everyone has the right to be safe at work. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, perhaps Minister Cash, you mentioned some specific legislative changes there. When can we expect to see those? And also you didn’t mention legislative changes, the other changes recommended to the Sex Discrimination Act, in I think it’s recommendation 17 and 18, to put a positive duty on employers. Do you agree with the principle of that? Will you actually …
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: Yes, we do agree with the principle of that. And as we’ve noted in the Report, a positive duty already exists, as you know, for employers under the Work Health and Safety Act. So that positive duty does exist. What we’ve said is we want consistency and we want to reduce complexity. So we’re going to now look at how you could implement that in the Sex Discrimination Act, but not make the system more complex and not confuse people as to where to go. So certainly we’re now exploring that, exactly.
JOURNALIST: When can we expect to see those changes?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll draw together a package of legislative reforms this year and whether that can be done in time for the Budget sittings, well, that is, that would be our goal to do that before the end of June, to introduce that, but it’s important, I think, with such sensitive legislation that we engage with the drafting of that legislation, that we consult on that. And what I would like to see happen here is I’d like to introduce this legislation through the Attorney and see this enjoy bipartisan, multi-partisan support. We have always sought to deal in this place, in my experience and I’m sure the Attorney’s experience, whether it is these issues that are before us now, or indeed the very serious issues of violence against women and children, the national plan that was first initiated, Violence Against Women by Prime Minister Gillard, supported wholeheartedly by the Coalition at that time and also in Government with more than a billion invested. We’ve always done that in a bipartisan way. It has never previously, in my experience, been a matter of partisan debate or rancour, and I would hope that that is the path we can get back on.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, could you just unpack how these new rules would apply to MPs. Because obviously there’s issues of Parliamentary privilege, you can’t, you know, remove an MP from office. Obviously it wouldn’t be retrospective, but MPs would now be on notice that they would face consequences if they engaged in sexual harassment that was found to be proven. What would those penalties be?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I’d, I’ll ask the Attorney to speak more specifically to that. There are many issues that we’re still going to have to work through, Sam, as we draft this legislation. The recommendations are not, I’d say granular, when it comes to the drafting in many of those provisions and how those matters are worked through. What’s important though is the principle that is established, and that is that MPs and that is judges, but also we’re also going to be taking up the recommendation that state public servants are not exempt from this arrangement. Currently they are exempt. So it is about getting everybody as much on the level playing field as possible. You’re right to note that Members of Parliament find themselves in a different situation because of the nature of how we come to be in these jobs. We have one boss, and that is the Australian people who elect us, and that is a process that we’ll have to work through carefully in the drafting.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: But you’re right, Samantha. We will be subject to the same law as anybody else which means you will be subject to the same consequences. Somebody can bring a complaint against you to the Commission. That complaint can be looked at. If it is upheld, it will be upheld. If it is not, it is not. If …
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: I think that there would be consequences for any Member of Parliament themselves who is found to have breached the Sexual Discrimination Act. I think the people themselves would speak.
JOURNALIST: Given the unusual employment arrangements in this building that we have canvassed a lot in the last few weeks, how would that work in practice for staff, for example? Are you going to have to look at those employment arrangements in order to make this work in the way that you want?
PRIME MINISTER: For staff, I think it is more straightforward than for members of Parliament. Members of Parliament under the Act and how we happen to be in these roles, again, is different to a staff member. And it is also the case that staff members who work for members and senators, as opposed to those who work in the ministerial wing, the ministerial wing processes, I think, lend themselves much more to operating like another workplace and so I would expect those rules to work in a very similar way to someone working in a company or another public sector agency or something of that nature. Now, it should also work the same for members of and senators' staff, but in that case, the employer is the member or the senator and they would be the ones who'd have to be taking action consistent with what is put forward in the law.
JOURNALIST: Why has it taken the events of the last six weeks for the Government to complete its response to this? And before you say the pandemic, we're all aware there's been a pandemic, you have been able to manage other issues as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no I wouldn't agree with that last assessment. There have been many issues that, yes, we have continued to pay pensions and we have continued to fund childcare centres and we have continued to do all of those things. Last year was a very extraordinary year. We would all agree with that. There were many issues that we were not enabled to advance last year because of the demands and pressures of COVID. For example, not on one occasion last year was I asked about this matter in the House of Representatives, nor were my Ministers. Not on one occasion did that come up in Question Time in relation to the Respect@Work inquiry, I am advised last year. But that said, this Report we did provide our initial response in last year's Budget. 9 out of the 20 recommendations that were directly recommended to the Commonwealth Government, we responded to in last year's Budget. 9 out of the 20. Now, we have completed that process for the other 11 and we have gone further to the full 55 here today. So it is a matter that I'm pleased that we have now addressed. Last year was a very challenging year. Last year, when it came to addressing issues particularly impacting women, my focus as was my Ministers', was ensuring that they were protected as much as possible from issues such as domestic violence and $150 million in additional supports were put in place to support the states and territories in the services they were providing to protect women during COVID. Our efforts on the economic front were particularly designed to ensure that we got women back into work and we could protect their jobs and women were the most of the genders that were impacted by job losses. So last year we were very focused on those very urgent needs to protect women at a time when they were very vulnerable during COVID. We put the additional resources in and now we have been in a position, I think, to address these more systemic and longer-term issues which are very important and I'm pleased we're able to do that today.
JOURNALIST: You were just talking about the additional COVID resources...
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll deal with this question first before we go to others.
JOURNALIST: I think we have the same question.
PRIME MINISTER: Same question, fine.
JOURNALIST: Some of those additional resources that you put into the sector during COVID, will they be extended in the next Budget considering that the sector itself is crying out for extra funding as an ongoing commitment? And Senator Cash, when it comes to some of these legislative changes that the Government has agreed to, can you give us any practical examples about misconduct that's currently falling through the cracks that would be caught up in these changes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the funding issue first, we will consider that. I should note, though, in the states and territories now, not all the funding that we have actually provided has been acquitted by the states and territories in that area. So there is still funding still unspent by states and territories when it comes to the additional support that we provided during COVID and so I'd want to be confident that we were already getting the acquittal of the support that was being provided. But we are going through the Budget process now. The pandemic is still a pandemic. The virus hasn't gone away. Of course, Australia's economic position now is greatly enhanced from when we first put those measures in place and also the risks that were presented by job loss and also by lockdowns and people being potentially put in positions where they were vulnerable in their own homes, those sorts of risks have significantly declined because of the removal of the restrictions that were previously in place. So we're dealing with a very different situation. But take, for example, the issues of mental health support. What we have always known when it came to the mental health support that we put in to support Australians during the pandemic that, yes, there was an immediate burden, there was an immediate impact on Australians' mental health and wellbeing, but the tail would be long and that there would be ongoing impacts and that is something that Pat McGorry and I and Ruth Vine, the assistant Chief Medical Officer which has responsibility for mental health. That is a matter that we review regularly. So we will continue to be driven by the need and the evidence and the success and implementation of the programmes and that's what will drive our decisions and we look forward to working with the states and territories and I look forward to hearing from the states and territories what additional supports that they plan to put in because this would be a joint effort.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: In relation to your question, one of the issues that was raised throughout the report was that employers just do not A) understand necessarily their obligations in the workplace, but in relation to taking action in terms of sexual harassment, so we'll say in this case unwanted sexual advances, they felt that because it is not specifically referred to as a ground for serious misconduct, it means they can't terminate for serious misconduct or alternatively it is not currently listed as a valid reason for dismissal. They can't even take that first step. So we are going to ensure they know by making the changes that if you want, if sexual harassment is occurring in the workplace and it is proven, you can terminate a person for that. You still have to follow due process. Can I give you another example, though? The stop sexual harassment order. Currently, as you know, you can get a stop bullying order, you apply to the Commission and the Commission can, if you can't conciliate, issue a stop bullying order which means I may now not report to, I may work a different shift. One of Kate's recommendations is that there should also be a stop sexual harassment order. We agree in principle with that, but we believe the more simplistic way to do that is to actually confirm in the legislation that a stop bullying order includes sexual harassment. So they are some really practical ways, they may sound simple, but they have been a disincentive to date, in particular for employers, but also for employees, to understand there are consequences. Raise the issue with your employer so it can be dealt with properly.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on vaccines, ATAGI is meeting today to discuss the latest advice...
PRIME MINISTER: Before we move to vaccines, I'm very happy to go to vaccines by the way or other issues, I note. Are there any other questions on the Report?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you and Minister Cash have both spoken about the need for legal change and attitudinal change. You’ve already got quite a powerful ad campaign running on violence against women but obviously harassment while related is a little different to that. What consideration have you given to an advertising campaign about this? And secondly, people sometimes say they struggle to know the difference between flirting and harassment. I think when you're on the receiving end you know but not always on the delivering end. What do you say to people who might say you're actually just trying to ban flirting in the workplace?
PRIME MINISTER: I think they're both very practical questions and I think highlight the complexity of this issue. Firstly, on the issue of public information campaigns, you know, we're very open to that. Because I think those campaigns are sometimes one of the best ways to deal with the ambiguities of what your second question is, so people can start to sort in their own minds what's Ok. I was recently at a game and there was an older couple sitting next to me watching the game. They weren’t backing the same team as me, by the way, they had a much better night than I did that night. But I heard something that the husband said to the wife about something she had said, and he said, "We can't say that anymore." And I went, that's what we were talking about. It wasn't angry, it wasn't dismissive, it was respectful, it was positive and I think that's the sort of conversation that we have to have in our relationships, in our communities, in our homes, in our clubs, in our churches, wherever you happen to be. We’ve just got to have these conversations and people need to understand in our own workplaces what is okay, what's not Ok. People just want to know. I think in many cases, we're dealing with unconscious behaviour and we want to help inform that behaviour and I think people will happily change their behaviour if they were aware that some of their unconscious acts could be leading to that sense of hurt or dismissal with their fellow Australians. In other cases it's malevolent, in other cases it's predatory. In other cases, it's violent and I think those lines are a lot clearer and I think what we're doing here today brings further force to deal particularly with those types of behaviours. But I think you're right to say that the way we deal with the balance, you know, so much of what we talk about even outside the workplace with violence against women. That's why it's so important to say it all starts with disrespect. That's where it starts and I would argue not just disrespect towards women, disrespect full stop. We’ve got to be careful in our society that we don't allow the reservoir of respect to drain and I fear it is. I genuinely fear that the reservoir of respect and the way we deal with each other and speak to each other is draining. I think social media has the most corrosive impact on that behaviour. And we shouldn't, therefore, often be surprised that if we are struggling to draw out of that well of respect, the respect that is necessary for so many important relationships, let's go back and ask a few questions about how we got into that first place in the first instance. Certainly governments have roles in that, but it’s not only governments.
SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: If you recall Our Watch a number of years ago actually launched the Stop It At The Start campaign which really did what the Prime Minister said - start the conversation in relation to looking at what we say, which we would just say naturally, but not understanding what the impact is. And I think the one that really resonates with me because it is something now I hear as you have, Prime Minister, given back to me - don't chuck like a girl. That was one of the ones where growing up people may have said that, but we now know it has connotations. Do not say it. So I think that continual raising of awareness, the highlighting of examples, but it's also why last year we did fund the Respect@Work Council because one of the roles that the Respect@Work Council is literally to bring together, headed by Kate Jenkins, all of the regulators, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission, Safe Work Australia, state representatives, also bringing in experts as required. Because one of the first things they are doing and we're almost there is developing the Respect@Work website. If you don't know what your obligations or responsibilities are, we need as a Government to ensure that you have a place to go to, and that is something that the Council is very, very focused on. But also ensuring that it doesn't matter what age you are, you have actually got the appropriate training and resources and that is something we're also working with the states and territories on.
JOURNALIST: Just how much of the events of the past two months in this building influenced the way that you have responded to this Report? And had it not been for those events do you think you would have reached the same conclusions?
PRIME MINISTER: I think we would, is the honest answer. And because the principles that I set out for guiding our response are our enduring principles. The values that our response is based on are our enduring values as a Government. That's how our Government operates. You'll recall at the beginning of the pandemic before the lockdowns had even begun, I set out the principles by which we would respond economically to the pandemic and then we made decisions in accordance with those principles. We're doing the same thing here. Our Government is guided by these principles and these values. There is no doubt that the events of recent months have, as I said, re-enforced the significance and highlighted it once again and the frustration that I think that is felt. But I think the response itself is reflective of our principles as a Government and our values as a Government, which I would argue is enduring.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on vaccines, if I may, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll go to vaccines now.
JOURNALIST: ATAGI and TGA are discussing the updated advice from the EU and the UK. When do you expect to receive an update from those groups and do you expect their advice to change at all?
PRIME MINISTER: What their advice will be will be a matter for them, first of all. Secondly, they're meeting today and so I would hope to have received further advice from them later this evening. I have already advised National Cabinet members of that process very early this morning, that that's the process we're going through. There'll also be not only a relaying of that advice, which I note is a - just so people understand which all these groups are. There is ATAGI, and that's the group that oversees these assessments and that is led by co-chairs Professor Allen Cheng from Alfred Health and Associate Professor Christopher Blithe from the Perth Children's Hospital. These are our experts that are considering this information that's come through from the UK and Europe overnight. They will then be making some recommendations that would normally be passed on to the Therapeutic Goods Administration and for them to implement. They also come to the Government. I have asked that that also be relaid to the medical expert panel of the chief health officers and the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kelly will bring them together today. That will enable the premiers and the chief ministers to be advised by their chief health officers as well. I think we need to maintain, I think, a perspective on these issues and that's what I'm sure ATAGI will do over the course of today. I mean, you will have already been aware through other experts that have been in the media today putting in context the type of risk that needs to be managed here. Let's note that in the UK, the advice is that some 6,000 people's lives have already been saved by this very vaccine. So we need to consider the positive benefits of them. But what we're looking at here is an incidence of these clotting behaviour of some 1-to-5 for every million. To put that in some sort of perspective, the combined oral contraceptive pill, that can include adverse side effects of venous thromboembolism, VTE, that's 7-to-10 per 10,000. So 1-of-5 to a million versus 7-of-10 per 10,000. Equally a commonly used antibiotic, amoxicillin, that has a clinically serious hypersensitivity in skin reaction, that's 1-in-10 per 10,000. Even when you go to something as commonplace as Paracetamol, although rare, a known adverse reaction with Paracetamol products including increased level of liver enzymes and severely lowered white blood cell count and that occurs with a frequency of 1-in-10 per 10,000. So we're dealing with something at the moment that the advice has been to us that impacts people to the tune of 1-to-5 per million. And so what ATAGI will be doing is they'll be looking at that evidence and they, of course, will be weighing that against the very positive benefits of the vaccine programme and then they'll be providing further advice. So my message to premiers and chief ministers this morning is the same message to Australians - we’ve got the best people in the world looking at these issues to give us the medical expert advice. Our Government has always approached this pandemic and all health issues to be led by medical expert evidence and advice and we'll be taking that today and the decisions will follow from that.
JOURNALIST: Has this had any impact on your rollout targets for the vaccine with the changing health advice and just on another matter if I can, Andrew Laming, he's under investigation by the AEC for operating 30 Facebook pages anonymously which he used to attack sometimes quite vigorously his political opponents. That seems to speak to the disrespect through social media that you talk about. He's also given half a million dollar grant to a rugby club linked to one of his staffers. Do you maintain he's a fit and proper person to sit in the Coalition party room and in the Liberal National party room?
PRIME MINISTER: I might deal with the first question with the vaccines. At this point, no, there's no advice to suggest there would be any change to the rollout of the vaccine, particularly when we're dealing with 1B populations, the majority of which are older Australians and the medical impact of what we're talking about here is what we have seen from the UK deals with much younger and we also have alternative vaccines in Pfizer presently for those smaller populations, front-line health workers, quarantine workers and so on. So my advice at this point, but that's obviously subject to what ATAGI might say later in the day, there is nothing to suggest at this stage that there would be any change but we'll update further if there's any change to that.
In relation to Mr Laming, I would simply say on the issue of grants, those grants aren't decided by members of Parliament. They are decided by the department, recommendations are made by members of Parliament, and then they are assessed and considered to be whether they're compliant with rules and then the decision is taken at that level. So it wouldn't be right to put it the way you have put it. In relation to the other issue, where there are recommendations on other matters that have been reviewed by the AEC, then I'd expect them to be fully complied with.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you expect or are you open to following steps being taken in Europe with new warning labels on vaccines and potentially giving under 30s a different vaccine, potentially the Pfizer one, would we have enough stock to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm intent on not pre-empting any decisions of medical experts and speculating. That's what I'm intent on doing. And so I'm going to wait for the advice to come forward and then we'll allow that advice to lead the response the Government will make. Chris?
JOURNALIST: There's reports there might be a coronavirus case in New Zealand. Do you have any advice on that? And are you concerned that events like this may derail the travel bubble?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't at this stage. Sam?
JOURNALIST: Just quickly, in relation to Brad Hazzard, he made some surprising remarks on the 7.30 Report last night. He said that the states are in the dark about how much vaccines were being produced. He said, "All the health and state and territory governments are keen to work with the Federal Government but it's difficult if we don't know what the supplies are and it would appear the Federal Government aren't very sure, are we?" He also went on to claim that “7.30 Report is a very good programme, we get a lot of our information from you.” What's going on if Brad Hazzard says he's getting his information off the rollout from Leigh Sales?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the states were given 12-week forward plans of distribution of vaccines. That was provided to all the states and territories. And on that basis, I'm sure the Minister of Health in New South Wales will be looking forward to the further provision of public information that we’ll be discussing at National Cabinet tomorrow. I'm very keen for there to be a more widespread dissemination on the vaccination programme and the doses that are made available. As I explained yesterday, I think, this is a very complex vaccination programme, the biggest Australia has ever engaged in. I think people are coming to terms with the process and understanding how the process works. There's been a lot of confusion between a vaccine that's on the shelf and ready to be administered, whether it be in a hospital or in a GP's surgery. A vaccine that is having been produced, as we discussed yesterday, Sam, is in the process of having batch-testing or formal approval out of AstraZeneca overseas, or one that is actually in the process of distribution at any given point in time and that can take up to a week for them to be moving around, and to be put into position to be available and on the shelf for distribution. So I think a lot of these supply numbers are used interchangeably and I think that has led to some confusion. And so I'm looking forward to being able to provide that information very transparently with the support of the states and territories, but it is the case that the states have had a forward 12-week plan. I'll be discussing how we will continue to update those forward plans for distribution. The key issue, though, that I think that is being made very clear, particularly in the last few weeks, is that the pace of the vaccine rollout is a function of the supply of the vaccine. Vaccines are being distributed, they're being made available. We are likely, by this time tomorrow or soon after when I stand before you after National Cabinet, to be able to say we will have reached the millionth vaccination in Australia. We expect that to happen over the next 24 hours. And that vaccination programme is dependent on the supply of vaccines, whether that be from overseas and I have already been fairly clear about what the issues were there, or, indeed, the supply of the vaccines out of CSL and their distribution. So those are the issues that we'll continue to work on. If the supplies are not in place, then you can have as many stadiums as you like. You can have as many distribution points as you like. You can have the fastest trucks in the universe. But the supply will determine the pace of the vaccine rollout and there are a lot of variables when it comes to supply and sometimes those variables impact on the nature of that supply. And so I know people would like things to be more certain, I know that they would like to have guarantees going out months, but the Commonwealth Government doesn't have those and, as a result, they're not ones we can share with others. So we will continue to provide the forward dose distribution to the states as we have been doing, and that information will be more timely. I want to see it being done at the most top-line level, if not more detailed, on a daily basis with more deep weekly statistics that set out, I think, the issues which I think will help both in your reporting and the Australian public's understanding of all of these issues. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
7 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I’m joined by the Secretary of the Department of Health. First of all, I want to express my condolences to the family of the elder gentleman who passed away as a result of COVID-related illness in Queensland. A dual national who contracted the virus in Papua New Guinea. It’s a further reminder of the very serious situation that is occurring in Papua New Guinea and the Government continues to make every effort we can to provide assistance to Papua New Guinea during this incredibly difficult time for them. Also, I’d just note in passing, condolences to the family of Tommy Raudonikis. A well-loved Australian and individual and all of those who love their rugby league will certainly know about Tommy Raudonikis. He was one of the game’s biggest characters and he’ll be sadly missed amongst the rugby league family and community and our sincere condolences to his family and to that rugby league family as well.
Overnight, there have been some statements made by the European Union in relation to vaccine supply. And so I’m joined with the Secretary of Health, here today, just to run through some facts about the nature of supply of vaccines from Europe. First of all, I want to stress that at no time yesterday did I make any comment about the actions of the European Union, nor did I indicate any of the background reasons for the lack of supply that we have received from those contracted doses. And so, any suggestion that I, in any way, made any criticism of the European Union yesterday, would be completely incorrect. I simply stated a fact - that 3.1 million of the contracted vaccines that we had been relying upon in early January, when we’d set out a series of targets, did not turn up in Australia. That is just a simple fact. Now, that fact has been the key reason for the early phases of the supply shortage in the rollout in the vaccine. It’s straightforward maths - 3.1 million out of 3.8 million doses did not come to Australia. That obviously had a very significant impact on the early rollout of the vaccination program, until we got into a position when the domestically produced AstraZeneca vaccine would be in place. Now, I do stress that the supply of Pfizer vaccines has proved, while at a slightly reduced amount, a reduced amount, has been quite reliable in these early phases and that is greatly assisted with the vaccination rollout. And so, it has been different for different vaccines. So let me just go through a simple timeline that I think sets out the facts of this issue. AstraZeneca contract for 3.8 million doses on 9 September to be delivered in January and February from the offshore manufactured product. That’s what we contracted back in September of 2020. In late January, the EC introduced strict export controls, which were further expanded on 24 March. In late January, mid to late January, AstraZeneca provided updated advice that only 1.2 of the 3.8 million offshore manufactured product could be delivered in February and in March. That was 500,000 in February and 700,000 in March. That was because of a range of issues, which included not just the vaccine shortage in Europe, AstraZeneca’s awareness of the increasing restrictions on export controls, and so applications were not made for those 3.8 million doses. In fact, an application was made for 500,000 doses to be released, and in February, that application was made. Those 500,000 doses were being manufactured in Italy. On 19 February, Minister Hunt called the EU Health Minister to advocate for release of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia. On 20 February, AstraZeneca was advised by the European Commission to withdraw their application and submit a revised application for 250,000 doses manufactured in Italy. On the same day, I had a discussion with Ursula von der Leyen from the European Union to discuss vaccine supply. In that discussion, this was the discussion, over 500,000 vaccines which I was advised would not be approved, that they needed more time, and to create some time for them to consider these issues further. I agreed to do that and to work with the Commission to ensure we could get to a position where we could gain access to some of these supplies. Subsequently, an application was made for 250,000 doses out of what was to be 500,000 doses, and on the 3rd of March, the European Union denied export of those 250,000 doses to Australia. On 15 March, Minister Hunt wrote to the EU Health Minister seeking the EC to review their decision to deny export of AstraZeneca vaccines to Australia. On 17 March, I wrote to the President of the EC requesting the export of one million doses from our original 3.8 million which were originally to be for Australia, to ensure that we could make them available to Papua New Guinea to deal with the humanitarian crisis that was emerging in that country. We have still not received any response to that request. Minister Hunt wrote to AstraZeneca Global to request them to resubmit their export application to the EC for further doses and we have been seeking further calls with the President of the EC to discuss these matters. Now, I am pleased to hear that the European Union overnight has indicated that they are not seeking to restrict these vaccines to Australia. So I’ll be very pleased, as will the Minister, to write again in parallel both to AstraZeneca, to seek the export licences for the full amount of the doses, the 3.8 million, to be provided to Australia. And I can assure you that the first million of those will be used to support the humanitarian effort that we’re putting in place for Papua New Guinea. So, if it is indeed the position of the European Union that they are happy for these export licences to be granted and their 3.8 million doses to come to Australia, then we would encourage them to do that in response to our request to ensure that we can do two things. Firstly, to provide support to our Pacific family in Papua New Guinea that are undergoing a humanitarian crisis and to support them with those one million doses, and to ensure that those contracted doses for Australia can be part of the vaccination rollout here in this country. So, with those remarks, I might ask Professor Murphy to make a couple of comments on these issues, and then happy to take questions.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, Prime Minister. So the point I want to make again is that our vaccine rollout is going well. The only thing that is limiting the rollout is vaccine supply. And obviously, the initial issue with vaccine supply related to that 3.1 million doses of AstraZeneca which really put us back in those first weeks because we didn’t have those doses. Now that we do have the CSL doses, which are starting to increase progressively, that is the limiting step is the international supply of Pfizer and the amount that we’re getting out of CSL, which was progressively increasing. But it is a complex process to get vaccines batch tested, quality released, then pre-positioned to delivery centres, and then finally delivered to well over 2,000 general practice sites and a number of state and territory clinics. So we are doing very well with our vaccine program at the moment. It’s ramping up rapidly. The primary care program is working well. The GPs are putting vaccines in arms. Some of them, you know, would like to have more. They’d like to have more than 50 doses a week. But that’s all we have the supplies to do. We are not holding back any vaccines anywhere, other than the second dose contingencies, which clearly you have to hold back. Pfizer has to be given a second dose three weeks later, so we have to hold that back. But we are pre-deploying and pre-positioning all the doses we need. It’s not possible to stand up a large number of additional mass vaccination clinics. We don’t have the vaccine to do that. We have a program that is finely tuned to the available vaccine supply and is delivering exactly as we have planned according to our vaccine supply. Just finally, I just want to mention the issue in relation to vaccine safety. There has been some attention related to this issue with clots potentially associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and clearly there’s been the reports of a possible case in Australia. One case is not a strong signal, but we are working very closely with our counterparts in UK who have now done well over 18 million doses of this vaccine, and in Europe that have done many million, to look at the data that they’re getting from their signals and their regulatory bodies and their vaccine advisory committees, and that’s what’s going to give us the true picture of whether this is a real problem and whether it has any significance. So our expert advisory panels, the TGA, ATAGI, are meeting regularly this week. We’re having joint meetings with the Europeans and with the UK regulators and we are taking this matter very seriously at the moment. Our regulator and our ATAGI are advising we continue with our program, that the benefit of vaccination outweighs any potential risk. But we are continually reviewing the situation. Thanks, PM.
PRIME MINISTER: So at the end of the day, this is about supply. It’s about supply and as we continue to get greater confidence in the supply of, the production of the vaccine in Australia, then that only improves the performance of the vaccine rollout as those supplies become available. The other point I’d make is this - there are still risks to that supply. Those risks occur in one of two ways. Obviously, what we’ve seen in terms of import restrictions and those that we’re bringing in. But even domestic production, there can be impacts on domestic production. There is always the conditioning factor right across the vaccination rollout of the medical advice and the development of medical evidence that can in any way affect any of the vaccines. And so, there are no absolute guarantees when it comes to this. We will follow the medical advice. We will continue to ramp up production here in Australia. And we will continue to move through the distribution channels that can deliver the supply of vaccines that we have.
JOURNALIST: How many doses does Australia have in reserve right now?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: There are no doses that are in reserve, as you put it. We have a second dose contingency of Pfizer vaccines that we’ve kept in the warehouse waiting to be rolled out three weeks later. Every dose of AstraZeneca, we’re keeping some of those building a second dose contingency, every other dose is in the process of being pre-deployed or deployed. You can’t, it has to be in a GP’s surgery the week before it’s given and it takes a week to get there. So there, there are probably over a million doses in transit being put into position, but there is nothing that is not being allocated to be put in an arm. That’s to be absolutely clear. There is nothing sitting in a cupboard other than something that we’re planning to give three weeks later as a second dose.
PRIME MINISTER: With the vaccine stores as, there’s what’s produced at the plant and then it goes through the process I was explaining yesterday about batch testing and authorisation, and in AstraZeneca’s case, also through the AstraZeneca organisation. And then you’ve got vaccines that are then in distribution. Then you have vaccines that are pre-deployed into surgeries and other places ready for administration in the following week. And then you have the vaccines that I’d describe as being on the shelf, ready for administration to those that have come to receive the vaccine. So there are many stages in the delivery of the vaccine process, and I think one of the issues that we need to be even clearer about in the future is that when we’re talking about vaccines that are available for distribution, that’s the vaccines that are on the shelf in that week in the places where they’re being administered. Now, these are the issues, these are the metrics, these are the figures that I’ll be discussing with Professor Murphy, with premiers and chief ministers this Friday, so we can give an even clearer picture about the status of the vaccination programme. So we’re talking about things that are on the shelf. We’re talking about things that are ready to go on the shelf. So it’s a bit like being in the storeroom out the back. Then you’ve got those that are actually in the physical process of distribution, and then you’ve got those that are in the process of batch testing and clearance, and then you’ve got those that are going through the fill and finish process within the factory. Now, that process can take several weeks to get from fill and finish to being on the shelf, and once it’s in the shelf, on the shelf, and that means it can go in the arm. And those rates we are now achieving. As I said, just before Easter, we got to just shy of 80,000 a day. Now, that puts us on track with countries like Germany and many others who have been doing it at their stage of the vaccination program, and in advance of many other countries like Japan and South Korea and New Zealand and others. So that's where we're sitting now.
Yes, David?
JOURNALIST: What’s the capacity of the CSL factory this week? What's the forecast in terms of how many CSL doses we'll get this week? Why hasn't it got to a million a week already? What's the hold up there, technical or otherwise, and can the Government spend more money to ramp up CSL's local production faster?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll ask Brendan to comment on this because he's been dealing with CSL. I mentioned yesterday that we already achieved more than 800,000. That's something that we already achieved. The numbers do vary from week-to-week in these early periods and we've just gone through the Easter period, so that influences the numbers at this precise point in time. But they've already been able to demonstrate the capacity to get over 800,000 produced in a week and that's what I believe at least is achievable going forward and we would like to achieve more than that. But the idea of just throwing more money at it, that doesn't increase the volume. This is a manufacturing process and the rate of production is very much in the hands of the manufacturing company themselves, CSL. But everyone is doing everything that they possibly can to get that to the best number possible. Brendan?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So CSL are releasing batches, sometimes more than twice a week. So it's very hard to give an exact number and the batch release process takes time and it has to go at the moment through approvals both from AstraZeneca and CSL. But as the Prime Minister has said, we had 830,00 in the first week and we are working around that sort of range at the moment. We cannot be accurate until they actually complete the batch release on each particular batch. However, they are absolutely clear that in coming weeks, they are committed to regularly achieve over a million doses a week. That is their strong commitment to Government and the way that they want to achieve that is A) improve the time taken for the batch release process to get that streamlined so it doesn't have to go to several international clearance processes and B) they are working extremely hard on optimising their fill and finish line, the process that fills up the vials. They still believe that there is significant improvement that they can do with that and they are actively working on that now. So we can't give you an exact date when they will hit the million doses a week but they're strongly committed to achieving that in the coming weeks.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, trust in the Government is critical for Australians to actually take up the vaccine. In recent weeks, we've seen blame-shifting with the states. We're now bickering with the EC about supply issues and along with the issues with blood clotting, which still remains unclear to a lot of people. Are you concerned that the Government's handling of this may contribute to vaccine hesitancy among the population? And what are you going to do about that?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not, and I think much of the conflation of the issues you've raised, I think, is more in appearance than in fact. I mean, all I've simply done today is set out very clearly that 3.1 million vaccines didn't arrive in Australia. That's just a simple fact. It's not a dispute. It's not a conflict. It's not an argument. It's not a clash. It's just a simple fact. And I'm simply explaining to the Australian public that supply issues is what's constraining and has constrained, particularly over the recent months, the overall rollout of the vaccine. Look, it happens before every single National Cabinet. You all write stories about how everybody is disagreeing with each other and we come together at National Cabinet, as always, and then I'll stand before you on Friday and I’ll talk about the things that are agreed. So I would just counsel people to see these things sometimes as maybe a lot more dust being kicked up than actual substance. People are working together to deliver these vaccines. Australia has a proud history when it comes to the vaccination of our people, particularly for child immunisation. We lead the world in these areas. We have the best regulator, I believe, in the world, and I think Australians can have great confidence about that. I think we just need to focus on getting more clear and transparent numbers out there and so that leaves less to speculation and commentary and more to fact.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Christine Holgate accuses you of throwing her under a bus over the Cartier watches scandal. She says the Chairman of Australia Post lied to Parliament. Have you got a response to these concerns? Do you believe that the head of a Government-owned corporation has misled Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm aware of those comments and those submissions and I understand that they'll be addressed through the Parliamentary hearing. This is a matter now that's substantively between Ms Holgate and Australia Post and that's where I note the predominance of her comments have been directed. Ms Holgate decided to leave Australia Post. That's just a matter of record. There was a review that was undertaken into the matters that were brought up by the Senate at Estimates, and before that was concluded, Ms Holgate decided to leave Australia Post. Now, that's just a matter of record and these issues now, as I understand it, are between Ms Holgate and Australia Post and I'll leave that matter there for the time being.
JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, your tone is rather different on the blood clot issue than it was or health officialdom's was a few weeks ago. Could you explain that? And also, one of your predecessors, Stephen Duckett, has pointed to a number of flaws that he sees in the rollout program, one of them is transportation logistics. Are you sure that the delivery system is in best shape?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Sure. So I think that we are very confident with the delivery system. It is a very, very complex delivery because we have chosen to go, where possible, particularly for the over 70s and 80s, to people's own GPs. So we're choosing to go to over 4,000 GPs. That is a hugely complex logistic process and we have two logistic companies that are working seven days a week. Obviously, there will be occasions where things don't get delivered. Floods were a factor. Sometimes practices weren't there. But 99 percent of the time, it's working well. I know Professor Duckett has lots of advice for his successors in the Health Department on a regular basis. Yes, indeed he has. With the safety issue, look, all I'm saying is that there is a lot of action at the moment analysing the information in Europe and in the UK and we are taking a very close interest in it. Because Government and the Department have taken the view that safety is absolutely paramount. We will look at the data that's come out of the, England has had, the UK has had so much more experience than we have. They've got the better data. Europe has better data and that's why we're looking at their data to see whether this is a real problem and whether we need to do anything about it. At the moment, we don't have those answers. All I'm saying is that this is a very active, ongoing review.
JOURNALIST: You said that the supply issues were a matter of simple mathematics. But on the 5th of March, your Health Minister said when Italy's 250,000 doses were blocked, “We are very clear that this does not affect the pace of the rollout." How can that have been true?
PRIME MINISTER: We'd already adjusted the rollout. We'd already adjusted the rollout to not include the 3.1 million.
JOURNALIST: With what you're saying now, is it the fact that the Government has been overly rosy about the state of the rollout?
PRIME MINISTER: That would mischaracterise what the Minister was saying and fail to appreciate the context of what he said. We had already taken into account, and we'd already shared with this very gallery, in this very place in late January, the concerns that we had about the European distribution, at that point, and I've gone through the timeline again with you. I mean, I think what I'd urge the media to do is, circumstances change. There are a lot of variables in this process. Supply chains get disrupted. Medical evidence comes forward which requires us to address it and may cause us to make changes to the program in the interests of public health. There is an expectation, I think, of certainty and of guarantees here that the environment does not provide for and it would be very unwise, I think, to suggest that level of certainty exists around this. It simply doesn't. That has been true of our management of the entire COVID pandemic. If we go back to this time last year, there was much we did not know. We know a lot more now. And when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine, there is still much we do not know, as Professor Murphy has said in terms of evidence that's coming forward out of rollout of the program in other countries. We will take that on board. So I would urge, I have said, even when we released numbers in early January, we flagged that this is contingent on events and events will have a way of impacting on the distribution and rollout of the vaccination program. But I assure Australians that we're all working together to get this delivered. It will take as long as it takes. We have our clear targets and that is to get through 1A and 1B by midyear and to have offered to Australians that first dose for adult Australians by the end of October. That's what we're working to. It is obviously subject to supply issues, medical evidence and medical advice and we will continue working on both of those principles. I have a Cabinet meeting to get to this morning. So I'll go Chris, one and two here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Chinese ambassador is holding a press conference at 2:00pm this afternoon. I expect that we'll hear what we have heard before, that there is no problem with the Uighurs and we shouldn't interfere in Hong Kong and the Australian people or the Australian Government has been largely responsible for our relationship with China. How would you characterise our relationship with China at the moment? Do you have any optimism that they might start returning your calls at a ministerial level? And what are we to make of the strategic struggle that we see between China and the United States?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd make a couple of points, Chris. The first is the world is a lot more uncertain at the moment than it has been for a long time. I said in July last year, you may recall, that I said that we're living in a time not unlike the 1930s but I don't believe that it will end in the same way. I think we've learnt a lot since then, but we are dealing with a lot of global instability at present and there are many relationships which are strained, including the ones that you've referred to. But as the Defence Minister said, the new Defence Minister said on the weekend, and I share that view - we want a positive relationship. But we will have a positive relationship that is consistent with Australia acting in accordance with its values and its national character. And that will never be, that will never be something that we would yield for the sake of a relationship and I think that that is very important. And I think that Australians support that view very strongly. And so, we will continue to act consistent with our national character. We will continue to work with others around the world for a free and open Indo-Pacific. That is our goal, because we believe that is good for Australia and we believe that that is good for all of the countries of the region. We want to see a positive relationship between the larger countries that are impacting on our region. But again, those relationships can’t be achieved at the product of a less free and a less open Indo-Pacific. So our objectives here are very clear and we would be keen to work with China to those ends, as we’ve consistently said and so we’ll continue to work positively to that end and we would welcome discussions that are about those objectives. Last one over here.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, just on PNG, if you can’t get the requested assistance from the European Union, will Australia commit to provide a significant proportion of the domestically made vaccine to PNG? How much are you prepared to provide of the what’s being made on shore in Australia? Is it a million doses as you’re requesting from overseas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we obviously want those million doses and that’s why I started today’s media conference by saying given the statements that have been made overnight that apparently there is no obstruction to that, then I would hope that could be readily addressed. If that doesn’t occur, then we have been working with a number of other partners around the world to see how we can address that and we’re also considering what it might mean for Australia’s provision of doses directly. But those issues haven’t been finalised yet. We are still getting reports from our teams up in Papua New Guinea and we are working closely with other partners in the region to see how we can best address that challenge. But it is a very serious one, it is causing real concern and I have been in contact by text and other measures with Prime Minister Marape over this period of time and I know how distressing it is for them. Again, the death of a dual citizen here in Australia who contracted the virus in Papua New Guinea is just another terrible reminder of the fact that this pandemic isn't over. We can't be complacent about this. Yes, Australia is living in a way that most of the world is not right now. Let's just remember that for a second. Australia is living right now in this pandemic in a way that most of the world is not. I'm grateful that over the Easter weekend you could meet with friends. If you wanted to, you could go to a sporting match. You could gather together in a park together. You could go out to a restaurant. You could even stand up in the pub and have a beer if you wanted to. In Australia, all of that is happening. In Australia, we have a domestically produced vaccine, which we're one of only about 20 countries that can say that, to have that sovereign capability to dealing with the problems that we have right now. I can tell you, most of the world would want to be right here at the moment and I'm certainly thankful…
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve already said that we're considering those matters right now. OK, thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
6 April 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Another big step today with the opening of the Tasman. It is six months ago, almost, that Australia opened up to New Zealand and I am very pleased that the New Zealand government has decided that that two way travel will commence Monday fortnight. Prime Minister Ardern called me last night and we had a very positive discussion about this. It is something we have been talking about for some time. This is the first of many more steps to come, I believe, as we get back to a more normal position, not only over the course of this year, but beyond. This is an important first step. Australia and New Zealand have led the way when it comes to managing COVID. We have ensured that both our countries have been, despite dealing with the virus, have not suffered the same types of virus impacts that we have seen in so many other countries around the world. And the fact that we can now combine again will mean jobs, will mean people reunited, it will mean many opportunities as those normal relations are restored between Australia and New Zealand.
So, I very much appreciate the arrangement the New Zealand Government has come to today. We welcome them back as indeed Kiwis will be welcoming Aussies. And all in time for Anzac Day too which is tremendous, to see that occur in the true Anzac spirit of our two nations coming together again. This will mean, importantly, jobs for Australia. We’ve already made major announcements about our travel sector and it is true that the trans-Tasman route is one of the most busy in terms of volume. That means more planes in the air, it means more jobs on the ground and in the air as well for our airlines. It means further support for our travel agents who book many of the international, the first of the international travel that we will see for Australians. And so I am sure that will be welcomed by those in the travel sector and in the aviation sector.
On jobs more broadly, more good news today with wonderful news of 7.4 percent increase in ANZ job ads today. That is 180,542 jobs that are out there right now. That is the highest level in over 12 years and it is further positive news, further good news, that demonstrates the comeback of the Australian economy. When you combine these events together, what we are seeing is Australia continue to move forward and our own part of the world moving forward between Australia and New Zealand, and we can welcome that into the future. Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what is the update today in the number of vaccinations that have been done across the country, and why isn’t that information being provided daily as you do with the number of COVID cases?
PRIME MINISTER: The figures I have as of the 5th of April is that 854,983. Of that, there are some 280,943 that have been done through the GP clinics and the GP respiratory clinics and the other federal agencies. That is in addition to those that have been done through age and disability facilities, which is around the 112,830.
Now, I agree with you. I think it is a good idea for us to have even more data transparency on these issues and that is what we will be discussing with the premiers and chief ministers on Friday. I will be taking that to them on Friday to discuss. I think there is an interest and a keen appetite for more regular information. We are providing that weekly information but there is no reason why these figures can't be done on a more regular basis, and we welcome that. So I will talk those issues through with the state premiers and chief ministers on Friday. They have also, I think, indicated that they are keen for more data transparency on these things and I look forward to being able to satisfy that on Friday.
JOURNALIST: What do you say to Australians who are frustrated or disappointed at the slow pace of the rollout?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it is important that when we provide even more information that just before Easter, we hit 79,000 vaccinations in a day. And it is true that at this stage of our rollout, it is actually better than where Germany was, it is better than where New Zealand was, it was better than where South Korea was and Japan was, and so I think there will be some important context in the weeks ahead as we see the significant ramp up of the distribution network. And already, we are around about 1,500 or thereabouts GPs that are in the network at the moment but we are expecting that to grow even more by the end of this week. What this means is that we are getting more points of distribution closer to people in their communities.
I want to stress this point, and that is in the phase we are in currently, we are dealing with Australians who are more vulnerable. And so the best place for those Australians who may be elderly or may have disabilities or are in any of these sorts of groups, is to get that healthcare support of their vaccination through their GP. Their GP knows their medical history, their GP has built up confidence with them over a long period of time, they can talk to them about any questions or issues they might have about the vaccination. So the strategy has always been to use the primary health network to ensure that we can do the bulk of the vaccinations that are done for this important programme. Now, that is no different to any other vaccinations that are done. Our GP network does hundreds of thousands of vaccinations every week at normal times and this is added to that load and they’re doing a tremendous job and more and more are signing up. So in the weeks ahead, I think, you will see that continue to improve. The challenges Australia has had has been a supply problem. It is pure and simple. There was over 3 million doses from overseas that were contracted that never came. And that's obviously resulted in an inability to get 3 million other doses out and distributed through the network. I think it is really important that these points are made very clearly when we are talking about the rollout of the vaccine. Now, as CSL are ramping up their production and their systems are becoming even more efficient as they get into the rhythm of their production systems, there is also the approvals that they must follow once batches are produced. That involves both AstraZeneca internationally, it involves the TGA batch testing as well. I think it is very important that people understand that the fill and finish process doesn't involve the little vial coming off the production line and it go straight to the courier and the GP or the hospital where the states may be administering doses. That is not how it works. The way it works is once the vials are produced, they have to go through an approval process and that it is important because Australians need to be assured of these vaccines and that they are ticking all of the boxes. It is not just a matter of having the vaccine approved initially by the TGA, they have to test the batches as well. That is about Australians’ safety, and I don't intend to rush the process and put people's health at risk. So the capacity to distribute, the capacity to administer, the production of the vaccines, are starting to increase. And as that occurs in the weeks ahead, then we will see ourselves progressively working through what is a very large group of people who are needing to be vaccinated. Rosie?
JOURNALIST: Can you confirm which countries we are looking at announcing travel bubbles with next? And Jacinda Ardern said in her presser that she expected to get about 80 percent of the Australian market back by early 2021 because of today’s announcement. Is it the same arrangement for Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have been getting 100 percent of the New Zealand market because they have been the only ones who have been able to come to Australia for the last six months and we have welcomed that, and I think that will only increase now with Kiwis not having to do their return quarantine at the other end. The New Zealand-Australia travel market is a very high volume market and it works really well for people on both sides of the Tasman. After spending all of that time in New Zealand for the past year, I am sure that so many will be keen to get on a plane and come across to whether it is Queensland, New South Wales, WA, Tasmania, wherever they would like to go. So, look, it is a win-win outcome for the trans-Tasman travel to be open. Both countries benefit from that occurring.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you didn’t answer the question about where you’re looking to next, where can we expect the next travel bubble to be, is it Singapore, and do we…
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, I can't confirm what they are at this point, we are not in no position to be outlining where the next ones will be. These things are regularly assessed by the Chief Medical Officer and we have looked at places like Singapore and Japan and South Korea and countries like this, but at this stage we are not in a position to move forward on any of those at this point.
JOURNALIST: Janet Yellen says the US will push for G20 Nations to adopt a minimum corporate tax rate. Is this something that…
PRIME MINISTER: I’m happy to move to another topic, but while we are on vaccines, why don't we stay there?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have comments about the need for particularly vulnerable groups to talk to their GPs, suggest that later down the track as more supply becomes available, mass vaccination centres might be an option for the broad population?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, right now we are dealing with vulnerable populations and that is why we believe, particularly the way we’re doing it at present, provides the most care to those Australians. When we move into the balance of the population, when we’re talking about people in their 30s and their 40s and so on, then there are other options that open up and that is the stage at which in mid-year and beyond we were looking at things like pharmacists being involved in those distribution mechanisms. We were never looking at it at this stage of the rollout. That was never part of the plan and that was always very clear. Working with the states in terms of more high-volume facilities, well, we certainly haven't ruled that out. But the nature of that will depend on where is the best and most effective way we can distribute those vaccines. We will learn a lot from the rollout with the GP network particularly for the next few months and we are already seeing it ramp up considerably. In just two weeks, the GPs vaccinated 280,943 people. It is not a bad effort in their first couple of weeks and they are just getting started. That will continue to rollout as we ramp up the number of GPs that are directly involved in this programme. Ultimately, we are looking to get around 4,000, as I mentioned some weeks ago, and we are making steady progress towards that goal. But working with the states where they have the ability to assist further and as many of them have, I have indicated our willingness to work with New South Wales and we are already working with all the other states and territories on that. I'm pleased they have joined that group and I am sure that is something we can discuss further this weekend. But what is ultimately important is that we do this safely and we do this progressively and the key issue that we need to keep focusing on is the supply of the vaccines. And I can't stress enough again, were it not for our domestic manufacturing production capability of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Australia would not have a vaccination programme. We wouldn't be talking about anyone getting vaccines. And that is why the decision we took to put that in place wasn't just important last August, it is important right now because it is those very vaccines that are coming out of the CSL plant and going through the approval process. They are the vaccines that our vaccination programme depends and relies upon.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you agree though that if you went down the mass vaccination route, more people would be safe right now and vaccinated?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. Because you are assuming a supply of vaccines that was not there. You are assuming that there were 3 million vaccines that were here, that were not here. I mean, the vaccines that we have available to us are being distributed and they are being administered, and so you are suggesting that they would have been other vaccines that could have been used at a larger scale. Well, the supply of those vaccines were not there, and so your assumption is based on a false premise of supply that was not there.
JOURNALIST: I mean the supply of vaccines we have now, though.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, but those vaccines that we’re producing now are matching the distribution network that we have.
JOURNALIST: How many doses is CSL actually rolling out every week at the moment? The Acting Chief Medical Officer and CSL both can’t say how many doses they’re providing to Government each week.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it varies from week to week. We are still in the early phases so it would be misleading, I think, to give you an average at this point. We know what we are hoping to achieve. But at this point, we are hoping to achieve the figures that have already been realised to some extent and that is around the 800,000 mark. That is achievable and we want to be able to try and keep achieving that, and if we can do better than that, then we will.
JOURNALIST: On the travel bubble, Prime Minister Ardern mentioned that the risk of disruption for people’s travel plans if there is an outbreak, have you sought assurances from the premiers that they will not be hasty to shut their borders to New Zealand if there is an outbreak in Auckland, for instance, as we saw at Christmas when Daniel Andrews gave very short notice to get home to Victoria. Is that threat of disruption perhaps going to impede the flow of two way travel at all?
PRIME MINISTER: It is a standing request that I have of the states to have proportionate responses, but ultimately, they are the ones who make those decisions about how they are the respondent on those specific cases. I was pleased to see that the restrictions that were introduced in Queensland were just as quickly removed, and that is very welcome. I think we all understand, whether it is Prime Minister Ardern or myself, that we are still not living in a COVID free environment, despite the success of both countries, and that from time to time, steps might have to be taken to protect both countries if there is a sizeable outbreak. So I think that is just assumed as part of how we all live with COVID. But where that can be minimised in terms of the size of the area we are talking about, and particularly to quite defined hot spots, that is an approach we have taken to New Zealand in the past when there has been outbreaks in Auckland. So we will continue to follow what I would call a proportionate response, and I would be always encouraging states to follow the same process. And I think, increasingly, that is what we're seeing this year compared to what we saw last year. Chris?
JOURNALIST: Given what we’re seeing with vaccine rollouts here and around the world, what’s your view on the likelihood of any international travel beyond New Zealand this year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can’t really speculate on it Chris, and I’m not about you. I don’t think that’s fair. We are seeing populations around the world increasingly being vaccinated, but the important piece of information, which I’ve told you all on many occasions, is that while we know, absolutely, that the vaccines that we’re using and that other countries are using are very effective in ensuring against serious disease, and protecting, obviously can’t in all cases, particularly where people have comorbidities, against fatalities. But as more of the world, and particularly more of our own country, is vaccinated, then obviously we can start moving to managing this virus a lot more like other viruses that we deal with in a more standard way. That’s our objective, but we’ll let the evidence lead us on that. And at this point, the evidence is not strong enough to give us a good pointer about when we will arrive at that point.
JOURNALIST: The cohort that you’re now dealing with in terms of vaccinations often visits chemists, these people, and the chemists are saying today that they’re absolutely ready to go. They’re worried about their timetable slipping. Wouldn’t there be a case for bringing them forward in the progress, or is the supply the restraint on doing that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the supply is the major restraint and always has been, whether it’s been the non-delivery of vaccines from overseas, some three million that we were relying upon, and we all are aware of the situation in Europe and other places that has frustrated that supply. They’re circumstances that are outside Australia’s control. What was inside our control was ensuring that we had the capacity to make the vaccine in Australia, and we’ve done that, and that supply is what is supporting the distribution network through our GPs and the states and territories that is in effect now. It was never ever the plan that pharmacists would be involved in the vaccination program at this point, so there has been no slippage, there has been no delay, and the medical advice is it is not the time for pharmacists to be involved at this point. There has always been the plan to involve them at a later point with the more general population, and that is still the plan. And we have arrangements that are in place to achieve that, but right now, the supply is supporting the distribution network we’ve got through the GPs, and the states and territories, and we are seeing that ramp up week after week after week. To give you an example, I mean when we were first starting we had hoped to get, we hoped to get to around 80,000 a week and we were achieving that in the first couple of weeks. In the seven days prior to the Easter break - and obviously over the Easter break there hasn’t been many vaccinations over the course of the last four days, that will ramp up again as this week commences - we got to around 350,000 in a week. Now that is a significant increase in just a matter of weeks and we can continue to expect to see that increase over the weeks ahead as the distribution network expands, more GPs are involved. And I want to stress, it’s important that we get as many GPs involved as possible because that is more points of contact with the public, more points of contact. And they’re receiving anywhere between 50 and 2,000 doses. And so the fact that those doses have been getting out and they’ve been getting in the jabs in the arms, I strongly welcome, and there will be more rollout as they come off the production line and as they go through the necessary approval processes. And that is the phase that we’re dealing with now, and then we get to the next phase and there will be a role for pharmacists, and there is the potential for other ways that we can do that to ensure that we can move the vaccines across the balances of the population as safely and reasonably as possible.
Sam, Sam. I will come back to you, I’ll come back to you, I’ll come back to you, but Sam had her hand up.
JOURNALIST: Originally in January you were hopeful that you could vaccinate four million people by the end of March. That hasn’t happened, we’re at about a quarter I think, about 800,000, and you said partially that’s in relation to exports. But in relation to CSL, in relation to …
PRIME MINISTER: … imports …
JOURNALIST: … imports, sorry. In relation to CSL, they’ve got about 800,000 that are on the ground, and there’s also around two million that are awaiting further checks, and you’ve said that’s important. Given those sort of hold-ups, how many people would you expect to be vaccinated by the end of April?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Sam, a couple of things. There’s not a hold-up. The release of vaccines has always been based on them completing those processes, so the fact that they actually have to get approved by the relevant authorities and do the batch testing is not a hold-up, it’s a necessary part of the process to guarantee Australian safety. So I think to describe that as a hold-up would be, would be incorrect. Secondly, you talked about the four million figure. Well the simple explanation of that is three million - 3.1 million vaccines - that never came to Australia. And so that is the reason. Back in early January we had anticipated we would have those 3.1 million vaccines. Those 3.1 million vaccines were not supplied to Australia, and that explains the difference between the numbers you are referring to, and we made that very clear back in February. So to- and we made it very clear that they were indicative figures that we were working to at that time based on the information that we had. So I think it is important that as the Government puts information out about the program, it will be subject to change from time to time. There will be factors that come into play, such as the disruption of supplies. That can occur, even with domestic production, and we need to work to the supply that we have. And I think that’s only reasonable to consider it in that way, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.
Last, I said we’d, I said I’d come back to Greg, and then…
JOURNALIST: Pharmacists say that they were supposed to get, they were initially supposed to get advice on what clinics would administer doses by March 12. That’s been pushed back to April 12, and they say that their initial advice was they would actually be administering them by May, and that’s been pushed back to June. So, in what ...
PRIME MINISTER: It was always mid-year. We were always working to mid-year. Pharmacists were not coming in until the next phase. And so I welcome their enthusiasm and willingness to want to be involved in this, and when we reach that stage where they were to be involved then they’ll be involved. But you had another question on another matter?
JOURNALIST: Yeah just Janet Yellen. So, she’s pushing for a minimum corporate tax rate for the G20. Is this something you’d consider supporting, and are you concerned Australia has been at the losing end on an international bidding war for lower business tax rates?
PRIME MINISTER: Well in Australia, not only have we reduced the corporate tax rate and it’s on that path to 25 percent for businesses of less than 50 million in turnover, but I’d also add this. In the most recent Budgets we have introduced some of the most effective investment allowances and instant expensive initiatives that has, as well as research and development, taxation concessions, and a whole range of other measures that effectively lowers the corporate tax rate for Australian companies. And so the like-for-like assessment, I think you will find, would see Australia in a lot more competitive position than you would give Australia credit for. And we’re seeing that through the work that is being done currently in Australia’s efforts to attract more companies to Australia, and particularly when you take into account in key sectors, like in the space sector or the technology sector, or the minerals resource processing, or agrifood, or any of these key medical, biomedical industries where our manufacturing strategy is also being supported by grant programs and others to boost that, then Australia’s overall system is proving to be incredibly competitive and a lot more competitive than that analysis would suggest. And Australia does have an opportunity right now, and we are seeking right now to realise that opportunity. Companies from around the world, the best and brightest minds from all around the world, are working out that this is where they want to be. And they want to be here and be part of what’s happening here in Australia. And our success in managing COVID compared to other countries is a great endorsement of what Australia is putting forward to them, so I will have a bit more to say about that in the weeks ahead, but what I can tell you is Australia is leading the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Today’s job vacancy numbers, they demonstrate that. Our vaccination program continues to upscale and continues to rollout, unlike in many other countries where they have had to move at a great pace, it has been because of the dire situation they are in. Australia is not experiencing the dire, fatal consequences that so many other countries are experiencing, and neither is New Zealand, whose vaccination program is, I’d say, at a lower level than Australia’s is now. It’s not a criticism, it’s just they don’t have access to a domestic vaccine production. Australia does, and that enables us going forward in the weeks and months ahead to scale all that up. So I’m very pleased about those job numbers. I’m very pleased that the Trans-Tasman route is opened up again. It’s another big step in our way back. Thanks very much.
Remarks, Cabinet Women's Taskforce Meeting - Australian Parliament House, ACT
6 April 2021
Prime Minister, Minister for Women
PRIME MINISTER: Welcome to this first Cabinet Taskforce on women’s security and economic security. Women's safety and security are very much, I think, the heart and soul of what the agenda for this group is about and I'm very pleased to be joined by co-chair Senator Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women.
This is a group that is the largest group, combined with the central agencies represented here, the largest group of women who have ever been represented in a Federal Cabinet. This, I think, is a high watermark that I would like to see rise even higher in the future and the calibre and the credibility of the women who sit around this table, combined with the experience of the other members, I think bring the right experience, the right lens, the right focus and the right priorities and importantly, the right values as to how we can address these critical issues.
When I announced the formation of this group, together with Minister Payne, I talked about the importance to focus on equality, on safety, on economic security, on health and well-being. And that is indeed our focus as we gather together in this way to look right across all aspects of how our Government functions.
But let's not also forget the important values that underpin our approach as Liberals and Nationals to our Government. Values of dignity, values of respect, values of family that are so critical to nurture the society in which we all live and we all depend. And family, more than any other, something that should be a place of safety for all Australians, particularly for women.
But we know that's not the case. We know the incidence of violence against women, particularly from intimate partners. We know the dreadful statistics and they are heartbreaking.
Now, this is not to say that over many years and for many governments, that progress hasn’t been made on these fronts. Of course it has. We are in the Fourth National Action Plan of the National Plan to Address Violence Against Women. Over a billion dollars has been invested by our own Government in these successive plans and that is something that is making a real difference. But more difference has to be made.
On the economic front, even as we've come through this pandemic, it was women whose economic opportunities were so significantly impacted when COVID hit. But we're pleased to say now, within a year, the number of women in employment today is higher than it was when the pandemic hit. The gender pay gap is at a record low and we have reached the same heights again and more of female participation in the workforce.
But there is much more to do. And as we gather together here in this place, as we often do as a full Cabinet with a particular focus and lens on our challenges as a country to ensure that women have at least equal opportunity, at least as much safety, at least as much economic security as men in this country.
This is what we hope for, for ourselves, for our families and for our daughters. Marise.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND MINISTER FOR WOMEN: Thank you very much, PM, and good morning, colleagues, and thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
I think this Taskforce is vitally important for the work that we are going to do. Important to accelerate and coordinate our efforts to deliver for Australian women right across this country and I really look forward to working with all of the colleagues here to deliver on the promise of this Taskforce, the commitments that we have made as a Government, the commitments we will make as a Government.
It gives us a good chance to take stock of what we are already doing. Prime Minister, you've referred to the National Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Women and their children. The implementation of the key priorities under the Women's Economic Security Statement, both 2018 and 2020 are already part of that stocktaking.
But this enables us to identify gaps. It also enables us to make decisions on how to fill those gaps through a targeted policy approach across Government that has a real and genuine impact on the issues that we know present the greatest challenges to women and girls in Australia.
Our purpose is to deliver practical, effective outcomes for Australian women in this process. The first priority, to respond to the remaining recommendations of the Respect@Work report, which we know is well underway in the safe hands of the Attorney-General, Minister Cash.
Also this week, Minister Ruston and I will co-chair the Women's Safety Taskforce meeting with all of our state and territory colleagues to discuss the next national plan on ending violence against women and their children.
I think this Taskforce will also help us drive an ambitious Budget programme, Prime Minister, and I'm very grateful for the engagement of the Treasurer and the Finance Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, with you in that process.
What the past two months, though, have underscored for us as a Government and as a nation is the depth of the issues that impact women, particularly in relation to violence and harassment, particularly in relation to workplace issues.
The work that we are doing here must have and will have an impact on addressing those concerns and the work that we already have underway through Prime Minister and Cabinet, through the independent review by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner are integral to that and I look forward to working with all of you to bring those to fruition.
Thanks, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Marise. There has never been a stronger voice for women in an Australian Government ever before. And when I think about the roles, in particular, that are represented around this table, the Attorney, law enforcement, social services, important services to Australians in the areas of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, foreign affairs, again, industrial relations, and in our defence industries and in the environment.
This is a very strong team, Michael and Josh and Simon. This will be an important opportunity today as we frame the next Budget and as we move to the next National Plan. So thank you all very much and appreciate the media's attendance.
Press Conference - Raytheon Australia, Adelaide SA
31 March 2021
MICHAEL WARD, RAYTHEON AUSTRALIA: OK good morning. I’d like to welcome the Prime Minister, the Premier, the Minister for Defence Industry and the Minister for Finance here for the opening of Raytheon Australia’s Centre for Joint Integration. This precinct will form the hub of our integrated air and missile defence industry approach over the next 10 to 20 years. And with that opening, I’d like to hand over to the Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much to Raytheon for the welcome here and the ability for us to come and congratulate them on this amazing new facility, and I congratulate the Premier for the wonderful job he's done here in South Australia to make it the defence state and the jobs that have been created here in South Australia as part of our Defence Industry Plan.
Can I also of course welcome Minister Birmingham, not just the Minister for Finance but a passionate South Australian Senator, joined by his colleagues here today, Melissa Price Defence Industry Minister having re-joined Cabinet.
We are bringing forward and 2045 to now, the development of our Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise. This was something I flagged last year, when I spoke of the update of our Defence Strategic Plan. This is all about ensuring that we have the capability to do what we need to do to protect and defend Australia’s interests in our part of the world.
This is a billion-dollar initiative to bring this forward, to ensure that we have what we need to do what's right for all Australians, and to do it with the best partners is in the world, our defence industry. We have been working together with now for many years, as we've recovered, rebuilt, restored the investment that we put in every single day to our defence industry and our defence capability to keep Australian safe, to assure that Australians can stand up for our interests, to stand up in our part of the world, to stand up for Liberal democracy and the freedom that so many before us paid the ultimate price, for us to enjoy here today.
And to do that, you’ve got to have the best people, the best companies, the best technology, the best systems and that's what we're seeing built here in our defence industry.
Today I’ll also announce the Defence Industry Roadmap, this is part of our Advanced Manufacturing Strategy and joining together with other sectors, like the medical sector, the minerals technology sector, recycling and other important sectors, food processing and the like, key manufacturing sectors, so we continue to make things here in Australia. Real programs, with real support to build the capability of our small, medium size and larger enterprises so they can participate in the significant work that is being done. And they become a partner of choice, whether it's in the defence industry or so many other sectors.
The plan I launch today is about realising the next phase of development of our defence industry, so it's an important day for Australia on the day that we celebrate the RAAF Centenary, just one of the many great stories of Australia's Defence Forces and I particularly pay credit and tribute to all who have served in our RAAF. And as they come together in Canberra today with the Governor-General to mark this important anniversary, this Centenary, of their service to our nation, so we thank them for that.
I'm going to ask the Premier now to speak, and the Defence Industry Minister and Senator Birmingham to talk about how important this is for South Australia.
But introducing the Premier. He is a partner in this exercise. He is a partner who gets things done. Something significant changed when Premier Marshall became Premier, and that is the South Australian Government stopped arguing with the Federal Government and started working with the Federal Government, and that has paid big dividends for South Australia. We found a Premier we could work with, to get things done, and that wasn't interested in the politics, was only interested in the delivery and together the Premier and I, Premier Marshall and I are getting things done. Both for Australia and for South Australia and I'm so pleased he’s here with me today.
STEVEN MARSHALL MP, PREMIER OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Thanks very much Prime Minister. It's great to have you here in our state. I too would like to acknowledge that today is the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force and we thank all the current serving and veteran members of the RAAF for their incredible service to our nation. It's a very special day for everybody involved with the RAAF, we are especially celebrating it here in South Australia, one of two super bases in the nation. Edinburgh is based here in our state.
Can I just say the Prime Minister is 100% right, we have cut out all of the fake fights with Canberra since we came to Government and we have now been the beneficiary of great new platforms and programs for our state, including of course the Australian Space Agency, but today, we are here at Raytheon Australia for the opening of this major new centre for joint integration.
Now, probably people don't know what a centre for joint integration is, I will tell you. It is a fantastic new defence manufacturing and integration capability, based right here in South Australia, a massive $50 million investment from Raytheon Australia which is really showing their great confidence in South Australia, the defence state. I also want to massively acknowledge the vision, the bold vision that the Prime Minister has announced today, to set up a new national guided weapons enterprise for Australia. This is an incredibly important issue for national security.
This Prime Minister, more than any other, has very clearly identified that we need sovereign manufacturing capability in this country. We certainly need sovereign manufacturing capability for guided weapons, and that's what this is about.
I know it is a new national enterprise, yet to be determined, but we are course, as the defence state, going to be putting ourselves forward to get as much of this as possible. We’ve got great skills in South Australia, we’ve got great capability in South Australia, and we got great ambition when it comes to the defence industry, so today, a great day for South Australia, to have the Prime Minister here in our state, talking space, talking defence, celebrating the many thousands and thousands of jobs that we already have in defence industry but most importantly, those thousands of jobs for the next generation of people to deliver our sovereign capability for our nation.
THE HON. MELISSA PRICE MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY: Thank you. Wonderful to be here with Premier Marshall and the Prime Minister. Our Government has a very ambitious $270 billion defence capability ambition. But this mission cannot be done by ourselves, and today we are standing in this $50 million new facility of Raytheon, so our Government needs good partners like Raytheon. But it's not just the big end of town. Our government is focused on developing our small and medium enterprises. Those companies who don't even know they are defence-ready yet. So I want to acknowledge and thank Raytheon for the work that they do in supporting and developing our Raytheon for the work that they’ve done, and their contribution with respect to the new Manufacturing Defence Roadmap, which is a very important roadmap, which is very complementary to our sovereign industrial capability program. Our four structure plan acknowledged that our Government was going to invest $1 billion and our missile capability. Today we have announced that we are bringing the work on that very important capability forward and the next step is for us to work with our potential partners. It is a great day for defence capability, an excellent day for South Australia, thank you.
SENATOR THE HON. SIMON BIRMINGHAM, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: This is an incredibly exciting day for all South Australians as we see real outcomes and real job from the record investment in defence industry. This centre for joint integration is so symbolic of what is important about the defence industry and defence investment our Government has been making. The integration element is about big global primes working with small businesses to take them onto the global stage. That's what's going to happen here. Small Australian and South Australian businesses getting the leg up to be able to work with a global prime and secure opportunities not just to contribute to Australia's defence industry, but to contribute into global supply chains, and it is all possible thanks to the integration between Federal Government and State Government working together. Prime Minister Morrison, Premier Marshall, working in partnership in an integrated way to get real outcomes, and on behalf of all South Australia's Federal Liberal MPs, I want to thank the PM, the Premier, the Minister for Defence industry and Minister for Defence for their leadership in making this happen. But above all, Raytheon for their investment, investment facilitated because of the long-term plans and commitments our Government has made. The Defence industry is no longer being fed one minute at a time, they can absolutely plan for the future, invest for the future, and this investment here is about the long-term capability that will deliver long-term jobs for South Australians for decades to come.
PRIME MINISTER: Simon and I will just take questions in a second. But I also want to acknowledge the work that was done by former Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds for getting us to this point here today and the announcements we have been able to make today. Able so want to thank Minister Andrews for the great work she has done as Industry Minister and the work she has done in bringing this roadmap together today to get us to this point. Happy to take questions, why don't we deal with the questions on the matters that we have announced today and then if you wish to move to other matters.
JOURNALIST: That $2 billion, what’s the likelihood of that work ending up in South Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: It's going to go where we’ve got the greatest capability and it's going to go where we can get the job done and that is what Australian taxpayers would expect. There are no special favours or deals here, but we want Australians very much at the heart of what we're doing here and we are developing that capability. And so this is the defence state so I'm sure they were put their best foot forward and I’m sure they’ll do very well.
JOURNALIST: Just on that Prime Minister, from what you’ve seen today, how well-positioned do you think Raytheon is to capitalise?
PRIME MINISTER: I think they are very well positioned but they are one of many and they are a very outstanding organisation, and we're very pleased to see what they have been to establish here. But this is the great advantage that we now have, that Minister Price and I, and now Minister Dutton, in that there are so many companies now establishing and building their capability and many of them are doing it right here in South Australia. Doing it in Queensland too, there are doing it in other states around the country and that is great to see. All Premiers, all states are seeing the great opportunity for jobs, for their people and their states. But I can tell you, I haven't seen anyone more enthusiastic and more action orientated than Premier Marshall in seeking to secure those opportunities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how exactly do you see manufacturing missiles in current defence projects. Can you unlock the connections there [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, they sit in parallel, but as I referred to in my earlier comments, we have augmented what our broader strategic outlook is, and that involved bringing forward the capability for longer-range strike and that's what this capability is about. And that sits in harmony with the other priorities we have, whether it’s naval ship building or elsewhere. We have a coordinated, comprehensive capability plan that is matched to the threats and to the security environment that Australia is facing now and that we are in the future. But I should also stress, that is a capability that meshes together with our alliance partners as well, particularly the United States, but beyond that. The Quad itself began from a humanitarian perspective many, many years ago. It has now risen to a leaders level which is having a far broader reference than that, but it remains the case that the relationship between ourselves, Japan, India and Australia is very much grounded on our joint security interests here. And there are many other partners that add to that, the United Kingdom in particular, an important defence partner of Australia as well. What do we all have in common? Liberal democracy, the values that we share, ensuring that is something that will remain long-established here in this part of the world and elsewhere.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’re obviously back in South Australia
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah! Love being back in South Australia!
JOURNALIST: Has a decision been made about the future of the Collins Class Full-Cycle Docking?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it hasn't.
JOURNALIST: Why not?
PRIME MINISTER: Because there are other matters that we are dealing with at the moment, that matter is not one that needs to be addressed at this point. There are still many years before we are in that position and there are a series of other issues we’re dealing with across the procurements where I am focusing my attention right now.
JOURNALIST: So what’s your message to the people out at [inaudible] sweating on if they’ll have work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, keep working. They’re doing a great job. They’re doing a great job. What has been achieved here with this Collins Class Full-Cycle Docking has been extraordinary, they’ve demonstrated a great capability here. It’s one that I'd take very seriously and acknowledge.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can we ask you about the vaccine rollout? The number of vaccines they’ve received not [inaudible] have not administered [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn't over interpret this. The vaccine schedules for delivery have for 12 weeks have been provided to the states, that’s been the case, I am certainly not making any criticism of that. It’s a big job, we are all doing it, the states and territories are doing it for their frontline workers and hospitals and their quarantine workers. And we are doing it through the GP rollout. Of course, at the outset, when 3 million or so vaccines aren’t able to be delivered to Australia because of the vaccine release out of Europe in particular, that was obviously going to impact the early success. But we are already at over 650,000, I expect by next week we will be into the million, and each week the distribution and the vaccination dosage gets stronger and stronger and stronger. We’re on track for our first dose for everyone by the end of October. In particular, the states and territories are moving through their workforce, as is their part of the responsibility. We are working through the GPs as we move into 1B and the 6 million Australians that are part of that. And so, it’s not a race, it’s not a competition, I am not interested in, you know, this state, or that state. I’m interested in Australians being vaccinated safely, with appropriate care and support given to all of them. Australia has put itself into position to have a manufactured vaccine here in Australia. We’re not relying, like most of the countries in the world, for vaccines to be coming from somewhere else. They’re getting made here in Australia, in Melbourne. I was there last Friday, saw them coming off the line, going into distribution, heading out into the GPs and states around the country. So we are getting on with this, we are getting it done and it will continue to build day after day. Not interested in people who want to play politics with vaccines and distribution and all of that sort of thing, I will leave the politics to those who want to play politics. It's my job to get people vaccinated, and the Premiers’ job to get people vaccinated and that is exactly what we're are doing.
JOURNALIST: Particularly Queensland has accused you of [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that target was explained months ago, that was dispensed with because of the problems we had with vaccines not coming from overseas. That it was dealt with months ago, so that being put up as some constant target is just politics.
JOURNALIST When do you imagine that will reach [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well we are tracking this, we have got over 800,000 vaccines coming out every week and we are reviewing that on a weekly basis and how that is tracking over time, but the target to get everybody with their first dose by the end of October, that is on track.
JOURNALIST: Queensland has accused you of, or Canberra, of a lack of transparency because of supply issues.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don’t agree with that. They have a 12 week forward projection of dose distribution to all states and territories. The Premier has his, all the other states have theirs. But again, I have no interest in getting involved on the tit-for-tat on vaccines. What Australians want is for people to get vaccinated, Governments to work together. We’ll work with the Queensland Government, the South Australia Government, all the Governments. The National Cabinet is meeting again next week and we’ll I’m sure have a discussion about that. They’ve been receiving the regular updates from Brendan Murphy, Professor Murphy who is part of that process, so I think these issues may be being a bit over interpreted. States and territories, the Commonwealth working closely together to get Australians vaccinated. And as I said, one of the few countries in the world, only about 20 countries in the world can actually produce their vaccines in their own country, and there is only about half a dozen or so who do the AstraZeneca vaccine. So the decision that our Government took, the Federal Government took, to ensure that we had a domestically manufactured vaccine meant that we have a vaccination program. If we hadn't taken that decision, last August, then we would not have a vaccination program today. We wouldn't be talking about the rate of vaccination, we’d be talking about no vaccination, and that was because of the foresight and the wisdom of the decision that we took in the midst of the crisis of the second wave of the virus in Victoria. We were making the decision to ensure that Australians would be getting their vaccines now.
JOURNALIST: Can we get your reaction to Grace Tame's comments that you’ve used this reshuffle is a distraction?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't share those views. I respect Grace and I once again congratulate her on her strong advocacy on the issues that have been so, so front of mind, particularly. They’ve always been front of mind for people who have been dealing with these issues over generations. And so, of course, I respect her contribution and I know that Senator Stoker is in particular, keen to work with Grace Tame, as she takes on her new responsibilities. I think everybody has a contribution to make here and we’ll continue to do that in a respectful way, that draws together the experience of women from all walks of life, from all different perspectives. And if anyone disagrees then, as a country you know, there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with each other but I think we’ve got to find better ways to disagree. And this comes and builds from a culture of respect in this country, which I know and I’m sure Grace would agree, is something we need to continue to build.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on electric cars, 2019 you ridiculed [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: No, that would be an unfair suggestion.
JOURNALIST: Do you stand by those comments?
PRIME MINISTER: I didn't ridicule that technology, that's good technology. We actually have policies to support that technology. What I called into question was the Labor Party policy and their ability to implement it. And I think we're in a similar process today. I mean, the Labor Party getting together, they spent $30 billion in two days. Imagine what they'd be like if they had three years. Again, we see that they don't know how to spend money responsibly. You know, JobKeeper was the biggest single economic intervention this country has ever seen. It was a lifeline to this country, economy, but a lifeline literally to people's lives and livelihoods. It was a bold and brave decision of our Government to do this and put in place this support. But that was only half the decision. When you make big economic decisions like this, then you've got to be prepared to make the decision at the other side, which is at some point it has to be withdrawn. And we've taken that decision. The Labor Party has not supported us in that decision, they think you can spend money forever. They think you can run the Australian economy on taxpayers money forever. You think you can put the Government at the centre of the economy forever. That's not our vision. Our vision is one of economic responsibility, fiscal responsibility that sees our economies led by businesses like the ones we're standing here right now. That's where people's jobs come from the future, they don’t come from the Government spending your money, they come from the Government wisely investing in areas responsibly that ensures that government finances, I'm sure the Minister for Finance would agree, is done responsibly and you just can't, you know, run around spending money recklessly, like the Labor Party seem to have made an art form over the life of the of their time.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I can’t quite hear you sorry.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are very clear responsibilities on the vaccination program and the vaccine administration for those frontline health workers is managed by the states and territories. That's the partnership we had. We paid for those as the Federal Government, federal taxpayers you paid for it, to ensure that we secured those doses. That's more than $6 billion dollars that the Federal Government invested in ensuring that the states and territories would have the doses they could administer. But their task was to administer those doses to frontline workers. Now, I'm not making any criticism about this. It's a big project. And we just need to get on with it and get this done. That's exactly what we're doing. We're doing it here in South Australia, doing it all around the country. And I look forward to us meeting those marks next week and ensuring that we progress on, and ensuring that Australia continues to emerge safer and their health protected, but importantly, the jobs that we’re seeing created here by the announcement today are realised, and I thank the Premier of South Australia once again for being here and being such a great partner. Thank you all very much.
Opening Remarks, Australian Space Discovery Centre - Adelaide SA
31 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’s a pleasure to be here today to see realised, what the vision has been for the Space Agency here and Australia's space future. I want to thank Megan in particular, and Kathy, and Enrico and of course Premier Marshall for his great vision and leadership in securing this amazing presence here in Lot Fourteen, which is rapidly becoming the centre of all things when it comes to space, and technology, and cyber security and so many other elements. And it's really, I think, taking South Australia into a whole new dimension when it comes to how South Australia is seen not just here around the country but all around the world. As being an absolute centre.
Today is the 100th anniversary of our RAAF, of the Royal Australian Air Force. And their motto is "through struggle to the stars." And what they've been able to achieve over the last century, all of us in Australia are incredibly proud of and we thank all of those who have served in our RAAF. But what we're seeing here, through that same motto, is something equally as exciting and to see the looks on the young people's faces this morning as they were just here absorbing this. I mean, Kathy's here from Questacon, this is a partnership with Questacon. You know when young people come to Canberra and they go through the science exhibits, Cathy knows all about that, their eyes light up and to see them just completely absorbing and engaging about what the possibilities are.
But, you know, it's not just about astronauts and rockets. It's about floods, it's about bushfires, it's about understanding how we manage our own environment. It's about the technology, which is going to create high value jobs whether here in South Australia or elsewhere around the country. But all of that begins with discovery and our own personal discovery and we have young people in there discovering right now. And I can't think of anything more exciting than completely opening up and exciting the mind of a young Australian. And to see the possibilities of what's there in the future. I was talking to one young girl in there before. And I said to her, "imagine what you'll know when you're my age. Imagine what you'll know." And with all the discovery and all the things that are happening and how quickly - and she just had a huge smile. And it's very true, it's very exciting. You cannot help that when you think about particularly this sector, the space sector, which we have highlighted as one of our key sectors for our advanced manufacturing - you can't help but get excited and positive about the future. Sure, we've got heaps of challenges, we've got heaps of problems, but when you experience what we've just done in the last 20 minutes or so and see the hope and the optimism that is there, I couldn't be more proud of the Australian Space Agency, Enrico and Megan. I couldn't be more proud of our science community, Cathy. And how that has contributed to everything that's happening here. But Steven I couldn't be more proud of South Australia also.
On that note, I'm very pleased to declare the Australian Space Discovery Centre, open.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
29 March 2021
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. It is my intention today to advise the Governor-General of a number of proposed changes to my Ministry. To do that I'm joined by the Minister for Women and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Payne. These changes will shake up what needs to be shaken up while maintaining the momentum and the continuity and the stability that Australia needs as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Those priorities again, the rollout of that vaccine and suppress the virus, the economic recovery that is well underway, with more Australians employed now than there were before the pandemic began, to guarantee those essential services that Australians rely on each and every day, the health services, the disability services, the aged care services, the income support. To stand up for Australia, whether it's against big multinationals or within our own region, to stand up for our interests and ensure we've got what is necessary to back that up. And to continue the important work of caring for our country, as Indigenous Australians have done for centuries and centuries and thousands of years.
There'll be no changes in areas such as Treasury, Finance, Health, Social Services that go to many of those priorities. But what we must do is address the Government's agenda with the changes that we're making and do so I think, with a fresh lens and a fresh lens, in particular to achieving the outcomes, the results that we all want for Australian women across the country. Getting these results for Australian women will be achieved through collaboration. They'll be achieved through listening. They'll be achieved by acting together. They won't be achieved by dividing Australians and setting them apart and having further conflict. It will be achieved by Australians coming together to deal with these very serious and significant issues. The changes I'm announcing today will once again provide the strongest ever female representation in an Australian Government Cabinet. But it's not just about the size of the female contingent in my Cabinet, but it's the skills and the experience, it's the perspective, and it's the collaboration they bring to our nation's most difficult tasks. And that, indeed extends beyond the Cabinet. Women taking up as they must, as they should, as I very much want them to do and as they are so keen to do so, these senior roles and in particular the important portfolios right across the Government. This is about getting the right input. This is about getting the right perspective. It's about getting that lens on the policy challenges that we're facing in the policy development and delivery work that needs to be undertaken and doing so in those key agencies of government that are so important for achieving this change.
These appointments will be further enhanced by the establishment of a new Cabinet Taskforce to drive my Government's agenda and response to these key issues involving women's equality, women's safety, women's economic security, women's health and well-being. This task force will be co-chaired by Minister Payne and I. It will comprise all female members of my Ministry, and there is quite a number. It will also be joined by the portfolio Ministers from what is known as the Central Agency; the Treasurer, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance. I'll ask Minister Payne for a bit more about that in a moment once I've run through the changes to the Ministry.
So to those changes. Michaelia Cash will be Australia's next Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations. She has done an outstanding job for our Government. She's a fine Attorney and she's a fine Parliamentarian and I'm looking forward to her leadership in this role and she also holds the position of Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in recognition of her significant talents. Anne Ruston will join the leadership team of my Government, those 10 ministers who join together on a very regular basis, of which Minister Payne is also a member. Anne Ruston will join that team and she will also have added to her title things that she is predominantly responsible for right now and that is Minister for Women's Safety in Cabinet. Karen Andrews will take on the job of Minister for Home Affairs. Karen has done an outstanding job in her role, particularly bringing together and championing Australia's advanced manufacturing strategy. She is a woman of great talent, of great experience, and great practicality. I first put Karen into the Cabinet because I believed so heavily in her abilities and I'm so pleased with the job that she's done and now she's ready for a new job and I think she's going to do an outstanding job, as someone who once held those portfolio responsibilities, in some respects, you can forgive me by being pretty particular about who I appoint in Home Affairs and she is going to do an outstanding job. Linda Reynolds will remain in Cabinet and will take on the portfolio of Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I've been in regular contact with both Linda and her doctor, with her permission, and she has recovered extremely well. And we have discussed her return to work and agreed that a domestic portfolio would be best for her. But she is in good health and I know she will do an outstanding job in this area. She has previously served on the Committee for the NDIS and knows those issues extremely well. She's a very good operational Minister and so taking responsibility for Government Services and the continued rollout of programs I think will fit her skills and talents well. Melissa Price will be returning to Cabinet, so I'll be expanding the Cabinet by one to where it was when Minister Cormann was in the Cabinet and she will retain the portfolio of Defence Industry. The Defence Industry portfolio has previously been in Cabinet and when Minister Pyne held that portfolio, amongst others, and he did an excellent job setting up this procurement program that we're involved in now, and I need a keen set of eyes continuing on those projects, significant as they are for the Australian Government and our defence. And she's been doing an outstanding job in the outer ministry in this area and I'm pleased that I'm able to bring her back into Cabinet in that role.
Those five ministers will join, of course, Minister Payne and Minister Ley, who will continue on in their roles as Foreign Affairs, Minister for Women and Sussan Ley as Minister for the Environment. And as you know, Minister Ley also has the House duty responsibilities for Minister for Women. Jane Hume will take on the additional portfolio in the outer Ministry of Women's Economic Security, and Amanda Stoker will take on the additional role of, she's currently Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General, she will add to that Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industrial Relations, as well as Assistant Minister to the Minister for Women. Minister Payne will effectively become the leader of that group of women. She is effectively amongst her female colleagues, the prime Minister for Women, holding the prime, ministerial responsibilities in this area as the Minister for Women. It is her job to bring together this great talent and experience across not just the female members of my Cabinet team and the outer Ministry and Executive, but to draw also in the important contributions, especially in areas such as health and services and aged care and other key important roles that go so much to women's well-being in this country.
The other changes, Peter Dutton who has done an extraordinary job as Minister for Home Affairs. He was the first Minister for Home Affairs in a very, very long time. He succeeded me in the portfolio of Immigration and Border Protection many years ago and he has carried on that great work. The boats have stopped. He kept them stopped and he has moved in so many other areas of that portfolio. But I know the one that Peter has been most passionate about, as a former law enforcement officer himself, he has done extraordinary work to protect children from sexual violence in this country. And he hasn't just done it here. He's sat aside Attorney-Generals of other countries, particularly in the United States and in the United Kingdom and other places, to work together to crack down on the sexual paedophile rings that exist all around the world. His leadership in that area has been extraordinary and his passion has also been immensely impressive. So he leaves that portfolio after some very long years of service and I want to thank Peter very much for the hard road he has had in that portfolio, I have some knowledge and understanding of it. He will take on the job of Minister for Defence and he will also take on the job of Leader of the Government in the House. Stuart Robert, Minister Robert will take on the job of a critical area for the Government's economic strategy. I've mentioned three particular areas that our economic recovery depends on. One is workforce. We have a massive challenge in this country to get the workforce this country needs to do the things we want to do, whether it's build naval ships, whether it's to ensure we have the aged care and disability care workforce we need, that we have the number of mental health professionals, whether they be as psychiatrists or counsellors or nurses, the rural workforce we need, the systems engineers we need for our defence procurements. We have an enormous workforce challenge, whether it's in our rural and regional areas or the particular areas we need in advanced sciences and other areas to support our manufacturing industries. Workforce is a big piece of our economic puzzle that we must get firmly in place. That combined with Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Minister Robert will take those portfolios on with a great deal of experience, having run his own business as well, including as an employment business, he knows full well how to pull a team together and create a workforce to do the job. So as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, he will be a key participant in the Government's economic recovery strategy. Christian Porter will take on a new portfolio for Industry, Science and Technology. I've spoken to this about Minister Porter over the course of these last few weeks when he's been on mental health leave. This fully addresses all the issues that relate to the advice received from the Solicitor-General, as well as the advice received from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet regarding the Ministerial guidelines. He's a very capable Minister, and I'm sure he'll apply his considerable talents to that portfolio to the best of his abilities. And so with that, I will ask Minister Payne to speak further.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. I want to acknowledge the importance of the focus that the Prime Minister brings in these Ministry arrangements, the lens that the Prime Minister has been very clear that he wants applied across Government. I think your words Prime Minister, were to have the right lens on the challenges in key agencies and bringing together a taskforce which comprises the former senior members of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, adds and includes all of the women represented across the Ministry, is a very powerful way to do that. It puts addressing these issues at the centre of Government and that is absolutely the focus that this brings. I think the increase, I also welcome the increase of the number of women in Cabinet again to see it back to its highest level. The only Government that can say that is this Government. And it is with great pleasure that I welcome Melissa Price back to the Cabinet table.
What the engagement of the Ministers that the Prime Minister has outlined in the arrangements today gives us, is a Minister in the Treasury portfolio who has a capacity to direct and focus on women's economic security. The Minister for Social Services, who has so many of the programs in relation to women's safety and in relation to the prevention of violence against women and their children in her portfolio, with that express and implicit responsibility stated clearly in, in her role. I have not seen a Cabinet put together in this way to address these key issues. Through our Women's Economic Security Statement, the work that we have been doing in recent years since the first of those in 2018, we have had a strong focus on economic security, on women's safety and on leadership. This puts that focus at the heart of Government and around every single Cabinet table discussion whenever the Cabinet meets and across the broader Ministry. We know that the last few weeks have been extraordinarily challenging, confronting and difficult for so many people in this country, but none more than those women who have had to deal with or address assault or harassment or inappropriate behaviour in their workplaces, in their communities, in their social life, in their families across Australia. And bringing a gender equality lens if you like, to the whole of Ministry approach enables us to really focus in on those issues right across Government in a way that I have never seen before. I think it's very powerful. I think it's a very important and strong message to the Australian community and one which I am very pleased to work on with the Prime Minister and with my other senior colleagues. Thanks, Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in relation to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, she's obviously been criticised for those comments where she referred to Britney Higgins as a lying cow. Today, we've seen an Adelaide radio broadcaster who was sacked for suggesting that women who get drunk are in some way are to blame for what happens to them. The criticism has been there were no consequences for Linda Reynolds. Do you see this move as in any way a demotion or consequence, or do you see it in different terms?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the comment that Linda made was extraordinarily out of character. I mean, people in this place who know Linda Reynolds would have been as shocked by her comment as much as that it was she who was making it. It was an intemperate remark made at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons and she has completely apologised for that, sincerely. That apology has been accepted and the issue has been resolved and so that's where that matter rests. And so it is now a matter for the Government getting on with that job and for Linda to be able to take up new responsibilities. She was previously serving in the, as the Minister for Defence. It's a very senior role within the Government. She has stepped aside from that role and is taking on a new role within the Government and I think that reflects where she is best able to serve the Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Sarah Henderson has said this morning who said she doesn't feel comfortable being in the same partyroom as Andrew Laming, given his inappropriate behaviour towards women. How can you justify having him or keeping him in your partyroom, given you've said that it's up to you to get your house in order first?
PRIME MINISTER: Getting the house in order means me explaining very clearly to Andrew that his behaviour was unacceptable and that his behaviour needs to change and that he needs to seek support and help to change his behaviour, and that is exactly what he is doing at his own expense in terms of the support that he's seeking through the services that he will now access. See, what we need to do here is change behaviour. So when he returns that he will be I think, in a better position, I think, to give that assurance to other colleagues and anyone else. He was elected at the last election. He is, he has done something quite significant. He has said he is not seeking re-election. That is not a small thing to do, to walk away from a career in politics that he has served his community now for many, many years. So he's taken that on the chin and he's reflected on his own actions and he is not putting himself forward for re-election and re-nomination by the Liberal Party. And he's reflected on the conversation he and I had over the course of the weekend and I'm pleased that he is taking that instruction to get that support, to change his behaviour, and I believe we will see him return better for that experience and better able, I think, to provide his colleagues with the assurances that they are seeking and that they legitimately seek. But let's not forget what our goal is here. Our goal across all of these issues is to change behaviour. Andrew has said he wants to change his behaviour, so we intend him to support him to do just that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've called Senator Payne the prime Minister for Women, but aren't you the women's Prime Minister? Are you not fit to do the job of Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: I think you may have misunderstood the point I was trying to make. Of course I’m the Prime Minister. What I'm saying is that in this case, the Minister for Women is the Minister that is primarily responsible for drawing together the many different women who have been given Ministerial responsibilities for women. I mean, if I had not made that comment, I may have been accused of having too many ministers for women and what was Marise Payne doing? Well, that would also have not been the case. What I'm simply saying is I've given Marise a leadership responsibility amongst the women in our Cabinet and across our Ministry to pull it all together in the same way that I do across all areas of the Government. So, I think to be fair that characterisation I don't think reflects what I was saying.
JOURNALIST: PM, you said in your opening remarks about getting the right lens on things with these changes. Your October Budget was criticised in some quarters for being blind towards women. Can we expect a sort of different emphasis in the forthcoming Budget to be more mindful of the concerns of women?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd say a couple of things, and I'm sure Marise would like to add, I'm sure having been responsible for the many things that she brought forward into that Budget. First and foremost, what we have seen as a result of that economic recovery plan and that Budget is see women get back into jobs. I mean, women were the most exposed and at risk during the COVID period for a whole range of reasons. First of all, there was the economic security and the loss of jobs which we saw, and more women have made up those jobs returning to our economy than men. In addition to that, women were also more at risk, whether it was from domestic violence, harassment or many other things. We put an additional $150 million just in our COVID response to support and protect women against violence during that period. And that has been somewhat successful, working together with states and territories as well. Our Budget was very much focused, I think on delivering outcomes for women and there were specific initiatives in the Women's Economic Security package that the Minister brought forward into that Budget. And as we go into this Budget, I think we will be working hard to explain right across the country just how much all of the initiatives of our Budget deliver positive outcomes for women, whether that be their equality, their economic security, their safety and also their well-being, whether in health or other areas. But Marise?
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you. What we've seen in February of this year is women's workforce participation increased to 61.4 percent. In February of 2020, it was at 61.2 percent. The economic response, the Budget response of last October was about making sure those jobs were protected, those connections were kept with employers and that people were able to come back into the workforce. The gender pay gap, similarly, although this will be a varying figure because of the changes in employment rates, but the gender pay gap itself, as at November 2020, now again at 13.4 percent. That represents the largest narrowing of the gender pay gap since we have been making that statistical analysis. And we know from the work that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is doing that there's more to do in that regard. But it is absolutely the right path, the right trajectory. The Women's Economic Security statement of 2018 set the groundwork, if you like, for this Government's approach to these issues. But in 2020, we brought an absolute COVID-19 response focus to that about addressing those key issues of workforce participation, of gender pay gap and of women's safety through the initiatives in that Women's Economic Security statement across the diverse cohort that represents Australian women in the workforce in particular. So I know that with the Minister for Women's Economic Security in the Treasury portfolio, with the opportunity to bring together this taskforce, which has sitting around the table the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance, no matter who those people are in this in this conversation, those portfolios drive so much of our response. That will enable us to ensure that we continue to do that and that we grow it and that we bring that gender equality lens to those discussions at the highest levels of Government, in the centre of Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’ve assigned a number of these women's issues to various women in your Ministry. What role then do you see for the other men in your Ministry? It seems from the outset that you're making the issue of dealing with women's issues very much the responsibility of women. And if I can as well as, Minister Payne, what would you see is a barometer of success for the taskforce that you'll be leading? What would you hope would be markers that you could achieve in its first five, six months or year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I wouldn't share that perspective. It's every single member of the Cabinet’s job to work hard for every single Australian, be they men or women, be they Indigenous or non-Indigenous, be they able bodied or living with a disability, whether they be a senior or they be a youth. It is the job of every Minister in my Government and every member of the Executive, indeed every member of Parliament, to ensure that they are working for all Australians and indeed the taskforce that has been established, four of the members, myself, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Transport and, of course, the Treasurer and the Minister for Finance. Now, all of us, obviously, from the central agencies, as happened to be male Ministers, but we work right across Government. That means a whole of Government approach to ensuring that we're drawing this in. And the taskforce will work like many of our Cabinet sub-committees work. Where there are issues dealing with health and aged care, the Health and Aged Care Minister will be brought into the room to discuss those issues in particular. When we're talking about jobs, employment, workforce issues, small business, women are the proud owners and pioneers of small business in this country, always have been. The Minister will be brought in to specifically deal with those issues, the Minister for Defence and other Ministers specifically drawn in to deal with those issues. What I'm seeking to do is ensuring that I have such a strong voice of women in my Cabinet that I want to bring that together in this way to really help drive this agenda and make sure that they are the dominant voice when it comes to driving that agenda.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: So I agree with the, I agree with the Prime Minister – I agree with the Prime Minister in relation to the taskforce. If you made the mistake of thinking that it was only about the women around the Cabinet table in the Ministry table participating, then you would be missing that very large chunk that the Prime Minister has just referred to about the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer of Australia, the Finance Minister, being present at every single one of those discussions. That is about the most whole of Government response you could ever hope to achieve. It's about putting these issues at the centre of Government, in terms of, of the many policy areas that, that we would be addressing. And the Prime Minister is also absolutely right when he says, and he has been very clear to his&; Ministers, that whether you are the Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention or whether you are the Minister for Agriculture, there is a role in each single one of those portfolios, in every single one of those portfolios to make sure that that focus around the priority, the issues that concern women in that policy area are dealt with and addressed. And I think this taskforce will make that much more impactful in a way that we have not previously seen in a Government in this country ever, ever. And so that is a pretty strong message, I think. In terms of outcomes, obviously, colleagues, your colleagues have referred to to the Budget, but we also have our own agenda, the development of the next National Plan to Prevent Violence against Women and their Children. The Women's Safety Ministers Council meets next week on that and the development of the summit, which is part of that plan and was part of the the remit, if you like, for the Women's Safety Minister's Taskforce under the National Federation Reform Council, we announced that summit when we announced the taskforce itself. Obviously we will be providing a response to the Respect@Work inquiry, we'll be dealing with these issues of economic security and safety, making sure that those who want to make contributions to the review that Kate Jenkins is undertaking in this place are able to do that. And we are able to do that in a way that delivers on these priority issues for women and people here, but also across Australia.
JOURNALIST Senator Payne, as the new prime Minister for Women, do you concede that you have not done enough as Minister for Women? And do you pledge to be more visible from here on? And Prime Minister, I just want to talk to you about, ask you about one of the blokes in your Cabinet, Stuart Robert. He resigns from Turnbull Ministry for breaching Ministerial Code in 2018. Accepts 100,000 Rolex watches from a Chinese billionaire, gives a parliamentary speech written by a property developer, repays $38,000 for home internet and says 'my bad' when he incorrectly blames a cyber attack for Centrelink going down last year. How does this bloke get more responsibility in your reshuffle?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know whether you knew this Andrew, but the reason that millions were able to get access and support through both particularly for the JobSeeker payment over the course of the pandemic, was a direct result of that Minister's ability to scale up and put in place one of the most significant responses we've ever seen from a social security agency in this country in our history. He's been appointed to this job because he's done an outstanding job in the one that he's been doing. And, you know, when someone does a good job like that, then they show that they can take on responsibility, they can get things done for Australians. So for all of those who could get through to those lines, for those who are calling right now on the floods, you know over 50 million people sorry, $50 million was paid out to flood victims last week. That happened because of what Stuart Robert was able to put in place at Services Australia. It was a phenomenal achievement. People can now, when they ring, you be paid within, within half an hour. That was first established during the bushfires when he did exactly the same thing. So when people have had to rely on him for services, rely on him for payments, rely on him to ensure that they could get up the next morning, know that that money would be in their bank account because that's what he was responsible for, then he has delivered for them. And that's why, that's why he's in my Cabinet, because he can be relied upon to deliver the services that Australians indeed rely on.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: Thank you, Prime Minister. I think, Andrew, the focus that we have had, in particularly the last year, during COVID on economic security, on women's safety, on leadership has been manifested in a number of ways. But the one that I have found particularly valuable is the opportunity to engage with Australian women from hundreds and hundreds of different walks of life right across the country in a number of ways. First of all, the opportunity to initiate a series of national and regional roundtables, which are small groups, 20, 30, 40, 50 people, where over more than 30 hours of, of engagement, we have been able to focus on the issues that have been brought to those tables around safety, around economic security and right around the country. I absolutely acknowledge I didn't physically make it to Western Australia or to, to the Northern Territory during that process. But that is, that is a task for coming months. And as well as that in particular, the work that we are able to do with key community based organisations. So before International Women's Day, for example, the opportunity to participate in the UN Women Australia keynote addresses, Prime Minister here in Canberra with us, perhaps some of you were at that, I'm not sure. But more importantly for me, at least, the over thousand person event in Sydney live streamed, I think, on Channel Seven at the time, where I made very, very clear that my personal view, my own experience in this role over many years meant that after what we had seen occur in this building and what we had heard, described and alleged, the only way to address and to, to respond as a Parliament to these issues and to this challenge was to own the problems, was to own the failings and ultimately to own the solution. And that is what we have been working as a Government to do, whether it is through initiating the independent review of this workplace and so many facets of it by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. Whether it is the review that Stephanie Foster is doing that will provide the sort of structure and support that this workplace obviously needs for its staff and for those who spend their working lives here and then countless others on top of that. So those focuses on leadership, on economic security, on women's safety are what have driven our Government and driven me in my role. And I look forward to growing that with the support of Senator Stoker, of Senator Hume, of Senator Ruston in those specific roles. But really importantly, a taskforce of Government that focuses on these issues and includes the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister of Finance, the core of the central agencies that comes to the table and helps to plan the budget, plans the budget, helps to drive the policy development across Government is fundamental to that taskforce. It wouldn't work without them. And that's why the Prime Minister has resolved to include them today. I look forward to co-chairing that with the Prime Minister and to making sure that it enables us to address so many of the issues which have been raised in recent weeks.
JOURNALIST You said today that you've made this structural change because you feel as though there was a perspective that was lacking. So could you be clear about what that perspective was that you feel was lacking? And also why was it lacking? Because you've got good women standing beside you, like Marise Payne. Was it a matter of women not talking or was it a matter of the leadership group not listening? And also, if I may, just on your task list of what you want to achieve, Senator Payne, does that include leading a national discussion about criminal justice reform, given how women fare in, in instances where they report sexual assault?
PRIME MINISTER In response to the question, I wouldn't see it in the lens that you have. I would, I would put it more this way, that I think what we're doing here enhances what we're doing before. I think what we're doing here, as when I first became Prime Minister, we did have at that stage the highest number of women ever appointed to a Cabinet. And, and that has now been restored. And I'm very pleased about that. I've always wanted to ensure there is a strong voice of women in my Government. And there has been. I think what we're announcing today goes further than that. I think it sets a new benchmark. It sets a new, a new ambition for our Government to ensure that we infiltrate all aspects of Government. I mean, the big change here is this. Previous Governments, previous Cabinets have had a Minister for Women who was expected to cover every single issue that relates to challenges confronting women in the Government. I don't think that from experience is a very constructive way to get outcomes and results for women. The whole Government needs that. And so what I've done here is not just have one. I've got many in fact, every single member of the Cabinet, as others have pointed out. But in particular, I have very capable women serving in some very important portfolios. Home Affairs. Home Affairs. Big law enforcement portfolio of Government. The Attorney-General. Another big, important portfolio. Indeed already the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Environment. Within Treasury, another of the big institutions of Government. Ensuring that my female Ministers aren't just in Cabinet, but they got their hands on the levers of Government in some critical portfolios directly and are part of a Government that is completely focussed on ensuring that we understand how we need to deliver for women across the country. So that's probably how I’d put it Katharine, I don't know if I'd describe it as a previous deficiency. I'd say previously when there were six women in my Cabinet, that was also a pretty high mark compared to previous Governments. And to go back to seven, I'm really pleased about that. And I know that there are more that can come in the future and, and those women are coming through our ranks now. Jane Hume is very new to the Ministry, but she's got off to a tremendous start. She's an excellent Treasury Minister. Amanda Stoker has only just joined the Assistant Ministry together with Nola Marino amongst the Liberals. And with Michelle, who has served as the National Minister for some time. And she is already hard at work, working with myself and, and Michaelia Cash and our response to Respect@Work. As I told the Parliament last week, I've taken personal responsibility for ensuring we bring that together. And we had an excellent discussion in Cabinet about this just last week. And there will be more. And I'm looking forward to outlining that response before the Budget. Marise.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: And on criminal justice, we obviously know that reporting and going through the difficult process of pursuing criminal justice in these matters is very difficult. And the numbers are very low for those who have been impacted, who choose to do so. I'm very conscious of that. And although there have been some reforms, I think it is an area in which we can do more work. I look forward to engaging with Michaelia Cash as the Attorney-General on that. I know having spoken to organisations like Women's Legal Services Queensland or Domestic Violence New South Wales, that they are issues they put firmly on the table and they are also issues which are on the table for the women's safety Ministers. And I think it's part of the development of the next action plan and part of that summit process, which is embedded in that, they will have to be canvassed very seriously. And although most of the levers in criminal law, at state and territory level, not all of them, but many of them, we will be endeavouring to bring those jurisdictions with us in that conversation to make sure that we can address those concerns and remove the barriers that exist to, I think the phrase that we hear is often I didn't think I would be taken seriously. Well, that's not what our criminal justice system is here to do. Our criminal justice system is here to take victims of crime, whatever it is, seriously, and I think that there is more work to be done in that area. I look forward to being part of it.
PRIME MINISTER: Time for three more. We'll go one, two ,three.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the back of Andrew's question regarding the performance of you, Marise Payne, is that criticism that juggling Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Women is a pretty big ask. Why not just assign one portfolio? And secondly, on Christian Porter, it's a pretty big demotion from the chief lawmaker of the country. Do you expect him to stay on in that capacity beyond the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: I certainly expect him to continue to serve in my Cabinet, both now and after the next election. But we both, all of us, have something we have to do before that occurs and that is we have to present ourselves for election. So that is ultimately in others hands. But absolutely, he's a, he's been an outstanding Minister. He's a person of great capability, demonstrated both at the state Parliament before coming here from Western Australia and what he's been able to achieve since he has been here. He's focussing on this new portfolio challenge that he has, as well as on his local electorate over in Pearce, which I know he's keen to do. One of the great challenges of being the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations and Leader of the Government in the House is that brings you across the Nullarbor a bit more often than you otherwise would. And so this will give him that opportunity to focus both on his portfolio, where he'll bring considerable expertise, as well as on his local electorate in Pearce. In relation to what I, I should probably call the primary Minister for Women, it's just to ensure that no one gets too carried away with puns for later. That's what this is about. What I'm trying to bring together is a team of Ministers and that Marise Payne as Minister for Women, can bring all that together as a leader of that portfolio team. I mean, the Treasurer brings together a portfolio of Ministers right across the Cabinet when we pull together a budget. And I chair the ERC, he is the deputy chair. This is a taskforce approach where quite, what is not regular is for us to be co-chairing. That goes to the I think the important lens that I want placed across these issues. And so that is usual for Government. And so I recognise that as Minister for Foreign Affairs, that is a very demanding job, a very demanding job. And Marise Payne does it exceptionally well. But what I want from her in this portfolio is her leadership and her insight and her ability to bring people together to get these outcomes. The work on economic, economic security, that will be done by Jane Hume. The work in women's safety as now will be done by Anne. A lot of work will be done in the Attorney-General's Department and the Minister for Industrial Relations Department, ably assisted by Amanda Stoker. So there is a lot of people working on this. And I have no doubt that Karen Andrews will bring much in terms of the law enforcement issues. There are Attorneys-General around the country, which I think need to address the very issue that Marise Payne was just mentioning and indeed the New South Wales Attorney-General, I think has, has put forward some very good, some very good suggestions. What I like about this is people are focussed on it and then moving on to the things you need to do. And so what I've done today is I've put in place a structure in my Government that I know can deliver the next set of responses and the broader term policy that will get the outcomes that I know women are hankering for. Demanding, in fact, and rightfully so. But you've got to get your structures in place in a way that you think can best deliver for that. And that's what we're doing today. It's another step. There are many more to come. And I look forward to making further announcements on that. So I'm going to go Chris and then Riles and then I'm going to have to tie it up because both of us have a meeting we have to get to.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Nine News has suffered a massive cyber attack. What advice do you have on that? Nine News has suffered a massive cyber attack. What advice do you have on that or what, what message does that send to other Australian businesses? And staying in the online world, some of the worst abuse we see nowadays is against women online. Can the Federal Government do anything by passing laws about that that might kerb that? So Nine News first if you don't mind.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look on Nine. They need to work with ASD and our cyber security team as all corporates that are impacted by these cyber attacks. You will recall some time ago I stood in the Blue Room and I announced what had been a very serious set of attacks against both Australian companies and other agencies and our cyber security team, through ASD, do a tremendous job in working with State Governments and Territory Governments, but as well as major corporates, including, as I know, they'll be working with Nine right now to ensure that they can put in place the protections that they need, to have their systems restored and to have them restored safely. We regrettably live in a world where this happens. We can't be naive about it. And we have built a tremendous capability here at a federal level to provide support to companies all around the country, be they very large ones like Nine or small and medium sized businesses, and it's important that all of our economy are very mindful of the need for cyber security defences. I mean, that is also an area where Jane Hume is working to ensure that when we, as we, digitise our economy, that cyber security is a key platform upon which that is all built. In relation to the second matter regarding social media, I said this on the weekend. We're living in a society in which respect is degrading. And if we want to see more respect in our community, we've all got to practise it more. When I stood here and announced the Royal Commission on Aged Care, I talked about the need to establish a culture of respect for older Australians. Same is true for women. The same is true for people with disabilities. The same is true for people, Indigenous Australians. But it's got to draw out of a well of respect in our society, which I fear is sadly depleting. People, saying that they disrespect each other, I don't respect that person or whatever it happens to be. We've got to build the respect again. And one of the key, degraders of respect in our country is social media. Sure, it has some positive purposes. I don't discount that. Of course it does. But it can be a very dangerous tool in disrespectful hands. And we've seen that with the trolling and abuse and harassment, particularly of women. I pay tribute to Erin Molan again for the great campaign she's led. And we've backed in with changes we've already made in this area. But our Government is probably, our Government no, our Government has stood up to the big tech companies on this like no other Government in the world. And we have taken on the fights with them that no others would and others have followed us, whether it's on terrorist or inciting content or indeed now ensuring that news media organisations actually can get a fair deal to ensure that you can all do the job that you do, and fine job that you do in a democracy like Australia, we've been protecting our democracy by standing up to those big tech companies. But I can tell you a big part of my response to this will be ongoing work in the area of eSafety and on social media. And, you know, people write things down without any consideration of the hurt and torment that it means to other people. This is happening with young people, you know, they're not even in their teens. And some of them are writing this and it gets worse and it gets worse and they become desensitised to it. And they stop writing it then and they just say it. And this becomes how Australians potentially talk to each other in the future. Australia, we've got to fix this and we've got to take some responsibility about how we are behaving toward each other online and directly. Love one another was a good piece of advice given many years ago around about Easter time and. Yes, please.
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: So firstly, on the cyber issue, wearing one of my hats at the moment as Acting Defence Minister, obviously ASD and the Australian Cyber Security Centre are very focused on working with corporate Australia to make sure that corporate Australia is protecting itself, those eight steps that the ACSC sets down. This is a salutary reminder that nobody is immune and that they are very important steps for corporates to take to protect themselves. They are a threshold basic engagement, I think. And so raising that question today is, is a very important one. On social media can I just say a couple of things. The Prime Minister's referred to the role of the eSafety Commissioner that we have here in Australia. And I think Julie Inman Grant, who holds that position, is an exceptional operator. She is constructive and accessible and clear about steps that people can take to protect themselves online. I think she does a very good job at that. We've worked closely with our colleagues internationally on disinformation, for example, which is all perpetrated overwhelmingly through social media, particularly in relation to, to the pandemic. We're dealing with vaccine scepticism, particularly in the Pacific at the moment, PNG as well. And again, all perpetrated through social media. But I have said to the Prime Minister more than once that I think the words of Sacha Baron Cohen last year in his very, very powerful speech on this issue are timely reminders for all of us. I think the problem with social media is it is much less social good these days and much more social harm. And where we've tried, sorry where we have seen in the past, things in our societies which are dangerous, which are harmful to society, we have overwhelmingly taken steps to put provisions in place to protect people from that harm, whether it is drugs, whether it is drink driving, whether it is dangerous driving, whether it is swimming without knowing how to swim, that basic. But we haven't yet been able to grapple with this in relation to social media. And I think it is very much a task for this decade.
JOURNALIST: Senator Payne, as prime Minister for Women what do you think about Andrew Laming sticking around until the next election, especially given his inappropriate behaviour? Do you think that's good enough?
SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WOMEN: I think the Prime Minister's phrase was primary rather than prime, but Mr Laming has taken a very serious step to leave this job, leave this role at the next election. I wouldn't think for a moment that that is a step anyone in these roles takes lightly. He has been here for some years now. His behaviour is clearly inappropriate. He has taken steps to address that. The steps that the Prime Minister outlined, that is the minimum that he should do. And he is doing that and then he has indicated he will not be returning to this place. That's a clear indication that he knows his ongoing role here is, is not appropriate. And I just say to my colleagues across Parliaments across the world that we have a responsibility in the way we engage with the public, the way we engage with constituents, the way, frankly, we engage with each other. And if nothing else, the last few months has taught us the importance of that and the importance of doing that respectfully.
JOURNALIST: I think people would agree with the Minister for Women that what he's done is the minimum and there's much more that could be done. He's one of those people you just spoke about who writes horrible things online, abusing his own constituents, taking photographs of women's underwear in public. Can you see that people see a double standard here, that in other workplaces in Australia, someone who was found to have done these things would have been sacked on the spot, not had the luxury of choosing your own time in a year, pick up another 210,000 dollars from the taxpayer along the way. And why shouldn't people just see this as a cynical move on your part? Because if you stand up today, you use that podium, that microphone, and say, as Prime Minister, I don't want this bloke in the Liberal Party, I don't want him in the Parliament, he'd be out. I know that it's a question for the Party, but if you were to say that today, there, now, he'd be gone. But he's not going to be. In any other workplace in Australia he would be. So isn't the reality that you can't afford to lose Andrew Laming because he's a number and if you lose his number, you lose control of the House of Reps.
PRIME MINISTER: He's not running again, Mark. He's not putting himself forward for re-election within the Liberal Party, he is committed to undertake the behavioural change he needs to undertake. And that's what he needs to do and he needs to come back with a completely different attitude and a completely different behaviour. He was elected to this place by the people in his electorate. That's who he was elected by and he was elected to serve here for three years. Mark, he was elected to serve here for three years in this Parliamentary term and that's what he intends to do and continue to serve the people in his electorate and I'm following the very same approach that other Governments have followed in the past. Thanks very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
23 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good morning everyone. I wanted to do two things this morning. I want to address again the rather disturbing and continuing serious situation with the floods occurring across the eastern seaboard of Australia and the further reports I’ve received from Emergency Management today. And I wanted to address, following that, the rather disgusting and shocking reports that were brought to my attention last night in those reports.
First of all, though, let me address the very serious situation that is being confronted by Australians in New South Wales but also in South East Queensland and increasingly in other states. I’m advised that the rain and flood situation does remain dynamic and extremely complex. This is a complex weather event and becoming more complex. 100mm of rain is forecast across saturated catchments today. Flood and severe weather warnings have been issued across the country, extending from South East Queensland to the Victorian border. A trough on the east coast has merged with a trough extending from the Kimberleys to the east coast, causing heavy rain and inland flooding. This is moving to being not just a coastal event. Severe weather, high winds, damaging surf and heavy rain is forecast for the east coast today and the system is causing heavy rain from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border as this storm moves south. The system is expected to ease by late Wednesday but the floodwaters remain persistent for sometime. Western New South Wales, north-eastern South Australia, south-western Queensland and east and west Australia have been affected by inland flooding. Brisbane and the Gold Coast have been impacted by heavy rain and that is causing flash flooding.
In terms of the response, 1,700 SES volunteers are responding to this event, supported by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue Services. 18,000 people have been impacted by evacuation orders. 16 evacuation orders for 24 locations. 20 further evacuation warnings with 18 evacuation centres operating. I do note that particularly those evacuation centres in the Sydney metropolitan area have not been used to the extent that New South Wales authorities thought they may. People have largely gone to be supported by people in their own homes and the evacuation process in New South Wales and support for those individuals has been working extremely well, and I commend both those who are directly impacted and those who are helping them in their time of need and the excellent planning that has been done by New South Wales authorities. I spoke to the Premier again this morning following my updates from Emergency Management Australia today. As difficult as this issue is, people are remaining calm. We need to see them continuing to follow the instructions that are out there. If it is flooded, forget it. Don’t go out for a surf. I say that to people including in my own electorate when I had reports of people going out there yesterday. Don’t do it. You are putting not only yourself at risk but you are putting those who would have to come to your assistance at risk also and we urge you to follow the instructions of the local authorities on all of these matters.
Rainfall is expected to be worse along the south coast, as I said earlier, with isolated falls of 300mm possible. Rain and associated flooding will begin to cover a wider area of central New South Wales. Initial moderate warnings for catchments near Bathurst and Dubbo. At this point, I don't have advice that we are looking at an inland event that were similar to what occurred in North Queensland which destroyed the North Queensland livestock industry which has taken us the last two years to recover from. But we are watching that very closely. The potential for major flooding in the Murray Darling Basin catchment is anticipated and major flooding may continue in the Hawkesbury and Nepean until Friday due to forecast rainfall and Western Sydney remains the area of greatest concern. Warragamba Dam is expected to spill over for another seven days at least. Telco impact assessments have not been completed in all areas but several hundred homes have been flooded, roads damaged, livestock and wildlife lost, telecommunications and power outages across the flooded areas have been reported. Telcos and power companies are standing by to re-establish power and communications. New South Wales have requested assistance for two search and rescue helicopters and that has already been activated from the ADF and right now they are assisting with evacuations from Colo to RAAF at Richmond. A request for assistance has also been put in by the New South Wales Government and is currently being assessed and planned for by Defence which would see somewhere between 500 and 1,000 ADF personnel deployed and engineering support to assist with the clean-up. The Premier and I discussed this this morning. I am expecting a CAT-C request to come through today which will be actioned immediately and the Premier and I will be working on that clean-up effort. We want this clean-up effort to be done swiftly and effectively to try and get these communities back on their feet as quickly as we possibly can.
No lives, thankfully, to this point have been lost and we pray that will continue to be the situation and we still have no persons reported missing as well. So amongst all of this terrible tragedy and loss that is there, thankfully we have not seen that as yet. Resilience NSW is planning for cleanup and early recovery operations when floodwaters recede, and I am advised that 9,000 insurance claims have been received to date, and are on standby to start assessments, that is when the insurance industry, when they can get access to the flooded areas. Services Australia processed 2,579 claims up to 8.00pm last night for financial support, and already $3.5 million has gone out the door. There are a further more than 1,000 claims that are being worked on right now. If you are in one of those areas and you acquire that assistance, those are $1000 payments for eligible adults, $400 payments for eligible children, you can get access to that on 180 22 66. That number again, 180 22 66. Your claim will be processed on the phone, there will not be a need to fill out all these forms at that point and go through all those administrative processes, just as we did during the bushfires. You will get access to that as soon as possible. Services Australia have surged their support in their call centres and other places to ensure they can meet the demand that comes through.
We have very competent agencies in our states. They do an excellent job in these situations. Where they need additional support, it will come, and it will flow quickly, but I want Australians to feel confident, particularly those in the affected areas, that the state agencies and authorities who are tasked with these responsibilities are very, very good at their job. They are world-class. You have the world's best out there looking after you today, and they will continue to be supported by the world’s best federal agencies to ensure that you're getting every assistance that is needed. I will be meeting with the Defence planners today and Emergency Management later this morning to run over the plans for the deployment of those supporting cleanup operations, so we are in a position to give a swift response to the New South Wales Government as we possibly can.
Now to the other rather disturbing events of those further reports last night. I am shocked and I am disgusted. It is shameful. It is just absolutely shameful. I was completely stunned, as I have been on more than one occasion over the course of this last month. All of this has been shocking, it has been disgraceful. It has been a month of such reports. Indeed, reports involving the conduct of staff and of Coalition Government members and ministers, but as you know, reports of equally disgraceful and despicable activities anonymised of those working in other parties. We must get this house in order. We must put the politics aside of these things and we must recognise this problem, acknowledge it, and we must fix it. This has been a very traumatic month. It began with Brittany Higgins and her revelations of what took place in this very building. I remember that day very well, I was equally shocked and stunned at receiving that news also. These events have triggered, right across this building, and indeed right across the country, women who have put up with this rubbish and this crap for their entire lives, as their mothers did, as their grandmothers did. It has been going on, we have been talking about it in this place for a month, they have been living with it for their entire lives. And the women listening to me today know that to be true.
So as much as it has been a topic of discussion here, and around the country specifically in relation to these disgraceful acts, it is something that has been the lived experience of Australian women for a very long time, and I welcome the spotlight that has now been placed on this. I acknowledge that many have not liked or appreciated some of my own personal responses to this over the course of the last month, and I accept that. Whether that was seeking to openly share how I try and deal with such traumatic events, people mightn’t like the fact that I discuss these with my family. They are the closest people in my world to me. That is how I deal with things, I always have. I have grown up in a loving and supportive family, and I discuss these things with my family and those who are closest to me. No offence was intended by me saying that I discuss these issues with my wife. Equally, that is in no way an indication that these events had not already dramatically affected me already at that point. Equally, I accept that many were unhappy with the language that I used on the day of the protests. No offence was intended by that either. I could have chosen different words. I have already explained those matters in the House.
But what I am even more concerned about, even more importantly, I acknowledge that many Australians, especially women, believe that I have not heard them, and that greatly distresses me. I have been doing a lot of listening over this past month, but not for the first time, now is not the time for me to run over whether as a Minister for Immigration or a Treasurer or a Minister for Social Services, the keen interest I have shown in these issues. I'm not going to do that today. But particularly on these issues over the last month, I have been listening carefully. I have had many colleagues, I have had many friends and others that I have regular contact with, talk with me openly about the issues and the traumatic things that they have had to deal with over their lifetimes and members of their family. Let me tell you what I have heard. Women are too afraid to call out bad behaviour for fear of losing a job or being intimidated in the workplace. That is not OK, and it is not their fault, it is the environment we have allowed to be created. Women who are afraid to walk to their car from the train, and they carry their keys in their hand like a knife for fear of being attacked. That is not OK. That is not acceptable that in this country, a country as great as Australia, women walk daily in that fear. I have heard that women are overlooked, talked over, by men, whether it is in boardrooms, meetingrooms, staff rooms, in media conferences, in cabinets, or anywhere else. Overlooked and treated like they have nothing valuable to contribute. I have heard about being marginalised, women being intimidated, women being belittled, women being diminished, and women being objectified. That is not OK. I have heard that women, when offered a job, take the salary offered because they do not feel they can ask for more, whereas the blokes do and they get it. That is not OK. Whether this is unconscious deafness and blindness, or whether it is wilful malevolence, that is behind all of this, it must be acknowledged, it must be called out, and it must stop. That is all our job. It is my job, it is my Minister’s jobs, it is my Members and Senators jobs, it is your job. This is not something that is of a scale that any government can simply change, it is something we must change as a society because we know it happens all over this country. But for me and my house, the House I work in here, then we must take responsibility. It is our problem here, it is our responsibility here, and I'm committed to dealing with that. We must do better in this place, all of us, and in our country we must do better.
Now, forgive me the indulgence, forgive me this indulgence. I want women to have at least the same opportunities and the same voice and the same safety as men in this country. I have the deepest of vested interests. Criticise me if you like, for speaking about my daughters, but they are the centre of my life. My wife is the centre of my life. My mother, my widowed mother, is the centre of my life. They motivate me every day on this issue. They have motivated me my entire life, they have taught me the values and the faith that sustains me every single day in this job, which is why I am here. I owe them everything. And to them, I say to you girls, I will not let you down. To the many other women who are in this place, who have shared their stories with me, I thank you for your feedback, your honesty, your support, your counsel, and your courage. I know there are plenty of women who work in this building today, whether they be Members or Senators or Ministers, shadow ministers, staff, journalists, who say why should I bother? Why should I bother? Why shouldn’t I just walk away? There has never been a more important time for women to stand in this place. I want to see more women in this place. I have done many things to get more women in this place and I intend to do more. I have put more women in my Cabinet than any other Prime Minister ever has before, and I look forward to doing more. I need women to stand with me as we go about this, as we stand together, I need them to stand in this place, I need them to stand right where they are, I need them to continue to blaze the trail right here this place. I admire their courage and I call on it. Questions?
Journalist: You say it’s your responsibility, that you’re responsible for the culture in this place and you’re committed to dealing with it. What concrete measures are you actually going to take to try and address these problems?
Prime Minister: A couple of measures. First of all, you are aware of the changes we’ve already introduced for the direct counselling support that is available, and I suspect particularly for women in this building. I’m pleased to know that that support service is already being used by women in this place, and men in this place, it is also being used by those who are seeking support for how they deal with these issues, and I think that has been a very useful service that has been put in place and the additional resources and support. In addition to that, of course the Jenkins review, Kate Jenkins will be speaking in my party room this morning, and I am looking forward to the multi-party outcomes that come from that process. But I am not waiting for the report to come back. I have asked for the Deputy Secretary Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to come back for me. She is still working on that report and she has asked for some further time on the report to get it right, and that would be, in particular, putting in place a more robust and independent complaints mechanism for staff and members and senators to be able to have access to, to ensure that we can deal with that more fully. I am speaking to all Coalition staff later today. Good people come and work in this building, you all know that. There are some people who have done some despicable things in this place. These things are just so foreign to me that I can hardly process them, as I am sure I would hope that most people would be in a similar situation. And most people who come to work in this place, I want to assure Australians, do not come here and behave in that way. But there are people who do and that needs to be addressed, and if people have information on that conduct then I implore them to come forward as that is the only way that I can deal with those issues. But it is not just a responsibility for me. I am the leader of the Liberal Party and I'm the Prime Minister of the country and leader of the Government, but we have many people in this building who have responsibility for how this place operates. Whether it is the leaders of other parties, and whether it is those who are presiding officers over these chambers in this place, the many others who support in senior roles the staff around this building, and indeed in the gallery, yourselves, and the leadership within your own organisations have responsibilities here in terms of how things occur in this place as well. We all work in this building, we all have those responsibilities. I am taking mine and I call on others to take theirs.
Journalist: One of the things that would make women feel a lot safer right now would be if you could make it compulsory for harassment…
Prime Minister: I couldn’t quite hear over the cameras, I’m sorry.
Journalist: ...compulsory harassment and misconduct training for all office staff and MPs in this building, that is something you can do right now, will you commit to that? And do commit to a zero tolerance policy with regards to any of the other individuals involved in the report last night that they will be sacked if they are identified?
Prime Minister: On the latter point I think we have already demonstrated our resolve on that issue and you can expect us to follow through on it in exactly the same way. That sort of behaviour has no place here, it has absolutely no place there. It is disgusting. In terms of the other recommendation, that is one that I entirely expect the Deputy Secretary to come forward with. So I'm not expecting that to take much longer but I would like to act on all of those recommendations and I anticipate that is one such recommendation that will come forward in that report and one that I would strongly support.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you say you want more women in this place. This morning Karen Andrews said that she thinks the Liberal Party should seriously consider quotas. Is that something you would consider now and if not why?
Prime Minister: My colleagues know that I have been open to that conversation for some time.
Journalist: Prime Minister, two things. There will be women listening to your comments this morning wondering why it took you a month to get to their lived reality that they started with on the day where Brittany Higgins came forward. Can you explain why it took you a month to get to this position? And another thing, just following on from the 4 Corners report last night, the security guard who was interviewed on camera said there was no security breach in relation to the staffer who was alleged to have committed the sexual assault on Brittany Higgins. Now, the Government says that staffer was terminated for a security breach. What was the security breach?
Prime Minister: I’m happy to take you through that. On the other issue, Katharine, this has been a terribly difficult month. I was shocked and appalled when I learnt of the situation involving Brittany Higgins. And I have been shocked and appalled by all of the other matters that have come forward since. But as the month has progressed and as I have engaged with so many women, what has become the issue, and rightly, is that this is not just about the terrible things that have happened to one woman in this place. We moved immediately to start addressing issues around that particular case but this is far bigger than that and I think that is the voice that has arisen over the course of this past month. This was a shout about what is happening across Australia, not just the specific events. If we were to just continue to focus on the events that happen in this place - and we will, and must, as I said - there is something much bigger here that has been illuminated, thankfully, by these rather traumatic reports that have gone right across the spectrum here. We are all human beings, Katharine, and what I have sought to do today is just be very honest with people. Please don't think that these events haven't created great turmoil for me over the course of the past month. At the same time, as the Prime Minister, when I am dealing with many other issues at the same time, also very significant, whether it is floods or vaccines or COVID pandemics, international issues, Australians also expect me to be focusing on those as well. So that is my honest answer. It is processed, I have heard, I have listened and I will have a lot more to say about this in the next month about further action. But today is not a day for me to list out a list of further actions. I’ve listed some in response to direct questions. Today, Australian women in particular, but Australians more broadly because it is not just Australian women who have identified this over the past month, Australians need to know that this place has heard them and that I have heard them and I want to assure you that I have. Sorry, on the other matter. I did see that interview last night. Obviously the security guard in question doesn't have the full information about this case and other contributing incidents that preceded this case. Senator Reynolds has previously confirmed to the Senate there was a security breach involving unauthorised access to her office and I have been advised this followed an earlier security breach by the male staff member that related to the handling of classified documents in what is clearly a highly sensitive portfolio area. Consequently, this was considered serious misconduct in relation to the statements of standards for ministerial staff. So in other words, he had some form when it came to the security issues regarding that office and this was the final straw. Obviously, the security guard in question would not have been familiar with those aspects. We are dealing with an office that had and was dealing with quite sensitive material. It was the Defence Industry Minister’s office at the time and so there was some prior issues here and this final event was the one that triggered his dismissal.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if you're the boss at a business and there had been an alleged rape on your watch and this incident we heard about last night on your watch, your job would probably be in a bit of jeopardy, wouldn't it? Doesn't it look like you have lost control of your ministerial staff?
Prime Minister: I will let you editorialise as you like, Andrew, but if anyone in this room wants to offer up the standards in their own workplaces by comparison I would invite you to do so.
Journalist: Well, they’re better than these I would suggest, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Let me take you up on that. Let me take you up on that. Right now, you would be aware that in your own organisation that there is a person who has had a complaint made against them for harassment of a woman in a women's toilet and that matter is being pursued by your own HR department.
Journalist: I am not aware of it.
Prime Minister: You are not aware of it. So let's not all of us who sit in glass houses here start getting into that.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Prime Minister: What I am suggesting to you is that there are serious issues here that no one individual can be overwatch on every single inch of this place every second of the day and I don't think any Australian has that reasonable expectation. As far as I'm aware, the incident that was reported last night occurred long before I was Prime Minister of this place. So it is not a matter that occurred while I was even Prime Minister. That goes to a long-standing culture of despicable behaviour in this place. So that is not something that I could be directly held accountable even when I wasn't in the role. What I am held accountable is what I do now and that is what I am outlining to you today. So you are free to make your criticisms and to stand on that pedestal but be careful.
Journalist: You said in your opening remarks on this subject about the forces that have been at work here over the past month and the sort of surge amongst women in Australia and all of these issues raised by this. Does it change your thinking on your handling of the allegations against Mr Porter in terms of the there will be no inquiry as to his fitness to remain in the ministry? Or are you still of the view that the way you’re handling that is correct?
Prime Minister: As I indicated, I was getting advice from the Solicitor-General. I have received that advice and I am now taking advice through the Department regarding how that sits with the ministerial standards and I will be making further decisions on that matter and I will alert you to those when they are made.
Journalist: Do you think that your so-called star chamber needs to improve its vetting of potential staff? And secondly, have you responded to Russell Broadbent's suggestion of a gathering of representatives of women's organisations nationally, and if you haven't, what is your thinking?
Prime Minister: On the latter, such a process is already under way. As we go forward to the next National Action Plan, it is already part of that National Action Plan, and the process for developing it to bring forward such a summit or gathering or whatever term you would like to use. So that is already an initiative that is in train and being pursued by the Minister for Women and I am looking forward to that. So I will have more to say about that in the weeks ahead. So that is another area of activity that is already happening and what I have noted in the course of this past month, there have been many excellent suggestions. Some have already been implemented and more will be and I welcome them. I particularly welcome them from people as experienced as Russell is in this place and I have a great deal of respect for. Just remind me on the other point, Michelle?
Journalist: The star chamber.
Prime Minister: This is a process in which people might not be aware of this process but when it comes to appointment of people in ministerial offices, there is a minister and a group of other senior staff involved in vetting the applications, not unlike what you would see in a HR department or something like that for important appointments across any corporate. So that is just using that similar process to what occurs in other workplaces. I think it is a helpful process and in particular I would want to be sure that when they meet and they consider these things, these very serious matters that have arisen over the course of the past month, would continue to be included in how they assess these things. I am aware that as that group has operated in the past, it has acted to ensure that where there have been concerns about this in the past that those concerns are followed through when considering these appointments. So I see it, Michelle, I think as a positive contribution to the process to provide further protection.
Journalist: Did the staff member in last night’s report receive termination payments and or references from your Government?
Prime Minister: I would have to refer you to the Minister on that one. But they have been terminated. For one termination. I am still not aware of who the other individuals are and we have taken steps to reach out to the person who allegedly knows who these individuals are and we are very keen to hear from them.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on that the whistleblower claims that the sacked staffer would be able to shed a great deal of light on the other staffers, including those currently in the building as well as the allegations around sex workers being let into the building. Will any effort be made to reach out to the sacked staffer to see if he is willing to go into some detail about that? And just another one, if I can, is it accurate that before the last election, you were genuinely interested in the concept of quotas, going back to that question? Was it something you contemplated as a way to try to increase the number of women in your ranks, not just in your ministry, and if so or even if not, is it time to look at that?
Prime Minister: On the second point, I will give you the same answer. My colleagues know well that I am very open to these questions. I have had some frustrations about trying to get women preselected and running for the Liberal Party to come into this place. I have had those frustrations for many years going back to the times when I was a state director where I actively sought to recruit female candidates, whether it was for state or Federal Parliament. I remember one who got preselected during my time and she has gone on to do a pretty amazing job leading the state of New South Wales right now at a time of a crisis. There are many others that I have sought to encourage into this place and I was greatly supported by an amazing female president in the Liberal Party NSW, Christine McDiven, who went on to become federal president, who I know of no greater champion for women in the Liberal Party at an organisational level than Chris. She blazed a trail and I am looking for others in the organisation, Danielle Blain over in Western Australia I know is doing an amazing job to do the same thing. I want to give them every support I can. But I am making it pretty clear that when it comes that issue, I don't hold the same reservations that others do. Why? And I think many Liberals have been coming to this view over time. We tried it the other way and it isn't getting us the results we would like to see so I would like to see us do better on that front. On the other issue, yes of course, we will seek to gain as much information about that matter by those who know about it, as much as possible. I would ask given the sensitivity of this issue, and I know you understand this, Peter, that these are very traumatic events and we have people at the moment you are on a close watch for their own personal safety and so I would just simply ask for people to be aware of that. You all have your normal protocols for how you report these things and how you include in your stories the appropriate call numbers and things like that. So I am not making a criticism, I want to be clear about that, but I would just ask people that it is a very sensitive time here in this building. This place has seen events, before my time, under pressure, Mark, you will remember them, as will others experienced in the gallery, Michelle, and others, Chris. Let's just be careful in the weeks ahead. We are going to deal with this but we want to make sure we do things as carefully and sensitively as we can.
Journalist: The statements you have made today, Prime Minister, is this the speech you should have given in front of the women who rallied in front of Parliament last Monday?
Prime Minister: I believe I provided the opportunity to meet with those who had come on that day. I applaud, as I said on the day, it was right to come and right to do that and I was right to provide the opportunity to meet with me. It is not my habit, as you know, to go out to rallies and things like that that come to Parliament House. In the course of my programme, I am very happy to provide an opportunity for people to come in that way and come and meet with me. I have met with numerous groups. On that very day I was meeting with people in the entertainment sector who were happy to meet with me and talk about the issues. I have been very open about those sorts of things. What I am saying and I have said it before today, I acknowledge that there have been people who haven't been happy with how I have responded in every single way to this over the course of the last month. I acknowledge that absolutely. I am setting about to put that right. Those issues that people have had concerns about, they occurred in good faith, in the best of faith. But you learn a lot from all of that.
Journalist: Prime Minister, can I ask you about your comments last week about Phil Gaetjens…
Journalist: If I can just finish my question, Andrew. In terms of the concrete steps that you can take, you have said you might introduce quotas, which is fascinating and there is a lot of focus on women in this building. But what about women outside this building in regional Australia, in outer suburban areas, would you give any consideration to putting more money into rape crisis centres so women get the counselling they need, are you interested in the idea of more consent education in schools, what concrete steps are you rolling around in your head?
Prime Minister: All of the above, and more, and if you go across the fourth national action plan and as Social Services Minister I had responsibility for earlier national action plans, and they include all of these things. Is important to remember that these action plans are done together with the states and territories and many of the services delivered are also delivered by the states. So this is something we genuinely have to do together, and we have been doing together. Today I am not going through a shopping list of the additional measures particularly that will be needed to provide further protection for women against violence, against them and their children. But we will be, as we have in the past, over $1 billion committed, almost half of that in the last year or so, much of that going into during the COVID period when we were very worried about the increase in the incidence of domestic violence that would occur during the COVID period. Again, we put in additional resources, hundreds of millions, to support particularly women and families in those difficult times. So there has been no hesitation on that, Sam, and there will not be going forward. But I would urge that the path we have to go down is one that we have to go down together. This is not an issue that should be the subject of partisan contest, it really shouldn’t. That will slow us down, that will not get the outcomes that I want to see, and I'm sure every member of this Parliament wants to see, and I think it is time to get focused on those things, Sam, deal with the issues in our House here. Outside of this House, there are plenty of other houses that need to be fixed up, and I'm sure Australians will take proper responsibility for those. But this issue goes far beyond what happens here, but I acknowledge what is happening here and the need for us to deal with things that are happening here.
Journalist: Prime Minister, I just want to pick up on what you said to Andrew before. How is it that you did not know about the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in Linda Reynolds office, yet you know about some incident that has happened in the media or among journalists, and have aired that publicly despite the maybe being against the wishes of the victim, we don’t know?
Prime Minister: That was brought to my attention late last night, and the issue of Brittany Higgins was only brought to my attention on 15 February as I have said. The suggestion was made by a member of the press gallery that things like this do not happen in the media and I think that would be unfair.
Journalist: Prime Minister, can I ask you about the comments that you made about Phil Gaetjens report yesterday. Do you concede that you misled Parliament by omission when you said you had not received an update when in fact, you had more than received an update, you had received an email through the PMO, he had spoken to you personally about the fact that he was putting his inquiry on ice, and what efforts have you made personally to work out what five or six of your members of staff actually knew?
Prime Minister: Two things, first of all, you have mischaracterised what I said in the House, and that is why I don’t agree with your assessment. I said that I hadn’t been updated on when I had received the report, and I hadn’t been updated when I had received the report, and I said subsequently…
Journalist: But you had been.
Prime Minister: No I had not. There was no finishing date provided to me by the Secretary, because he could not provide me with one. I was asked in the House about when I would receive it, and that is what I responded to. I also made it clear that it was the Secretary that was undertaking this at arms length, it is the Secretary that is undertaking that at arms length, and I know that there were further interviews being conducted even at that point. What he was referring to is that he was not in a position to finalise the report, and provided to me, based on the advice that he had received from the Commissioner of Federal Police which was also clarified yesterday. So what I would ask is that these statements not be mischaracterised. I expect my political opponents to do that, that is politics, that is part and parcel of this process. I will deal with those matters as I have appropriately in the House, but no, I don’t accept that, that is a mischaracterisation of what has occurred, and so I don’t accept that. Finally, Chris.
Journalist: PM, you started by talking about your daughters. After the last month, what would you tell them about a life in the public service, what pitch would you make to any young girl in Australia about why they would want to be in federal politics?
Prime Minister: Because they want things to be better, and they have something to contribute to that. I believe in my girls, I believe in all the women of Australia. Thank you very much.
Statement On Indulgence - Australian Parliament House ACT
22 March 2021
Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, On Indulgence.
Australia is being tested once again. The East Coast, predominantly New South Wales but I stress also in South-East Queensland, has faced an extraordinary deluge over recent days.
In many places, rains are expected for at least the next 24 to 48 hours, but I fear worse.
In South-East Queensland, there has been intense rainfall with more than 300 SES requests for assistance over the 24 hours to this morning, with crews working through the night.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for western and southern Queensland from this afternoon, which could extend to the Southeast Coast tomorrow morning.
A number of flood warnings remain in place for parts of the state also.
Some parts of NSW are experiencing the worst flooding in over 50 years and worse.
From Penrith to north of Port Macquarie, evacuation orders are in place for 28 areas, with a further 16 areas issued with an evacuation warning.
In the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, there has been record rainfall.
On Saturday, 500GL of water was released from Warragamba Dam.
That is, to put it in perspective, that is the equivalent of releasing the capacity of an entire Sydney Harbour in 24 hours.
This water flowed into the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers, causing the Hawkesbury to rise to levels not seen since 1961.
Major flood warnings are now current for the Colo River, Hastings River, Hawkesbury River, Macleay River, and the Wollombi Brook.
In Northern NSW, there are 35 communities isolated.
Those communities include Taree, Bellingen, Wingham, Harrington and Laurieton.
Across NSW, 1,400 SES first responders have conducted over 700 flood rescues and responded to over 7,500 requests for assistance.
This is very difficult and dangerous work.
I wish to acknowledge and pay tribute and say thank you on behalf of all of us here in this place, Mr Speaker, for the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and the emergency services in responding to these terrible events.
And there is serious risk still ahead.
Heavy rainfall is likely to continue up much of the eastern half of New South Wales and into southern Queensland today and tomorrow.
Heavy falls will also develop over northern and central inland parts of New South Wales tomorrow, bringing the risk of flash and significant river flooding to several additional catchments.
A different low-pressure system is also expected to form off the southern New South Wales coast, bringing rainfall there also.
Thankfully, the current forecast has conditions easing state-wide from early Wednesday but we will watch and see.
Mr Speaker, I want to assure residents in all storm and flood affected areas that all parts of government are working closely together.
Premier Berejiklian and I, in particular, have been in regular contact over the weekend and indeed again today.
Yesterday, the Director-General of Emergency Management Australia activated COMDISPLAN in anticipation of NSW requesting Australian Government non-financial assistance.
We are expecting a formal request from NSW for ADF support today is our expectation. We understand this is likely to be for recovery support and clean-up operations, including personnel, vehicles and machinery. The Premier and I were discussing that over the weekend.
We’ve also been just advised now in discussions on the potential for heavy-lift aerial support but this is also still to be scoped. This has been advised to Defence and we will be following this up throughout the course of this day. But at this point, no formal requests have been made.
The ADF is readying itself for this task that still lays ahead, particularly in the recovery phase. It is working closely with NSW Emergency Services to co-ordinate potential areas for assistance.
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and Disaster Recovery Allowance has been activated to support those who have been affected, suffered significant losses or serious injury, whose income has been affected.
The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment provides non-means tested, I stress that, non-means tested payments of $1000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children.
In affected communities, Services Australia are deploying to provide on-the-ground assistance.
As well, the Services Australia Disaster Assistance phone lines are open from 8:00am until 8:00pm. The number is 180 22 66 and further details are available at the www.disasterassist.gov.au website.
Mr Speaker, payments for disaster recovery assistance were initiated yesterday by Services Australia - 34 local government areas are now eligible for the payments.
But I suspect there will be more and we stand ready to do more, to provide whatever additional support is needed, in partnership with the New South Wales and Queensland Governments as necessary.
This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous.
We are meeting regularly to be updated on the events and to direct our response. We are grateful at this point that no lives have been lost so far, but weakened foundations for buildings, for roads, and trees, they all create risk, as do downed power lines and rising water levels.
So we ask all Australians in these affected areas to please use caution.
Check in on your neighbours and those who you know that are alone.
Please heed the advice of authorities. Where there are orders to evacuate, please follow them.
As is appropriate at this time, many Members are supporting their communities and are not here in this place.
I know the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Emergency Management, the Minister for Government Services and other ministers are also reaching out and working closely with members, mayors, other agencies, and communities ensuring they receive every support.
This will be a very difficult week for hundreds of thousands of Australians, if not more, as we face the immediacy of the floods, and there will be many difficult months ahead as the clean-up and recovery from this natural disaster gets underway.
We have very competent agencies in our state governments. They are very good at dealing with these types of emergencies. They are doing a tremendous job right now and the Australian Government is standing together with them in ensuring that they can be delivering in these most urgent of times.
But above all, we rely as we have now for a long time, on Australians themselves. They have shown as we can together that we can get through these things when we work together.
And that is what we’ll do in the hours, days, weeks and months ahead, responding to this disaster like those before it and then rebuilding and recovering afterwards.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
18 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good afternoon. It is one year today since the Governor-General authorised the Biosecurity Emergency Declaration in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been an extraordinary year in Australia's fightback in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. While it has been an absolutely terrible year, a year of uncertainty, of hardship, of terrible loss here in Australia, but frankly all around the world and in so many parts of the world that loss still runs on, it accelerates, it devastates. But while all of that is true, in Australia we have seen one of the most remarkable performances of Australians in our Australian economy that we have seen. In less than 12 months from when the recession began, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now more jobs in the Australian economy than there were before the pandemic. That is something that is truly remarkable and is a great credit to every Australian who hung in there, every Australian business who kept people in jobs, everyone who played a role in ensuring that we did everything that we possibly could to see that Australia continues to come through this COVID-19 pandemic and recession in the best way we possibly can. More jobs now than when the recession began.
For us as a Government, together with the Treasurer and our entire team, it’s always been ultimately about jobs for us when we come and form governments. We want to see more Australians in work because we know when an Australian has a job, it is good for their wellbeing. It is good for their hope. They can plan for their future. They are in control when they are in a job. That is why we want to see so many Australians in jobs and, indeed before the pandemic, 1.5 million jobs had been created since we first came to government. And those jobs are now restored. They are restored. There is still a long way to go. Unemployment has fallen to 5.8 percent. 876,400 jobs have been recreated in our economy since the start of that recession. 88,700 in net terms in February have been created, all of them full-time. 84 per cent of the jobs in this February figures for women. But we aren't there yet. There are more hours still needed. There is still a lot more to do, particularly for young people and even though the youth unemployment rate has pleasingly fallen, there is still a distance to travel. The pacing of our supports into the economy are proved again to have been wise. We brought it in when it was most needed and we didn't hold back. We kept it in as the crisis went through its most virulent period. But as we got to the other side, as it began to emerge as companies were getting back on their feet towards the end of September, we started to gear down those supports and the jobs increased. We geared down the supports again at the end of December and the jobs increased. So as we go into this next phase, we go in with a strong run up. We go in with a very strong jobs run up into the next phase of Australia's comeback and Australia’s recovery. Our plan is working, Treasurer. We need to stick to the plan. Treasurer.
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thank you, Prime Minister. The strength and resilience of the Australian economy is on display again today. An unemployment rate at 5.8 per cent. 88,700 new jobs. A participation rate which remains around a record high. What is particularly pleasing in these numbers is that of that 88,700 jobs, all of them were full-time. More than 80 percent went to women and more than 40 percent went to young people. New South Wales and its economy has led the charge. 42,000 jobs being created in New South Wales over the month and their unemployment rate falling to 5.6 percent, the equal lowest of any state in the country. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But months from here will continue to be challenging because we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression. There are sectors, there are regions across the country that continue to do it tough, but these numbers are encouraging and these numbers give Australians confidence about their economic future.
Journalist: [Inaudible] these numbers change the strategy around fiscal repair and the timing around that fiscal repair and, indeed, how do these rapid recovering job numbers also provide an argument for greater liberalisation in the labour market?
Prime Minister: Well, first of all, we want to keep creating jobs and right now we have been seeking to do that in the Parliament. And there are those in this Parliament, led by the Labor Party, who want to stop us from creating more jobs by frustrating our plan. But we will keep creating the jobs, despite the Opposition, despite the blockages that are put in the way, whether it is in the Senate or elsewhere. We will keep pressing forward, as we have done over this last year, as we in fact all have always done as a government. We will press ahead and see the jobs created and we will deal with the challenges as they present. But those changes are important, but there are those in this place who don't want to create jobs as passionately as we do in the Government.
In relation to the fiscal issues, the Treasurer will comment, but we need to be cautious, even with these numbers. Of course, they are very pleasing. They are incredibly encouraging. They say to Australians, ‘Well done on the hard work. You are getting the job done by getting Australians into jobs.’ That is what Australians are achieving. We need to see that continue. The Budget will be in May. We will be addressing those issues in May. We have many, many challenges that go beyond that pandemic and I have outlined those on other occasions, but the Treasurer may wish to add further to that.
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: Thanks, Prime Minister. As you know, we laid out a new fiscal strategy ahead of last year’s Budget and had two phases to that strategy and the second phase referred to the fact that the unemployment rate needs to be comfortably below 6 percent. 5.8 percent is not comfortably below 6 percent. The other point I would make is that the unemployment rate in February of last year was 5.1 percent. So that was where it was pre-pandemic and we know that JobKeeper is coming off at the end of March and it will be bumpy. It will be challenging and the economy will continue to go through the transition. But just as JobKeeper ends, the Morrison Government’s economic supports continue and that is extremely important because it is like the $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package that we announced the other day, as well as the hiring credit, the infrastructure supports, the tax cuts. There is a whole host of government economic support measures that are going to continue to create jobs.
Journalist: What will removing JobKeeper do to these numbers and is it the right time to do it? Would you consider extending it?
Prime Minister: JobKeeper must come to an end. It has done its job. The job is now taken up of the many other measures that the Government has put in place. The Treasurer has just referred to them. The instant expensing issues, which is driving increased investment, the HomeBuilder programme which is seeing jobs in the residential building sector now extended out over the next two years, the tax cuts that are putting money in the pockets of Australians, the $2,000, the most recent of those payments getting to those through the welfare system in just the last couple of weeks, the continued rollout of our infrastructure programme. All of these things continue to drive the economy forward, just as so many were driving the economy forward before we came into this pandemic. As I said, at each stage of our gear change on JobKeeper, we have seen the economy continue to move forward. Now, we are going into that final phase when it comes to JobKeeper and that is why I am pleased we are going into it with a strong run-up. Kieran?
Journalist: The survey suggests that there was a fifth of the JobKeeper money was going to companies with rising profits at the end of last year, the second half. Would you like to see some of those companies or all of those companies with the rising profits pay a bit of it back?
Prime Minister: I have always said that is a matter for those companies and many have and I commend them for doing so. But let's not forget what JobKeeper was doing. I mean, I would rather have profitable companies than non-profitable companies. A profitable company is putting people in work. A profitable company is putting investment into the economy. Those resources find their way into the economy. That is what JobKeeper was doing. It is the single largest economic policy that any government in our history has ever put into the system and it has saved Australian jobs. It has saved the Australian economy. I am absolutely certain that JobKeeper has saved lives in this country. And so it has been a tremendously successful programme but even tremendously successful programmes must gear into the next phase and that is where we are heading now. Chris?
Journalist: Prime Minister and Treasurer, is it your expectation or your advice that unemployment will rise after JobKeeper is withdrawn?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: I can refer you to the RBA board minutes for their monetary policy meeting in March which only came out a couple of days ago and they said the end of the JobKeeper programme was seen as "unlikely to result in a sustained increase in the unemployment rate". And Chris, I point you to both the MYEFO forecast about unemployment, which came down even after JobKeeper ended and the more recent forecast that came from the RBA who were predicting by year’s end we would have a 6 percent unemployment rate, bearing in mind that before today it was at 6.4 although it was revised down to 6.3. So it is the trajectory we have been focused on and, as you know, Treasury advised the Government last year when they did a review of the JobKeeper programme and they said it had some particular characteristics in the programme that, as the economy strengthened, would lead, if the JobKeeper programme was kept in place, would lead to adverse outcomes, particularly hampering mobility of labour across the economy.
Prime Minister: That is a very important point that the Treasurer is making. If these programmes go beyond what have been their effective period, can actually start to hold the economy back. It can create problems in the mobility of the labour force. We have got tens of thousands of jobs in the latest job vacancy data coming through. We are seeing job vacancies continuing to rise. As the Deputy Prime Minister will tell you if you give him half a second, more than 50,000 jobs in regional Australia are out there. There are jobs out there being created every day and we will keep creating those jobs and that is what people can look forward to going forward that in the position where they may be in a business if they don't find themselves in the same job at the conclusion of JobKeeper, then this economy is creating jobs for them to move into. David?
Journalist: Is the Senate going to pass all of your IR reform? Most of it is being blocked in the Senate. How important is that IR bill? Is it so important that you need to take it back to Parliament and fight for it again and is it so important that you would take it to the next election?
Prime Minister: Well, look, it is still being dealt with in the Senate now. So I think we will just wait to see the outcome of that process. I’ve always have gone into this process on these changes on the basis that I thought they could play an important role in assisting the recovery in Australia. I believe they would and I do believe we do need them now. But there are many in the Senate, and the Labor Party in particular, who don't share my passion for creating jobs and the Treasurer's. So they are working against the Government as we are seeking to create jobs. But I am a practical person, too. That means if this Senate is saying they don't wish to support those measures, then we will have to consider that in terms of how we go forward because I will send them other things to approve. I will send them other job-making initiatives they can support. If those don't want to support these job-making initiatives, then that is on them. If they don't want to create jobs as much as the Government does, then they need to answer to that.
Journalist: Has Christian Porter as Industrial Relations Minister, has he done enough to explain to the crossbench why these IR changes are important?
Prime Minister: Christian Porter was working on these matters in countless hours of consultations with employers and unions. You know, as I said back at the Press Club last year, we will give this a go. We will bring everybody together. We will get them around the table. We will seek to come up with a sensible package of changes in this area and that is what we did in good faith. I think it demonstrates that still in this country, even when you do that, even when you engage in good faith, the obstructionism that we are seeing in the Senate and from the Labor Party seeks to overcome that good faith. I think that reflects badly on those who haven't sought to support that process. We have engaged in this in good faith. We have put forward sensible, modest measures that we think can make a real difference. Now, the crossbench and the Senate and others, if they want to reject that and the Labor Party in particular, well, that is a matter for them. But it won't deter us from seeking to create more jobs. This Government has a strong record of job creation and we achieve it because we work in partnership with businesses, with employees, right across the country because they are the heroes of these job numbers. It is people who have gone out to get those jobs and it is the Australians in businesses who have created those jobs that has produced this incredibly encouraging result for Australia at this difficult time. Clare?
Journalist: The Government is introducing legislation today to protect the Kate Jenkins review from the Archives Act and the FOI Act. Are you confident that will be enough for staff to feel comfortable to come forward to that review and on one of the other reviews that is currently under way, the internal departmental one about who knew what with regard to the allegations Brittany Higgins has made, when can we expect that to be completed and made public?
Prime Minister: I addressed the second question in the House yesterday and I have nothing further to add to what I said in the House yesterday on that. On the other matter, I certainly hope it does. That is what we’ve agreed as an Opposition and as a Government. We agree that is a measure that should hopefully provide that comfort and provide that security for people to do that. That’s what is agreed between the parties and we both have the same objective here and I hope we will be able to deal with that fairly expeditiously today and give people that confidence.
Journalist: Prime Minister, last night a male staffer lost his job over a vile slur he made against a woman. Yet the Defence Minister is still in your Cabinet for a similarly vile slur she made against Brittany Higgins, the alleged rape survivor. How do you choose what language is a fireable offence and what is not?
Prime Minister: The particularly vile language that was expressed by that staffer, not on one occasion it is my understanding, and this only recently came to our attention. We dealt with this over the past couple of days as I think you would expect us to. Greg?
Journalist: [Inaudible] said yesterday, While the voice to government legislation should be drafted, he says that should be set aside and should not be passed through the Parliament until constitutional recognition is achieved. In other words, the constitutionally enshrined voice. Are you willing to consider going to a referendum to enshrine a voice into the Constitution or do you rule that out?
Prime Minister: We already have. It has never has been the Government’s policy to have that process enshrined in the Constitution. That never has been the Government's policy. I think that is pretty clear. It is not the Government's policy.
Journalist: Do you still think it is a third chamber to Parliament, effectively?
Prime Minister: It is not the government's policy, Greg. It has never been the Government's policy. There is no change to the government's policy. What we are proceeding with is the co-design process that we set up that is seeking the best possible way to have that voice to government and I've had numerous meetings myself on this matter and the Minister for Indigenous Australians is progressing that. On the other issue of constitutional recognition, more broadly, then there is still no clear consensus proposal at this stage, which would suggest mainstream support in the Indigenous community or elsewhere. So we are focused on pursuing the co-design process, on the voice to government and in addition to that, we are getting on with the very important job of closing the gap. Closing the gap to make a real practical difference for Indigenous Australians living across this country, to ensure that we get more Indigenous children in school, to ensure that we deal with the very serious issues of health impacts on Indigenous Australians, right across the country to get more Indigenous Australians in jobs and, importantly, to ensure that Indigenous Australians, particularly women Indigenous Australians, can be safe in their communities. That is the change that I particularly want to see that is going to make a big difference in the lives of Indigenous Australians across this country. Michelle?
Journalist: Treasurer, we have heard about the 50,000-plus regional vacancies for a long time and it has been repeated again today. What practically can you do about this? Your scheme to relocate people has not been successful. Do you need to look at new visa arrangements for people already here or what other initiatives have you in mind to attack this?
The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer: There are definitely labour force issues and workforce issues around the country. The fact that the JobSeeker payment is tapering down and that we have moved to a $50 a fortnight permanent increase, but it was higher as an elevated level, Michelle, obviously during the pandemic. Now we also have put in increased mutual obligations and I think the combination of that, together with the end of JobKeeper, will see more labour mobility across the economy. With respect to visas and the Prime Minister referenced this in the context of his AFR business speech recently, we are going to be looking to obviously at the first opportunity bring the skills into the country that we can and there is a great opportunity for Australia to do that.
Journalist: There are people already here who could have visa arrangements changed, though.
Prime Minister: It’s true. They are the sort of things that we can look at and we are looking at that with a pretty open book, Michelle. It is important that we do because I think one thing that has been demonstrated during the pandemic, you know, I have been working on this issue for a very long time and we have tried any number of things to try and deal with those regional skill shortages and labour force shortages across the country and it breaks my heart that fruit is getting ploughed back into the ground now. It breaks my heart and I can only imagine what it means for those producers in those communities. We have seen that there are jobs, even when high rates of unemployment were in place during the pandemic, that Australians have not gone and done those jobs. That is a challenge which is holding the rest of the economy back and so it is not only impacting on those producers directly, but it is impacting on the broader working of the economy and is holding back job creation for Australians in so many other parts of the economy. So that is an important discussion that we are going to have to have, filling those jobs to support regional communities, which means that the services in those rural communities become more entrenched and sustainable in those communities. You get people in jobs in regional towns, then you keep your schools, you keep your health staff, you keep your nurses and this is a big, big challenge that we have and the Deputy Prime Minister and I and the Treasurer and the Immigration Minister are very focused on.
Journalist: The vaccine rollout is seeing significant challenges. Are you frustrated by them and will it improve?
Prime Minister: We are going to hit 250,000, jab 250,000 Australians this week. In fact, I suspect that will occur in about the next 24 hours. Last week, I was telling you that we had reached 100,000. The vaccination programme continues to accelerate. We said when I stood here in this very courtyard with the Health Minister and other health advisers at the time, whether it be Professor Skerritt or Professor Murphy or Professor Kelly. We said we hoped to start the vaccination programme in mid to late February. Well, we did. We said that we hoped we would be able to get to about 80,000 vaccinations a week in the early phases and we have. We said that we would hope to be getting by the end of March to the position where we would be getting major rolls off the line of the CSL vaccines out of Melbourne and we will. We said we would be doing it through various phases and that process is already under way and that we would be enlisting thousands of doctors around the country in that effort and we have. We will continue to communicate as clearly as we can with Australians.
I am pleased that so many Australians want to be part of this vaccination programme. The surge in interest yesterday was extraordinary and that just says to me that Australians understand how important this vaccination programme is. We will continue to roll it out. But the thing I always stress when it comes to the vaccination programme is this; were it not for the fact that our Government took the strategic decision last August to not rely on international supply of vaccines, then Australia would not have a vaccination programme now. It is because of the foresight of the decision that the Government took to do that and to put in place the plan and it is a big project, it is a tough project, it is on a national scale unprecedented and we continue to step forward every single day. I appreciate the patience of Australians as we do that, but I also appreciate their enthusiasm and I appreciate their support and today they can hear this news about how Australia is coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic. These jobs numbers are a real shot in the arm and that will only boost us as we go into the next phase, as we get to the end of this month and Australia will continue to lead the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it created. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
17 March 2021
Prime Minister: Good morning, everyone. I'm joined by Minister Payne and Minister Seselja, the Minister for the Pacific, and of course the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kelly. I'll just, in advance, I don't have leave for the Parliament this morning so if the bells ring then you'll, of course, excuse me if I have to depart.
Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have always been extremely concerned for our Pacific family, for our neighbours, and over the course of this last year, the Pacific community has done such an extraordinary job to substantively keep their islands free of COVID-19. But we've known that that challenge was always going to be too great for Papua New Guinea as time went on. And that, indeed, is proving to be the case now. Now, I've become in contact with Prime Minister Marape very consistently over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly in recent days and the events we're seeing there are of great concern, great concern for them and the challenges that they now face. But I want to assure the people of Papua New Guinea and my dear friend James Marape that Australians as always will stand with them as they meet this challenge and support them in every way that we possibly can.
Now, it is also true that the escalation of issues with the virus in Papua New Guinea presents very real risks to Australia as well. This is a matter that we've been regularly addressing at National Cabinet and particularly between Premier Palaszczuk and I, as we've been very conscious of the risks that are present there. That has included, on medical advice, as well as advice from the Australian Border Force, increasing our activities in the Torres Strait. It has also included moving forward through the Queensland Department of Health to already commence vaccinations in the Torres Strait Islands to ensure that we're boosting protection for that very vulnerable part of Australia and the impact on northern Australia. We've already taken action to ensure there is pre-departure testing of people coming out of Papua New Guinea into Australia at 96 hours and in addition to that, we recently suspended flights, charter flights, Ok Tedi Mine where there has been a high incidence of those working in that mine testing positive.
But we now need to do more and we will do more. On the basis of medical advice and the on the basis of discussions I've had with Prime Minister Marape over the last few days and with the Premier of Queensland, we are taking the following actions to support the initiatives in Papua New Guinea and also to protect Australians from the spread of the virus from Papua New Guinea to Australia, and in particular, protect Queenslanders. Queenslanders, particularly in North Queensland, are most at risk from this. We've been very conscious of that and these measures are decided very much with them in mind. Starting at midnight tonight, we will further reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission from PNG to Australia by suspending passenger flights from Papua New Guinea into Cairns. We will do that for a fortnight and reassess the situation over the next fortnight. Freight, though, I stress, will continue, and be supported to ensure that necessary supplies are able to get from Cairns to Papua New Guinea. We’ll be suspending all charter flights from Papua New Guinea to Australia, with limited exemptions for medevac and other critical flights. We'll be reducing the passenger caps by one-quarter from flights from Port Moresby to Brisbane, effective at midnight tonight. We'll be suspending all outbound travel exemptions by Australians to Papua New Guinea, except for essential and critical workers, including humanitarian and medevac-related activity. This will include no general FIFO work. You FI or you FO. If you're there, you stay. If you're here, you stay. We cannot risk more people going into those areas and then coming back to Australia. We will work with PNG also over the course of the next fortnight to move as quickly as we can to move from a 96-hour pre-departure screening to a 24-hour pre-departure screening. We will also be beefing up the medical support we're providing by gifting essential PPE to PNG. That includes 1 million surgical masks, 200,000 P295 respirator masks, 100,000 gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves, 100,000 bottles of sanitiser, 20,000 face shields and 200 non-invasive ventilators.
Our Government will also be moving immediately to gift 8,000 doses of our COVID-19 vaccine stocks from our domestic stocks to support the vaccination of front front-line health workers in PNG from next week. With the support of the PNG government, we're making a formal request to AstraZeneca and the European authorities to access one million doses of our contracted supplies of AstraZeneca not for Australia, but for PNG, a developing country in desperate need of these vaccines. We've contracted them. We've paid for them and we want to see those vaccines come here so we can support our nearest neighbour, PNG, to deal with their urgent needs in our region and we'll be seeking the support of the European Union and AstraZeneca to achieve that as soon as possible.
With the agreement of PNG government, we are deploying a critical-planning AUSMAT team to PNG next week to establish and prepare plans for COVID health care needs in PNG and set the grounds for further deployment of a clinical health care team in coming weeks. We'll also be seeking assistance, pursuant to the Quad meeting we had last week, from our Quad partners to provide assistance, technical and otherwise, with the rollout of this program. In the Torres Strait Islands, we will continue as a matter of urgency to support the efforts of the Queensland Health department in the vaccination of the Torres Strait and we'll be increasing the visibility of the presence of the Border Force in managing that border. But importantly, after I think very good discussions with the Queensland Premier last night and I thank her for her cooperation as we worked out the details of and also in cooperation with the PNG government to support a vaccine rollout in PNG's western province with a focus on supporting vaccinations in what is known as the treaty villages. They're the villages that are literally just on the other side of the Torres Strait. And those treaty villages act as a single community effectively with the communities of the Torres Strait Island. There is much movement back and forward in that part of the world and we want to extend the protection net of the vaccinations that are going across the Torres Strait Island into those treaty villages. In addition to that, I've said to Prime Minister Marape that we're keen to support in the provision of supplies and other necessities into those villages which would prevent and remove the need for them to travel to other parts of Papua New Guinea where the COVID virus is more present than it currently is in those treaty villages. So that work in the vaccinations would be undertaken by the Queensland Government in the same way that they're currently doing that in the Torres Strait Islanders' communities. The other vaccines and programs in Port Moresby and other parts of the country, Daru and so on, would be part of the vaccination plan that I have already referred to. In addition, this builds on the $80 million contribution that we have made to the COVAX facility for advance market commitment for developing countries. The COVAX facility has indicated it will deliver some 588,000 vaccines for PNG by June. And since the beginning of this pandemic, we've already provided well over $60 million in assistance to PNG to respond to this crisis.
They're our family. They're our friends. They're our neighbours. They're our partners. They have always stood with us and we will always stand with them. This is in Australia's interests and it is in our region's interests and it's incumbent on us as Australians both in securing the health of our own citizens but equally of our PNG family who are so dear to us. I'll ask Professor Kelly to explain more of the medical situation and the Foreign Minister to speak to the foreign affairs issue.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thanks, PM. So as the PM has outlined, our near neighbour in Papua New Guinea is extremely close to the northern part of Australia. So from Saibai Island you can actually see the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, where the treaty villages are. So it's very close. That first step of rolling out the vaccine in the Torres Strait to anyone in the Torres Strait, including our ADF workers and others who are up there, is a very important component of this. Just in terms of the medical rationale for this, of course it's the right thing to do, as the PM mentioned, but it's also in Australia's interest to work with Papua New Guinea in this time. Over the last couple of weeks, very rapidly the situation has changed in Papua New Guinea. We’ve seen of the cases that have been diagnosed in PNG, half of them have been diagnosed in the last couple of weeks from the beginning of the pandemic. Recognising that they did not have the resources for mass testing like we have in Australia, and so any number you see out of Papua New Guinea in terms of cases and even deaths will be a major underestimate. So there is a big outbreak of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea. We know this from the places that are able to be dong testing. The PM has mentioned the Ok Tedi Mine, they’ve done mass testing there and almost half the samples are positive. They are finding the same when people are being admitted into hospital in Port Moresby, half of women who are coming in due to pregnancy are positive. We’re seeing a large number of healthcare workers on the front lines in Papua New Guinea now coming down with COVID-19. These are all signs that there is a major epidemic in the community.
So that’s what’s happening in PNG. We are concerned about that because an uncontrolled pandemic is how variants of concern come to light. That would be not only a major problem for PNG but also for us and the region, if there was a PNG strain to develop, for example. We don't have any indication of that at the moment. The genomics analysis we've done does not show a variant of concern but it is important for us to assist to get that outbreak under control. More proximately, we've seen an increase in the last couple of weeks of people coming from PNG into Queensland. In Queensland they have a policy of putting all positive cases into hospital. They've doubled the number of people in hospital from overseas arrivals in Queensland just in the last 10 days. So that is the pressure that's going onto the Queensland Health system and that's why these things make sense to do. There are now, so since 15 March, there have been 32 cases from PNG imported into Australia, into Queensland and 13 are currently being managed in hospitals in Queensland. So these are the reasons why this has been my advice to the Prime Minister to make these decisions, to support on the ground assist to turn off the top, if you like, in terms of cases coming from PNG and all of that assistance will give, it's not only the right thing to do but it will also protect Australia.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Minister Payne?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. Thank you very much, Dr Kelly. I want to reinforce the Prime Minister's observations about the focus we have had since the onset of the pandemic on our close partnerships, our work with our Pacific family on their priorities in terms of COVID-19 response. Firstly, the pivoting of our development assistance programme in partnerships for recovery. Importantly, our bilateral COVID-19 response plans and most recently our vaccine commitments in relation to Pacific and of course South-East Asia. With the Papua New Guinea government in addressing these issues, we've been engaging regularly and in depth with senior leaders. The Prime Minister, with his counterpart, Prime Minister Marape. I've been speaking with the Health Minister Jetta Wong, both personally and regularly by message in terms of updates on their response actions and that engagement has taken place across the Australian Government as well. Our High Commission in Port Moresby is participating in Papua New Guinea's COVID-19 technical working group and attending meetings at the most senior levels with the High Commissioner and his senior Counsel staff. Our Indo-Pacific centre for health security is coordinating our health security response in the region, including with Papua New Guinea.
I really want to emphasise that the work we are doing and the work we're announcing today is in partnership with Papua New Guinea, based on their priorities and their needs and we have identified those four very immediate measures that the Prime Minister has spoken about in terms of the vaccine response and a number of other supplies - tents, PPE and the AUSMAT team. The AUSMAT team which will be in country on Monday next week, we expect will also do the ground work for the clinical response team, which will follow then. The 8,000 doses of vaccines that we have referred to this morning will fill a critical gap in advance of Papua New Guinea's receipt of its vaccines from the COVAX facility. They are expected in Papua New Guinea in April and then further doses in May. So this gap for front-line workers will be absolutely essential for those people to be able to continue to do the job that they are doing. We are also providing Papua New Guinea through the vaccine program we have announced $144 million to support their PNG vaccine program and its rollout.
The Prime Minister has referred to the Torres Strait. We're obviously dealing with close family and cultural connections between those traditional inhabitants of the villages within the Torres Strait protected zone and therefore paying particular attention to the needs of those treaty villages. I want to acknowledge our colleague Warren Entsch, the Member for Leichhardt, who has been fundamental in engaging with communities in the region, engaging with leadership in the region, and being very clear about their concerns and their needs. I also want to again acknowledge the Queensland Health system for their undertaking and their engagement with us on addressing these issues in the Torres Strait. This will need to be a shared vaccination effort.
These measures that we’re announcing today fit well with a carefully coordinated approach that we are take being other partners, first and foremost in this case our partners in the Papua New Guinea government. But also other international partners, including recently the Quad leaders meeting undertaking on vaccines from last Saturday with Australia, India, Japan and the United States. Under the agreement that was made at the Quad leaders meeting, our four democracies have set out a very ambitious but very practical and positive agenda on COVID-19 vaccines. That includes an increased $100 million contribution from Australia on top of the over $500 million contribution we announced last year and as the Prime Minister referred to, our support for the COVAX facility. In Papua New Guinea, that will mean working with Japan, with India and with the United States in relation to what support we can provide together. Whether that is technical support, whether that is work through UNICEF, who is one of our key partners in the delivery of vaccines in the region, those conversations have started and we will continue those through the centre for regional health security and other officials with our Quad partners. Thanks, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Thank you. Can I also echo my thanks to Warren Entsch. He's been a champion for people of the Torres Strait, not just on the Australian side of the border but right across the western province.
Journalist: Prime Minister, does PNG have enough doctors and nurses to deal with this crisis? Have they requested Australia’s help in supplying some frontline health workers or is the risk just considered too great?
Prime Minister: Well, the capacity to manage COVID-19 in a developing country is starkly different to what it is in an advanced country like Australia. I think that's an understood starting point. One of the key reasons we are setting up the advance planning team next week is to assess and triage what the potential needs are to support Papua New Guinea in any further questions it might make. It's an important point, Mark, that I think you stress - this is Papua New Guinea's initiative. This is their response and we are seeking to support them with the priorities that they're setting out and so by having that team up there next week, I think that will greatly assist in framing what those additional needs are.
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: Prime Minister, if I can also say, mark, there's also about more than half a dozen other actions, specific actions which will be laid out in our media statement that we're working on on the ground in Port Moresby with the Papua New Guinea authorities there. We supplied 200,000 face masks for the period of the Somare state services and funeral burial period. We're working with the WHO on expanding warehouse capacity so we have storage facilities for that PPE and we can streamline its distribution. We are supplying hospital tent facilities outside Port Moresby General Hospital for safe triaging and referral and transfer of patients so there's a better throughput there. Supporting St John's Papua New Guinea and the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority to establish one of their aquatic centres as an isolation facility for mild to moderate caseless that has an up to 120 bed capacity. We're also funding support for the reopening of the Rita Flynn testing and isolation facility which will relieve pressure on Port Moresby General Hospital and also the St John's Ambulance COVID-19 operations in Port Moresby. This includes patient transport, COVID-19 testing and PPE distribution. Supporting their COVID-19 national control centre which Prime Minister Marape visited himself this week and the High Commissioner is closely engaged with. With their information management, their risk communications, their quarantine management and health financing and making sure that we're supporting surveillance, testing and clinical care capacity in Port Moresby and the provinces with known outbreaks, so not just Port Moresby and, of course, testing of samples in Australia. That sample testing is something we've been doing right through the pandemic.
Journalist: Are there going to be qualified people?
Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affair and Women: So the PNG health system is supported in its own capacity, obviously. The AUSMAT team will be part of that analysis and they will do a critical needs analysis when they arrive next week. There are also a significant number of NGOs, including ISOS, including the WHO, who have presence on the ground and have medical professionals on the ground as well.
Prime Minister: There will be a clinical team that will be following as well and that's what the advance team will be preparing for.
Journalist: There's something like 10 million people in Papua New Guinea. We've heard Professor Kelly talking about the possibility of mutations and PNG strains coming out of there. I think there's a million COVAX jabs coming. How is this going to be enough?
Prime Minister: This is a significant challenge, there is no doubt about that and we're seeing these challenges experienced in many developing countries within our region. So our response is twofold. One is to provide as much support in partnership, whether it's the Quad or other partners in the region. The second is to ensure that we're protecting Australia's borders, and we’re protecting access into Australia to prevent any transmission from these areas into Australia and in particular into Queensland. So I think the forward deployment of vaccinations, particularly into the treaty villages, which is a key point of interaction, I think, will be a very achievable and very practical way of addressing that immediate need to effectively provide, and extend the ring of containment beyond the Torres Strait Islands on our side of the border into those more sensitive parts of the Western Province. But there is no doubt that as time goes on, we will be increasing further support into Papua New Guinea and we will be doing that in partnership with them. But our expectations are realistic in working with any developing country. We're seeing this in many developing countries around the world. I've said consistently going back to the G20 last year when we first discussed these matters, that we need to be mindful of the severe limitations of developing countries in addressing this virus. We’re seeing it in Africa and we’re seeing it in other parts of the world and we need to ensure that we get vaccines to these places. That’s why I'll be appealing to the European Union to let the vaccines go that we have contracted for, so we can get that help to Papua New Guinea and every other vaccine we can get out of Europe, that's where I'll send it. I'll send it straight there and to our other partners in the Pacific to ensure we're doing everything we possibly can. But we need their help to do it. We need them to lift the block.
Journalist: Prime Minister, PNG is coming out of a period of mourning for their late Prime Minister Michael Somare. How much have the ceremonial arrangements affected the timing of this response? And secondly, PNG shares a land border with Papua, which obviously has strong transport links to the islands of Indonesia, and very a populous country to our near north. How do you assess the implications for Indonesia of this outbreak and for the ongoing security implications for Australia should there be a new outbreak in Indonesia?
Prime Minister: Well, the burial of Sir Michael, which was taking place yesterday, I actually spoke to James as he was accompanying Sir Michael's body to the site, and so you can understand that this comes at a time of deep mourning and grief for the people of Papua New Guinea. But this action is not in any way connected to that action. That is a terribly sad event all of its own. But it is incidental to the support because we have been working on this now for some days and we've been seeing the escalation in the case numbers. Now, in terms of the cooperation between Indonesian and Papua New Guinean authorities, this has been a topic over the past year. That has been a subject of conversations I've had with President Widodo. Indonesia has its own challenges when it comes to addressing COVID in their own country and I have no doubt that they'll be observing this very closely and working closely with the Papua New Guinean government. I mean, the terrain along that border is not like you can compare to, say, the Western Australia border with South Australia. The geography is a little different. But that's why we, in looking at particularly the issues in the Western Province, say, from Australia's risk, we understand how the Western Province and the Torres Strait act as an effective community and this is why I'm very grateful to Warren Entsch, because he brings that local understanding after 25 years he's been a member of this place and in many cases, he's been the member for the Western Province in our own Parliament. And I think he's done a fantastic job alerting us and the medical authorities to these issues and working closely with us on how we can make this practically work on the ground.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you mentioned there will be an increased awareness campaign about vaccination in the Torres Strait Islands, I think. You talked about awareness as well and perhaps Professor Kelly as well. How concerned are you about increased vaccine hesitancy, perhaps in those communities and in the wider Australian communities, as we're seeing European governments decide to pause rollouts and so on?
Prime Minister: I'll get Professor Kelly to also speak on this. But we've already begun vaccinations in the Torres Strait and Saibai Island yesterday, I think it was. That's going very well. We are aware that in Papua New Guinea that there's hesitancy in that community for a range of reasons and we'll seek to support the Papua New Guinean government in addressing those issues. In terms of the AstraZeneca vaccines, Professor Kelly and Professor Skerritt have been very clear about the Australian medical experts' view about that and we're pleased that today, there will be 1,000 GPs signing up. 1,000 GPs signing up to be in the next phase of this rollout of AstraZeneca across Australia. So critical, so critical for Australia's success this year in protecting the health of Australians across the country. Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So of course we're always concerned about vaccine hesitancy but as I said very strongly yesterday and I'm not alone in saying this, I have no concern about the AstraZeneca and specifically the blood clot issue that's emerged in Europe. Overnight, the European Medical Agency head said the same thing as the WHO and the UK regulator, the TGA here in Australia, myself and many other experts in these matters, that we should look at the background rate of issues as we roll out mass vaccination programs like this. Things will happen because they happen. It doesn't mean that they're related to the vaccine. In terms of the Torres Strait specifically, my understanding is the update is strong. They understand the threat so they are getting vaccinated.
Prime Minister: Chris?
Journalist: Prime Minister, I’m just going to ask on another matter, what's your response to Nicolle Flint's speech last night?
Prime Minister: Look, I'd like to stay on PNG matters to be honest but given I've got to go in a couple of minutes because I have an international call that I have to attend, I think she's an incredibly brave woman. I think she's incredibly brave. I know how brave she was because I was there with her as she endured one of the ugliest campaigns I've ever seen waged against not just a woman but anyone in this country. And her determination to stand up to that in the face of the most vitriolic of abuse, stalking and threats to her own public security was just absolutely appalling. And I just am amazed at the Labor Party and the unions and GetUp just stood by and let that happen. They were aware. They saw it. They were happy to be advantaged by it and I think she's called it out well and I think she's an incredibly strong woman. We're very sad she won't be running again at the next election. But I can understand after having gone through such a traumatic experience that she would form that view. She indicated that to me last year when we were reshuffling the Cabinet and the ministry, and she asked not to be considered at that time. I think she would have been an outstanding member of the Executive, to be honest. Sadly, we won’t have that opportunity. But I think she has blazed a trail for many other women in the Liberal Party to come forward. Phil?
Journalist: Just back on the vaccination thing, if the Europeans don't come to the party on your request to send us the vaccine for which we have paid for, will you be prepared to divert some domestic production to PNG? And how would you respond to the inevitable criticisms about giving vaccines to foreigners ahead of Australia that will come from that?
Prime Minister: Twofold. I expect and would hope to get the cooperation out of Europe for this. We've all said that we need to get vaccines where they're needed. This is not Australia seeking to do this for our own direct benefit, although we've contracted them and you would expect them to be supplied otherwise. But we're not factoring those into the additional supplies into the vaccination programme that Professor Murphy and I outlined to you on Sunday. So this would enable us to direct those supplies into Papua New Guinea and indeed into other parts of the Pacific if needed. Those vaccines and their deployment would therefore, I think, be following through on the very public statements that have been made in the European Union about their commitment to ensure that there is no vaccine protectionism and that vaccines do go to those most in need and that's why we're putting that forward. And on the question of diverting from Australian supplies, those supplies wouldn't be, but we have already, as I outlined on Sunday, indicated that we would be doing that. There was a supply of our own produced vaccines that were already factored into the distribution in the weeks ahead and that will continue. I don't think Australians have a problem with that. I think when we're talking about our own home, which PNG is part of, our own family, our Pacific neighbours, I think Australians understand that that is one of our responsibilities and as an advanced nation that has had such incredible success in managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, I think they would be generous in spirit. I mean, we all know the Kokoda story. They were there for us. We will be there for them. Thank you all very much.