Press Conference - Kirribilli, NSW

19 September 2021

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Prime Minister: Ministerial standards set a high mark for both perceived and actual conduct, and particularly in relation to conflicts of interest. All Members, when they become Ministers, understand that, when they sign on and become a Member of the Cabinet and take on the role in the Government's executive ranks. And all of my Ministers seek to uphold those standards at all times. The complex nature, often, of particular arrangements, can sometimes test those standards and their wording and their application in specific circumstances.

In relation to Minister Porter, over the course of the last few days and in the discussions that we have had, the inability for him to be able to practically provide further information because of the nature of those arrangements, if he were able to do that, that would allow Minister Porter to conclusively rule out a perceived conflict. And as a result of him acknowledging that, he has this afternoon taken the appropriate course of action to uphold those standards by tendering his resignation as a Minister this afternoon, and I have accepted his resignation.

His actions have been about upholding the standards. Our discussions today were about upholding those standards. We each believe they're incredibly important. And it isn't just about actual conflicts. It is about, under the standards, for Ministers to have an obligation to avoid any perception of conflicts of interest. And that is what, ultimately, has led the Minister to make that decision this afternoon.

I want to thank Minister Porter for his service in my Government. I want to thank him for his service as the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, most recently. I want to thank him for his role as Attorney-General for several years, not only under my Government, but under my predecessor. I want to thank him for the role that he performed as Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives also. Minister Porter will be returning to the backbench, where he will continue to serve as the Member for Pearce. But, I thank him for his service in our Government to the people of Australia.

Today I've taken the step of appointing Angus Taylor as the Acting Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. He will perform those responsibilities together with his responsibilities for Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. Both of these portfolios sit within his department, and I have no doubt that he will perform extremely admirably in taking on those responsibilities.

On a couple of other matters, just while I have you today. I note that, as you know, I'll be heading off to the United States tomorrow. I'll be going to both New York and to Washington. I want to remind everybody that the purpose of this visit is for the Quad Leaders’ Meeting and the Bilateral with President Biden.

I do note that there has been some reporting and assumption about a Trilateral Meeting next week. That is not something that has been arranged, nor was it intended for it to be arranged next week. That's why we did the announcement this week. I believed it was very important that with such a significant announcement regarding Australia's defence procurements that I should be making that statement here in Australia, rather than overseas. If there's an opportunity, I'm sure, to catch up with Boris over the course of the next week, as we both may be in the same place, then I'll certainly be taking that up. I'm sure President Biden will also.

But, the primary purpose of that visit, which I leave for tomorrow, is to both meet with President Biden across the whole range of the bilateral issues in our relationship and, of course, to meet with the other Quad leaders and the bilaterals with those leaders, from Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Suga, as we come together for the Leaders’ Meeting on the Friday. So, those are the major reasons for my visit. I'm looking forward to them. And, of course, the Deputy Prime Minister will be Acting Prime Minister in my absence.

Just finally, can I note that the TGA has now given clearance for the Moderna vaccines that have come to Australia. They'll be rolling out to pharmacies this week. We anticipate first jabs in arms by about Wednesday. 1,800 pharmacies by the end of this week will be doing that job. There is also 1,300 extra GPs that come online this week for Pfizer vaccinations.

I note that yesterday was a record Saturday vaccination - some 227,036, a record Saturday. And we now have 71.7 per cent first dose and 46.7 per cent second dose. I also note that amongst aged care workers, after a very concerted effort, particularly supported by the mandatory arrangements that we put in place, that we now have 98 per cent of first dose vaccinations of aged care workers, to which those requirements apply to.

I also note that the second shipment of Moderna, the second shipment of the Moderna doses that I was referring to last Sunday, they'll be coming in tonight. That'll be another 700,000 doses that will be coming in this evening, which will continue to support the vaccination program.

I note today the Victorian Premier has outlined his forward roadmap, consistent with the national plan on those 70 per cent and 80 per cent targets. These additional mRNA doses will, of course, be helping Victoria to achieve those targets and to ensure that we can open up as soon as we possibly can. Happy to take some questions.

Journalist: Prime Minister, if you’re saying Christian Porter has upheld the Ministerial Standards, why is he resigning?

Prime Minister: He's upholding the standards by resigning, is my point. If he doesn't believe that he can provide what we believe is necessary, then it is the appropriate course of action for him to do that.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you obviously asked your department and Phil Gaetjens to look into this and provide advice on this matter. Can you commit to releasing the advice Mr Gaetjens provided to you? And further to the reason behind the resignation, if Minister Porter was able to disclose the donors that gave to his legal fund, so that you could work out whether there was a conflict of interest or not, would he have needed to resign?

Prime Minister: Well, that advice I have not yet received, and the Minister has taken his own decision in relation to our discussion of the Ministerial Standards, and that matter is now concluded.

Journalist: Prime Minister, would you call this an error of judgment from Minister Porter?

Prime Minister: No, what I'd call it is the Minister being the beneficiary of an arrangement that prevents him from being able to disclose to me in a way that would allow him to satisfy that he does not have a conflict of interest or a perceived conflict of interest. That's how, that's how I'd describe it, and the application of the standards and my understanding of them and our discussion, and he's acted in accordance with his understanding, as well. And there are grey areas in these issues. As I said, complex arrangements, when applied to particular circumstances, can be inconclusive. But, the Minister has taken the decision, which errs on the side of upholding the highest standard.

Journalist: Do you really think he doesn’t know where the money came from?

Prime Minister: It's a blind trust. He cannot disclose to me who those donors are.

Journalist: That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know who they are.

Prime Minister: Well, the issue for the Prime Minister is about whether a Minister is in a position to ensure that he can satisfy himself that he doesn't have a conflict of interest, perceived or otherwise. And, so, the Minister has taken a decision which respects that standard.

Journalist: Do you know how much money he was paid?

Prime Minister: That's included in his Register of Interests.

Journalist: PM, I’m just trying to work out what changed between earlier in the week and today, since you don’t have the advice that you commissioned from your department into this matter. What caused the need for him to resign, if he didn’t need to resign earlier in the week, but he did today?

Prime Minister: Well, it's only, it's only been since Wednesday, and today’s Sunday. And nothing has changed, other than the opportunity, I think, for the Minister and I to have further discussions and the Minister himself to consider the matter further, as have I.

Journalist: So, did you ask him to resign, PM?

Prime Minister: There was no need for that. The Minister has taken his own decision, based on the circumstances that are here, and he wants to do what he believes is the best thing to uphold those standards and to, and for the Government, of which he's been a very significant contributor to over a long period of time.

Journalist: But, earlier in the week you were saying you needed the advice from Mr Gaetjens to work out if Ministerial Standards had been breached?

Prime Minister: I said I was taking advice but, and have been taking further soundings. And I believe it's important to deal with the matter, and I have.

Journalist: Will he pay the money back?

Prime Minister: Well, there is, he is no longer a Minister. So, the matters regarding Ministerial Standards have been concluded.

Journalist: Is it even appropriate for him to remain as an MP while he’s been the recipient of that money, that could have come from anyone?

Prime Minister: Well, you're now talking about a different set of issues, which relates to the Parliament, and I am not the custodian of the Parliament. The Parliament is the custodian of the Parliament. I am the custodian of the Ministerial Standards. And, so, I have acted in accordance with those Ministerial Standards. I take them very seriously. I said this week that I took this matter very seriously. I was not going to make a decision or engage in this issue on the run. As you know, we were dealing with some other very serious matters this week regarding Australia's defence and security interests. And once I had been able to address those matters, it afforded me the time to deal with this issue fairly promptly.

Journalist: So, it sounds like Minister Porter will not repay the money because he’s quit from Cabinet. Can you just confirm that? And, also, if one of your Ministers ...

Prime Minister: What Minister Porter does now is a matter for him. He's not a Member of my Cabinet.

Journalist: And if, considering your comments about the fact that if Mr Porter had been able to identify these donors he could have stayed in Cabinet, does that mean Ministers could take donations for private legal matters in the future, as long as they know where they came from?

Prime Minister: If there is any need to update the Ministerial Standards on these matters to ensure there's greater clarity, then I have no doubt that my department will be advising me to that end.

Journalist: So, do they need to be updated to reflect the fact that Ministers shouldn’t take … ?

Prime Minister: I'm sure if the department believes that they should, they will give me that advice, and I'll act consistent with that advice.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you’re still his boss.

Prime Minister: No, no, the people of Pearce are his boss. He is a Member of Parliament. He’s a Member of Parliament and a member of the Liberal Party, and, like I am the Member for Cook. And, ultimately, to sit in the Parliament, then it is up to me to maintain my faith with the people of Cook. And he is in the same position, and he’s served the electorate of Pearce extremely well. And, so, he will go back to doing that job for the people of Pearce, and sit as a Government member.

Journalist: So, Minister Taylor will take on the role as Acting Minister.

Prime Minister: That’s right.

Journalist: Do you expect him to be, continue in that role? Will you do a reshuffle?

Prime Minister: When I return from, when I return from the United States, I’ll have more to say about those issues.

Journalist: Now, will that be a broader reshuffle, or just a one in, one out?

Prime Minister: When I get back from the United States, I'll have more to say. But, there is no need other than to deal with the immediate issues that are created by this set of events.

Journalist: Prime Minister, in your opinion, should a lawyer like Christian Porter have known better than to try this on?

Prime Minister: I expect my Ministers, all of them, and myself, to uphold the Ministerial Standards, and to act in accordance with those Ministerial Standards. And Minister Porter, by taking the decision that he has today, that's the appropriate decision in these circumstances, that reinforces our Government's commitment to those standards. We hold ourselves to them, and where we believe that people need to take action to ensure they are upheld, then they have. And it's not the first time this has occurred. I take Ministerial Standards very seriously. My Ministers understand that, and they've taken actions where it has been necessary to ensure those standards are upheld.

Journalist: Does the Liberal Party endorse him as the candidate at, in the next election?

Prime Minister: Well, I'm not actually specifically aware of where that's up to. And, but he is, of course, if he wished to stand again, then I'm sure he’d put himself forward to the selectors of Pearce for the Liberal Party. And, in our Party, those selectors will make those decisions. This isn't Fowler. This isn't some deal in Fowler, we're talking about here, in Pearce. I'll leave those sort of deals to the Labor Party.

Journalist: Just on the subs issue, do you regret any way in which it was communicated to the French? I mean, the French Prime Minister has recalled, or the French have recalled their ambassador. Do you regret that happening?

Prime Minister: Well, of course, we are disappointed about the actions of recalling the ambassador, but we understand them and we respect them, and we understand the deep disappointment about the arranged contract that we had to build the Attack-class submarines here in Australia. As we were going towards the next gate, the scope two gate, that we formed the view that the capability that the Attack-Class submarines were going to provide was not what Australia needed to protect our sovereign interests. That's what the decision was about. It was about protecting Australia's sovereign interests. And, of course, it is a matter of great disappointment to the French Government and to the Naval Group, and those who are working on the project. So, I understand their disappointment. But, at the same time, Australia, like any sovereign nation, must always take decisions that are in our sovereign national defence interests. And, that's what we've done in this circumstance. I have, we have made this clear for some time. This was an issue that had been raised by me directly some months ago, and we had continued to talk those issues through, including by defence ministers and others. There had been a range of issues earlier in the contract and throughout the contract that we had continued, we had discussed on numerous occasions. But, ultimately, this was a decision about whether the submarines that were being built, at great cost to the Australian taxpayer, were going to be able to do a job that we needed it to do when they went into service. And, our strategic judgment, based on the best possible intelligence and defence advice, was that it would not. And, so, therefore, to go forward, when we were able to secure a supreme submarine capability to support our defence operations, it would have been negligent for us not to.

Journalist: You said you raised it some months ago …

Prime Minister: Yes.

Journalist: … but when did you directly tell President Macron that you were tearing up this contract?

Prime Minister: The night before.

Journalist: The night before the announcement?

Prime Minister: At about 8.30, slightly after 8.30, on the night prior to the announcement.

Journalist: So, before then they were of the opinion it was still going ahead?

Prime Minister: Well, no, I think they had, they would have had every reason to know that we have deep and grave concerns that the capability being delivered by the Attack-class submarine was not going to meet our strategic interests. And we had made very clear that we would be making a decision based on our strategic national interest.

Journalist: But, if they knew, why did they accuse the Brits and the US of stabbing them in the back, and Australia?

Prime Minister: Well, I don't share that view.

Journalist: But, they're obviously very aggrieved by this. If they knew that there were so many problems, why are they so aggrieved, in your mind?

Prime Minister: Because a contract, which involved a large amount of work and a significant contractual value, was terminated. That's understandable when that occurs, that the party that was involved in that, other party in that contract, would be aggrieved and would be disappointed. I understand that. I totally understand that. But, equally, I'm sure people would understand that Australia's national interest comes first. It must come first. And it did come first. And Australia's interests are best served by the trilateral partnership that I've been able to form with President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson. That is what serves Australia's long-term national interests. That's what I think ensures that we can contribute more significantly to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. And that is what is in Australia's best interests. So, I will always do what's in Australia's national interests. These are difficult decisions, and their implications for these decisions, and we understand that. And, so, we look to work with the French and many other like-minded partners. But, on this occasion, pursuing that contract, that build for that submarine, was no longer the best decision for Australia, and it wasn't in Australia's national interest.

Journalist: But, do you regret, do you regret the way in which you communicated this to President Macron, the way it’s led to the bilateral relationship between Australia and France deteriorating over the past couple of days?

Prime Minister: I don't regret the decision to put Australia's national interests first. Never will. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43577

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

16 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: G’day. I'm joined by the Secretary of Defence Greg Moriarty and the Chief of Defence Force General Campbell. The relatively benign security environment that Australia has enjoyed over many decades in our region is behind us. We have entered, no doubt, a new era, with new challenges for Australia and for our partners and friends and countries right across our region. This challenge will require more of us in Australia, and all of us who share a common vision about peace and stability and security in our region, so all nations can enjoy the fellowship of our region, the trade and the opportunities for our peoples, so they can realise what they want for their countries, just as we want for our country. That's what we seek. That's what Australians and our friends have always sought.

Today, I announce a new partnership, a new agreement that I describe as a forever partnership. A forever partnership for a new time between the oldest and most trusted of friends. A forever partnership that will enable Australia to protect our national security interests, to keep Australians safe, and to work with our partners across the region to achieve the stability and security of our region. This forever partnership that we have announced today is the single greatest initiative to achieve these goals since the ANZUS alliance itself. It is the single largest step we have been able to take to advance our defence capabilities in this country, not just at this point, but for the future.

It has been some time in the making, it is true to say. These types of forever partnerships don't happen overnight. It has been the product of great patience, of great determination, of a deep relationship forged between our nations and indeed the personal-level working relationships that we have been able to forge between leaders, between ministers, between our systems over an even longer period of time, led of course, by the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the many missions that have been involved in around the world, but particularly in these countries.

It is a forever partnership that has been diligently pursued by my Government to enhance cooperation, to deepen our integration, to position Australia in the best and strongest way possible, and to contribute to the stability and security of our region, that will benefit all in our region, no exceptions.

As our first major initiative, it is as we have announced today, for Australia to achieve a nuclear-powered submarine fleet. Not a nuclear armed, a nuclear-powered. And to commence that build here in Australia in Adelaide within the decade. Nuclear submarines have clear advantages, greater endurance, they're faster, they have greater power, greater stealth, more carrying capacity. These make nuclear submarines the desired substantial capability enhancement that Australia has needed. It helps us to build regional resilience as part of this first initiative. It is the first time this technology has ever been made available to Australia. And, indeed one other country has only been given access to this technology back in the late 50s, the United Kingdom from the United States. This is a one off, as the President in Washington has made very clear. This is a very special arrangement and a very important one for Australia.

Australia was not in a position at the time we took the decision back in 2016 to build and operate a nuclear-powered submarine. That wasn't on the table. It wasn't on the table for a range of reasons. So, the decision we have made to not continue with the Attack class submarine and to go down this path is not a change of mind, it's a change of need. The goal has remained the same, and Australians would expect me as Prime Minister to ensure that we have the best possible capability to keep them safe and to be unhindered in pursuing that as best as I possibly can. And that is what I have done.

The developments that have occurred since 2016 do now make a nuclear-powered submarine fleet a feasible option for Australia, which is what I first tasked the Secretary of Defence to inquire into. We now have the support and expertise of the United States and the United Kingdom. Next generation nuclear-powered submarines will use reactors that do not need refuelling during the life of the boat. A civil nuclear power capability here in Australia is not required to pursue this new capability. These are game changing differences in the technology and the opportunity that Australia has, but there have also been game changing developments in the strategic circumstances of our region, which continue to accelerate at a pace even not envisaged as little as five years ago.

Contractual gates were built into the Attack class project necessarily. Those gates were there for a reason. Decisions have to be made before you proceed through those gates, and so, as we were looking towards that next gate, we have decided not to enter through it as part of the Attack class program, but instead now to pursue this path which gives us a far greater capability to meet the strategic needs.

I stress again, this is about propulsion. This is not about acquiring nuclear weapons. Australia has no interest in that. No plans for it, no policy for it, no contemplation of it. It's not on our agenda. And we will continue to meet all of our obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as our partners in this exercise will also do.

To ensure exacting standards are met, a new multi-agency taskforce has been stood up to manage our pathway to a nuclear-powered maritime submarine capability. Over the next 18 months, the taskforce will work with our American and British partners to ensure the full suite of requirements that underpin nuclear stewardship, including waste regulation, training facilities, basing, workforce, and our forestructure are in place. We take the stewardship responsibilities of this nuclear capability very seriously. It is a forever responsibility for a forever partnership.

And we don't come to this from a standing start here in Australia. Australia has a long history of safety and reliably operating nuclear reactors at Lucas Heights, not too far from my own home in the Sutherland Shire. We have built a world-class nuclear safety and regulatory capability, and we possess decades of experience of safely operating and sustaining submarines in addition.

Our acquisition of nuclear-powered submarine technology will though form part of a set of strategic deterrence capabilities. This is not the only thing we have to do. Our investment in defence will only increase in the future. The lift will only go up, it won't come back down. We will have to do more. We have invested more as a Government. We have increased our defence spending as a share of our economy to over 2 per cent ahead of time, and we will have to keep pressing forward, not just to meet these significant commitments we're entering into to develop this nuclear submarine capability, but the many other capabilities that will be necessary to ensure we keep Australians safe and we have a stable and secure region for the future.

Today I'm announcing, in addition to the acquisitions announced as part of the 2024 structure plan, that we will be enhancing our Long-Range strike capability, including Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to be fielded on the Royal Australian Navy Hobart class destroyers, and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (Extended Range) for our Royal Australian Air Force capabilities. And the Secretary of Defence and Chief of Defence Force can speak further to those. These capabilities will be coupled with our planned Life-of-Type Extension of Australia’s Collins class submarine fleet, which remains, I stress, one of the most capable conventional submarines in the world, and will enhance our ability to deter and respond to potential security challenges during the transition to a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

As I’ve noted, we will not be continuing with the Attack class submarine program and have advised Naval Group and of course, the Government of France and President Macron of that decision. I want to stress that France remains an incredibly important partner in the Pacific. There is few, if any other country around the world which understands the importance of the Pacific and has been as committed to the Pacific as France. These are matters that President Macron and I have discussed on many occasions. We share a deep passion for our Pacific family and a deep commitment to them, and I look forward and I hope to see us continue, once we move past what is obviously a very difficult and disappointing decision for France. I understand that. I respect it. But as a Prime Minister I must make decisions that are in Australia's national security interests. I know that France would do the same. And I know, ultimately, that will be understood and we'll be able to continue to work together for our many shared goals and aims, because fundamentally we share the same values, we share the same vision.

I acknowledge the uncertainty that this announcement will generate for those currently employed in the Attack class program, both in defence and industry. I know that you have worked tirelessly to deliver the Attack class program. In doing so, you have developed some of the most in-demand skills, not just in this country but anywhere in the world. You are vital to Australia's future in securing this new capability. What we have invested in you, what we have invested in the program with the Attack class to now, is an investment which is setting us up for what we go forward with as a country at this critical time. Your skills are in unprecedented demand because of the commitments the Government has made to embark on the largest regeneration of the Royal Australian Navy since World War II. We need you. We needed you. And we will still need you, and we will continue to enlist you in this great national effort to ensure the skills that have been developed are kept with this great national enterprise.

One of the key defence priorities of the Government has been to build our continuous naval shipbuilding program. This of course is enhanced by these decisions and will be further supported by the AUKUS partnership that will provide further capabilities into the future, some of which not yet even imagined.

In South Australia, we will, it will be continue to be the home for the Collins class submarine full-cycle docking. I know this is a decision that has been eagerly awaited in South Australia. I had made it very clear on my recent and ongoing visits to South Australia that we would determine this matter once high-level strategic issues had been decided. As is clear, those matters are now decided, and it is important, strategically important, that we maintain the full-cycle docking capability there in South Australia and we continue with those operations there.

In addition, we will continue beyond 2026 with the full Life-of-Type Extension of the six Collins class boats. That will commence in 2026 and be on a two-year drum beat. In addition to that we will, with our Hobart class destroyers, undergo their combat system upgrade at Osborne from 2024. So, there will be a lot getting done. South Australia, and particularly Osborne, will be a hub for Australia's naval shipbuilding ambitions and programs.

Our investments in Western Australia, our other great shipbuilding centre, will continue, and are significant. And I was able to discuss these with Premier McGowan this morning. He is aware as I am, three different classes of ships are under construction in the West right now, with more to follow over the coming decades. Ten Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessels, 21 Guardian Class Patrol Boats, six Evolved Cape Class Patrol Boats, up to eight new Mine Counter Measure and Military Survey Vessels, an ice-rated replacement for the Navy’s Ocean Protector, a new large Salvage and Repair Vessel, and up to four support ships for the enhanced Undersea Surveillance System. Western Australia will continue to play a key role in sustaining Navy's fleet with Collins class submarine intermediate and mid-cycle dockings continuing at Henderson through and until the mid-2040s. The Government will also work with the Western Australian Government, as we discussed this morning, to invest in a large dry dock at Henderson, which will enable naval and commercial vessels from Australia and around the region to be maintained in the West for decades to come.

The Government's investments will also see the establishment of regional maintenance centres in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland, providing sustainment hubs through which local businesses can contribute to nationwide supply chains.

But at its heart, today's announcements are about the oldest of friendships, the strongest of values and the deepest of commitment. That's what it takes to have a forever partnership. And I believe that this forever partnership will set Australia up. But not just Australia, our partners in ASEAN, our family in the Pacific, who we love dearly, our Quad partners, our bilateral strategic partners in the region, our great friends in New Zealand. I spoke to Prime Minister Ardern yesterday. She was my first call because of the strength of our relationship and the relationship between our countries. All in the region will benefit from the peace and the stability and security that this partnership will add to our region. It's there to add, it's there to contribute, it's there to support for everyone in the region. That's what we want in Australia, and that's what we're always committed to.

And with that, I will note on another matter, today we will hit 70 per cent of the country aged over 16 who have had their first dose. That 70 per cent double dose and 80 per cent double dose mark is within plain sight. Keep going Australia.

I'll invite the Secretary of Defence to make some remarks and then the Chief.

MR GREG MORIARTY, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: Well, thank you Prime Minister. And, you know, on behalf of the Department and the ADF, I'd like to thank you for your commitment to defence, to the growing of defence capabilities, and the broader AUKUS framework, under which I'm particularly looking forward to engaging with US and UK counterparts around the cutting edge technologies, not just the nuclear-powered submarine but the other, the other opportunities that are made available to us through the AUKUS arrangement, quantum, AI, cyber, undersea capabilities that we will be able to look to in future, the sort of weapons systems that will continue to give the ADF a potent capability advantage in the decades ahead, because the threat environment is changing, and some of the analysis done within our agencies and the broader intelligence community I think has been made available to the Government and is one of the factors that they've taken into account as they've arrived at these decisions. So, the AUKUS framework offers great opportunities for defence to keep that capability edge in new and different ways moving into the future.

Prime Minister, in terms of the nuclear-powered submarine venture, we will over the next 12 to 18 months undertake that detailed work with US and UK partners. I know we, we've been directed by Government to absolutely maintain the highest standards of safety and security when it comes to the development of the nuclear capability. That is important for the Australian people, Prime Minister, but it's also important for our people who will operate these capabilities for decades to come. So, I reassure you and the Government and the Australian people of Defence's absolute commitment to the highest international standards of nuclear safety and security.

We are also committed to our Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations. Our international partners demand that of us, and we are determined to be able to meet those, meet those standards.

It's an enormous amount of work we will be doing in the, in the coming 18 months, Prime Minister. The taskforce will look at issues such as the industrial pathway, the weapons suite, the census sweep that will be on these boats, the skilling and workforce needs that we will have, not just in defence but in broadly, in Australian defence industry. We'll be looking at that full range of infrastructure needs, what we need to do in terms of developing future, future capabilities to be able to build, operate and sustain these capabilities to give Australia that sovereign capability.

So, Prime Minister for Defence this is a very exciting day. A lot of enormously complex work ahead of us, but we are absolutely committed to delivering this capability for the Government. Thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Secretary. Chief.

GENERAL ANGUS J. CAMPBELL, AO, DSC, CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE: Prime Minister, thank you for the decision today, and my thanks from the Australian Defence Force for the decision of the three
leaders today. Our strategic environment has deteriorated. Our key strategic documents speak of this. That challenging environment is becoming more challenging, and is set to do so into the future at an accelerated pace. This decision is very welcome in terms of the development of the Australian Defence Forces for structure and its forced posture, and particularly that long view potential of the AUKUS agreement and the wide range of advanced technologies the three nations will work together to build on and to develop for the security and stability of our own nations, and indeed of our region.

The Australian Defence Force and the Department of Defence have a wide range now of work to do through this 12 to 18 month period. But as the Secretary has emphasised, the commitment to our obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty are absolute. Our determination to safely and appropriately understand, develop, and employ these capabilities is the total commitment of our organisation in that regard. And we look forward to the continuing development of Australian defence and security capabilities suited for our nation. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. I'm just going to ask my staff to grab me a glass of water, if they wouldn't mind. So in conclusion, then, I want to thank a number of people. Of course, I want to thank the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of Defence Force, and all of those who have worked so hard within both organisations over the course of these last 18 months. I particularly also want to thank my parliamentary colleagues and my government colleagues. I want to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne. I want to thank the Minister for Defence Peter Dutton, particularly in these last four or so months. There has been an enormous amount of work that has been involved in taking this through our National Security Committee and addressing all the necessary issues that you know we would have to address.

But, I also want to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his great support of this initiative, as a, as the Deputy Chair of the National Security Committee. So, thank you Barnaby. Can I also thank Linda
Reynolds, the former Minister for Defence. It was Linda and I who commenced this project many, many many months ago, and we worked very closely together on this over a long period of time, and I want to acknowledge her role in getting us to where we are today.

I also want to thank the former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who was the previous Deputy Chair of the National Security Committee, worked together with myself and of course, the Treasurer and the Foreign Minister and others who serve around that table, the Attorney-General, Minister for Home Affairs to ensure that we could carry this issue to this day. So, to you, Michael, thanks mate, and, and I know he'd be very pleased to be seeing this announcement today, as I know Linda would also.

But, I've got to say my greatest thanks are to my partners in this forever partnership, this AUKUS partnership, to President Joe Biden and to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. I introduced them today as great friends of freedom and great friends of Australia, and they truly are. They understand what goes to the heart of our relationship, the security and defence of peace and freedom. That is what has always sustained us, and when we met together at Carbis Bay for that historic trilateral meeting, there was a clear sense of shared purpose. There was an easy sense of agreement. This was a natural territory for us, each of us to move into. “But, this is Australia,” President Biden remarked, in understanding the depth of our experience over more than a century. And similarly with Boris, with whom you know I have a close friendship. He has been an absolute energiser, as we’ve worked through these many months to come to this agreement. So, to Boris and to Joe, thank you very much for being great friends of our country, and thank you for the work that your nations have done, not just now, but over a long period of time to guarantee the peace and freedom, not just of the Indo-Pacific, but the world more broadly. Happy to take questions. Mark.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what if China see this as a provocation, nuclear-powered submarines, cruise missiles, long-range air missiles - won’t they just frame this as a Cold War type weapons build-up? [Inaudible] Are you prepared for more economic trade sanctions from China in in response to this, and are you seeking a meeting with President Xi to explain what this is all about?

PRIME MINISTER: Well that, that engagement has already commenced with China, as it has with many countries in the region, including our Quad partners in Japan and India. I spoke to Narendra Modi and Yoshi Suga last night. Of course, I said I’m, I spoke to Prime Minister Ardern. I'll be having further calls today as we talk through these issues and that engagement with China, and there is an open invitation for President Xi and I to discuss these and many other matters. And that has always been there. Australia remains open to discuss these and all issues that are important to the Indo-Pacific. I believe and hope we would both share the same objective of a peaceful Indo-Pacific, where the sovereignty and independence of nations is understood and respected, and that enables their own citizens to flourish. Now, that's what we all want. It is not an uncommon thing for countries to take decisions in their own strategic interests and to build up their defence capabilities. China makes the same decisions, as does other countries within our region. So, I don't think that should be seen as necessarily extraordinary or in the terms that that you suggested. And any response that was along the lines that you suggested I couldn't see as that corresponding with what Australia has done.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how much do you have to pay in terms of compensation to the Naval Group, what's the dollar figure in compensation, if you can give that for us? Have you spoken to President Macron yet and if so, what was his reaction? And then, the other thing I wanted to ask you in relation to, if you look at NATO, for example, Article 5 Collective defence, it requires every member to come to the other members’ defensive attack. We don't have that, despite all of the commitments in ANZUS and AUKUS now, lots of dollars going in. Is it time for that sort of Article 5 commitment from the US, UK and us?

PRIME MINISTER: We are very, very pleased with the arrangements we have with the United States and our many other partners in the region. And no, we are not pursuing those types of arrangements. The ANZUS alliance and many other partnerships and agreements we have, we believe, suit our security interests and has served us very well. And AUKUS takes that to a whole new level, a whole new level. And, and so we're very pleased with where that has brought us to. In relation to President Macron, he and I had a very lengthy dinner engagement and discussion back at the end of June, not long after I'd been with President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson in Carbis Bay. He had been there also. And so we were able to discuss the strategic situation in the Indo-Pacific at great length and what Australia's capability needs were. And I was able to set out very clearly that there were very real issues about whether a conventional submarine capability would be able to address those going forward. And so I was very clear. We have always acted. And as I instructed the Secretary of Defence to operate in total good faith in our dealings with Naval. There was never any, never any certainty that what has been a long and and painstaking process, that it would result in where we are now and to have that capability. Indeed, if we were unable to access this technology and to have a fleet of nuclear powered submarines, then the Attack class submarine is the best conventional submarine that we would be able to utilise. And we remain of that view. If you're looking for a conventional submarine, if that's what you'll need is, the Attack class is a great submarine and the Naval Group is a great organisation to deliver such a submarine. And the French Government gave enormous support to that initiative. And I'm a very appreciative to President Macron for the many discussions that he and I have had over this project and as indeed my predecessor had about these issues. So, of course, they're disappointed. We have been able to directly communicate, I have, that decision to President Macron and that was followed up, that communication with a telephone discussion between the Minister for Defence and Ministers of Foreign Affairs and their counterparts last night. Of course, they're disappointed. But I want to be clear. This in no way reflects in any way, shape or form on the Attack class submarine, the Naval Group and the commitment of the French Government and indeed President Macron personally to this project. They have been good partners. This is about our strategic interest, our strategic capability requirements and a changed strategic environment. And we've had to take that decision.

JOURNALIST: What is your message to WA workers? I understand all those projects [inaudible] but it won't equal the number of jobs that the [inaudible]?

PRIME MINISTER: No. There's more jobs going into Western Australia now than FCD was ever going to deliver to Western Australia. I mean, the large list of projects that I read out to you far exceed those types of programmes. Western Australians are Australians. Like New South Wales residents are Australians. And all Australians benefit from the national interest decisions to protect Australians and to keep Australians safe. And the decision that is necessary to keep Australians best safe is for the full cycle docking to be undertaken in South Australia to maintain the continuity of what has been achieved by the team that has been engaging in that process in South Australia. One of the reasons that we have been able to secure access to this technology is not just what I mentioned about the technological changes. It is about the performance of what we've been able to do with the Collins Class compared to where we were a decade ago. That has been transformed. That has significantly bolstered the confidence in Australia to manage submarines, and that has assisted us to get to this decision today. So maintaining the continuity of that support in South Australia was the strategically right decision, and that was the advice that we received. But there are many other projects that we're pursuing in Western Australia. There will be a lot of ships built in Western Australia by Western Australians and they'll be equally putting their shoulder the wheel to that national task.

JOURNALIST: Will we be getting the British made Astute class or the American made Virginia Class? What is the one expected cost to the Australian taxpayer?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask the Secretary of Defence to add to my answer. What we have agreed to do as the first initiative of AUKUS is to now put in place this 12 to 18 month programme of finding the most effective pathway to delivering the submarine fleet for Australia.

JOURNALIST: It could be [inaudible].

PRIME MINISTER: We haven't determined, we haven't determined the specific vessel that we will be building, but that will be done through the rather significant and comprehensive programme assessment that will be done with our partners over the next 12 to 18 months. Now, that will also inform the costs that relate to this, and they are yet to be determined. But as I said before, and what I'll ask Greg to do is talk a bit about that process and how that works and the things to be considered, because that also goes to ensuring that we're addressing the nuclear stewardship issues as part of that. But we will have to spend more on Defence. We said that when we came to government, because we understood that that was necessary. Defence spending as a share of our economy had fallen to the lowest level since pre World War times, Second World War Times. Now, we've turned that around, it's now over 2 per cent, about 2.2 percent now and we will continue to need to invest more. That's what the new era looks like. That's what living in this new world looks like. We will need to do what it takes because that's what you have to do to protect Australians and to keep Australians safe in what is a radically and rapidly changing part of the world. Greg, can you speak to the 18 month process?

MR GREG MORIARTY, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: Prime Minister, so over the next 18 months, the taskforce that will set up a number of working groups with our US and UK partners, some of those will look at safety standards, at the workforce. The optimal pathway to deliver this capability to Australia needs to look at what is Australia's requirement and then what can our US friends and our UK friends contribute to that. So part of that is looking at design parameters. Some of it's looking at the industrial capability requirements that we will have. So, it's not correct to say at the moment it'll be, it'll be A or B. That's what will be achieved. And the team are ready to start engaging with their partners on that straightaway.

PRIME MINISTER: The Secretary hadn't finished, but Clare?

JOURNALIST: White House officials have briefed out that the nuclear submarine will give Australia the ability to play a much higher level with regards to Indo-Pacific security and augment American capability, do you think the US expects we will be more proactive militarily in the region, is that the case? Should Australians expect more military action against China and what impact might this have in terms of response to the change in security threat I mean rather than against China, what impact do you think this will have in terms of the tensions in the South China Sea as well?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia will continue to engage with our partners in the region as we have for a long time. And clearly the AUKUS partnership enables us with the capabilities that it will deliver to Australia and to our partners will enable us to do that even better than we are now. And what that does is contribute to stability in the region. It actually contributes to a secure Indo-Pacific and it delivers, I think, a more free and open Indo-Pacific whether that's in the South China Sea or anywhere else. You see, that is our purpose. Our purpose is to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific and we join with everybody who is seeking that purpose.

JOURNALIST: One of the early criticisms, PM, has come from Paul Keating this morning. He put out a statement very critical of the dependence on America in this arrangement, that we're basically locking in our future with the US for decades to come and sacrificing our sovereignty and independence. Given the American defeat in Afghanistan and questions about American power, what's your response to that concern about our dependence on America for the long term?

PRIME MINISTER: I don't share Prime Minister Keating's view, and I prefer to be in the company of John Curtin and Robert Menzies when it comes to this issue and John Howard and indeed many prime ministers over the course of a long history. In addition to Robert Menzies, there have been 14 Australian Prime Ministers who have stewarded the ANZUS alliance together with 14 American Presidents. This has come from both sides of politics on both sides of the Pacific. And this has always been a project that has gone well beyond any partisan issues, I think, in either country. And that is welcomed. Everyone's entitled to their view of these issues. The former Labor Prime Minister is entitled to his views and to be respected for those views. But they are not views my government shares. My government shares the view that I think is grounded in the decisions of Curtin and Menzies, which is always understood that our relationship with the United States is a forever relationship. It is a relationship that has served our peace and security interests for a very, very long time and will forever into the future. What I'm excited about with this relationship under AUKUS, is it brings together the third partner in what have been the most long standing relationship for Australia with the United Kingdom. And there is also a very unique relationship there and this formalises that to a whole new level when it comes to defence and security and diplomatic relations. And so I welcome that. And I think most Australians will. But one of the reasons the three of us come together, is we respect democracy and we respect freedom and we respect the diverse views that are there. I'll come here and then I'll come back across that way.

JOURNALIST: You talked about increasing defence spending and that it will have to go up, what is, how much are you prepared to put it up by? The US spends three and a half percent of GDP on their military, is that the sort of thing that you're committing Australia to today? Does it have a.

PRIME MINISTER: I haven't indicated any percentages and I'm not, we're not going to have future targets expressed in those terms. Our defence investment will be in response to the need and the capability requirements that are identified to address the many issues we have to and what this partnership produces for us. And so we will meet it there. But what I'm saying is it's more than where it is now and it will continue to be. It's certainly more today where it was than when we first came to government. And we understood that when we came to government and we have restored, we have restored Australia's defence capability as a government. I mean, that has been a significant and hard won goal for our country, and we've done it in the national interest. It had been neglected, it had been under invested in and many other countries had been down similar paths, not Australia. When I was on the White House lawn in 2019, I said and I've said it many times since, we look to the United States, but we never leave it to the United States. And the same goes for United Kingdom. We carry our own water in this arrangement. Always have, always will

JOURNALIST: The experience with the French submarine project saw blow outs, delays, all sorts of complications. How confident are you and can you assure Australians that we can get this new, very complex capability in the timeframe that you think we need?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't share your assessment of the project as you outlined it. I'm aware of those criticisms, but I don't believe they are all founded in what is fact and I'm sure the Defence Secretary would agree with me and he may wish to comment on that. But that is largely history now. And the investment we have made in working that capability with attack remains with us. It, it continues to support our capability and the knowledge and skills and experience of those, whether it's in our Department of Defence, Defence Forces, our defence industry capability. The engineers have been trained, the access that they've had, all of this has built. And so they have been important investments going forward. Building nuclear submarines, building any submarine is not a simple exercise. It's incredibly complex. There are enormous, there are enormous uncertainties involved in these projects. It would be nice to say that it was a simple process, but it is not. And the challenge in managing any project of this scale in this nature is dealing with the challenges along the way. And what has been very positive, I think, in the relationship we've had with the French Government and President Macron in particular, that is, the challenges that you refer to have arisen, we've worked through them and we've come to better positions on those. And that indeed was demonstrated in the scope to works that was set out to us at this most recent stage, which was done in good faith. We will take the same approach when it comes to working through the development of this very significant and complex task. That's what Prime Minister Johnson said, is probably one of the most difficult programmes to deliver of projects anywhere in the world. But we'll get it done and we'll be getting it done with the best of friends and the most trusted of partners.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

PRIME MINISTER: We've invested $2.4 billion in the Attack class programme, and I say all of that investment, I believe, is further building our capability. And I think that is consistent with the decision that was taken back in 2016 for all the right reasons to protect Australia's national security interests and to serve that purpose. Investing in your defence capabilities is always a good idea for Australia. And so that has been a good investment for Australia's capability. When it comes to the delivery of this programme, I indicated that we anticipate being able to commence build this year and the first of those submarines will be in the water, we believe, before the end of next decade. And all partners will be working to ensure that is achieved at a date as soon as is possible to achieve. That is important not just for us, I remind you, this isn't just about a partnership that is serving Australia's interests. This is a partnership that is serving the joint interests of the United States and the United Kingdom. And so this is a capability that combines with theirs. And so there is a great motivation and incentive for all three of us to get on with this and to get it done as quickly and as effectively. Of course, always paramount, as safely as possible. And that's what we will do and the capabilities that we will continue to ensure are present for our submarines, particularly the Collins class. Now, the Collins class life of type of extension will see those six vessels in the water for decades to come, decades and decades to come. And that will provide our submarine defence capability there to support the many other capabilities that will be added to that. I've referred to the Tomahawks. I've referred to the other area surface capabilities that we've announced today in the upgrading of the Hobart AWD, all of these sorts of things, all of those very important to ensure that we address the strategic challenge. So while the submarines will be delivered when they'll be delivered, so many more elements of the capability that are made possible by all this, will be delivering in the years ahead from now doing all of those things. And that's what it's designed to achieve. It's designed to achieve now and it's designed to achieve tomorrow. That's what AUKUS delivers. I'm dealing with Defence today.

JOURNALIST: Why do we need these subs now and if this is about China as a threat to regional security, then what do we do in the meantime, presuming we won't have the subs for some time?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think I just answered that question in relation to the last question.

JOURNALIST: Does this decision now make the rescindment of the land bridge lease over the Port of Darwin much more likely? Will the US, is the US asking us to do that? And further, has President Biden agreed to back our sovereign guided munitions industry?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to make any comment on the latter point and on the other two points, they're not related.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the blind trust that Christian Porter ...

PRIME MINISTER: Are there any other questions on Australia's sovereign defence capabilities before we go to the other issues of the day?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just following up on the last part of Daniel's question, which is do we expect an enhanced military presence from the US in this region? I've heard what you said about scaling up our own capability, but that's an important question that requires an answer, because the whole context of this announcement is the strategic environment. And also on Porter, if I may …

PRIME MINISTER: I'll deal with that later, I'm going to do the Defence first, but I'll come back to you. I know people are keen for me to address that, and I'm happy to.

JOURNALIST: All right. Well, do we expect an enhanced US presence in the region in the time frame between now and when these submarines will be delivered?

PRIME MINISTER: These are matters that we are directly discussing with the United States and with the United Kingdom. They're also matters we're discussing with the French. And I hope we continue to discuss those matters with the French. You can expect to see Australia working with more and more partners, but particularly with the United States and the United Kingdom as a result of this arrangement to ensure we're addressing our strategic needs here in the region and for those to be done carefully and to be done in accordance with all the usual protocols and protections that you'd expect. And as we go into the latest AUSMIN talks, where I would normally be joined by the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister here for announcements such as this, but they are already on the ground working AUKUS up and its immediate implications as they go into the 2021 AUSMIN talks. So the short answer is we can expect that, yes, but there are no announcements that I have today in relation to that. And if there were, then obviously we would do that.

JOURNALIST: This might be one for the Secretary as well. Just for people at home, what is the expected lifetime of these submarines? And just a little bit more detail on how we deal with the waste after that's done, because members of the Greens have been very agitated this morning about the waste.

PRIME MINISTER: They tend to be agitated as a general principle, but I'll ask the Secretary of Defence to address those issues because that will be addressed as part of the 18 month programme.

MR GREG MORIARTY, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: Certainly, I mean, the management of waste, the disposal of the submarine at the end of its life, all of those are issues where we will be engaging with our US and UK partners. They have decades of experience dealing with these issues. And we're going to be drawing heavily on their expertise over this 18 month period too.

JOURNALIST: Will that be playing a big part [inaudible]?

MR GREG MORIARTY, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE: All of these issues will be matters for government. The Department's job over the next 18 months is to engage with our international partners, to discuss these issues, to draw on their expertise, to be able to develop plans to bring forward to government.

PRIME MINISTER: To answer your specific question, no, that is not the plan of the government. That is not the plan of the government. The arrangements for that particular site were very clear in what was taken through the Parliament. And it doesn't extend to that type of arrangement. I've got one here and then I'll deal with that other matter.

JOURNALIST: A lot of the companies that have already signed contracts with Naval are small and medium businesses, what is your message to them today and how do you think this announcement will affect them?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, as I acknowledged in my opening remarks, obviously the disruption caused of not going forward with the Attack class programme and moving to this new programme will have those implications. That is unavoidable for a decision such as this. I have no doubt, though, that more broadly, the strategic national interest decision that was required of Australia would not have us not pursue that for want of those issues. And I think that would be understood. And I would also say to them, we need you. The same capabilities that you were bringing to the Attack class programme, the same skills, the experience, the people, the ingenuity that you were bringing to that programme. We will need not just for this programme, but in South Australia in particular, whether it's the Hobart upgrade, whether it's the other programmes that we are running there. This will all need those skills and experience and not just in South Australia, but all around the country. For example, those who are working on the Osborne shipyard. This is an issue that the Premier and I discussed. Premier Marshall and I discussed. And I want to thank him, too, also for how we've worked through this. There is a lot of building work to get done, and we don't because of COVID at the moment, have large numbers of people who are immigrating to Australia at the moment. And so even today, on the workforce numbers that we have, that I have some knowledge of, but you'd appreciate I haven't been briefed on them because I've been out here. But that shows that we're going to need people in building jobs, in construction jobs. There's a lot of work to do and there's a lot of work that needs to be done by the very companies that you're talking about. We're going to need them. And there's a very strong future. We will be investing more in naval shipbuilding, not less. And that means we need them.

Now, I've heard the other two questions that are on this issue, and I'm happy to address them. I've already issued a statement which I've said that we are looking carefully. I take the matter very seriously. We are looking carefully at the arrangements and what the Minister would be required to do in order to ensure that he is acting consistent with the ministerial guidelines.

JOURNALIST: Did you know that Christian Porter's legal fees were part paid by the trust before he declared it on the register of interests and will he stay on your frontbench?

PRIME MINISTER: I refer to my previous answer. I've outlined what the pathway forward is, and that's what we're pursuing.

JOURNALIST: Why not just ask him to declare the source of the money or to pay it back now, before getting that advice? Why do you need advice at all?

PRIME MINISTER: Because I'm ensuring that the ministerial guidelines are adhered to.

JOURNALIST: When did Mr Porter first advise you [inaudible]? Did it get taken to the Government Committee of Cabinet and if not, why not? What action will you take if he is in breach of the ministerial code of standards? And given you wrote them, you must have a view on whether or not this arrangement complies with them.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I as always, will ensure that I act very carefully to ensure that the ministerial guidelines are adhered to. I have taken decisions in the past, difficult decisions, when I believe they haven't been adhered to and decisions have been taken as a consequence of that. In the same way on these issues, I will follow the same process. I'll deal with it carefully and as always, I'll ensure that the ministerial guidelines are adhered to. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43568

Address, AUKUS - Canberra, ACT

16 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning from Australia.

I am very pleased to join two great friends of freedom and of Australia, Prime Minister Johnson and President Biden.

Today, we join our nations in a next generation partnership, built on a strong foundation of proven trust.

We have always seen the world through a similar lens.

We have always believed in a world that favours freedom, that respects human dignity, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign states and the peaceful fellowship of nations.

And while we have always looked to each other to do what we believe is right, we have never left it to each other. Always together, never alone.

Our world is becoming more complex, especially here in our region, the Indo-Pacific.

This affects us all. The future of the Indo-Pacific will impact all our futures.

To meet these challenges, to help deliver the security and stability our region needs, we must now take our partnership to a new level.

A partnership that seeks to engage, not to exclude. To contribute, not take. And to enable and empower, not to control or coerce.

And so, friends, AUKUS is born.

A new enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States - AUKUS.

A partnership where our technology, our scientists, our industry, our defence forces are all working together to deliver a safer and more secure region that ultimately benefits all.

AUKUS will also enhance our contribution to our growing network of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region - ANZUS, our ASEAN friends, our bilateral strategic partners, the Quad, Five Eyes countries and, of course, our dear Pacific family.

The first major initiative of AUKUS will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. Over the next eighteen months we will work together to seek to determine the best way forward to achieve this.

This will include an intense examination of what we need to do to exercise our nuclear stewardship responsibilities here in Australia.

We intend to build these submarines in Adelaide, Australia, in close cooperation with the United Kingdom and the United States.

But let me be clear, Australia is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability.

And we will continue to meet all our nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

Australia has a long history of defence cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom.

For more than a century, we have stood together for the cause of peace and freedom.

Motivated by the beliefs we share, sustained by the bonds of friendship we have forged, enabled by the sacrifice of those who have gone before us, and inspired by our shared hope for those who will follow us.

And so, today, friends, we recommit ourselves to this cause and a new AUKUS vision.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43566

Press Conference - Kirribilli, NSW

12 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: A family sized dose of hope for our vaccination programme. I can confirm today that the federal government has secured an additional one million Moderna doses from the European Union member states arriving next weekend and doubling our Moderna doses in September. 

In addition, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, also known as ATAGI, is now recommending Moderna for every one 12 years and over in line with the approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. That means everyone from 12 to 59 can go along to their community pharmacy where Moderna is being administered, and they'll be able to go and get a family jab. They'll be able to go on their pharmacies, family members, kids, parents, and be able to get that jab at their pharmacy. These doses plus Australia's already contracted supply will be shared around 3,600 community pharmacies across Australia and up to 1,800 pharmacies will begin to receive doses through the week of the 20th of September. So those doses right at the end next week and then they'll make their way across those first 1,800 pharmacies and then to the balance. 

I particularly want to thank the governments of Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Bulgaria, as well as the European Commission for their cooperation as we work through the arrangements. I also want to thank Moderna for their support for these arrangements, and as well as Norway and Sweden, who have helped facilitate this deal over the course of this these last few weeks. These additional Moderna doses, of course, come in addition to the four million we were able to secure in the arrangement with the United Kingdom, with the swap there and the one million we were able to secure from Poland in the direct purchase arrangement we had there and of course, the 500,000 in the swap arrangement we had with Singapore. 

Now, these additional doses will also provide a role in providing additional support for Victoria. And Victoria is currently dealing with the continued surge in cases just like we saw in New South Wales some time ago. And later today, the Minister for Health and General Frewen will be standing up and outlining the arrangements for the surge of of the mRNA vaccine support for Victoria as they deal with the outbreak. Residents in particular in Melbourne's north and west, will benefit from additional vaccines and a rapid expansion of vaccination sites across the region as part of a three week vaccination blitz there in Victoria to deal with the surging Delta outbreak there. To assist these communities and all Victorians, Minister Hunt and I have agreed the Commonwealth will surge more than 400,000 additional doses of Pfizer and Moderna in Victoria over the course of September. As I said, Minister Hunt and General Frewen will provide further details on that this afternoon. 

As of yesterday, I should say, 22,473,563 doses have been administered across Australia. More than two in three Australians aged over 16 have now had their first dose, more than two in three. And that's 67.4 per cent right now. And 42.3 per cent of those aged over 16 have had both doses. For over 70 year olds, the news is even better. 90.8 per cent have had their first dose and 70.5 per cent have had both doses. So over 70s, more than 70 per cent have had double doses of the vaccine. And the over 70s age group have always been the most vulnerable. And that gives us an even greater level of confidence as we move into these final phases and we move into the national plan. Some 195,809 doses were done just yesterday on a Saturday. The next few weeks will, of course, be very critical as we work together to reach the targets and the goals set out in the national plan, a national plan that is designed to open safely and to stay safely open. That's what the national plan is all about. Whether you're in a state like here in New South Wales or down in Victoria or the ACT, where they are the subject of lockdowns, or you're in other states where COVID levels are much lower and even zero, where you live in fear of the lockdowns. Where we want to get to is to be able to be open safely and to stay safely open. That's what the national plan is about. Now, in order to support that, we now have enough vaccines throughout the course of October, which we always hoped to do. And certainly by the end of the year originally, we'd hope to be able to get there by October. And now is in fact the case that particularly with these additional doses we've been able to achieve in recent weeks, it means that all of those right across Australia, we will have had enough of those doses so that there is enough for two doses for everyone in Australia who wants one. 

Now to keep that momentum going. From tonight, Australians will start to see the next phase of the government's advertising campaigns. This phase of our communications is about encouraging people to look forward. To look forward to the things that they will be able to do and keep on doing. Because as I said it's not just about being able to open safely, it's about being able to remain safely open. And so whether it's seeing friends getting together, going to a family event, whether it's going to a pub or going to a concert, or any of these things, the things that were being held back from for so long and in other states where they have been able to continue to do those things, to be able to have the confidence that they'll be able to keep doing them, knowing that the vaccination programme has been able to achieve its objectives, urging us all to do the first thing first, and that is to go and get that vaccine. And so I encourage everybody from tomorrow over 12s, 12 to 15 year olds will be able to get the vaccine. We're planning for that here in our household for our girls to be vaccinated. They're both between the ages of 12 and 15. And we need the whole country to continue to press forward. The goals are in sight. They are in very clear sight. And they are achievable. They are within reach. And so we now need to continue to surge forward in these final weeks and months of the programme to get us to those vaccination targets set out in the national plan. Happy to take questions. 

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] now go to their local pharmacy and get Moderna instead?

PRIME MINISTER: Moderna is available for those between 12 and 59. The 60 plus are still on AstraZeneca. 

JOURNALIST: But they can? Anyone can go to their pharmacy and ... 

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, 12 to 59, yeah. 

JOURNALIST: And so does this mean, just clarify. Does this mean any Australian who wants a vaccine now will be able to get one? 

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. Between now and the end of October, that will be the case. 

JOURNALIST: Will this provide extra capacity for us to make mRNA vaccines available to over 60s?

PRIME MINISTER: When we reach that position, I will advise that. We'll advise accordingly and we'll continue to be guided by the advice we're receiving from the Chief Medical Officer. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what do you say to criticism that deals like getting this Moderna from the EU wouldn't be necessary if there'd been deals earlier with Pfizer? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the hindsight heroes always make their case. And what I know is last year we were very focused on ensuring that Australia had a sovereign manufacturing capability for the vaccines Australia would use. I mean, I reminded those in Canberra this week that Japan signed into a purchase arrangement in July, I think it was, last year. They received their doses just a matter of days before we did. So what was focusing the vaccination supply programme was where there was death and cases running rampant around the world. That wasn't happening here in Australia. And so what we knew very clearly from our engagements with companies last year is that Australia would need to establish a vaccination programme which relied on its own production capability. And so there were two vaccines we focused on because we knew we could make them here. One was, of course, the AstraZeneca vaccine and AstraZeneca vaccine, the mainstay of the UK vaccination programme, saved millions of lives, is the most used vaccine in the world and recognised around the world, I should say. Now, on top of that, we were focused on the University of Queensland vaccine as well. And regrettably, those trials didn't end the way we would like them to. It was an extraordinary vaccine, but it had some side effects of a positive HIV record, which obviously was not something that we could continue to pursue. But our goal was to ensure that we could manufacture vaccines here in Australia so we wouldn't be as reliant on supplies from overseas. Over 10 million of those AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered here in Australia. And that's why I can tell you today that over 70 per cent of 70 year olds are now double dose vaccinated. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you just clarify for Melbourne in particular where they're going through a particular problem at the moment, when will the doses arrive? Where do they go? Do they go hot spots? Is it both Pfizer and Moderna? 

PRIME MINISTER: It is Pfizer and Moderna. And as I said, Minister Hunt and General Frewen will be going through those details later today. And it is focused on those suburbs that I mentioned in Melbourne's north and west, where just like here in Sydney, when we had additional doses coming here into Sydney, that was designed to address the outbreaks in south-west and western Sydney. And we do know from the evidence that followed that that saved lives and prevented thousands of cases, getting those doses in. The one difference between Sydney at that time and Victoria this time is the rate, level of vaccination in thankfully in Victoria right now is higher than it was in Sydney at that time. But that doesn't mean the challenges is not real. And we need to address that. And I want to thank Minister Hunt for the work that he's been doing to ensure that we can respond to those needs. We've already respond directly to the request from the Victorian Government, over 100,000 Pfizer vaccines immediately made available on request. And that will go as part of the broader package to support Victoria. It goes where it's needed.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with these extra supplies now secured, will Australia continue to need to borrow from other countries, more doses? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, our challenge was always going to be this month. And we have 11 million mRNA vaccines coming in October and again in November. And in September, that's where we needed to bridge that gap. And we did. We'll have 11 million mRNA vaccines here in Australia this month. And that was the target. That was the job that we had to do. And we've been able to fill that gap. And that means we've been able to bring forward a further month with what we were hoping to achieve. You'll remember at the start of this year, we had hoped that we would have enough vaccines to be able to ensure that everyone had two doses, could have those two doses if they chose to in October, late October. And then with the challenges we had with AstraZeneca and, of course, the non supply of the AstraZeneca from overseas in the early phases of the programme that had to be pushed back. Well we've caught up the ground, that's the good news. We've caught up the ground. And the good news today for families is that families can go and get vaccinated together at their pharmacy. I think it's tremendous. We're going to see 3,600 pharmacies right across the country really now joining this, have already been doing vaccines in other parts of the programme, but the Moderna vaccine, which is just like the Pfizer vaccine for everybody who might be listening and watching. It's just like the Pfizer vaccine and all of the vaccines that had been approved by the TGA are incredibly effective, and this is another one of those, and that will mean that particularly starting those 12 to 15 year olds will start tomorrow, that will really give greater impetus to, I think, getting ahead with that programme as well threshold. 

JOURNALIST: As we look ahead to that 70 per cent double dose threshold. Do you think pubs should open before schools?

PRIME MINISTER: I am very keen to see kids back to school. I'm incredibly keen to see kids back at school. And the evidence that we're seeing about transmission amongst young people of school age, I think very much supports, very much supports getting kids back to school. 

JOURNALIST: Given the AFL Grand Final won't be held at the MCG, some in Victoria saying why not use that night, Grand Final eve, as a good opportunity to have the vaccination hub at the MCG. How would you feel about that? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they probably might prefer to do it on the day before, which is a public holiday in Melbourne. They probably want to watch the grand final on Grand Final Day unless I misheard you. 

JOURNALIST: No, Grand Final eve. 

PRIME MINISTER: Grand Final eve, sorry I thought you meant Grand Final Day, you'd be flat out getting Melburnians away from their televisions on Grand Final Day for any purpose whatsoever. And I imagine more broadly around the country. But no, look, I'm aware of that proposal and there are sufficient doses that are available to support an initiative like that. And if that's what the Victorian Government would seek to do, then obviously we'd work with them on that. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the road ahead in terms of international borders, where are we at in terms of when and how those borders will open? What do you say to concerns that we'd leave it too late to find carriers [inaudible]?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the opening up of travel for Australians who are fully vaccinated is contingent upon us reaching the 80 per cent vaccination targets. Now we are fast approaching that. And that's why we've already been working there for many months to put in place the record of vaccination that will comply with what's called ICAO. That's the international organisation that oversees the documentation. And the various information that is needed to facilitate travel. Minister Robert has been ensuring that those record of vaccinations are in a position to be able to be used, and that's very close to completion. So that won't be a challenge as far as I'm aware. And I don't believe it will be. There on that job. And they have been for many, many months to get that right. So, no, I don't see that being a challenge, at least from from our end. We'll ensure that that certificate, that registration, that record of vaccination can comply with all the international travel requirements. 

The other thing that is necessary, though, is that we need home quarantine in place. For Australians who are fully vaccinated to travel overseas and return home, they need to be able to quarantine at home. That way you can lift the caps. Australians who are overseas who have been vaccinated with vaccines that are recognised by the TGA, if they can quarantine at home, well these caps, we can say goodbye to for vaccinated travellers. We can say goodbye. And I look forward to doing that. And the only thing that will prevent that is not having a home quarantine programme in place. I've already written to the premiers and chief ministers following up our early discussions about this. We've already got trials running in South Australia. In New South Wales, I know they're progressing their home quarantine arrangements here. Also in Western Australia, they've been running a form of home quarantine with the digital lab there, which is proving to be quite effective for a lot of their domestic quarantine arrangements. So the technology is there to do it. It's just important that the states get in a position to scale that up, so vaccinated Australians, once we hit 80 per cent, can take off again. 

JOURNALIST: When we talk about the lockdown [inaudible] in New South Wales, [inaudible] the question of COVID Disaster Payment. How long will that need to stay in place to ensure that the recovery efforts continue? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, if Australia is open, if New South Wales is open and the businesses are open and the jobs are back, then the need for that type of support changes with that. I mean, that's just, that's just an obvious point. 

JOURNALIST: Will they be lifted if the lockdowns are over?

PRIME MINISTER: The Treasurer is working through those details with the states and territories. And this is why the 70 per cent mark is a very important one. You don't just go full throttle with 80 per cent. The 70 per cent was designed as part of our national plan to ensure that we could ease back in to the arrangements we have at 80 per cent. And you can see that with the arrangements the New South Wales Government has put in place. And so how the economic support sit around that, I think is part of that transition. But what Australians need is not COVID Disaster Payments. What they need is their jobs back and their businesses they work at open again. And to achieve that, we need to keep getting vaccinated. We keep opening Australia up. And what businesses need is not economic support. They want their customers back. They want their doors open again. And that's what the national plan is. And that's what everybody getting vaccinated achieves, getting back to that is where we need to be. And that will mean that the Australian taxpayer will be able to, having done a tremendous job carrying Australians through, will be able to apply their resources to the many other tasks that we have as a government.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, needing to get kids back to school. What do you say to calls for teachers to be required to be vaccinated and also a call for year 12 students who have suffered through COVID to be guaranteed a place in university or TAFE? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have invested massively in JobTrainer, in vocational education training places, the provision of university places and they'll be there, of course, they will be there. They were there with this year too. We made those provisions this year. And so that will continue. And I think our form on that is the best guarantee because we've done it absolutely. And the other question?

JOURNALIST: A call for teachers to, mandatory vaccination for teachers?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the government isn't supporting mandatory vaccinations, except for public health reasons and very specific circumstances, as recommended by the medical expert panel. And that has been the case for aged care workers. And just to update you on aged care workers. Aged care workers today, 90.8 per cent now had their first dose and 70.5 per cent had their second doses. There's been a considerable effort that's been going in together with the states and territories to the vaccination rates. That is the requirement that is put in place by public health orders. But, you know, my simple advice is this. I should be vaccinated. You should be vaccinated. Everyone needs to be vaccinated. Everybody outside, everywhere else, whether you're a teacher, when you're a truck driver, whether you're a politician, a journalist, a camera operator, whether you happen to be driving the ferry, driving the bus, driving the tram, everyone should be getting vaccinated. That's the best thing for Australia. Now, we're not imposing it. We're not mandating it. It's your choice. It's your health. But I do know this. That when we get to the end of October, and certainly more likely before that, everyone will have had that opportunity. Everyone will have had that opportunity and we'll be approaching them. And perhaps in some states, maybe past the 80 per cent mark, we'll see. But your health is up to you, the opportunity to be vaccinated, which protects you, your family, your community that will be there for you. And so once that has been done, the country has to move on. The country has to make decisions. And we've got to ensure that Australians can get back to living their lives again, which is what the national plan is all about. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43565

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

9 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Well, before I start can I just remind everybody today it’s RUOK? Day, and the question we have to one another, not just this day but everyday, particularly as we go through the very challenging times of the pandemic, especially those states and territories that are in lockdown and the impact that that has on the wellbeing of Australians right around this country. Let's look out for each other, let's ask each other RUOK?, and let's be prepared to have the conversation that follows from those questions.

There are so many areas, agencies, organisations that can support people in these situations. We’ve significantly increased the funding to support them, particularly during the pandemic. I was just speaking to John Brogden, the Chair of Lifeline, this week, where we’ve provided an additional $1.5 million to support Lifeline in direct response to John’s request. Very happy to do it as quickly as possible. They’re doing a tremendous job. To all of those who are on the other end of those phone lines today - who are taking those calls, dealing with people in distress - thank you for the tremendous job you’re doing. We’ll continue to support you so you can continue to do the fabulous job that you’re doing for Australians all around the country.

RU OK? - a very important initiative, a very Australian initiative, a very Australian initiative. And, we remember it today and all of those who haven't been ok on a day like today, and doing everything we can to support them.

The purpose for me speaking to you today is to advise that our evacuations from the Al Minhad Base have now been completed. The last flight to Australia landed in Darwin last night. More than 3,500 people have now been evacuated from AMAB to Australia, and that includes over 100 who have been evacuated from other locations after leaving Afghanistan. I said to you here that we would now move into the next phase of our program, our humanitarian program, to bring people to Australia under that set of measures that we have put in place, and so we have been able to conduct one flight that has brought people directly from that region to AMAB. They have been joined by others who were evacuated by other countries over the course of those very difficult few weeks when we were all engaged in the evacuation program. We have been able to identify those individuals who our partners were able to evacuate. They were brought to AMAB and they have now been brought to Australia. More than, or around about 3,500 of the 4,000, over 4,100 people who were evacuated, and now those additional, who have been brought to Australia. Of those 3,500, some 2,500 are women and children, in one of the most desperate and dangerous parts in the world.

That evacuation initiative and effort that was undertaken by our ADF, together with the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was one of their finest moments, and I want to thank everybody again who has been involved. Some 32 flights from Kabul over that period.

Now, we are continuing to work with our Coalition partners now on the next phase of that program. A Special Representative Daniel Sloper has been appointed to address those issues regarding Afghanistan, when it comes to making arrangements to support the humanitarian program in partnership with our other allies and partners in the region, and Chargé Richard Rodgers, who is based in Doha, is our Chargé to Afghanistan, and they are working closely.

The 250 ADF personnel who were tasked to AMAB and then so many of whom actually were there on the tarmac at HKIA in Kabul, they are now, have been, sorry I should say, they have been progressively returning to Australia, and the bulk of them will arrive back in Australia over the next few days, and the arrangements have been put in place to ensure they can go through their quarantine.

I note also today that the, I would normally be joined by certainly the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister, but they now have embarked on a series of international engagements. They are in Jakarta today for their 2+2, with their Indonesian counterparts. Indonesia being such an important part of ASEAN, and which is at the centre of our Indo-Pacific vision. They will be in New Delhi on the 11 September for 2+2s there with their counterparts, Seoul on the 13 September, and then of course in Washington for AUSMIN on the 16th of September.

We are expecting for the next face-to-face meeting of the Quad to be held in Washington later this month and we’re still awaiting final details of that and I’ll look forward to be in Washington to be part of those discussions with my counterparts from India, Japan and the United States.

On the issue of COVID, an important day today. We’ve gone past the halfway mark - 40 per cent double dosed over 16s here in Australia, 40 per cent. And, the vast bulk of that has been achieved just in the last couple of months. Ninety per cent of Australians aged over 70 have had their first dose, and this week, two in three Australians, two in three Australians right around the country aged over 16, would have had their first dose. And, that continues to be driven by the strong take up and the supply of the vaccines that are supporting the high rates of vaccination - well over 300,000 again in the most recent numbers, and we expect that to continue as these vaccination rates continue to climb.

I also want to welcome the New South Wales plan to reopen. This plan keeps the deal, keeps the faith with the people of Australia and the people of New South Wales, set out in the national plan. This plan supports the initiatives that are there, being driven by the safe process of opening, underwritten by the Doherty modelling, and supported by the national plan. It is a careful and a safe plan, and consistent with everything set out in the national plan, and I commend the New South Wales Government for following through. The discussions I have been having with the Victorian Premier and others over some weeks now - both states in strong lockdowns - moving forward on the basis of the national plan and increasing levels of vaccination in both states.

I can also tell you that I'm advised by General Frewen that by mid-October we will have had sufficient supplies delivered to Australia that would have enabled first and second doses for the Australian eligible population. Now, you'll recall that it had been our original plan that we would have achieved that by October. That was set back many months, and, in fact, about four months or thereabouts. I was then able to say that we believed we could then having with the, with the changes we put in place in the program, we would have been able to bring that forward to before the end of the year. Well, we’ve continued to catch up the ground by securing those additional supplies, and we will now be in a position that we will, we will meet that mark next month, and we'll meet it around the middle of next month. And, so, it really is now up for all of us, operating in a non-constrained environment on supply, to be able to go out there and get those vaccinations, and we're seeing that occur each and every day.

And, I particularly want to thank all of those, particularly our older population who has done the majority of the vaccinations because that's where the vaccines were first available. We started with those most vulnerable, and it means as we go into these higher levels of vaccination, those most vulnerable, amongst our elderly in the community, are those with the highest level of vaccinations, and I'm sure they will be particularly pleased - those who are living in New South Wales - to see the plan which says if you go out and keep your side of the deal, if you go out there and you get vaccinated, you get your two doses, then you can expect to be living with the virus in a way that you would hope to live with the virus. No one freedom day or anything like that. It's not what the national plan does. It's safely, has a soft opening, easing of restrictions, and taking us back to where we want to be. New South Wales has made a great, great big step on that today, and I commend them for the way that they’ve done it. We’ll continue to work closely with them, as we do with all states and territories. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what explanation has Greg Hunt given you, what explanation, Prime Minister, has Greg Hunt given you for not, for declining an invitation to talk to Pfizer's global executives, given that if he had taken up that invitation we might really have been at the front of the queue?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't accept the premise of the latter part of your question, because as we learned in Japan, who signed an agreement of intention to purchase in July, their doses arrived three days before ours did. And, if we look at, say, the situation in the United States, they went forward with an intention to purchase. They started their vaccination in December of last year, and right now, on first doses, we're a couple of weeks behind them. And, so, I think there are a lot of heroes of hindsight at the moment out there, but when you actually look at the achievements of the program and the challenges that we faced, and how we've overcome them and where we are now, and where, more importantly, we're getting to, then the way we've been able to proceed with the program has put us in a place right now where I think Australians can look forward to the balance of the year a lot more optimistically.

Now, on the issue of our engagement with Pfizer, yes, those engagements had started before then. And, they, those discussions were already underway, but it was very clear from those discussions that the focus was not on Australia, the focus was on where people were dying in their thousands, tens of thousands, in the Northern Hemisphere. And, it was very clear to us that what we would have to do is ensure that we had a home manufactured vaccine. And, so, we were applying our efforts to ensure that we had the sovereign capability to produce vaccines here in Australia, and not be reliant on what would be very uncertain supplies from overseas. And, so, we went to the arrangements that we entered into with AstraZeneca to make it here in Australia. Over, well over 10 million of those vaccines have now been administered here in Australia. Had we not done that, then you would have seen the vaccination rates in Australia half what they are today. And, you would have seen those, particularly elderly Australians, not as protected as they have been, as particularly we've gone into these, this latest waves of the Delta strain of the virus. Those other countries went through emergency, emergency approval procedures for their vaccines. Australia didn't do that. We followed the normal process because we wanted to assure Australians that the vaccines that we were asking them to take were safe, in accordance with all the other vaccine programs that the country runs. So, we had been engaging with them at the time, but what is very clear is that what was necessary was for us to establish our own sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability, which we did. And, that has been an important and significant part of our vaccination program, and that has kept thousands, if not millions, of Australians safe from the virus.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you disappointed, are you disappointed that Mark McGowan’s April deadline for reopening will mean families can't be together for Christmas, as you hoped?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think he's underselling Western Australians. What I mean by that is, I think they'll get vaccinated sooner than that. I mean, he's making assumptions that WA won't be able to get vaccinated into some time in January. I don't think Western Australians will be that complacent. I don’t, I have a bigger confidence in Western Australians about their wanting to re-engage with the rest of the country and with the rest of the world. Western Australians look out, they don't look in. And, I know that Western Australians will be keen to move on and get on. That's the Western Australian spirit, and I believe that they'll be able to achieve those vaccination rates well before. I can understand that the Premier would be having a conservative estimate, I understand that, that's, that’s prudent. But, at the same time, I believe they'll be able to achieve well beyond that, and it's very important that our country lives with this virus. The next stage will be hard. We're about to see that in New South Wales and we're about to see it in Victoria. As they ease up, both states know hospitals will come under pressure, we'll see case numbers rise, and that will be challenging. They understand that. We understand that. That's why the planning is being done for them to pass through what will be a challenging time, as they manage moving from Phase B to Phase C. That comes with additional pressure on the hospital system. That's understood. That is inevitable. If you want to live with the virus, you inevitably have to pass down that tunnel, and that will be true in every single state and territory in the country. It will be true for Western Australia. So, my advice to Western Australia is get vaccinated and get ready - get your hospital system ready, get your health system ready, and push through, and we can all reconnect and be one again. Chris.

JOURNALIST: How important will it be for Premiers to hold their nerve through that phase as many call on them to turn back?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I think it's very important. I think it's very important for many reasons. The first of which is to, you know, prepare your state, prepare our population, prepare the country to understand that getting to the point where you live with the virus isn't easy and you need to be determined and push through. You need to prepare your hospital systems, which indeed I know New South Wales in particular are. They understand where they expect the peaks to come and they are addressing the workforce issues that are necessary. And we're working with them to help them achieve that, as we will with every state and territory. So it is important to keep the nerve. Have your plan ready. Push through, get to the other side, be in the place we want to be.

But the other point is this. For the country to have its strong recovery from COVID-19, particularly Delta. It's not just lockdowns. It's the fear of future lockdowns. We need to be able to move forward and know that they can keep moving forward and that gives people confidence to invest, to employ, to move on. And so it is important to push through and hold your nerve through that process. And that's what the national plan does. That's what it sets out. And it makes that deal with Australians. Says you do what you need to do. We'll do what we need to do. And together, that means we can get Australia to where we want to be. Kath.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your Government signed and ratified the Paris Agreement. You say that the Government will implement it. It intends to conform. So why would we ask the British Government to remove references in the text to temperature goals in the Paris Agreement in the free trade deal?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it was about trade. It wasn't a climate agreement, it was a trade agreement. And I do trade agreements and in trade agreements, I deal with trade issues. In climate agreements, I deal with climate issues. We're pursuing agreements on clean energy technology with a vast number of countries, and we'll have agreements about that. And, but the key agreement we've made is when we signed up to Paris and the commitments that we made to achieve those. Those commitments are clear. And we'll not only meet them, we'll beat them just like we did Kyoto.

JOURNALIST: Will Australia resist signing up to a global agreement that would limit temperatures to 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels rather than the current agreement of well below 2 degrees? And will Australia resist or argue against any global agreement to put a limit, a time, date and expiration date on the coal industry?

PRIME MINISTER: Two answers to the two questions. We have signed up to our commitments under the Paris Agreement. We will meet them. We will beat them. Just like we did with Kyoto. We're already 20 per cent down on emissions, which outstrips ...

JOURNALIST: [inaudible].

PRIME MINISTER: No, I heard your question. Which outstrips many who are claiming to be able to achieve any number of things now. Well, I know what we've already achieved and that beat so many of those who are seeking to make other commitments. Now, Australia's doing it. Australians are doing it. Australian businesses are doing it. Our resources industry, our energy sector, all of them, they're getting on with it. They're making it happen. They're developing new technology, they're putting hydrogen in mining trucks up there in the Pilbara. They're getting it done. They're getting on with it. And that's the story that we can tell to the rest of the world. Australians, we just get on with it and we are. And the way we're going to achieve it is by ensuring that we're not only developing the technology, but we're applying the technology and that we're meeting the goals that we're setting. We're not going to talk it. We're going to do it. And we're going to keep doing it. And our record shows that that's what we always do. So our commitments have been made and we will meet those commitments as we go forward.

On the other issue that you raised regarding the mining sector. This is critical to Australia's future, absolutely critical to Australia's future. And we'll keep on mining. Of course we'll keep on mining.

JOURNALIST: Coal?

PRIME MINISTER: We will keep mining the resources that we're able to sell on the world market. Now, we obviously anticipate that over time, world demand for these things may change. But I'll tell you, the other thing we'll do is, and that is ensure we'll work, particularly with developing countries, to ensure that they are able to engage in a positive transition of their own energy economies. And they will continue, as the current agreements already provide for, to be using the resources that Australia has exported for a long time and will continue to, well into the future. But they will be able to use those resources and I think in a far more climate friendly way, and we will partner with them to help them achieve that, because we actually are quite passionate about the economic success of countries in our region. We want them to grow. We want them to develop. We want them to have trained and skilled workers. We want them to have industries which support the wellbeing of their of their population, both for their own sake, but frankly, it's in our interests too. And so we want to help them make that transition over the next 20, 30 years by being a technology partner with those developing economies. It's not a matter of just sending developing economies a cheque and asking them to sit down. That's not a plan for developing economies. That's not a plan for them at all, while the rest of the world goes on with what it wants to do. Developing economies deserve an economic future and Australia will partner with those developing economies to ensure that technology which will transform our own energy economy, can transform theirs, too. And they will find us to be a very trustworthy partner.

JOURNALIST: On the Quad meeting and Indo-Pacific. Do you believe that the continued Chinese ownership of the Port of Darwin is an inhibiting factor to the growth of Darwin as a military presence for the US forces up there? And do you share the concerns and reservations of some of your colleagues that terminating the lease would invite a very firm response from China?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a matter that's the subject of a review being conducted by the Department of Defence. And I'll wait to hear their advice.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on an answer, [inaudible] Japan. What about Singapore? The country has had similar experience [inaudible] with COVID. It signed a deal much earlier, it got Pfizer shipments in December last year. Doesn't that show it was possible for us to be earlier in the queue?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, Singapore has gone down a different path. We went down the path of establishing a sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability that has seen more than ten million doses of the AZ vaccine into the arms of Australians and is significantly underwritten that vaccination programme. I mean, our vaccination rates would be half what they were today were it not for our decision to put in place the sovereign manufacturing capability here in Australia for AstraZeneca. What was very clear, when the world was in crisis and the northern hemisphere was seeing millions of people die, hundreds of thousands, you know, on a weekly basis, that that's where the focus of those companies was. We need to deal with our own challenges and have our own Australian solutions to them to make our own Australian way. And that's exactly what we did.

The other one we were engaged with at the time, you'll remember, was the University of Queensland vaccine. And I'm sure, had that proved successful, well, that would have been a great cause for celebration. It didn't. It didn't. At that time last year, there were many, many different vaccine options and none of them had any guarantee of certainty. And anyone who, today, wants to pretend that back then that certainty existed, well, that just simply would not be realistic. And so we pursued sovereign manufacturing vaccine options for Australia. That was the priority that was recommended to us, of course, by our health advisers. And they were the opportunities that we pursued. And having that home-grown advantage, we believe, would give us greater protection.

JOURNALIST: When did you or the Health Minister personally meet with, or have a phone call with, representatives from Pfizer?

PRIME MINISTER: That was back in the first half of last year when the Health Minister was engaging ...

JOURNALIST: When did you have a phone call or a meeting, not write a letter to, when did you first actually speak to ...

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you'd have to speak to the Health Minister about that.

JOURNALIST: No, but when did you? There is discussion about these meetings in July of last year. When did you meet Pfizer? Did you ask Pfizer for instance ...

PRIME MINISTER: I would have been talking in the second half of last year.

JOURNALIST: And did you ever ask Pfizer could we get more than ten million doses? What efforts did you make to get more than those ten million?

PRIME MINISTER: Every effort that we could.

JOURNALIST: In what way?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I've answered the question.

JOURNALIST: Well and further to that we do have the benefit of hindsight now. But was Greg Hunt right not to take that meeting with the global executives of Pfizer in June or July last year?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let others make those judgements. I simply say this. It was one of many engagements that we were having with vaccine companies around the world. And they were happening with Pfizer at the time. To suggest they weren't, would be false. There were many records of the engagement between the Government and Pfizer at the time. Our political opponents have highlighted one set of correspondence, but there are many others which highlight the connections and engagements that were taking place between Pfizer and the Government. And at the end of the day, we were able to secure the doses that we did. We were able to establish the sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability that we did with AstraZeneca. We've been able to secure, most recently, an additional five million Pfizer doses through our engagement, both with the Polish Government and the UK Government and a further half a million from Singapore. There are still some irons in the fire that I'm working on. And at the end of the day, what does this mean? In the plan that we set out last year which said that we would hope to be in a position by the end, by October, that we would have had enough doses to cover the population for two dose vaccinations, we now expect to achieve that in mid-October. So that is where all of these events have led us to. And I think when you come up against the challenges in a global crisis, you adapt, you overcome and you seek to make up the ground. And that's exactly what the government has done. And no one has put more effort into that task than the Minister for Health. No one has had more sleepless nights and lengthy hours than the Minister for Health in securing the best possible health outcome for every single Australian. And of course, there'll be critics in the middle of a crisis and there'll be lots of hindsight heroes and there'll be lots of others who said this could have been done or that could have been done. But, you know, if they want to focus on the past, that's fine. My Government is focusing on the future. The national plan is the future. The national plan says, let's get those jabs in those arms. Let's get Australia open again. Let's get Australia together again. Let's keep our deal with Australians and making sure that can be achieved. And that's exactly what the New South Wales Government has done today. Good on you, Gladys. I look forward to similar steps being taken by other premiers around the country, which no doubt they will. No doubt they will, because I know they want to keep that deal with Australians.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] Given that bureaucratic situation, is also happening at a time when the Taliban are ramping up, their search for western allies and others, what assurances can you give that Australia is doing all that it can, to get people out now while there's that window of opportunity, or have we truly moved to this next phase where it’s unlikely we’ll be bringing extra people on humanitarian visas in the next few months?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I started this press conference by highlighting the fact that since we completed the evacuation of Kabul, that we've already brought more than 100 people since then. Since HKIA was shut, and both the US and British troops left, we have already been able to lift up over 100 people and they're on their way to Australia and should be here very, very soon. The level of effort and coordination and dedication that was required by our immigration officials and the Department of Home Affairs to achieve that, as I said three and a half thousand people, including those we've only just lifted out of the region. And to get them back to AMAB and then to get them back to Australia and to deal with the many complex factors that go with that two and a half thousand of them and women and children, I think that tells you the dedication of our immigration people to trying to resolve these issues as quickly and as professionally and as safely as they possibly can. They're doing extraordinary work and they're saving lives, extraordinary work and saving lives. And they're going to keep saving lives. We're going to keep working through all those issues. It's very complex. There are many priorities to address. And Special Representative Sloper, I think, will really help us in coordinating with the other partners and allies there in the region. I've had a few text exchanges with President Macron in the last few days where this issue has arisen. It continues to be a matter of discussion between me and the British Prime Minister and, of course, with the President of the United States when we spoke last week. And no doubt they are things that will be taken up when I meet with him later this month. So we're very focused on this task. I'm very proud of the work that our Defence Forces have done, that our Home Affairs officials have been engaged in, our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade save a lot of lives. They've done Australia proud. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43562

Address, Women's Safety Summit

6 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: I am glad to be with you - as we continue the Women’s Safety Summit following on from the constructive roundtable discussions held last week.

I also acknowledge the presence today of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women - and honour the role they play in nurturing culture, country and community right across Australia.

I also acknowledge any women and men here who have served our nation in the defence forces and I thank you for your service on behalf of a grateful nation.

And I particularly acknowledge the survivors of domestic and sexual violence who are present with us at this summit.

Your lived experience is foundational to informing the development of the next National Plan to end violence against women and their children.

I want to thank you for participating. I want to thank you for your bravery.

This is an extraordinary and important gathering.

Like you, I wish it was in person, but we adapt to our times, responding to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summit is a gathering of Australians from many different backgrounds and experiences lived.

It is a place for sharing; it is a forum for listening; it is a platform for change.

Your stories, your expertise, your experiences are critical to the next National Plan.

A national plan that seeks to end violence against women and their children, a national plan that builds on the outstanding work of my predecessor Prime Minister Gillard who set us on this course more than a decade ago. A bipartisan cause, I'd go further, an a-partisan cause that has taken us through the last 10 years and establishes the platform for us to go further.

It is a big goal that we share, and it is a shared goal: to end violence against women and their children.

No single person has all of the answers.

And, neither does any single government.

But, together, well that’s a different story. Together, we can listen, we can learn and we can make change.

We can identify barriers, behaviours, practices and gaps - so that Australia is a safer place for every Australian woman and girl.

We can draw on lived experience and research findings through this summit.

And turn them into meaningful action.

And the only way we end violence is to focus our efforts to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Primary prevention is a key plank of the current National Plan and will continue to be fundamental to our long-term strategy.

We need to change behaviours and attitudes, so that we stop violence before it starts.

Our country must become a place where every woman feels safe, and can live free of fear.

That’s what freedom is.

That’s every woman’s right.

But it’s far from every woman’s reality, as we know.

Right now, too many Australian women do not feel safe. And too often, they are not safe.

And that is not okay.

There is no excuse. And, sorry doesn’t cut it.

They are not safe at home. They are not safe at work. In broad daylight, you are not safe. In public space, you are not safe. You are not safe here in this place, even this place where I speak to you from today, are not always safe

And what started as a conversation about long-standing and serious failings in this very workplace - in this Parliament House - turned into a conversation about women’s experiences everywhere.

It is not a new problem and it is not a simple problem.

But, Australia does have a problem.

While much has changed over the years, too much has stayed the same.

There is still an attitude, a culture that excuses, justifies, ignores or condones gender inequality that drives, ultimately, violence against women.

And that is on all of us. Every Australian has a responsibility. I as Prime Minister have a responsibility. I, as an Australian, have a responsibility.

Parents, schools, sports clubs, the media. Every person, every company, every government has a responsibility.

And we have to do better and strive to be better.

I don’t believe we can talk about women’s safety without talking about men.

About the way some men think they own women.

About the way women are subjected to disrespect, coercion and violence.

This must continue to change. 

Because if not now, when?

This is a call to action and a call for change. Every Australian has a part to play in making Australia safe for every woman.

Because while governments, together with all of you here today, will continue to develop and deliver programs and policies, and indeed a National Plan for the next decade, there will be many, many moments in between.

And it is in these moments that every Australian can be making their change.

Because every day counts.

Because every nine days a woman is murdered by her current or former partner in Australia.

One in four women experience physical or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner.

One in four.

That is a national shame.

And this year, we’ve seen the national conversation focus again on women’s safety and addressing all forms of violence against women, including sexual violence and harassment.

I’ve received hundreds of letters and emails from women sharing with me their stories about the violence, including sexual assaults that they have personally suffered, or sharing the stories of family and friends.

Letters from women sharing some of the most anguished and personal experiences of their lives.

Sometimes sharing things they had scarcely shared with anyone ever before.

I want to thank them all for sharing their stories bravely with me. And I want to thank them for trusting me with their stories.

And at this point, as Minister Ruston has said, I want to emphasise that some of the material I am about to share, and will be shared at this summit, is very confronting. Minister Ruston mentioned the support services available throughout the summit and I urge you to use them if you need to.

There was a handwritten letter from Queensland - it came in a small envelope, and it was written on lined A4 paper, in cursive script, running writing, finishing with this shocking reflection –

“I was raped at 14, I’m now 74, and still suffering.”

Sixty years. Sixty years - and not enough has changed.

Another woman wrote - this time from NSW - about the harassment and assault she suffered from a work colleague.

“It may sound shocking but at the time in 1989 I never ever thought to report this event to the police.”

Another woman described going to court many years ago - a case where a number of her attackers were eventually found guilty - and she said this of the process:

“I was put on trial, not the guys who raped me.”

And describing the visceral nature of the case and its re-traumatisation, she added: “If you really want to protect women like you say, make it so that women don’t have to sit in a witness stand two feet away from their attackers and give evidence.”

The letters and emails reflected on the anguish and life-long burden of assaults at work, at school, at uni, on a sports team.

And at home, where they should have been safer than anywhere else in the world.

Assaults that happened at any and every age.

Trauma compounded by silence.

Through all the letters and emails, I felt that rage, the dread, and the frustration that our culture was not changing.

And there was something more.

It was quieter. There was fatigue.

One letter explained,

“I’m exhausted just thinking about these things. I’m exhausted making, what is now automatic adjustments to my behaviour, I’m exhausted having to try to explain why I am exhausted. I am so sick and tired of being scared.”

Something I have been pondering even more after reading these letters is this:

In various ways, we have become a more tolerant and enlightened society over recent decades. That’s true.

And yet … Australian women still don’t feel safe, and indeed they’re not safe. 

Every day, they are forced to change their own behaviours, because men won’t.

Holding their keys like a weapon… going for their run before it gets dark…having to say to their friends ‘message me when you get home’ … ignoring innuendo and putting up with the boys’ clubs.

The foundation of respect for women in Australian society is not what it should be.  All of us - but Australian men in particular - carry both private obligations and public duties to build those foundations, every day.

And so to all who wrote to me - again I say thank you.

The torrent of stories and experiences… the collective anger and frustration of women… the outrage in the wider community…

All of this is pushing us forward.

Compelling us to examine what’s happening.

And is driving change.

Change will continue to require action on all fronts – prevention, early intervention, support and recovery.

And at this Summit, you’ll be joined by members of the government, Ministers, senators and MPs. And you’ll be joined by State and Territory Governments.

Governments of all different political persuasions, coming together, as they should, in an a-partisan way, to develop what I hope will be another bipartisan National Plan.

Listening. Learning. And informing our actions, so that we can continue to build on the existing National Plan. And build on the many commitments that were made in our Budgets.

Meaningful initiatives, backed by funding to make a difference in homes, schools, workplaces, communities, across our nation.

In March, Senator Marise Payne and I launched the Cabinet Women’s Taskforce which we co-chair, and which has women’s safety and economic security at its very heart.

In April, we responded to the Respect@Work Report and last week, we passed legislation to implement our response to that Report.

More than $64 million was committed in the 2021-22 Budget to support the implementation of the Roadmap, including additional legal assistance for specialist lawyers with workplace and discrimination law expertise.

And on 6 August, National Cabinet considered States and Territory responses to the Report, that I called for.

Our response to the Respect@Work Inquiry, led by Sex Discimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, is about creating a new culture of respectful behaviour in Australian workplaces. It’s based on values we all believe in, that unite us: respect, dignity, choice, equality of opportunity and justice.

Preventing and addressing sexual harassment in the workplace is central to boosting women’s economic participation.

The May Budget delivered a $3.4 billion Women’s Budget Statement.

With initiatives supporting women’s economic security, workforce participation, health and safety.

It contained $1.1 billion in a Women’s Safety Package, which is the single largest announcement of funding for women’s safety of any federal Government at any time and I commend Minister Ruston for her work on that.

Now, this includes:

A two year trial to provide immediate financial assistance of up to $5,000 to help women leave violent relationships and rebuild their lives;
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
To continuing phase three of the ‘Stop it at the Start’ advertising campaign to change behaviours and delivering a fourth phase of the campaign; and          
                               
Up to $260 million for a new National Partnership Agreement with the states and territories to expand the funding of frontline family, domestic and sexual violence support services, contingent on co-funding from the states. Now, this builds on the $130 million already provided to state and territory governments in 2020 to help support crisis accommodation, frontline services and perpetrator intervention programs as they respond to the pandemic.

And as Minister Ruston, our Minister for Women’s Safety, and Minister Payne, our Minister for Women, my co-chair of the Taskforce, have said, this is a “down-payment” only on the next National Plan.

It is also important that this Plan is connected and integrated with other national strategies so that the sum of our collective efforts is greater than the parts.

For example, in August this year I launched the Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation plan. And I thank again Pat Turner for her great leadership and partnership. This plan is a direct result of the National Partnership Agreement I signed with the Coalition of Peaks.

The CTG Agreement sees us working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives, not only to reduce family and domestic violence by 50 per cent by 2031 as we progress towards zero, but on all the priorities identified in the National Agreement, identified by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should rightfully determine the best way to Close the Gap in our work together on this key issue. And that is what we are doing.

What comes next?  That’s in all our hands.

All of us here today will be among the architects of the next National Plan.

And I agree with those of you who said in the roundtables last week that ‘we can’t arrest our way out’ of the problem of violence against women.

I agree that we absolutely must re-double our efforts to prevent violence against women.

As Our Watch reminds us – violence against women is preventable. And we can and must change the story.

But we must also address the fact that too many find it too difficult to seek justice. This is frustrating.

As mentioned, one of the critical issues that I saw in reading and replying to all of those letters and emails that I referred to earlier was the intolerable interactions women have been having with the justice system.

And that’s why, in this year’s Women’s Budget Statement, we very deliberately set aside funding to strengthen criminal justice responses to sexual assault, sexual harassment and coercive control. And I thank the Attorney, Minister Cash, for her great work in pulling that together with Minister Ruston.

With funding of $4.7 million, the Attorney General has already commenced a work program in partnership with States and Territories to achieve this.

This will focus not simply on increasing the rates of conviction, but supporting the needs of traumatised victim survivors and increasing consistency of criminal justice responses to sexual assault.

It will examine ways to make perpetrators accountable, while at the same time supporting victim survivors through this very difficult process.

This work will also look at improving definitions around coercive control and ways to ensure the justice system is less traumatic for women when they seek justice.

This must include building capability in the criminal justice system to better support victim survivors of sexual assault, as well as striving for consistent outcomes in the prosecution of sexual assault offences.

Women should not feel like they are on trial, when in fact, it's someone else facing the courts.

I am determined that we work together to improve outcomes and protections for victim survivors of violence, including sexual assault, in the justice system.

The combined effort of the existing National Plan to reduce violence against women and children is a testament to all governments’ long-term, a-partisan commitment to working together.

And it is one we seek to emulate in an even more ambitious way as we develop the next National Plan to end violence against women and children.

This recognises that while we have a massive challenge ahead, there is no acceptable level of violence.

As I said earlier, there is no excuse … And sorry doesn’t cut it.

The work on coercive control reminds us that violence against women takes so many forms, it manifests in many ways and that our understanding of it evolves and grows so we can respond more effectively.

We are also working across governments to develop a common national understanding of coercive control and its impacts in order to build awareness, which helps inform that prevention and early intervention activity.

Coercive control has, all too sadly, become very prominent in our minds in recent years.  Our understanding of violence – the physical and non-physical tactics – is better than when the existing National Plan was developed.

So I look forward to hearing the outcomes of the “Alter the course” panel discussion this afternoon around “perpetrator interventions, coercive control and early intervention”. There’s much work to be done.

While the next National Plan will maintain a focus on prevention, early intervention and on vital crisis support, it must also address the anguish and burden of undisclosed and unresolved trauma.

As the stories I recounted to you remind us, trauma stays with us. The next National Plan must go a step further. To not only prevent, intervene, and provide support in times of crisis - but go well beyond that.

It must look to recovery. Over years, decades, sixty years as we heard, and more.

Through this summit, we can help to identify ways to better support victim survivors as they rebuild their lives. As they physically, mentally and emotionally address the trauma.

As they build new lives by, for example, developing new skills for future employment and steps to achieve financial security and independence. Recovery is so important as women reimagine their future, and the future for their children of which they’re so passionate.

Seeking justice must not add to the trauma. And victim survivors must be supported to work through their trauma sooner, guided by their own goals.

So in closing …

We come to this Summit with an open mind, an ambitious spirit, encapsulated by the target to end - not reduce, but end - violence against women and children. That’s our goal.

Our country must continue to change.

And there is much we must continue to do.

This is everybody’s business – men have a large part to play, as do families, friends, businesses, sporting organisations, media, education providers, community organisations, prime ministers. 

I want all women, every girl, in this nation to live without fear. That’s liberty.

I want their humanity, their dignity, their innate worth as a human being and the freedoms to which they’re entitled, to be respected.

I want all women and girls to walk in this world, our nation, confident that they are safe to live the life they want to live. That they choose to live.

I know everyone joining us for this Summit wants the same thing.

We will go much further, you know, when we can all appreciate that we are all, from whatever place we are coming from to this Summit, earnestly trying to achieve that same goal. This is what we share.

This Summit recognises that we have all come here together for the same purpose, a shared purpose, with a shared determination.

So many have come to this Summit with their own experiences. Whether that be the brutality they have suffered, or the selfless service they have been engaged in for so long to help and protect and restore those who have suffered, and their frustration and their disappointment that they have endured in offering that selfless service. We respect and acknowledge that perspective. It is so important. It helps us understand the way forward.

And then there are others of us who have come here with open ears and open hearts. To learn from your experiences and make the changes we need to make for the better.

So let us gather together in that sense of unity. In that sense of shared respect for eachother for what has brought us all to the table. Acknowledging that’s why we’re each here.

Let us use this good faith as the basis for our discussions, and recognise and allow that good faith that has brought us together to provide the opportunity we are all seeking to move this forward through our participation in this Summit.

And enable us to focus on what we need to do.

So, over these two days, and indeed the round tables before, we want to hear from you: your perspectives.

I want to hear from you, your perspectives, your ideas, your wisdom, for how we go forward on this together because with your help we can create the national plan that sets a course for a country and a culture of Australians that knows not violence in the future, one that honours respect - that is our task. I look forward to the days ahead.

I want to thank everyone for their patient listening today.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43560

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

3 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Well, good afternoon everyone. I'm joined by the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the Chief Medical Officer. Again, some very difficult news in New South Wales today and our sincere condolences and sympathies to the families of those who have lost their lives in the COVID pandemic. And, so, on a difficult day like this, it’s important to bring hope. And, I can assure you, there is hope. There are four million reasons to be hopeful today, because the Government has been able to secure, with the Government of the United Kingdom, a Pfizer swap deal which will see four million doses of Pfizer come to Australia this month. The plane’s on the tarmac now. It will be leaving tomorrow, and those doses will be coming over the course of the next few weeks, which will see us double the Pfizer doses that we have during September. This means, from Downing Street to Down Under, we are doubling down on what the Pfizer doses are, here in Australia, this month. This will enable us to bring forward significantly the opportunity for Australia to open up again under the national plan. The bring forward of these doses, I think, should be a great cause for hope right around the country.

The doses will be distributed across the states and territories on a per capita basis, so they can all get on with it. Whether it’s in the GP clinics with the GPs, or in the state-based hubs, they will be able to move forward and see these doses get into arms and get Australians back to where we want to be, living with this virus, as soon as we possibly can.

I want to thank very, very much Prime Minister Johnson, who, he and I started discussing this sometime ago. I want to thank him for his personal commitment to this, and his great friendship with Australia. I want to thank also Health Minister Sajid Javid, who I have known for some time, and his coming into that portfolio in recent times and the ability to progress this with Greg Hunt, our Minister, and I want to thank Greg and all of his team. There's been some very late nights of discussions, negotiations, legal work that has been taking place, particularly over the course of the past week, to bring this to conclusion, but it has been the real commitment to Australia from Prime Minister Johnson and Minister Javid that has seen this through.

Can I thank Minister Payne as well for her great work on all of this, as indeed with the Singapore arrangement and the Polish arrangement. DFAT have really been earning their keep when it comes to delivering on these arrangements. Our High Commissioner George Brandis, who I’ve been in regular contact with, as has the Health Minister and indeed the Secretary of Health Brendan Murphy. And, that has been an extraordinary cooperative arrangement that has saw this come to bear over the course of these many weeks we’ve been seeking to secure this arrangement.

So, when you add, when you put it together, the extra four million from the UK brought forward, the extra 500,000 we were able to announce earlier this week, the one million and more that has come from Poland, all of this - I said I would leave no stone unturned, and I can tell you I've been turning over some stones in recent times to ensure that we can progress the vaccination program as quickly as we possibly can. And, it will now build on what is a very strong performance. We are now at the point where 80 per cent of over 50s have had their first dose; 80 per cent of over 50s, drawing through to a second dose in the weeks that are ahead. 20.3 million doses now having been delivered. More than 10 million of those have been AstraZeneca, I want to stress. And, I want to continue to encourage everyone to keep going and getting their AstraZeneca jabs, particularly those who are over the age of 60 - that is the recommended vaccine for over 60s, and so I want to encourage you to go and get your second dose as well. And, let's keep this going, Australia, because at these rates we are really going to be able to hit the marks that we all want to hit in the weeks and months that are ahead.

I want to thank the states for their support for the national plan that this vaccination program underpins. The Victorian Government, the New South Wales Government, Tasmanian Government - I was speaking to Premier Gutwein this morning and I can tell you he’s feeling much better and he’s coming back to work now and recovered from his health issues earlier throughout the course of this week, and while Peter won't be with us this afternoon, we’ve had a good discussion through the issues that’ll come up at National Cabinet later today. I also want to thank the South Australian Government as well, where we’re doing the home-based quarantine trial.

We’ll continue to work with all the states on the plan that we’ve agreed to ensure that Australians can have hope in the future, and these four million doses of hope today I think will only give us further encouragement. And, this afternoon at National Cabinet we will have the opportunity to discuss through a number of measures. We will talk further through, with Professor McVernon, the continued sensitivity analysis that she conducts, and there will be opportunity for all premiers and chief ministers, as there has been now on several occasions, to continue to work through that analysis and advice that has come from the Doherty Institute and to ensure that they fully understand it, and that they fully understand the various things that need to be managed as we move in to Phase B and Phase C of the plan.

We’ll be talking through, as as always, where we think we will be able to be on public health social measures when we move in Phase B and Phase C - there’s still work to be done there. So, this afternoon’s discussion on that will be important.

The other issue that of course we’ll be talking about is is Professor Murphy's, and by the way, congratulations father of the year Professor Murphy. I think he’s often been seen as the father figure in many ways from this platform - I hope I haven't broken some secret here. But, anyway, if I have, there you go. Congratulations, congratulations Professor Murphy, father of the year. And, Jenny said to say congratulations too, I haven’t been able to pass that on to you yet. But, this afternoon, he’s doing very important work on the hospital systems and public health systems capacities right across the states and territories. This has been being done for months, but now, with the benefit of the Doherty work and looking at the peak demands that have come on our system, the flexibility that we’ll need, how resources can be moved, workforce managed, and so on. That was a key item of discussion between myself and Premiers Andrews and Berejiklian this week, where obviously the pressure is coming most soon, in terms of the outbreak in both of those states, as we’re moving into Phase B and Phase C.

I’ll come back to my discussion with President Biden, after others have spoken, but we did have a very warm and friendly conversation today and it was important, particularly this week in marking the 70th anniversary of ANZUS, but also to talk through the very important issues of next steps in Afghanistan and other issues here in the Indo-Pacific. But, with that, I’ll pass you on to the Health Minister, and congratulations Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much to the PM and Professor Kelly. These are four million doses of hope for Australians, and they build on the 500,000 that we were able to announce earlier in the week from Singapore, and the million from Poland, and very critically, the three million doses that Pfizer was able to bring forward from the final quarter to the third quarter, which has underpinned the massive acceleration that we’ve seen during July and in particular August.

What does it mean for Australia? It really means what we've been saying in the last week, that the burden and balance of vaccination in Australia will have moved forward two months, from October and November to August and September. This month, all up, there’ll be well over 10 million doses available. As the PM says, there’s more than nine million Pfizer that are available. A million Moderna in the last two weeks of the month on the current plan and, of course, the AstraZeneca, which is still seeing very significant numbers and we’re really pleased with that. So, this means that every Australian, every Australian will be able to come forward as early as possible to be vaccinated if they haven’t yet.

And, at this point in time, another 301,000 yesterday and now over 20.33 million - so, basically 20 million and one third - and very significantly, as the PM said, we've passed that mark of over 80 per cent of everybody beyond 50 plus having had at least a first vaccination. And, that tells the country we can do this. And, if you think of this, 80.3 per cent of over 50s, 84.5 per cent of over 60s, 88.5 per cent of over 70s - and that's a really important set of milestones and outcomes that are protecting individuals.

The final thing I want to mention is that we now have approximately 1.8 million doses to be delivered to get to the national 70 per cent mark, and 3.8 million doses to be delivered to get to the national 80 per cent mark for first doses. And, once we've got those people through the door, they’ll come back, and that's what's critical. And, so, at a rate now of over 1.9 million doses a week, about 1.94 million on the seven day average, we are within sight. And, so, if you are eligible, if you haven’t been vaccinated, this is your chance.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Professor Kelly.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you PM, thank you, Minister. So, obviously as Chief Medical Officer I’m absolutely delighted at this news. Vaccination is the key for us to move forward with the national plan and to get people protected, and that's the whole population will be benefiting from those vaccines - whether they’re going directly into people's arms or the vaccine being, working in an indirect protection to those who can’t get vaccinated, for example, children under the age of 12. Every time someone gets vaccinated over the next few weeks, that will increase the protection for the entire community. That's what the Doherty modelling shows very clearly. They have included the whole community in their outcomes and outputs of that modelling, and, so, those under 12s will be protected by their older siblings when they start in a couple of weeks of being eligible for vaccination. They will be protected by their parents getting vaccinated, by their grandparents getting vaccinated, by their teachers getting vaccinated, by all of us getting vaccinated, and that's a key point to make.

There will be more discussion, of course, about the Doherty modelling this afternoon at National Cabinet. They have finished, as the PM has said, that sensitivity analysis and asking, and answering specific questions that premiers have asked and chief ministers have asked of that modelling. And, that's really the way forward into those next phases of the plan. We’ll also be talking about the other elements that are part of the plan, which is that testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine, and how that may evolve as we learn to live with COVID, as well as the public health and social measures. So, I’ll leave it there, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what’s your response to Premier Palaszczuk’s claim, two claims, that if there’s an outbreak with 70 per cent vaccination, that could lead to 2,200 deaths a month, and her separate claim that children under twelve will be vulnerable if, under the national plan. What’s your response to that? Is she right? And, do you agree with Minister Hunt that these claims have undermined public confidence?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that would be a misreading of the Doherty analysis, and I think there’ll be a good opportunity for her to pursue that with the, with Professor McVernon today. But, I'm happy to ask Professor Kelly to add further on that.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] misread the Doherty analysis?

PRIME MINISTER: That is, that is not my reading of the Doherty analysis at all, I mean, because what that indicates is a scenario where there is not ongoing vaccination, there are no, virtually no public health social measures in place, and that's not what the national plan provides for. I mean, there are a range of scenarios that are presented, and as you follow the national plan what you do is you reduce those outcomes - down quite significantly to much lower levels. And, so, you know, the worst-case scenario is not the plan. That’s not the plan. What is the plan is the better case scenario, which sees you take actions, which has always been part of the national plan. It isn't just vaccination, public health social measures - the sort of things like distancing and things like that, washing your hands, all the other - that doesn't stop when we hit 70 per cent. People don't stop getting vaccinated when you hit 70 per cent or at 80 per cent. It keeps going up and you keep having other sensible, common sense precautions in place. Now, if you do none of those things, well, of course you put, you put the community at great risk. But, that's not what the national plan suggests, and to suggest that that’s what the national plan is would be a complete misreading of that. But, Professor Kelly.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, I think, the Doherty Institute, and when we've spoken about that modelling project all along, it has been at a high-level national picture. It has shown the effectiveness of vaccination, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine, and public health and social measures. And, that has been done. The sensitivity analysis that will be shared today takes the specific example - which wasn’t there at the time of the first lot of modelling - which is what we're seeing in New South Wales with large numbers of cases. And, so, that's what will be discussed today. The second thing I’ll say about children is, and I made this point yesterday, so of the almost 4,000 children under the age of 12 that have developed COVID this year, only 3.5 per cent of those have been in hospital, and most of those have been for social reasons, not because they’re seriously ill. And, very, very small numbers - less than one in 1,000 - have ended up in ICU, which is terribly upsetting and concerning, and I'm a parent and I understand that. I’m not father of the year, that’s someone else, but I, but, you know, we all feel for our children, of course. But, the reality is that most of the children, in fact, most of the cases we’re seeing in New South Wales are minor illness. They are asymptomatic or mild illness. We’ve got a proportion that are in hospital in ICU, but that’s definitely more in the adult population than children. And, just, the other point I made about vaccination - jabs in arms give direct protection to the person that has the jabs in arms, but every jab in the arm also gives indirect protection to the whole population, including and specifically children.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given we’re getting more than 10 million doses of vaccines this month, given the fairly consistent rate of vaccination that we’re seeing every day, at what point will we reach 70 per cent double dose, and at what point will we also be able to offer people at any age whatever vaccine they want, not just AstraZeneca or not just Pfizer?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that day gets closer every day, and there’ll be a range of people who will give their forecast on all of this and I'm not about to do that. But, what I do know is that the rates of vaccination that we’re seeing means that we're getting closer to that every single day, and that's what's important. See, we haven’t set a day - there’s no magic in a day, there’s no health protection in a day. What there is protection in is having reached a level of vaccination in the community, double dose at 70 per cent, unchanged by the work of Doherty, and at 80 per cent, and then combining that with the appropriate, well-calibrated social measures and the testing and tracing that is done in those environments, to give that broader protection. That's where the protection is. And, so, we're getting closer and closer to that day.

JOURNALIST: But, you must have an idea when that will be, roughly?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course we do. But, what matters is not losing sight of achieving that mark, and I believe it's getting closer. And, initial estimates which hadn’t seen us doing it till very late in this year obviously were, I think we’re going to get to it a lot closer than that, but we’ll only get there if people keep going and getting vaccinated. And, so, we cannot take off any sense of urgency to keep pressing towards that, and I want to encourage people, if you’re booked for AstraZeneca today, go and get it. The best dose you can get today is the dose you can get today. And, so, I’d encourage people to go and do that today. If your second dose is booked, go and get that dose - whether it’s AstraZeneca or Pfizer or what’s available to you today, that’s the dose that you need to get to protect you, your family and to get Australia to opening up again.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on hospitals, Nat Cab today is discussing hospital capacity. Western Australia, which has no COVID cases, has had to cancel all non-urgent elective surgeries for this month, indicating the public health system there is already struggling. What does that tell you about the preparedness of every state for a COVID outbreak? And, just separately, the phone call with Joe Biden, President Biden has indicated you have committed to a face-to-face meeting with him as part of the Quad. Can you give us more details about that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with that one first, and Paul or Greg you might want to speak to the hospital system capacity. Again, a very warm conversation and I'm looking forward to travelling to Washington, as they said in Fall, when the Quad meeting will take place. We have some working dates around that, but there’s still some confirmations that need to occur. And, the Quad, as you know, is a very important gathering of the United States, India, ourselves and Japan, and we’re looking forward to that first face-to-face meeting of the Quad to go across the broad range of initiatives we’re working on. Of course, there’s the defence and security issues, but the importance of the programs we announced rolling out COVID vaccine support into the region, the economic development initiatives that we’re seeking to pursue, whether it’s down in the Mekong region or elsewhere that we’re partnering on. Importantly, looking at the critical supply chains and critical technologies that we’re working on together.

The Quad's agenda is incredibly important for the security of the Indo-Pacific and we had the opportunity today to talk of course about what happened in Afghanistan - for me to be able to thank the President and the people of the United States for their partnership in assisting our evacuation of over 4,100 people from Kabul. And, the 13 United States soldiers who lost their lives assisting us in that effort, and to extend our sympathies and condolences to their families. The President after our call was actually going to meet, I understand, with some of those who were injured in those attacks, and I asked him to pass on our thanks to them and their families. The next stage, of course, with Afghanistan is the humanitarian effort and for us to be able to take people through official humanitarian channels, and we discussed that, about how we can be working together to achieve what we want to continue to achieve to provide people with that opportunity, who are in Afghanistan, to take up those humanitarian pathways, and to ensure the cooperation of the Taliban regime to facilitate that, and we expect them to do that. The world is watching the Taliban and we are expecting them to hold to what they have said to our partners and allies in the United States to facilitate that safe movement of their own people who are seeking to take up those humanitarian pathways. So, that was an important part of our discussion.

But, equally, moving forward to the next Quad meeting, I think it demonstrates a very strong focus from the United States on the Indo-Pacific region, and Australia was referred to in our discussion today as a bedrock partner, a bedrock partner in the region. And, the President was very grateful for Australia's 20 years of support and assistance, standing with our American partners and many others in those very difficult efforts over those 20 years in Afghanistan, and he was very appreciative of it and all who served and all the families who served, and in particularly the 41 Australians who fell in that service. So, we thank him for that.

They’re of course going through their own domestic challenges now, particularly in relation to the hurricane and the floods which are impacting there in the United States, and we expressed our sympathies with him on those issues.

So, we have quite a large agenda with the United States. So, there’ll be certainly President, there will be a lot for President Biden and I to talk about when we have that face-to-face meeting in the White House this year.

On the hospitals, I’ll get Greg speak to that.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Sure. We have confidence in all of the states and territories' preparedness. We started this in February 2020 and Brendan Murphy and Paul Kelly have overseen that national program, and all of the states and territories have stepped up. That included the acquisition of the ventilators to increase the national ventilation capacity from 2,000 to 7,500 beds, the training of staff to do that, the upskilling of nurses to do that, the provision of PPE, the acquisition of stocks in the national medical supply, and then perhaps underpinning it, you know, for the most difficult and challenging of times, there is the private hospitals viability guarantee, which adds 57,000 nurses, 100,000 staff and 30,000 beds and-. So, all of the states and territories are capable of stepping up. There’s always the capacity for additional investment at state level. I note that we have increased by 72 per cent our investment in Western Australian hospitals, they’ve increased by 18, so we would encourage and support them to move towards that investment at our level. And, then, finally I just note, you, we have mentioned Brendan Murphy. I particularly want to thank the team at Health - Brendan Murphy, Lisa Schofield, Kylie Wright and all of the others that have helped literally work through the night to get this arrangement.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the UK deal, you said you've been working on this for quite some time, what got it over the line? Why are they sending us so many doses and when do we have to give them back? And, did you ask President Biden for any vaccine doses in your call with him today?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I won't comment on I mean, I've gone through the issues that I've raised with President Biden today, the call today was very focused on the issues of Afghanistan, the ANZUS alliance, the forthcoming Quad meeting and our forthcoming bilateral meetings. Of course, there are meetings coming up in the United States between the Defence and Foreign Ministers as well. Those AUSMIN meetings have a quite a lead time going into them and the matters we're discussing there.

Look, at the end of the day, this is a good deal for Britain and it's a good deal for Australia and it's a good deal because it makes the most of the doses that they have now, which we need and the doses that we'll have later that they will need. And so this supports their programme when it comes to boosters and other things of that nature. It supports our programme now. So this is just a good deal and it's a good deal between mates. It's a good deal that's been secured because of the very strong relationship that exists obviously at a prime ministerial level, but also at a ministerial level as well. There is very strong support for the relationship with Australia in the United Kingdom. Saw that firsthand, of course, on many occasions. But when I was recently in Downing Street in the United Kingdom and the issues we worked through there with the free trade agreement and on many other topics. So it's a good deal between mates. It works for both of us. And it means we can double down on what our Pfizer capacity is this month, which brings forward the programme, which is great news of hope for people right around the country.

JOURNALIST: When do you have to send them back?

PRIME MINISTER: December.

JOURNALIST: Within remote indigenous communities, we're seeing vaccination rates as low as 7 percent. Given this, does a threshold, a target needs to be set for our First Nation Australians? Pat Turner said [inaudible] percent. If we have a national target, shouldn't we be setting a target for our most vulnerable too?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, Greg and Paul both might want to comment on this, but I want to stress within the National Plan, there is an acknowledgement of the need to continue to provide targeted initiatives for most vulnerable communities and obviously indigenous communities are the most vulnerable and that is become a key issue, particularly in the Northern Territory, where it's and that is such a dominant population within the Northern Territory. And that is something Chief Minister Gunner has been very consistent in raising not just recently, but over the entire course of the pandemic. So there is an acknowledgement of the need that some parts of the community are going to move more quickly than others when you're having vaccinations. And that means not just for indigenous communities, but as I said in Parliament this week, there are many disadvantaged communities. There's the homeless community. There are those who have other challenges, life challenges. There are those who, drug using communities, things like this. There are many. And we've seen that here in the ACT with the nature of the outbreak here, there needs to be an ongoing plan for dealing with disadvantaged communities post 70 and 80 per cent vaccination because they tend to be the less vaccinated. And we've seen that not just here, but we're seeing overseas as well. And so that isn't just a plan to get to 70 and 80 per cent. That will continue to be a challenge for all of us post 70 and 80 per cent into the future. And so that is another matter which the Department of Health and the Minister and I have been progressing. And Professor Murphy. And it's something we need to progress together with all the states and territories. And it already has been in so many respects. So, yes, I agree with Pat that we need to get those vaccination levels in our indigenous communities as high as possible, as high as possible. But at the same time, that does not disable us from the whole community being able to move forward under the National Plan. And the National Plan appreciates that. But, Greg?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Yes. Just briefly, we're on the cusp of 40 per cent indigenous vaccination around Australia. One of the things that we were reviewing this week, the progress, was the information provided that that 99 per cent of people living in remote Australia have had access to vaccines. And so the real point which Ken Wyatt has made and many others, such as Pat Turner, is that we need to boost confidence. And that was what we discussed last night with all of the state and territory health ministers. They were great. They're really on board with this notion of community by community support, working with the elders. Now, we've been doing this all along, but obviously with the outbreak in western New South Wales, there's been a change in sentiment. There's been a boost in desire. And so that information, whether it's in remote or in urban areas, is something that we're all focused on. So those specific strategies. So the access has been there. Now it's about ensuring that there's a confidence for the uptake. I might just pass to Paul on this because this is actually his speciality.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Minister. Thanks, PM. It's absolutely crucial, I think, for the first point is we've had from the very, very first week, I still remember Dawn Casey and Dr. Lucas de Toca from the department forming a committee, a national committee with input from indigenous leadership as well as the community controlled sector, as well as states and territories and the Commonwealth, all agencies in the Commonwealth to make sure that we were protecting our most vulnerable Australians, particularly those indigenous communities, whether they are in the urban or the rural and remote and very remote settings. So that's been there all along. There's been a plan, there's been great cooperation and so forth. As the Minister has said, this has been very focused in recent weeks because of the situation in western and far western New South Wales. I just want to just reiterate a point the Minister just made there about hesitancy. Access, yes, that's our responsibility. We have to make that, make sure that everyone can get the jab in the arm wherever they are. And that's happening. But there is hesitancy. Not everywhere. Some communities, Maningrida, a place I know well up in the Northern Territory, they broke a record for the number of vaccines they had and the coverage of a community in a single day from a primary care outreach a few weeks ago. Other places, there is incredible mistrust of the vaccine that all of the things where we have we have heard of the miscommunication and the poor communication about vaccines, that they're dangerous and that it's a conspiracy. All of those things are playing out in the most remote communities. And it's the tragedy. These are the people that would absolutely and most benefit from the vaccination programme.

JOURNALIST: What are you doing about the misinformation that's been spread by some [inaudible]?

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yeah, and Pat was talking about this the other night, too, so, yes, we absolutely need to work on that. In Wilcannia, for example, our AUSMAT team has been going door to door and having those conversations directly with people and offering the vaccine. But there is a range of other other materials that we're working through with the input from our indigenous leaders as well.

PRIME MINISTER: It needs to be done direct with indigenous leaders and elders. And that's what Minister Wyatt in particular has been pursuing. But it's difficult. It's challenging. COVID is not easy. It doesn't have simple solutions. Not everything happens the way you'd like it to. And so you've got to adjust. You've got to adapt. You've got to go and get four million more doses. You've got to go and adjust your plans. And in the indigenous communities, it's really tough and with a lot more work to do, but we're very committed to achieving it. Mark.

JOURNALIST: PM, does this deal with the UK, get us over this supply hump or do you need to negotiate further deals to meet the demand? And secondly if I can, there's some Australians who are stuck on the south of New Zealand being told where there's no community transmission, have been told they can't come back into Australia, even to go to hotel quarantine. Why is that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not familiar with the case you're referring to, Mark, so I'm not in a position to make any comment on it as to whether it, I'm not suggesting you're putting something forward that's not true, I just don't have, I have no knowledge of that case. But happy to take that on.

In terms of additional doses. Well, yeah, I'm up for them where they could be secured. And so say I'll continue to pursue those issues. But today's four million extra doses, when you combine it with the half a million also with Singapore, that doubles what we have for Pfizer this month. And that means we are now in a position and this month was a critical month to secure this because in October it surges to 11, I think, from memory 11 million doses in October and again in November. So we had those strong supplies in those months. And that's why getting it this month was so important and why, frankly, we've been so focused. And so that's why I'm very appreciative of the speed at which Boris and Sajid was able to to move ahead and get it through their systems. I also thank Albert Bourla at Pfizer to who's worked closely with us on both arrangements, both with Singapore and with the UK arrangement. But this really does break the back of it, I think it's fair to say.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there are predictions that cases in New South Wales will peak in late September at over 3,500. I understand these are difficult conversations to have with the Australian public, but you would have been in receipt of modelling that will make some predictions, not just about the peak, but obviously when vaccines will actually flatten that peak and start to bring it down. Those numbers are important because, of course, they also inform ICU admissions to some extent.

PRIME MINISTER: Correct.

JOURNALIST: What is the latest information you have at what the range of cases will be at the peak in New South Wales? When will that occur and how many people do you think are likely to end up in ICU?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, these numbers are changing. That's the first thing. Paul's best placed to answer that question, because he is the professional in this space. In the discussions I had with the Chief Health Officer in New South Wales and the Premier earlier this week about those very topics, issues within the ICU, these are obviously issues being managed directly by the New South Wales Government. They run their own hospital system and very well. And so what we will be doing in the next phase, once we've worked through these further discussions with the states and territories, you'll recall that we had the briefing with Professor McVernon, went through all of those types of numbers. I intend for that to occur again.

JOURNALIST: But what's the number right now?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, when when we're in a position to finalise those numbers and how it appears in the modelling, what I'm telling you is just like last time, we will come and do a full briefing with Professor McVernon and it will be answered by the modelling when it has been.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible].

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?

JOURNALIST: Can't you give us a ball-park right now?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't think that would be wise.

JOURNALIST: Why not?

PRIME MINISTER: Because I'm not going to go out and talk about numbers which are not yet finalised and are changing on an almost daily basis. Where we're heading is to live with the virus like any other infectious disease. And the purpose of what we're doing, the vaccinations, the testing and the isolation measures that are in place, in phase B and C of the programme, the other ongoing low level restrictions that are needed to support keeping those cases, but more importantly, which is the focus is on phase B and C, those hospitalisation rates down. All of that is what gets us to where we want to be. And so we can expect COVID to have an impact in the community like other infectious diseases. And so all of that work is being done. But as we see each and every day, you've seen the cases, I think, in Victoria today. I mean, this is changing on a daily basis. But what doesn't change is what we have to do. What we have to do is continue to keep up these record rates of vaccination. What we have to do is continue to prepare for in phase B and C, the pressures that will come on the public hospitals and public health systems. What we have to do is get home quarantine operational and at scale. So when we get to phase B and C, people can travel again, they can move around the country. Australia can be connected again and connected with the world. People can attend weddings. People can go and have household gatherings and birthday parties. And sadly, they'll have funerals, but people will be able to attend them. Worshippers can go back to church, picnics can take place in bigger numbers. All of this can happen again if we keep doing all those things. The question, though, about what the numbers are, they change every day. But what doesn't change is what we have to do. And that's exactly what we all need to focus on. But, Paul, did you want to add anything further?

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Only to say that we've said before that the numbers are one thing, but it's the preparation of the health system and and how it can cope with numbers as projected as the important component and the very key way that we have, the tool we have to to control those numbers and to decrease those numbers and to flatten the curve is the one we didn't have last year, which is vaccination. So another four million of those this month is going to really help.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned travel before. In your view, why is it necessary to go to Washington for the Quad Summit in person? Will you go to COP26 in Glasgow in person? And can I ask you your response to the Taliban spokesperson saying 41 Australian soldiers died in vain?

PRIME MINISTER: That's sickening and it's untrue. But I'm not surprised about a dishonourable statement from the Taliban. That's what I'd say about that. And that they should know that the world is watching them and they expect them to live up to the statements that they've made. And as we continue to seek to have people brought to this country to start a new home for themselves and their families and so many others in the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom and many other partners, we would expect them to honour those things. And I think those sorts of comments dishonour that trust. And trust matters. And we'll be seeking to ensure in everything that we can do to ensure that they seek to establish that trust, because at this stage the account is in deficit when it comes to any trust you could put in the Taliban.

On the other matters. I mean, people will see very clearly why it is important for me to be in Washington for those meetings. That will become very apparent when we meet in Washington, when that opportunity is confirmed about when that is precisely happening. But we will definitely be going to Washington. On other matters for travel, for the balance of the year, well we haven't made any decisions on those matters yet. I mean, it has to do with many things, including quarantine, Parliament when it's sitting, all of those issues. And so at this stage, as it was only a few weeks ago, I think Michelle was asking me whether it was possible that we could be in Washington. At that time, that wasn't looking very possible. Well, look, what's happened now.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said last year that not everyone has to get on the bus for the bus to leave the station. Does that apply to the international border? Can you envision opening up to a state like New South Wales that get above 80 per cent and not waiting for the states who don't want to open?

PRIME MINISTER: Yes. I can. The National Plan sets out that very clearly.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will you be seeking assurances from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk today that she will stick to the National Plan and are you in conversation with any of the pharmaceutical companies about securing vaccine supplies for under 12s when one is available?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let Greg speak to the latter matter. But let me be very clear, because I understand someone today said we should be vaccinating under 12 and preparing for vaccinating under 12. There's not a country in the world that has approved a vaccine for under 12s and to sort of hint that that was something that's about to happen or should be happening now, I don't think is very responsible. It's not responsible. As you've heard already from Professor Kelly, the vaccination programme that goes across the population from 12 and above, and as I said, I think I said to you last week, not specifically, but at last week's press conference, we will be making public the numbers of 12 to 15 year olds who are vaccinated in the same way we do for the rest of the population. So there's a transparency around that. I think parents want to know that. I think ...

JOURNALIST: [inaudible].

PRIME MINISTER: I'm still answering the last question. So just hold on, Greg. Settle. On the issue of dealing, on issues with the Premier attending, as she has done now on 54 occasions, I think today, I would just expect us to have a good discussion to be better understanding the implications of the Doherty modelling. There's a further you know, there was a very long discussion we had last week about an hour and a half. There was the opportunity to understand that modelling well and its implications. And so there'll be another opportunity for that. I take the view that the more people know, the more they're informed, the more they're able to understand these issues and the better the policy outcomes are. And so this afternoon is another good opportunity for that. The National Plan was agreed. National Plan was agreed by all states and territories. It's a plan that is actually going to see Australia open up again and Australia move forward again. It doesn't come without its risks and it's important that it's done safely. And the plan is a safe plan. It sees a soft opening as you ease into a more, more broad opening when you hit 80 per cent. That's the nature of the plan. And that's why I believe states and territories supported it. It wasn't an all or nothing plan. It was a plan that was very careful based on the best science, the best economic advice. Dr Kennedy will be joining us also this afternoon at National Cabinet because remember, the National Plan was based on the health advice and the economic advice and making sure that we get those in good balance. But Greg, did you do want to deal with the other issue?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So just on vaccine supply for children under 12, we've already secured vaccine supply. We have a whole of population supply. Next year, we have 60 million Pfizer that are available, that we have 15 million Moderna for next year over and above the 10 million for this year. We have 51 million Novavax that are available. So at this stage, as Paul has said on many occasions, as Michael Kidd and others, there are no vaccines anywhere in the world which have been approved for use in children under 12 for COVID-19. But if they are, we're already prepared. We've already got the supply.

PRIME MINISTER: Ok, I have to leave it there. Thanks Boris, I owe you a beer. Cheers.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43558

Ministerial Statement: Paralympics

2 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker, on indulgence, before the Parliament rises, as we indeed did for our great Olympians, I want to share Australia's joy and pride in our Paralympians. There are still three more wonderful days ahead and we are so, so proud of our team. They have shown discipline, focus, determination, dogged persistence, a great sense of humour, Mr Speaker, a great sense of the Australian spirit on display.

We have witnessed the essence of what sport is all about, being the best you possibly can be. Sixty medals, including 13 gold, so far, so far. Mr Speaker, these are Australia's newest gold medallists, Madison de Rozario - gold in the 800 metres T53; James Turner - gold in the 400 metres T36. In the cycling, Darren Hicks - gold in the 24 kilometre road time trial C2; Amanda Reid - gold in the track 500 time trials C1-3; Paige Greco - gold in the track 3,000 metre individual pursuit C1-3; Emily Petricola - gold in the track 3,000 metre individual pursuit C4. In the swimming, Rowan Crothers - gold in the 50 metres freestyle S10; Ben Popham - gold in the 100 metre freestyle S8; Lakeisha ‘Lucky’ Patterson - gold in the 400 metre freestyle S9; William Martin - gold in the men's 400 metre freestyle S9 and the men's four by 100 freestyle relay, 34 points, including Matt Levy, Rowan Crothers, William Martin and Ben Popham. And in the table tennis, Australia's first gold medals in the sport for some 37 years; Li Na Lei - gold in the singles class 9, and Qian Yang - gold in the singles class 10.

Mr Speaker, we have won 60 medals so far, and recognising the national significance of the Paralympic team, I'm very pleased to announce that the Government will provide additional support to Paralympics Australia to ensure our Paralympic medallists will receive equivalent payments to our Olympic medallists, Mr Speaker.

The Minister for Sport, at my request, spoke to Paralympics Australia CEO Lynne Anderson earlier today, and I'm delighted we've been able to support our fantastic Paralympians in this way. And, I thank Lynne for the great work that she does with our Paralympic team and and the way we've worked together on this, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, our Paralympians are wonderful and powerful role models. Darren Hicks - who won gold and a silver in Tokyo - was a truck driver who had a terrible accident seven years ago. And, with the help of others, he rebuilt his life. Fighting back the tears, Darren said, “It's an absolute dream to hear the anthem.” There's Curtis McGrath. Curtis served as a combat engineer in Afghanistan and in August 2012 lost his legs after an IED explosion. That same day, he vowed, “You'll see me at the Paralympics.” He kept his vow, winning gold at Rio, and he's been competing today, progressing through his heat to the semi-final. Australia is proud of Curtis, proud of his service, proud of his grit.

So many others have inspired us. There was Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson's ecstatic reaction after winning a bronze medal in the swimming individual medley and achieving his childhood dream, after missing out on the Rio Paralympic Games. We witnessed the incredible return of sprinter Isis Holt. Isis won two silver and a bronze medal in Rio. Isis is here from Canberra and took a two-year break from the sport to focus on her studies, and she comes away from Tokyo with two more silver medals. Swimming silver medallist Ahmed Kelly - until the age of seven, he lived in the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Baghdad Orphanage, along with his brother. He was adopted by a humanitarian worker. Like so many others, Ahmed made Australia his home. Ahmed lives- Ahmed loves Aussie Rules, where he was given the nickname ‘Nails’, because he's as tough as nails, Mr Speaker. And, there's the youngest athlete on the team, 15-year-old Isabella Vincent. She won silver in the pool. As a six-year-old, she was inspired by the great Australian Kurt Fearnley, who happens to have the same condition as her. Izzy and Kurt met not long before she was jetting off to Japan. She said, “They say you shouldn’t meet your hero. They are wrong.” Now Kurt says he is her number one fan.

Speaking of number one fans, I'm claiming membership at the Todd Hodgetts fan club, Mr Speaker, together with Peter Gutwein. Mr Speaker, how good is Todd Hodgetts? When he was asked about his technique and his motivation in the shot put circle, this is how he described it: “I said God and country, and I whacked it.” Todd's planning all the way out to Brisbane 2032, Mr Speaker, and I'm going to be there to watch him. I will be there to watch him, Mr Speaker.

And I have to give a shout out to Dan Michel and his ramp assistant Ash McClure. They won bronze in in boccia - I hope I've got that right, Mr Speaker. I'm glad barre’s not in the Olympics. Australia's first medal in this discipline in 25 years. Dan and Ash are from the Shire, Mr Speaker, and I'm a very proud local member for them.

All our Paralympians are incredibly dedicated. But, the dedication of Christie Dawes in athletics and Danni Di Toro in table tennis is simply extraordinary. They are both competing in their seventh Paralympics.

James Turner, Mr Speaker, who won gold in the men's 400 metre T36 race explained why the Paralympics matters so much to all of us. He said, “Having a disability is defined as what you cannot do, but competing at the Paralympics is all about what you can do. I want to go out there,” he said, “and show what you can do, instead of focusing on what you can't.” And that's a great lesson for all of us, Mr Speaker.

To everyone in the Paralympic movement and to all who organise these games, especially our great friends in Japan, I say thank you. I say thank you. It has been a great triumph and will continue to be in the days ahead.

And to all our Paralympians, thank you so much for inspiring us. Congratulations on your tremendous efforts. I want to thank all of your families and your friends and your supporters and everybody you know has stood alongside you and help you along your way. But, they know, as well as I'm sure you do, that at the end of the day, it was you who made the choice as a Paralympian. It was you who decided to go forward. It was you who decided to commit and be determined to be where you have been over these magical few weeks, and you have inspired us and we are grateful that you are one of us as Australians. There is still much to complete. And in the days ahead, we continue to wish you all the best of luck.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43557

Statement to the Parliament: 70th Anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty - Australian Parliament House, ACT

1 September 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Mr Speaker,

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty — the ANZUS Treaty.

ANZUS is the foundation stone of Australia's national security and a key pillar for peace and stability in our Indo-Pacific region.

For seven decades, it has underpinned vital military, national security and intelligence cooperation between Australia and the United States.  And much more besides.

It has been, and I hope always will be, a shared national endeavour; one that has evolved to meet new challenges based on enduring values.

The ANZUS Treaty was signed facing the ocean we share on 1 September 1951 in San Francisco.

Among its architects, none stands taller than Australia’s Minister for External Affairs in the early years of the Menzies Government - and later Ambassador to the United States - Percy Spender.

It was Percy Spender’s unique foresight and hard-headed realism that helped secure the  treaty - just 11 articles and little more than 800 words - that has stood the test of time.

Sir Robert Menzies reflected on ANZUS, which I consider to be the greatest achievement of his Government, towards the end of his prime ministership.

He said:

“… there is a contract between Australia and America. It is a contract based on the utmost goodwill, the utmost good faith, and unqualified friendship. Each of us will stand by it.”

And so we have.

And for more than a century now.

From the cornfields of Le Hamel to the unforgiving steep terrain of Mount Tambo in Papua New Guinea where stretcher bearer Les ‘Bull’ Allen rescued twelve American soldiers from the battlefield, and was recognised for his bravery with the award of the Silver Star.

Mates helping mates.

This continued in the snow of Korea, the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam and most recently in the dust of Iraq and Afghanistan and the evacuation of Kabul.

Our Alliance is based on trust and mutual respect.

Trust and respect so often forged in adversity, as it was in the Second World War when Prime Minister Curtin, almost a decade before ANZUS, turned our focus to the United States in our most desperate hour.

And it is an alliance based on a positive vision for our region for a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific.

Our Alliance is based on a friendship that has never demanded the silence, or indeed, censure of its critics.

Rather, we tend to ‘the tree of liberty’ across the Pacific.

Ours is a partnership based on hope and aspiration.

We believe in:

Free nations, charting their own destinies.

Free economies, trading fairly and openly.

And free peoples, embracing the future optimistically.

Mr Speaker,

The ANZUS treaty breathes and adapts with each passing generation, stewarded by 14 Presidents and 14 Prime Ministers since Menzies.

Our relationship now spans security and defence, diplomacy, trade, intelligence, shared facilities, space and cyber, future defence capability, and the shared ties of people, culture and outlook.

It embraces collaboration on new technologies, critical minerals, strengthening our supply chains, providing vaccines throughout the Pacific, and meeting the challenges of climate change and the new energy economy.

Our two peoples see the world through the same lens.

The Treaty we celebrate today has leaned into the world, dealing with it honestly as it is, in the hope of it becoming more as we would like it to be.

Mr Speaker,

At the launch of the Defence Strategic Update last year, I said we live in a region “where peace, stability, and prosperity cannot be taken for granted.”

Australia is confronting the most challenging strategic environment in decades.

This strategic environment will challenge us, as it will challenge the United States and our region.

Our alliance will stand resilient in the face of these challenges as we nurture and refresh our commitment one to another.

The ANZUS Treaty states, “no potential aggressor could be under the illusion” that we as allies “stand alone in the Pacific area”.

Our nation’s desire to “strengthen the fabric of peace”, and meet the strategic challenges we face, continues to be served by our alliance with the United States and the Treaty we entered into 70 years ago today.

Together, we share hope; we share burden; we share vision.

We may not be equal in size but there is no doubting the equality of our commitment, our resolve and our dedication to the values that underpin our great partnership.

Together, we have always supported a world that favours freedom.

Our Alliance — and America’s deep engagement in our region — is essential as we look to rebuild from the pandemic, and shape a free and open Indo-Pacific that is stable, secure and prosperous.

In this mission, Australia and the United States work with friends old and new.

Our long-standing ASEAN partners, our Pacific family, our fellow travellers in the Quad, Five Eyes and G7+. We work together, for an Indo-Pacific region

 … where the sovereign rights of all nations are respected …

… that is free of coercion …

… and where disputes are settled peacefully, and in accordance with international law.

For as President Eisenhower declared ‘one truth must rule all we think and do. The unity of all who dwell in freedom is their only sure defence’.

Mr Speaker,

On this milestone, we recall another anniversary.

Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Our then-Prime Minister John Howard was in Washington D.C. on the day of the tragedy.

He saw the smoke plume in Washington.

And he also saw the great spirit and enduring faith of the American people.

On returning home, John Howard addressed this House, saying:

“[I]f our debt as a nation to the people of the United States in the darkest days of World War II means anything, if the comradeship, the friendship and the common bonds of democracy and a belief in liberty, fraternity and justice mean anything, it means that the ANZUS Treaty applies.”

It was the first, and remains the only, time the ANZUS Treaty has been formally invoked.

While ANZUS has only been invoked that one time, the intent of that treaty - the values that treaty represents - have underpinned our deep and enduring relationship with the United States for the past seventy years and will for decades to come.

Last week, we spoke in this House about our response to the 2001 terrorist attacks. Attacks that shaped much of the following years.

Last week, the horrific events at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate reminded us yet again of the enormous price our ally has paid for its role in the world.

The United States has so often established the very peace and safety that so many have sheltered under.

From the remarkable achievement of shaping a post-war world that resulted

... in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the postwar rules-based order.

....The Marshall Plan - described by General Marshall himself as a policy ‘directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty and desperation’.

.... The rebuilding of Japan and the security umbrella for the development of Asia.

…. The Berlin airlift that defied Soviet coercion and kept the flame of liberty alive that eventually saw the wall that would enclose them, torn down by the hands of those who it sought to forever separate,

…. The ongoing stand against radical Islamist extremism that blasphemes and perverts their religion and dishonours those who seek to live out their faith in peace.

We must recognise that the peace afforded to so many by the United States, including those who have been quick to criticise, has so often come at such great cost to our great ally, friend and partner.

This is something Australia will never take for granted or presume upon.

As I have said many times, Australia looks to the United States, but we will never leave it to the United States.

We stand by each other, together, and for the truths we both hold dear “in sunshine and in sorrow”, as President Johnson said, and in  the words of Sir Robert Menzies “warmed by the same fires”.

May that always be true.

And finally, as President Reagan reminded us, let us press us on, knowing that “liberty is not an inevitable state and [that] there is no law which guarantees that once achieved it will survive”.

So let us pledge ourselves again here on this 70th anniversary of our great alliance, to renew and modernise our Alliance; to continue to be vigilant and strong; to build the economic strength for the peace and prosperity of all; and for a world order that favours freedom.

Whatever challenges lie ahead, I know that Australia and the United States will go on to meet them with the same courage, the same daring, the same unbreakable bond that has carried us to this day and will continue to do so into the future.

A bond sealed by the sacrifices of all who have served under the flags of Australia and the United States, whom we honour this day.

In whose name we rededicate ourselves to the values and freedoms they fought to secure, uphold and pursue.

And may our prayer be that God continue to bless our alliance, the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43556

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

31 August 2021

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Prime Minister, Minister for Health and Aged Care, Minister for Foreign Affairs

PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. I’m joined by the Health Minister, the Health and Aged Care Minister, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Women.

Our vaccination program is central to our national plan. Our national plan enables us to live with the virus, not fear it. That is our future. That's what we're moving towards, with each and every dose that is administered all around this country. All states and territories are on this journey of the national plan, but they're starting from different places. There isn't a common COVID position across the country. The situation in Tasmania and Western Australia is, of course, very different to what we're experiencing here in the ACT and New South Wales and Victoria, and different again in Queensland and South Australia, and of course the Northern Territory. But, the place we're heading to is the same - we may all be starting from a different point - and that place is bringing us all together again, connect us again as Australians, and to connect Australia to the world. That is the objective of the national plan. So, for wherever we're starting, the destination is what we share.

And, in addition to our vaccination program, there are many other elements that support it. Of course, there is the ‘test, trace, isolate and quarantine’ methods and measures, and they will look very different in Phase B and Phase C of the plan, as we discussed last week in National Cabinet, and further work is being done there. There's the public health social measures. They will continue. There is not a time that we are contemplating where we move into Phase B and Phase C that they are not part of our management of our COVID response. They are low level measures, sure, but they are necessary. They will continue. Other countries have chosen not to do that, but Australia has chosen to do that - to combine our successful measures, to keep them at a low level so as not to inconvenience Australians unnecessarily, and to combine that with test, trace, isolate, quarantine and, of course, our vaccination program. And, then there is the keen focus that we have long held on ensuring that our public health system can cope with the pressures that undoubtedly do emerge. And, that has been our focus for many, many months. That has been, in particular, a standing item, not only on the National Cabinet agenda but, of course, our own National Security Committee of Cabinet here at a federal level, led by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, in ensuring that we are providing the support necessary - and indeed some $6 billion or thereabouts has been provided specifically support the public health response of the states and territory on our 50-50 sharing, cost-sharing arrangement that has been in place since the beginning of our cooperation under this pandemic.

But, of course, most significantly, to drive the national plan forward, is the vaccination program, and it's important that we acknowledge that Australians have been responding at record levels. Our vaccination rates each week now exceed those on a per capita basis on the best of weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Tasmania is leading the charge with the highest double dose vaccination rate in the country. And, New South Wales is running first when it comes to first dose vaccinations around the country, and others are close behind. Across the country, 58.7 per cent of Australians have had their first dose and 35 per cent have had their second dose. Now, that compares to some 40.5 per cent just a month ago - up now to 58.7 [per cent]. And, 18.7 per cent just a month ago - now at almost double that at 35 per cent.

I said when I announced the additional Polish doses that we were able to get for Pfizer that I would leave no stone unturned in bringing forward and accessing more doses of mRNA vaccines, and that's exactly what we've done. We've continued on, and I'm pleased to announce today that we'll be boosting our September effort with a new dose swap deal with Singapore which will see 500,000 doses arrive this week for distribution next week - 500,000 more doses of hope. That comes on top of the some 4.5 million that we already have planned for September, and the one million Moderna doses, and the many other millions of doses that are available from our AstraZeneca production, to ensure that we can continue on in September with the strong surge that we had over August.

It's a dose swap deal, which simply means we're taking the 500,000 they have now, so we can put that into our distribution this month coming, in September, and we will provide them with 500,000 in December. That means there are 500,000 doses extra that will happen in September that otherwise would have had to wait for several months from now, accelerating our vaccination program at this critical time as we work towards those 70 per cent and 80 per cent targets.

This will greatly assist the national vaccination program as it brings in two important age groups into the program. The 16 to 29s, which are, have already, which begin, have already begun this week and, of course, the 12 to 15-year-olds. Remember, there's 1.2 million children aged 12 to 15, and they start with bookings from the 13th of September, and so this will greatly assist with both of those efforts as those new age groups come in.

The doses will be distributed across our GP and state hub network and across the states and territories - in total between both of those. It will be done on a per capita basis. We need to vaccinate the whole country and we need for those doses to go from one end of the country to the other and for them to be taken up.

I want to particularly thank Prime Minister Lee, whom I directly discussed and pursued this matter with, and I want to thank the Government of Singapore more broadly, and the Health Minister who’s worked closely with Greg to ensure we've been able to bring this agreement to a conclusion. We have a tremendous partnership with Singapore and I've worked with Prime Minister Lee now over these last three years, and was there most recently just a few months ago as we stood together in Singapore and swapped notes on our respective responses to COVID-19 and many other issues.

I also want to thank Minister Hunt and Minister Payne and all of their teams for the great job that they have done in bringing yet another of these agreements together, after our successful Polish dose arrangement, which has already found its way into people's arms all around the country.

I want to give a special shoutout to our High Commissioner Will Hodgman, who I sent up there and he’s doing a fantastic job, and to all of your team, Will, thank you very, very much for the great work you've done.

And, of course, Professor Murphy and the great team down there at the Department of Health and Aged Care, who continue to steward these arrangements, and now it's over to General Frewen to get them out, and for the GPs and our state hubs to be getting those doses into arms.

Now, there are more irons in the fire, but there's more work to do on these, and I'll announce further arrangements once we're in a position to do so. As I said, I'd leave no stone unturned on this, and this is further demonstration that that has been the focus of the Government. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. These are 500,000 doses of hope and 500,000 doses of protection for Australians. The big journey that we are on is, when we take into account the three million Pfizer we were able to bring forward from October, November and December to the current quarter, the Polish doses, now Singapore, and any other options, as the Prime Minister has indicated, what we will see is that we will have brought forward the balance and burden of our vaccination program from October and November to August and September. And, at this point in time, that means, as the PM says, that we've now passed 19.36 million doses that have been delivered - 276,000 in the last 24 hours, and I understand Victoria has a significant number of additional doses that they will be able to add to that, which, once they've been uploaded to the immunisation register. Very significantly, this now is a rolling average of over 1.9 million doses a week. That was a figure we'd hoped to reach in late September and early October, but has been achieved in August. And, that's protection but it's also hope, and hastens forward the pathway through to people regaining as much of their lives as early as possible, which is so absolutely critical.

Just to add to this, there’s a very important figure - we’ve now passed 12 million first doses. That’s 12.1 million first doses. What that means is that to get to the 70 per cent mark of 14.5 million, there are 2.4 million people we need to come forward. To get to the 80 per cent first dose mark of 16.5 million, there are now 4.4 million people we need to come forward. These are not huge numbers. These are numbers, when you look at what we’re doing - 1.9 million a week - are easily within reach. But, we do need everybody to keep coming forward. Australians have been magnificent, and I want to thank them and encourage them to continue to do so, wherever they are in Australia. Every dose matters, and every dose protects an individual, as well as helping to protect everyone else.

I’d just, in particular, add to the Prime Minister’s thanks. I want to extend my personal thanks to the Singaporean Health Minister, Minister Ong Ye Kung. He’s been a fantastic partner, as have all of our equivalents. I also want to acknowledge the High Commission and Will Hodgman, but within the Department of Health, Brendan Murphy and our chief negotiator Lisa Schofield, who have spent countless hours on this. They do this as public servants in the true meaning of the word. Throughout the pandemic, our public servants have worked around the clock and on behalf of the Australian community. So, it’s an important day, an additional day, a further day of hope for Australians.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks Prime Minister, and and thanks Greg. I want to acknowledge Singapore, our trusted partner and friend, and to personally also thank Prime Minister Lee, and my good friend and colleague Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and the people of Singapore.

This is a constructive and flexible way for governments to work together in all of our interests to manage COVID-19. It does demonstrate our, that our diplomatic capability can work to deliver to protect all Australians, and certainly to strengthen our security and frankly our prosperity. Others have acknowledged the High Commissioner and his team, and I would reiterate that as well.

The dose swap that we’re announcing today is another example of Australia working with our friends and partners in the region, in terms of addressing the global pandemic. We are securing vaccines for the Australian community from a range of sources, and at the same time, providing access to effective vaccines for our region, to underpin that shared recovery. The delivery of 403,000 vaccine doses to Vietnam last week on the 26th of August was the first of many in in that case. Singapore has also delivered vaccines to Brunei, supporting Indonesia's COVID response, as is Australia. We’ve delivered over 2.1 million vaccines in our region now, particularly focused on the Pacific and on Timor-Leste, assisting our Pacific family where they need our support - overwhelmingly in Fiji in recent times, in Papua New Guinea and, as I said, in Timor-Leste. It is a task that we are approaching together, and it’s a task which we will continue in the coming weeks and months.

PRIME MINISTER: Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there a, is there a plan for the distribution of the 500,000 doses to the states and territories per capita, or would it be based on need? Would it go to western Sydney as a priority, for instance?

PRIME MINISTER: No, as I said before, it's being done on a per capita basis across the GP and state hub network, across the states and territories. Phil.

JOURNALIST: I know you’re doing more work on this, but an original reading of the Doherty modelling suggests it might be a problem if you’re having more than a thousand cases, community cases a day. Is it your view at the moment we can still move into Phases B and C as planned, with with New South Wales, for example, recording well over 1,000 cases a day, or do they need to get that into the hundreds? And, if not, do we have to amend the plan?

PRIME MINISTER: No, the sensitivity analysis that was conducted and shared with National Cabinet on Friday reinforced the the thresholds around 70 and 80 per cent. The issue is then what you do between 70 and 80 per cent. And, they suggested caution, and I agree with that. That's why under the plan we left open the, being very specific about what happened between 70 and 80 per cent. But, I go back to the point I was making earlier. Every state is coming at this from a different perspective. In many states, where there are very few restrictions, they will, they will see less. But, in states like New South Wales and Victoria and the ACT, well, they will see more because of the situation they're in, because everybody's got a different starting point. But, the Doherty modelling reinforced the thresholds. But, it also said, as we're, you know, going through the short strokes of the actual measures in the 70 to 80 per cent mark - which in some states and territories could be a matter of weeks, not months - but once you get into the 80 per cent zone, no, of course you want the case numbers to be always, you know, necessarily lower when you're going to those phases. But, no, it doesn't affect what those actual thresholds are. You just exercising appropriate caution in that 70 to 80 per cent mark.

JOURNALIST: Is it consistent with the national plan for for states to impose hard borders with the principles, is it consistent with the principles of the national plan for states to impose hard domestic borders when vaccination rates reach 70 per cent?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it all depends where their vaccination levels have risen to. So, if you have New South Wales or Tasmania, you know, well above 70 per cent, and you have other states that are below 70 per cent, well, the national plan doesn't provide for them to move into Phase B. So, you know, it's all a matter of where they're at at any given time, and and that's what the national plan sets out. And, that the measures you put in place in one state, where there are no restrictions currently, well, you wouldn't be expecting too much change in those states because they don't have many restrictions at this point. I mean, the real changes I think we'll see are what is occurring in states like New South Wales and Victoria, which have much more serious restrictions in place, and the ACT. And, so, that's why the vaccination rates, I think, are so important, especially in those places. But, you know, why I give a big shout out to Tasmania - I think Tasmania is a great example. Tasmania has very low COVID rates - zero COVID rates - and they know they're just as vulnerable as anyone else to a Delta strain. And, they have, despite the fact that they have very low and little COVID, they've got the highest double dose vaccination rate in the country. So, they're getting on with it down there. They've had the same dose distribution that everyone else has had, and they're getting on with it. Well done, Tassie. And, again, a special shout out to Peter Gutwein, been in contact over the last 24 hours and I hope he's well and recovering. Andrew.

JOURNALIST: Just a couple of questions. First on, the AMA is saying that it wants states and territories to mandate vaccination for health care workers. Seems like an imminent exercise in common sense to me. Do you support that? I know it's a state and territory issue. And, secondly, can I ask about the review of the Liberal Party in WA. Sorry, I'm going to have to use FaceTime. It's a scathing report that's come out about the WA Libs. See, it talks about a new conservative force coming out in WA because of what's been going on there, says there's been unethical behaviour, and it says ‘What has been revealed is shocking and disturbing. It represents a party in decline and headed for the door.’ Can you respond to that report in WA?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I take the report very seriously, and I expect the Western Australian division of the Liberal Party to deal with it.

But, on the other matter, I would ask Greg to respond, particularly on the issue of health care workers. We've always been, I think, very forward leaning on the necessity of vaccinations for those working directly in health care, and for this additional reason that once we particularly move into these new phases, if you're vaccinated, you shouldn't have to be furloughed - if you're a close contact or something of that nature - because that's one of the real difficulties in managing the public health system. If you're furloughing your health workforce, well, that's only going to put further strains on the health system. And, I think when, that's one of the great advantages of the national plan, as it envisages being able to have greater capacity for the public health system to deal with this, which you wouldn't have had. I remember that, you know, the terrible difficulties we had last year in Victoria, where you were having to furlough significant numbers of health care workers and nurses and others in aged care, which was putting more strain. Well, in a vaccinated workforce in, particularly in that area, you are significantly strengthened.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So, a couple of things. Firstly, it, whilst it's a matter for the states and territories, it has been raised through the medical expert panel, the AHPPC, precisely for the reason the PM's been talking about. One is to protect patients. Two is not only to protect each individual worker, but to protect the workforce from being furloughed. So, this is now, I think, very high on the agenda of the state and territory chief health officers. It's, whilst it's a matter for them, we've made our decision at a Commonwealth level, in conjunction with all the states and territories. We've published the rates of our aged care workers - 78.8 per cent have had a first dose. That's increasing at about 20,000 a week. And, frankly, the honest answer is the difficult decision to mandate has led to a skyrocketing of rates amongst that group. And, so, it'll be up to each state and territory to indicate whether they want to publish their own rates of of vaccination. But, it's an understandable direction. It's what we've done at the Commonwealth level.

PRIME MINISTER: Clare.

JOURNALIST: Overnight Australia acknowledged assurances from the Taliban that they would, Australia acknowledged assurances from the Taliban that they would allow foreign nationals or people with foreign visas to leave after the US have withdrawn. Given there's a sense of urgency on the ground that the Taliban's word is probably going to be, mean less and less as time goes on, is Australia going to continue processing those humanitarian visas at the fast pace we saw during the flight evacuation? Do you acknowledge that there is now an extended window where there's potentially some good faith with the Taliban to get people to get out of the country, if we get those visas processed?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, I don't take any window for granted, I should stress, in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister may wish to comment on this, also. Those commitments at face value, you have to be very careful about, but it doesn't change what you do and, which is to press on. We are very keen to meet at least the 3,000 that we would like to see taken into Australia under our humanitarian program this year, and more. I would like to see more. That's roughly, it was about that number, it was exactly that number actually that we were able to bring out under the Syrian program - it was 3,000 in the first year. So, we’re, that's the same. And, I, you know, I think, I hope we can achieve more than that. And, where the circumstances provide for it, we’ll seek to make the most of those circumstances.

But, that won't end this year. This will go on for many years, that we will bring people out from Afghanistan for many years to come. And, it's a key issue amongst the Five Eyes partners and coalition partners more broadly, who are all seeking to do the same thing. And, we'll work together, we'll work with the international agencies to that end. But, when it comes to the guarantees you refer to, I'm cautious about how substantial they will be and for how long they will be in place. Afghanistan is a place where the situation is deteriorating. As you know, the United States has now completed their mission there. And, so, they move into the same phase as Australia does, as does the United Kingdom and many other countries. So, we'll work together to continue to provide as many people, who we've worked with closely, the opportunity for a new life in Australia under those official arrangements. But, Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: So, Prime Minister, the undertaking by the Taliban is one which is being closely watched by the international community. And, I've been in contact with a number of counterparts in relation to that. And, it is an expectation in terms of the ability for safe travel and safe transit that we are very focused on. We know that for those who remain in Afghanistan, it's a question of of very significant concern. In terms of those who have been granted 449 visas who are still in Afghanistan, those temporary safe haven visas, they will be contacted through the processes of the Department of Home Affairs about what to do when it is safe, and the processing of those visas continues to be a priority.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the national plan is not explicit about state border closures. In your view, should they be ended at 70 per cent vaccination, 80 per cent, or are you saying this is a state matter?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, ultimately, everything is a state matter. But, I know that there was agreement to the national plan, which wants to see Australians come together, and we want to do that safely. This is a safe plan. This is a plan that has been based on the best possible scientific evidence to ensure that we can open safely and connect together again safely. And, that is exactly what I would be expecting all of us to be doing. Sarah.

JOURNALIST: Just in response to Trudy’s question, can you give us an indication as when, as to when you expect that state lockouts will no longer be happening in this country? And, if I could just ask, the Aboriginal Health Service Maari Ma warned the Federal Government 18 months ago of a potential catastrophe in Wilcannia. They wrote again to you last week urging Federal Government intervention to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in that community. What more can the Federal Government do to address that, and why weren’t those warnings from 18 months ago heeded?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let the Health Minister comment on that issue, in particular. There is a federal intervention. There is federal support and direct federal measures that are being undertaken in those communities, in partnership with the New South Wales Government, to address the situation which is there. And, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, speaking from that very platform, has made reference to the efforts that were being undertaken on these issues for some time, when he joined me for a press conference here.

On the other matter, the measures, specific measures between 70 and 80 per cent, are the ones that we are working on right now. But, what I do know is when you've got more than 80 per cent of the country vaccinated, and especially when every state has passed that 80 per cent threshold, then what I do know is that the medical and the economic advice is that lockdowns do more harm than good. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So, just in terms of Maari Ma, we want to thank them. We responded last year and one of the things we did was establish last year, on the 5th of March, the- 2020, the Indigenous Working Group, and then on the 26th of March last year, the National Indigenous Protection Plan. That also included the biosecurity orders - which were made in my name - with regards to Indigenous bubbles, which were maintained until the communities and the states and territories sought for them to be removed. We also put in place this year, as of the 9th of March, the Indigenous vaccination plan.

Specifically in relation to Wilcannia, the vaccines have been available there since the 22nd of March, and they've been doing a great job. We've recently upped the number of vaccines available. We also have AUSMAT, which has been in place, the RFDS, which has been in place. And, what we see in the Wilcannia region is a 58 per cent vaccination rate. So, when I step back for a moment, one of the great fears and challenges we had, PM, we know, you know, through February and March of last year, we focused on Indigenous Australia. We have put in place specific protections. We actually listen precisely to groups such as Maari Ma. They are one of the many, many Indigenous groups - of course, Pat Turner and NACCHO. They've been wonderful leaders, and that's one of the reasons why across Australia we've had an Indigenous rate of cases vastly lower than the national average. And, in terms of, sadly, lives lost, there has been the first life lost in Dubbo, a community with a 56.9 per cent vaccination rate. And, we, at this point, have an Indigenous loss of life of one thirtieth the national average. We’ll continue to fight in every community, and the RFDS, AUSMAT, the ADF, as well as Commonwealth vaccination clinics, state vaccination clinics, GPs and pharmacies are out there doing that vaccination work in Indigenous communities, and supporting Indigenous Australians wherever they are.

PRIME MINISTER: So, just on the lockouts, because there was the other question about lockouts, let's just acknowledge what lockouts do. Once we get to the point, and that's certainly the case once we get past 80 per cent, and assuming, and this is an important development that needs to take place between now and then, is home quarantine needs to be a viable and widespread option for people who are travelling overseas and returning - indeed, people who are overseas and have been vaccinated with the vaccines that are recognised in Australia. For that to occur, then we need to get these home quarantine models up and running in states and territories across the country.

Now, that means that people will be able to, in states that aren't locking others out, those states who have moved into those thresholds, there will be the opportunity for people to go and travel and return to Australia and quarantine at home, that people in those states who are overseas can come back to Australia. The caps that are on flights coming into those places that have got into that zone, that aren't locking others out, they will be able to receive more and more, and that will be a big change. And, you know, in many states, when I think of states like South Australia, for example, and I discussed this with Premier Marshall yesterday, and he's a strong supporter of the national plan because he knows South Australia will need the students to come back. South Australia will need the skilled migrants to come back. South Australia will need to be connecting up with all of those things that enable their economy to be successful. And, it's important - whether it's the tourists, the students, the skilled workers, the connection with the rest of the world, the trade that comes from that - all of that is essential to Australia's future prosperity, in whatever state you live in in this country. And, that's why the national plan is so important. The national plan connects us together again as Australians and connects us to the world again and enables Australia to secure our future in the COVID world. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43555

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

27 August 2021

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Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, Minister for Home Affairs

PRIME MINISTER: Morning, everyone. I’m joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Home Affairs. Australia condemns the evil, the calculated and inhuman attacks that were undertaken in Kabul overnight on the innocent and on the brave. We join with our American and Afghan friends in mourning their terrible and awful loss, like so many other losses that have gone before them. We are especially mindful of the reported 13 US Defence Force personnel who were murdered at the Abbey Gate at HKIA, a gate at which Australian Defence Force personnel stood only hours before. And, like those 139 Australians who have been on that same airport and at that same gate, and many others like it, over the course of these operations, these brave young Americans stood at that gate to protect life, to save life, but lost their own in providing a pathway to freedom for others.

I have conveyed Australia's and my own personal deep sadness for the loss of those brave American souls, to the President of the United States, by letter this morning. They have fallen in a very worthy cause. And, to all of those in Afghanistan, suffering as they are now, suffering as they have for so long, and particularly suffering as a result of this most recent attack, we extend our deepest sympathies.

We thank the United States, and the United Kingdom also. The sacrifice of those young Americans was part of a broader effort over the course of these many days now, that has enabled Australia to engage in one of the most significant evacuations that we have ever taken part in. Over these nine days, we have successfully evacuated some 4,100 people from one of the most dangerous places on earth. Now, those 4,100 people we have evacuated are either back at our base at AMAB or indeed have been transferred to Australia.

The United States and the United Kingdom made that possible. Were it not for the some 5,000 troops that they had on the ground, it would not have been possible for Australia to engage in these operations. It would not have been possible to have the Coalition forces doing what they have been doing to ensure the evacuations of tens of thousands of people, including thousands upon thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Afghans, who have found a path to freedom at this most difficult time to achieve that.

And, to our American and British friends, we are, we are deeply in your debt, as we so often have. But, as I often always say about our allies and partners, we may look to them but we never leave it to them. And, in the course of these nine days, our Australian Defence Forces, our Home Affairs officials, our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials, have played their part in this important evacuation.

Australia’s operations now for the evacuation have been completed. We were able to ensure the departure of the remaining Australian personnel over the course of last night, not that long before the terrible events that unfolded last night took place. I want to commend all of those who were part of that operation on the ground, be they wearing uniforms or they be civilians in our public service. I want to commend them for their bravery, first and foremost, for their sacrifice. I want to commend them for their dedication and their professionalism. I also want to commend them for demonstrating Australia's heart, their humanity and their compassion.

Some more than 3,200 Australians and Afghan visa holders for Australia have now been evacuated, but more than 800 also from our Coalition partners who were part of that evacuation program that Australians have undertaken. Currently, there are more than 2,500 people at AMAB, and I spoke to Crown Prince [Mohammed bin] Zayed last night and thanked him for the support of the UAE as part of these efforts, and appreciate the hospitality that has been extended towards Australia to ensure that we’ve been able to accommodate so many people, and for the graciousness of giving us the time that we will need in the days, and perhaps longer ahead, as we arrange for the further processing and transfer of people back to Australia. Some 783 people who have been evacuated out of Afghanistan are already home or in their new home here in Australia, and I want to thank the states and territories for their support as we continue to increase the amount of quarantine places available that will facilitate further returns today and in coming days, as those operations continue.

The United States and the United Kingdom of course remain in Afghanistan over the next few days. Australia's completion of our operations there mirrors that of many other countries now, taking similar decisions as Australia has done, and we continue to support the US and UK operations through our RAAF, although none of that tasking or request involves any Australian presence on the ground.

The Foreign Affairs Minister will indicate the travel advice which has been updated just prior to us coming out here today, about the advice that we’re providing to those Australians and visa holders who remain in Afghanistan. It remains a extremely dangerous place, but as I said yesterday, our plan now moves into its post-evacuation stage, and that involves ensuring that we start the process of returning, through our official humanitarian program, people to Australia, working through other international agencies and working closely with our Coalition partners who are engaged in exactly the same exercise. And, that process, of course, will be undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs.

After my colleagues have spoken I’ll return to some of the other matters regarding COVID and National Cabinet meeting later today, but I think under the circumstances it’s important we continue to offer comment on these most terrible events overnight. Our hearts sank when we heard this news. Sadly, it was not unexpected, as we had previously flagged, but even events of that nature, when they are sadly expected, still make your heart sink.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks, Prime Minister. And, let me add my strongest condemnation of the attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, targeting US personnel who were trying to help others and Afghan civilians who only sought safety and a better life elsewhere. We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected, to their families and to their loved ones, and we reiterate our sincere thanks to the United States, whose presence has helped Australia to evacuate those over 4,000 people that the Prime Minister just referred to, people at risk.

I want to pay tribute again to our officials and our military troops who’ve carried out this, one of the largest humanitarian airlift operations in our history, evacuating those Australians and visa holders and other citizens.

We know that this is a very distressing situation for Australians still in Kabul, for people with visas, and for family and friends who are here in Australia. I want to emphasise to those who are still in Afghanistan that we have issued new travel advice following our very clear travel advice of yesterday. Our new travel advice says Australian evacuation flights from Kabul have ceased. All Australian Government personnel have departed Kabul. There’s an ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack. Explosions have occurred in the vicinity of Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. Do not travel to the airport. If you’re in the vicinity, move to a safe location, and provides contact details for consulate support as well. I cannot encourage strongly enough the following of that travel advice, and I encourage those who are in Kabul, who have not registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to register.

As to the question of whether there have been Australians affected by these explosions, we are unable to confirm that at this point in time. We will contact those for whom we have details, and that is why it is so important to register and so important to follow the travel advice that we have issued updated this morning. Thanks, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Peter.

THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Thanks, PM, and thank you, Marise. Well, ironically, the barbaric acts that have resulted in the death of, the loss of life of innocent Afghan citizens and the brave US soldiers, they’ve demonstrated through those barbaric actions exactly the reason why Australia was with our allied forces in Afghanistan. Over the last 20 years, 39,000 Australians have worn the uniform and have fought in our country's name to keep that sort of barbaric act from our shores, and the 41 who have lost their lives should be honoured today as well, because it is the efforts of the Australian Defence Force personnel over the course of that period of time which has kept those terrorist attacks from our shores. And, we’ve seen the actions over several days now of all of our agencies, but from my perspective, the work of the Australian Defence Force is second to none in the world.

And, I want to acknowledge those members of the Royal Australian Air Force, bravely flying sorties in and out over the course of these days to lift people to a new life or to return them back home. I want to say thank you very much to the Regiment. The Regiment has performed again exceptional work in Afghanistan, and I recognise the work of those officers, as well as those from 3rd Brigade and also from 1RAR in Sydney, but others within the Department, the defence planners. The advice that we received back in May from our defence planners and others to close the embassy, to move our staff to safety and to evacuate those people at that time, and the remarkable effort that has been underway from the whole of the Australian Government and our personnel to evacuate people over a long period of time, since April, there has been a concerted effort. And, the fact that we’ve got 4,100 people out is quite astonishing and a great credit to all of those agencies.

I want to say thank you very much to the United States. There are many critics out there of the United States on every day, but we would not have recovered one person of the 4,100 without the efforts of the United States soldiers who secured that airport, and still do so today. And, we hope in the coming days that they and the Brits - who have had a significant footprint there and remain so - that they are able to remove their people and their assets safely, and to do that in an orderly way in very difficult circumstances. And, as Marise pointed out, the terrorist threats are still there. The expectation is there that there will be further attacks, and they are living with that circumstance at the moment. So, we want to see them safely home as quickly as possible.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Marise, Karen. Sorry, Peter. Karen.

THE HON. KAREN ANDREWS MP, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Thank you, Prime Minister. And, can I also give great support and thanks to those people that Australia has had on the ground in Kabul over the last few days, in particular. There has been an extraordinary effort by so many people in Kabul, also in the UAE, and here in Australia, to support our evacuation efforts. And, whilst those evacuation efforts has now ended, we are continuing to provide all of the support that we possibly can to Australian citizens, permanent residents and visa holders, whether they be in Afghanistan or on their way here to Australia.

Once we have been able to process the evacuees in Dubai, they are being brought to Australia. There has already been a number of flights that have come in here, and over, well over 700 people are already in quarantine here in Australia. Once they have concluded their quarantine, we’ll be looking to resettle them as quickly as we possibly can here in Australia. It was important that we made it very clear, whilst our evacuation efforts were underway, that there would be 3,000 places that were allocated to people to come here from Afghanistan. Work is already underway to identify people we will continue to bring to this country, and I do encourage those people who have not already lodged an application for a humanitarian visa to do so, so that we can start working with groups here in Australia to make sure that we are focusing on family members potentially coming to Australia, to minority groups, and to women and children. This work is well underway, and in the coming weeks and months we will be in a position to welcome more people to Australia to either return home or to call Australia home.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Now, on the other matters also, National Cabinet will meet later today. But, the National Security Committee on COVID met last night and confirmed the recommendations provided by General Frewen, and it follows the release of the ATAGI advice today on vaccination of children aged 12 to 15, supporting now, officially, the ability for us to undertake that. We’ve taken the decision that bookings will open for children aged 12 to 15 from the 13th of September. As you’ll recall from earlier, we had made and flagged the commencement of the ability for those aged 16 to 39 to be able to make those bookings and that is the next pressure on the system, and so we will allow that to commence and then on the 13th of September then people will be able to make those bookings. Now, principally I’ll see, I would see that happening especially through the GP network, and that provides the opportunity for family vaccinations, for the family to go along together across those age groups. So, that’s an important decision at National Cabinet this afternoon. Now, the Commonwealth’s decision to proceed will be briefed to the premiers, and we’ll start, continue the work, I should say, that we’ve already been doing with them through General Frewen, about their participation in that program.

Also, today, the Doherty Institute will be joining to brief - Professor McVernon - on the sensitivity analysis that’s been undertaken. We will also be examining in a first pass discussion issues relating to exemptions that can be afforded in Phases B and C for vaccinated persons. I don't anticipate any decisions on that today, there’s still ample time to work through those issues, but a lot of work has already been done to consider what the options are there, and they’ll be discussed in a first pass way today and that will provide some direction to further discussions on that ahead, before we reach those Phase B and Phase C marks.

We will also discuss today the important issue of the preparedness of public hospitals and our public health system, which has been a standing item on our agenda for many months, as we’ve looked at the pressures on those systems, and the Secretary of the Department of Health here has been working with others around the country to continue to understand and examine those pressures. The principle of those are really in relation to the management of workforce, the issue of when you’re furloughing staff - that is, isolating staff that have been secondary close contacts and things of that nature. And, they’re issues that we have to work practically through - the role of private hospitals, and so on. And, so, they will be discussed this afternoon, practically and cooperatively, because the preparation of our public hospital system and our public health systems are very important to the implementation of the national plan.

The national plan was developed to ensure there were gates to move through the different phases and we deliberately ensured that the calibration of what was done in each phase would be added. And, that's the discussion we’re in now. Of course, you need to have caution when you go through the 70 per cent mark, as opposed to the 80 per cent mark, and we’ve always left it open to ensure that we could calibrate what we were doing in that 70 to 80 per cent phase to ensure that it matched the risks that were present at that time, and we’ll have the opportunity to discuss those issues later today.

But, the good news is that we continue to make great pace towards those vaccination targets. Some 307,000 vaccines administered yesterday. That takes us to 33 per cent - one in three, almost - of the Australian population aged over 16 fully vaccinated in this country. Ten million doses now having been administered through the primary health care network, which is an extraordinary job undertaken by our GPs and pharmacists all around the country. So, with that, happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: On Afghanistan, the nation itself is obviously crumbling into chaos now. The jails have been thrown open, there’s terrorists on the streets. There’s an expectation there’ll be a boom again in the heroin trade. What do you say to Australians, how do you tell Australians when they ask will we ever go back? Is there a guarantee we won't go back to Afghanistan?

PRIME MINISTER: There is, there are no plans, of course, for Australia to be engaged in that type of an operation. I mean, the situation, as you've described it, and Peter may wish to offer comment on this, the situation, as you've described in Afghanistan, is, of course, very, very serious. And that is what occurs when countries go in, into these situations and we have been there for 20 years, 20 years, seeking to turn from a failed state into a successful state. And sadly, that hasn't proved possible. But what was done in those 20 years was extraordinary and the opportunities afforded to Afghans over the course of that 20 years provided an opportunity to a generation of Afghans that others have never had, and it is, of course, greatly concerning, and we will continue to monitor the risks very carefully with our partners, not just, not just our major allies, but those in our region as well. And the issue of terrorism has never gone away. It's not something that we've ever put to one side. It has been an abiding focus of our government. Every single, every single time we gather as a National Security Committee, we focus on these issues. So we will continue to take every step necessary to protect Australians, to keep Australians safe and to ensure stability, especially in our region. But, Peter.

THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Just very quickly, PM. Obviously, all of the intelligence agencies are focused on the terrorist threat to not just our country, but to Australians who travel overseas in a normal year, and particularly in South East Asia, returning foreign fighters. And I think you'll see some activity of foreign fighters seeking to move around, et cetera, in the current atmosphere in the Middle East. Obviously, the pressure now is on the Taliban to honour their word and to execute by way of deed, that word, that assurance that they've given. And I think the world now is watching to see what they do next. 

JOURNALIST: What of the Australians who are still stuck there, Minister? 

THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Well for the Australians who are there, we will provide every support that we can. But it was clear to us that it was unsafe for our personnel to remain there to continue the mission. And it was appropriate and proper for us to remove our staff from that situation. And they're now back safely at Al Minhad, as the Prime Minister has spoken about this morning. And we need to make sure that we can do everything we can to repatriate them back to Australia safely now as well.

JOURNALIST: How many Australians registered with DFAT remain in Afghanistan. How many people with Australian visas are still stuck there and do we have any chance of bringing them home? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, as the Home Affairs Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs may also wish to comment, the number of Australians in Afghanistan has been a number that has moved around quite a lot over the course even of the past several weeks. And the number of those who have been registering has been increasing over that time. So when we began these operations nine or so days ago, the number of of Australians who were indicating they were there has been growing each and every day. And that's why our operations have been sustained for so long. And the fact that we've been able to bring out so many is a testament to those who have been engaged in those operations. But the operation now moves into a post evacuation phase. And that is what we are now focused on, working with the Department of Home Affairs in dealing with the applications that are already there and then working with international agencies to ensure that those who can provide a pathway to Australia will be able to be received here in Australia under our official humanitarian programme. 

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] the Australian citizens and residents and Afghan nationals who have been evacuated, or more than that, sorry. Can you tell us specifically how many Afghan nationals you've managed to evacuate? And for those who still remain in Afghanistan, do they have any chance of getting out on one of our allied partners' flights, the US or the UK? 

PRIME MINISTER: Peter might want to comment on this as well, but on the first one, no, we won't be. We are still working through the confirmation of those numbers at Al Minhad now and as well as the Australians. And the priority right now is returning those Australians who are obviously Australians, but also those who would have been fully visa to come to Australia. And that's what's occurring at the moment. And they'll come back to Australia and the Department of Home Affairs will continue to work through those who were given temporary visas at the time to enable them to be evacuated out of Afghanistan. And that's now being worked through. The second question? 

JOURNALIST: About the Australians and Afghans who have been granted visas who remain in Afghanistan, do they have a chance of getting out ... 

PRIME MINISTER: Look, to be honest, the opportunities for that will be very restricted. We're in the final days now with the United Kingdom and the United States. And their priority will obviously be on their tasking, not only for those they are still bringing out, but the safe evacuation of their own forces and equipment. And that's what they'll be focused on. We're obviously still engaged with them. I can tell you that even when that last flight left last night, we ensured that it remained on the tarmac until I was confident that everyone we thought we could get on that last plane, we did get on that last plane. And there are individuals who will be on their way to Australia as a result of those, even those decisions at that time. And so I can only imagine what it was like for our people who had been on that tarmac for all those days sitting there patiently waiting as we ensured that we could take every last person we possibly could safely at the end of that operation. Peter.

THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: I'll just add this point. Many, many of the people who have provided assistance to Australia have also, as you appreciate, provided assistance to other allied forces, others that were present in Afghanistan, including, for example, the Netherlands. I think there will be a period of reconciling names of those that have been uplifted by partner countries. And we'll work through with the United States, obviously, their uplift in the thousands as well. It may be that people that we had issued visas to have actually ended up on a plane run by the British or run by the Spaniards or whatever it might be. So I think there will be a period of trying to reconcile that. And that should give us encouragement because more people than what we're acknowledging at the moment will have got out. 

PRIME MINISTER: That's right. We are aware of some of those instances, but it'll take some time to reconcile it. 

JOURNALIST: On COVID, the plan to live with COVID, the Doherty modelling forecasts, quite a large number of hospitalisations in the community, more than we're seeing now in New South Wales. We're seeing the New South Wales system really struggling with what they've got at the moment. As part of your deliberations on bolstering the health system, are we going to be looking at things like field hospitals, purpose built facilities? Like we've seen overseas in New York, for example. 

PRIME MINISTER: That's not a recommendation or suggestion that has come forward to date from any of the states or territories. So certainly not that has been brought forward at a National Cabinet level or discussed at that level. The key challenge is not so much the bricks and mortar and the beds. The challenge is workforce, which is a constant challenge across many fronts in Australia. And one of the challenges for workforce is the policy that sits around the furloughing of health staff, around close contacts, and that is literally removing people from being able to work in hospitals and in health settings. So that is a practical issue that needs to be worked through. I mean in New South Wales, the ICU capacity is taken up about 20 per cent by COVID cases and more generally across the country, around 10 per cent. And so hospitals and public health authorities are able to adjust and manage resources that can free up capacity where they need to. And of course, our private hospitals agreement further adds capacity to that, both on beds and bricks and mortar, as well as important staff. Some 300 nurses already brought into that role already. What's important is having the plan to deal with it. We have had numerous discussions about how workforce can also be moved around the country to focus on areas that need it most, just in the same way that resources have been shared all across the pandemic up until now. So it's about having that plan. But the reports I have and indeed, as the New South Wales Premier and the New South Wales Health Minister has been at pains to point out, they are addressing the challenges in their own system, but the public health system and the public hospital system around the country is obviously a, a factor. And that needs to be fully understood.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, now, can you tell people when on your best advice we'll reach those trigger points of 70 and 80 per cent and why you believe the, you can assure them that the benefits of easing outweigh the risks at those points? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that is the clear advice. The clear advice to us is both the health and the economic costs of lockdowns, those are very serious heavy measures, once you move beyond those points. That's the clear advice that we've received that becomes of greater harm than good. And that's why when you get to 70 per cent and 80 per cent, sure, you've got to calibrate, you've got to fine tune. And that's the exercise that I think we're rightly engaged in. And the Doherty sensitivity work will help us do that. And if there are issues with public hospital systems in particular states, well, that is a matter that needs to be brought forward and has been and where there need to do more there, we will do that together. As you know, we have a 50/50 arrangement with all the states and territories and New South Wales alone that has seen more than a billion dollars extra go into the public hospital system to deal with the COVID response to date from the Commonwealth Government. And so we certainly haven't held back in strengthening the system. But let's not forget the significant work that was done over a year ago in terms of respirators and all of these sorts of issues to deal with those surges. But when we think back to the Victorian outbreak last year and even the outbreak we're engaged in now and the initial outbreak, our public health system in Australia has stood up on each of these challenges, we will face a new one now, but our task is to is to deal with those challenges so we can maintain the hope of opening up Australia, because living with COVID requires us to strengthen that system to the extent we need to to ensure that we can live with COVID. 

JOURNALIST: Just on the evacuations, did you, have you so far received a call from Biden directly about the Afghan evacuation? I understand he's spoken directly to Johnson and Merkel. Have you spoken to him directly over the phone? 

PRIME MINISTER: No, I haven't. We've been in constant engagement through national security advisors. There's been defence level contact, foreign affairs contact. There's been direct contact between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State, I should say. So there's been high level engagement and constant, our partnership has worked incredibly effectively. 

JOURNALIST: Can you just clarify how many hours elapsed between Australia pulling out and when we publicly as a Government confirmed that we were out and what efforts were made on the ground to let Australians and visa holders know that that was going to happen if they had, in fact, defied the advice and still headed to the airport? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we gave very clear advice and Marise may want to comment on this one. We gave very clear advice. In fact, we confirmed what that advice was here to you yesterday about the dangerous situation at HKIA. And  we continue to take advice even as late as yesterday as we're working through our final operations before making the ultimate decision to remove our people and evacuate our own people from Kabul yesterday. I'm not going to go into the timetables around those things. What I am going to say, though, is that we made that decision based on, I think, the very astute advice from our defence forces, in particular the intelligence services that have been supporting us through this time. We were obviously aware of the terrorist threat that was being proposed and that it was credible. And that is the judgements that you have to make in very difficult situations like this. Australians had been risking their lives for the past nine days and more in evacuating 4,100 people out of Kabul. And I have a special duty of care to those Australians to ensure that in undertaking that very dangerous work, that we carefully assess those risks and make the right judgements. And there's no doubt in my mind that we made the right judgement. 

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you, Prime Minister. We gave very clear, explicit advice yesterday about not coming to Hamid Karzai International Airport and that if you were in the vicinity of Hamid Karzai International Airport to move away from the airport, to move to a safe location. In all of our contacts yesterday, both here through the consular process in Australia, through contacts to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, from advocates and supporters here in Australia and in everything that we did with Australians, Australian citizens and visa holders on the ground, we explicitly reiterated that advice consistently right through the entire day yesterday.

JOURNALIST: Now that ATAGI is recommending vaccines for 12 to 15 year olds. Will they be included now in those vaccine targets of 70 and 80 per cent? And what will you say to state leaders who have been pushing that, today in National Cabinet? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, we'll take the advice today from Doherty and their advice, as recently as yesterday, is those two things, it's necessary to vaccinate children aged 12 to 15. But there is, there is no recommendation before us that it should be included in that target. So inclusion in the target does not mean they shouldn't be vaccinated. The target is about the overall level of vaccination in a adult population, which are the primary transmitters of the virus. So that's the science of that. The medical advice is that they should be vaccinated and that's exactly what we're going to do. So I think the conflation of those two issues is not something that has stood up to the advice that we've received.

JOURNALIST: It is something, though, that some of the state leaders have been pushing for, so will you be pushing against that? 

PRIME MINISTER: There is no recommendation for me, from any of our medical or health advisers, to do that. And so I don't see the point of that. What I see the point in doing is vaccinating children. That's what it means. That's what it's about. And of course, we will. We've been patiently awaiting the advice from ATAGI, which we've only received the final version of today, and we've immediately, immediately decided to press ahead with that. And that will occur from the 13th of September. And that will follow, obviously, the opening up to those down to 16. And that will enable the system to gear up to do that over the next few weeks. And certainly all of us who have kids aged 12 to 15, I've already had the chat with mine, and they'll be going along to their GP and to get that opportunity very, very soon, we hope. We'll get in line and make a booking like anybody else, and I'll be encouraging other parents over the course of these couple of weeks to have that conversation with your kids about getting that vaccination and why it's important. Remember, we've also got school holidays coming up soon, and that will be another really good opportunity for families to get vaccinated at that time. We have some promising leads in terms of doses. I can't confirm those at this point, but we've been working on them now for some time. And when we're in a position to say anything further about that, but that is giving us some greater confidence about being able to particularly go forward with this decision to vaccinate children aged 12 to 15. One last one. 

JOURNALIST: Has Qantas given false hope to people by suggesting that we could be travelling overseas by Christmas? 

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry? 

JOURNALIST: Has Qantas given false hope to Australians by suggesting that we could travel overseas by Christmas? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, if we hit 80 per cent, Phase C of the plan enables Australians who are vaccinated to be able to leave Australia and return. That's what 80 per cent Phase C means. So if we can achieve that, then that sounds like a really good reason to get vaccinated. And that's why the national plan is so important, because the national plan is to say it's not tied to a day. It's tied to the achievement of a vaccination rate that enables us to do things safely. It enables Australians who are vaccinated in situations like that to be able to travel and return at significantly reduced risk to themselves and to others. The South Australian home quarantine pilot is underway. And that, I think, will prove another very important tool to facilitate the very things that you're talking about. 

But it's important to say about the national plan, which is agreed by all states and territories and and the Commonwealth that this plan, it's safe. It's about opening safely. It's about opening smartly. It's about opening in a way that is phased. It all doesn't happen on one day. It happens in Phase B, which is what I'd call a very soft, careful opening. And our task now is to ensure we get those careful settings, because I agree with the Doherty Institute that we have to be careful in 70 to 80 per cent. It's a soft opening period, not a big opening period. And then when we get to 80 per cent, we take another step. But at both phase B and phase C, you are still having in place those baselines and common sense measures that are protecting people from COVID. But that doesn't mean lockdowns. I've already said on many occasions that where you have discrete communities or particularly vulnerable communities that may have very low levels of vaccination and so on, then of course, there is the the actions that are available to states in those circumstances. But once you get particularly into Phase C, then you're in a position to use those common sense measures, your protection. That's what we call optimises TTIQ. When you have those in place, you're optimising the strength of your testing and and your isolation and your quarantining processes. And that optimises the result in terms of meaning that you get the same outcome as living with the flu, whether it comes to hospitalisation and other things of that nature. So the national plan is a safe plan. I look forward to making further progress on that this afternoon. It's unlikely we will probably hold another press conference on that today, given the lateness of the hour that I suspect we will finish this evening. The meeting's been pushed back this afternoon because of the Tasmanian Budget. And so after that will gather again. 

But let me just finally say, in thanking all of my colleagues here in particular to Peter and to Marise and to Karen and I make a special mention of Alex Hawke as well as Minister for Immigration. In the course of this month, the National Security Committee has met on this matter 18 times, many times a day on occasions. And I want to thank them for their leadership. I want to thank the Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell, and the many other brave souls at DFAT and Kathryn Campbell and Michael Pezzullo at the Department of Home Affairs and all of their offices. This is a sombre day. It's a day when we are reflecting on, yes, the evacuation of some 4,100 people out of Kabul and one of the biggest evacuation operations that Australia has ever been engaged in, in these types of circumstances. And we've done that and have got all of our people who are engaged in that out safely as well, is a credit to them and all those who have led them at an operational level. But we are equally reminded on our departure, at the terrible circumstances that are present in Afghanistan by that cowardly and ugly and evil attack that we've seen and it reminds us, that we will continue to stand every single day with our partners and allies. The United States, the United Kingdom, as they stand in the cause of freedom, so we will too always.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43548

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

26 August 2021

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Prime Minister: Well, good morning everyone. I’m joined by the Foreign Minister and the Health Minister. Today has been another day of hope. Yesterday, 335,420 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered here in Australia. Another record day. Records that give us the hope that the national plan can take us to where we want to be. That means bringing the country together. It means being able to join with other Australians as we go through the balance of this year. It means businesses having the confidence to be able to know that they can come through, and that their financiers and their investors can have that same confidence that people will be able to get those hours back and go back to work. That people can get on the bus again and on the tram again and go to work. That performers can get on the stage at live venues again. That people can gather in restaurants, and they can do it not just for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, but know that that can be their life again going forward, and we can have the certainty.

Our national plan is a safe plan. It’s the safe plan to ensure that Australia can open up again with confidence. Eighteen million people have now had, sorry, 18 million doses have now been administered in Australia, 1.9 million in the past week alone. Fifty-five per cent have had their first dose, and we will finish this week with more than a third of Australians having had both doses, and that has increased significantly in the last two months. We keep that pace up over the next two months and we’re really going to make a big dent in this.

I want to make clear very also, I want to make clear also - and I will do so after I’ve touched on the very important matters in Afghanistan - 12 to 15-year-olds in Australia will be vaccinated. And, later today the National Security Committee of Cabinet - which meets on COVID matters specifically - will be considering that plan, coming forward from General Frewen, which is consistent with the interim advice we have received from ATAGI. We’re expecting final advice from ATAGI very, very soon. And, that will enable us to move forward with the vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds. There’s 1.2 million across Australia, and you can see that when we can get 1.8 million doses done in just a week, then the task of ensuring that we can also, in parallel, vaccinate 1.2 million 12 to15-year-olds and achieve the levels that we would need to achieve there, is a task that is certainly well within the capability of the vaccination program. So, it is a safe plan and we’re proceeding with it.

It’s also pleasing to know that the South Australian home quarantine pilot is now underway in South Australia, and I want to thank Premier Marshall for the great work he’s done there.

Turning to the very serious issues in Afghanistan, and particularly at Kabul. It remains a highly dangerous environment. That danger, those risks have been increasing each and every day, as we always knew they would, and that’s why we have been moving with the haste that we have. Overnight, around 1,200 people were evacuated from Kabul on six Australian flights and one New Zealand flight. They included Australians, Afghans and other nationals. That means, in total, around 4,000 people have been able to be evacuated as a result of this operation in some 29 flights over the last eight days. Now, that is probably more than three times what we would have anticipated when I was standing before you here with the Foreign Minister just over a week ago, and I want to thank all of those who have been putting themselves at great risk in Kabul, in particular the men and women of our ADF, those from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Home Affairs. There are a large number who are now accommodated at AMAB, and we thank the United Arab Emirates for their great support in ensuring that we’ve been able to bring people safely there.

There are two further transfer flights that are scheduled to depart AMAB today, one arrived this morning. 639 people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan are already now here in Australia, including the 220 who arrived earlier today. Australian citizens, residents and pre-visaed Afghan nationals are the priority for those transfer flights back to Australia. And, the Department of Home Affairs will continue the additional processing that is required for those we’ve uplifted out of Afghanistan, with temporary visas, and we will do further processing at AMAB before their transfer to Australia.

I want to thank the states and territories for their support in making sure that we have the quarantine space available for them to be returned to Australia - that operation will now run for many days yet - and the quarantine arrangements and the reception facilities that we have here. There has been an almost zero level of COVID that we’ve seen in those tested who’ve returned to Australia out of Afghanistan. But, it isn't just COVID that we have to provide for. What we have to provide for, as you can imagine, the severe trauma that people have been going through over these many months, and particularly the circumstances prior to their departure. And, we’ve been closely with those who are expert in this area to ensure the psychological and other support that is needed for people who are being transferred back to Australia is there to help them adjust, in many cases, to their new life in Australia, and for those residents and citizens who are returning, to help them to adjust to what has been an incredibly harrowing experience.

So, those operations remain in place, they continue even now, but the situation is deteriorating. And, we will continue to operate safely, but paramount in our operations is ensuring the safety of those Australians who are directly involved in the evacuation effort. Marise?

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thanks very much, Prime Minister, and let me start by reiterating our gratitude to those Australian officials who are working and continue working to evacuate Australians, as well as Afghans holding Australian visas.

As the Prime Minister said, we have now evacuated about 4,000 people from Kabul during the current operation. That includes Australian and New Zealand nationals and visa holders, and also citizens of other countries. And, our cooperation with other countries, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, has been very important in achieving this outcome.

We changed our travel advice early this morning. Our clear travel advice is now, do not travel to Hamid Karzai International Airport, and if you’re in the area of the airport, move to a safe location and await further advice. Afghanistan remains highly volatile and dangerous. Be aware of the potential for violence and security threats with large crowds. There is an ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack. That is the revised travel advice which we have issued. It is consistent with revised travel advices issued by both New Zealand and the United Kingdom in recent hours.

Throughout this process, the Prime Minister and I have consistently emphasised that this is a highly volatile and dangerous environment. All the way through this, our priority has been the safety of Australians, including our officials, our citizens, our local employees and families. But, we must listen to reports of credible threats. That is why we have issued a revised travel advice.

Can I, I can also confirm, as the Prime Minister said, that we have been able to bring 639 of those 4,000 evacuees back to Australia, including that flight into Brisbane this morning. So, we now have Afghan evacuees in Perth, in Melbourne, in Adelaide and in Brisbane. We thank those states for accommodating those evacuees and we welcome them to Australia.

We continue to coordinate closely with our allies and our partners, and we do understand that this is an extremely distressing situation for Australians, Australian family members still in Kabul, people with visas, and for family and friends who are here in Australia. We remain focused on the safe evacuation from Afghanistan for as many Australians and visa holders as possible, for as long as possible. Access to Hamid Karzai International Airport is extremely limited, it is extremely challenging in terms of checkpoints, difficulties in those processes, particularly through restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the movement of Afghan nationals, and this has been a difficult period for Australian officials. The fact that they have seen 4,000 take to the air to be evacuated from Kabul has been their motivation to keep going, and they are still doing that.

Prime Minister: Thank you Marise, and Greg on COVID.

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Thanks very much, Prime Minister and Marise. A record day of vaccinations, as the Prime Minister said - 335,000 vaccinations and now over 18 million doses delivered. Very significantly, what we’ve seen is 6.7 million doses in 30 days - Melbourne, Adelaide, Wollongong in 30 days. And, so, these are real numbers that are bringing safety and protection and hope to all Australians everywhere. That, this message that each dose protects the individual, but every dose protects all of us, is a profoundly important message to Australians across the country. We’re closing on 10 million primary care doses - our GPs, our pharmacists, our Indigenous medical services, they’re doing an amazing job, and I want to thank them in particular. They have worked tirelessly.

In addition to that, our over 50s now - 76.7 per cent, over 60s - 81.6 per cent, and our over 70s - 86.2 per cent. And, in the epidemiology update I had this morning from the Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, what that showed is that in the New South Wales outbreak, this is leading to very different outcomes from a year ago in Victoria. You know, challenges, of course, but the vaccinations are saving lives and protecting lives.

Prime Minister: Thank you.

Journalist: Prime Minister, by what date will 12 to 15-year-olds have the opportunity to be vaccinated, and given the transmissibility of Delta has cast doubt on Doherty’s advice that they don’t change the outcome of the modelling, why not include them in the national targets?

Prime Minister: Well, on the first point, as you said, the plan for the vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds will be considered by the National Security Committee of Cabinet on COVID matters later today, and I’ll be advising the Government's decisions on that to the National Cabinet tomorrow for proceeding with that plan, so there’ll be more details following, you would expect, after that plan has been considered, decisions made, and then we can advise accordingly. So, there will be further advice following on that.

But, I want to be very clear, we understand, particularly for parents with 12 to 15-year-olds, they want to know, they want to know, firstly, that any vaccine that they would have would be backed in by the expert advice that those vaccines can be provided to 12 to 15-year-olds. Now, we have some interim advice, which is very favourable on that score, but we expect the final advice very soon to be consistent with that, and that enables us to move forward with the plans that are being prepared now for some weeks. And, as I said, we’ll confirm those later today, as a National Security Committee of Cabinet, and make further announcements about that at the appropriate time.

In relation to the other matter you raise, no, I don't share your view, and the Doherty Institute have also made their own comments on the assertions made in the question, so I’ll refer you to their comments about their own modelling. And, what they have been saying, what they have consistently said to the National Cabinet and to the Federal Government, in particular, that the rates of vaccination across the broader population over 16 give us the indication of the level of vaccination ready needed to be able to move to Phase B and Phase C. But, that does not by implication say there is no need to vaccinate children 12 to 15. And, that will be a very clear decision of my Government that we will need to go ahead and vaccinate children 12 to 15. And, so, these two objectives are not working against each other, I see them working completely together with each other. And, there are different rates of vaccination in the Doherty modelling, those who are very familiar with it will know that as you go across the age cohorts, as to understanding what their expectation is of what does 70 per cent overall look like, what does 80 per cent overall look like, there are different rates of vaccination by different age groups. And, obviously those who have the highest rates of vaccination in those scenarios are those who are in the older age groups, who are the most vulnerable to death. And, as the Health Minister has just observed, the fact that we have had in aged care facilities double dose vaccination rates now, of I think 84 per cent, and when you compare the terrible fatalities we saw last year in the Victorian outbreak compared to the Sydney outbreak this year, it is a factor of eight to one, thereabouts. And, so, the vaccines have clearly been doing their job in protecting people, particularly in residential aged care facilities with the- who are the primary, almost overwhelmingly exclusive casualties of that wave in Victoria last year. So, the vaccination and the vaccines are doing their job, and the fact that one in three Australians over the age of 16, by the end of this week, will be vaccinated, that, we are a long way, we have come forward a long way in these last few months as we’ve dealt with the challenges in the program and achieving what are now world rate performances when it comes to our vaccination as a share of our population. Lanai?

Journalist: Prime Minister, why are you building a quarantine facility in WA at Bullsbrook, three kilometres from a contaminated site, where groundwater won't be able to be used and you’ll have to ship the water in? Would you let your family stay there?

Prime Minister: Well, if we were flying into Perth, and we were quarantining in Perth, and that’s what we had to do, then of course I’d go there, if that’s what was required. The facility that we are now looking at has proven necessary because the one at Jandakot wasn’t able to be secured on the appropriate terms and conditions. And, so, we have moved with another facility that meets the national guidelines that we’d set out for getting that program moving forward. Mark.

Journalist: Prime Minister, Premier Pałaszczuk has just announced that she will fund the quarantine facility at Wellcamp because your Government won't, and that she will use it as a replacement for hotel quarantine, not as an addition to that. What’s your response?

Prime Minister: Well, she's been at liberty to do that for months. We've made it very clear that that facility did not seek to meet the national guidelines. And that's why we're going together, forward together at Pinkenba. But the Queensland Government was always in a position to go ahead with that facility, if that's what they wish to do and to have people quarantine there rather than in hotel facilities. That is entirely a matter for the Queensland Government. And they've made that decision. And they could have done that months ago if that's what they wished to do. But good for them. And I wish them every success.

Journalist: [inaudible] video that’s come out overnight of an Australian citizen being bashed by the Taliban and perhaps to you and to Marise Payne, what efforts are being made to contact that fellow, poor fellow, and ensure that his safety and possibly getting get him out, as difficult as that might be? 

Prime Minister: Well, I'll give you a general response, because it is our view that providing specific responses on individual cases is not helpful to individuals. So I'll give you a general response. And that is the efforts that we've put in place over the course of just over a week has ensured that around 4,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul. And that gives you an indication of how seriously the government has moved and taken great risk to achieve the evacuation of so many people in very similar circumstances to the ones that you've outlined. And so in so many cases, we have been able to evacuate people in these circumstances. It is a highly dangerous situation. We have been very honest about the nature of these challenges and the likelihood of being able to achieve everything we would hope to achieve. But we have to deal with the reality, the terrible, brutal and awful reality of the situation on the ground. 

Now, I have not sought to overstate expectations about this operation at any step. And I've been very clear and I've been very honest and I've been very candid about that. And that is difficult for the government to be daily making decisions. As I said, the National Security Committee has been meeting every single day and on many occasions more than once, to be looking at very specific circumstances and what can be done in various situations. And many actions have been taken, not ones that I can go into in a press conference like this. But I can assure you where anywhere we've been able to make to make it possible to get people out, we have been doing that. And there are 4,000 people who can testify to the actions of the government, the Defence Forces, Department of Home Affairs officials and DFAT officials that have been able to achieve a result that, compared to where we were last week, has so far exceeded our expectations about what we hoped we might be able to achieve. Marise?

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thanks, Prime Minister. And Andrew, those scenes are obviously deeply distressing and they have unfortunately been replicated on a number of times in the last days and week in relation to a whole range of of individuals trying to seek evacuation. We have worked very closely with their advocates, with their families, using countless telephone calls, countless direct contacts to try to bring them to points where they have been able to to access Hamid Karzai International Airport in the days before we came to the point we're at today. I understand, as Prime Minister said and agree, that commenting on specific cases really only exacerbates the danger that those people face. And the exposure that that gives them is not helpful. But we have tried very, very hard, 24/7, literally, to make sure we are dealing with as many of those individual cases as possible. I have seen, heard reports of the attacks on women, attacks on children, threats at checkpoints, invasions of transports where children and families have been threatened in those transports as they've been trying to get to the airport. The complexity of this is is significant, but we are trying to contact, as many have tried to contact and continue to do so of those people as we can.

Journalist: Given the airport is the only way out of Kabul, how, should you be bracing Australians for the fact that we may not get any more people out now? Could 4,000 be as far as we go if that security situation doesn't improve? And what is your concern that the people in Afghanistan right now are far more scared of a life under the Taliban and might think that the risk of a terror attack at the airport is one worth taking? Are you concerned that even with this advice, people will not heed it? 

Prime Minister: Well, I think you've set out the situation very well, Clare. And for more than a week now, I believe I have been preparing Australians about the difficulty of this operation and the extreme moral hazard of the environment in which we're operating. I said we'll do everything we possibly can to get as many people out as safely as we can. And so far, that has seen around 4,000 safely evacuated from one of the most dangerous parts of the world. And that has been done by Australians who have been putting themselves at great risk, for whom I also have a very personal responsibility as Prime Minister to do everything I can to ensure that I am asking them to do things that are done on the basis of that balance of risk and putting putting their safety very high, extremely high in our assessments. And that is why we have been meeting together as a National Security Security Committee so regularly, because these assessments are having been done many, many times a day to ensure that we are not putting our people in positions of unacceptable risk in these circumstances, but equally taking the necessary risks to save lives. And that is what we've been doing. So I would say to Australians that when the time comes, when the operations are no longer able to be safely conducted, that we can say honestly to them that Australians have done all that we possibly could have done in these circumstances to get as many people out as safely as possible. And the result of that is more than, it will be more than 4,000 by that time. And so many Afghan nationals who have helped us being settled here and making their life in this country as very welcome Australians ultimately, which I'm sure they'll take up that opportunity when it's provided to them. Chris. 

Journalist: [inaudible], the Brits have said that they might go out a day before that. So that time is coming soon, isn't it? Do you have any time on when the Australians might go? Would you go sooner than the Americans go? 

Prime Minister: I won't be making any comments on that because of the nature of our operations and the security of those operations.

Journalist: [inaudible] have gone into this detail, which is why I'm asking you, what engagement has Australia or its departments had directly with the Taliban or their representatives and in particular to assure that Australians are able to be assured of safe passage out of the country? Because we're seeing the opposite now.

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Australia has been working with our international partners, who particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, who are engaging directly with the Taliban. Let me be very clear in terms of what we expect. The Taliban has made a range of undertakings. And in relation to people seeking to leave Afghanistan, including Australians and Australian visa holders, we would expect those undertakings to be met and to allow those people, our citizens and our Australian visa holders to depart safely if they wish to do so. But our travel advice remains that you should not come to Hamid Karzai International Airport because it is not safe to do so, and that if you are in Kabul, you should shelter in place, move to a safe location and await further advice. For those Australians and for those visa holders who are in Afghanistan, can I also advise that through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through the Department of Home Affairs, those individuals will continue to be contacted by those agencies as relevant in each case. And those who have been granted temporary safe haven sub-class 449 visas in recent days will be contacted with specific advice about what they should do when it is safe to do so. And we encourage people in Afghanistan who don't have a visa and would like to seek Australia's assistance to also apply under that humanitarian programme. We will work with the International Organisation for Migration, the IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as we've discussed here earlier in the week, to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries. This will be a collaborative, cooperative international process and Australia will be called to that in terms of supporting Afghanis who wish to come to Australia and who qualify under the visas to do so. 

Prime Minister: It's a very important point. We will be moving to a post evacuation resettlement phase and we are already working through those plans with other partners about how that can be achieved. It won't be easy, but these are situations that have been faced on many other occasions where people have been seeking our humanitarian support through our formal programme. And so already plans are underway to how we will then move into the next phase. Right now, we're seeking to get people out of Kabul and then we will move post that mission to the next phase, which would see us resettle additional people not just this year, but in the many years ahead. We've got time for one more. 

Journalist: We know the vaccine, just back to vaccine rollout, we know that the rollout has been lagging for some of our most vulnerable communities, for NDIS participants, for indigenous communities. Do you think we need to rethink the national plan so that we don't just move to the next phases at 70 per cent and 80 per cent of population wide coverage, but rather when we also have much higher rates for those incredibly vulnerable cohorts? 

Prime Minister:  I understand the question and I understand the concern that many Australians will have that at 70 per cent and 80 per cent, even at those general average levels, that means 20 and 30 per cent of the population over 16 will still be unvaccinated. And you were right to note that there will be other cohort sections of the population which will have differing rates of vaccination as well. The Doherty analysis takes that into account in the recommendations that it has made. And that is why I have noted on many, many occasions that measures will remain available to protect particularly vulnerable populations with stronger restrictions that may be necessary to protect those particular populations in those cases. So highly targeted actions and things of that nature - that is contemplated in the national plan. The national plan contemplates and understands the need to continue to address the most vulnerable in the community, and it is a dynamic plan to that extent that it understands that there is just not one homogenous population in Australia. What the overall levels of vaccination targets indicate, though, is that when you reach that level of vaccination, like you do with any immunisation, you know, the immunisation against serious infectious diseases doesn't just protect the vaccinated, it actually protects the unvaccinated as well. And that's why you have to lift your vaccination levels to those scales, 70 and 80 per cent. Let's not forget that even at 70 per cent, which is an easing in, to the full 80 per cent measures, that is still a mark higher than most of the other countries, if not all, that have gone into their next phase,  be it in the UK or other places. We have actually set the mark generally higher and higher again for the 80 per cent and also acknowledging that in our most vulnerable populations, which is the elderly population, we'll be seeing vaccination rates double doses well in excess of 80 and even 90 per cent. But where there are particular groups such as indigenous communities and groups like that, then the plan absolutely and totally is designed to ensure that specific protections are provided in and around those communities where those challenges present. So the plan actually accommodates exactly the thing that you're raising, and I'm very pleased it does, because that has been a consistent concern of my Government and the National Cabinet more broadly. But Greg, did you want to add?

Journalist: [inaudible] provide one or two examples of what these highly targeted precautions might be? What are we talking about in practical terms? 

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: If I may. Two things in particular. The most vulnerable population, as we've seen around the world is those in residential aged care. The residential aged care first dose outcomes at this stage are 88.4 per cent and 84 per cent for second dose. Those are extraordinary levels of protection. And so we'll continue to maintain an absolute focus on those elderly. And that's now backed up with an 86 per cent plus first dose for the over 70 population. That is the single most vulnerable set of people, those in residential aged care and those who are over 70. In terms of indigenous Australia, what we've seen is an extraordinary acceleration. We stood here with Ken Wyatt only a week and a half ago and he pointed out that there had been very significant hesitancy, but what we are seeing now is is a complete change of mindset across Indigenous Australia and Ken and so many others have worked to to change that. That's being backed up with the uptake of vaccination. And so what I am confident of is that we are seeing and will continue to see a very significant acceleration of vaccination. In New South Wales, for example, 44 ACCHS, 574 primary care sites in, across Australia, what we see is 159 Aboriginal medical services and over 2,000 primary care sites, all of which are working to support the indigenous population. They're coming forward. And then another example is, which has been put forward by the West Australian Government, is the mining companies who will vaccinate both their own workers on site, but also provide additional support for indigenous communities who may not have taken up opportunities so far. So this is a very comprehensive plan. Important question, but the most vulnerable are protected at the highest level, Indigenous Australia. I'm really pleased to say that the uptake is accelerating. 

Prime Minister: I'll just finish on this. I want to say thank you to the 335,000 Australians who turned up yesterday as we continue on this march of hope to 70 per cent and 80 per cent of our population over the age of 16 vaccinated. And I want to convey a very special thank you on behalf of all Australians for those brave souls who are there in Kabul right now evacuating people who need us more than at any other time in their lives. Thank you for your service. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43546

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

23 August 2021

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Prime Minister: Thank you, everyone. I'm joined by the Foreign Minister and the Minister for Health again today. We had another successful set of operations last night with four flights. I'll ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs to give you an update on that in a little time from now. Also today in the Parliament, we'll be moving a motion and speaking to it, recognising, of course, the service of Australian men and women who have sacrificed much to serve over the 20 years of our engagement in Afghanistan and also to recognise who continue to serve there right now in the midst of a very dangerous situation as we continue our operations to evacuate both Australians and Afghan nationals for visa holders in Australia and working with our our many partners around the region.

I want to make a number of comments first about our national plan to ensure that we can live with this virus. The national plan we have developed and agreed is our pathway to living with this virus. That is our goal, to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it. It is a plan based on the best possible scientific, medical and economic advice, I would argue, available to any government in the world. We have the best people working on these issues, and it's based on the best evidence that is available to our Government. It is a plan that has been developed very carefully. And I want to stress over many, many months. We began this process earlier this year. We've been through two iterations of the Doherty modelling to produce the national plan targets that were agreed a month or so ago. And indeed, as you will recall, the national plan was first agreed without those targets attached to it, understanding what the steps would need to be. And then with the science guiding our decisions about what those targets should be.

We've been cautious during the pandemic. And that has saved lives and it has saved livelihoods. There's no doubt about that. 30,000 lives saved, a million people back in work as we have combated this virus in all of its strains over this more than 18 months now. But once you get to 70 per cent of your country that is eligible for the vaccine and 80 per cent, the plan sets out that we have to move forward. We cannot hold back. Our task between that day and now is to ensure that we ready ourselves for that next phase. It means that we must continue to vaccinate at the record pace as we are now doing that. We must ensure that our public health systems are ready for the increase in the number of cases that will occur. We must be clear about the rules, the common sense rules that continue to apply post 70 per cent and post 80 per cent, which is factored in to the work that is being done. That has been the basis of our plan. Common sense rules. And we must adjust our mindset. Cases will not be the issue once we get above 70 per cent. Dealing with serious illness, hospitalisation, ICU capabilities, our ability to respond in those circumstances, that will be our goal. And we will live with this virus as we live with other infectious diseases. That's what the national plan is all about, was always about. That's how we designed it and that's how it needs to be implemented. Because the national plan is our deal with all Australians. It is the understanding that we have with Australians making their sacrifices now, and who have made them over such a long time, that that sacrifice will get them to the next step, because if not at 70 per cent and 80 per cent, then when? Then when? We must make that move and we must prepare to make that move and we must prepare the country to make that move. The lockdowns now being endured are taking an extremely heavy toll. Both on the mental and physical health of Australians and on the economic success of Australia. It is taking a heavy toll, and so they must only continue for as long as they are absolutely necessary and not a day more.

It is always darkest before the dawn, and I think these lockdowns are demonstration of that, but the dawn is not far away and we are working towards that dawn and we are hastening towards the dawn. We should not delay it. We should prepare for it. We should not fear it. We should embrace it. And we should move forward together. There will be those who will seek to undermine the national plan. There will be those who will seek to undermine confidence in it. I think their motives are clear. But there are also those who may fear it. And have concerns about what it means when you get to Phase B and what that means in terms of increases in cases. Our goal must be to help people overcome those fears and not give in to them. Because this cannot go on forever, this is not a sustainable way to live in this country, without those freedoms that we all cherish. We understand, all sensible Australians understand, that there has had to be restrictions. There has had to be a curtailment of what we can do during the course of a global pandemic. The virus doesn't respect ideologies. It doesn't respect any of these things. It's just a virus and we have to deal with it. Australians get that. But equally, they also know there has to be a plan out. There is a plan out, and we need to move forward with that plan.

These lockdowns, once we reach our goal, we know on the scientific, medical and economic advice, do more harm than good. And so it's important that we move as quickly as we can to that next phase. And there is strong progress towards that plan. The Health Minister will outline more of this in a moment. 1.8 million vaccines in just the last seven days on a per capita basis. That's on par with the best ever week in the United States and better than the best ever week in the United Kingdom. Australia is hitting those records. In particular, 17.15 million doses have now been administered around the country, and I want to stress that 75 per cent of over 50s have now had their first dose, 85 per cent of over 70s have now had their first dose. Now, this is very important because when we reach 70 per cent, and I had this conversation with the Chief Medical Officer this morning, when we reach 70 per cent, those most vulnerable in the older age groups will have an even higher level of vaccination. And so our concern, of course, in those phases is for the unvaccinated. And that's why we encourage everybody to get vaccinated, but we will know when we hit that 70 per cent and the 80 per cent mark, we will see an even higher level of vaccination rates amongst the most elderly who are the most vulnerable to fatality as a result of COVID-19. So we have the plan. We are making great progress to achieve the goals of that plan. And that's what I think gives Australians great hope to endure through what will still be a difficult time in the months ahead. We need to stay focused. We need to get ready and we need to move ahead.

Now, just briefly, before I pass over to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, last night there were four further flights. One is still in the air, returning to AMAB now. Over 450 people we've been able to evacuate overnight. That brings to over a thousand people together with the United Kingdom, we've been able to evacuate over the course of these operations. And I want to note that that includes not only Australians, but includes a large number of Afghan locally engaged employees and humanitarian visa holders that we've been able to get out of the country. In addition to that, there are many women and children that we've been able to get out of Afghanistan in what has been some of the most extreme conditions our people have ever operated on, operated in, if not worse. And I want to thank them for the work they're doing on the ground. Incredibly difficult work under extraordinary stress. Decisions they're having to make, the care they're having to provide has been truly extraordinary in the best Australian tradition. We have been able over the course of the last few days, and I can't go into too much detail about this, but working with other countries and continuing to do that to expand the ways we're being able to process people to get more people into the airport and onto planes, we will continue to do that in partnership with our with our allies who are working there and ensure that we can get greater uplift in the days we still have remaining as part of these operations. But with that, I'll pass you over to Minister for Foreign Affairs and then the Minister for Health and Aged Care.

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Thanks, PM, and thanks for that acknowledgement of the teams on the ground from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, from Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and the ADF. As indeed as we've seen from reporting, as we know from our people on the ground, this is a situation that remains extremely volatile and very dangerous. Our top priority continues to be ensuring that safe departure of Australian citizens and visa holders and also working with our friends and partners to support one another's evacuation operations. The most significant challenge continues to be access to Hamid Karzai International Airport. The north gate has been closed for many hours, although we have been able to continue to get people into the airport, our officials on the ground are literally in constant discussions with the US, with NATO representatives about the best ways to move people into the airport. And as the Prime Minister has said previously, the National Security Committee of Cabinet is meeting every day on these matters.

Our continued focus is on bringing out every Australian and Australian visa holder that we possibly can and supporting those vulnerable Afghanis as well to to move if we possibly can. There is, as you will have now seen from public reporting, a discussion going on about the prospect of the United States extending its withdrawal deadline. We are part of those discussions. And if they are to be extended, we are absolutely ready to support a continuing operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport. In the last 24 hours, we have evacuated over 450 people from Kabul on those four ADF flights, including Australian and New Zealand citizens, UK evacuees, Afghan locally engaged employees and visa holders. And since the 18th of August, that total is over 1,000 people again, including Australia and New Zealand nationals, those visa holders and foreign nationals.

The key to this is the cooperation we are strongly engaged in across every element of the activities, evacuating not just Australians and Afghan visa holders for Australia, but people on behalf of the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand. One of our ADF flights on the 21st of August carried 210 people uplifted on behalf of the United Kingdom. More flights are planned over the coming days, subject to operational conditions. A chartered plane transporting 175 evacuees made up of Australians, Australian visa holders and passengers evacuated on behalf of New Zealand arrived this morning in Melbourne. That takes our total number of passengers returned to Australia who have been through the Al Minhad process to 271. I want to acknowledge and thank the many colleagues, senators and members right across the Parliament who are advocating for and supporting so many vulnerable people who are attempting to get to the airport in Kabul and inside the airport. The Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Home Affairs and Defence teams are all working to support this effort and to evacuate as many as possible. We have, significant information are being shared amongst parliamentarians, with the departments, with my office, and that is helpful to us and very helpful to the teams on the ground. It is certainly an absolutely punishing environment and complex environment for those trying to get to Hamid Karzai International Airport and to get into the airport. And for those helping them. I think it's fair to say, Prime Minister, that we are thinking of them all.

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Thank very much, Prime Minister and Marise. Every vaccination protects one Australian, but every vaccination protects all Australians. And what we have seen is that yesterday was a record Sunday vaccination day. It was a record weekend. As the Prime Minister said, it was a record week. And each one of those vaccinations protects an individual. But each one of those vaccinations is something that helps protect all Australians. Yesterday, 139,500 Australians were vaccinated, the first time that more than 100,000 people have been vaccinated on a Sunday. But by a long way, on the weekend, 335,500 vaccinations. Over the week, 1,800,011 Australians were vaccinated, which is more than the population of South Australia. And I want to thank everybody for coming forward. These numbers, as the Prime Minister has said, are comparable with some of the highest weekly numbers we've seen around the world. In particular, this was the first time our GPs have done more than a million doses in conjunction with pharmacists over a week. So our primary care outlets, more than a million doses. Our first doses are at 52.8 per cent, our second doses 30.3 per cent, and very significantly over 50s, more than 75 per cent over 60s, more than 80 per cent, over 70s more than 85 per cent. And all of those numbers are progressively increasing. Just to note that there's over 8,200 Commonwealth points of presence, including 5,288 GPs who are vaccinating, 137 Commonwealth Vax clinics, 182 Aboriginal community controlled health organisation sites, and now over 2,500 pharmacies that are out in the field and vaccinating. Each one of those is a Commonwealth AstraZeneca hub. And so just as we look forward this week, there's more than 2.2 million vaccines that have been distributed for use by Australians right now. And over the coming week, we'll be distributing over 2.4 million vaccines for the week beyond. So what that says is that the supply is strong, the distribution is strong, and the uptake is phenomenal. So thank you to every Australian. But please remember the basics. If you are in a lockdown area, stay at home. If you need to be tested, please be tested. And if you're eligible for vaccination, don't hesitate.

Journalist: [Inaudible] Andrew Barr said that he thought Josh Frydenberg was bluffing when he said the Commonwealth would pull assistance for states and territories that lockdown down when vaccination rates reached 70 to 80 per cent. He said that effectively said that your government would not have the political courage to do that in an election year. So can we hear from you, if states and territories do lock down when those thresholds are met, will they have to do it without Commonwealth financial support?

Prime Minister: Well, you’re putting to me a hypothetical situation, with respect. Why wouldn't people want to open up the country when we hit 70 and 80 per cent? That’s my, that’s my point. We’ve agreed a national plan at 70 and 80 per cent based on the best possible medical advice, best possible scientific advice, and best possible economic advice. We have been told very clearly that lockdowns, once you move past that level, come at more cost than gain. And so, it does puzzle me, it puzzles me why anyone would want to go against a plan that has been so carefully prepared based on that advice. So, I think the greater concern in that environment would be that lockdowns would be being applied. That is the greater risk to people in that scenario.

Journalist: Prime Minister, it’s a fair enough question. We’re already seeing Western Australia suggest that they’re prepared to continue with COVID zero. We’ve seen Queensland, as your Minister Karen 

Andrews has said this morning, crab walking away from the deal. Are you prepared to show the fortitude and turn off the money tap if they don't open up the door, borders?

Prime Minister: We’re very committed to the national plan and I tell you what, I think Australians are too.

Journalist: Will you turn off the money tap?

Prime Minister: I think seven and to eight out of 10 Australians who’ve taken a decision to go forward, get vaccinated, endure these lockdowns, do what’s been asked of them, I tell you they’ll be expecting that plan to be put in place. And, I think the voices of Australians on this will be very critical. So, let's just see what happens.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you said last week you were shocked at the suggestion someone deployed to Afghanistan could be at all involved in the Brereton inquiry, but there are reports today that someone who was involved in that inquiry has been deployed to Afghanistan. What is your response to that? Is that.

Prime Minister: I won’t make any comment on that.

Journalist: You said that there were people who would seek to undermine the national plan. Are you referring to states like Queensland and WA which have been stepping around, and will you expect them to open up the borders to New South Wales once we hit those 70 and 80 per cent vaccination rates?

Prime Minister: Well, I wasn't specifically referring to anybody. I’m just saying, you know, I’ve been around this place for a long time and when governments put forward plans to get things done there are always those who will seek to undermine it for their own purposes. That happens in this place every day. I suspect it will happen later on in Question Time today. But, my point is simply this, there are a number of things we have to overcome as we go forward with the plan. Of course, there will be those who will undermine it for political purposes, and there’s no great surprise about that and Australians will judge them accordingly. But, I think there are, I mentioned one particularly, and that there are those who might fear what would happen after 70 per cent, and I understand that. I understand people will be concerned that cases may rise, and what will that mean. And, that leads to the next issue, and that is there’ll be those, well, will our public health systems be able to deal with that. Again, a very legitimate issue. So, that's my point. To realise the plan at 70 per cent and 80 per cent, the task is not to walk away, the task is not to delay, the task is not to fear, the task is to embrace, prepare, plan, ensure that we are in a position to do that. Now, we’ve got time to achieve that and already we’re seeing our public health system stand up very strongly, and I would envisage that in the time we have between now and when we reach those targets that there will be the opportunity to reinforce those plans, for states and territories to know that they will be able to deal with this, because we have to deal with it. Otherwise, we stay in the cave forever. And, that's not a sustainable solution. And, so, at some point, and we have nominated what that point is, we must go to the next level. Chris.

Journalist: [Inaudible] hospital system. Last year when we were locking down the whole point was to fortify the hospital system, to make sure we had the ICU beds, the ventilators, the consumables. So, perhaps through you to the Health Minister as well, is all that in place? Do we have, cause you’ve noted that case numbers will increase, obviously the pressure will increase, is the hospital system ready?

Prime Minister: Yeah, we review this almost on a daily basis, and we certainly review it as part of the formal process through the National Cabinet every Friday, and the Secretary of the Department of Health goes through that exercise and looks at all the various capacities, right across the states and territories, their current levels of utilisation. There is a document called the ‘Common operating picture’ which looks at many of the pressures that go into this system, and that is regularly reviewed, and that has been happening for a very long time. Because, you’re right, they were the first issues that were identified 18 months ago and we have never taken our gaze off that because, at the end of the day, that is what most supports Australians and provides that backstop. So, you know, workforce issues, plans of supporting in the contingency, circumstances of cases, I don't mean COVID cases, I mean situations where states may need further help or assistance or whatever, that needs to be worked through, in the same way that we work national disasters and things like that nature, and the states work together to bring the resources to where they need to go. That’s the work. That work enables us to live with the virus. Avoiding the day when we hit those rates and I want to stress, I’ve put no faith in a calendar. There’s no freedom day here. That’s not what my plan is. I mean, a day is not going to change it. Seventy per cent’s going to change it. Eighty per cent’s going to change it. That’s the day you get to. That’s what actually drives the decision about when you can go to the next step. Now, I’m all for freedom, and the passage to that is based on clearing those gates of 70 per cent and 80 per cent. What day we will hit that? As soon as we possibly can. But, Greg, did you want to add to that?

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Yeah, so just in terms of the hospital system, last year the states and territories, in conjunction with the Commonwealth, I think did an extraordinary job in building that surge capacity for 7,500 ventilated beds. At the moment, on the advice that I have before me, it’s 36 people in ventilation. That figure will be updated during the morning as the state figures come in. But, what we have done is create both a sustainable base and a surge capacity, and that surge capacity which was put in place last year, these were some of the earliest discussions we had around the NSC in February of 2020 and building that, acquiring the ventilation, working with ResMed, working with international partners means that we have a strong, robust system.

Prime Minister: Clare.

Journalist: Prime Minister, 13 of 17 special forces soldiers have been quietly told that their show-cause notice has been withdrawn. Why wasn't this, in relation to the Brereton inquiry, why wasn't this publicly announced by Government or the Department of Defence given how high-profile the approach was when they were initially accused?

Prime Minister: Well, the points that you make I think are very relevant, and it just goes to show that there are people making assumptions about these issues and shouldn't be making those assumptions, and there is a proper process we've set up to deal with these matters and that will be, that will be followed. What I do know is there are brave Australians in Kabul right now bringing people to freedom. That's what they're doing, and they have my total respect and I'm not going to put up with aspersions being cast against their character, and I don't think other Australians will too. I think they’ll take a very dim view of that approach.

Journalist: Can I clarify something, sorry, just in relation to Afghanistan. We have reports now from a family that say their family member actually was killed working for Australia as an interpreter. They were taken out by the US, they couldn't get on an Australian plane. They’re now in Berlin and they’ve actually been told they may be resettled in Uganda. Is that acceptable to you, and what options would a family like that have for resettlement, and how many other families may be in a similar situation?

Prime Minister: Well, Marise, the Foreign Minister, might want to comment on this as well. We’re evacuating Brits, we’re evacuating New Zealanders, we’ve offered to evacuate nationals and including Afghan visa holders from other countries as well, to get them out. And, so, we’re all working together to get people out. That’s the priority right now, to get people out of Afghanistan. Now, where an individual may have a claim to enter into under Australia's humanitarian program or a locally-engaged employee program, they will be much better able to do that from another place. Now, where they could advance that nomination, they could advance that application. And so, we’ll deal with that on a case-by-case basis. But the key thing is, for any refugee and any person who is seeking to flee persecution, is you get them out of the place of persecution. That's what the, that's what the UNHCR Convention actually provides for, to get people out of a place where they may face persecution. And, that's what's happening right now, not just by Australians who are there serving the interests of, of those who need to get out. But, that's what the British are doing. That's what the Americans are doing. That's what the Germans are doing. That's what the French are doing. That's what so many countries are doing, and we're doing it together. And, so, we will continue to work on where people may ultimately be resettled. And, that is a discussion that I had with Prime Minister Johnson last week, that there will be those who are known and a settlement path can be, can be identified, and there'll be many, particularly as we're noting how we're being very careful about who gets on our planes and we're going through as many proper checks as we possibly can in that environment, but Five Eyes community will need to be, you know, involved in this. One of the issues we discussed last week is not repeating, I think, some of the mistakes of what occurred many years ago after the the surge, irregular movement and indeed illegal movement of people across Europe. And, of course, we've faced that here in Australia. So, we're all conscious of that and doing with that as humanely and as effectively as we can. Marise, did you want to add anything to that?

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Prime Minister, every single country which is operating in Afghanistan right now is trying to remove as many people as they possibly can to the safest place they possibly can. The networks that we have through Home Affairs, through the normal immigration networks, whether it's Five Eyes or into the European Union and other partners, are networks that we will use, following the processes of evacuation, to ensure that we're able to support those who are seeking to come into, seeking to come to Australia.

Journalist: At 80 per cent, there'll still be millions of Australians who aren't vaccinated. Is your message to those who choose not to be vaccinated that they're on their own? But, what about the children who haven't had the opportunity to be vaccinated. Aren't they then being exposed to the risk of catching COVID? What are the long-term health effects on them? And, what about the other people who have medical reasons not to be vaccinated? How do you protect those people?

Prime Minister: Well, let me start with the latter group. They are in the same category as many Australians who can't be vaccinated against many infectious diseases. And, Greg may want to add to that. So, achieving a high level of vaccination across the population is their best protection. That's what actually protects them, and that's why that's important that we, as Greg says, it's not just you you're protecting by getting vaccinated, but it’s certainly others in your own family, in your own community, but particularly the most vulnerable, who, as you rightly say, for medical reasons, may not be able to have vaccinations. And, that's true for every single vaccination. In relation to children, youth, the, we will expect to see a more detailed plan by the end of this week, between General Frewen and the states, about mobilising that vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds. Now, we'll have plenty of vaccines to do that job, and and we will get about that task, and that is very important to do, along with the broader task of vaccinating to 70 and 80 per cent of the population aged over 16. So, that will be done, and that will be done swiftly. Last week we discussed it. Everybody of the same view, start it as soon as you can and certainly get it done as soon as you can as well. And, so, whether that means school based vaccination programs, family based vaccinations, all of these things are being worked through right now so we can roll that out. And, I see that happening concurrently with the, with the surge towards 70 and 80 per cent.

The last point I'd make, though, is that there is no country in the world, the Chief Medical Officer advised me this morning, who right now is vaccinating children under the age of 12. No one's doing that. And, there are a range of issues that are being worked through, there are a range of trials that we understand that are being undertaken. There is no vaccine that is, has been approved for administering to those under that age group. And, so, I'm sure that Australian parents, me included, I have a 12 year old daughter, who would be wanting to know that all of those boxes are ticked and carefully assessed before we move, and if we move into that phase. But, that will be driven completely by the medical advice on those issues. But, I want to assure all parents, I can assure you that as well as getting 70 and 80 per cent of the population vaccinated for those aged over 16, we are equally, equally ensuring that we address those aged 12 to 15. But, I remind you again of the advice of the Chief Medical Officer the best protection for your children is for you to get vaccinated, your household to get vaccinated, the people that your children come in contact with to get vaccinated. So, I would encourage Australians to do that. Greg, did you want to add anything to that?

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care: Yeah, so look, just briefly in terms of youth, the bookings open next Monday, so a week from today for the 16 to 39 year olds. Secondly, in terms of 12 to 15 year olds, we already have those who are immunocompromised or with underlying medical conditions. I can announce today, after consultation with General Frewen and in particular Brendan Murphy and and Linda Reynolds this morning, Minister Reynolds, that we will be opening up as of Wednesday for children 12 to 15 with, who are on the NDIS, who have not been qualified as an otherwise underlying medical condition. I think that's an important protection. Linda Reynolds was passionate about this and we're moving to do that. That covers 40,000 children. And, then finally, in terms of the balance of children, 12 to 15, that is with ATAGI. We're expecting advice by the end of the week. We are quietly hopeful that that will be a double green light after the TGA, and then we're ready to, to move on on that advice in the timeframe they recommend.

Journalist: If you choose not to be vaccinated, they’re on their own, right? 

Prime Minister: Well, this is why with any vaccination you achieve as high levels as you possibly can, because even those who don't choose to get the vaccine are protected to a degree by the fact that the broader population is, is more generally vaccinated. But, my my plea to them is to protect yourself, protect your family, protect your fellow Australians and please get vaccinated. It’s not a mandatory vaccination policy in this country, except for in very specific circumstances. But, for those who choose not to do that, well, they are putting themselves, based on our medical advice, at personal health risk. And, and so we're providing that opportunity for every Australian to be able to get that vaccine. Whether they choose to do that and thereby take on the greater risks of not being vaccinated, then that is also a choice they're making. Kath.

Journalist: Can I just clarify, in terms of the 70 per cent, are you still happy reopening at 70 per cent if if, if cases at that point are significant enough to make contact tracing less effective? Because the Doherty Report says that if cases are high enough to make contact tracing ineffective, that at 70 per cent prolonged lockdowns may still be necessary. So, what's your position on that?

Prime Minister: Well, the plan talks about are highly targeted and unlikely for lockdowns post 70 per cent, and 80 per cent it goes further than that. And, the advice that we've had from Professor McVernon over the course of the weekend that the starting point does not influence the overall conclusions of the model. There is further sensitivity work that's being done around that. But, the point that we've also been making is that's why we're seeking to constrain as much as possible the number of cases while we're still in a phase where we are now. Phase A is still a suppression phase. There is no conflict between me saying to you that lockdowns, you know, once we hit 70 and 80 per cent, do more harm than good. And, the point right now when we're at our current level, where they remain, are regrettably necessary part of how we're seeking to manage our COVID response. There's no conflict between those two things. That is based on what is occurring and the health situation at those two different points in time. But, the advice that we have to this point is that, of course, we can go ahead with that, because if not at that point, was it at 70.16? Obviously, the issue once you reach those marks is how you manage it beyond that point, and you build your capacity to live with the virus. And, the clear point I'm making to Australians today is that is where we're going. That is where we all want to go. There will be risk attached to it. But, there is also risk by remaining stuck where we are. We have to break this cycle. The national plan is the way to cut through and for us to emerge from that. This groundhog day has to end, and it will end when we start getting to 70 per cent and 80 per cent. Thank you all very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43528

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

20 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, I’m joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Those watching who have just been watching the New South Wales Premier will know that there are further restrictions that are being placed in New South Wales, as they seek to make the lockdown work. It’s very important the lockdown works, very important the lockdown works. Of course, there are additional vaccines that have been rolling in this week out of the special allotment we were able to make out of those more than a million doses that we were able to get from Europe. But, that doesn’t take away from the necessity of the lockdown working. And so those measures will add further to that. And I know that in situations when you’re being told of further difficult news that, that can make you feel somewhat disempowered. These events can become quite overwhelming, and I want to encourage people, whether they’re in New South Wales, Victoria, here in the ACT who are affected by these lockdowns, that mental health support is there and is available, and we have surged our resources into those organisations, be it Lifeline, Kids Helpline, and the many other services to ensure that they are there to assist you. The telehealth support that is provided through your GPs for mental health assistance, that’s all there. We’ve had this in place for quite a period of time throughout this pandemic. Ensuring there are important mental health services available to Australians during this pandemic has been a very high priority for my Government, and I appreciate how that’s been added to by states and territories to ensure that people living right across Australia can get that important mental health support that they need and so that is there for you.

But, when you do feel like these events are beyond your control, there are always things that you can do. And, in this case what you can do is of course, you can stay at home. Of course, you can get tested. Of course, that you can go and get vaccinated, and another outstanding day of vaccinations, 120,000 specifically in New South Wales, but over 300,000 again right across the country. Three times the MCG again in just one day. And that is encouraging. Every single one of those vaccinations taking us a step closer to where we want to be. But the other thing you can do is you just get on the phone and you talk to other people, you give them encouragement, you stay connected. Socially, social isolation doesn’t mean there needs to be a lack of connection between people. That’s a physical thing, physical distancing, but we’ve got to maintain the social connection and that’s very important. So, I want to encourage people to do that. Ring your mum, ring your sister, ring your cousin, ring, ring your mates. Stay in contact with each other through the course of these lockdowns.

Delta may have changed the game, but it hasn’t changed the character of Australians, and our resolve to fight and beat this. Delta is a big opponent when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic that we’ve been fighting now for 18 months. But Australians I know are up to that and I’m seeing that every single day as they are going out there, getting vaccinated, doing what they need to do to push through.

But, I want to update you on the serious situation that continues in Afghanistan. I'll make a few other comments on the COVID pandemic, and the Health Minister will add to that as well. Overnight, our airlift operation continued. We continued to strengthen our position on the ground in Kabul. Sixty evacuees were transferred from Kabul to AMAB last night, comprising both Australians and Afghan visa holders. That means that over 160 now in total, 162 have now been evacuated through the various flights that we've been able to run, and the support of the UK Government as well. Ninety-four persons were transferred from AMAB to Perth overnight, where they have now entered quarantine. Further flights are, of course, planned in the days ahead. They will be, of course, subject to weather and slots, and the time on the apron, about 30 minutes. So, it's a very quick operation, got to move very, very fast and the situation on the ground is difficult. And we will continue to work with other nations, other partners in ensuring the airlift of Australians, Afghan nationals who we are seeking to support, and indeed other foreign officials who are seeking to be evacuated out of Kabul.

The situation in Kabul does remain chaotic. We are engaged in constant messaging and contacts wherever we possibly can with those we are seeking to evacuate. Operations of Australian Defence Force or others who were there, beyond the airport, are not possible. They are not able to be undertaken in any way by the Australian Defence Forces. To do so would put them at great risk, with no commensurate benefit. And these are options we obviously consider, and we have considered those matters about how that can be done. We are working closely with the US and the UK forces who are providing that overarching security around the airport, and we're working to make that process of entering into the airport as orderly as you possibly can in a chaotic situation like this. But it is very, very difficult. Our biggest challenge is for people to be able to get to that airport.

We have, there is a large numbers now, we're advised, who are starting to come into Kabul. There are multiple checkpoints that are in place. The Taliban leadership is now moving into the city. On, in the region, at AMAB, we have two C-17s, two C-130s now, one KC-30, the, a refueller, which has already been engaged in operations supporting our partners in the region. And, we have a Defence, regular Defence contracted repatriation flight, which will bring people from AMAB back to Australia.

I've been working with the states and territories, and we'll discuss this this afternoon at National Cabinet, but I'm very pleased that all states and territories are seeking to support this effort, whichever way they can, either in providing directly those quarantine facilities, and all of those who are running them are doing just that. Had some contact with the New South Wales Premier this morning about those issues. And, of course they are, of course they are. Despite the considerable difficulties being faced in New South Wales, all states and territories are stepping up and to provide support to this initiative.

Last night, I spoke to His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Zayed of Abu Dhabi, and I thanked him, thanked him very much for the tremendous support and cooperation that we're getting within the Emirates, for our operations there at AMAB. We have a tremendous relationship with them, and the Crown Prince and I had the opportunity not only to discuss the practicality of those issues last night and express my thanks, but also to discuss the broader situation in Afghanistan and within the region.

I also spoke last night to Prime Minister Johnson about these issues and shared our understanding of the situation on the ground. I thanked him also for the support of the UK the night before last in uplifting those Australians and Afghan visa holders who are coming to Australia through their flight. And, obviously we will return that favour wherever that's asked of. We haven't been asked to do that to this point in time. Many flights are going in and out. People are being able to get people onto those flights. But it is very difficult for people to get through those points, getting into the airport, and we discussed those situations and many others, and I'm happy to answer any questions on those when we come to the question section of this press conference. We also discussed and the fact that we both understand, and there is an understanding of this amongst European leaders as well, the need to address the risk of irregular, illegal movement of people through borders as a result of this crisis, and that the lessons of Syria are understood and, and the situation there is managed effectively. Now, I already made a number of comments about how we're managing those issues here in Australia, with very clear messages to people smugglers. And equally these are matters that are understood in Europe and in the United Kingdom, and they're managing those issues. I had the opportunity to talk last night about our humanitarian program and what we're doing in Australia. As I said, we certainly believe we'll be able to work through around 3,000 this year. But that's a, that's a floor, not a ceiling, and I think we potentially can do more than that. It was good news to the Prime Minister who was unaware that Australia had been running these operations for many years and that some 8,500 Afghans had already come to Australia, in excess of what we'd certainly seen out of the UK in recent times. And so, we are already ahead on that score. And and as a result, we were able to share our learnings about how we undertake that process and ensure the security of that process. And, he was very interested in those issues, and and we will continue to exchange information on those points and ensure that, and not just through the UNHCR, which the Foreign Minister will speak of in a minute, but also through the Five Eyes countries, that we're working together. We're all taking more people, not just immediately to evacuate them from the situation in Afghanistan, but also over a longer period of time, and how we can process individuals who are in these situations and how they can be moved, and how they can eventually be taken to the various countries that are going to receive them and they can begin a new life in those countries.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs spoke last night to the UK Foreign Secretary as well, and the High Commissioner for Refugees at the UNHCR. Australia will be making an initial commitment. The appeal is yet to be established, but we’re just foreshadowing that we’ll be making a commitment of some $5 million to that effort. Other, a number of other countries have made a commensurate commitments, and we will continue to monitor that and the Foreign Minister will update you on the conversation that she had with the High Commissioner last night.

On matters of COVID, 16.5 million doses now in total. 303,304 on a day, 1.7 million in a week, 386,000 of those Polish doses going into arms right now. Those vax facts of 303,000 a day, that's two days over 300,000, that is really hitting the marks that we need to hit for us to achieve the objectives of our national plan. Our national plan is a deal with Australians. It's a deal with Australians. We've said you've, you've persevering the lockdowns. You're taking the instructions. You're making the sacrifices. You're getting tested. You're isolating. You're getting vaccinated. And the national plan is a deal with Australians, which says when we achieve those marks of 70 per cent and 80 per cent, there'll be changes. And I'm committed to that plan. And premiers and chief ministers have signed up to that plan, but they haven't signed up with me. They've signed up with the Australian people. And it's very important that we continue to work that plan in its practical elements as we move into Phase B, once we hit 70 per cent of which we're making very, very strong progress towards.

In particular, I'll just run down, ACT first dose, 57.5 per cent, New South Wales, 56.4 per cent, Tassie, 55.1, Northern Territory, 50.5, VIC’s at 49.9, just about to tick over that 50 per cent mark. South Australia at 48.3, Queensland at 45.2 and Western Australia at 44.6. Overall Australia is 51.02 per cent vaccinated on the first dose, and we're at 28.9 per cent second dose vaccinated around the country.

This afternoon National Cabinet will be meeting, as usual on Friday. I don't propose to be holding a further press conference on that later today. Today, we are basically just having a status report across a whole range of issues. So, not anticipating there being any resolutions today. None are planned for today. It is an update, and to continue work on a number of items that are before us, in particular, working on those exemptions for vaccinated persons, that work continues. But there'll be no resolution of that today. And, but, we have made a lot of progress on the digital support that is available and to be done through state systems to give effect to that. The youth vaccination program, which I know has been a regular issue raised, the Health Minister will speak more to that. We, the, the interim ATAGI advice on vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds is imminent. We anticipate that that will be finalised over the course of the next week. At the same time, we’ll be talking through, in parallel the programs that will need to be in place at a state and Commonwealth level to support the vaccination of 12 to 15 year-olds. So, we'll have a good discussion about that this afternoon. And the freight code issues have been resolved. So they're the principal matters that will be discussed this afternoon. In the usual way, a summary of, a record of the meeting will be issued later today. But, they’re the main issues that are being discussed, and I don't think there'll be a need to draw you all back here in the late afternoon to go over those matters. And with that, I'll pass you over to the Foreign Minister.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks very much, PM, and as the Prime Minister said, a second ADF flight from Kabul carrying 60 passengers arrived at our Al Minhad Air Base. That was made up of Australians, Afghan visa holders and families, being a third overall flight, after the UK flight that carried the 76 Australians and visa holders. We are also pleased that the first flight to bring passengers to Australia has landed in Perth, and again bringing Australians, Afghan visa holders and family members, including women and children. The nations who are working out of Hamid Karzai International Airport are working very hard to cooperate on some of the most challenging issues, and that cooperation is is vital. There are people in their thousands, as you've seen, crowding around the entrances to the airport. And there have been, unfortunately, injuries as well. And, we have had to address some of those amongst our passenger cohorts too.

It is dangerous. In the last day there have been incidents, there have been warnings of potential incidents. It is very complex and it is very uncertain. We have increased the numbers in our teams on the ground in terms of both the Australian Defence Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Home Affairs, and we will continue to do that as required. We are working with the United States led process and with the UK and others on that staging area, as I mentioned yesterday, to facilitate those movements into and through the airport, and continue to discuss that with colleagues.

As the Prime Minister said, I spoke with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last night in, in London. We are very, very focused on that piece of work that we are able to do together on evacuations, on the arrangements at Hamid Karzai International Airport, on access points and on travel and transit issues to to, to HKIA itself, which continue to be particularly hard to to deal with. That situation is becoming very, very dangerous for, for many. And, we're well aware of that as we are making contact with Australians and visa holders in multiple ways who are intending to and available to travel.

In my conversation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi last night, we also discussed the issues that the UNHCR is dealing with in Afghanistan. The UNHCR is still in Afghanistan in multiple places and able to continue its work. And, I want to commend those officials of the UNHCR for what they are doing on the ground in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. The High Commissioner, of course, in our conversation recognised both the issues of evacuation and of displacement, both internally displaced people in Afghanistan and those displaced into neighbouring countries. We will work closely with the UNHCR, we’ll work closely with other donors to identify and to respond to what are going to be very pressing, are already, and will continue to be pressing humanitarian needs. And, that strong focus will need to come from, from all of the usual humanitarian donors.

Our bilateral program will focus increasingly on humanitarian outcomes, including in response to the drought, that internal displacement, COVID-19, economic stability, which instability, which will be fiercely exacerbated by recent events. And, we do that work through existing humanitarian partners. That includes UN agencies like the OCHA Managed Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, the World Food Programme to respond to food security pressures, our support to women and girls, including through the UNFPA, and as the Prime Minister mentioned, the UNHCR efforts to manage internal and external refugee movements. And, so, we have flagged our support, as the Prime Minister’s indicated, for the prospective UNHCR supplementary appeal. When that is formally launched, we will proceed with that contribution. We have over many years invested through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund that has supported essential services, delivery for health, for education, agricultural and community development through trusted partners. We will work with partners to review those contributions and how they are best administered into the future, particularly including the world multilateral financial institutions, to ensure that the support is reaching the people it needs to reach and is delivered by people that we trust and agencies and organisations that we trust. Thanks, Prime Minister.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister and Marise. In the last 28 days, in four weeks, 5.6 million Australians have been vaccinated. That's the population of Melbourne and Canberra in four weeks. What we're seeing is Australians play their part in the deal. They are stepping forward to be vaccinated in record numbers, and they've helped us move the burden and the weight of the vaccination programme from the fourth quarter to the third quarter. And that's about protection for Australians. But it also brings us closer to those critical benchmarks which the Doherty Institute set out on which the National Cabinet agreed with the Australian public. So that's, I think, immensely heartening. Yesterday, a second consecutive day of over 300,000, as the PM said, and in the last two days, that's the equivalent of Newcastle and Bendigo being vaccinated in two days. So Australians are stepping forward.

Today, we'll pass six million Australians with second doses who are fully vaccinated. And significantly, we're at 84.6 per cent of Australians over the age of 70 have had at least one vaccination, 84.6 per cent of our most vulnerable people have come forward and they're continuing to come forward every day. So that's extremely important. But there's another important point of hope. The TGA has today approved the therapeutic treatment, Sitrovomab. Sitrovomab is a monoclonal antibody. It means it mimics the body's immune system. It is now being considered by the clinical evidence taskforce and it is likely to help about eight to 13 per cent of patients. So it's not a result for everybody, but it's particularly likely to help those who are at risk of progressing to very serious illness. And that's available. That's something that will be able to help patients around Australia. It's being made available. It's expected that from about a week from now that we'll be in a position to ensure that it's used by patients at the instigation of the medical crews. And it's the first, but not the last of the treatments that are likely to have a significant impact on improving prospects.

So, lockdowns, you know, deeply, deeply challenging, but incredibly important. Vaccinations, borders, testing, tracing and treatments, all of these things say this is a moment in history. It's not forever. It's a moment in history. And as the PM said, we have to fight our way through it. We've done an amazing job and we're continuing to do that. And we see that with those vaccination numbers, but more hope and more support. The other thing on that is we are very aware of the mental health challenges. We know that so many people are still doing it very tough in in lockdown or because of other circumstances. And so, you know, dealing with Christine Morgan today, her message was very simple, you're not alone. Reach out if you need help or reach out to somebody you think may need help. It could be a friend. It could be a family member, could be a neighbour. But the telephone is how we bridge the distance. And these are the most important of human things to do. Head to health.gov.au or beyondblue or Lifeline or Headspace. These are all different options.

Finally, just in terms of New South Wales, the ADF is on the ground, they're doing the compliance work, a team of up to 50, the first of the vaccination teams is in place. AUSMAT is in place as of today, the first of the teams. And just to give you a sense, over the coming days, the ADF will be in Dubbo West, Bourke, Warren, Parkes, Narromine, Trangie, Nyngan, Coola, Mudgee, Forbes, Lightning Ridge, and then going on to Bathurst and into Orange, among others. So the help is there, whether you're in one part of the country or any part of the country right now.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, John Howard [inaudible] and his assessment of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, he says that it's been too swift, that a force should have stayed behind to preserve stability. Do you think that Joe Biden got the withdrawal strategy wrong? Have you spoken to the US President? And secondly, if I may, on the 12 to 15 vaccination rollout, once that happens, how much longer will it take to get to the 70 or 80 percent threshold?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first matter, I'm just focused on what we need to do. Now, the President and I have not yet discussed these matters, but there's been close engagement with Secretary Blinken and many others across our administrations to be resolving and working on the issues that are on the ground. We are very appreciative of the fact that both the US and the UK forces are there securing that airport to enable us to undertake the operations we're engaged in. There will be plenty of opportunity for others to make comments about whether this should be done or that should be done, or commentaries whether it's on the United States or others. I don't intend to join that because we're working with a partner and an ally at a very sensitive time to do a very difficult job to bring people to safety. That's my sole focus. I respect the views, of course, of John Howard and many others, and they will make their contributions. And they would also, I have no doubt, understand where my focus needs to be. And that is working with our great ally and friend, the United States, our great ally and friend. There is no more important security, relationship and partnership with Australia than our relationship with the United States. And so we will work through this with them and we will work together with them into the future on securing not only Australia's national security interests in our part of the world and more broadly, but continuing to work together as the United States has always sought to do for a world that favours freedom. Now, the second question, Joe?

JOURNALIST: The 12 to 15 year old vaccinations, once that actually comes through, how much longer will it take to get to those key thresholds?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the recommendation from the Doherty Institute did not include and actually specifically did not include 12 to 15s and did not consider it necessary to be included in those overall vaccination rates to trigger when you can move to the next phases. So when we continue to report figures, it'll be based on the population 16 and above. That's consistent with the advice that they've given and consistent with all the numbers that we've had. The 70 per cent was based on that 16 and above, based on that medical advice. Now, of course, we will move into those other age groups. But I want to stress something the Chief Medical Officer reminded us of all again this morning and that I reminded everyone of last night and yesterday. The best way right now for you to protect your children from contracting COVID-19 is to ensure that you are vaccinated, that you are vaccinated. And that opportunity is right here, right now. That is the medical advice that we've been given both by the Chief Medical Officer and indeed by the scientific advice that has been provided to us by Professor McVernon. But we are working on those plans for how a vaccination programme rollout for 12 to 15s, we still do not have the definitive medical advice from ATAGI on that yet. The interim advice is imminent and that will help with that planning. But I don't anticipate that to be finalised for about another week or so, I'd say Greg, that's what we understand. If it's sooner than that, well and good. But the planning of how it needs to be done for what I'd say is a youth vaccination programme across the country is one that both General Frewen and his counterparts at the state and territory level have been working on now for some time, and we need to run that in parallel, of course, with the national vaccination programme, of which it will form a part, and the key priorities that we have in that programme will remain key priorities.

JOURNALIST: Those thresholds, do you expect all states and territories to ease restrictions at 70 and 80 per cent regardless of what their case numbers are at that point?

PRIME MINISTER: I expect the national deal made with Australians by all leaders of this country that we've said to Australians, you do your part, we'll do ours.

JOURNALIST: On Afghanistan, you said that the most difficult process is actually getting the evacuees to the airport, from all accounts that we're hearing from Afghanistan is that that is the most dangerous part. In terms of working with our allies, is there any way we could work with the Taliban to ensure a safe passage and also to Minister Payne as well, I'd like to hear from you on this, is there any possibility of a military escort to get to the airport?

PRIME MINISTER: The second issue, no, that is not a matter that is considered viable, and that is the direct advice that I have from our defence forces. And that is also what has been practised by other defence forces that are present to the best of our information that we're receiving. You'd appreciate and I'd add this layer of caution too, I mean, you'll all be hearing this and that about what's coming out of Afghanistan, and many of you have covered many of these issues in the past know that there are many reports that are unconfirmed and unreliable that come out of an environment like that. And you'll hear all sorts of rumours and things like this. I'd counsel against them. And you're all very familiar with that in treating reports that come unconfirmed out of the field with giving it only the weight that obviously should be given to it. And so our information, advice is that is not a viable option. And that's obviously concerning and distressing. The United States continues to engage directly with the Taliban about the arrangements that are in place over the course of this month, and that is enabling flights to go in and out of the airport. But we're dealing with the Taliban. So I'm not making any assumptions and I'm moving as quickly and as safely as we possibly can to get as many people out as fast as we can. But, Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: I think, PM, that covers the questions that have been asked.

JOURNALIST: People, millions in lockdown through August, having written a month off, hearing mixed messages about what they may or may not be able to do if they get vaccinated, believing it and doing the right thing. Now, looking at the end of the tunnel and seeing more tunnel through September. What sort of hope can you give those people about October? What is October going to look like in Australia?

PRIME MINISTER: It's going to look like a lot more people vaccinated than are now. I mean, what actual figures we achieve? Well, the results reported to you today shows that we're making great progress towards that and that only, I think, doubles down on the urgency for states and territories and ourselves to set out what those exemptions will be. And I want to be very clear about this. These will be exemptions, not additional rights. Because if you're vaccinated, I'm sorry to labour this point, but it's true. If you're vaccinated, you are less likely to get the virus, transmit the virus, get a serious illness, take up a bed in hospital, a respirator, respirator, and the worst of cases become a fatality. So by getting vaccinated, you are less of a public health risk than someone who is not vaccinated. And so it only stands to reason, to common sense, that in a situation where we've reached threshold levels of vaccination at 70 per cent and 80 per cent, as the science shows us, we can safely move into a period where if you are vaccinated, then you can be exempted from various restrictions that may still more broadly remain in place. Now, the Doherty advice has been pretty clear. I mean, in living with COVID, that means there will always be some level of baseline, cautious practises that we'll have to observe for some time. For how long, we'll see. But the rest of the world isn't fully vaccinated, and I don't anticipate that for some time as well. So we'll always have to be careful. 

But when we get to those marks, I think, Mark, you're absolutely right, it's only reasonable that people have been doing the right thing, responding to the call, persevering. And you know, my heart goes out, particularly to the small business owners who've had the most punishing experience through all of this, the high school students doing their HSC even now, very tough stuff. And so they're doing that. And so over the course of this next week, I hope we'll make a lot more progress on that front. The Premier of New South Wales and I were just messaging each other this morning about that progress. The Victorian Premier, together with the Tasmanian Premier and the Northern Territory Chief Minister, together with the Commonwealth, are working up what that list is. And the other important part is you have the digital tools available to make that work in the most seamless and easy way for people. I mean, right now across the country, people are very familiar with the QR code registration for going into venues and things like this. And the system we're seeking to build would just simply use that system. And so people would have to do nothing different. It's also important in the future that people who are unvaccinated going into particular places, that we know that they've been there, because if something were to occur in a place like that, they are the most vulnerable in those situations. And so, the contact tracing, testing and isolating that will still be a part of our future, and particularly in the post 70 per cent world before we hit 80 per cent. But in that world, those who are unvaccinated still remain highly vulnerable. And so if they've been somewhere where there has been a case or several cases, we need to know so we can get to them quickly because they are greatly at risk. So the tools we're seeking to use are there for people's protection and to recognise the common sense position that if you're vaccinated, you are less of a public health risk to yourself, to your family, to those you work with, to those you're on the train with or on the tram or the ferry or wherever you are, you are less of a risk. And therefore, in those circumstance, it's only fair. It's only fair.

JOURNALIST: This morning, the Treasurer said states who choose to lock down after we reach the 80 per cent milestones cannot expect the same federal financial support. Are you really willing to punish the people in states where the premiers choose to go into those lockdowns?

PRIME MINISTER: I expect the states and territories to live up to the plan they've agreed to. That's what I expect them to do, I expect them to live up to the plan that they've agreed to.

JOURNALIST: So you've got an economy at the moment which has got one negative quarter of one contraction in one quarter. If state premiers, if premiers break the deal, are they basically bringing upon Australia the risk of a recession?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's no doubt, and this was the Treasury advice that came through which informed their decision to support the plan, that once you get to 80 per cent in particular and 70 per cent as well, but particularly at that other level, that it is against the country's and indeed the states and territories economic interests to impose further lockdowns. It's against their interests. It actually becomes a more costly way of achieving a similar health outcome and that the balance of risk, both on health and economic grounds, is away from that old way of doing things. Now, of course, we're in phase A, we're dealing with a Delta variant, which is rampant, and we've seen, you know, they'll be watching very closely the situation not just in New South Wales but Victoria as well, that the Delta variant has these impacts. This is the conversation I was having with Boris Johnson last night. I mean, but we have to get to the point, you know, where we stop focusing on the cases. And we start focusing on the health impact of the virus itself, which is hospitalisation, serious illness, things like this, and that's what the transition from Phase A to Phase B is all about. Now, when we agreed that I think was back in June, we didn't have numbers on it at that point. We didn't have the 70 and 80 per cent numbers. So we carefully considered that Phase A to Phase B was about; in Phase A, it's about case numbers, you do need to suppress them, and under Delta, you know, it's hard to get it where you'd ideally like it to be. That's just an obvious fact. And I think that's all that people have been saying. But when you get to phase B, well, that's when you're focusing more on the the health consequences of cases rather than the cases themselves. And that's what we first agreed. Then we applied with the science, the vaccination rates to support that. And so that's the plan. That's the deal.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on Afghanistan, a number of the Afghans who worked alongside Australian Defence Force personnel over the course of our involvement in the 20 year war they were in the Helmand province, is your advice, they were in the Helmand province of Afghanistan and may still be there. Is your advice, security advice, now that if they're still in those areas and not in Kabul, they won't be able to get out of the country under Australian assistance? And Foreign Minister, if I can ask you, last night, the Taliban spokesperson used Afghanistan's Independence Day to say that he wanted the Taliban to be recognised at a diplomatic level. Can you trust the Taliban?

PRIME MINISTER: Marise, do you want to start with that one?

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Oh, sure, I don’t mind. I answered that question earlier this week. With a request for trust comes an expectation of earning it.

PRIME MINISTER: We know their form. I'll make decisions, the government will make decisions based on their form. And in my discussions with leaders and others, I think there's a fairly similar view, very similar view about judging people on their form and being able to see through anything at this point. But right now, the issue is about getting people out. I said earlier in the week that there are many things we would like to be able to do, but the situation on the ground is as it is. But as I mentioned, 430 people we were able to get out from right across Afghanistan, as you know, 1,800 over the course of the last seven, eight years from right across the country, including the places you're talking about. But the planes are only going in and out of Kabul, not going in and out of anywhere else. And that's why we have seen in the course of this week, I mentioned in my opening remarks that we're seeing more and more people coming into Kabul and there are many checkpoints along that route. So that obviously has its hazards.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] leave people behind?

PRIME MINISTER: That's not what I said. We're going to make every effort to get everybody out that we possibly can in the very difficult circumstances we're facing. And prior to this series of events emerging in the past week, that's also exactly what we were doing, and we've been doing it for years and we've been doing it faithfully, both in respecting and being grateful to the service that they provided to us. And also, out of great respect for the people that they served with.

JOURNALIST: Can you confirm that the SAS soldiers who were named in the Brereton Report as committing alleged war crimes have now been pardoned, that they can keep their jobs, and that one of those soldiers is actually in Kabul helping with the evacuations? Do they deserve an apology?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to make any comment on those matters. I'm just going to reaffirm, again, my faith in the Australians who are in Afghanistan right now. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43536

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

19 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. I’m joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Health. I want to give an update on the operations of the airlift out of Afghanistan and also to report on a number of matters in relation to COVID pandemic management.

The situation in Afghanistan remains extremely dangerous and extremely complex. I particularly want to thank our partners, and especially the United States and United Kingdom. I particularly also want to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, all of whom are such essential partners for the operations we’re currently engaged in. Of course, the Crown Prince, in terms of our operations at Al Minhad. I’ll be speaking to him later this evening. And, in particular, the UK, who I’ll outline in just a second the arrangements we have had with them in the last 24 hours which enabled us to get additional people out of Kabul last night. But, of course, the US and UK, through their military presence on the ground, continues to provide the security around the airfield that is enabling these operations to continue, and we expect to be able to continue them now throughout the course of this week and into next week. But, we are moving urgently, safely, because we’re taking nothing for granted. The weather is closing in and that’s going to present some challenges over the next few days, but, equally, the situation can always turn, and so we’re moving as quickly as we possibly can. I’ll be also speaking to Prime Minister Johnson on these matters this evening.

Last night, 40 ADF personnel were deployed into Kabul, in addition to those already there, to support our efforts with additional security. A provisions drop was also included that, that was through the UK air asset, that would also brought in the Australian ADF, to provide relief to those on the ground, including those we’re providing assistance to. On that same flight back out of Kabul that night, 76 people were evacuated, including Australian citizens and Afghan visa holders. They have been transferred to our base in Al Minhad. We have scheduled today a first flight to leave Al Minhad and come to Australia to Perth. It has not left yet, but we anticipate that it should leave in the course of the next few hours and it’ll find its way to Australia, and I want to thank the arrangements we have with the WA Government to provide for those quarantine facilities over and above the cap. People are also receiving medical treatment in Dubai. As you can imagine, people who we’re taking out of Kabul, we’re taking out of a very dangerous set of circumstances and we’re making sure that any injuries they have are being attended to and, but you can also imagine there’s quite a bit of trauma and, and quite a, they’re in a highly anxious state, and I want to thank all of the people we have on the ground there in Al Minhad, who are, who are receiving them and preparing them and getting them ready for their onward flight to Australia.

We have three additional aircraft now that have been relocated. We also have, which includes the KC-30, the air to air refueller, which has already been involved in operations supporting the airlift for other allies and partners. A cruiser also in place for those three additional aircraft and that, their access to the Kabul airstrip at HKIA will be very dependent on slot management as well as the weather. Now, I need to stress that the apron that you have there cannot take too many planes at any one time, and so slots are being allotted for to get on to ground and to unload and upload and get out. And, there are many countries who are involved in these operations, and so the windows are very narrow and we have to take the slots when we’re there and move when we’re able to do that, and I want to thank the ADF for the way that they’re moving swiftly to achieve that outcome.

Now, on the other matter, of course, on COVID, today Australia has hit some important goals. 16 million vaccines now distributed, administered right across the country, over 16 million. That’s 215 every minute is now being distributed. 309,000 in just one day. 215 each and every minute. These are extraordinary marks that the national vaccination program is now achieving. One in two eligible Australians have now had their first dose. One in two. There are more people who are eligible who’ve had their vaccine than have not had their vaccine in Australia today. That is a major turning point, that is a major beachhead that is being gained in the national vaccination program to see this realised.

Just going through some of the state figures that relate to that. I want to note that the ACT is leading the country overall and is ahead of the national average on the first doses, with 56.4 per cent of the population with one dose, and 32 per cent with two doses. Tassie, while leading on the two dose score, is also doing very well, with 54 per cent with one vaccination. The Northern Territory is going strong, with almost one in every two Territorians with one dose. Victorian is right on the cusp with having more Victorians vaccinated than not - 49.3 per cent in Victoria. In South Australia, more than 17,000 were vaccinated yesterday, closing in on that 50 per cent mark. Queensland and Western Australia still have some ground to make up on the national average, and we want to continue to encourage them through their national vaccination program and the efforts that are being undertaken. In New South Wales, the daily rates in New South Wales, which I want to stress are predominantly being done through the GPs and the pharmacies, almost at a rate, Greg, of two to one. That’s where the doses are being administered. The state vaccine hubs, they’re doing a great job. But, the lion's share of what’s being done in New New South Wales is actually being done through the GPs and pharmacies, and that’s very important. And, overall in New South Wales, two in every five jabs yesterday were delivered in New South Wales, and that’s more than 132,000. And, we are seeing those queues of young people, those vaccines, of Pfizer vaccines we were able to get from Poland, they’re there now. And, they’re rolling out across those state hubs. There’s 117,000 arriving at Qudos Bank Arena, 98,000 at the South Western Sydney Vaccination Centre, 54,000 at Sydney Olympic Park, 28,000 to RPA, and hundreds of thousands more in coming days. And, so, we’ve seen those scenes today of younger people turning up for those and that’s very welcome news, and we thank people for responding to that call, and I'll be able to reassure the Polish Prime Minister that that assistance has been taken up very, very readily. And, so, thank you to everybody who’s been doing that.

I also want to note that the National Security Committee is meeting every day and dealing with both of these issues, as we have for some time now. We agreed today, and the Cabinet also met today, to affirm that we will be moving to opening up 16 to 39-year-olds for the balance of the program. We intend for that to commence on the 30th of August. Now, I want to stress, do not make a booking yet. We will advise when bookings can be made. It’s not today, not today. We will advise of when that time will come over the course of the next week. But, just advising you, it has been a question that has been put to me for some time, as when we would bring that 16 to 39s forward. Well, the question is usually about 20 to 39s, but we’ve decided to go all the way through for 16 to 39s. That’s some 8.6 million Australians that are in that group - 1.2 million between the ages of 16 and 18, I understand, and between 19 and 39, yeah, there’s about 7.4 million, sorry, for that next group, up to the 20s. So, 8.6 million extra getting access to the program at the end of August.

With that, oh sorry there’s one other point I wanted to stress, and Greg will probably want to talk a bit more about this. We're taking very seriously the issue of immunisation on these issues - vaccination of our children. I’m anticipating that ATAGI advice, certainly in an interim level, to be available very soon. And, then, we’ve been already working, through General Frewen and his team and the states, to see how we would implement a vaccination program for children, that is those aged 12 to 15. And, we’ll have further things to say about that once we’ve received that, at least that interim ATAGI advice, then we’ll, they’ll give us their full advice and we’ll take, be taking further steps there. But, I just want to assure, particularly parents, you know, vaccinating children is something we take really seriously and we do it very carefully. And, so, we’re just making sure that we're getting the right advice and then we can put the right plans in place and move on those vaccinations in the safest and most effective way possible. But, with that, I’ll hand you over to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. And, as the Prime Minister has said, the situation in Afghanistan certainly remains very fluid and very complex and challenging in terms of the work that we are doing with partners. I want to thank the officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, from the Department of Defence and the ADF, and the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force for their ongoing efforts. We are working very hard together to support the operations of the Australian activities.

I also want to join with the Prime Minister in acknowledging and thanking the United Kingdom for their assistance overnight. There is a lot of work being done where countries can help each other to make sure that we are able to do that.

We absolutely know there are continuing significant issues ongoing with access to Hamid Karzai International Airport, and we have seen the reports of those. Overnight, officials from partner countries have met and are working hard together on the ground, particularly led by the United States, to address this, and DFAT Secretary Kathryn Campbell participated in that meeting. Ensuring the security of the airport is our priority, and I particularly thank the United States for their effort in that regard. We’re also working with other countries now to share lists of potential passengers and to coordinate our information and rescue efforts, as we’re able to. That is important because of the multiplicity of entry points, the multiplicity of locations across the airport, where potential passengers are being dealt with.

We’re working with our counterparts to ensure that we have a staging area, a designated space at Hamid Karzai International Airport for our Australian citizens and visa holders, and as the Prime Minister said, also transporting supplies to support that. There are some who are, who will be waiting for periods of time - not long periods of time, it’s not possible to do that - but we want to make sure that we can make them as comfortable as possible.

We are continuing to contact those Australians and visa holders and to support them, where we are able to, to get through those checkpoints and into the airport. That is very much a work, a piece of work that we must be doing with partners, particularly the United States, in terms of the security aspects of that, of those movements.

We have been concerned by reports that the anti-Taliban protests in some cities have been met by force, and including the fact there have been deaths amongst peaceful demonstrators in Jalalabad, and Taliban troops reported to have used gunfire and violence to attempt to control crowds around the airport. So, suffice to say that this is still, as I said, a very complex and very challenging environment in which to work, and our officials are doing an extraordinary job in their support to Australians and their coordination with other partners.

The other thing, Prime Minister, I wanted to update on briefly is to confirm the DFAT facilitated flight arrived from Denpasar to Darwin last night with 186 passengers on board. Today our fifth facilitated flight from Johannesburg also landed in Darwin with 172 passengers. We have seven more facilitated flights scheduled in August from London, from New Delhi and from Istanbul, and 16 DFAT flights are scheduled to arrive in the Northern Territory in the next month from India, from Turkey, from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany and other locations. Thus far, during the pandemic, we’ve facilitated 164 flights on which over 24,500 Australians have returned.

So, to just summarise very briefly in relation to the Afghanistan position, our ongoing activities are underway 24/7 - 24/7 here in Canberra and 24/7 in the Middle East and in Kabul. I want to thank again all those officials. It is a very challenging task but we are making good progress working with partners and staying in touch with our Australian citizens and with our visa holders.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks PM, thanks Marise. Over the last 24 hours, 309,010 Australians stepped forward to be vaccinated. Every one of those is a dose of hope. Every one of those means that more individual Australians are protected, but more Australians collectively are protected. To think of it this way, it’s almost exactly the population of Wollongong. To put it in context, on a per capita basis, it’s the equivalent of four million doses being delivered in a day in the United States. A figure, I think, that was, according to the CDC, achieved on only five occasions. And, so, these rates are now at some of the highest levels that we had hoped, but we’re doing them instead of in October, in August. So, I want to thank everybody involved in the program. What that means is we’ve now, as the PM said, been able to pass 16 million doses or 16.2 million doses have now been administered. And, perhaps most importantly, more than half of the eligible Australians have stepped

forward to be vaccinated, and we can see that every day Australians are coming forward in enormous numbers. So, 50.2 per cent of Australians, or 10.3 million Australians, have had their first dose amongst the eligible population.

One other critical thing is it’s being sustained. And, so, over a 10-day period now, we’ve had more than 2.4 million doses delivered. That’s almost the population of Brisbane in 10 days. These analogies just give a sense to the Australian people of how many of their fellow citizens are coming forward. So, it’s a club you want to be part of. That’s, I think, the key message.

In order to assist that, the second shipment of European Pfizer, very generously sponsored by the Polish Government, has now been batch tested, cleared, approved by the TGA and is being distributed. And, that will also help more people, and that’s what’s helped with the ability, as the Prime Minister’s announced, to move as of August the 30th, to open for the 16 to 39-year-olds.

Now, in terms of the response with regards to New South Wales, it’s been agreed that New South Wales and the Commonwealth will set up a joint operation centre for western and far western New South Wales, based out of Dubbo. We thank them for agreeing to that. In particular, that will lead now to the ADF, the first ADF team is on the ground. There will be 50 ADF who are involved in compliance and welfare checking. That process has already started and those teams are building up. The first of the five teams for medical assistance has arrived, been trained and will be deployed tomorrow. And, these five teams of up to 14 each will assist with vaccination, testing and, if required, clinical assistance. And, the first of the AUSMAT teams is due to commence operations tomorrow, and there will be five teams in all.

So, these things are very important. There are 118 Commonwealth clinics through GPs, pharmacies, Aboriginal community controlled health organisations, and Commonwealth vaccination clinics across western and far western New South Wales. And, we’re currently going through 29 Royal Flying Doctor Service visits to different communities from the 12th of August to the 31st of August in western and far western New South Wales. So, important numbers that actually represent individuals who are being protected.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I ask about ...

PRIME MINISTER: Just before I take questions, one other point I should have mentioned. Just before coming to this press conference I joined Minister Hawke and Assistant Minister Wood and Paris Aristotle

in a hook up with Afghan community leaders, talking through the issues which we raised yesterday, the additional, well, the 3,000 places that we’re making available this year in the program for Afghan nationals to become, come to Australia as part of the humanitarian program. We see that as a floor, not as a ceiling, and so we believe we can achieve more than three. And, if the overall program has to be expanded to accommodate additional, then it will be. But, we are following the same process that we did previously on the Syrian and Iraqi intake by working through community groups to identify individuals, those with contacts and linkages to Australia, family members, things of that nature, so we’re working closely with those community groups to that end. I recall that we went through that program last time, we we did 3,000 in the first year of that larger intake that ended up happening, and, so, you know, the fact that we’ve committed to those 3,000 this year is commensurate with that level. And, our humanitarian program runs every single year, and I foresee us continuing to, the Afghan cohort in our humanitarian program having a very strong presence in years to come, and we’ll work through with that. But, I want to thank those Afghan leaders for coming together so quickly today, and for Minister Hawke gathering together in that way, and Paris Aristotle, as always, on the job day one. Thank you very much, Paris … Sorry, Sarah, sorry.

JOURNALIST: Just on childhood vaccination, could I just, there's been a lot of concern expressed by Kerry Chant about transmission in that particular sector. 150 child care centres closed nationally as a result of COVID. Could I just ask, what is the plan for vaccinating children younger than 16? How does that process work? Will that happen before adults get boosters next year? And, the second part of that, I guess, is vaccine mandates in the sector. Is that something that you would support given the rate of transmission that we're seeing, for child care workers, yes?

PRIME MINISTER: [Inaudible] First of all, as I said before, we are, the advice from ATAGI for vaccination of children ages 12 to 15 is is imminent, certainly as an interim form of advice. Our Cabinet today considered this and reaffirmed our priority of ensuring that we'll be able to move to vaccinate children, where we believe it's safe to do so, and that's why we're waiting on that advice. Presently, vaccines for those aged 12 to 15 are those with other health conditions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, those in very remote communities. And, so, before we move to a more mass scale vaccination of children aged 12 to 15, we’ll take that ATAGI advice. Already, General Frewen has been working with the states and territories on their plans for how that can be implemented. I am keen to see that occur this year. I think it's important that it happens this year. We need to keep pace with the national vaccination program, certainly. And, as Professor McVernon’s advice to us was also so clear - one of the best ways to protect your children is to get vaccinated yourself. That was one of the clear pieces of advice coming out of the Doherty modelling, that one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of COVID-19 to children is for parents themselves to be vaccinated. And, that's why it was her advice that we should move particularly into those 20 to 39-year-old age groups, and particularly the 30 to 39 age group, to ensure that we were capturing those as a target of our immunisation vaccination program. So, that plan will be coming, will be forthcoming very soon. We know how important it is, but it has to be conditioned on the medical advice that is still coming on those issues. We've been looking very closely at the US situation and what the experience there has been. The UK and Australia are currently in the same position in terms of how we're managing those vaccinations. And, I'm sure, no doubt, it's something that I'll discuss with Prime Minister Johnson this evening. But, Greg …

JOURNALIST: And, on vaccine mandates?

PRIME MINISTER: On vaccine mandates, well, we would follow the advice of the AHPPC on that. They’re the ones who, when we put these questions to them, they consider them. They've only recommended mandatory vaccinations in two areas, and that is for aged care workers and for those working in quarantine. They have not recommended, the medical advice has not been to recommend or mandate vaccinations in other sectors on public health grounds.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So, look, just very briefly, firstly, vaccination has already been opened for children 12 to 15 who have an underlying medical condition, Indigenous children and children in remote areas. So, that's approximately 220,000 kids. Secondly, ATAGI has been meeting this week to consider the international evidence. We already have TGA approval, and if they provide that advice - and we're expecting that advice over the course of the next week, if not earlier - but if they provide that advice, firstly, we have the vaccines to cover children. Secondly, we have a plan. The plan is pretty simple, it really involves two parts. In the same way that whether you're 12 or 22 or 52 or 72, you can go to your doctor, you can go to your pharmacy, you can go to your, you can go to the state or Commonwealth clinic, all of those will be available for children. And, in addition, if states are able to do this, then we expect that many of the states and territories will offer school-based programs as well.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, thank you. Can you tell us what the national public health strategy is at the moment? Because, Gladys Berejiklian said this morning that COVID zero is no longer realistic. That's not what Daniel Andrews and Andrew Barr and Mark McGowan are saying. So, have we moved past a national approach, or can you articulate what it is? And, also, in relation to Doherty, which you’re, you’re mentioning frequently, other state leaders are mentioning frequently, that 70 per cent reopening threshold. Is that actually a realistic scenario to put before people? Because, my understanding of that Doherty work is that they didn't envisage hundreds of active infections at the time we hit 70 per cent. So, the question is ...

PRIME MINISTER: [Inaudible] of infections at the time, and they're, and they’re constantly updating their advice to us. But, there is no change to the 70 per cent threshold that has been set for the national plan, or indeed the 80 per cent threshold. And, as has been remarked upon by many commentators, and I have and Greg has as well, it's not 70 per cent and nothing else is going on. I mean, you still have to be managing the COVID in the community at 70 per cent, and indeed at 80 per cent. It just means that you don't, particularly at 80 per cent, have to have lockdowns to do that. There are other ways of managing things at that level, which means that you don't have to have those lockdowns, because they're in terrible, they're terribly impactful on the community, people's mental health, and obviously on the economy.

We welcome those unemployment figures today. But, you know, we're looking to next month and next month's figures, and obviously that will reflect more of the lockdown's that we've seen. But, what I am pleased about is that the COVID Disaster Payments - which are now at over $3 billion has been paid out to some 1.5 million Australians - that they're proving to be very effective, very, very effective. And so they will continue to support people through the lockdowns.

Now, when it comes to the issue of COVID zero, I think often people are referring to different things in either how they're hearing it, or how even perhaps it's been spoken of. COVID zero, i.e., there is no COVID in Australia, i.e. there's no COVID in quarantine, there's no cases in isolation. There's just zero COVID in Australia. That has never been Australia's goal, ever. And, I don't believe, and I'm assuming that's not what premiers are referring to when they say COVID zero. What we're seeking to achieve is cases minimised as far as possible, preferably to zero, that are infectious in the community. That's what we'd like to achieve, and we have to act in accordance with that. Now, I think the Premier is being very realistic about what the the opportunity to do that now in New South Wales is, given the status of the serious Delta outbreak that we're seeing there, and whether that can be achieved in Victoria with the cases we're seeing now and the extension of lockdown, well, time will tell. But, the import of the suppression strategy is you must keep suppressing, you must keep suppressing. The lockdown in Sydney has to work for it to be lifted. It has to work. Suppression cannot be dispensed with for vaccination, when you have the vaccination levels we have now. And, so, that has always been the case. There's no change to it. That is hopefully a very clear and cogent explanation of what it is - suppress and vaccinate, drive the cases as low as you possibly can that are infectious in the community, because that, the stronger we go into Phase B at 70 per cent, the better off the whole country is. Yeah?

JOURNALIST: The 3,000 humanitarian positions, is there any, apart from people that have family here, is there any other way you'd be looking to prioritise people within that, particularly educated women who are fearful of their degree alone being a reason for the Taliban targeting them? And, is there any capacity to bring anywhere near that 3,000 out at the moment on this mission? Or, are we talking over a longer period of time offering those humanitarian visas?

PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to work backwards from, on your questions. No, it is over a longer period of time. Right now, we're getting out Australian citizens and residents. We're getting out those who have been visaed as part of this program. And we're in that process. And, we know where they, well, we know who they are, where they all are is a, is a challenge in that this current environment, and whether they're able to be in a position to get themselves to Kabul, that is a challenge with what is occurring across Afghanistan. The humanitarian program runs over years. I mean, I was just noting it today, I mean, all countries have been engaged in bringing Afghan nationals out of Afghanistan now for many years. And, Australia's record is a very, very strong one, a very strong one. I mean, if you look at just over the last five years, in Australia we've brought out over 5,500. Now, the UK brought out about 3,200 in a similar period. The United States have brought out more, but they're a much larger country. And, so, all countries have been working to do this, and we will all continue to keep doing this.

Now, yes, we will work all of those contacts within Australia, which I would expect will identify many of the sensitive cases with women and girls that you're identifying. But, in addition to that, and the Foreign Minister and our Ambassador in Geneva has been reaching out to the UNHCR and will be engaging with their processes as well, to identify people who would be suitable for our program. We do have a specific tranche of our humanitarian program that focuses on vulnerable women and girls, always have. In fact, when I was Minister we increased the quota in that area, and it has stayed high all throughout our program. It has been the most significant and and highest priority, I would argue, amongst our humanitarian program, and always receives keen interest from those who are administering it. Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. And, further to the Prime Minister's comments about the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, I’ll be speaking to the Secretary-General Filippo Grandi either this evening or in the coming day about the work that the High Commission is doing. And, this certainly is an issue which we have been considering. A number of of groups, organisations have provided details and raised their concerns in relation to women and girls that they understand to be particularly vulnerable. And, we are collating all of that information. So we have that.

I know that there's been a number of questions about how an Afghan in a current circumstance can apply for for such a visa. And, obviously, there are the normal processes which apply, whether it's through a website or a telephone. That is not possible for many at the moment. And, many whose names are being advanced to us are being advanced by supporters. It is possible to have that name recorded and put into a, into the process, into the system by a nominator or a sponsor, by a close family member, by a parliamentarian, by a member of a diplomatic mission, a member of a consular post, from an international organisation, and then more formally, perhaps through registered migration agents, through legal practitioners. So, we absolutely understand the impracticality, if you like, of saying please apply online or please make a call. That is not the only way in which those names can be raised or advanced to us. And, we have been speaking with many who have raised names with us.

PRIME MINISTER: Phil.

JOURNALIST: Just a follow-up from Katharine's question about COVID zero. You've said before, you know, the lower New South Wales can have its case numbers, the better. What, do you have in mind a realistic number, given they can't seem to get them down - they can just seem to slow the increase - when that New South Wales can be at on a daily basis before we move to phase two of Doherty? So, I mean, can they do it at 600 a day? Can they do it at 300 a day?

PRIME MINISTER: The number needs to be as low as possible. I mean, the practical import of what we're saying is, what should we be doing about it? And, what we should be doing about it is suppressing it. And, so, use whatever phrase, COVID language you wish - the actions that need to be taken is to ensure that we are suppressing. Now, the way you suppress it is you stop, you stop it moving about. And, that's why the restrictions, as hard as they are and as difficult as they are and as costly as they are, they're sadly necessary. The purpose of the policy in this phase is to suppress and to drive those numbers down as far as we possibly can. Now, in some states, they they can get them down to those numbers and have zero infections in the community. Some states are in that situation, others or not. What I do know is this, is once Delta gets in, very hard to achieve. But, that doesn't mean you stop trying. That doesn't mean you give up. It doesn't mean you don't keep doing it. It doesn't mean you don't keep pushing through. It means you keep going and you go as hard as you can to keep it suppressed as long as you can, until we're in that position where we're hitting those higher targets. And, I have to make this the last one, Andrew,

JOURNALIST: Senator Payne, just on the, we've seen those horrific scenes outside of Kabul Airport where people are trying to get through the gates and so on. We've got 600 Australians and Afghan support staff trying to get in, plus families. How are you getting them in through communication and making and guarding their their entry to the airport? And, just on your announcement about vaccines, Prime Minister, is the risk about expanding the use of Pfizer to 16 to 39-year-olds is that you end up seeing a lot of people cancelling their AstraZeneca appointments in the next few weeks?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me start with that and then Marise can finish the other one. The best vaccine you can get is the one that is available right now. If you're in Sydney, get vaccinated today, right now, go out there and do it right now. That is my clear, my clear advice. And, that's what we want Australians to do. And, 309,000 of them did it yesterday, and they're lining up out there right now. And, we're getting more and more and more doses out there. So, my advice to people is to keep going. Australia is really getting on top of this, on the vaccination program. Today, a big turner corned, corned, sorry, a big corner turned, I should say. It's been a long day. It's been a long week. A big corner turned, because one in two Australians who are eligible to have that vaccine have had it. You know, we've been working hard to get to that point, and it hasn't been without great difficulty and a lot of obstacles. But, there we are today, Australia, all of us there together, and we've got to keep going that extra distance. Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks, PM. Andrew, that goes to what I said in my earlier remarks about the continuing significant issues with access to Hamid Karzai International Airport. So, that is why there has been quite a significant meeting overnight with, led by the United States, with officials from partner countries, who are sharing that challenge so that we can work hard together on the ground, particularly led by the United States, to address that. Australia is not outside the airport, at all. So, Australia is inside Hamid Karzai International Airport, and any issues around security outside the airport we are working with partners on those, and particularly led by the US.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you everyone, thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43534

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

18 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everybody. Some more difficult news today in New South Wales, and I will be returning to that very shortly. But, I want to continue to encourage all Australians that we're going to beat this. We're going to get on top of it. We're never going to give up in our battle against COVID in this country. We have had so many successes, compared to so many other countries around the world, by persevering and pushing through together. I will return to that in a second with an update on some of those issues. But, I just wanted to say, after hearing that news in New South Wales today, I know that, once again, your hearts would have sunk for a moment, and perhaps longer, but let's lift them up again because we are going to get through this and we are going to beat this.

Can I also acknowledge today, today is Vietnam Veterans' Day. Some 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War, including over 15,000 national servicemen. 521 Australians lost their lives in that conflict, and over 3,000 were wounded. This is also the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, Australia's most costly battle in Vietnam. On that day, in 1966, 17 Australians were killed in action and 25 more were wounded. But, we all know that those who fell there, and were wounded there physically, the wounds that came and were endured over a lifetime for so many, when they returned to Australia, were also incredibly devastating. And, I want to acknowledge those wounds inflicted on many of our Vietnam veterans, including by some of their fellow Australians, when they came home. That was not the way to do that, and it should never be the way that we receive Australians back after they've served in our name wearing our uniform under our flag. Families also paid a heavy price from that conflict as veterans returned home. Families were broken. People were broken. Lives destroyed. It is a very, very sad chapter, but as we know, in the events that we've been talking about in recent days, we will be challenged in similar ways as a nation as we deal with the very disturbing situation in Afghanistan, which I’ll turn to in a short moment.

I also want to acknowledge the ongoing contribution of Vietnam veterans to our broader community, and I particularly want to thank them for the way, as veterans, they've aided the cause of so many other veterans, particularly those veterans of more recent conflicts, providing that mentorship and that stewardship and that support, and today, of all days, I know veterans will have that sense of solidarity about what they've experienced, regardless of what the conflict was. And, on a day like today, I know those Vietnam vets can be of great support to our veterans from Afghanistan.

Last evening, Australia's operation to commence evacuating Australians and visa holders, Afghan nationals, and others from Kabul commenced. We were able to get our first flight in last night and enabling us to transfer also in key personnel from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs and Defence to facilitate the evacuation of citizens, residents and visa holders, Afghan nationals, from Kabul. This was the first of what will be many flights, subject to clearance and weather, and we do note that over the back end of this week there is some not too favourable weather forecast.

The operation involves everything from establishing that contact with those who are in Afghanistan, particularly closer to Kabul, to ensure that they can be in a position to be at the airport in order to be evacuated on the flights as they come into Kabul. To process their embarkation, and to get on to those flights. This is not a simple process. It's very difficult for any Australian to imagine the sense of chaos and uncertainty that is existing right across this country, the breakdown in formal communications, the ability to reach people, and we are doing this directly ourselves. Groups like the IOM are no longer able to assist us with that task, and so we are doing that directly. And, we're doing it working with the local Afghan communities here in Australia, in order to assist us in making all those contacts, and the Foreign Affairs Minister can speak further to that. The transfers are done to our base in the Emirates, where capacity has already been established, with medical support available, to both receive and provide that medical support, and to process their further onward transfer to Australia. And, in addition to that, we've made arrangements with state governments around the country, over and above existing caps, for those who have been transferred back to Australia to be quarantined in appropriate facilities to support their quarantine.

Last night, that first C1-30 went in, bringing in those Australians who are facilitating things on the ground. I have to stress how important that is - to get people on a flight and get people on the ground to process this. This will be done in as orderly a fashion as is possible in these circumstances. We need to be very clear who’s getting on our planes, who’s going to our base, and who’s going to come and live here in Australia. We have to be very, very clear about that, and we are taking all the sensible precautions, but moving urgently to address the very real need in these very stressing conditions.

There were, that plane touched down at our base in the Emirates at 10.40am Canberra time today. There were 26 people who were on board that flight. That included Australian citizens, Afghan nationals with visas, and one foreign official who was working with an international agency. I remind people that we are working with other agencies, working with other governments, like-minded and others, to address their needs as well as our own, and we're seeking to maximise the use of all the flights from all the countries that are going in and out of Kabul. One additional C1-30 and two C-17s are being prepositioned to join that existing C-130 to support those regular flights out of Kabul in the days ahead and for as long as we can continue to operate those flights to get people out.

We intend for those numbers to increase on future flights. But, as is the experience of other countries who have been engaged in this process, these initial flights are challenged by having officials on the ground to go through that proper process. I can confirm the security situation at the airport has improved, and more broadly across Kabul, and that is supported particularly by the presence of US and UK troops on the ground being able to take control of the airport. It still, though, remains an incredibly challenging environment in which to operate. And, I want to thank all of those who are involved in these operations, those flying the planes in dangerous territory, those who are going onto the ground, those who we sent in last night in the dark to be there, be overnight. We were able to get others in through a partner flight last night as well, to increase the number we could have there, to be able to be supporting those operations on the ground, to get people onto these planes. They are doing Australia a great service. It reminds me of those Foreign Affairs officials, Marise, who got in a car and drove to Wuhan at the start of this crisis. One the daughter of a former Prime Minister, I note, who went and did that job. Our Foreign Affairs officials, our Home Affairs officials, our Defence people, indeed, I've seen it so many times now. Their professionalism, their dedication to service, their commitment to this country is extraordinary, and they have moved swiftly and courageously. And, I want to thank them for what they're doing for their fellow Australians and our cause right now.

Now, the issue of resettlement has come up in previous days, and it is a matter that the Government has been considering now for, for some time. What I can confirm is this though - and I have a very clear message on this - we will only be resettling people through our official humanitarian program going through official channels. We will not be offering a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship. We will not be allowing people to enter Australia illegally, even at this time. Our policy has not changed. We will be supporting Afghans who have legitimate claims through our official and legitimate processes. We will not be providing that pathway to those who would seek to come any other way. That is a very important message. The Government's policy has not changed, will not change. But, I can confirm that since we came to Government some 8,500 Afghans have been resettled in Australia. We have been continuing to process through our official humanitarian program, working through the legitimate channels, some 8,500 Afghans into Australia, ranging from about 1,300 a year, up to about 1,900 a year, and we are going to continue to do that. We will be ensuring this year that we believe we’ll be able to provide around 3,000 visas. Now, that's more than double what we've been doing, and in some cases triple what we've been doing, in the current year. And, we do believe we'll be able to do more than that. You would have heard other countries talk about figures of 5,000. I note that some are talking about figures of 20,000. But, can I tell you, there are no clear plans about that. Australia is not going into that territory. What we're focused on is right here and right now, and we believe working with the local community here, we are reaching out to the UNHCR, and the Foreign Minister will probably make mention of that. We are working through the channels that were so successful in bringing people out in other hazardous situations in the past. I've spoken to Paris Aristotle today who worked closely with us on those arrangements. He'll be working closely with the Minister for Immigration, Minister Hawke, to ensure that we are working with those communities to ensure that we can be able to establish the bona fides of individual applicants.

I already mentioned to you yesterday that the files of those who proved not to be locally engaged employees had already been transferred to be assessed under that refugee and humanitarian program. That is already occurring. So, Australia, at the very least, through our official channels, will be processing, we believe, at least 3,000 in the current financial year, and we believe more can be accommodated potentially within our existing arrangements. COVID has meant that the process of running our refugee and humanitarian program, like all of our visa programs, have been running at lower levels, and so we can accommodate these additional numbers, but within the existing processes.

I also confirm that those who are IMA’s, those who have not come to Australia the right way and are on temporary visas in Australia, they will not be offered permanent residence in Australia. That will not change. I want to be very clear about that. I want to send a very clear message to people smugglers in the region that nothing's changed. I will not give you a product to sell and take advantage of people's misery. My Government won't do it. We never have and we never will.

Let me turn now to the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then I'll ask the Foreign Minister to make some remarks on the matters I've already raised. It was difficult news today in New South Wales, but we won't let it beat us. And, there's good reasons why, because Australians are making such strong progress on what we need to do about it. We will reach one in two Australians who have had their first dose, we believe probably tomorrow. In fact, we may even be there today because of the lag in the reporting of the numbers. One in two Australians have had their first dose. That's what we're achieving. 40 per cent over the age of 50 have been fully vaccinated. 273,000 additional doses just yesterday. That's 273,000 rays of light coming in from the end of that tunnel that I talked about yesterday. We are going down that tunnel and every vaccination shines light for Australians to see. And, I want to thank those 273,000 Australians yesterday, to create those rays of light, those rays of hope.

Tasmania, just like Ariarne Titmus, leading the leaderboard when it comes to vaccination. One third double dose vaccinated in Tasmania. Well down Tassie. Almost 200 doses, as I said yesterday, in this country happening every single minute. That's what's being achieved. 1.6 million vaccinations in just a week now, 1.6 million. And, just so, for those of us, all of us who've been going through what has been a difficult last two months, this is what you've achieved in just two months. We've gone from 4.5 per cent double dose vaccinations two months ago to 27.5 per cent. We've gone from 5.1 per cent to our 50s to 40 per cent, and we've gone for over 70s from 7.5 per cent two months ago to over 50 per cent, 54 per cent today. That's what you're achieving, Australia. I know it's tough to go through each and every day and hear that news, but be encouraged that what you're doing every day, staying at home, staying in place out there in western New South Wales, doing all of those things, is making a big difference. Getting vaccinated, getting tested. That is taking us closer and closer to 70 per cent and 80 per cent every single day. So, thank you, Australia, keep going.

In relation to western New South Wales, happy to take questions on that later. But, can I send a big thank you to Riverbank Frank. What a legend. How good’s Riverbank Frank - out there sending those messages that we were talking about yesterday, showing that leadership he has displayed across his life as an elder in that community. Thank you very much, Riverbank Frank. ADF are now out there supporting those efforts, been very close cooperation between the New South Wales Government and the Commonwealth Government in working through those issues. Of course, the focus of so much of the effort is on Sydney, and particularly in western Sydney and south western Sydney. But, there is a real challenge out there in western New South Wales and people are working very, very closely together to address what is a, you know, a very difficult situation. But, I'll pass you over to the Foreign Minister.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks very much, PM. And, as the Prime Minister said, we're very pleased that the first Australian airlift from Afghanistan successfully landed this morning, having left Kabul International Airport at about 7.20am our time today, and there will be more flights in coming days. We're working closely with our international partners to make arrangements for those flights.

I particularly want to thank the ADF and the officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Home Affairs for that successful work in what is a very complex and challenging environment at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and in Kabul more broadly, and particularly in cooperation with the United States and with other partners. We also acknowledge those partners who have secured the airport under difficult circumstances, enabling those flights to go in and out. It is very difficult and continues to be very difficult for people to get to the airport and to access the airport. The Australian team on the ground is working with our allies at the airport on the process for subsequent flights. Our consular team at DFAT is in regular contact with Australians and New Zealanders who are registered with us to provide advice as it becomes available. We are, and we will continue, to help our neighbours in the region with their citizens as and when we can in terms of their need to depart.

This, of course, was the first flight in, in what is, as I said, a complex and fluid situation. We have been contacting as many Australians and visa holders as we can and supporting their efforts as we are able to to get through the checkpoints and to get to the airport, and then into the airport. That work will continue and is our focus and our priority in terms of the coming days. We have to and we are staying in very close contact with all of our partners to enable this. We have said before, and I would reiterate, that we do seek and urge the Taliban, all parties, to allow and assist with safe passage out of the country for those who are seeking to leave.

In terms of the refugee and resettlement matters to which the Prime Minister referred, we will work and are working with our counterparts, with the UNHCR, with other agencies, in the coming days and weeks on what is a very challenging international problem. The meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday, chaired by India, also discussed these issues at some length, and the Secretary-General made very clear the humanitarian focus and priority of many around that table. We will continue to engage in those discussions and to work with them as we determine the assessments that the Prime Minister has referred to. Thanks, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: Phil.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] separate topics. First with relation to, regard to New South Wales, are you as confident today as you were a couple of weeks ago when you were in the Lodge, that the economy should avoid a recession, a double dip recession? And, on an unrelated matter, can I ask for your reflections on the decision by BHP to hive off its oil and gas concerns to Woodside? Do you see a broader message there on the environment, on climate change?

PRIME MINISTER: Sure. On the first one, the advice that we've received not only from Treasury, but also the Reserve Bank, that the comments the Governor and others have made, the expectation is as follows. We get the country to those levels of vaccination. We open up the country. The economy comes back strongly. And so the sooner we achieve that, the sooner that's realised. And that should address the very issue that you've raised. That's why it's so important that we maintain this pace on vaccinations. I said yesterday, Australia, in a 7 day period per capita, that is stronger than what the UK had achieved. So the vaccination programme is hitting those very high level marks now. And that continues then, whether it's myself or the Treasury Secretary, the Treasurer, of course, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, others who are examining these issues, they know that once you are able to release these restrictions, then we see the economy come back very, very, very strongly. And that would be my expectation, because that's what we've seen before. Now, the timing of these things, that's a separate issue. But at this pace, then, you know, I do remain optimistic. I do remain confident in the Australian economy because there is no issue with the Australian economy. There is an issue of the impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions that are holding that economy back. But as soon as we're able to release those, that's why the national plan, that's why getting the 70 per cent and 80 per cent and following through with a national plan and the confidence that national plan gives, I think, to businesses to look ahead and plan. And the discussions I've had with our major banks reflect this. They're revealing to us that they're working closely with their customers and they're seeing the same thing, that businesses are looking after their balance sheets as best as they can and putting themselves in a position. So the big difference between this time this year and say when we go back to May, April of last year is there was so much uncertainty. As I said at the time, we were looking into a COVID abyss with complete uncertainty as to what that would mean and how things would play out. Now, there's certainly still uncertainties, but people know that once you get the restrictions out of the way, the customers come back, the businesses come back, and businesses from what their bankers are telling me, are understanding that and are planning for that outlook.

On the other matter, I mean, I welcome the announcement. I welcome the combination of those two great, those two great entities, to provide a real focus in this sector. And as I was saying to Richard Goyder last night, I think this provides another point of example, whether it's in that sector, in the petroleum sector or whether it's in our mining sector or in our agricultural sector about the transformations that Australian companies are achieving as they go down their path of being profitable on energising Australian industry and at the same time reducing emissions. These companies, I think, will be showing the world how this is all achieved. And I know that's a core part of their mission. Yeah, I'm just going to move across.

JOURNALIST: A matter of detail, the broader issue, how many people do you think the Australian forces are going to be able to bring out of Afghanistan and how long is that likely to take? Secondly, the Taliban are giving certain assurances. Can they be trusted? And can you see your Government or a future Australian Government ever recognising a Taliban Government in Afghanistan?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, in answer to your first question, we will bring out as many people as we can as quickly and safely as we can. And that's what we're doing. And I will be updating you, along with the Foreign Minister, on the progress of that mission that is currently underway, as I have done today, and will update you on that once, you know, each of these flights have been completed. And we'll give you that, we'll give you that information. But our goal is as many as we can, as safely and as quickly as we can. On the other matter Mark, remind me?

JOURNALIST: The Taliban, certain assurances, can you trust them, are these people you can work with? Will you ever recognise the Government?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll add to my answer. I'm making no assumptions, absolutely no assumptions about any commitments that are being given to others. I'm working on the basis of getting people out as quickly as I can and as safely as I can. I will welcome a better environment, but I'm not counting on one in terms of my planning and our sense of urgency in the activities we're engaged in right now and making sure we do those as swiftly as we can. As for the broader diplomatic situation in the future. Well, I know their form and I'm acting on the basis of their form. Marise.

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Prime Minister, we are obviously engaged with like-minded partners on these issues. No government has been formed, remains to be seen what, what form and membership that government has. And I would also say a request for trust is usually met by an expectation that trust is earned.

JOURNALIST: Just without seeing the numbers, do you have a clear idea of where the people are that you are trying to get out and where they are, I'm assuming that most of them are in Kabul? How difficult is it to get across Kabul at the moment? And do you have assurances that they'll have safe passage to the airport? And I'm assuming that outside of Kabul, it's going to be almost impossible to get anyone from there to that airport?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask the Foreign Minister to respond to that. We can't, it's impossible to over assume any certainty here, I should say it is a very uncertain environment. It's an incredibly uncertain environment, and it changes every day right across the country. We do know that there's been movement of peoples from across Afghanistan into Kabul. We do have an understanding of those we are seeking to contact and we are seeking to do just that. But it is not easy. That's why I'm pleased that we have been moving on this now for many, many, many months. As I said, you don't get 430 people out of Afghanistan and process them, get them through health and security checks. Do all of those things, confirming their identity. I think we have to also explain to Australians that we're dealing with people who worked for us not last week, but they may have worked for us four years ago or five years ago. And we knew where they were then. And we may not have heard from them for a very long time. And we don't know what they've been doing in that intervening period in what has been a very unstable situation. So it isn't just a matter of people coming along and presenting, you know, a payslip from the Australian Government saying, I used to work for you. I wish it were that simple. It is not that simple. It is incredibly complicated. And that's why we've been so meticulous in working carefully through that process that those we bring to Australia, we know who they are, we know what they've done, and we want to be there to support them. And we brought family members with them as well. And we're working through this in a very painstaking way. That's why I said to you yesterday, there will be, it's a very difficult thing to give an absolute guarantee, and particularly as you work out across the whole country. But, Marise?

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks, PM. Kabul, as I have said, is obviously a very complex and fluid environment with a whole range of security issues, including the establishment of multiple checkpoints around the city, which are broadly Taliban controlled, the engagement of the Afghan National Army around the perimeter of the airport as well. So we are working closely with the US, particularly the UK, others, Germans included, to try to improve or address those security challenges, as it were, those checkpoints particularly, and then the security in terms of access to the airport. And there needs to be a balance, obviously. And we expect that balance will be achieved between the security of the airport perimeter and the ability to enter the airport to depart. But yesterday there were multiple kilometre long traffic queues outside the airport. At one point, people were having to be lifted over gates into the airport. It is extremely challenging. So we will continue to, to use the officials that we have on the ground who are well linked in with particularly the US and the UK to address those. In terms of numbers and on where they are. The majority of the people with whom we are in contact and who have sought our support are in Kabul, but not all of them. So for Australians and for visa holders, the majority are there. The difficulties of moving around Afghanistan have only been increasing in recent weeks as we have, as we have all seen, and we will continue to engage with, with those people. We also have an increasing number of Australians who have registered in with DFAT in Afghanistan from relatively low numbers just a fortnight ago to much higher numbers. And we're managing those cohorts as well of Australians and their families.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Qantas has now introduced mandatory jabs for workers. Would you encourage other companies to do the same?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they're decisions for those companies, but I commend Qantas for the way they went about it. They surveyed their members, their staff. Found almost, I think 90 per cent of their own staff had either been vaccinated or intended to be vaccinated. They talked to them. They worked it through. They have a reasonable position to be able to make this request. And they've gone about it, I think, in a very engaged way. And they've come up, I think with a fair and and well intentioned direction. So I wish them well with that. But I think they've shown, I think, the right model about how you go about this. And I welcome the fact because many of those employees are, you know, live in the Shire, in my electorate, and I know across my own community that people out there are getting vaccinated and understand the importance of that. And so I welcome the fact that so many Qantas employees understand the importance of it without even having to be asked. And I think that's what we're seeing. See there are certain circumstances where this may be necessary and the companies will move in those areas. But what I do know is I have great faith in Australians that they know what they need to do and, you know, they are doing it. And by tomorrow, one in two Australians would have actually gone out and got their first jab. All we had to do was ask them to do it. I have great faith and trust in them. I have great confidence in them doing the right thing. Michelle.

JOURNALIST: Two brief questions. The question of vaccinating young people, children, is now becoming urgent. Do you have any update on when the ATAGI advice is coming? And secondly, have you now had to abandon your hope of being in the United States for the ANZUS celebration in September?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we had no official plans on that latter matter.

JOURNALIST: Hopes?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we can have hopes and I think that's reasonable. But COVID tends to have other ideas about these things. And there are many international meetings and engagements that aren't possible to be done this year and we all understand that. But we will find, we will find our own way of dealing with those issues and we'll continue to work through, you know, the international commitments that we have and work those through, I mean, Quad meetings, things like this, there are aspirations for those as well. But we'll see how those play out.

Now, you are right to say that the issue of the vaccination of children is, of course, an important issue. The TGA has provisionally approved the use of Pfizer for Australians aged between 12 and 15 years and on ATAGI's advice, the advice we have already received from ATAGI, this has now been opened for those with underlying medical conditions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and those living in remote communities. Now, ATAGI along with their UK counterparts is now considering the expansion of this to all 12 to 15 year olds. If ATAGI provides that advice, planning is already well underway. This is a matter that we've dealt with regularly, both at National Cabinet in terms of the state based systems for potential school based vaccination programmes, and the work is already underway on how that could be done and planned together with the Commonwealth and the state and territory administrations. And, and we, it's not too far away, is my understanding. But equally, we're talking about the vaccination of our kids. And I want to be very sure about the medical advice we're getting about that. To Senator Gallagher, I can understand she's terribly upset about the fact that one of her own children has been affected with COVID. Any parent I can understand that would be absolutely heartbreaking, and I wish Evie and the family all the best for a speedy recovery. I'm going to do three, one, two, three.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the situation in Kabul indicates that anyone that is not in that city is going to be unlikely to be evacuated. Is it these people that you were talking about yesterday when you said we may not get everyone that we would like to bring to Australia? And if that's the case, how can we say we did all we could, given we've known as far back as November when the US indicated it was withdrawing from Afghanistan, that we had people in these regions that may need our assistance.

PRIME MINISTER: What I'd simply say, that's exactly what we were doing. We have been aware of this and that's why we were progressing. That's why since January, 470 were able to get through. As I said, it's not a simple process. It takes months and months and months to go through that proper process of identifying individuals, the security issues that need to be considered in terms of people who are coming from such an area of the world and they're coming to Australia and with their families. And so Australians would expect me and the government to take all the necessary steps as we process those claims. And we have and we've done it very promptly. 430, having then been visaed, not just visaed, but then brought to Australia. So this is not a simple exercise that can be done in a couple of weeks. This is an exercise that takes months and months because people are in all parts of the country. They have had all sorts of experiences. They've moved around. They may have come in contact with other influences within the region and we need to be aware of those things. There are of course, medical issues, which were complicated, particularly by COVID, in terms of getting the support for people to have those medical assessments and checks. I mean, there's tuberculosis in Afghanistan and so we have to be conscious of those issues. So we have been moving with great haste for some time now to bring Australians and Afghans out of Afghanistan. And we have achieved a great deal in the full knowledge that we would have to do that swiftly, given the deterioration in the environment that we were seeing. Remember, it was the Australian Government that closed down its mission in May. That decision was criticised. We decided to do that because we knew and we got our own people out. In recent days and weeks, other foreign missions have been trying to evacuate their own diplomatic staff. We'd already done that in May. We'd already got our ADF out. We'd already moved. And 430 Afghan nationals also out before any of these events even occurred. So I would say the Government has been responding, has been on the front foot, just as we have been over these many years. 1,800 Afghans and their families already living here in Australia and some 8,500 brought here, living here under our humanitarian programme. And that says a lot about the way we have acted towards Afghanistan.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister overnight said there are only seven people able to get on the German flight out of Kabul because of the Taliban presence at the airport. We've managed to get twenty six people out. Can I ask of Australia's intended evacuees, how many now are actually at the terminal? Can you give us an idea of that? Is it only a small number of them, is it more than we think, can you give us an idea of the numbers? How are we going to get them in?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to go into operational details, because I don't think that's wise. We're working closely with all of those who are seeking to get to these evacuation flights. Now that we've got people on the ground that we've been able to get in over the last 24 hours, that's great. They're going to assist us with that. DFAT is working through their channels every day. The Foreign Minister might want to comment on this, but providing those sorts of, providing those sorts of details, I'm not going to put anybody at risk about where they are, we know who we are seeking to get out [inaudible]. And that's why we're moving with the utmost haste to do that. Marise did you want to. Sorry I was going to Andrew.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. Just on firstly, what cooperation have you managed to extract from the states? Because when it comes to quarantining the returnees, because I understand, my understanding is Queensland and Tasmania are not offering to help. Maybe you could clarify that. And secondly, just following up Mr Riley's question, I understand that an approach by Australia in the past has been that while we might recognise the state, as we have done previously with Afghanistan, Fiji, Cambodia, I think there might be one other nation, we don't, we might not necessarily recognise the legitimacy of the government. What are the pre-conditions for us to recognise a Taliban government and does that include the treatment of women?

PRIME MINISTER: Do you want to start on that one, Marise?

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you. That was very formal, but Mark's question was, was certainly I think one I responded to before. I'm not going to speculate about those matters. They will be the subject of international discussions, as they have already been in terms of the engagement at the U.N. Security Council. We will continue to talk with partners. And I think the Prime Minister's made our views fairly clear.

PRIME MINISTER: And on the other matter, no, Queensland, are supporting and participating. And this is a matter we'll discuss again on Friday at National Cabinet to confirm a number of those arrangements. Of course, in Tasmania, they don't run international flights normally from other parts of the world, and their facilities are different to what's available in other states and territories, but that it, wouldn't be because of any reluctance to want to assist and I have no doubt the Tasmanian Government will provide whatever help they can to assist in this effort. There's been a spontaneous and ready response from all the states and territories, and I'm grateful for that, as indeed through the National Resilience Facility at Howard Springs as well, which will be playing a role in these repatriations. We were taking people out of Kabul, taking them through our base in the Emirates where we are, where we are expanding that capability to be able to have people there, as we work through their medical checks as well and their welfare and seeing they're okay. And then for onward transfer to Australia, that's the channel. There are not people sort of going there for any other purpose then onward travel to Australia. That is the way that our operations are working. And we'll have further discussions about that on Saturday, sorry on Friday, but we already have ample, ample capacity to deal with the flights that we have arranged.

JOURNALIST: So first Darwin and then dispersed?

PRIME MINISTER: I haven't said where they are flying to. I've said where the capacity will be and that all states and territories are providing whatever support they can.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I just want to get a sense of how significant the security situation was on the ground, sorry, how significant the security risk was on the ground at the airport. We're hearing reports that a former ADF interpreter was actually shot in the leg by the Taliban during the operation. Is there any truth to that? Do you know if there was any kind of skirmish around the Australian efforts?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to comment on reports of that nature. What I'll simply say is this. Kabul is a dangerous place and we've got Australians operating in a very dangerous environment to get their fellow Australians and those who've helped our cause over a long period of time and to bring them to safety in Australia. And they're all heroes. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43533

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

17 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I’m joined by the Minister for Health and the Chief Medical Officer. I’m also joined by the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and I’ll be making some remarks on the COVID situation very shortly.

But, before I also do that, can I make a couple of remarks regarding the situation in Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan is extremely disturbing, very concerning I know to all Australians, and none more so than our veterans community right across the country, and in a moment I want to make some very specific remarks to our veterans. What I can assure you is that the National Security Committee of the Cabinet has been meeting every day, we met again this morning for several hours, as we continue to finalise the operational plans that are already being swung into place, not just here, but of course in the Middle East and overseas, and in preparations for what we are hoping to do over the course of this week. As I said earlier, on Sunday, I don't propose to go into any of the details of those plans at this point. But, I do intend, at the appropriate moment, to stand before you again and update you on the progress of those operations.

I want to thank all of those who have been working tirelessly to ensure that we can put these plans safely in place, to make sure that we can follow through, not just on the care that we provide to citizens in these situations, but, of course, the many Afghan nationals who will be making Australia their home. Already, 430 Afghan nationals who’ve worked with Australia are already here in Australia with their families, and they've come here since April. Over the course of these many years, some 1,800, 1,800 have come to Australia and are living here amongst us, and we're thankful for their support to us. And, we are very pleased that they are making their home now here in Australia. There will be more that will be added to this number. There will be more that will be added to this number, not just through the locally engaged program that we have been running with a great sense of urgency, particularly this year. But, in addition, through our humanitarian program more broadly, which has the capacity to ensure that we can also take people through those channels in a, in a very torrid situation like we have in Afghanistan at the moment.

It is, it is changing by the day, and we have to be also very mindful of those who are part of these operations for Australia. We need to be mindful of the environment they're entering. What we have seen, and of course in the last 24 hours, is in the city of Kabul itself, while there may have been some stability - it's all relative when you're talking about a place like Kabul at the moment - some stability, the situation at the airport still remains a very difficult and challenging environment. But, our Defence Forces, as well as DFAT, our Home Affairs officials and others, our Health officials, are working closely together, not just for what needs to be done in the Middle East, but what will need to be done back here in Australia. And, I also want to thank states and territories with whom we've been engaging to ensure that when we're able to have people returning to Australia, that we have the quarantine facilities and the places ready to go for that to be supported. I've been in touch with some Premiers about that, but in most cases I haven't had to be. The arrangements are already there. This is a national effort. This is a call right across the country to support these operations, and I want to thank everybody for the important work they've been doing.

Can I, though, say a few quite specific words to our veterans community, who I know will be feeling these events incredibly, incredibly sensitively. To the men and women of our ADF and Australia's veterans, I know today is a day of sadness and reflection for our Afghanistan veterans. It's a time of deep and uncomfortable questioning. And, that is only right. We shouldn't hide from it. The scenes from Kabul have been absolutely heartbreaking. It's a sobering day for everyone, and particularly those who have given so much over the past 20 years, and most notably those 41 who were lost. I know the overriding concern of the veterans I've spoken to has been for us to protect those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan, that worked alongside you. 1,800 have already been brought to Australia, 430 just since April of this year, and more will come. I want you to know that we will continue to do everything we can for those who have stood with us, as we have to this day. But, I want to talk openly to veterans that despite our best efforts, I know that support won't reach all that it should. On the ground, events have overtaken many efforts. We wish it were different. Today, we remember the tens of thousands of Australians and their families made extraordinary sacrifices for our mission in Afghanistan. Those who went didn't get to decide where they went, or the cause that they were asked to serve. They went because they'd signed on to serve their country. They'd signed on to be the professionals, soldiers, passionate about their country, to serve under their flag and in the name of Australia. Sacrifices that will always be honoured and always remembered. It was a mission that was about stopping a murderous ideology being exported around the world. For two decades, that ideology has been contained, as have the mass casualty attacks of those times. A generation of Taliban leadership was wiped out because of that violence. And, time will tell if the lesson of that history has been learnt.

I know some veterans of the conflict are questioning these efforts. I understand that. I truly do. My answer though, is, the uniform you wear, and have worn, has always been about keeping Australia and Australians safe, serving under our flag, serving our values. There is no more decent and good purpose than being willing to serve the country that you love. It doesn't mean history's currents always run our way. I wish it did, but sadly it doesn't. But, it doesn't matter which battle, which conflict in where our uniform has been worn, we honour all who step up in our name. We honour the men and women, who in Andrew Hastie's words, ‘Run to the sound of the guns, because that is what we ask of them.’ To them, I say, you can be as proud as I am of you today as at any other time you put that uniform on, and the very first time you pulled that uniform on. You have served our country, and in so many cases continue to. And, I'm going to ask you to do one more thing for us and ourselves and yourself, and that is to please talk with people each and every day, in the weeks and months ahead. To your comrades, to your fellow veterans, to your friends, to your families and to your counsellors. There are services that are available, with people there who understand the circumstances of veterans and their families, including Open Arms, on 1800 011 046. Talk to someone, take up those services. It'll help you see through the fog of these very, very difficult times. The confusion, the uncertainty, the anger, it will make a difference, because all Australians want you to know, not just your Prime Minister, that you are not alone.

Tomorrow is Vietnam Veterans’ Day, and I want our Vietnam veterans, who had their own difficulties in their times, as well as all of our veterans through all of our conflicts also, as you, I know you do, reach out to your fellow Afghanistan veterans. And, to all Australians I say, if you know a veteran, tell them, as I take every opportunity to do, to thank them for their service. Let them know that we're all grateful, let them know that we're all proud, and we always will be.

On to other matters, I want to say thank you to Australia, as we continue to battle the most difficult phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to thank every single person who is pushing through. We are not going to give up. We are not going to give in. I know, as each day as you are there, particularly those who are at home, and you hear the news each day and you hear the numbers and you, and you hear the challenges. I understand that that can be very disheartening, that it can get you down. Let's not give up, that's not our nature. Let's not give in to that, let's continue to look forward. Sometimes you can only see the tunnel and not the light. But, I want to tell you, the light is there, and every single day you're helping us achieve that. Whether you’re staying at home where you need to, or you're getting vaccinated, you're getting on the phone and ringing your friend and encouraging them over the course of the day, or whatever you're doing to help Australia get through this, you are creating that light at the end of this tunnel. And, it's very important we focus on that, Australia. It's very easy to become overcome by the criticisms and the negativity and the, and the numbers. But, we must push through, and we shall. And, there's good reason to believe that, because even though our challenges are great - and I've asked the Health Minister and CMO and Minister for Indigenous Australians to join us today to talk about a particular challenge we're having in western New South Wales - we will overcome it.

We've just had another near record day of over 270,000 doses delivered in a single day. It's almost 200 doses every single minute. Just think about that. In the brief time I've been speaking here, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of doses, going through, getting us one step closer, with every single dose. In the past seven days here in Australia, as a share of our population, it beats any seven day period in the United Kingdom over their entire vaccination program. That's what you are achieving right now, Australia. That's what you're achieving, and taking us forward to the next phase, as we look forward to those 70 per cent and 80 per cent vaccination rates being achieved. And, the quiet achievers of this are the 8,000 and more GPs and pharmacists, the silent success that they're engaged in every single day. They are doing the overwhelming majority of the vaccine doses across the country. You'll see the images, no doubt, as you can, of the big clinics where people are coming in, but even more, quietly walking into suburban main street GPs, rural towns around the country, people going in quietly getting their jab from their GP and their pharmacists, and getting this job done for Australia.

Right now, around the country, every state and territory has gone above 25 per cent double dose, except Western Australia, and we look forward to them achieving that in the time ahead. This week, one in two Australians will have received their first dose of that vaccine. And, that's getting us closer and closer to that 70 per cent and 80 per cent every single day. So, I want to encourage Australians. I know that the news can sometimes get you down, but don't let it. We're never going to give in to this thing. We're never going to give up in fighting it. We will overcome the challenges. We will continue to stand with you.

$3 billion has already been made available, $3 billion just most recently, to the 1.3 million Australians who have access to that COVID Disaster Payment. We are standing with you today, just as we were last year, just as we brought back Australia from that COVID-19 recession, and the terrible first and second waves, and we came back then and we are going to come back again after this, as we vaccinate the rest of the nation. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much to the PM, to Ken, to Paul Kelly, the Chief Medical Officer. So, firstly, to echo the Prime Minister, thank you to all of the Australians who are stepping forward to arm themselves, to be vaccinated, to protect themselves, their friends, their families, their communities. This is happening, as the PM says, in record numbers. Yesterday, 279,465 Australians were vaccinated. We believe that's the highest number, not just during the COVID vaccination program, but at any point in Australia's history for vaccinations in a single day. That's now over 15.6 million vaccines that have been delivered in total. And, importantly, we've passed the milestone of over 10 million eligible Australians that have had their first dose. And, that's the number that’s immensely important because it overwhelmingly leads to people having their second dose. And, that's very heartening. And, so, to see that is a cause of thanks, but it's also a point to continue to urge Australians to come forward.

But, this week, we know that there are over two million vaccines in the field, and then there's the additional million from Europe. And, I can give a brief update on that. The TGA has batch tested the first of the arrivals and approved it, and that's been released, and that's going to be distributed over the coming hours and days. And, I think that will provide additional hope and help and support for people right around Australia, but particularly in New South Wales, particularly in Sydney, particularly in western and south western Sydney. In addition to to that, the second of those flights from Europe is over Australia and due to land this afternoon with the additional 450,000 doses, Prime Minister. So, that's all, I think, real cause for hope.

Now, in terms of other elements, with regards to the response to the outbreak in western New South Wales - and Ken and Professor Kelly will give additional detail - the Commonwealth is working very closely with New South Wales. I particularly want to thank New South Wales Health. There's a joint operations team led by Health at Commonwealth with the support of Emergency Management Australia, and led by New South Wales Health. As a consequence of that, we will be dispatching five ADF vaccination teams. They will comprise up to 14 members. The first of those teams will arrive in western New South Wales tomorrow, and others will arrive over the coming days. These teams will be made of up to 14 members, as I've mentioned, which will include medics, nurses, logisticians, a clinical lead, and they'll be hubbed out of Dubbo and they will work across the area. They'll support vaccination, but where swabbing or other activities are required, they're highly mobile, highly flexible, highly trained.

In addition to that, the first AUSMAT team is expected to be dispatched within 48 hours. Professor Len Notaras, the head of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, is pulling those teams together from around the country. And, the first of those teams will be dispatched in the next 48 hours, and that will be up to five teams over the course of the coming week. They will carry out a similar role, but in particular provide clinical support. So, if there are any hospitals, any areas where the health services are in some way, shape or form impaired by furloughed workers or stressed, they're ready to step up. These are some of the absolute heroes and most extraordinary people in the Australian medical system, and they've helped us throughout the course of the last 18 months, and they'll continue to help us.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is providing additional services right across Walgett, Dubbo, Bourke. They're providing vaccine support in small communities. Supplies have included an additional 9,480 vaccines, but if more is required, more will be provided. Testing equipment is in place. Additional point of care testing across Walgett and Bourke, across general practice respiratory clinics right through the course of western New South Wales. And, then, finally, there's masks which have been made available, in conjunction with New South Wales - 10,000 masks have been provided in these areas. If more is needed, more will be provided. But, I do want to thank the Indigenous community. They have been extraordinary. There are challenges, but they've shown an immense amount of spirit, but nobody's better placed to talk about that than Ken.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Ken.

THE HON. KEN WYATT AM MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Thank you very much, Greg, thank you, PM. Can I say I'm really pleased with the vaccination rates - at 30 per cent, that's 169,000 Indigenous Australians who’ve had their first vaccine, another 15 per cent have had both their doses, 69,000. But, what is coming out and becoming very evident is our communities know the challenges, and already leadership is stepping up and we're seeing straight talking happening, what it means. They're cutting through what they're seeing through media, and they're saying stay at home, wash your hands. Whilst we have cultural considerations, they're making sure that they distance. And, whilst the numbers are increasing, they remain optimistic that they will arrest it. And, I was impressed with some of the local messages that are coming out from elders and leaders at the community level. You would have seen Riverbank Frank or Frank Doolan do a superb message about why it's important that you look after each other, why it's important that you take care and lean in and give the support.

But, the community controlled health sector, in working with all of the coordinating structures that we’ve put in place, are making inroads into protecting people, giving key messages, but making sure that the vaccines are available, and the Commonwealth, the state and the community are working hand in hand. Pat Turner and I both committed to working very closely together to make sure that we protect people. In the Northern Territory, the Land Councils have put into place the permit system and nobody is allowed into those communities. Our leadership has been very strong at every level where there is a concern, and they've not waited for governments to tell them. They have, of their own initiative, said that we want to protect our elders. The young ones also are joining in by saying we need to keep our knowledge keepers. So, the strength of our community in all of these initiatives has been tremendous. It'll continue to be there, even though we may face challenges in some areas, they will make sure that we have the level of impact to reduce the spread of COVID within our communities. But, they've risen to the challenge and they are doing a superb job. And, can I congratulate Pat Turner and Lieutenant General Frewen and Paul for the letter that they've sent to every GP in this country asking that they give their attention to the needs of Indigenous Australians who require to be vaccinated so that we protect them and protect them into the future, so that they can live long lives, and we continue with our culture and our history and our place in Australian society.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Paul.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM and ministers. So, I'd just like to join the other speakers today talking about a message of hope. There is hope and that hope comes from the collaboration that Minister Wyatt has just talked about. I've learnt over many years from Aboriginal Australians and the Aboriginal community controlled sector about that importance of listening to each other, of that trust that can build through collaboration. And I've seen that right throughout the pandemic in relation to our work with Indigenous Australia and most importantly, in the last couple of days. There's no question about who's in charge of what, who's responsible for what. Everyone is getting together and helping that emerging situation in western New South Wales, which is very, very concerning. And so there is hope there. And the two ministers and the PM have already talked to that about how that's working. That collaborative spirit has been a key component all the way through, not only throughout the medical profession, in the public health profession, in the Australian Health Protection Committee that I chair that has met every single day for the last three months to talk through these things, to see how we can work together. My great appreciation to them. 

But the key part of the hope is the vaccination programme. I know we've talked about that many times before. There are many other things we need to do, but vaccine can be part of the solution, and mask wearing. I just remembered I'm still wearing my mask. I'll take that off. I've become used to it. 

So I just want to just very, very briefly mention the data from from New South Wales. We had a look just in the last 24 hours about the vaccination status of the current outbreak in New South Wales. So this is based on information we have for not all of the cases, but from almost 6,000 of them. So we have information for 74 per cent of the cases, which is just under 6,000. So where it's known, only one per cent of cases were fully vaccinated, that is 99 per cent of the cases we've seen have not been vaccinated. Vaccination is the key. That's our hope. Three per cent were partially vaccinated and four per cent were diagnosed within three weeks of receiving a single vaccination. The key message here is go and get vaccinated, particularly if you're in the older age group, as Minister Wyatt has mentioned. But everyone. Vaccination is available right now in many places very close to you. As importantly, no fully vaccinated cases have required admission to ICU. So that severe end of the spectrum, we've talked about the protection that vaccination gives against severe illness. Not a single person that has been admitted to ICU has been vaccinated and there's only been one death. Unfortunately, that gentleman aged 91 years was fully vaccinated. I believe it might be two now, but there's very few of the cases that have been diagnosed, have been fully vaccinated and died. And so it is a protection. It is hope. It's our way out of this crisis. And so please do not hesitate and go and get vaccinated. Make that appointment today. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on Sunday, you said, as a matter of principle, Australia will always fight for freedom. With the Taliban in control of Kabul, at least one of them boasting about being a former inhabitant of Guantanamo Bay. How do you tell a young girl in Afghanistan today, maybe a girl as young as your daughters, that this is what freedom looks like?

PRIME MINISTER: Australians have been there for 20 years. And for 20 years we've been able to seek to protect a generation. Australia doesn't act alone in these efforts. And the sad truth is that with the decisions that have been taken, that is not something that Australia can continue to do. Australia has exerted every effort to help the people of Afghanistan over these last 20 years. We have lost 41 of our own in that great cause. And I can say that Australia has done it all within its power, all within her power to provide safety for the people of Afghanistan. And what we see now is heartbreaking. 

JOURNALIST: You've admitted that support won't reach all that it should. You said you wish it were different. Could the situation not have been different? We've had former soldiers warning for weeks now that military evacuation was needed. Why weren't those calls heeded to back then when we were getting those warnings? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, 430 people have been resettled and they're in Australia right now. Now, that process did not happen overnight. That's just since April. There are many months involved in both going through the appropriate processes of identifying people, looking at what they've been able to do with us, going through medical checks, doing all of those necessary things that Australians would expect of their government to do in any such programme. 1,800 have gone through that process over the course of our government. Living here in Australia now. 

Our embassy was closed in May of this year. I remember some were critical of the government for doing that. We were getting people out from May, from May. So I would say that our government has been moving steadily now over quite a period of time to bring as many people out as we possibly can. And the job is not yet done. The job is not yet done. Now, in any circumstance, it's impossible to give 100 per cent guarantees. That's all I was referring to. 

JOURNALIST: Can I ask a question on visas and in particular, temporary visas. Marise Payne was very careful on radio this morning to say no Afghan visa holder will be asked to return to Afghanistan, at this stage. Alex Hawke has also just issued a statement to say no Afghan visa holder currently in Australia will be asked to return to Afghanistan while the security situation remains so dire. It's very clear the situation in Afghanistan isn't going to improve. So why don't we allow those on temporary visas in Australia to apply for permanent residency and finally become Australian? 

PRIME MINISTER: We have no plans to be returning people back to those places where there's such terrible, where there is such terrible unrest and they'll be able to remain here under those circumstances, under the visas they're currently on. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your predecessor, or one of your predecessors, there's been a very few, Tony Abbott in 2015 issued 12,000 [inaudible] for Syrian refugees. Will you do the same, given that one of the elements of the last pandemic budget was that you actually reduced the humanitarian intake by 5,000 from 18,750 to 13,750? You've got plenty of space to offer a special intake for the people that Australia have a particular responsibility for. 

PRIME MINISTER: One of the things we have been doing now for some time is there are those who have been able to come out under the locally engaged employees programme. As I said, 1,800 people and their families have already come out, some 430 just since April of this year. And the pace of that programme has been running at a very high level. The only other time it ran as high as that, I remember it well. I was Immigration Minister at the time. It was back in 2013 and well over 500 visas were issued while I was Immigration Minister, getting Afghan interpreters and others who are working with our forces to Australia to safety. So we've done it before and we are doing it again. What we are- and then there are others who haven't been involved with Australia's operations like that. And what we have done is ensure that we can basically hand over case files that have been looked at in that context and they are being processed through the humanitarian programme. 

We do have a very strong humanitarian programme. Indeed, only Canada’s on a per capita basis is higher than Australia's. And the rates that we have had, I think Australia can look very favourably on. I mean, our communities have people right across the country who have come out under our humanitarian programme. Indeed, they were celebrated as champions at the most recent Olympics. People have come through that. People have come through that programme. And so what I'm suggesting is we are considering all of these issues, all of these issues. 

But I'll tell you what I'm focused on right now. Right now, I'm focussed on the very desperate situation that exists in Kabul right now and making sure that the operations that we are mounting are successful, that those Australians who are involved in those operations are doing it in a way which is both protective of their safety, but also getting the mission done. And so the government is very focused on that right now. That is the operational priority right at this moment. That is why the National Security Committee I'm chairing every single day as we oversight these operations and make sure that job gets done. There are many other issues. Andrew, you're right, that need to be then considered as we go forward. And they indeed will be. But right now we're looking to make sure those operations are a success. 

Chris. We don't have time for a lot of questions today, but I'm happy to take a couple of more.

JOURNALIST: What optimism do you have that you'll be able to get any planes in and get anyone out? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know me, I'm always optimistic. I'm probably one of the most optimistic people, you know, Chris, but I am also doing is ensuring that we're doing this very carefully on the basis of the most current information we have from the field. And that's why we're reviewing these matters so regularly. And, but I do remain optimistic about those operations. That's why we continue to authorise and proceed with our plans to ensure we can get done what we hope to get done in the days ahead. 

JOURNALIST: You were saying you were aware of this deteriorating situation in Afghanistan since May, we closed the embassy at that time. So why did it take up until now, mid-August, to send these 250 personnel? And can you rule out that any of them that have been sent have, are in any way connected to the Brereton Inquiry? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I firstly respond by saying that the suggestion, I find a bit extraordinary in the circumstances. These are 250 Australians answering the call of their government to go and help Australians in need. And you're questioning their integrity? I, I find that quite surprising. They're going there to help their fellow Australians and to help Afghan citizens who will be coming to live here in Australia. They're going to do their service in our uniform and in our name. I respect it. And I would ask others to respect it also and not to cast slurs against their integrity. 

The second point I'd make is this. They have been asked to go there under this operation to support the mission we're currently engaged in. And that mission involves a situation on the ground in Kabul which is very distressing, very fluid. And of course, should we need Australians to be going in to support the efforts of our mission over, in the days ahead, then, of course, we have that option available to us by people being prepositioned. But I thank them for their service. Thank you to those 250 that have left from Townsville. I want to thank their families as they farewelled them off to that service. And I can assure you, I honour each and every single one of you.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've mentioned that the importance of the 70 and 80 per cent targets under Doherty, how important is it going to be for the states to ensure no regions actually fall short of that 70 or 80 per cent, because you could see areas much higher. You could end up with a state with one level, but vastly different rates across different regions? 

PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think that's a fair assessment, and that's why the disaggregated data we're increasingly releasing for that purpose so we can know where to greater focus our efforts and states and territories know where they can greater focus their efforts. Even when you go across the country. I mean, right now, if I go around the country and look what everybody is achieving, I mean, Tasmania continues to be leading the way. And good on those in Tasmania together with the ACT and the Northern Territory. New South Wales is also moving into that category now, well over 50 per cent now who have had their first dose. So it is important that the national vaccination programme works right across the country. And as we move into those 70 and 80 per cent phases, I was very clear, as was I think the Chief Medical Officer at the time, that where communities in particular remain vulnerable because of lower vaccination rates, then we will have to be more careful in those places and we will need to know those sensitivities. But for the broad majority of the population, then the broader vaccination rates will be more prevailing, I think, in those circumstances. And even when we look across metropolitan areas and this is why we've been able to push over half a million doses into Sydney in particular, to deal with those 20 to 39 age groups, I've got to say, I'm very, I am encouraged by the fact that when I stood up at the end of June and encouraged those under 60s to really consider going out and get that getting that AstraZeneca vaccine, you know, more than half a million people aged under 60 have now done that. Thank you. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for having the conversations with your GPs. Thank you for having the conversations with your families. Thank you for taking those decisions. I really appreciate it. We've time for one more. Clare.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. The New South Wales Government has released data today showing that the vaccination rate in Dubbo and large parts of western New South Wales only between 10 and 19 percent fully vaccinated. How is it possible that these regions with such a high concentration of priority recipients are so far behind and has this put them in a worse place to now battle these outbreaks of virus? I'd like to hear Minister Wyatt as well. 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let the Chief Medical Officer respond to that one. It is challenging in different populations to have higher rates of vaccination. Some communities are more challenging, their remoteness and many other issues play into that, and of course, we want those vaccination rates to be as high as they possibly can. And the Minister has already commented on all the things we're doing to try and achieve that and the support we're getting from communities. And we just continue to seek to encourage those communities to work with us in those efforts. But it is concerning to us what's happening in western New South Wales. Of course it is. Of course it is. And that's why the additional resources and efforts and doses and masks and AUSMAT teams and all of this are being provided to ensure that we can address that situation. We do see it as a serious situation and we're moving quickly to work with the New South Wales Government to address it. Paul.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Minister Hunt mentioned many of the things that have been now done to address that issue rather than looking backwards. Let's look forward. Let's look at what's happened in the last few days. Extraordinary efforts, literally thousands of vaccinations happening in places as far flung as Walgett and Bourke and Brewarrina and many other places in western New South Wales. And this is a huge collaborative effort between the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the local Aboriginal Medical Services, New South Wales Health, the Commonwealth, and from tomorrow, the ADF resources and from later in the week, the AUSMAT resources. But Minister Wyatt may talk to the community element.

JOURNALIST: Why shouldn't those people have been eligible since March, have had more of an opportunity proactively to get the vaccine?

THE HON. KEN WYATT AM MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Part of it is choice. Some people have made choices because they have become fearful of adverse effects, but they are now focusing on getting vaccinated. That's why the vaccine rates, the vaccination rates have increased substantially. And we're seeing this right across the country. Wallum community, 80 per cent are now vaccinated. Palm Island, the figures are extremely high, 1,770. Torres Strait Islander regional area. People are now believing that it is time for them to take the proactive action. And the elders and the leaders are ensuring that the straight messages, straight talking is now part of what communities are hearing.

JOURNALIST: Shouldn't you have been more proactive before, because we knew these people were so vulnerable, they were at the front of the queue. Surely the messages should have been got out strongly before. 

THE HON. KEN WYATT AM MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Michelle, the messages were going out through Aboriginal media. They were about the importance of becoming vaccinated. They were important, about keeping families safe and mob safe and communities safe. But in some places they thought that they would be fairly distant from what was happening in capital cities. There is now a realisation that this virus can travel anywhere because of the movement of people. Most communities don't have the volume coming through, so there is that sense of secureness within their remote communities. This is now changed and it's a game changer. And that's why we're seeing the stepping up. And let me say that the Aboriginal community controlled health services, working in coordination with all of the other layers of support that are going in, are now availing themselves of vaccines and they are availing themselves of other services, such as mental health services and whatever else is needed to protect them and their families. 

PRIME MINISTER: Just on Parliament before I leave, I mean, no decision has been taken other than that Parliament would normally proceed next Monday. And we continue to work through those issues with the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Health Officer here. A quorum of members of Parliament actually remain here in Canberra. They've been here during the lockdown. So there won't be an issue in terms of there being enough members to be able to sit in the Parliament next week if that's indeed what we progress with. And so we'll continue to work through those issues. And when we've made a decision, we will advise accordingly. Thank you, everyone.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43532

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

15 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone. I'm joined by the Foreign Minister, the Health Minister and General Frewen, head of Operation COVID Shield. 

Before I come to the announcement today, I want to make a few remarks on Afghanistan. National Security Committee of Cabinet met yesterday to discuss a number of matters, this being the most serious of those matters. The situation in Afghanistan remains highly volatile and dangerous. We have been in close consultations with our allies and security partners, as we always have been, since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001. We are working closely with our partners to ensure a coordinated response, but we will not be discussing any operational plans at this point in order to maintain the security of those operations and of course, to protect those who are most vulnerable, who are the subject of those operations. I remind everyone that Australia removed its presence from, in the 28th of May. Some 400 locally engaged employees and their families have already been resettled in Australia since around April this year. This has been a program which we've been moving on very urgently, very quickly. It is a very complex exercise and we have been continuing to keep our pace on those processes, both of accrediting, assessing, issuing visas and bringing people to safety here in Australia. But our thoughts and prayers indeed are with the people of Afghanistan. There has been much sacrificed in the cause that we have laboured so long for. Many lives lost, 41 Australians. 

Over the last 20 years, Australia has been a steadfast contributor to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. Australia joined the United States, NATO and the international community in Afghanistan in 2001 to help find Osama bin Laden and those responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001, which will soon have their 20th anniversary, and to eliminate al Qaeda's capacity to stage more attacks against the West from Afghanistan. And that was achieved. Since then, Australia's efforts, alongside those of the international community, have been designed to lift the capacity and welfare of the Afghan people. Freedom is always worth fighting for. 

I want to turn now to some good news. And the news today is that Australia's vaccination rollout is continuing to ramp up. Over 15 million vaccines have now been administered and one in four Australians are fully vaccinated. In just one day we saw more than 270,000 Australians get their jab, that being a record. And we are now achieving one and a half million doses each week, one and a half million doses every week, more than the population of the city of Adelaide as the Health Minister regularly reminds us. And that means we're on track next week to hit an important target. And that is that one in two eligible Australians would have had their first dose next week. 

And I want to thank Australians for turning up. I want to thank Australians for enduring. I want to thank Australians for pushing through. I want to thank those Australians who are complying with those public health orders and the restrictions that are put in place, not just right across New South Wales as was announced yesterday by the New South Wales government. And I want to note that the Commonwealth Government also considered that matter yesterday. The decision taken by the New South Wales Government is consistent with the advice that I have received and the Health Minister has received and indeed the National Security Committee of Cabinet has received about the need for a broader and stronger lockdown in New South Wales to get on top of the virus. And those discussions, of course, have been held with the New South Wales Government. 

But there is hope. Indeed there's more than a million doses of hope on its way. Earlier today, a plane left Dubai, having left Warsaw last night. We have been in discussions with the Polish government now for several weeks, and we have secured an additional just over one million doses of Pfizer and they'll start landing in Australia from tonight. These doses are on top of the 40 million Pfizer doses that Australia has already contracted to be delivered and of course will be ramping up again significantly in the fourth quarter of this year. These one million doses of hope, which will give people right across the country, particularly in New South Wales, where they are fighting this Delta strain in the most significant battle we have had in this country during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic up until now. These doses are all from the Pfizer plant in Belgium, where all of our other Pfizer doses are coming from. And I particularly want to thank Prime Minister Morawiecki, who I've had numerous discussions with over these last few weeks and been in regular contact. I want to thank him personally and his government for their support of Australia's COVID-19 response during this very challenging time. A key factor in being able to secure these doses from our Polish friends has been that we have had a significant outbreak in our largest city. That was the primary element of the discussion that I held with the Prime Minister some weeks ago. And that discussion followed, proving up the reality of us being able to potentially secure these doses and engage in that discussion with them. And I particularly want to thank the great work done by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, our embassy there in Poland in being able to identify this opportunity and enabling us to move very swiftly. The Health Minister and Foreign Minister will speak more to that, of course, and the Health Minister will speak more to the process with the TGA. These doses are TGA approved, but the Health Minister can take you through more of those details. I want to assure Australians that I will continue, and my government will continue to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that where there are opportunities such as these, we will secure them. I note that also being able to secure this transfer required us to engage directly, as I have with the head of Pfizer, to ensure that they are authorised to make this transfer. And I thank Pfizer and Albert Bourla for his support in enabling this to move through as promptly as possible. 

Now, the one million doses, I've discussed this with the New South Wales Premier yesterday, will be targeted to Australians aged 20 to 39 years of age who are identified in the Doherty modelling as the peak transmitters for COVID-19. 530,000 of these doses will be prioritised for express delivery to the 12 Sydney Local Government Areas where the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow. This allocation of the doses is based directly on the advice that I have received from the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Kelly. His advice is based on that Doherty modelling and other work that they have done about how the transmissibility of the virus in those most affected areas can be addressed through these additional doses. This will give everyone aged 20 to 39 in the 12 LGAs the opportunity to be vaccinated. The doses will be administered through the New South Wales Government system and as I said, they're arriving late tonight. They'll go through that process of delivery over the course of the next week. Further doses will turn up over the course of this week and the balance of the doses will be provided to the remaining states and territories on a per capita basis, not including New South Wales, of course, because they will have received those first 530,000 doses. The first touch down, as I said, is in Australia tonight. And in just days we will start going, these jabs will start going into the arms of Australians over the course of this week. And this will greatly assist particularly the effort in New South Wales to assist them as they go into this harder lockdown. And those lockdown measures must be adhered to. 

I have a simple plea to the people right across New South Wales. And I know particularly in rural areas where people are wondering, well, there haven't been any cases in the area, so why do they have to lock down in rural and regional New South Wales. We're seeing that already, where the virus has been able to spread, particularly to some of our most sensitive communities, Indigeonous Australian communities, places like Walgett and so on. And we have to prevent that. We have to try and prevent that as much as possible. And so my plea to my fellow Australians, particularly my fellow Sydneysiders, stay at home. Stay at home. Only leave when you absolutely have to. There's no need to be out for hours and hours and hours a day. I know the rules provide for it, but please don't do it. Stay home. The more we do that, the more likely we're going to get through this. We've been seeing those case numbers rise in Sydney, in New South Wales each day, and that is terribly concerning. So together we've got to get those numbers coming down. And there are two things we can do. I need you to stay at home and you needed more vaccines from us. The more vaccines are on their way. They'll be there this week. And so I need Sydneysiders to stay home so we can beat this thing. That's the only way we're going to get on top of it. Those two things combined, working together, suppress and vaccinate. But to Minister Payne, thank you for your great efforts in assisting with securing this and all the great work done by our DFAT officials. They do a tremendous job, as you and I know, because we see them at it every single day. And I'll ask you to make a few comments. And then, of course, Minister Hunt and General Frewen. 

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. And I want to join the Prime Minister in welcoming Poland's decision to provide a million Pfizer vaccines to Australia and add my personal thanks to Foreign Minister Rau and to the Polish people for their support. To Poland's Ambassador here in Australia, Michał Kołodziejski, and of course, to Australia's Ambassador in Warsaw, Lloyd Brodrick. This is an arrangement which demonstrates, as the Prime Minister said, how our diplomatic capability is able to deliver in ways that continue to protect Australians. And it has been the efforts of Australia's Ambassador in Warsaw and his team, they've been tenacious in identifying and pursuing this opportunity and seeing it through to its successful outcome, including the Ambassador himself, seeing the delivery off at Warsaw Airport last night on its way to Australia. It is another element of the central role that DFAT plays in supporting Australia's response to and recovery from COVID-19, in addition to our repatriation of Australians overseas, the delivery of essential consular services and information and advice to Australians overseas.

Just as Poland has supported Australia in this context, we are also continuing to help our regional partners. And as you know, Australia will share 20 million doses with our neighbouring countries across the Pacific and in Timor Leste and South East Asia. We have already delivered over 1.6 million doses to the Pacific and Timor Leste, including 860,000 to Fiji and 577,000 to Timor-Leste. And to Papua New Guinea, to the Solomon Islands, to Samoa, to Tonga, to Tuvalu and to Vanuatu. We will also provide 2.5 million vaccines to Indonesia, 1.5 million to Vietnam. And in terms of Indonesia's most recent challenges, we've recently seen the delivery of 1,000 ventilators and 700 oxygen concentrators in assistance to our partners in Indonesia in their COVID-19 response. So, Prime Minister, we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with Poland next year. This is a mark of the warmth of the relationship between Australia and Poland. And again, let me thank all of the officials and particularly Foreign Minister Rau, my counterpart, for his assistance in ensuring that this could take place. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Greg. 

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much to the Prime Minister, Marise, General Frewen. These additional doses are points of light and points of hope, as the Prime Minister has said. They come on top of 1.4 million doses which were made available around the country last week. And during the course of the current week, two million doses have been distributed for availability. So these are in addition to the two million doses which will be available to Australians over the course of the coming week in the ordinary course of events. And so thank you General Frewen for working on that process. I particularly want to acknowledge the Health Department, both Brendan Murphy and Professor John Skerritt have invested enormous resources in this process. The ordinary TGA processes have been followed. We're in a fortunate position, same doses, same source, same origin, coming from the Pfizer plant in Belgium. The preliminary work has already been done by the TGA. Final batch testing will be done on arrival in the ordinary course of events. So these are very familiar processes and doses are being treated in the same way. But we're very thankful that the TGA has already been able to do all of the preliminary work. 

In terms of the allocations, the advice of the Chief Medical Officer has been followed in full. And so Professor Kelly has looked at the possibility of this and indicated, as the Prime Minister said, that the highest priority and indeed the basis on which we were able to secure these doses was to address the outbreak in our largest city, with the focus on young people in the 12 affected LGAs. And this will allow for rapid upscaling in that area to a population which will benefit significantly from the doses. 

The final two things I want to mention, we are announcing today a rapid antigen testing process, a significant trial with up to 50 aged care facilities in Sydney that will prove the concept and allow for further expansion. And then just to follow up from the Prime Minister's points about what's occurring with the vaccination program – Australians are doing an amazing job. 15 million doses have been administered now. And what we've seen is 1.5 million, as the PM says, in the last seven days. That's actually now Adelaide and Darwin together. And in the last 10 days, 2.2 million doses or the equivalent of Perth and Ballarat together. What's really occurring here? Much of the burden of the fourth quarter is being brought forward to the third quarter. We are vaccinating more people than we had planned and anticipated was possible at this time. And that's just a tribute to both the supply, the logistics, but above all else the Australian people, those that are coming forward and those that are doing the vaccinations. So to every Australian, thank you for coming forward, but please keep coming forward. And as the PM said, stay at home. If you're in a lockdown area, be tested if you have symptoms and keep coming forward to be vaccinated because every vaccination can save your life and protect the life of somebody else.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Greg. General. 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Thank you, Prime Minister, and thank you, ministers. This additional million doses is very welcome news and will be an important fillip to the national vaccine rollout. These doses will be important in two ways. Firstly, they will help provide an immediate effect to the health situation in New South Wales. And secondly, they will help accelerate the programme more broadly across the nation. We've been working with authorities in New South Wales. They are ready to receive these doses and they will be surging through mass vaccination clinics and other hubs in south west Sydney in order to help bring the situation under control there. I'll also be working with authorities across the other states and territories as to precisely when they will receive their doses and how we will bring those into action in those jurisdictions. 

PRIME MINISTER: OK, I'm happy to take questions 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, did the Taliban win the war in Afghanistan? 

PRIME MINISTER: My concerns are for the people of Afghanistan. Australians have spilt blood and treasure in seeking to protect the lives of Afghanis, and this is a very troubling time. The world is a complex place and there is no more complex place than Afghanistan. Australia and our partners and our allies have done so much to seek to secure their peace, but this remains a very troubled part of the world, not just recently, but over generations and generations. We went there with our primary purpose, as I indicated before, and that was to hunt down Osama bin Laden and to prevent Al-Qaeda being able to use it as a base and mount their attacks. And that was achieved. But the challenge of the peace and freedom of the people of Afghanistan sadly remain an unresolved issue. And we hope for the best for them. But the situation is very, very dire. And our focus now is to ensure that we can continue to support those who have aided us. We are ensuring, as I said already, that over 400 people have already been brought to Australia as we've been working on this quite rapidly in recent months, as the situation has continued to deteriorate and we will continue to redouble our efforts in that regard, working with our partners. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it accurate, is it accurate that you urged the New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, to lock down the entire state earlier last week, that this was discussed by national security cabinet, the security cabinet, and that this was in some way the advice of Paul Kelly? And why didn't she take your advice? And were you disappointed that when she did lock down that yesterday she didn't even front publicly to tell voters that that's what she was doing? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can confirm the decision of the New South Wales Government to have a state wide lockdown is consistent with the advice that I had received from the Chief Medical Officer that the government has considered and and had been discussed with the New South Wales government. 

JOURNALIST: But why didn't she act on that earlier? I mean, the suggestion is that what ... 

PRIME MINISTER: I've confirmed what our position was and how we've relayed it and I'm pleased that the decision has been taken. And I think it's really important now that we just focus on making it work. Sorry, can you not talk over each other, OK? 

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] having such a significant announcement being made by Facebook and Twitter that I can't imagine a lot of people sitting around waiting to follow John Barilaro or someone?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm pleased the decision has been taken. I'll leave the manner in which it's communicated to others. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just back on Afghanistan. Can you at least confirm that Australia will be despatching planes this week, given that Kabul might fall within days? And I'd love to ask Marise Payne, what of those who criticise the retreat for being a moral blunder now that we have sought to protect women and young children, young girls in particular, and they now under Taliban rule, might now be treated no better than cattle?

PRIME MINISTER: Let me deal with the first question. No, I don't think it is advisable for me to go into operational arrangements that are being put in place for the security of those we're seeking to help. And me openly discussing those arrangements wouldn't help them. And so I don't propose to do that. What I can assure you is, is this task has the utmost urgency and priority of the government and, of course, has been considered at the highest levels of the government yesterday. And we're in very constant engagement with our allies and partners as part of that broader effort. 

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thanks, Prime Minister, and as the Prime Minister has said, our concerns are very deep for the people of Afghanistan. This is a deeply disturbing situation. The security situation is clearly worsening. And Australia, like many of our security partners and allies, has invested an enormous amount in Afghanistan in support of the people of Afghanistan over many, many years now. And that includes a strong investment in the position of women and girls across that country. An investment, which has seen greater participation in schools, which has seen more women able to teach, which has seen other changes in lives, which we here, frankly, would simply take for granted. So it is very concerning to contemplate the circumstances which face those women and girls now. We have strongly urged consistently, clearly and emphatically that the Taliban should participate constructively in the peace talks. The peace talks are ongoing, that there should be a ceasefire and supported the Afghan Government and its efforts to pursue those matters. So while we acknowledge the challenges that the Prime Minister has set out, that has been our clear and consistent position. And we continue to reiterate that.

JOURNALIST: They've ignored these entreaties for peace. They have taken vast tracts of the of Afghanistan. You're facing a total humanitarian catastrophe. Is Australia, the US and its allies obliged to go back in and protect those women and young children?

SENATOR THE HON. MARISE PAYNE, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: These are matters which obviously in terms of the humanitarian challenge that the current events in Afghanistan present will continue to be discussed amongst Australia and all of our partners. I know the Afghan Government has called for the Taliban's actions to be subject to the attention of the United Nations. And we would, we would support that. Obviously, it is a very, very difficult situation, and between Australia and our international partners, humanitarian organisations and non-government organisations, these are matters which we are dealing with every day. 

JOURNALIST: You've been adamant that not vaccines, but a lockdown working is the way out of lockdown. Yet, just before you said that, we need these two things, vaccines and a lockdown. I understand the two interact, but is there now, are you conceding the point where it's more likely that New South Wales will get out of lockdown via vaccination than via the lockdown working?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I think you're drawing a false dichotomy there. I have always been very clear that for the lockdown to work, the lockdown must work, and I've always been very clear that that is assisted by vaccines. So to suggest that it's a choice between the two is not the case. Nor have I, nor the New South Wales Premier indicated that. We know both are important, but most importantly is that the lockdown has to work. It must work. That's why I implore people across Sydney, stay at home, don't go down the beach for hours, don't meet up with others walking in twos apart and catching up anyway, we all know what we're talking about, OK? Don't do it. Please don't do it. Because you know, too much is having to be endured through these lockdowns for them not to work. And the more we work together and work with each other to ensure the lockdown works, the more hope we have. And so it's up to all of us, I think, to make this lockdown work. And so this next difficult step is now in place and it needs to be in place to protect people, particularly the most vulnerable people in our country. And so that's why I would urge. So it has always been a case of the two working together, but principally it has always been our very strong view that in a suppression phase, the suppression has to work. And in addition, vaccines can help that task. And that's why we have not ceased in our efforts to try and get additional vaccines. And now they're here that will support that effort. And so we have an opportunity over these next few weeks to really make this work and to get those vaccine numbers up, particularly amongst those 20 to 39 year olds in those most affected areas who are the transmitters. And many of them have to go to work because they are essential workers in occupations that keep the country moving. And so that's essential. So I think this will greatly assist this. Let's not forget that in addition to these 530,000 additional vaccines now going into New South Wales and over a million across the country, but in New South Wales, around 400,000 additional Pfizer vaccines have already been brought forward. So almost 900,000 vaccines, Pfizer vaccines, on top of a million AstraZeneca vaccines being available in New South Wales has been there to support, to assist, to supplement the success of a lockdown. But we've got to make the lockdown work. It's not, vaccines are not an alternative path to this lockdown. The lockdown and its success is the path to the lockdown working. 

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I'll just add, I might just add one thing to that, if that's okay. There's a strong, clear, unequivocal support for the hard 14 day statewide lockdown. (sic 7 day Commonwealth hotspot). It's a difficult decision. It affects a lot of people, but it's the right decision. And that's then backed by the very significant increase in vaccinations which were occurring, but which will now be aided by these additional doses.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what do you say to the families of soldiers who died in Afghanistan who are now questioning the point of the war and if I may, just one more, the one million doses from Poland, what did we offer them in exchange? And has there been any other conversations with any other countries on surplus doses, particularly the US, that would provide a lot of hope to Australians now.

PRIME MINISTER: To the families of those 41 Australians, I say what I've always said. Thank you. Thank you for the sacrifice of your sons. They have fallen under our flag, under our name, wearing our uniform, serving. And we are forever in their debt. They don't get to decide where they go or what mission they're asked to perform. They know that. And yet they sign up and they go anyway. And they knew what they had to do and they went out there and did it. The world more broadly is a more complex environment. And so we can only offer our humble thanks of a grateful nation to them, and that I don't believe any Australian who falls in that service dies in vain, because what we always seek to fight for, which is freedom, is always important in whatever cause, regardless of the outcome. The fact that we as a nation stand for freedom and have been prepared to put Australians on the line for that cause is never in vain. Because if you stop fighting for freedom in that way, as we continue to pursue it all around the world in whatever field we can, diplomatically and otherwise, it is always important. And they have given more than anyone could ever expect of them in that great cause. And that's why they are great national heroes. The other issue, this is a straightforward transaction, a straightforward transaction. We've purchased the additional vaccines and I can't go into the commercial arrangements, I'm sure you understand, but it was a straight transaction and Prime Minister Morawiecki and I had a very positive discussion. A lot of that engagement, I've got to say, between the Polish Prime Minister and I was formed during the course of the OECD discussions I was having with European leaders. It has been an important priority of our government as the Minister for Foreign Affairs knows in particular for us to increase our engagement with European leaders. And that provided a very good opportunity to do that, regardless of the successful outcome of that campaign. It actually put me in contact very regularly with a large number of European leaders. And on the platform of that relationship, this was a much an expedited process because we knew each other and we could get on and we could get it done. And I'm very grateful to him for that. There were many other countries that I know they were talking to and some other countries have they've been able to help. And we're very grateful that they understood our need here in our biggest city to to address that need. And we appreciate it. I'm going here and then I'm coming over. 

JOURNALIST: On vaccine passport, can you guarantee that there'll be a nationally consistent approach or is it possible that there would be different approaches, different rules in various states or even [inaudible]?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the government doesn't have a policy of vaccine passports. We don't have one. There isn't a policy of vaccine passports. And so to suggest there is would be false. What the Government simply does is provide a digital certificate of vaccination. That's what we're providing. There are discussions that are being had to try and seek to have some uniformity about how exemptions might apply to vaccinated persons at a state and territory, because that's the only place those exemptions can be provided. States and territories put in place public health restrictions. And if they're to afford exemptions to those restrictions, then they are the ones who have to do that. And what we are doing is ensuring that there is a, a credible and effective and easily usable digital vaccination certificate which can be provided to Australians. Chris.

JOURNALIST: Do you honestly believe the Taliban is going to listen to any of the entreaties of the world? Isn't the best predictor of the future of women and girls in Afghanistan what happened to them in the past? 

PRIME MINISTER: What's happening in Afghanistan is heartbreaking, not just for, of course, all those Australians who have served there. And I can only imagine how they're feeling today as they're seeing these events unfold. But I think for all peace loving people around the world, and particularly those who understand and know of the terrible oppression that women and girls face in Afghanistan, and it is a heartbreaking moment and it's a heartbreaking time. And I think we're in no doubt about the character of the Taliban. We're in no doubt about it. And that's why today is such a difficult day. But my efforts and the efforts of my government must now focus on our most immediate challenges, and we must continue to provide the support to those who have supported Australia. And we will continue to do that. That is our priority. We are receiving regular updates on our operations and we'll continue to do that. And where I am in a position to provide any further updates securely, then I will. But until that time, I would ask that people respect the fact that what we're doing is there to protect the safety of people. And if we're unable to provide any further details on that, it's for their safety that we're doing that. Thank you very much, everyone.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43526

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

13 August 2021

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I am joined by the Chief Medical Officer Professor Kelly and General Frewen, who heads up Operation COVID Shield. We all know how challenging the situation is that we’re facing across the country today, whether it’s here in the ACT which is in lockdown, or indeed in New South Wales where the challenge continues to be great, in Victoria, but frankly elsewhere around the country where the impacts of these lockdowns also have an impact well beyond the places where they’re occurring, whether that be down in Tasmania or up in North Queensland, or other parts of the country. Where this is occurring is having a ripple effect across the country, and this was a key factor that we discussed today when we were at the National Cabinet.

It’s also important that we often bear in mind, as the Chief Medical Officer reminds us, that Australia is not alone in facing the challenge of the Delta strain. We, as a globe now, around the world are in, many countries, into their fifth and sixth wave of the COVID-19. Here in Australia, we are now in our third wave, after the Victorian wave last year and the New South Wales wave this year. We have prevented, throughout the course of 2021 up until more recently, those waves coming earlier. You’ll recall the challenges we had in terms of the outbreak of the Delta strain in India earlier in the year and we took those precautionary actions there, but Delta is a very determined strain of this virus.

So, we must continue to suppress it, and we must continue to vaccinate. Suppress and vaccinate. That’s what Phase A of the national plan is all about. And, Phase B of that plan, hitting 70 per cent, we need to achieve those rates in order to move to that next stage. And, what’s encouraging is, is the vaccination program is continuing to escalate. It’s continuing to get higher and higher marks every day and I think that gives all Australians great hope about the path ahead. Australians are charting that course. Australians are making that path ahead for our nation out of COVID-19 with every step they take into those vaccination clinics, and as they arm themselves with that vaccination. That is what is clearing the path ahead for all Australians. And, now, one in four eligible Australians - one in four - are now fully vaccinated in this country. It was 11.6 per cent just a month ago. That just demonstrates how quickly this vaccination program is gathering pace all around the country.

In Tasmania and the ACT, we already knew that first dose vaccinations had gone above 50 per cent. But, by now, by now, New South Wales will be more than 50 per cent of their eligible population first dose vaccinated, and other states will soon follow. Yesterday, 270,687 vaccinations in one day. Over 270,000 vaccinations in one day. That is equivalent in per capita terms to the fourth best day they had in the UK ever for their program. So, the vaccination rates now being achieved under Operation COVID Shield, right across the country, is now hitting those world-class marks that is necessary to get Australia where we want to get to. One million doses in just four days. That is an extraordinary effort, Australia. I want to thank all Australians for what you’ve been doing to clear this path for us to go forward, and I want to encourage you to keep doing it. You’re doing a great job Australia, keep going. This is the way that we need to go to get where we need to go.

Now, I just want to show you a few of those charts, and I want to thank General Frewen for these. We are updating - no, if you can go back to the first one, please - you can see there, these are the, we’ll be upgrading again from Monday the information packs that are going out, and you’ll see this every day, very similar to what you’re already seeing. So, you can see we’re just shy of 15 million when it comes to the overall number of doses delivered around Australia; 46.7 per cent on first dose, and you can see it right there, one in four Australians now having been fully dosed for the vaccines. Next one thanks.

And, you can see how it’s really ramped up. This just looks at the last seven days. And, you can see in the last seven days, 1.34 million doses delivered in the past week. And, what I really want to notice here, and I want to thank those particularly in the primary care network, where you can see that those doses, which is the light blue line there, you can see how the light blue line has really escalated in those last few weeks, as we’ve been taking the vaccination program forward. So, thank you GPs, thank you pharmacists, thank you Australians going in and supporting that effort.

I said in Question Time this week, we’ve got pharmacists now running 24 operations, 24-hour operations to be able to be making those vaccinations available to shift workers, and particularly those in the construction industry in New South Wales, which are subject to those new requirements in order to keep working in New South Wales. You can see there the state clinics also increasing, but it really has been the GPs through the primary care network that has been carrying that, those large increases across the country. Next slide thanks.

When you look around the country, and this is what really matters, because for the national plan, for us to move to 70 per cent, the whole country needs to get to that 70 per cent mark, and then each and every state needs to move into that. And, as you can see, Tasmania is really leading the charge. They are now at 52.5 per cent on their first vaccines and they’re at over 30 per cent now in Tasmania in 
double dose full vaccinations in that state. New South Wales, on today's figures, 50 per cent on that first dose, which is a great result for New South Wales, and I want to thank everyone, particularly across greater Sydney in those lockdown areas that have been turning out, not just to get tested but to go and get vaccinated. Victoria also has been performing well - they’re just shy of 25 per cent on second dose vaccinations. But, they have been having a very strong performance in their state-based clinics, and particularly when it comes to the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine through those state-based clinics in Victoria. So, right across the country you’re seeing those results. For over 50s, we now 
have 70 per cent who have achieved those first doses, and over 80 per cent now for people aged over 70. On double dose vaccinations, more than half of those aged over 70 in Australia, more than half of those aged over 70 have received both doses of the vaccine. Now, that’s particularly most important for our most vulnerable Australians. Thank you. Next, next slide.

This is a chart you'll be familiar with, which shows the age pyramid across New South Wales. This is provided every single day for all states and territories, and you’ll continue to see that. I’ve already talked about the New South Wales results. And, the next slide please.

We will also be providing that information on a, last seven days, and you can see the overall vaccination cube sitting in the top right hand corner. And, again, you can see here in New South Wales, particularly these light blue bars, which are showing the great turn out of GPs and pharmacists in the vaccination program. Thanks very much.

Also, today, there were a number of other issues, of course, that we addressed. It was an opportunity amongst premiers and chief ministers and myself to be able to review the situation in each state and territory, particularly in New South Wales, but also, I’ve got to say, with the most recent decisions that have been made here in the ACT, and I want to thank all those across the ACT for the way they’ve been responding in the last 24 hours, including those working here in this building.

In addition to that, we monitor the ongoing work. Last week we tasked further work from the Doherty Institute across a range of areas. That work is underway now. It’ll be some weeks before we start to see the results of that work, looking at vulnerable populations, looking at the impact of potential school-based outbreaks, things like that, to ensure that we can be adjusting our vaccination programs and where we’re targeting particular efforts in the future. And, that work is, will be informing General Frewen’s activities.

We also got a bit of an update on the work today being done out of Victoria, the Commonwealth, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, which is looking at those exemption arrangements for vaccinated persons in Australia. This is being done on the basis of the public health knowledge that, if you’re vaccinated, then you present less of a public health risk to yourself and to others around you, your work colleagues, your community. And, so, if people present less of a health risk, then it only stands to 
reason that you would have different arrangements. Now, we’re continuing to work through that. There are no decisions taken on that yet. As you know, they will take place when we reach those 70 per cent marks, and we’re making great progress towards that, but that work will continue to be done, including the tools that will be necessary to support those arrangements by states and territories.

And, the freight code - we're getting very close to a final agreement there, which will mean that it should be a lot more simple for our transport sector moving across borders and testing arrangements and the like.

Economics supports - because we’re in a suppress and vaccinate phase, and we understand that under the Delta strain, unlike previously, when we have to do those lockdowns - hopefully they’re short, they’re certainly sharp - and they put a lot of stress, particularly on businesses and others and kids unable to go to school - that is fully understood. We all understand how difficult that is. If there was another way to suppress the Delta strain, I can assure you, that’s what we’d be doing. In earlier phases, there was an ability to constrain and suppress the virus without having to resort to those sorts of situations. And, we saw that in New South Wales plenty of times. But, now, under the Delta strain, sadly, that is the most effective way to try and bring it under control as we continue to vaccinate the population and move towards that 70 per cent target in the first instance, and 80 per cent. So, that means that in the meantime we must continue to provide the economic supports - both in direct income support to people who have been affected with lost hours, but also business supports.

Now, let me give you a quick update on the direct income supports. Under the full program, now, some $2.256 billion has been paid by the Commonwealth Government, by the Federal Government, to people who have lost hours because of restrictions that have been put in place as a result of the lockdowns. In New South Wales, that figure is $1.9 billion, and that has been paid to 762,879 people. In Victoria, some $260 million has been paid 250,000, 252,843 people. In Queensland, $98.7 million has been paid to 140,735 people. And, in South Australia, $45 million was paid to 80,669 people. Now, that was put in place to supplement the social security system, welfare system, in Australia. In places where there are lockdowns, people do not have the alternative of being able to go and find other employment and hours in other places. It is necessarily locked down. And, that's why the COVID Disaster Payments are paid in those areas, and they will continue to be when lockdowns come into effect, and people are eligible from that first day and you make your claim after seven days, which more and more people are becoming familiar with.

Business support - there is not an automatic stabiliser business support program that operates in this country. There is for individuals. We've had a social security system for a very, very long time. But, because of these lockdowns, we do need that business support put in place, and we agree that the most effective way to do that is state by state, because they all are coming at this from a different place. They have different challenges that we need to address. The challenge in Tasmania is different to the challenge in Queensland, and, of course, in New South Wales. And, so, what we agreed to do, over a month ago now, well over a month ago, is that the Commonwealth would provide the direct income support payments, the states would pay the business payments. And, what we have been doing now for some time is sharing the cost of those business payments. So, they’re a shared 50/50 costs in New South Wales, in Victoria, in the ACT, which was announced yesterday, Tasmania, which was announced today, and in Tasmania, recognising that these lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria have further impacts on states other than those in lockdown, on their businesses, on their hospitality business. So, we've been working with Premier Gutwein there and his team to deliver that support, which was announced earlier today. And, while we were meeting today, the Premier Palaszczuk and I and our treasurers were able to complete an agreement for support into Queensland, which is a $600 million one off package. And, in addition, there was arrangements put in place for South Australia, when they were going through lockdowns.

The final point I'll make before I throw to the Chief Medical Officer, who has a presentation to make, is on the issue of businesses and mandatory instructions to employees. I updated you last week on the Solicitor-General's advice. You can go to the Fair Work site and you'll see a very clear explanation of what the legal position on those matters are. But, what we discussed today was that the challenge faced by a business who fears that they may be subject to an action from an employee who may become ill as a result of COVID and may seek to bring an action against that employer on the basis that they did not put a mandatory requirement on that workplace. Now, what this relates to is workplace health and safety laws that exist at a state level, and I was able to advise that the advice I have received is that workplace health and safety regulators in the states can provide a statement of regulation intent that a business that does not mandate is not in breach of workplace health and safety laws. So, a protection can be provided to businesses through that process that may be concerned that by not putting in a mandatory requirement that they might otherwise be liable for any action that might be brought against them. Now, that's an understandable point that business is making.

We don't have a mandatory vaccination program. It's free and it's not mandatory. Businesses are encouraging their employees all around the country to get vaccinated, as they should, as the Government is, as all governments are. But, the issue of mandatory vaccinations have been put in place in a, in a very select group of sectors - the quarantine workers; I can update you today that we've had the public health orders in both South Australia and Western Australia for aged care workers. All other states and territories gave us an update on that, and they're proceeding with their public health orders in relation to aged care workers. That's a very specific group within the community that is dealing with very vulnerable Australians. That's understandable. And, and that's where the public health orders have been applied. In New South Wales right now, the Premier advises that there is that public health order that relates to construction workers in those most affected areas, and that's entirely reasonable and sensible in the circumstances. But, outside of that, we're not running a mandatory vaccination program, and it's also not reasonable that an employer may feel they have to put some sort of mandate in place to protect themselves potentially from some state-based workplace health and safety laws. So, I think that's a very practical way to deal with this issue. And, so, premiers and chief ministers will, of course, consult with their own regulators. But, the issue is with those state-based laws. And, so, that's where the remedy can be provided. And, on that, I'll pass you over to Paul.

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. So, I’ve just got a few slides. Might get the first one. Back one. Yes. Thank you. So, just to summarise the situation in Australia at the moment, make a couple of brief comments about what's the same, what's different compared with last year, and also to put it in context with the rest of the world. So, firstly, as of today, with today's figures that were announced by by all jurisdictions and collated at the Commonwealth level, as we do each day at around midday, we can see that we're now up to 38,165 cases since the beginning of last year, and, sadly, 948 deaths. In in this year, we've seen we're closing in on 10,000 cases now for the whole country, and, sadly, 39 deaths. Most of those cases and most of those deaths have been associated with the New South Wales outbreak, which is which is continuing to be a concern, particularly in Sydney, but also in other areas of the state.

What do we know about this outbreak? This is clearly our third wave in Australia. The first wave, you'll remember right back in the beginning of the pandemic, was mostly related to people coming from overseas, so overseas acquired cases and some local cases. Almost exactly at this time last year, we were faced with the terrible situation in Victoria and that that wave, which was mostly locally acquired cases in in Melbourne. And, now we're in this wave, which is, which is not entirely, but mostly in New South Wales. In fact, we have ongoing, we have active outbreaks at the moment in four of our eight jurisdictions. In order of of concern, I would say in Queensland, they they are still seeing some cases related to the, to the outbreak in south east Queensland. But, they are, that is definitely under control. They, most of those cases, in fact almost all of them, are in quarantine for their entire infectious period, and that is not a concern at the moment. Continue to be watched. In Victoria, of course Melbourne is still in a lockdown phase in relation to that latest outbreak in in Victoria. But, again, almost all of the cases that are being diagnosed are already in quarantine before, during their infectious period. So, again, that is coming under control. In the ACT, we have very few cases at the moment. But, but this is the first time in the ACT we've had locally acquired cases for more than a year. And, this is new to the ACT. We're continuing to give support to them, and they're learning, of course, and being given support from all the other jurisdictions that have been in their situation. A complex group of, group of exposure sites, and that will play out in the next few days. I'd just like to give a shout out to all people in the ACT that are experiencing lockdown right now, particularly those thousands of people that are lining up to, to get their tests as, as they've been asked to do so. And, then finally to New South Wales, we continue to see large numbers of cases, increasing numbers of people in hospital, and and some spread through the state, including to to some regional areas. And, this, these are the the main areas that we're assisting New South Wales with at the moment. Just go to the next slide now.

This is looking at hospitalisation, including ICU, of course, in hospitals. The blue line is representing 2020, and the orange line this year. And, so, in 2020, we had those two waves again of cases we saw at the previous graph. This is related to hospitalisations. Quite a large peak in hospitalisations at the beginning of last year, a larger peak in relation to the Victorian wave at almost exactly the same time a year ago. Contrast that to what we've seen throughout the whole of 2021, until very recently, very few people in hospital. And, now that that number in mostly in New South Wales, which is following a very similar trajectory to the situation in Victoria last year. Just go to the next slide, please.

The contrast, and this is a really important point and absolutely goes to the, goes to why we are, we are asking people to get vaccinated. Vaccination is protecting Australians. We saw last year, and people will remember those hospitalisation, the hospitalised people, a lot of them, most of them, in fact, in aged care, coming from aged care settings, residential aged care. Because of the success of the aged care rollout in terms of vaccination, that that terrible death rate that we saw last year is not being replicated this year at the moment in terms of of deaths. That is mostly because our oldest population, including those in aged care, are largely protected by vaccination. So, very important point. Just go to the next slide, please.

This is another way of looking at that same issue. So, just to quickly explain the bars here - the larger bars are related to Victoria last year, the smaller ones this year - the current outbreak in New South Wales - the red colour at the top is the, are deaths, then intensive care is the, is the yellow, and and sorry, there's a smaller - ICU - you might not be able to see there on that, on that bar. The yellow is hospitalised and the blue is cases non, non-severe, non-hospitalised cases. So, of course many more cases last year compared with this year. That hospitalisation rate in relation to all ages on this side and the and the and the less than 60 on this slide. So, on, sorry, just go back. So, in terms of that, it again demonstrates the protective effect of vaccination in that older age group. The people aged aged less than 60, we're still seeing some severe cases, mostly not. But, in terms of last year versus this year, a big difference in terms of that over 60 age group - much slower death rate and lower ICU rate.

I just wanted to spend, the next two slides actually talk to the international situation. Last night, I was privileged to talk to the with our Chief Scientist, Dr Foley. Professor Foley and myself spoke to our counterparts in the UK, and just contrasting and comparing what they're finding in terms of their vaccination rollout and their waves that they've seen in terms of cases, hospitalisations and deaths. In the UK, we know they have a very high rate of vaccination, particularly in the older age groups, but throughout, almost 70 per cent vaccination rate - our target for, to moving to Phase B here in Australia. In their older age groups, over 90 per cent of vaccination coverage in their over 70s. And, that's, of course, what we're also aspiring to. What they found is they've had their fifth wave, wave really in the UK, and that's similar to most of the rest of the world. A few, about a month ago, they started to really increase their, those numbers of cases. But, if you look at the orange line here, in contrast to previous waves, their death rate has remained extremely low. That's similar with hospitalisation. It's similar with ICU. They have seen some pockets where vaccination locally has been lower than the rest of the country, and that's where they have seen hospitals and ICU rates increase. But, that death rate has remained extremely low. This is what we're aiming for here in Australia. Just go to the next slide, please.

Just another example closer to our, in our region. So, this is Singapore. They've had, been very successful most of the time. They had those waves related to their migrant hostels late, in the middle of last year. They've had a subsequent wave recently. Again, very high vaccination rate right throughout their population of over 70 per cent. Death rate has remained very low despite the increase in the case, in the case numbers. So, I'll leave it there, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: General Frewen.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Thanks Prime Minister. Look, the numbers in the roll out very encouraging, the real sense of momentum is clear. The Prime Minister's mentioned we're closing on almost 50 per cent of the nation having received their first dose now. And one in four Australians are now fully vaccinated. A million doses delivered in four days, 270,000 doses in a single day yesterday. That's 30,000 more than the previous best Thursday, which was only a week before. Now, this is only possible for two reasons. All of the great work that is being done by GPs, pharmacists, state hubs and clinics, other Commonwealth vaccine clinics, our Aboriginal health services and our commercial vaccine providers as well. And I want to thank them for all of the tremendous work and effort they've put in so far. But note, we've got a long way to go. 

It's also about people in Australia being prepared to step forward to get vaccinated. Recent survey indicates to us that 79 per cent of Australians are prepared to get vaccinated and another 14 per cent are still deciding whether they will. So those are also really encouraging numbers. And I want to thank all of those Australians who have already come forward and encourage everybody else who hasn't done so to get a booking in and to and to get that first job done. I also want to thank community leaders, cultural leaders, faith leaders and youth leaders who have also played tremendous roles in encouraging their communities to step forward as well. And I do greatly appreciate their efforts and look forward to continuing to work closely with them. 

JOURNALIST: Heading into National Cabinet today, the Queensland Premier was demanding New South Wales provide a containment plan for COVID. Inside National Cabinet today, are you satisfied that she has provided that containment plan? And if I can. Professor Kelly, last week you said there needed to be a circuit breaker in New South Wales. We had a record day of cases today. What more do they need to do from your perspective? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, in relation to National Cabinet today, it was again it was just a very positive and collegiate meeting. I mean, no other way to describe it than that. I mean, these are challenging times and these are very difficult issues. And the New South Wales Premier was able to respond to issues that were raised in the meeting today, and they were raised in a good spirit. And I think they were addressed in a good spirit, particularly on issues that were further north closer to the Queensland border. The Premier of New South Wales was able to draw attention to the isolated number, nature of that particular case, particularly up north. That was that that one male individual who breached the rules. But many of the other outbreaks in other parts of the state were not towards Queensland. But equally, the Premier was able to go through the steps that were being taken in New South Wales to address the outbreak. And that's what these meetings do. They do provide the opportunity for those matters to be directly raised and addressed. But I've got to say, they were raised in a good spirit and in a good faith way. And the Premiers were seeking to work together to best support each other to get through what is a very difficult time. Same situation here in the ACT and indeed in Victoria, where they're not being complacent. Of course, the case numbers down there, are not like we're seeing in New South Wales and certainly not like we were seeing last year. But I don't detect any sense of complacency amongst any of the premiers and chief ministers. We know how rapid the Delta strain can inflict its impact on, on our populations. And so everyone is very attentive to that and quick to move. Paul. 

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So there are two main keys to getting control in New South Wales. It is suppression of the virus and all of the things that we saw and we saw from the graph I showed you what happened last year in Victoria. It got to a peak and then it went down. All of those things that were done in Victoria last year are being done in New South Wales this year, and they will work. That requires people to listen and to take heed of what is being said every day by Premier Berejiklian and her public health staff. And all of those things need to be taken into account. The thing we do have this year that we didn't have last year is the vaccination rollout. And in terms of circuit breakers, Premier Berejiklian has mentioned already in her press conferences over the last couple of days as has Dr Chant and her colleagues about their vaccination strategy in south west Sydney, in particular targeted vaccination, vaccinating the Year 12s, vaccinating apprentices and so on. And that's going ahead. Those things will work. People need to have hope and patience. 

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask on WA, do you support WA's requirement for travellers from New South Wales to show proof of vaccination now, should other states consider this? And just secondly, Mark McGowan said National Cabinet would today discuss vaccination requirements for interstate truck drivers. Was there an outcome on that? 

PRIME MINISTER: We hope to conclude the second matter within a matter of days between both transport ministers, but of course, the premiers and myself. A number of states have already agreed to the upgrades on the freight code, this is just seeking to simplify these testing arrangements. And yes, I do welcome the requirement for vaccination. This is for people who are otherwise getting an exemption to come into Western Australia. And the Premier has added that. Now, that's not unlike, not unlike the sorts of things we've been talking about for some time, that where people are vaccinated and an exemption is being granted that the vaccination aides that exemption being given on public health grounds. And so I think that's very consistent with what the national plan is seeking to achieve. And as I said last week, all premiers and chief ministers are strongly committed to and agreed to that, to the National Plan. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just to stay with that issue,  do you see a future where you say that vaccines aren't mandatory, but do you see a future in which you cannot leave your state, you cannot travel domestically unless you can provide evidence that you have been vaccinated?

PRIME MINISTER: That's making an assumption that once we get past 70 per cent and the country is vaccinated in that way, that such border restrictions would even be necessary. And the whole point of getting to higher and higher levels of vaccination, and particularly once you go past 80 per cent, is that's when we're saying goodbye to lockdowns and where there are no lockdowns, there should be no borders. That's where the National Plan is driving. So what we're talking about is a situation right now where we have lockdowns and we have states closed off from one another, necessarily for obvious reasons, because of the very aggressive nature of the Delta strain. Now, in those circumstances, vaccine does provide some greater protection and some public health support. And so people who would be getting an exemption, so this is not this is not available to everybody, this is those who the state were looking to give an exemption to, that that exemption would be strengthened on the basis of someone being vaccinated. So it's a decision for now because borders exist now. But in the future, the whole point of getting to 70 per cent and 80 per cent is to say ultimately goodbye to those arrangements as well.

JOURNALIST: Premier Berejiklian said publicly today she thinks she can ease a few restrictions here and there when she gets to 50 percent without worsening the infection rate. Was she able to convince her colleagues and yourself of that in the meeting today? And did anyone again ask for her to put a ring of steel around Sydney, given Daniel Andrews warnings about it spreading to the region seem to have come to pass? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, what the Premier is referring to is not moving into Phase B. 

JOURNALIST: I know that. 

PRIME MINISTER: I know you know that. But I just want to be very clear. That is not what the Premier is referring to. The Premier is seeking to manage the lockdown in New South Wales. And I've spoken to the Premier about this, this week as well. And they are doing the necessary work to understand what the easing of some restrictions might mean in the New South Wales context. And she certainly doesn't want to see an escalation of cases or the virus not being suppressed and the efforts to actually take those case numbers down. And I'm quite certain and I would certainly hope that they would not be seeking to ease restrictions that could give rise to that. And I'm sure that would absolutely be the view of all other premiers and chief ministers. And I don't believe that's what the Premier of New South Wales would be seeking to do. So she's taking good advice on, on what can be done to ensure that the lockdown that's in New South Wales, that people will be able to sustain themselves through that lockdown because the lockdown is important. The lockdown is lifted when the lockdown works. And that's why it's so important for people right across Sydney to be complying with that lockdown. You know, we saw the cases up in northern New South Wales where someone just doesn't comply and look at, the look at the damage that causes. We've got to do the right thing by each other. We've got to do the right thing by our neighbours, by our communities, by our cities, by our country. And you can do that by following the rules, staying at home and getting vaccinated and getting tested. That's what's being asked of Australians. And that's how you get through. There isn't an alternative way. There's not some alternative world where you don't have to have these restrictions and somehow the virus doesn't kill large numbers of people. That world doesn't exist.

JOURNALIST: We're seeing a minority aren't doing what they're asked. And we've seen the consequences of that. 

PRIME MINISTER: Yes. 

JOURNALIST: Was it again pressed on New South Wales to at least try and ring-fence Sydney to catch these sorts of individuals or at least act as a deterrent? 

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I think it's been a fairly consistent position that all premiers, myself as well, want to ensure that we constrain and suppress the outbreak of New South Wales as effectively as we can. And and those issues raised today, I'm not mentioning any specifically, including the one you've raised, but there was a good opportunity, again, for the Premier to be able to just address those issues directly with her colleagues. And I thank her for doing so and I thank the other premiers for raising it in the good faith spirit they did.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said a royal commission would be a very useful tool, particularly in planning for future pandemics. Do you agree with him? Is that something that we really should lock in once we get through this? 

PRIME MINISTER: To be honest, we're managing the pandemic right now, and this pandemic still has quite a long way to go. So I'm sure at some time in the future there'll be a time to talk about those reviews or whatever form they might take. But, you know, right now I'm just focused on the response we need to make now, and I'm not going to be drawn into those things. There will be a time and a place to have those discussions. It's not now. 

JOURNALIST: Have you had any luck getting surplus vaccines from say, the United States or other countries in Europe or vaccines that are close to expiring? 

PRIME MINISTER: We've been working night and day on these tasks. And I can assure you, if we're in a position to make any announcements in that way, then we certainly will.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on business support. 80,000 businesses in Sydney are yet to receive a single cent from either Commonwealth or state levels. Is that acceptable, given the immense pain that they are going through, eight weeks into a lockdown? And secondly, one of your own MPs Andrew Laming has been caught breaching guidelines on mask-use in Queensland. Is that acceptable from one of your own? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not aware of that circumstance, so I'm not aware of, of the details or facts of that, but if that were indeed the case, I would be expecting all members of parliament to comply with the restrictions that are in place right around the country like any other Australian. There aren't two rules, there's just one. And we all need to comply with it. And that would be my instruction to everybody, regardless of where they work, what their occupation is. And that would, I'm sure, be the community's expectation as well. I'm not familiar with the case or the report that you've highlighted, but that would be my position in principle, regardless. 

On the other matter. Well, as you know, the Commonwealth are not making the payments to businesses. The state governments are making the payments to businesses. The Commonwealth is making the more than $2 billion in payments directly to individuals. Last time we delivered income support through JobKeeper. So we made a payment to the business and the business made the payment to the individual and they were those $750 payments. On this occasion, we're cutting out the middle person and we're making those $750 payments directly to the individual. And that's, as I said, well over $2 billion in payments have already been made. And even as some of your colleagues have, have put on social media, family members getting those within about 30 to 40 minutes of each of those applications being made. So the Commonwealth system of COVID disaster support to those employees who are losing hours, and we previously made those payments through businesses, we're now doing it direct and that is proving to be very effective, particularly in the way that lockdowns come on and come off. It's proving to be far more flexible, far more flexible and far more targeted. And it's helping casuals. It's helping people in all sectors, all industries, regardless of what their form of work is. Now for the states, we are supporting them and meeting the cost 50/50 of a series of business support programmes. And they are being delivered by the states directly. And we will support them as we indeed are in many states through the Australian Taxation Office to assist them in ensuring the appropriate way of handling those payments. It is the right thing for the states to want to do those payments. We were also very supportive of them making those payments, whether in New South Wales, Victoria or anywhere else. Different states have had different success rates in making those payments and they should be made promptly, as was outlined to us, that they would be. 

JOURNALIST: Just to General Frewen, could I please ask about vaccination rates amongst indigenous Australians? Do you accept that they're lagging vaccination rates amongst non-Indigenous Australians?  And what more can the Commonwealth do to help catch them up? 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Yes, so look they're at first dose 28 per cent and fully vaccinated around 14 per cent. That's across the nation. Now, we, of course, look at these numbers both in remote and regional areas and in urban areas as well. They are behind the national averages at the moment. And that is, of course, something we are focused on. Some communities are well ahead of others, but we're working with the states and territories and we're looking very systematically at all of the communities and how we can best help bring them along. 

PRIME MINISTER: Can I just add those …

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] to get more vaccines out to indigenous areas? 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: That's a matter for the jurisdictions as to whether they wish to seek that sort of support. 

PRIME MINISTER: This comes up in most meetings. And just to draw your attention that there are 103 Aboriginal community controlled health services. We had Pat here just over a week ago, we were talking about that issue. Across 158 delivery sites participating in the programme. 120 of those sites are administering Pfizer run programmes by those Aboriginal community controlled health services. And there are 18 Commonwealth vaccination clinics operated by those ACHH services in the rollout. The Royal Flying Doctor Service, great heroes, has delivered over 9,221 vaccine administrations in 88 rural, remote and very remote communities in Australia. And we're assessing a range of other further requests where we might be able to support them in that work. Australia is a very big country and our indigenous populations live in some of the remotest parts of our country. It was always going to be the most challenging elements of all the vaccine rollout and not unlike, I'm sure, what has been experienced by other countries. But I stress again the fact that these Aboriginal community controlled health services have been so successful working with those local communities to prevent wherever possible seeing COVID getting into those communities has been absolutely extraordinary. It genuinely was at the outset in, I believe, our first meeting that we had as premiers and chief minister and I. We were most concerned about those communities. It's a difficult area to get as many of those vaccines as we can. I want to thank our church leaders and others who've been supporting those efforts in indigenous communities, particularly where you have to address sometimes with hesitancy in getting information into those communities. So it's quite a coordinated effort. It's a difficult job, but very caring people are getting about the job of meeting that need. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister just on the issue of vaccines and businesses mandating them. It seems that on the one hand, you've told businesses that they can mandate vaccines and on the other hand, you're saying they'll be protected if they don't mandate vaccines for their staff. How is, for instance, the owner of a small construction business or a cafe supposed to work out what they should be doing? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're not suggesting that businesses should be mandating vaccines to their employees. We're not suggesting that. We're not making that a point of policy at all. If a business feels that they think they need to do it to protect themselves, potentially about an employee who might have, bring an action against them, if there was a, they will become ill, then what I'm saying is that that would happen because a state workplace health and safety law might provide for that. Now, what I've advised the state and territories today is through their workplace health and safety regulators, they can take action to prevent that situation. So the small business owner may feel under no compulsion to put a mandatory vaccination programme in place. And so there are two issues here. There is the employee who's worried that they might have an action brought against them, they have no intention to want to put a mandatory requirement on their employees, but their concerned an action could be brought against them. That has a remedy there. In terms of others who may be wanting to do that, well, the Commonwealth Government and the state government are not asking them to put those mandatory requirements on at all because it's not a mandatory programme. By all means encourage them, of course. But a requirement for them to do it is only being done in very specific circumstances. Quarantine workers, those who work in the aged care sector, they are the only areas where we've taken those steps and in the right quite specific circumstances of New South Wales presently, there is also an order that has been put in place there.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there about 200 ADF personnel due to go into New South Wales on Monday. What will they be doing and will they be going to regional areas? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they'll be working right across the range of supports that are provided in logistics and distribution, in supporting contact tracing work that is occurring in New South Wales, because the volume of cases and they need further supports there. They're accompanying police officers and others with compliance works, basic support operations. General Frewen might want to add to that list, but they pretty much do everything that is being asked of them and they provide great support to the states and territories. We saw it last year in Melbourne. We're seeing it again in New South Wales. Commissioner Fuller is directing what they'll be doing. He's the lawful commander of all of those operations in New South Wales and and our ADF personnel working under that command and support that broader effort. 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD:  No, I don’t have anything to add to that. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on that issue of mandating though, just a hypothetical, right. Say you're a parent and you have to send your child into a school. Your child is not old enough to be vaccinated, right. Wouldn't it make sense for the teachers to be vaccinated? Why would you be like, you know, like if you actually sort of leave, the logic is a little topsy turvy that you're giving employers the right not to mandate. Why shouldn't teachers have to get a jab to teach students that have no protection? 

PRIME MINISTER: We think everybody should get vaccinated. That's the public health advice. Whether you're a teacher, whether you're a construction worker, whether you're a journalist, whether you're a politician, whether you drive a bus. We think Australians should get vaccinated, but we don't think we should make it mandatory in Australia. If there is a very specific workforce that for public health reasons that our medical advisers say to us, it's very important that we put a mandatory requirement in this specific area, then, of course, we would take that action. And we have in relation to aged care workers and quarantine workers. But that has not been the medical advice on other occupations, because the general level of vaccination, you know, we're seeking to achieve those 70 and 80 per cent targets. And I would hope that teachers, of course, would go and get vaccinated. Of course I would. But I would hope you would and I would and anyone else would. We're not running a mandatory vaccination programme. We're not running one. In specific cases, we might seek to do that for public health reasons. But otherwise, that's just not how we do things in Australia.

JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly was there any advice on teachers to the National Cabinet?

PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, COMMONWEALTH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So at last week's National Cabinet, there was a request when we were looking at the Doherty modelling project to specifically look at the issue of school children. I think one of the things we have learnt from the Delta outbreaks here in Australia as well as around the world is that there is transmission amongst children. They don't generally get severe disease, but there is transmission and people and children are getting the virus. It's mostly coming from adults and so and not amongst children as such. So that was the request from National Cabinet to do further modelling on, in relation to child based vaccination, which may happen in the future, but also other ways of dealing with safety in school based areas and that will be work I'll lead also in the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. 

PRIME MINISTER: Okay, Greg. And then I'll have to leave it there. 

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned about the the Taliban's ascendancy in Afghanistan? And we've got reports of the US, the UK and Canada are sending in fresh troops to evacuate their citizens and Afghan staff. What is your plan to evacuate Aussies and Afghan interpreters and other staff that have helped Australians through the conflict? Are you considering sending in troops? Or will you rely on our allies? What's the plan? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, yes, of course, we're concerned about the Taliban's battlefield gains in Afghanistan. That is, it's not surprising, but it is concerning. And it is very upsetting. We closed our embassy in Kabul on the 28th of May and returned non-resident diplomatic accreditation to Afghanistan. And we've been moving those who have been working with us there now for some time. Some 400 people granted visas under our locally engaged employee programme have already arrived and settled in Australia since April of this year. And we're continuing to process those other visas and ensure that we're in a position to be able to get them out of Afghanistan and get them to Australia, as we have done for those prior over many, many years now some [inaudible] been given to locally engaged employees and their families at risk of harm. We have made a lot of ground on this issue in the last few months. We'll continue to do that. We're liaising very closely with particularly the United States and others who are engaged in that area and will be working closely with them, including where necessary, using Australian Defence Force personnel to assist in in securing that outcome, both for the safe passage of people who we are taking out of Afghanistan to Australia, and also the remaining people who may still be there under the conditions that we've had them still there on. So it is a very serious issue. It's one the government has been progressing very carefully now for many, many months. It has been a regular issue on our agenda to ensure we're making progress on that. I thank particularly the Minister for Immigration, the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who have ensured that we're able to accredit those who have been getting access to those visas and then arranging the flights to ensure we can get them out of Afghanistan and bring them safely to Australia. Over 400 already here, them and their families. And we've been doing this for many years now very successfully. And we will continue to implement that programme with a great sense of urgency, in partnership with those who also are engaged in similar activities in that region. Thanks very much. 

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] the Taliban will take over  Afghanistan and if so, Australians, what's your message to Australians who have spent two decades in that war? What's your message to Australians who would be wondering whether it was all worth it? 

PRIME MINISTER: Fighting for what you believe in is always worth it. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43524

Virtual Address, Australian American Leadership Dialogue

11 August 2021

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Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Phil, and greetings here from Australia. Phil is a founder of this Dialogue, one of which I've had an association with for many years. Can I thank you for your continued leadership and thank you for your passion. This is your passion project and I've seen that over a long period of time. So thank you very much for that warm welcome.

I'm very pleased to be able to be here today. To Mark Vaile, it's great that you are able to join us here today. Julie Singer Scanlan, the Vice Chair, Representative Joe Courtney and co-chair of the Friends of Australia Caucus. We have so many great friends at Capitol Hill. And we thank you for your great support of Australia over so many years, in so many circumstances. To Ambassador Sinodinos, my former colleague and good friend. Thank you for the great work you're doing, not just for Australia, but for the relationship, one of the most foundational relationships that I think exists anywhere in the world and in your important role you're doing a great job as a steward of that engagement. To my ministerial and parliamentary colleagues who I know are enthusiastic about this forum. And I thank you for joining in as well today and for the contributions that you'll be making. There are many more on this call, a who's who of those who contribute so much to our shared relationships, including Bob Zoellick. I'll come back to a little later.

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people and indigenous peoples all across Australia, and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging and the indigenous peoples also of the United States. I also acknowledge serving members of the Australian and the United States Defence Forces who may be with us, as well as the many veterans who have contributed so much to our alliance, paid the ultimate sacrifice. I honour their service.

This year the Dialogue, a staple of our relationship with the United States, occurs as we mark two milestones. Firstly, and significantly, the seventieth anniversary of the ANZUS Alliance signed in San Francisco on the 1st of September 1951, in the early years of the Cold War. Over seven decades, our alliance has endured, adapted and has remained strong. And this year we also remember another milestone on another September day 20 years ago when America was attacked and Australia invoked that treaty to stand with our ally. Indeed, as our Prime Minister, John Howard was there in Washington at the time to actually mark the fiftieth anniversary of that alliance. We have stood together in sunshine and in sorrow in the words of President Johnson, and we will continue to do so in an age of strategic contest.

The alliance remains crucial to our national defence and sovereignty and to regional stability. As we reflect on this relationship, we also reflect on what underpins it. Trust, reliability and a shared belief in shouldering the responsibilities of freedom. In our short time available today, let me make some observations about some of the areas where we are squarely facing these responsibilities of our times. Now, as I said in recent times, I've been reading Bob Zoellick, great book 'America in the World'. I understand Bob is with us for the Dialogue. It's a great read, Bob commended it to all. In it, he quotes former Secretary James Baker, a mentor of his, who said “almost every achievement contains within its success the seeds of a future problem”. The evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a lot like that. Adapting as we go, understanding that as the virus changes, then we must also. The Delta strain a clear example. The challenges we face today are different from what they were at the start of the year. There is no single victory over COVID. You have to keep coming back at it again and again and again. And Australia's record remains amongst the best in the world in saving lives and saving livelihoods. More than 30,000 lives here in Australia saved. If we compare that to what the average fatality rates have been across OECD countries and more than a million people we've been able to get back into work after last year's COVID-19 recession.

But with outbreaks and lockdowns currently in our larger cities, we still have a great deal of work ahead. And the overwhelming focus here and elsewhere is vaccines. The world has again witnessed the exceptionalism of American innovation with the development of world leading vaccines, working with the United States and other Quad partners, Japan and India, Australia is helping to deliver one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Indo-Pacific by 2022. We're also contributing $130 million to the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment, and we're investing $623 million to provide vaccine doses, technical advice, training for health workers and cold chain support to countries in the South West Pacific and South East Asia. And we're making great strides, I can assure you, here in the Pacific, Australia is the partner of choice when it comes to assisting them through this pandemic. And that choice has been based on the trust that we have built up with our Pacific family over these many years, and particularly in more recent times through our Pacific Step Up initiative, which has had such great support from the United States.

Our alliance is central to our shared objective of a peaceful, prosperous and stable Indo-Pacific. Our defence cooperation is strengthened and accelerated, as has Australia's own defence rebuild. We are undertaking the biggest regeneration of our Navy since the Second World War, and we're moving to a fifth generation Air Force that includes the F-35, the most advanced Strike Fighter in the world. We've just had our biggest bilateral military training exercise, Talisman Sabre, which saw nearly 14,000 personnel from the US and Australia with contingents from Japan and Korea, New Zealand, Canada and the UK spread out across Queensland. And there were a few spectators out there not too far away looking on. This is about ensuring our defence partnerships that they work seamlessly on the seas, on the ground and in the air.

We have work to do together on cutting edge technologies from hypersonics, integrated air and missile defence, electronic and undersea warfare to space, advanced cyber and critical minerals. As well, Australia wants to build our capacity to manufacture a suite of precision guided weapons. This will not only meet our defence needs, but importantly mean that Australia can become a second, secure source of supply for our ally, the United States. This is all about taking our defence technology cooperation to the next level, where we foster deeper integration of our security related science, technology, supply chains and industrial bases. Australia has never sought a free ride when it comes to our security. I've said so many times, including on the White House lawn, Australia may look to the United States, but we never leave it to the United States. Rather, we're building our capability. We're investing our wealth and treasure to make Australia stronger so we can be ready to defend our nation and a rules-based order in our region, a world that favours freedom and to be able to do so alongside who share our values and beliefs. Most significantly, the United States.

Another great and global challenge is, of course, climate change. And I welcome President Biden bringing together the Leaders Climate Summit. Australia is taking, in our very Australian way, a practical, technology focused approach to reducing emissions while supporting jobs and strengthening our economy. And our policies are working. We've already reduced emissions by over 20 per cent on 2005 levels, which is comparable or better than similar economies and, with great respect to the United States, including the United States and your northern neighbours, Canada and our trans-Tasman partners across the ditch in New Zealand. Achieving our 2030 target will see emissions per capita fall by almost a half and our emissions per unit of GDP by two-thirds. Emissions intensity will drop by two-thirds. We're well on our way to a pathway on net zero. Our goal is to get there as soon as we possibly can, but to get there through technology that enables and transforms our industries, not taxes that eliminate jobs and livelihoods. Now we're very passionate about this, technology not taxes, for this reason, because we sincerely believe that this is the only way the world can truly combat climate change. Why do I say that? Developing countries comprise two thirds of the world's emissions and are rising. China's emissions exceed those of the OECD combined. If we do not solve the climate change in developing countries, we, the world, will fail. Now, as Special Envoy Kerry argued within days of being in the job, if not weeks, he said the US could reduce its emissions to zero, but if China doesn't then we achieve nothing, and he was dead right, that's not a criticism of China or any other developing country. It's just a simple fact. Developing countries need new energy technologies that can compete with fossil fuel alternatives now and into the future if they are to adopt them and transform their economies to reduce their emissions. But they shouldn't have to do so at the expense of their economic growth and ensuring prosperity for their people. Technology is the game changer. It always has been. The United States knows that in terms of the revolutions in shale oil, which completely transformed the US's energy security and the geopolitical map. So why now would we think the technology wouldn't be the game changer here?

We're going through a pandemic where technology and science and medical advances championed by the United States developed the vaccine, which is now saving the world from COVID. It didn't come from a conference. It came from technology and investing in technology like we have never done before to produce a vaccine that had never existed before for a virus we had never seen before. That's what technology can do. We're passionate believers in it and we learn it from the United States because the United States has been the champions of technology for generations and generations and generations. You know, for too long on climate change, we've been avoiding the elephants in the room. This is not an advanced economies’ problem only. It is a global problem. Emissions don't come with accents. They don't come with nationalities. They don't have favourite cultural dishes. They affect the globe the same way everywhere. And we have to work to get the solve for technology for the developing world. We have to make it work commercially in their countries and help them introduce those technologies. For us here in Australia, particularly our region, up in Indonesia, over in Vietnam, throughout Malaysia or throughout the ASEAN nations, our great partners in the Indo-Pacific working together with them. That is in our interests because it is building the prosperity of the region on which we depend, but it is also in the interests of the broader world. You know, Australia, we have a strong track record of achieving and exceeding our commitments and we've stuck by our commitments and we've kept them. You know, performance will always achieve more than commitments made but not met. When we make a commitment in Australia, we step up to it and we meet it and we stick at it. We've already deploying renewable energy nearly eight times faster per person than the global average. Our ambition is to be a world leader in the new energy economy. We are partnering internationally to scale up innovation in emissions reduction technologies, and this is part of a sweeping agenda amongst like minded countries working together on the technologies of the future to secure our prosperity and our security.

Artificial intelligence, moving on, machine learning, quantum computing and other technologies offer large opportunities for our societies, and we also know they must be resilient and secure. And that's why we're helping to develop robust global principles and standards that protect our citizens autonomy, privacy and data. We're supporting, but also protecting Australia's research and critical technologies and providing pathways to commercialisation. We have to build capability to protect ourselves from malicious online threats wherever they come from. With the US and others, Australia will continue to champion an open, free, safe and secure cyberspace and to build capacity and resilience to cyber security threats. We know these threats are on the rise, both by sophisticated state-based actors and cyber criminals. And we need to meet this threat head on and we are. As Secretary Blinken has observed, nothing is more consequential to our confidence, to our security and ultimately to our democracies.

Now, of course, our bilateral economic links, they're already strong. And Mark knows all about that because he was so instrumental in the formation of the free trade agreement with the United States. Mark Vaile I am referring to, of course. New investment in Australia. Now, more than a trillion dollars generated an estimated seven per cent of Australia's GDP in 2019. More than 1,100 US companies employ around 325,000 Australians. Nearly a quarter of a million Australians work in the United States, and not a single US product encounters a tariff, not one, when it enters Australia, not one. That economic relationship is built on strong foundations, including the Australia-USA free trade agreement signed 17 years ago. And again, I acknowledge the founding fathers of that agreement, Mark Vaile and Bob Zoellick, again, who were with us today, and I acknowledge them.

In economic terms, our FTA is critical infrastructure, but we need to keep upgrading that infrastructure. Unlike the Cold War, geostrategic competition in the coming decades will be engaged in the economic realm. Our recent experience with economic coercion underlines that. That's why I believe our bilateral strategic cooperation must extend to economic matters. We should consider a regular Strategic Economic Dialogue between our most senior key economic and trade officials. Now, more than ever, we need to be working closely together on the common economic challenges that confront us. And, you know, we've got to deal with the hard stuff. We've got to deal with the reform of the World Trade Organization. We've got to deal with ensuring that there is a working appellate system that ensures that the rules of trade work because where there is no rules, others will seek to exploit and take advantage, and we know all about that down here in Australia with what we're confronting. So we need a working WTO system to ensure that we have a working world trade system that we can rely on to ensure that no country, no country suffers any exploitation against its interests, as we are seeing at present.

Now, beyond our strategic, scientific and economic partnership, we have a role in the world that's less tangible, but just as important. We must continue to demonstrate that liberal democracies work. This, I know, is a key focus of President Biden, and I couldn't tell you how energised I was when I heard the President say that at our Quad Leaders’ Meeting in our first historic gathering. He talked about this as a passion, as a mission. And it's one I sincerely share. And Australians do also. As Australians, we know that our influence with others rests squarely on our success at home, on our open democratic society, on our belief in freedom and a fair go, and on a strong and resilient economy that enables us to fulfil our promise to the Australian people and project leadership abroad. Our example, as great democratic countries and the freedoms that we hold so dear, is the best argument for how we run our countries and what those systems offer to the rest of the world. We believe that democratic elections, the rule of law, freedom of thought and expression, even when people don't agree with us, independent judiciaries, accountable governments, deserve our allegiance based on their intrinsic merit and on their capacity to deliver better lives for our people. That open, business-led market economies provide the best means for generating shared prosperity in a world of rapid change. Again, Bob Zoellick's account of US diplomacy captures wonderfully the self-confidence of Ronald Reagan's injunction of “free markets, low tax rates [and] free trade” as “the weapons of peace we must deploy in the struggle to win a future of liberty”.

Working together, I'm confident our countries can support, defend and renovate a liberal rules-based international order that supports opportunities for all. No country did more than the United States to build that liberal order from the ashes of depression and a war after 1945. Ushering in decades of peace and prosperity unmatched in human history. In Australia, the US has no stronger partner today in defending the values and its institutional pillars of what was created by, and indeed, a remarkable generation of American leaders.

At the G7 at Cornwall, I stressed to leaders present, the need now for like-minded liberal democracies to come together in the face of today's challenges, to reinforce our defence and security ties as we look to celebrate the seventh anniversary of our alliance, very soon. To reinforce our economies with market openness, tempered where necessary by active steps to bolster our economic resilience and above all. To reinforce the institutional foundations of a world order that favours freedom. I quoted Benjamin Franklin at the G7 when he talked about the Republic and he said “a republic, if we can keep it”. And I said to those around the table, of a world order that favours freedom if we can keep it, because it requires the same diligence and the same continued passion and commitment as those founders of that rules based system built after the Second World War, led by Americans who believe passionately about what had taken that nation to lead the world in establishing that peace and winning that peace together.

Let me conclude by thanking you for what you do to support our alliance and our common cause as two great liberal democracies. Australian-American Leadership Dialogue is a living expression of friends coming together for a higher purpose. Our two countries have a big evolving canvas in front of us. The responsibilities of freedom are great and I want to personally thank the Biden Administration, who we work very closely with and now as they've come to office and understand and support this very important relationship. I look forward to further meetings as we've already had. I look forward to working with the Biden Administration to secure the peace, prosperity and partnership that holds our peoples dear.

And let me say this in conclusion, regardless of who sits in this office and who sits in the office over there in Washington, we all understand that we carry the stewardship of this relationship. It is one of the most important responsibilities that we have. I take that responsibility, as I know Australians know, very, very seriously. And we are deeply committed to this partnership in this relationship because we see it as the foundation of our security and our prosperity. But more than that, we see it as one of the most necessary partnerships to favour a world order that favours freedom. Thank you very much for your attention.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43523