Speeches
Virtual Address, 2022 Teal Ribbon Parliamentary Breakfast
9 February 2022
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, [Jane]. Can I begin before addressing some remarks personally to you Amy, and to you Professor DeFazio.
Can I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, their Elders past and present and emerging. Can I acknowledge service women and men and veterans who have given this country everything we could hope for.
Can I acknowledge the others who are joining us today. My colleague Greg Hunt, who has been a champion for the cause of ovarian cancer and has been very much in the fight with you, as I have sought to be on every occasion. But particularly I want to acknowledge all women living with ovarian cancer. Their survivors, the survivors of ovarian cancer. Can I acknowledge their carers, the nurses, their family members, and those who have been with us before and are no longer with us.
Jane, you are a an absolute trooper in this fight. I want to thank you and, for your welcome, and congratulations on your appointment of the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition. To Marina Go for her work as Chair, and Meghan Speers, her successor. Meghan is a survivor. A diagnosis at age 29 and giving back to Ovarian Cancer Australia for a decade.
Amy, words cannot express the impact of what you've just said has had on me. I make it, I I look forward in so many ways to being part of this each year. And I'm sorry we can't be doing it in person, so we can't meet in person today.
This is a day, as you say, of hope. It's a day of strength. It's a day of courage. And I have seen that every year at these gatherings. And your story today was so impactful and the appeal that you've made, so heartfelt and so practical. Can I thank you also for the tremendous work you do in the Government, and particularly at that time that you were reflecting upon.
Thank you for your story. I can't imagine how proud your three boys must be, as you are of them, no doubt. And of course, your husband. They might not grasp it yet, but I suspect they do. And in time, I understand that they will see your strength and it'll inspire them each and every day. But the one thing that came across probably more than anything in what you had to say this morning is you have an indomitable love. And that was my major take out. We're willing you on, Amy, and we're in this fight with you, and I want to assure you of that.
And there is hope, because last year at this breakfast I met Caitlin and her eldest daughter, Lilith, and like Amy who spoke today, Caitlin is an extraordinarily strong and inspirational individual. And I was so pleased to hear that Caitlin has just passed five years post-diagnosis, and I'm looking forward to that same message from you, Amy.
And so my message to women with ovarian cancer is, you are not alone. You've got an incredible team at Ovarian Cancer Australia committed to supporting you every way they can. You have a dedicated teal nurse who's always on the line, as you said, Amy. You've got friends, you've got family, you've got colleagues and an Australian community out there raising funds and giving generously and seeking to raise awareness about ovarian cancer.
And we think of the many other cancers, particularly that impact on women, and we think of the tremendous work that has been done there, like organisations like Ovarian Cancer Australia. And I've worked with many of those and seen the success that they have had in raising awareness. And you’re on the same path and doing it so incredibly well.
My Government is prioritising this cancer and we have for many years. We are investing in improving early detection, treatment options and survival rates. We want to get those rates up and we will continue to do everything we possibly can to be all the way in on this fight. That is my commitment.
And there are reasons for optimism. There's certainly a lot of hope in the new drug Zejula - Greg Hunt always pronounces these things better than I can - approved by the TGA just last month. It's not only for women with the BRCA gene mutation, but will be an option for all women with high grade ovarian cancer. And should the experts on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommend its listing on the PBS, we will not hesitate. We will not blink, just like we did with the expansion of Lynparza.
And I can back this up because it has been the policy of my Government that every time they recommend something go on the PBS, we do it, and we do it without hesitation. Since the last election alone, 857 drugs, new drugs, have been put on the PBS. So I can assure you as soon as we get that recommendation, we'll be all over it.
On the MBS we've made some welcome changes, and I want to thank [Jane] and Professor DeFazio for acknowledging those, and they’re welcome changes effective next month - better aligning gynaecology services with contemporary and evidence-based treatment.
Since 2019, we've invested in the Teal Support Program, and it's just so pleasing to see the impact that is having on individuals who are living with ovarian cancer. The Teal Support Program provides free, dedicated support for women with ovarian cancer and their families through an ovarian cancer nurse consultant who supports them through each and every stage of their ovarian cancer journey, starting from diagnosis to post-treatment.
Our Government has been proud to fund it and I'm pleased to announce today we're going to keep doing that - a further $2 million in funding over the next two years. The Teal Support Program has grown rapidly since it commenced in 2019, and it currently supports 420 women, and it's expected to grow to over 700. And because it's a free telehealth service, there are no barriers to support, and I look forward to continuing our support for this program well into the future.
I know the pandemic has interfered with so many normal routines, regular check-ups are so important. My wife, Jenny, who trained as a nurse herself, is passionate about this, and I know that ovarian cancer is a terribly hard cancer to detect, and I want to thank all those researchers, like you Professor DeFazio, who are out there doing the work not only just to develop treatments, but also to develop new testing systems that can make such a difference. The signs in relation to these are vague, they’re subtle, and early detection is rare.
So I'm very pleased to be with you today. I very much appreciate the opportunity to come along and hear these stories. I can assure you it impacts me deeply. It's a day of hope, Amy. It is, and I want to give you that encouragement and that hope. And Ovarian Cancer Australia is on a mission of hope, and together I have no doubt that the partnership that we have formed that runs deep will keep making progress. And Amy, we will prevail, and you will prevail. And that is my prayer for you and your family. Thank you for your attention.
Remarks, Last Post Ceremony - Campbell, ACT
8 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: To my Ministerial and Parliamentary colleagues, who are with us here today. The Leader of the Opposition, the Chief of Defence Force, and the Director of the Australian War Memorial, and Members of the War Memorial Board.
We gather here to honour the past and to prepare ourselves for the future. And here, in this our most sacred place, we hear our country. We hear the Ngunnawal People on whose land we gather, and we honour their Elders past, present and emerging.
We indeed see the uniforms and medals of those amongst us, and behind them are lives that have given themselves to sacrifice and service. And we sense amongst us the 102,000 Australians whose names are on these walls and who gave their tomorrows for our today. And we say thank you for your service.
Today, as part of this Memorial’s daily reminder of stoicism, sacrifice and service at the start of our Parliamentary year, we gather not because it’s demanded of us, but because we demand it of ourselves. In this sacred place, we stand side by side with each other, to lift our vision to our common purpose: to safeguard, protect, and defend, and advance Australia.
Here, we draw from the well of time’s past, so that we can better understand our country, our times and ourselves. In this place of memory, we are reminded that nations are defended by those who display physical as well as moral courage.
We reflect on this courage during our generation’s own time of testing. Facing the greatest health and economic challenges of our lifetimes, in the midst of unprecedented geopolitical change. But such times are not without precedent in this country.
This month earlier, eighty years ago, Singapore fell, Darwin was bombed, and both Houses of Parliament met together behind closed doors to prepare for the unimaginable. An enemy that appeared to be unstoppable. And during that time, our Prime Minister John Curtin spoke a truth that must be a lesson for all time. He said, “Facts are stern things. We, the allied nations, were unready.”
Though the Australians of those times - military, civilian and political - held, helped turn the tide of war, and we, will be remembered throughout all history, the lessons of those times is readiness. Our honouring of the past must beckon us to prepare for the future and the challenges that we face today.
Today, the task of forging and holding a peace, and protecting our spirit and vibrant democracy, it remains. And so do the threats. As does the call for duty, service, and courage, and preparedness.
Our democracy is strengthened by the veterans who serve in our Parliament - so many, here with us today. Men and women who understand the consequence of our decisions better than all those who sit in the Parliament, and who, by their presence, challenge us to live lives of moral courage.
Today, we call to mind the 400 men and women who have served in our Armed Forces and have also served in our Parliament. We remember the service of Major General Harold Edward “Pompey” Elliott. A Boer War veteran. Commander of the 7th Battalion at Gallipoli and the 15th Brigade on the Western Front. And a Senator for Victoria.
A former Prime Minister Stanley Bruce who fought, and was wounded, at Gallipoli. And who in later life worked so closely with those he fought against.
Sir Charles Davidson, the Country Member for Dawson, who served on the Western Front in the First World War and commanded the 42nd Battalion in New Guinea in the Second World War.
David Thomson, the Nationals Member for Leichhardt, who served in Borneo, New Guinea and Japan during and following the end of the Second World War, and was awarded the Military Cross for his service in the Korean War. And also served in the Malayan Emergency.
And Graham Edwards, the Labor Member for Cowan, who lost both legs in Vietnam and who is still a fierce advocate, and trusted advocate, for veterans.
Many of these have been mentors. And one I remember is the wisdom and the strength and the humanity of Sir John Carrick, who I knew well, and I know the Leader of the Opposition can speak in the same spirit of the goodness of Tom Uren.
John Carrick and Tom Uren, as we’ve often remarked upon here at this particular service, faced the worst of humanity at Changi, Hellfire Pass and working the Thai Burma Railway. Yet both rejected hatred and embraced forgiveness in all its forms.
I also honour the serving Members and Senators who have worn the uniform of our country in modern conflicts and operations. Thank you, thank you for what you bring to our Parliament and our deliberations, and for your devotion to the cause of Australia.
Soon, the bugle will sound, as it does each and every day here. And today, the bugle plays for Private Percy Gratwick. He left school at 16 and served as a messenger in the Western Australian Parliament, and was later a station hand and a stockman.
Shortly, we will hear his story - of a soldier that stepped up in the moment of trial, and who made a difference during the battle at hand and those around him. A VC.
May we be inspired by his memory and by the memory of all who have sacrificed and served our country.
Lest we forget.
Remarks, Statement of Acknowledgement
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I thank you for your Statement of Acknowledgement. You were elected in this place to be the voice of all of us here, and I thank you for speaking on behalf of all of us with one voice today here in this Parliament, and I hope that voice is heard loud and clear right across our country, as indeed it will be in the other place.
I rise to enthusiastically support this Acknowledgement, and to recognise all of those who are why we’re here today in making this Acknowledgement. And I particularly want to acknowledge Ms Brittany Higgins, whose experience and, more importantly, courage, is the reason why we are all here today, and I want to thank her for that.
I also want to recognise all of those who have contributed to the Jenkins Review. Some 1,700 individuals contributed. 935 participated in surveys from right across this building, not just in Parliamentary staff, media galleries, those who work and call this place their place of work. 490 interviews were conducted. Eleven focus groups were undertaken.
This Review speaks of a longstanding culture, generations of culture, in this place and in the building before it, of bullying and harassment that has occurred over this time. And a power imbalance over that time that has been exploited. And that exploitation, abuse, bullying and harassment has played itself out through terrible, traumatic and harrowing experiences. The harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as the harassment of female members and senators.
Over many decades, an ecosystem, a culture, was perpetuated where bullying, abuse, harassment, and in some cases even violence, became normalised.
This has to change. It is changing. And I believe it will change. So those who can come into this place as members, those who come to work in this place, can have that confidence, as every Australian should in any workplace anywhere in this country, as these issues are not unique to this place, as we all know.
Parliament can’t be a place of cruelty. Nor can it be a place where incivility towards each other is somehow proof of some strength.
This Chamber and this building is a place where ideas are tested, a place where the rigors of debate hold Government and lawmakers to account. And that’s appropriate. And it is a place of scrutiny, and never before do I think this place has been under such scrutiny when it comes to these issues, and that is only right.
It must also be a place, as the Speaker has said on our behalf, of the highest standards. A place where any Australian can aspire to work, and know they can work safely.
And as one participant in the Jenkins Review put it: “A culture which is all about power … doesn’t mean it has to be a culture which is about abuse of power.”
Power is about service, and should be exercised with humility and love, as we were reminded this morning at the church service that opened this year.
Commissioner Kate Jenkins has laid the challenge out before us, and I thank Commissioner Jenkins for her tremendous work and counsel on all of these issues. She said: “This is an opportunity for the leaders of our country to transform Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces to become what they already should be: workplaces where expected standards of behaviour are modelled, championed and enforced, [and] where respectful behaviour is rewarded and in which any Australian, no matter [of] their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status or age, feels safe and welcome to contribute.”
That is our task. She has set it out very clearly. We must hold ourselves to this standard. All of us.
I hesitate in calling it a new standard because it suggests somehow it shouldn’t have been previously. This is a standard that should be outside of time, because by taking an oath or affirmation at this very table, it means you are a leader, whatever role in which you serve, and you owe just and best judgment to the highest efforts, to the Australian people.
Mr Speaker, we’ve understood in this place the power of an apology to bring healing and to bring change. And I’m proud that this is a Chamber in which we have done this on so many occasions, and I believe Australia is somewhat unique in this regard.
We don’t shy [from, or seek to] silence, the valid and just complaints of people because there was fear about electoral consequences.
I am sorry. We are sorry. I’m sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. And the place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare. But I am sorry for far more than that - for all of those who came before Ms Higgins and endured the same. But she had the courage to stand, and so here we are.
So we are sorry for all of these things. And in doing so, each of us take an accountability for changing these things.
And to those who have perpetuated such bullying, abuse and violence, the light will come to those behaviours, as it must, but it will follow and respect our rule of law in this country. It will proceed on the basis of fairness and justice, in accordance for the rules of others that are in place in our country, and it will be done in the proper way, which I’m sure all in this place would agree.
Justice should come and it should always be delivered under the rule of law.
Mr Speaker, every single Australian has the right to be safe at work. And yet it is clear that practical and cultural changes are necessary to make our Parliamentary workplaces safer.
This Acknowledgement is a marker, yet another step. A moment of change. A commitment as Parliamentarians, each and every one of us, wearing no partisan hat, but here as Parliamentarians, employers, and as colleagues to change this culture in this ecosystem, and a determination to make this building and its many subsidiaries a place of heart and soul into the future.
A place that embodies in every form the values, hopes and aspirations of the Australian people. A place of heart and soul, where our humanity is not lost, diminished or harmed, because of what is the adversarial nature of our political system.
Sorry is only the start. That is our promise to those who are here today and those watching across Australia. For those of us who are here now, we know we have that opportunity, and we must, and we can, and we will do better.
I am determined that we deliver the outcomes of the Jenkins Review and make our Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces safer and respectful for everyone.
The Parliament has, as you said Mr Speaker, already commenced that work, even before the Jenkins Review was handed down, and we are working together towards the implementation of all 28 recommendations. This past week, the multi-party Leadership Taskforce convened for the first time, chaired by Ms Kerri Hartland.
Whether it is this Acknowledgement today or the laws that will be introduced into Parliament this week, we are working to change this place for the better together.
We have extended the funding for the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service so work can commence on its expansion and so it can continue to be made available to staff and Parliamentarians, alongside extra funding for the Parliamentary Support Line.
I want this building to be a place where young Australians - and young women, in particular - can follow their dreams and can live out their beliefs, and not have them crushed by brutality and the misuse of power.
That’s what I’m dedicated to. We will come back to this work many, many times in the years ahead because this work will take many years. It will be ongoing.
But we must not backslide. We owe it to all of those who work in this building. We owe it to all of those who strive to work in this building in the future, and we owe it to the Australian people who we all have the good grace and great privilege to serve.
House Statement on Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee
8 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I move that an Address of Congratulation be presented to Her Majesty The Queen, as follows:
Your Majesty. We, the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, express to Your Majesty our warm congratulations at this time of celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of your accession to the Throne. We express our respect and regard for the dedication you have displayed in the service of the Commonwealth and your deep and abiding commitment to Australia and its people.
Mr Speaker, seventy years ago, the then Princess Elizabeth was on her way to Australia. Then, the world, as she knew it, changed forever. Her beloved father had died. And a young princess in her twenties, in the first years of her marriage with two young children, between, became Queen of Great Britain and Northern Island, and a Commonwealth of nations that spanned the globe.
The Queen has never celebrated this day, and understandably so. I’m sure she would have preferred to enjoy her father’s love and example for many more years before she was called upon to wear that heavy crown. A reminder that no matter who you, we are, events happen in life, events out of our control, that require more of us than we think sometimes we may be able.
And in that moment of profound and immense sadness, and with the tremendous grace and poise and dignity and strength, for which she has become known all around the world, and particularly here in Australia, Her Majesty commenced her duties as our Queen.
Her life is one of dedication, of duty and devotion, of service over self, of steadfast and unflinching adherence to the ideals and the responsibilities of constitutional Monarchy.
Years before that heartbreaking day of ascension, on her 21st birthday in a broadcast from South Africa, the future Queen declared: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
Looking across the vista of three quarters of a century, we can say that Her Majesty has in every way been faithful to that vow. Throughout her reign, Her Majesty has been a steadfast and unifying presence in the life of our world - and in the life of our nation - as Queen of Australia.
Even in our capital, we see her recurring presence. Here in Canberra, Her Majesty opened the High Court in 1980, the National Gallery in 1982, our Parliament House in 1988, and back in 1970 she opened the National Carillon. Aspen Island - where the Carillon stands - and will be [re]named in her honour in June.
Her Majesty heads a Commonwealth of 54 nations - almost a third of the world’s people. And is the Sovereign in the United Kingdom, Australia and 13 other nations.
Seventy years marks a reign of 25,568 days - as of last Sunday. And I hope we will see many thousands more. A remarkable achievement from a remarkable woman.
Her Majesty has been the reigning sovereign for 15 Australian Prime Ministers, 16 Governors-General, 14 British Prime Ministers, around 170 Commonwealth Prime Ministers, and also seven James Bonds - one of whom Her Majesty worked with very closely.
If there is an indelible moment from the 2012 London Olympics, it was the cheeky, slightly irreverent, and magnificent video of Her Majesty and [Daniel Craig], played, playing James Bond. The story goes, no one thought she would do it. And eventually, a nervous courtier asked. I could only imagine, having met Her Majesty. The Queen looked at the proposal and said she’d do it, but there was one condition - she wanted a speaking part. And with that, she took out the pen and wrote the words, “Good Evening, Mr Bond.”
In that, we see something of her quiet assurance and her good humour. Someone who[se] values are timeless and yet change with the times. A monarchy that has evolved from distance of, to involvement, and reserve to good humour.
The Crown is above politics, and she has upheld that throughout her reign. A unifying force that highlights good causes and brings people together. And in the moments of trial and testing times that she has known over her life, both personally and as Monarch and Sovereign, she speaks for us all and to us all.
“Grief is the price we pay for love,” the Queen wrote to the New Yorkers after September 11. During our Black Summer fires, which I had the privilege to sit with her and discuss as she shared her reflections on them, she reflected on the character of Australians. She observed publicly, “The stoic and resilient nature of the Australian people will rise to the challenge.” And we did, as she always knew we would. And in the midst of the darkness of the early days of the pandemic, she pledged that like at an earlier time, “We will meet again”. And surely we have.
In past Jubilees - Silver, Gold, Diamond - there has been unbridled joy. A celebration of a life of service, a reminder of the ties that bind, and an expression of affection for the history we share. There were flags, there’s bunting, visits, gun salutes, stamps and coins. An excuse as good as any to celebrate.
But this Jubilee is one that is more poignant. In the midst of these celebrations, we know that our Queen will stand alone, as she did during the service that farewelled her loved husband of some 73 years. And on that day we all saw her - we truly saw her: stoic and strong, yet human and frail and vulnerable. Dignity in the midst of suffering, even if it is her own.
In that moment, we realised that though we will through, though we will will her on forever, we know that even monarchs face the frailties of body and the sunsets that beckon us all. But still, at 95, Her Majesty continues to serve, and passionately so.
So this Jubilee is one of gratitude. A pause to reflect on what a good life truly means. To ponder the place of non-partisan service and selflessness in a modern, robust democracy. And to reflect on the values that sustain us as a free people.
Since the Queen’s first visit to Australia in 1954 - which was in its day a cultural phenomenon unlike any other in our history - the Queen has had a deep understanding and respect of Australia and Australians.
It was best reflected in her action and words during and following the 1999 referendum on the republic. As a Constitutional Monarch, she lived out her belief that monarchy must be above politics. And the Queen played no role in that campaign, pledging to respect and accept the result.
And after that debate had passed, she said, “I shall continue [to] faithfully serve as Queen of Australia under the Constitution to the very best of my ability, as I have tried to do for these past forty-eight years. It is my duty to seek to remain true to the interests of Australia and all Australians as we enter [into] the twenty-first century.”
And so she has done. Over these past seventy years, the Queen has shared our Australian journey. As she once said, “Since I first stepped ashore here in Sydney in February 1954, I have felt part of this rugged, honest, creative land. I have shared in the joys and the sorrows, the challenges and the changes that have shaped this country's history.”
So, Your Majesty, on this Platinum Jubilee, a Jubilee like, unlike any other, we too remember the joys and the sorrows, the challenges and changes of which Her Majesty has been a part. We honour her service. We honour her duty and her devotion.
And on behalf of all Australians, I offer our warmest congratulations to Her Majesty The Queen on her Platinum Jubilee. God save The Queen.
Remarks, Statement of Acknowledgement
8 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I thank you for your Statement of Acknowledgement. You were elected in this place to be the voice of all of us here, and I thank you for speaking on behalf of all of us with one voice today here in this Parliament, and I hope that voice is heard loud and clear right across our country, as indeed it will be in the other place.
I rise to enthusiastically support this Acknowledgement, and to recognise all of those who are why we’re here today in making this Acknowledgement. And I particularly want to acknowledge Ms Brittany Higgins, whose experience and, more importantly, courage, is the reason why we are all here today, and I want to thank her for that.
I also want to recognise all of those who have contributed to the Jenkins Review. Some 1,700 individuals contributed. 935 participated in surveys from right across this building, not just in Parliamentary staff, media galleries, those who work and call this place their place of work. 490 interviews were conducted. Eleven focus groups were undertaken.
This Review speaks of a longstanding culture, generations of culture, in this place and in the building before it, of bullying and harassment that has occurred over this time. And a power imbalance over that time that has been exploited. And that exploitation, abuse, bullying and harassment has played itself out through terrible, traumatic and harrowing experiences. The harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as the harassment of female members and senators.
Over many decades, an ecosystem, a culture, was perpetuated where bullying, abuse, harassment, and in some cases even violence, became normalised.
This has to change. It is changing. And I believe it will change. So those who can come into this place as members, those who come to work in this place, can have that confidence, as every Australian should in any workplace anywhere in this country, as these issues are not unique to this place, as we all know.
Parliament can’t be a place of cruelty. Nor can it be a place where incivility towards each other is somehow proof of some strength.
This Chamber and this building is a place where ideas are tested, a place where the rigors of debate hold Government and lawmakers to account. And that’s appropriate. And it is a place of scrutiny, and never before do I think this place has been under such scrutiny when it comes to these issues, and that is only right.
It must also be a place, as the Speaker has said on our behalf, of the highest standards. A place where any Australian can aspire to work, and know they can work safely.
And as one participant in the Jenkins Review put it: “A culture which is all about power … doesn’t mean it has to be a culture which is about abuse of power.”
Power is about service, and should be exercised with humility and love, as we were reminded this morning at the church service that opened this year.
Commissioner Kate Jenkins has laid the challenge out before us, and I thank Commissioner Jenkins for her tremendous work and counsel on all of these issues. She said: “This is an opportunity for the leaders of our country to transform Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces to become what they already should be: workplaces where expected standards of behaviour are modelled, championed and enforced, [and] where respectful behaviour is rewarded and in which any Australian, no matter [of] their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status or age, feels safe and welcome to contribute.”
That is our task. She has set it out very clearly. We must hold ourselves to this standard. All of us.
I hesitate in calling it a new standard because it suggests somehow it shouldn’t have been previously. This is a standard that should be outside of time, because by taking an oath or affirmation at this very table, it means you are a leader, whatever role in which you serve, and you owe just and best judgment to the highest efforts, to the Australian people.
Mr Speaker, we’ve understood in this place the power of an apology to bring healing and to bring change. And I’m proud that this is a Chamber in which we have done this on so many occasions, and I believe Australia is somewhat unique in this regard.
We don’t shy [from, or seek to] silence, the valid and just complaints of people because there was fear about electoral consequences.
I am sorry. We are sorry. I’m sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. And the place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare. But I am sorry for far more than that - for all of those who came before Ms Higgins and endured the same. But she had the courage to stand, and so here we are.
So we are sorry for all of these things. And in doing so, each of us take an accountability for changing these things.
And to those who have perpetuated such bullying, abuse and violence, the light will come to those behaviours, as it must, but it will follow and respect our rule of law in this country. It will proceed on the basis of fairness and justice, in accordance for the rules of others that are in place in our country, and it will be done in the proper way, which I’m sure all in this place would agree.
Justice should come and it should always be delivered under the rule of law.
Mr Speaker, every single Australian has the right to be safe at work. And yet it is clear that practical and cultural changes are necessary to make our Parliamentary workplaces safer.
This Acknowledgement is a marker, yet another step. A moment of change. A commitment as Parliamentarians, each and every one of us, wearing no partisan hat, but here as Parliamentarians, employers, and as colleagues to change this culture in this ecosystem, and a determination to make this building and its many subsidiaries a place of heart and soul into the future.
A place that embodies in every form the values, hopes and aspirations of the Australian people. A place of heart and soul, where our humanity is not lost, diminished or harmed, because of what is the adversarial nature of our political system.
Sorry is only the start. That is our promise to those who are here today and those watching across Australia. For those of us who are here now, we know we have that opportunity, and we must, and we can, and we will do better.
I am determined that we deliver the outcomes of the Jenkins Review and make our Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces safer and respectful for everyone.
The Parliament has, as you said Mr Speaker, already commenced that work, even before the Jenkins Review was handed down, and we are working together towards the implementation of all 28 recommendations. This past week, the multi-party Leadership Taskforce convened for the first time, chaired by Ms Kerri Hartland.
Whether it is this Acknowledgement today or the laws that will be introduced into Parliament this week, we are working to change this place for the better together.
We have extended the funding for the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service so work can commence on its expansion and so it can continue to be made available to staff and Parliamentarians, alongside extra funding for the Parliamentary Support Line.
I want this building to be a place where young Australians - and young women, in particular - can follow their dreams and can live out their beliefs, and not have them crushed by brutality and the misuse of power.
That’s what I’m dedicated to. We will come back to this work many, many times in the years ahead because this work will take many years. It will be ongoing.
But we must not backslide. We owe it to all of those who work in this building. We owe it to all of those who strive to work in this building in the future, and we owe it to the Australian people who we all have the good grace and great privilege to serve.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
7 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. The National Security Committee of Cabinet has met today. First item on the agenda was to be dealing with the situation in Ukraine. We remain highly concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, and seeing the military build-up that has been taking place there for some time. All Australians in Ukraine, we have endeavoured to contact them all over the last few weeks, with a very clear message - now is the time to leave. And we reinforce that message. The travel advisories are very clear. The vast majority of those Australians who live in Ukraine, their lives are in the Ukraine. Many of them have dual citizenships. Their families are there or in neighbouring countries, particularly in Poland. And they will be looking to their own arrangements, as we understand it. But our message has been very clear, and I want to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our consular officials who have been working tirelessly to get that message now for some weeks, that it is time to leave if you wish to leave.
We also encourage Russia to continue in their engagements and discussions with other countries who are seeking to resolve this issue. But we hold out real concerns about where this will ultimately lead to. Australia supports Ukraine's sovereignty and their territorial integrity. And we will continue to stand with them on these issues and continue to engage with our partners on these very difficult issues as they continue to evolve.
The Quad Foreign Ministers will actually be meeting here in Australia later this week and that will be a further opportunity for us to be discussing collective security issues and our shared prosperity from our engagements together, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
But, again, we would be urging Russia to remain engaged in the reciprocal dialogue. And any breach of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty is not a mark of peace, it is a mark of those who would seek to take sovereignty from others for whom it should reside with.
Now, also, it's almost two years since we took the decision to close the borders to Australia. The National Security Committee has, Cabinet, has decided today that Australia will reopen our borders to all remaining visa holders on the 21st of February of this year. We have been progressively opening our borders since November of last year. Those programs have proceeded very successfully, whether it was the programs we had in place with New Zealand or Singapore, and then with Japan and South Korea, opening up to international students and backpackers and economic migrants who are coming to Australia. That will now be extended, principally, to international visitors who will be able to return. The condition is you must be double vaccinated to come to Australia. That's the rule. Everyone is expected to abide by it. And it's very important that people understand that requirement if they're seeking to come to Australia. But if you're double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia, and I know the tourism industry will be looking forward to that, and over the next two weeks they will have the opportunity both for visitors to be coming and for them to be gearing up to welcome international visitors back to Australia.
The state-based cap arrangements on arrivals and the state-based quarantine arrangements will continue, as they have them in place and they will be up to state governments to alter those, as they see fit, as has always been the case. But we just want to stress that you will need to provide that proof of vaccination. Your visa is one thing, but your entry into Australia requires you also to be double vaccinated. And I think events earlier in the year should have sent a very clear message, I think, to everyone around the world that that is the requirement to enter into Australia.
The third matter that we were dealing with today, amongst many others, I should stress, was the aged care needs and our response to Omicron, and today we were able to agree a package of measures that will see the Australian Defence Force supporting that effort that is being led by the Department of Health. Several weeks ago I spoke to the VCDF, Vice Admiral Johnston, when he was acting CDF, as part of our response to the supply chain pressures that we're seeing from the Omicron variant, and asked them to begin work, to be working up proposals as to how they could be supporting in a number of different areas. And since then, we've seen ADF personnel being there in Victoria, supporting the ambulance service and things of that nature. And we've seen them supporting in other areas. But now we’ll be, they'll be joining that effort.
Now I want to be very clear about this. As I said several weeks ago, the Defence Force are not a surrogate workforce for the aged care sector. There are around 285,000 people who work in the aged care sector. So the idea that the Defence Forces can come in and just replace all of the shifts that are lost because people have COVID - we already relaxed the close contact rule and that had a real positive impact. But the idea that the Defence Forces could just simply come in and fill that gap is just not realistic and was never a scenario or an option that was under consideration, because it's just simply not feasible. But they do and can and have provided quite targeted support into the aged care sector in extremis, in some of the most difficult situations. And the teams that we’ll be bringing together, just four teams, will be placed at 24-hours’ notice to move from today, and that will increase up to 10 teams at 24-hours’ notice, and that is to go into acute situations, working together with the health departments and public health agencies in each of the states and territories, and of course the Aged Care Minister. And Greg will speak about that in a moment. This, these teams include a registered nurse team leader, some medical technicians and five personnel to support general duties tasks.
Now, in each state and territory, it will begin with around 50 personnel going to support each state, and up to 200. So we'll have up to around 1,700 Defence Force personnel assisting. But as I stressed, this is an industry where there's 285,000 workers. So a provision of support - not all of which is clinical, only a minority of those are clinical support, because that's the resource that's available - will be going in there to assist, but it's a very targeted bespoke effort to supplement the many other things which Greg can speak to you about in terms of the response that we're providing.
So, many incredibly serious national security issues we're dealing with, whether it's the global security situation in Europe, here in the Indo-Pacific our continued battle against Omicron, but I'm going to hand over to Karen now to speak more about the fact that our borders will be open from the 21st of February and welcoming the world back to Australia. I think that is another important milestone that Australia is achieving, particularly as we've seen the Omicron variant and its impact on hospitalisations and those patients on ventilators and ICUs coming off their peaks and actually starting to decline. That now gives us further opportunities to free things up. So I'll ask Karen to speak as Minister for Home Affairs on the borders opening up. Greg will speak obviously on the issues relating to aged care, and Peter particularly on the deployment. Karen.
THE HON. KAREN ANDREWS MP, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Thank you, Prime Minister. So Australia will reopen to all fully vaccinated visa holders from the 21st of February. This means that we will be able to welcome back tourists, business travellers and other visa holders who to date have been unable to enter Australia. Now, visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a exemption, a travel exemption, to enter here into Australia, and they will be subject, on their arrival here, to the relevant state and territory quarantine requirements. So, to be clear, we are absolutely welcoming back fully vaccinated visa holders. For those who are not vaccinated, they will have to provide proof that there is a medical reason that they cannot be vaccinated.
Now, these changes that we are announcing today, in terms of reopening our borders, make sure that we are protecting the health of Australians, but at the same time working towards our economic recovery here. And that is a very important part of our announcement.
Now, in relation to our tourism industry, we all understand that tourism in Australia has been dealt with a tremendous blow through COVID. So our visitor numbers have clearly been down. They have, our tourist providers have had to rely on domestic travellers. Now, Australians have certainly stepped up and travelled when they can, but as of the 21st of February, we will be welcoming back to Australia international tourists, and that is going to be such a welcome relief for our many tourist providers all around Australia.
Now I can say that our tourism industry, with its reopening being announced today so it will reopen on the 21st of February, it gives them the time to be able to start planning to prepare for their reopening. And in 2018-2019, tourism generated more than $60 billion for the Australian economy, and more than 660,000 people were employed in the tourism sector. Now since we started the process of reopening our international borders on the 1st of November 2021, we have seen almost 300,000 eligible visa holders come to reunite with loved ones here in Australia. So we are absolutely looking forward to the 21st of February, where we can welcome back to Australia all of the fully vaccinated visa holders. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Greg.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thanks very much, Prime Minister, and Karen and Peter. Over the weekend we’ve passed the 51 million dose mark for the vaccination program and today we're expected to pass the nine million booster mark. So I thank everybody for coming forward on that front. Importantly, three million Novavax vaccines are due to arrive today, later on, from Singapore by air. And significantly, we have now begun the deployment of 50,000 oral COVID treatments - the molnupiravir, on medical advice, to our aged care facilities. I think that's a very important protection, and Professor Kelly and Professor Murphy have overseen that process, along with the Department of Health.
I think it's important to note that since the the peaks in each of the areas of hospitalisation, ICU and ventilation, the latest figures are that we have decreased by 27 per cent since the peak of hospitalisation, by 35 per cent since the ICU peak, and 40 per cent in terms of ventilation peak. So I think these are very important trends.
In terms of aged care, whilst we are seeing a decrease in the number of active cases, we do know that there are significant pressures in specific facilities. So far we've taken a series of measures, in particular, 80,000 shifts have been put in place. We've had, delivered over 120 million units of PPE, including 40 million units this year, and significantly we've had 10.7 million rapid antigen tests that have been delivered to aged care continuously since August of last year. And already 5.25 million rapid antigen tests have been delivered through the pensioners and concession card holders scheme where people go to the pharmacies and collect them. So all of those things are coming together.
Obviously Peter will give you more information in relation to the work of the ADF. But essentially there are three components. One is the clinical teams or the clinical support teams. These will stand alongside what we have as clinical first responders. Generally these will be teams of 10, as the Prime Minister has set out. They'll grow from four to 10 teams. And they'll provide that additional support. What we may see sometimes is that the infection control leads or the clinical leads in a particular facility have had to furlough either because they’re a case or because they're strongly symptomatic and a close contact. We've relaxed the rules in relation to close contacts for asymptomatic working. That has been very important in bringing significant numbers of workforce back into the field. The second group and second task of the ADF is to provide the general support, and that general support may be in terms of waste management, PPE management, other forms of assistance under the direction of the clinical leads within the particular facility. And thirdly, is to support that deployment with logistical and planning work. So they're the three particular roles, and I want to thank Peter through you and Prime Minister, the ADF for making this support available. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Greg. Peter.
THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Thanks, PM, Greg and Karen. I want to say thank you very much to the Australian Defence Force, the men and women, 24,000 of whom have already contributed in various ways over the course of Operation COVID ASSIST. And as of the weekend, as the Prime Minister pointed out, they've now taken up additional duties in providing assistance to those most in need within our aged care facilities. So that work started on Saturday, and as the Prime Minister mentioned before, following his conversation with the VCDF a couple of weeks ago, that planning and monitoring has taken place and there's a lot of logistical effort behind the scenes to gauge what response is required. But this is a significant intervention by the Australian Defence Force. Up to 1,700 of our personnel will provide assistance at our aged care facilities, and in particular at those that are most in need.
Greg, as lead, obviously, the effort within Health, to augment and to provide additional support to the aged care facilities, and we will come in behind that. As the PM pointed out, the hundreds of thousands who are involved in this workforce need support and we're going to provide them with that support, but we can't replace that workforce, nor would we want to try and do that.
I want to also mention that we're going to deploy up to about 15 military planners to the Department of Health to aid in the coordination of the ADF support to the aged care facilities. And, again, just acknowledge the fact that the Australian men and women of the Defence Force have really made a significant contribution, as, too, have their families. Many have been deployed away from their own kids and their own domestic needs and I really acknowledge the sacrifice that they've made as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Happy to take some questions. Chris.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] definition of fully vaccinated in Australia is likely to change from two shots to three. So will you change that for international travellers, if it changes inside Australia? And what guarantee can you give to …
PRIME MINISTER: The answer to that is no. It will be two dose.
JOURNALIST: Ok. And the, what guarantee can you …
PRIME MINISTER: There are various, there are various arrangements around the world regarding third doses. And so two doses, the CM, the Chief Medical Officer, advises will be sufficient.
JOURNALIST: And what guarantee can you give to the people who now will spend a lot of money gearing up for this that you will stay the course and not pull the rug out from under tourism operators and airport operators once this decision is made?
PRIME MINISTER: One of the, I think, key elements of our planning process as a Commonwealth Government is we've been careful about taking each next step. And that's why I said last year, when there were calls for this sort of a decision to have been made last year, we took it step by step. And we examined the impact of that, so we could then walk safely to the next station that we were embarking upon. And that's what we've done here. We've been very careful at looking at the impact, particularly when Omicron hit, and and how that would flow through. But the fact is, here in Australia, the variant is here in Australia. And for those who are coming in who are double vaccinated, they don't present any greater risk than those who are already here in Australia. So it's a sensible and I think very important move for us to make as we sort of, as best as we possibly can this year, drive Australia back to a position of as much normality as as we can achieve. So we've been careful. That's why. And this was reinforced to me again when I was up in Cairns, just the week before last, and they were obviously keen to see that happen. I mean, in Cairns in particular and in Far North Queensland, that area of the country is more dependent on international tourists than any other part of the country. And so I know they'll welcome that and it was under consideration at that time. But we just wanted to be sure, and Greg may want to comment on this, we just wanted to be sure in taking that next step we wouldn't be overloading the hospital system, and the Chief Medical Officer was able to give us good confidence about that, as in in the larger states we've already moved past that that peak, and so that enabled us to now take this step.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you hoping this decision on international borders will put pressure on Mark McGowan to open his state border and take up on some of these tourism dollars that will be coming into the country?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the two issues are unrelated. As I’ve said, we'll make the decision about the international border. What, the decisions the states take, they'll be consistent with the assessments that they're making. And that deals with their caps at their airports, as well as their quarantine arrangements, as they are in place. Jono.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] package to attract international tourists back to Australia, bearing in mind that you're now, I suppose, appealing to only a smaller cohort, those who have been double vaccinated. So will there be a package? What arrival caps will there be with the states, have you spoken to them about that? And on those two issues, I can't remember my third.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look on the first point we've been talking to states.
JOURNALIST: What was the health advice that you got [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've already outlined it, and that is that we can now move safely to that next level and where we are currently with the status of our hospital system. And we're seeing the number of cases in ICU and so on decline, that this is the safe, safer time to be able to move to that next step. And the Chief Medical Officer fully supports that decision. In relation to the states and territories, they will they will continue to be putting in place the caps that they have at their airports. Some have none at all, like New South Wales, others do, and they will do that based on where their capacity is at this given point in time. The, as we know that the COVID-19 has not been experienced similarly in all parts of the country. Western Australia is very different to New South Wales and and as a result, the arrangements are different between those two parts of the country, and the first one?
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I announced to you a week or so ago there was the package that went in with the support for backpackers and for students in getting them back, and some additional funds were provided to Tourism Australia at that point. We obviously got a budget coming up at the end of next month, and when I was up in far north Queensland, I was listening very carefully to some of the plans that the tourism and travel industry has, and I thought they were very good plans and I'd be encouraging states and territories to work with us, particularly in those parts of the country that are so reliant on international visitors. But we've been a very strong supporter of the tourism sector and I have quite a fair bit of background and understanding what they would need at this time. And so I very much appreciated sitting down with those tourism operators up in far north Queensland because they are the most experienced in dealing with the international tourism trade of anyone in the country.
JOURNALIST: On the aged care announcement today and as welcome as additional ADF support would be, you're talking about hundreds of people. The aged care sector says that a quarter of all shifts are going unstaffed at the moment, something like 140,000 shifts a week. It's a massive issue, so this isn't going to prevent that situation where residents are being forced to be locked in their rooms in aged care centres. What can you do to stop that happening?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask Greg to join me. First of all, I agree with you. It is a very significant issue. It's a very, very difficult issue. And it's an issue that has been caused by the fact that we have large numbers of people who were contracting COVID. We've eased the close contact rules to ensure as many of them can be back and available for work as quickly as they possibly can. And that was helpful there. The health department has been working to source additional qualified workforce to go in and support these facilities. One of the things we also have to manage and this goes to the controls that are in place in aged care facilities. We want quality of life. When people go into aged care facilities, it's about the dignity and care that they receive when they are there. Now we all know the reality that it is commonplace in our aged care facilities and we've all experienced it, I'm sure. That in the in the normal course of events, around a thousand people pass away in aged care facilities every week. That's what happens year round, every round when there's not a pandemic and when there is. And over the course of particularly Omicron, around less than 10 per cent of those who passed away in our aged care facilities have passed away with having COVID. As Professor Murphy was making the point today, there is a difference between passing away because of COVID and passing away and having COVID. And those two things he's at pains to stress are not the same thing. And we're experiencing that in our aged care facilities. So it's not just about trying to prevent any fatalities that may occur that may be avoided, but it's also about ensuring the residents have a quality of life and an important part of the quality of life is being able to have access to your family and their support and their love and and particularly for those who are in palliative care, end of life care and to have that. So it is a very sensitive and fine balance that you have to find to try and prevent the spread. But at the same time, ensure that residents are getting the access to their family and the quality of life that they're able to have in those facilities. So these are the very difficult issues that COVID-19 has presented for our aged care facilities. And I want to thank the aged care operators and the aged care workers who are doing their absolute best to try and do that. But when you have large numbers of people taken out of the workforce, then that is very hard to deal with. And there is no simple answer because you want qualified people providing care. And then that's why, you know, we have provided the additional supports, whether it's wage supplements and so on, to provide that recognition and support for people to do those shifts. But it's a really tough challenge and we'd be kidding ourselves as a country if we didn't think the pandemic has impacts. It does, and you seek to mitigate them as best you can, but that doesn't mean you can mitigate them all. But Greg.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: So look, firstly, just in terms of the actual workforce itself, the advice that I had updated from the department shortly before joining you is that at the moment, there are approximately 5,900 workers who are furloughing out of that pool of over 280,000. So that's less than three per cent of that workforce. If you just focus on the impacted facilities themselves, it's less than about five per cent of the current workforce in those facilities. So that's the data that we've been given to date. But in order to support that, what we've provided is 80,000 shifts so far, a little bit over that, and that comes from a variety of different sources. So the surge workforce, we've also brought back workers from retirement. We've also brought back workers from the Australian National Aged Care Classification System. And in addition to that, there's been work with the private hospitals and supply and support from that front. And then, of course, perhaps the most important decision was the change in contact for furloughing. So there was the definition of close contact, which was changed to the household and household like and then the capacity for workers who are close contact but asymptomatic to work. And that's then been backed up with the support of the over now 10.7 million rapid antigen tests that have been provided. I will just give one personal reflection of all the things we've had to do during this. The hardest part has been this difficult balance between health of keeping people safe in aged care, which has meant the lockdowns, which is irrespective of the staffing. But that has come at an enormous emotional and mental health cost. And many will say to us, you know, why aren't you locking down harder? And that's because families and residents themselves have said, this is our time where we are in the later stages of our journey and we want to be able to see family. We want to be able to walk. So I know there's a bit more discursive, but it's a deep human issue that we've wrestled with, frankly, and we are leaning now back towards opening up and that's the medical advice on health as well as mental health and emotional reasons.
JOURNALIST: So what's the justification for waiting so long because it was in this courtyard about six weeks ago that you were asked, were the Defence Force going to answer the call of the nurses’ union of other medical groups and go in and help? Why have you waited until now and what do you say to those families who would have hoped that that would have been available to them in their aged care providers in the meantime?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first point I'd make is that we put this in place several weeks ago, not just today. It's been some weeks to get to the point where we are today. The other responses that the minister has set out with the responses that were being put in place at that time, and they were the more urgent ones. So, for example, changing the rules around student nurses so they could be working. And they weren't limited by 20 hours a week because that was going to deal with the large volume of the positions that we had to fill. We always understood that the role that the Defence Forces could play was very, very acute. It was a very targeted response. It was a response that we will now be putting in place, which will help all of these other things. But first, but first things first. First things first was to get the volume of the workforce that were able to get into these places, and that was the priority that the government was working to and working through with the aged care sector. And this response to the pandemic is always finding every single thing you can do and then doing it right and making sure you plan it as best as you can and then you implement it and then you will make further decisions. And if there are further things we can do to further alleviate the pressures in the aged care system, then of course we will do it. Of course we will do it. Greg.
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: I will just had one thing. Obviously, it's a graduated response, but in particular, there's a recognition that many of the staff are fatigued after the last month, and so they stepped up. Many have worked extra hours, come back from furlough, have come back from holidays and have been able to to deal with and respond to that. But now, after such a period, it is a recognition that we can help and assist not only after the planning, which has been done, because bringing people who are not clinical experts in aged care into an aged care environment is a very delicate, serious task. But in addition to that, it's a recognition that the staff have done a brilliant job, but many of them are fatigued and therefore it's an appropriate time.
JOURNALIST: No one's disputing that this is a challenge of workforce, but you've agreed that the Defence Force can't fuel the shortages there. When you pivot to talk about opening up aged care so that family can be there as a support, it sounds like you're saying that the loved ones of these people have to fill that gap because there is no other solution. If there's nothing more, but if there's nothing more that can be done from a defence point of view and you don't want families filling that support gap and another variant comes along and we see a similar peak in cases in the sector, where do we turn to to boost that workforce?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'm suggesting about families being able to be with their loved ones is about the mental health and well-being of their loved ones. That is not about providing some sort of other type of clinical support. That's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the quality of life and the mental health and well-being of those who are in facilities that might otherwise be prevented from seeing them because of attempts to try and constrain the spread of the virus. And so that is the difficult decision that has to be made in many facilities about whether you choose to lock it down, which can which can slow the spread. But that comes at the cost of being separated from loved ones and the impact on your mental health and quality of life. There are no simple solutions to the challenge of COVID-19 and the furloughing of workforce. It is our expectation, as the chief medical officer was saying to us today that as we've seen, we're coming off the peak, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria now with the with cases and how that's impacting on workforces more generally that we should see that alleviate more rather than intensify. That's what we currently know. But we can't kid ourselves that there are large numbers of people out there who are trained and qualified in a situation like this to come in and replace those who have had to stay away for seven days because they have COVID. So we just have to keep working through. And that's why we're so appreciative of those who are doing the work each and every day. But you know, you find wonderful stories. This morning I spoke to a lovely lady in an aged care facility, in my own electorate. She turned 107 today and she just got over COVID and she was looking magnificent, with her son. So Australians are pushing through and those in our aged care facilities, those residents and their families are doing all their best with the workers to make this as good as it can be. But it is incredibly tough and anyone who tells you that they could just come along and make this all go away, they are not telling you the truth. And they do not understand the difficulty of this task that we have. But it's being applied with every resource the government can to get the right answers and to find and where there are more that will be there will be applied. We have shown that all the way through this pandemic.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] off the peak that you described, you expect cases and deaths in aged care to reduce as well. And given that Professor Kelly has said that he expects another winter Omicron peak and a flu season, can you tell us who your Health Minister will be the day after the election given …
PRIME MINISTER: I will be making further announcements about that between now and the next election. And the great news is there are a large number of very experienced people in my cabinet who will be able to take on that role. And of course, I'll be making that announcement before we get to the next election. But in the meantime, right now, I can tell you this. This Minister for Health and Aged Care is continuing to apply himself for each and every single day and the person I would hope to succeed them after an election should we be successful, I'll be very clear about that before the next election.
JOURNALIST: We're aware of an aged care home in Melbourne where dozens of residents have COVID. The centre is blaming the inaccuracy of rapid tests for the outbreak. Are RATs appropriate for an aged care environment?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's an interesting question because rapid antigen tests, of course, are not as accurate as PCR tests. I've been making this point to the gallery now for many, many months about how helpful they can be. They are not as good as PCR tests, but they are the tests that we often need to use because of the volume of what we're dealing with. But Greg, did you want to comment on that?
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: We've done over one quarter of a million PCR tests in aged care, and this has been obviously a point of discussion over the summer. We have been very clear that we followed the medical advice and that medical advice and I was looking at some of the timeframes was very clearly in favour of PCR tests until the Omicron wave came out. And I think this is important to reaffirm. In aged care, we've continued the role of PCR tests. They have a continuous role in addition to that since August, so long before I think most people were talking about rapid antigen tests. We were engaged even though there was reticence amongst some other jurisdictions, we were engaged in active continuous aged care screening and that started in New South Wales and has broadened out now, 10.7 million rapid antigen tests. So it is important, I think, to be absolutely clear that the PCR test was described and remains the gold standard. The rapid antigen test is an important adjunct in a significant caseload environment.
JOURNALIST: Has been delivering a federal integrity commission this term been a non-core Morrison Government promise. How do you justify not delivering that to the Australian people? And can I just ask on the text messages, how can you work with Barnaby Joyce?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I addressed that matter yesterday. But on the other matter, the term is not completed yet.
JOURNALIST: So what is your message to members of your party who have expressed hesitancy about the Religious Discrimination Act? Do you thus need absolutely Labor support to get this through Parliament?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a very important bill. It's a bill that means that a Sikh family can go and rent an apartment and not be discriminated against, amongst many other issues, whether in the workplace or in general society, and that people can speak their beliefs in this country, in a free country, which you can't do in some other countries, but you can and should be able to do it here, and that should be protected like other, like other important protections that we have. So it's a very important bill, and I will continue to work through the colleagues. On the matter, on the measures and issues that they have raised. I've been very clear about the additional protections that I said I would move as an amendment to to deal with the problems that Mark Dreyfus actually put into the Act. It was actually Mark Dreyfus that put measures in the Sex Discrimination Act. Labor Party put measures in the Sex Discrimination Act, which meant that you could expel children because of their sexuality. Now I'm proposing to put forward an amendment to change that in good faith and because I think it's the right thing to do. I've said this for years and that I think goes well together with the Religious Discrimination Bill, which I hope and certainly intend to become an Act in the near future to ensure that the protections of people of religious belief and frankly, for not having a religious belief are protected in this country as I believe they should be.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] there is insufficient time to get the integrity commission through this term of government ...
PRIME MINISTER: I think she was referring to this sitting fortnight.
JOURNALIST: Was she?
PRIME MINISTER: That's my understanding.
JOURNALIST: So you think that you'll be able to get it through before May?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll see.
JOURNALIST: Have you spoken to Bridget Archer about her plans to cross the floor over the Religious Discrimination Bill? And can you categorically deny you have any concerns that it won't be able to get through parliament because of the divisions within your party?
PRIME MINISTER: I've spoken to Bridget on many occasions about this bill and many others and will continue to have those discussions and I look forward to the bill being debated in the Parliament, in the nation's Parliament. And my hope is, as I've always hoped with this bill, is this is a bill that would bring Australians together around this issue. There's nothing in this bill that seeks to prejudice others. It's a bill that is designed to protect religious expression in this country to ensure that people who have such beliefs are not discriminated against. That's something that should unite the Parliament, not divide it. Thanks very much, everyone.
Press Conference - Mulgrave, VIC
4 February 2022
MR STEPHEN PEWTRESS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KOR EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS: Well, ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for your patience. It's been a great privilege to host our Prime Minister and Minister Robert. And of course, it gives me a great privilege to introduce our local member and the wonderful community person who I’ve got to know over the extended period of time, the Member for Chisholm, Ms Gladys Liu. Thank you so much, Gladys.
MS GLADYS LIU MP, MEMBER FOR CHISHOLM: Thank you. Well, thank you very much and welcome to Chisholm. And I want to thank Stephen for having us here today. And this part of Mulgrave is actually a new addition to my electorate. And many locals and local businesses have told me that they have been neglected by previous Labor representatives. Today we have the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. We have Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Minister Stuart Robert here to make an announcement of a very important thing to all of us, and that is job and job training. It is obviously important to young people, but, equally, it is important to those like me who put aside a career and want to come back. Those women, especially single mothers, who want to come back into the workforce, and JobTrainer will be able to help them to reskill, upskill and also be able to get a job that is higher value and higher pay. And, of course, whether you are from an Indigenous background, whether you are from a family have been here for generations, or you are a migrant, this is important to help you to get into the workforce. I will leave the national positive impact of this program to the Minister and Prime Minister. But I can tell you, in Chisholm, we have benefited from this program - 835 traineeships in Chisholm alone. So I want to say to everyone in Chisholm, I will continue to work with you and listen to you and to bring a better future in Chisholm and Australia. Thank you.
THE HON. STUART ROBERT MP, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, WORKFORCE, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS: Great to be here with Gladys and the Prime Minister. Steve, thanks for opening your doors at a great local business here. To see the same 58 staff, but he wants to grow to 100 staff by the end of the year. That's 42 extra staff you're going to need, Steve. And luckily the Morrison Government has got the program in place to ensure that skilled staff can be delivered. $7.1 billion in terms of Morrison Government expenditure on skills and training coming forward, the highest number seen in our nation's history. Over 460,000 in the $2 billion JobTrainer program, on top of the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements that has seen 27 per cent of Australian businesses take on an apprentice or a traineeship. We've seen completions of those apprenticeships and traineeships up by 21 per cent, an extraordinary renaissance in training, and it's all designed to turbocharge our COVID recovery as a skills and jobs recovery, and Steve, it’s designed to get you those 42 staff you need who are well-trained. And that's the great thing about the skilling agenda we've got.
On top of that, of course, the Morrison Government continues to have a strong education agenda, and as the acting Education Minister, I'll be convening my Ministerial colleagues in an hour or so to work through our discussions on the national curriculum, and where we head from that we'll have more to say about after Education Ministers meet this afternoon.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Stuart. Steve, thanks for having us here and to all of your [inaudible] staff who are here, it's been great to meet you, and I'm pleased to see so many of you. If I was here a year or two ago, there’d be few of you. If I’m back here again in a year from now, I'm sure there’d be even more of you here then, because of the great success of this business, Steve. So, mate, thanks for your leadership of what is a a very energised team who's been really pressing ahead and pushing through during the course of this pandemic.
Gladys, thank you for your tireless work here in Melbourne, particularly here in the electorate of Chisholm, here in Mulgrave today. Gladys’ background really does lend herself well to supporting small and medium-sized businesses. This is a business now of around a hundred million in turnover and they continue to grow. And, so, whether it's businesses like this or small, sole operators right across this electorate, Gladys is someone who particularly understands that. And I know there's one thing that Gladys is probably more excited about than anything else. And that is, since we were first elected, there are a million more women in work today than before, and that is an extraordinary thing to see happen in Australia. A million more women in work. And, so, and we want to see that continue. Workforce participation amongst women in this country has been rising. It will continue to rise. And one of the things that will make sure it does that is the skills and the training that is being provided.
As Gladys said, I’ve moved around this country. I've met women who are working in hospitality industry, in health care industry, and they’re now working in the resources industry, they’re working in the construction industry. And I've seen it go the other way as well. And what that means is as our lives change over the course of our lives, the demands on us change and people need to often change careers. And for them to be able to do that and have the choices that they want for them and their families, then training is incredibly important.
In the pandemic, one of the most important decisions we made early on, in addition to JobKeeper, in addition to the Boosting Apprenticeship scheme, which means that today we have 220,000 apprentices in trade training, like the young women I saw earlier today up at Mount Eliza - three young women who were doing their hairdresser’s apprenticeship. Like them, or many apprentices all around the country on the tools, that is the highest number of apprentices in trade training in Australia's recorded economic history, going back to 1963. So this is a government, my Government, our Government, that is ensuring that dealing with the skills and training needs of our workforce, it's at the top of our economic reform agenda.
There are five parts to that agenda - getting taxes low, ensuring that we're cutting red tape for small business. Secondly, it's about investing in the skills and the infrastructure and growing a workforce to meet the growing needs of our economy. It's about reliable, affordable energy, thirdly - getting those electricity prices down, which are down eight per cent in the last two years for households, as well as ensuring the feedstock that goes in and gas to our manufacturing enterprises is at the lowest level it possibly can be. So they have the reliable, affordable energy they need to grow their businesses, while at the same time, reducing emissions that are down more than 20 per cent on our 2005 levels in 2020, meeting all of our emissions reduction targets. It's about being a top 10, fourthly, a top 10 data and digital economy in the world by 2030. And we have seen how businesses have exploded in terms of their embracing of digital technologies and data usage to run their businesses. And fifthly, it's about manufacturing enterprises and our sovereign capability.
That is the economic plan that is driving Australia's unemployment rate to below four per cent. That is the economic plan that has ensured we've been able to maintain our AAA credit rating, one of only nine countries in the world to do so, particularly during the course of this pandemic. That is the economic plan that is taking us forward to see more jobs and more investment backed up by investment allowances and research and development tax concessions, that is enabling businesses to find new solutions. The investments we're making in universities to connect with businesses, for new products, new ideas, which means new jobs.
But the second point I talked about was training. There are 317,000 places that have been taken up as part of the JobTrainer program. The JobTrainer program was led by our Government, funded 50-50. We put the money on the table for a $1 billion program to ensure that during the pandemic we got our people into training, and we took the opportunity that was there to train people during the pandemic to ensure they had the skills, so the businesses could be ready as the economy emerged on the other side. We pulled the premiers and chief ministers together through the National Cabinet. We agreed it in a fortnight. We moved with that urgency that was necessary and that built on the first initiative we undertook when the pandemic hit, was to give apprentices the opportunity to stay in their businesses.
And as I go around the country, two years on from those decisions, I'm seeing those apprentices who would have otherwise lose their jobs, finishing their apprenticeships, moving on into the full-time employment in their companies. The others who just had started are now halfway through. And it's a great thrill to see that. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my Government’s face than seeing a young person in work, because it transforms their life. We're seeing that here, we're seeing it all around the country. Australia has one of the strongest economies coming through the pandemic in the world.
Another big workforce challenge that we have is in the aged care sector, and this is a incredibly complex and difficult challenge. Our aged care sector, as we've moved through this pandemic, has been the most vulnerable. Our most vulnerable Australians live in the aged care sector. All of us, I'm sure, have had some type of experience, perhaps, with loved ones who are cared for in those facilities. We've been through several waves of this pandemic now, and as it's reached into our aged care centres, then we have seen the terrible results for those who have lost their lives. Now, it is true, one of the, one of the home truths of many aged care facilities, that people who are in care there, many of them are in end of life care, and 61 per cent of those who we’ve lost during the course of this pandemic were in end of life care, in palliative care. And the balance also, as you'd expect in aged care facilities, have many other health conditions, and they’ve had COVID when they’ve died, and they are terribly lost, they are lost terribly to their families and our communities.
As a Government we’ve been doing everything we possibly can to mitigate and prevent the terrible impacts of the pandemic in our aged care facilities. It has been a challenge all over the world. The rate of outbreaks in our aged care facilities that we're seeing here in Australia, in Canada - 13 times greater. I remember when the second wave hit in Victoria here back in 2020, and we lost 680 people over the course of that second wave. The rate of infections in UK’s aged care centres was eight times greater, and that was at a time when we didn't have vaccines. So Australian aged care facilities, their their workers, those who are running those centres, are doing an extraordinary job under the most difficult circumstances you can imagine. We have put some eight million rapid antigen tests now, two million going in a week now, into those aged care facilities, each and every week, to support them in managing their workforce. We changed the rules back at the end of last year, early this year, to ensure that close contacts could go back to work. And so the aged care workers now who can't go to work have COVID, and that was inevitable that we would see people contract COVID and that would prevent them from going to work.
There are no easy solutions to this. You keep producing the personal protective equipment that's being distributed, the Defences Forces are assisting with that and assisting with many other tasks in in relation to the pandemic. We've got surge workforces, which has covered some 78,000 or thereabout shifts over the course of the pandemic, drawing in workforce from the private hospitals and and private providers to support the workforce when it unfortunately has to be furloughed. So there’s no simple answers. This is not a pandemic that does not have impacts, and anyone who wants to suggest that, particularly for aged care, doesn't understand this pandemic.
And I want to thank everybody for the incredible work they're doing to keep those in our care in the best possible care we can provide in a crisis, in a, in a situation of this nature. Now, you heard me say crisis. And I know for many Australians, that's how it feels. I can tell you, that's how it feels for us. But what is more important is that we understand this is the function of a lot of pressure on the system, and pressure on a system can produce that result. But what I do know is, despite the terrible challenges we're facing in aged care, that the Australian aged care sector is doing everything they possibly can and is doing better than so many other countries, just like Australia or anywhere in the world. I know that's not a comfort to those who have those in aged care, but at the same time, it is the fact that we will continue doing everything we can.
Now, I asked the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Health and Aged Care to work together to further progress plans that could see how the Defence Forces can further support. And when I discussed this with the Vice Chief of the Defence Forces some weeks ago, and they’ve been working on that since that time, and they've already been deploying. They've been deployed here, for example, to support more general health duties in the ambulance service. And we've got Australian public servants working on the 000 centres down here in Victoria and providing that support to where it's needed. The Defence Forces is not a shadow workforce for the aged care sector. We've got some 60,000 members in our Defence Force. Half of those are in the Reserves. And to the extent that they work in the health sector, they're already working in the health sector. So simply taking Reserves out of where they're working, putting a uniform on them and getting them somewhere else, that doesn't change anything. And so we also have our medical people in our Defence Forces supporting our Defence Forces. And if we move all of them, then the Defence Forces will be coming to our hospitals and our GP clinics and all of those places.
So there are plenty who put up simple solutions to complex problems. But when you're the Government, when you're the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the Minister for Defence, you have to deal with practical options that work. So we will keep working with the industry. Our Ministers are working closely with the industry. We will keep getting that PPE out there, we’ll keep getting the rapid antigen tests out there. We will keep supporting them with the surge workforce, the additional payments to keep the staff there. This is an urgent workforce need, not just, not just for now, but well into the future as well.
And I know that’s a very serious topic to also raise with you today, in in terms of the other matters we're talking about, trainees. But let me finish on a lighter note and say well done to our Women’s Ashes team. Fantastic job. Ok, happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why should the Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck remain in his job?
PRIME MINISTER: It's very important over the course of the pandemic that all of the interactions that we're having with the aged care sector continue. And one of Richard's most important jobs, and I was just speaking to him again today as I do regularly, is he has, even as recently as yesterday afternoon, has been in constant contact with the aged care sector to understand their needs, to be relaying them through to the Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt, myself and the rest of the national security team that has been working to address these issues in the Department of Health. He's been doing that now over the course of this pandemic. The lessons and the experience that is gained and the corporate knowledge of understanding all the challenges we've been through is very important for how we continue to manage this into the future. And my team, as we continue to work together, needs to keep focused on that task. So I understand those who are seeking to make political points about this in the lead up to an election. And that's not going to help anybody or help us continue to do the very important job of trying to provide every support we can to residents who are in aged care.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how many residents in aged care died in January?
PRIME MINISTER: Ah, well, I can tell you how many have died since Omicron came, and it’s about 560. And I can tell you how many residents died in the first, second wave that came through in Victoria, and that was six, just over 680.
JOURNALIST: But specifically in January this year, do you know nationally how many aged care residents have died?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, from memory, I think it was about 520.
JOURNALIST: When will the Government respond to the Vivienne Thom report into the allegations against Alan Tudge, given that they were due January the 28th?
PRIME MINISTER: We’re working through those processes now.
JOURNALIST: And will Alan Tudge be Education Minister when Parliament returns on Tuesday?
PRIME MINISTER: We won't have those processes resolved by that time.
JOURNALIST: Some people in aged care can't even have showers. Today you were washing people’s hair.. Can you see that that may be a bit of an insult to some people?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this morning I was talking about young people in jobs, and there's nothing more important than getting young people into jobs, and I I know grandparents would feel the same way about that. And that's what we were highlighting today. One of the difficult challenges in a pandemic in the aged care sector is when you have a situation where you have, you’re managing isolation to try and constrain the virus in a particular facility, but also ensuring a quality of life for people can maintain contact. And to support that, the workforce needs to be there. Now not anyone can walk in and shower and clean and do those important jobs. They’re skilled jobs and they can't be done by just anyone just walking off the street. And so the workforce impacts of this pandemic are real, and there is not some imaginary workforce that can just come in when the workforce is furloughed by people getting COVID. COVID is not an impact free pandemic. It is not. And we have to deal with the reality of that. I understand that frustration as well as anyone. And so we can't kid ourselves that the COVID pandemic doesn't have the ability to reach into every single corner of this country. It does, whether it's our aged care facilities, our hospitals, our Indigenous communities, wherever it is it can get to, and particularly when we have such a virulent strain of the Omicron strain, which is so readily transmissible. But the changes we've made, we’ve made to ensure that we can do everything we can to mitigate the impact.
JOURNALIST: The other day you said you hadn’t always gotten everything right. Do you think regarding the management of aged care during COVID is something you got wrong?
PRIME MINISTER: I I set out in my speech the other day one of the key issues we we faced here in Victoria, and one of those issues was the interface between the public hospital system and aged care. And those lines were very blurry in terms of how we could transfer patients out of residential aged care into public hospital facilities. One of the other issues which we have learnt from, together with the State Government here, was the mass clear out of staff in aged care centres. I mean, in the, in the around a dozen aged care facilities that were most impacted, like St Basil’s and others here in Victoria at that time, what we were confronted with was the immediate withdrawal of all staff, all staff, and so we had to respond very quickly, and did. And that was done particularly through the Defence Forces. And it's that type of more targeted approach that the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the Minister for Defence are still working through, as to how our Defence Forces can lean in and provide that supplementary support in those more critical situations. And that's one of the pieces of feedback that the industry has been providing us back through Minister Colbeck. And that is, while we're out there doing everything we can to meet those additional workforce requests and seeking to meet them wherever we can and we're making, we’re making progress on that. And but, you know, we don't have infinite people to meet those needs. At the same time, there is the need for very short-term deployments, which can alleviate a short-term issue, that enables them to get to the next stage when the staff can come back. So of course there's been many lessons over the course of management of aged care. As I said before, the UK had eight times the rate of infections in their aged care facilities as Australia did. We’re seeing 13 times the number of outbreaks, or thereabouts, in Canada, than in Australia. And so the pandemic’s tough. It has a terrible impact on aged care. But Australia is managing this better than most countries in the world.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, [inaudible] moderates want the amendments made to the Sex Discrimination Act at the same time as the introduction of the Religious Discrimination Bill. Will that happen?
PRIME MINISTER: That's my intention, yes.
JOURNALIST: Will that happen before the election?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Have you only backed Mark McGowan’s hard border remaining in place because it's popular locally there, and what do you say to the thousands of families still separated here on the east coast?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I feel for those families, terrible, I know many of them myself personally, and the border closures, whether they’ve been in Western Australia or elsewhere around the country, over the course of the pandemic, have caused terrible hardship. There's no doubt about that. And I'm looking forward to the time when the Western Australian border will be safely open again. But when the Western Australian Government makes a decision not to reopen that border because of their concerns about how it will impact their hospital system and the state of readiness for that, then I can absolutely understand the decision of the Premier, as to why Mark McGowan then wouldn't be opening the border when he would have concerns about whether his health system was ready to deal with the Omicron strain. I mean, Mark has sat around that National Cabinet table on the same 65 occasions or thereabouts as I have. And he has seen and listened, sorry, heard and listened to the experience of his colleagues on the east coast states. And so he knows that the Omicron variant, once it gets running, can have a very serious impact. So if he, as he clearly must, doesn't believe his health system is ready to absorb that at this point, then we will continue to give him every support to ensure that's the case.
And, secondly, it's very important that when Western Australia moves into that role, that Delta rules don't work for the Omicron variant. We've learnt that here, we were just talking about it before, and that is, if you have furloughing rules for close contacts that run for 14 days and things like that, which is what you used to do in Delta, you do that in Omicron and you will shut your health system down, you will shut your industry down, you will shut the mines down and you will shut down the economy. And I have no doubt that the Premier is seeking to avoid that. And it's very important that they adjust their rules for the Omicron variant and not continue to run the rules for Delta. Because in that situation, as I said yesterday, you could find yourself with the management of the pandemic being worse than the pandemic itself.
JOURNALIST: If Western Australia has to learn to live with COVID, how is that living with COVID? And are you just backing it because that’s a popular policy among West Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I think I set out very clearly why I was backing it. I'm backing it because the Premier believes that if he were to take that step at this point, the Omicron variant would be at great risk of overwhelming their health system. And so that is their view about what that risk is. I'm pleased that in Western Australia the rate of booster doses is equivalent with the rest of the country. That wasn't the case as we moved through the first two doses. This time around, Western Australia is keeping up with the rest of the country on their booster dose, and I think that's terrific. So, you know, the Western Australian Government is working to get themselves in a position where those borders can open, and it's important to have a plan to do that because we want to see the country open again. The Western Australian economy needs it and Western Australians need it, but they also want it to be done safely. And that's why I I understand and support the decision he believes he had to make, and he will make the decision about when that border should open. Living with the virus means being able to live with the virus, and being able to live with the virus means that your hospital system can cope. We've seen the hospital system in Victoria and New South Wales and in Queensland, for that matter, and South Australia, come under a lot of pressure, but they've been able to push through, and the Western Australian Premier would need to be feeling as confident as that as as the other premiers have been.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it fair and proportionate …
PRIME MINISTER: I couldn’t hear you, sorry.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair and proportionate for the Treasurer’s lawyers to bankrupt the man who challenged his citizenship, Josh Frydenberg’s citizenship?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the matter was before the courts and and orders were given. That, it's as simple as that. I mean, that was a court case which was about trying to prevent the Treasurer from being able to stand for Parliament and serve in our country’s Parliament, and he defended that and the court processes have applied. That’s that's the rule.
JOURNALIST: Is it a fair and proportionate response, though?
PRIME MINISTER: I think the rule of law is fair in this country and the rule of law has been applied, and we all depend on the rule of law and there are no exceptions to it. And, as a result, where the rule of law has been applied with those orders, then people should expect them to be followed through and complied with. I think that’s, that's that's the fair way in Australia. It's fair that the rule of law applies to everybody.
JOURNALIST: Just quickly, the Queensland Deputy Premier’s hit out at your decision to wash hair this morning and not volunteer at an aged care home instead. Do you have a response to this?
PRIME MINISTER: I, no I don’t feel the need to to respond to political attacks from from the Queensland Deputy Premier. I'm fairly used to them.
JOURNALIST: And can I just quickly ask, Peter Dutton revealed on 7.30 last night, at the beginning of the pandemic the Government was considering deploying the Army to turn people away from hospitals. Were you seriously prepared to do this and why?
PRIME MINISTER: At the beginning of the pandemic, we were staring into the abyss and we had to consider every single contingency. But what then he went on to say is that the actions that our Government took, and Steve knows all about this, the actions we took have saved businesses from bankruptcy, it saved Australians from losing their jobs, from losing their homes. It saved 40,000 lives. That was the difference. We were looking at the start of this pandemic into a horror scenario that no one could imagine. Any number of possibilities were out there. No one understood what the virus was or how it impact, how deadly it would be. And as we are here now, two years later, we have saved 40,000 lives. We have ensured that we have one of the strongest economies anywhere in the advanced world, and, thirdly, one of the highest rates of vaccination. And when you look at those big ticket items, Australia's management of the pandemic measures up extremely well to other countries, and that doesn't mean it hasn't been tough. It's been extremely tough. But I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else than here in Australia, as we've gone through this pandemic. Thanks everyone. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Richmond, NSW
2 February 2022
Ms Sarah Richards, Liberal Candidate for Macquarie: Good morning. I am Sarah Richards, part of the PM's team here in Macquarie, here at the Airbus facility on RAAF Base Richmond. RAAF Base Richmond is so important to our local community, and it's also important to me. I grew up living here on RAAF Base Richmond, just around the corner, with my military family. My dad was in the Royal Australian Air Force for over two decades. And I want to say thank you to all the men and women who serve, protect Australia, who protect us as Australians, and also prioritise our national security. I also want to thank the men and women who have previously served, our veterans, like my dad, who even though he's retired, still suffers from the effects of war. We will be eternally grateful and you are, we are forever in your debt. It is my honour to now introduce to you the Prime Minister of Australia, here in Macquarie today, Scott Morrison.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you, Sarah, it's great to be back here with you in Macquarie. And thank you for the tremendous work you've been doing here in the local community over a long time as a Councillor, and particularly during the floods that came through here, and working with you on those issues. But I join with Sarah in thanking all of those who’ve served and serve today.
Just behind us here, this was one of the Hercs that went in, actually the first one that went into Kabul, when we completed the airlift of some 4,100 people, brought to safety in one of the most dangerous environments you could possibly imagine. Last year, I had the privilege to be in the UAE at AMAB, and meet with those who flew on those flights who actually evacuated those out of Kabul. And I thank them, because so many thousands of those who were liberated and evacuated at that time are now living in Australia safely with their families. But it was a big team that ensured that we could conduct that operation successfully and safely, from our Chiefs in the Defence Force, through to those who were on the flights themselves, the Home Affairs officers that were on the tarmac, processing visas, the Foreign Affairs officials, diplomats and others, who are working tirelessly to bring people to safety. But back here, the civil contractors, like Airbus, they ensured that these planes could be in the air, and they do that every single day, supporting our Air Force, just like they do with other civil contractors in our Navy and in our Army.
Our defence industry is an incredibly important part of our sovereign defence capability, and no government, no government has done more to lift our defence spending than this Government. We have restored our defence spending to above two per cent of the size of our economy, having inherited it at its lowest point that we had seen since prior to the Second World War. So we have been rebuilding our Defence Forces. We have been rebuilding our defence capability, and we have been rebuilding our defence industry. And Airbus here and all the crew that are here, Lockheed Martin, the whole team, all of them here supporting our Defence Forces to do the often very dangerous job that they do saving lives, as they did with these very aircraft at Kabul.
But the other thing that is happening with our defence industry is they're creating jobs. They're creating jobs. They're creating jobs for young women, for young men, for those at all stages of life, for apprentices, and ensuring that they are getting the skills that not only keep our country strong with its defences in facilities like this, but ensuring that our communities are strong and they have the skills that often then relocate to other industries, and keep our economy strong.
We have a five point plan to grow our economy that we've been working through, which has ensured that Australia has one, had one of the strongest economies in the world through this pandemic, by keeping taxes low and cutting red tape, by ensuring they're investing in the skills and infrastructure, and growing our workforce that a growing economy needs. We've got unemployment down to 4.2 per cent. We've got a million more women into work. Youth unemployment is now below 10 per cent for the first time since 2008, and we've got our sights set on an unemployment rate with a three in front of it this year. And we can achieve it because of the plan that we have put in place to take Australia through, and our economy through, this pandemic.
We need to ensure that Australia has the reliable and affordable energy that we need, while reducing our emissions to net zero by 2050 and keeping electricity prices down, which are down eight per cent in the last two years. We need to be one of the biggest and most successful digital and data economies in the world, in the top 10 by 2030. And the investments we're putting into cyber space and cyber-crimes and keeping our cyber world safe for Australian businesses, while investing in the infrastructure and the skills and cyber technicians that are needed to realise that, and ensuring that we're investing in the new start-ups with the tax reforms that support them.
And finally, it's about our manufacturing capability. I'm very proud about what our manufacturing industry is achieving, and a big part of our manufacturing industry is our defence industry. Here what you see is how they maintain what they build, and we build stuff here in Australia. We make stuff here in Western Sydney in particular, and we look after it here in Western Sydney as well.
And yesterday I announced another big part of our manufacturing strategy, which is about fusing together the great ideas of our wonderful world-class researchers - not far from here at Western Sydney University and the many campuses they have - with our best entrepreneurs. And I have no doubt that those research entrepreneurs that we will see come out of this plan, many of them will come out of here in Western Sydney and they will start businesses here in Western Sydney, like so many have before, and they will employ hundreds and thousands of Australians. That's how you get unemployment with a three in front of it in the middle of a global pandemic. And that's what this is all about. It's about jobs. That's what we're focused on. One of the strongest economic recoveries through the pandemic of any country, advanced economy in the world.
So I thank those here at Airbus and Lockheed Martin. I thank them for helping us save the lives, like we did in Kabul - 4,100 people airlifted in our biggest airlift in Australia's military history - and I thank them for training a new generation of skilled people, who’ll be building things in this country and maintaining them for a long time to come. Happy to take questions.
Journalist: Are you worried that someone in your own team is trying to undermine you ahead of the election, by leaking personal messages, attacking your character?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: Have you spoken to Gladys Berejiklian since the Press Club yesterday?
Prime Minister: No, I haven't had that opportunity, but I do welcome her very kind comments that she made yesterday, and that very much reflects the strong working relationship we've had that, I think, has been so important to ensure that New South Wales and their economy, in particular, but also their record in saving lives has been extraordinary.
Journalist: Prime Minister, are you confident that the Minister in that text exchange with the former New South Wales Premier isn’t sitting in your Cabinet right now?
Prime Minister: Yes.
Journalist: Have they come forward and confessed to you, to the texts?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: Have you asked your office to investigate who that Minister is?
Prime Minister: I'm not fussed.
Journalist: Do you have a warning for your inside about disunity, and are they handing Labor a free hit?
Prime Minister: What matters to the Australian people, as we go forward to this next election, is their job, their security, their health and wellbeing, the strength of their community that they rely on. And Sarah Richards here in Macquarie has spent her time doing that as a member of the Council and a member of the community for a very long period of time. And that's the choices Australians are going to make. The scuttlebutt that runs around Canberra, who cares? What matters to people and their jobs, what matters to keeping the cost of living down, electricity prices down by eight per cent. What matters to ensure we keep downward pressure on interest rates. Now we've kept our AAA credit rating in this country from all three major agencies in the middle of a pandemic, and at the same time, having to do the biggest single economic intervention for income support in our nation's history. And there's only nine countries in the world that have achieved that. And what the Governor of the Reserve Bank has been doing on monetary policy and what we've been doing on fiscal policy has worked together, and that continues to be the case. We're not pulling in different directions, as occurred under Labor. We're pulling in the same direction. And that's what helps you keep downward pressure on the cost of living, what keeps downward pressure on interest rates. How you manage the economy, how you manage the nation's finances, that's what matters to the Australian people, because that impacts them. What people say in text messages and on Twitter, frankly, doesn't matter anything to their job, to what they pay for at the supermarket, or anywhere else for that matter. And so I'm focused on keeping Australia's economy strong, keeping Australians safe, and standing up to those who would jeopardise and threaten Australia's interests. I don't have an each way bet on national security, and I don't have an each way bet on the economy. We've got the experience to demonstrate that.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Prime Minister, coming off the back of a disappointing Newspoll and the likely loss of seats in Western Australia, considering that the seat of Macquarie here is held on the thinnest of margins, it’s an obvious target [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: As we go to the election, Australians will start to focus on the choice. Over the course of any Parliamentary term, Australians quietly go about their business, as I said last time. They’re focused on their own challenges. They're focused on making sure their kids’ education gets kept up or caring for a loved one who may be elderly or have a disability. They've been pushing through their own economic trials and circumstances. But as we get closer to that election, they will take this incredibly seriously, as I know they always do, and they will focus on the choice. And there is a very clear choice - the demonstrated economic track record and experience of the Government that I have led, together with the Nationals, with me as Prime Minister, or the Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese with what you see at the moment is not what you'll get on the other side. Very sneaky to not telling you what he's up, going to be up to. But you'll find out on the other side of an election, and you can go on their form before on higher taxes and fiscal mismanagement. He was part of all of that when he was in government.
But the other thing they'll focus on is what's happening here locally, and who's been doing a good job. And here in Macquarie with Sarah, you've got someone who I know is heart and soul Macquarie, heart and soul for her community, and will fight every single day for her community. And she's one of so many in my team, all around the country, who have been doing that work, fighting for their communities, standing up for their communities. And at the end of the day, that's what this will come down to.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if you’re sure that that Minister in the leaked text messages isn’t sitting in your Cabinet, what makes you sure?
Prime Minister: I have confidence.
Journalist: Prime Minister, is Australia on track to have an unemployment rate below four per cent, regardless of who’s in Government, because of [inaudible] over the past two years?
Prime Minister: Australia is on track to have an unemployment rate with a three in front of it because of the economic policies and management of the Liberal National Government. That's why it's on that direction. That's why it's going to get there, we believe. That's why we can say that the five point plan that we've been working to, that plan of keeping taxes low, getting rid of the red tape. Secondly, ensuring that we're investing in the infrastructure, as we are here in Western Sydney, and the skills that Australians need. Highest number of trade apprentices in training - 220,000 - since 1963. To ensure we're delivering the reliable and affordable energy. You won't hear me flipping and flopping on whether we should build a gas plant up in Kurri Kurri and then putting the rider on it. You've got to spend another $1.6 billion. You won't hear me saying one thing about the coal industry in central Queensland and another thing in the, in the inner city suburbs of Sydney or Melbourne. You won't hear me doing that. I didn't do it at the last election. I haven't done it as a Prime Minister. What you hear for me is the same in the Hunter, as you hear for me in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. And, so, there’s five points, so, you know, there's two more to go. A data and digital economy which is top ten in the world, and a manufacturing industry that ensures our sovereign capability.
Journalist: Prime Minister, are you going to change anything to do with the border before the election, and what are you waiting for?
Prime Minister: The key issue that I’ve tasked the health officials to advise me on in opening up the border to international arrivals is what impact that might have on the hospital system and the pressures that could come from additional people coming into the country at this time. We have had a very successful opening up already over the summer to backpackers and to those on the economic migration programs, and and opening up to Singapore. And we've already been open to New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. That has gone very well. And so the next step is opening up to international. I I totally empathise with the comments of Alan Joyce on this issue, and he knows my very strong commitment to getting to that point as quickly and as safely as we possibly can. So I'm looking forward to making progress on that issue. As always, I just want to be confident that before we take that decision that we are confident about the situation that our hospitals are in, which have been performing extremely well under great pressure, particularly here in New South Wales, but as well in Victoria, I must say. And in addition to that, as we've seen the peaks of Omicron, I think, come through in both of those states, then that is starting to open up that opportunity. So I'm optimistic about that, but cautiously optimistic, as you'd expect me to be.
Journalist: Just about aged care. There’s 11,000 cases in aged care residents in New South Wales. There’s been weeks in New South Wales where a third of deaths have been coming in aged care in New South Wales. Only one in ten have had a booster shot in New South Wales. Do you take responsibility for that?
Prime Minister: We have visited 99 per cent of all aged care facilities and offered all residents in those facilities a booster shot. Seventy per cent of them have taken up those booster shots in those facilities. That's the advice that I have. Now, regrettably, the figures that I have, as recently as yesterday, is we have lost around 566 people in our aged care facilities through this most recent wave. Over the course of the pandemic, some 61 per cent, sadly, of people who’ve lost their lives in aged care facilities that have been attributed to COVID, were in end of life care. They were in palliative care. And the balance also had, as you'd expect for people at that advanced age, had many other medical decisions. And yes, when they passed away, yes, they did have COVID, but they also had many other, many other health issues that they were battling with. And every life that is lost is a great sadness. But every life that is saved is a great blessing. And in Australia, when we look at the outbreaks, they are 13 times greater in Canada than they are in Australia. When we went through that terrible second wave in Victoria, when it was around 760 from memory Australians that we lost during that period, in the UK, the incidence of COVID in the aged care centres was eight times greater. So I agree every life lost is a terrible tragedy. But in this country, we need to remember that through this pandemic, we have saved 40,000 lives. And together with the colleagues I've worked with in my own government, the officials and the state premiers and chief ministers and their teams, we’ve worked together to achieve that result with the Australian people. We've got one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, including amongst children, I must hasten to add. In just a few weeks since the 10th of January, we have vaccinated 41 per cent of children aged five to 11. That's faster than the United States. It's faster than Germany. It's faster than Israel. And we are one of the few countries that actually can be vaccinating children down to age five. It has been a rapid rollout and we have got those doses out there in the pharmacies and in the GPs and in the state clinics that enable anyone who wants to vaccinate their child to be able to get that vaccination.
Journalist: Amnesty International says that Israel is committing apartheid.
Prime Minister: Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.
Journalist: Amnesty International says Israel is committing apartheid. As a close ally, will you condemn Israel and will we, Australia reassess its, its relationship with Israel in light of this comprehensive report detailing [inaudible]?
Prime Minister: Australia has been one of the closest and strongest friends of Israel of any nation in the world, other than the United States. And we continue to be a very strong friend of Israel. No country is perfect. There are criticisms made of all countries, but I can assure you that Australia and my Government, in particular, will remain a staunch friend of Israel. Thank you.
Address, National Press Club
1 February 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much. It’s great to be back here at the National Press Club at the start of another year.
Let me begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, their elders past, present and emerging.
I also recognise any veterans who are with us today, as well as any serving men and women of our Australian Defence Forces and thank you all for your great service to our country.
I particularly acknowledge and have many colleagues here today, so I'm not going to call the roll, but the Deputy Prime Minister - Barnaby, it's great to have you here with me.
Also, I acknowledge my dear friend Marise Payne for one particular reason - in just a few weeks' time, Marise will become the longest-serving female senator in Australia's history. And the longest continuous-serving parliamentarian as a female. And so, congratulations to you, Marise. You're a great colleague and you've served our country incredibly well. As a Liberal, I'm very proud of you. And as a mate too.
The past three years have been some of the most extraordinary that our nation has ever experienced.
Younger generations have never known anything like it.
The succession of natural disasters from drought to flood, fires, pestilence, a once in a century global pandemic, the recession it caused, has pushed our country to the very limits.
It has been tough raising your family, keeping your job, doing your job - especially for those health and aged care workers, who we thank for their tremendous service.
It’s been tough keeping your small business or your farm going.
It's been tough keeping your children’s education up, caring for elderly relatives, those with a disability, and it’s been very tough on them too.
Family plans have been disrupted. And worst of all it’s been heartbreaking to lose so many loved ones, especially in recent weeks, and on many occasions we have been unable to come together to farewell them.
Our way of life has been completely turned upside down.
For so many Australians it has been exhausting - financially, physically, emotionally.
And when we thought we were just breaking free - the rains have come down, the cyclone has hit or a new and completely different strain of the virus, like Omicron, has come and changed all the rules.
And I don’t doubt many have stayed awake at night after telling their kids or those they care for, or those they employ that it’s all going to be OK, but wondering to themselves, in the quiet of that night, whether it really will be.
And as Prime Minister I can assure you I have asked those same questions and lived with the same doubts.
It has been crushing to visit towns and homes, often with Jen, devastated by storms, ravaged by flood or fires, to walk across barren pastures, to see the queues outside Centrelink or testing centers, to see the empty shops and restaurants, as I saw in Cairns just over the weekend.
To see the lives and livelihoods of Australians disrupted through no fault of their own and through circumstances well beyond theirs, and our, control.
So I understand and acknowledge your frustration, especially with how the global pandemic has played out over this past very difficult summer. And I want to thank Australians. You’ve had to put up with a lot.
The fact that far worse outcomes have been experienced overseas, which we know, well that gives some important perspective, but it doesn’t soften the blow.
And it’s fair enough that this disappointment leads you to ask, couldn’t you have done more, couldn’t this have been avoided, after all, aren’t you responsible?
I get that. For me, as Prime Minister, accepting this responsibility means asking yourself and challenging yourself every single day with these same very questions every single day. And I can assure you I do.
I haven’t got everything right.
And I’ll take my fair share of the criticism and the blame. It goes with the job.
But so does getting up each day, dealing with the challenges, staying positive, and believing in the strength and good nature and resilience of the Australian people and, above all, never giving up.
In these times we have experienced, there has been no guidebook and you have to make decisions in real time.
But with hindsight the view does change and lessons are learned.
Lessons that will continue to be invaluable to me and my team, so many of whom are with me today, and those out there with their communities, to deal with challenges and uncertainties that are still ahead.
And I’d like to share a few of them with you.
Firstly, you’ve always got to focus on getting the balance right.
From the outset of the pandemic, I have said our twin goals have been to save lives and save livelihoods. This is how we protect our Australian way of life. And I have always sought to balance our health objectives with our broader societal and economic well-being.
We must respect the virus but we must not live in fear of it. You must be prepared to listen to that advice, but also to take the decisions that strike the right balance. Because it is we who have been trusted with those decisions.
Secondly, you must be very practical. The virus does not care what your political views are. It writes the rules about how it behaves and we must then write our rules about how we respond. And these rules must be flexible - they will change. There is no set and forget in a pandemic like this. There are times when you have to pull back and there are times you have to push forward. And what may have been the right response at one point in time during the pandemic may flip on you and it may not be the right response in a later phase of the pandemic.
Thirdly, you must accept that you may lose a few battles along the way.
And when these setbacks occur you must keep moving forward. You can’t dwell on the things that haven’t play out as you may have expected or liked. When this occurs, the job is to get across the problem and make the changes needed as soon as possible. And get on with it.
This is what we did with the vaccine rollout when our contracted supplies were blocked and the advisory bodies had limited our use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. These were big challenges. But we turned it around.
It is what we are doing right now to overcome the supply chain shortages created by the onset of the Omicron variant. It’s only been with us two months. And this included the supply of Rapid Antigen Tests.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 tests have always been free at official testing clinics. Never changed.
These tests have been sourced and provided by the state and territory governments. The Commonwealth picks up 50% of the bill - just like those going out to schools right now.
The unprecedented surge in cases caused by Omicron changed everything. It was like dealing with a completely new virus. The medical advice to Government on the use of Rapid Antigen Tests changed and so did our response.
And so since then, the Government contracted 78 million Rapid Antigen Tests to help meet significant new demands in the states and the territories and the private sector.
Over 652,000 concession card holders have already accessed over 2.7 million free Rapid Antigen Tests through the community pharmacy concession card holder program which commenced just over a week ago.
The Government is also delivering 10 million Rapid Antigen Tests to support state and territories clinics.
And in our own area of responsibility, around 8 million tests have already been provided to aged care facilities with the purchasing of those tests beginning back in August last year.
Now fourthly, you must work together and learn from each other, but understand that everywhere is not the same. We have constantly engaged with experts and Governments around the world to share experience, data and information. And they’ve learnt from us, I can tell you. But that doesn’t mean that what is done elsewhere is the right solution for our conditions or circumstances here in Australia.
Australia has many differences with the rest of the world. Our regulatory authorities, our seasons, our health and social security systems, our federation. Unique. Cut and paste doesn't cut it in a pandemic. And that is why we designed JobKeeper, rather than go down the UK path for wage subsidies, which others recommended, that would have provided greater income support to those on higher wages than those on lower wages and could not have been easily delivered, or promptly delivered, through our tax system or payments system.
So we said no, that wasn't a good idea. We won't do that. We'll design a different system. And we did. And it saved lives and livelihoods all across this country.
Fifthly, you must have clearly defined principles, grounded in your values, to guide your decisions and you must stick to them.
Now, I outlined these at the AFR Summit back at the start of the pandemic.
And those have included ensuring that initiatives and programmes are targeted, time limited, use existing delivery mechanisms, that they are proportionate, are fiscally responsible, locally relevant and scalable.
You must also focus on what you can control and what you are responsible for.
A good example is respecting the constitutional responsibilities of the states and the Commonwealth under our federation. The pandemic did not suspend the constitution or the federation. It did not change the rules about what the states and the commonwealth have always been responsible for. They didn’t get any more powers, they didn’t get any less. And I have always sought to put the national interest first by seeking to work together with the Premiers and Chief Ministers through the National Cabinet and not engage in petty fights. That wouldn’t have helped anyone. My job was to get everyone in the room together. I have sought to work together to make it work.
And finally, never forget that there is more to deal with than COVID.
During this pandemic, as just one example, we have simultaneously been dealing with one of the most significant shifts in global and regional security we have seen since before the Second World War.
Changes that present a direct threat to Australia’s economic and security interests. So while we have been battling the pandemic, we have concluded the historic, significant AUKUS agreement, powered up the Quad, concluded a landmark defence agreement with Japan, supported our Pacific family, and concluded comprehensive strategic partnership agreements with some of our most important partners: India, the first country to have one with ASEAN and the south-east nations there, South Korea, Malaysia and our brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea.
So here we are. Not perfect, but still standing strong, enduring and looking positively to the future, as earlier generations did when they faced their time of great generational trial and challenge.
Let’s talk about our health response more and its resilience. Our health response has ensured that our health and aged care system has stood up to the global pandemic, where in so many other countries around the world it has collapsed.
More than 40,000 lives have been saved, when compared to the death rate from COVID in other countries just like Australia. We have one of the lowest death rates from COVID in the world, including from Omicron.
We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. More than 93 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over are fully vaccinated.
Today, less than one year after vaccinations commenced, Australia’s 50 millionth COVID-19 vaccination will be administered today. That’s around 1 million on average every week, and that’s including 8 million doses of boosters.
We are one of only a handful of countries, a small number, able to be vaccinating children down to age 5.
And since the pandemic began our Government has committed an additional $40 billion to support Australia’s health response to the pandemic. That’s more than Medicare and the PBS in any given year.
This has included going 50/50 with the States and Territories with over $8 billion provided to date to assist state health systems managing the pandemic with hospitals, testing and workforce costs.
More than 91 million telehealth services have been delivered, since the beginning of the pandemic, a big health innovation, to over 16 million patients since the beginning of the pandemic.
New oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 will start to become available shortly and the other antivirals are already in place.
Our agreement with Moderna and the Victorian Government announced in December, many months in the making, will ensure we can manufacture mRNA vaccines in Australia.
That adds to our support for Resmed manufacturing ventilators in Western Sydney, Med Con’s mask manufacturing in Shepparton, Aspen Medical’s manufacturing of PPE in Brisbane, Innovation Scientific’s production of TGA approved Rapid Antigen Tests in Western Sydney and of course CSL’s manufacturing of vaccines and antivenoms in Melbourne. We’ve been making this stuff here.
Of course, none of our health outcomes would be possible without the hard work, the long hours and dedicated care offered by our frontline health and aged care workforce. The true heroes of this pandemic. Their resilience over the past two years has been nothing short of inspiring.
That’s why I am announcing today the Government is providing a further $209 million to support the aged care workforce to continue to care for older Australians through this pandemic.
Now, this is a responsible commitment that builds on the $393 million provided over three payments to 234,000 aged care workers earlier in the pandemic. It worked, we’re doing it again.
In coming months, two bonus payments of up to $400 each will be paid to aged care workers including those providing direct care, food or cleaning services.
Our pandemic investments in mental health and suicide prevention will also leave a lasting legacy.
While every death by suicide is a tragedy, every life saved is a great blessing. Official figures show that while demands for mental health services surged off the charts during the pandemic, remarkably, death by suicide rates across the country actually fell. And it remained at those lower levels. That’s extraordinary.
We funded services that did a brilliant job of saving lives. $1 billion in new funding for services such as Headspace - and a shout-out to Pat McGorry, who's been a great adviser and friend to us through all of this pandemic. Lifeline, to John Brogden and the whole team there. Beyond Blue, with Julia and the Kids Helpline - they have done such an amazing job, being there for Australians in their darkest hour.
Our National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan was announced in May 2020.
Also very early in the pandemic when we were asking Australians to stay home, we knew and recognised that for so many, home is not safe for them, especially women.
And in March 2020, as part of our $150 million COVID-19 Domestic Violence Support Package, we provided $20 million to boost capacity for Commonwealth programs including 1800RESPECT, Mensline and the Help Is Here campaign.
And in turn, $130 million was provided directly to state and territory governments for emergency accommodation for those impacted, and a range of frontline support services, working together. Now this commitment has been extended a further two years.
And to ensure the viability of NDIS providers we provided more than $666 million in advance payments, and made changes to allow eligible NDIS providers to claim a payment to support their disability workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Strong health resilience, built through a once in a century pandemic.
Our economy has also shown formidable resilience through the pandemic. It has outstripped the performance of most advanced economies in the world.
And this was greatly assisted by entering the pandemic with a balanced budget delivered by strong financial management.
While Omicron has impacted economic activity over January, Treasury analysis shows that the underlying strength of our economy is unshaken. On several occasions now our economy has bounced back strongly from the impacts of the pandemic. And it will again.
Our AAA credit rating remains intact, one of only nine countries to achieve this.
At 3.5 per cent, inflation in Australia is running well below other advanced economies, and the pressures are less than in those, such as 7 per cent in the US and 5 per cent in the UK.
There are more people in work today than before the pandemic and even compared to when I stood before you this time last year.
In fact there are more Australians of working age in jobs today - 76.2 per cent - than at any time in Australia’s recorded economic history.
That’s what a job plan looks like when it works.
Unemployment is at 4.2 per cent. When I stood here a year ago, it was 6.6 per cent.
And women and young people have been major beneficiaries of our economic plan.
Female employment, since we were elected, has increased by more than 1 million since our Government was elected. 1 million. And our youth unemployment has fallen to below 10 per cent for the first time since 2008. And as my colleague knows, nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than hearing young people are getting into jobs.
Through the heavy lifting of more than $100 billion in Federal Government COVID business support, hundreds of thousands of livelihoods and businesses have been saved.
And our ongoing tax incentives for investment, apprenticeship wage subsidies and record investment in new training places are helping small and medium sized businesses and their employees to push through.
Our apprentice wage subsidies have driven a 27 per cent increase in apprentices and trainees over the past year.
Right now, there are now 220,000 trade apprentices currently in training. That is the highest level of apprentices in trade training since records began in Australia in 1963. That’s transformational.
When we stared into this pandemic, one of the things the Treasurer and I were very keen to avoid was a lost generation of skills. And it so easily could have happened.
The very first wage subsidy we provided was to keep apprentices in their training and in those businesses. As I've moved across the country these last two years, I've met those apprentices. And most recently, I was out in Penrith. And I met one. They'd just finished their 4-year apprenticeship. That would never have happened.
Our $110 billion pipeline of infrastructure projects is supporting economic growth and resilience, especially in regional Australia.
More than 11 million Australian taxpayers are benefitting from income tax relief - as we promised - and the latest ATO data showing that younger Australians have benefited more than most. Under 25s have benefitted on average by more than $2,400 under our plan, that is a decline in their tax bill of almost 20 per cent. That’s what keeping more of what you earn looks like.
On average Australians are also now 47 months ahead on their mortgage repayments, compared to 30 months in September 2019, with an estimated $245 billion in additional savings on household balance sheets since the pandemic began. Australians have been very wise with their money during this pandemic, very wise. They’ve exercised good judgment and good discipline.
Over 300,000 Australians have been directly assisted into home ownership during the past three years through Government programmes like Homebuilder and the Home Guarantee Scheme. That’s what we promised at the last election. We said we would get people in homes. And we’ve assisted more than 300,000 of them.
And at a time when North Atlantic economies are experiencing energy shortages and price spikes, ACCC data shows electricity prices, the Minister for getting electricity prices down is over there, Angus Taylor, are now 8 per cent lower than 2 years ago - the lowest in eight years - saving households $128 a year.
So that’s what economic resilience looks like. And you must continue that.
In 2022 our focus is squarely on locking in our economic recovery to create jobs, jobs and more jobs.
We are passionate about getting Australians into jobs and we have the experience, we have the track record and the economic plans to back this up.
Jobs change lives. They change families. They change communities. They give Australians purpose and independence. They free them from the clutches of welfare and dependence. And they do the heavy lifting on transforming the budget also.
I believe we can now achieve an unemployment rate with a 3 in front of it this year. Our goal is to achieve this in the second half of 2022.
We have not seen this in Australia for almost half a century. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
What it means, unemployment with a 3 in front of it, is that as our economy changes there are jobs to go to, enabling families and local communities to plan for their future with confidence.
It means that when our kids leave school, or finish their apprenticeship or university they can focus on the job they aspire to rather than worrying about whether they can get a job. There is no more important vision than having a country where we enable our kids to realise their dreams about what they want for their life.
And this fits with our broader vision for Australia, the Liberals and Nationals together.
Where Australians can live the life they choose for themselves and make their own way. To run their businesses, to get that job, get the skills they need to achieve their goals. To own their own home, raise and educate their kids the way they want to do it, to be able to save for their retirement, not get into too much debt and take that occasional family holiday. To give back to their community wherever they can, as they want to and including taking care of their local environment. And to live in a country that is safe and secure.
These are what I describe as the great Australian aspirations - and they depend on a strong economy.
A strong economy means a stronger future, and this cannot be taken for granted.
As we approach this year’s election this means strong economic management is more important than ever.
Our national economic plan has enabled us to drive our economy, as I’ve demonstrated, through this pandemic.
The plan seeks to create jobs by securing our economic recovery from COVID and setting Australia up for the future.
The plan has five core elements. You’ve heard me talk about it before
Firstly, keeping taxes low and cutting red tape to drive investment and enable Australians to keep more of what they earn, as we promised.
Secondly, investing in the infrastructure and skills development and growing our workforce to meet the demands of a growing economy.
Thirdly, delivering the affordable, reliable energy that Australian businesses and especially regional economies need to power their futures ahead, while reducing our emissions to achieve net zero by 2050 and reducing household electricity bills.
Fourthly, making Australia a top ten data and digital economy by 2030.
And fifthly, securing our sovereign manufacturing capability, unlocking a new generation of high-wage, high-skill, high tech jobs.
Now this plan, I want to stress, has another overarching objective and that is about ensuring we grow together and not apart. In our cities and suburbs, as well as in our regions, towns and remote communities. We must grow together.
And that’s something I believe the Liberals and Nationals bring together in what is a unique Coalition and is so important for our country.
I have spoken before about many elements of this plan and will do so again as we make further announcements this year.
Today though I want to conclude by announcing how we are taking our modern manufacturing strategy to the next level, first instigated by Karen Andrews, who’s Minister for Home Affairs. And we’re doing it with greater investment in our world-class university research capabilities.
Our Modern Manufacturing Strategy has set out clear priorities to build new sources of growth and scale in six areas where Australia has significant comparative advantage, strategic interests and the capacity to harness new opportunities.
In medical products, food and beverage, recycling and clean energy, resources technology and critical minerals processing, defence industry and space.
To date we have committed over $312 million in funding to boost manufacturing capability and supply chain resilience, leveraging $677 million more in private sector investment.
We now need to better link and leverage our world class research sector to boost these efforts.
85 per cent of Australian research is rated, officially, at or above world standard.
Yet we continue to underperform, frustratingly, in achieving commercialisation outcomes.
We need to shift the focus from citations to commercial success.
We need to accelerate the forging of linkages between Australian industry and Australian university researchers.
And we need to develop a new breed of research entrepreneurs here in Australia so they can create the new products and new companies and most importantly, the new jobs.
The Government’s University Research Commercialisation Plan will align these research priorities with our Modern Manufacturing Strategy. We’re going to fuse them. It will focus research effort on the same six National Manufacturing Priorities.
In November, I announced the first element of this plan, once I am particularly excited about, the Trailblazer Universities programme.
This will see eligible universities undertake reforms, including to intellectual property arrangements, and provide clear promotional pathways for academic researchers engaging in commercialisation activities.
Now, the first step is underway, with 8 university proposals shortlisted to share in $243 million of investment, working closely with industry partners. And regions, they’re going to do great in these programs.
Funding of $30 million will see participating universities partnering with CSIRO to access specialist equipment, enabling researchers to prototype and test technologies at scale.
Today I am announcing the cornerstone of the Government’s new approach to turning great Australian ideas into commercial success – a $1.6 billion program called Australia’s Economic Accelerator.
In driving commercialisation, the key policy challenge surrounds the so-called ‘valley of death’ – where early-stage research is frequently not progressed to later stages of development because of the risk and uncertainty about commercial returns. When I was Treasurer, we changed the tax rules on this.
We know this is not insurmountable. Other countries have made a better fist of solving this problem and the Government’s expert panel made a point of looking at this evidence.
Australia’s Economic Accelerator is a stage-gated, competitive program designed to attract projects at proof of concept or proof of scale and their level of commercial readiness for both, but with high potential.
It will allow Australian innovators to access funding opportunities for each stage of their project provided they can continue to prove project viability and importantly, commercial potential.
Industry involvement and engagement is required and absolutely necessary at every stage, with the CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures engaged to catalyse venture capital investment in R&D in the final stage.
Another key part of our plan goes directly to people and culture.
Only 40 per cent of Australia’s researchers work in private industry – well below the OECD average. This together with low mobility between industry and the university sectors leads to culture and capability gaps that reduce the ability of Australian businesses to innovate.
Now to tackle this issue, the Government will invest in a new suite of industry PhD and research fellowship schemes to create Australia’s new generation of research entrepreneur.
We will invest in an additional 1,800 industry PhDs and more than 800 industry fellows over 10 years.
This $296 million investment aims to fundamentally reshape the workforce of Australia’s universities and career options, encouraging mobility and collaboration between university researchers and industry. It is time to get together.
Our $2.2 billion University Research Commercialisation package will focus the considerable research power, our smartest mind of our universities, on Australia’s national economic priorities.
And as we drive down unemployment, we’re also driving up the creation of new products and new companies in Australia.
Backing our best researchers and their ideas to ensure Australia’s economy roars back even stronger in the future, with leading edge manufacturing at its core.
We make stuff here. We make it really well. And we’re going to keep making it under this Government.
Now, in conclusion, there are times in all of our lives, and for nations, when things don’t come easy, when we persevere and struggle to push our way through.
We’ve known these days. I’ve known these days. And at those times you remember, you look back and say that's the time I became stronger. This is again one of those times. And it has been.
Despite the challenges we have faced, Australia, I believe, is stronger and more resilient today than when I stood before you a year ago.
Our COVID response has delivered one of the lowest death rates, highest vaccination rates and strongest economies in the world.
And we remain well prepared for the future.
Just like before, it won’t be perfect, but the experience we have gained, the investments we have made and above all the resilience that Australians themselves have shown mean that we can see our way forward.
But we cannot take this for granted. Now is not the time to turn back.
This year we must work to bring as much normality back to peoples’ lives as possible and at the same time as we continue to battle this constantly shape-shifting pandemic, we must continue to make the big calls necessary to keep our economy strong, keep Australians safe, and keep Australians growing together and not apart.
This requires experience, requires careful deliberation, requires fiscal responsibility, well-developed plans. Above all, the courage to take decisions that stand up for Australia’s interests, and not be intimidated, as we have demonstrated especially over these past three years.
It is not a time to have an each way bet on Australia’s future.
We must continue to build our strength and resilience - and not put everything you have worked all so hard for, and made great sacrifices for, at risk.
Because, in these times, that’s what truly matters.
Thank you for your very kind attention.
Press Conference - Beerwah, QLD
29 January 2022
THE HON. ANDREW WALLACE MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FISHER: Well, it's wonderful to welcome the Prime Minister and the Environment Minister Sussan Ley to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital here at Beerwah, and I know, Prime Minister, you are an absolute champion for the Shire. But let me tell you, you are now in God's country. And look, that’s part of the reason why we're here today. Tens of thousands of people from around Australia are moving to the Sunshine Coast and South East Queensland to call it home. What that means is that we end up with more houses, more cars, more dogs, and what that does is it threatens our native wildlife population, including, and particularly, our wonderful koalas.
I want to send out a huge shout out and a thank you to Robert. It's terrific for Robert to be with us here today. Robert, you have done such great work. I have no doubt that your dad is immensely proud of you, as I’m sure he would be proud of Bindi and Terri, for the terrific conservation work that you're doing and continuing to do in his name. And, can I tell you, the Sunshine Coast is really proud of you as well, because no matter where I go in the world, people say when they find out I’m from Queensland, they say, ‘Oh do you, do you live near Australia Zoo?’ And I say, ‘Not only do I live near Australia Zoo, but it's in my electorate.’ So well done for the work that you do.
I want to send a bit of a shout out to the University of the Sunshine Coast, Peter Timms, for the great work that he's doing in relation to his chlamydia research. And also, Australia Zoo partner with other like-minded organisations like Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, and they’ve got Georgia here today from them. So, you know, you don’t just look after this patch of the woods, you look after the whole of the South East Queensland, in conjunction with great organisations like USC and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. So, on that, PM, great to have you here on the Sunshine Coast. And Minister Ley, you are very, very welcome.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Andrew, and to Robert and to your whole family, the Irwin family. They really are a first family of Australian conservation and wildlife and this amazing facility, which not only cares and look after our wildlife, it educates, it reaches out and gives people an amazing experience and lets them fall in love with Australian wildlife, in the same way that your family always has. And not just the cuddly ones, either. And we had a good cuddle with those koalas today, and they are such a symbol, in so many ways, of Australian wildlife.
But as Robert was explaining to me, in all of the work that he does, particularly overseas and talking to people, it draws people in. And it's not just the koalas. It's the many other amazing Australian wildlife, some of which are threatened and needs our care and needs our conservation. And that is an important part of caring for our country, as Indigenous Australians have been doing for over 60,000 years. And the way we best do that, as I know Robert knows, is you do it together - you do it with our scientists, you do it with our conservationists, you do it with mum and dad stopping on the side of the road, and if they're seeing a wildlife has been injured, checking the pouch and they bring them here and they look after them, and building that awareness of looking after our amazing wildlife in this country and to increase our biodiversity. And that's what we've been doing as a Government. These are the practical things that you do when you care for a country - you care for the country itself and you care for those who who live on that country. And that, in particular, is the amazing wildlife that we have in this country and of all, of all shapes and sizes.
I met a fairly large one yesterday, Robert, a very big shape and size, in Cassius up there on Green Island. So from the, from the great and mighty to the cuddly, earlier in our visit today, we've really experienced a great breadth of the wonder of Australia's wildlife.
And so we are lifting our investment - $24 million so far we've invested in protecting and supporting and conserving our koala populations, particularly along the east coast of Australia. And we're lifting that by a further $50 million today. And this is a a commitment that is it's already in the Budget. It is there and the programs start, and these programs are designed to do a number of things. The first and most significant part of the program is to care for their habitat, because without the habitat, you don't have the wildlife and all the things they need to survive and to flourish. And so caring for that habitat is a critical part of this program, and Minister Ley will take you through that.
And Sussan's done a terrific job, just like yesterday with the reef, in pulling this together, working and consulting with so many people to bring forward the best possible package. We're monitoring their health. We're investing in the world-leading science in looking after our koala populations. We are also investing heavily in education to ensure not only the public can understand how they can care, but also, importantly, veterinarians right across the country. I mean, they have amazing skills, but there's some quite specific ones when it comes to dealing with koalas, and especially when when bushfires can ravage our country, they are often the face of the victims of the wildlife of our country when they hit. And, as a result, there's been an increased demand from vets who want to know more, who want to understand more. And so this program is also about supporting them. Some 1,000 vet nurses is going to be supported through this program.
So, you know, we love to throw our arms around koalas and they love to throw their arms around us when we get to have a cuddle. And what this is about is continuing to throw our arms around our koala population and care for them in the way that I believe all Australians would want us to. And that's a window into the broader wildlife population that we need to support. Now, I'm going to ask Sussan to to say a few things about the details of this program, and then I'd just like to say one or two things about a couple of other issues, particularly, go Ash!
THE HON. SUSSAN LEY MP, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. And, Andrew, it's terrific to be back in your patch on the Sunshine Coast. Robert Irwin, to you and your team at Australia Zoo, you do what you do extraordinarily well. And, you're not just a zoo, you're a conservation organisation. The work that you do, the tentacles that spread out from here to protect our precious native Australian wildlife is well known and well understood by many Australians.
This $50 million package builds on, as the Prime Minister said, the work we're already doing that's dedicated to the koala, and lifts it to $74 million. Of course, there's so much more that we're doing under bushfire recovery, that also relates to this iconic species and its habitat. So the announcement is, it symbolises the practical environmental mission of the Morrison Government, which is about doing things that count, doing them on the ground, doing them with communities and actually seeing the results.
So, much of this work is already underway. For example, our partnership with the World Wildlife Federation to use drones to seed trees in new koala habitat. So $20 million of this package is all about new habitat. That work's already started in what are known as arks in northern New South Wales, where we know there are strong populations of koalas and we want to make them stronger. Ten million dollars of the package is for community action on the ground, because wherever you go, you find a community completely invested in its koala population and wanting to do more for it. And that's really important. And I'm continuing what I started as Minister, which was a national census, if you like - a a national monitoring program - because we have to field the baseline data that tells us how many koalas we have, where they are and what the best interventions are to protect them.
Talking to Professor Timms from Sunshine Coast University this morning, we're all concerned about the incidence of disease - chlamydia - in our koala populations. So much of this package is dedicated to finding some breakthrough innovative techniques to treat koalas that are affected, and we estimate that up to 50 per cent are in New South Wales and Queensland. So it's really important that we continue to to do that.
And, Andrew, you would well know, as your population, your people drive around and they see an injured koala and they may bring them here. They may bring them to their local vet. Some of what we're doing with this announcement is training local vets who may not have had the expertise in treating wildlife, particularly koalas, because they're a very dedicated special species, and they require that special treatment. So this is pretty exciting. It's ongoing, of course. Work in habitat restoration and building the best possible environment for our native species in the face of the pressures that are around them is vital. So, thank you again, Australia Zoo, and thank you for having us this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Robert.
ROBERT IRWIN, AUSTRALIA ZOO: Thanks. G’day. Yeah, well, I want to pass on a thank you, Prime Minister, and Mr Wallace and Minister Ley, thank you so much for coming in today. It's wonderful to have you here. We, at Australia Zoo and as the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, we're wildlife conservationists through and through and this is, our our mission is to stand up and speak for those who don't have a voice, and koalas, they're absolutely our Aussie icons. They're an animal that we really specialise on a lot here at the Wildlife Hospital. We've taken in over 110,000 animals, and well over 10,000 of those are koalas. They're a very specialised creature and an animal that is unfortunately under unprecedented threat. As our towns and cities expands, roads expand. Koalas are having a really, really tough time and they're pushed into areas they've never been before, and they they are on the thin edge of the wedge. And so any kind of support that we can get is greatly, greatly appreciated and and very, very needed. Our environment is is suffering at the moment. And so any steps that we can make toward a brighter future to make positive change. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. And it's it's really good to see that our beautiful icon species are going to be better protected. We're so proud here at the Wildlife Hospital to be caring for them, and, you know, our our family are here to fight the good fight for many years to come. So a big thank you. Thanks very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you. Thank you very much. Well, before the weather beats us, time for a few quick questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a big announcement yesterday in North Queensland, up in the state of Leichhardt. Down in Longman in the south east today, another major announcement. It goes a long way to suggest that you feel that Queensland, particularly both these seats - Labor wants these seats. We know that - it goes a long way to suggest that Queensland could perhaps be the swing state at the next election.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we're doing is making the announcements that went into our Budget, and these announcements were brought together and form part of the measures that were in the mid-year statement. And so we're making those announcements now, as we indicated we would, on really important issues that we were working through all through the course of last year. And the reef management program was a big one. The Reef 2050 Plan we are committed to and we've backed that up with a billion dollars in funding. And here we are today, following through with other important initiatives in looking after our koala population. So this is what a government that cares for country does, and that's what we're doing. Now, I'm thrilled to be back here in Queensland. I've spent most of the last 12 months locked up in in Canberra and Sydney, and so the first chance I get to get up here, I take it every single time. And so it's been a while. So it's been great to get back into Queensland. I love coming up here into Queensland and I just want to thank Queenslanders - I've only been here a couple of days on this, on this visit - for the really warm welcome they've given to Jenny and I while we've been here, and and we had a particularly warm welcome from from two very cute little koalas today.
JOURNALIST: Both both very big environmental announcements.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah.
JOURNALIST: So are you trying to boost, I guess, your green presence?
PRIME MINISTER: We're we're just doing what government should do. See, we're governing. That's what we're doing. That's that's that's what we've been doing over the course of this term - making the decisions that Australians need to be made to get us through the pandemic to ensure our economy is strong. I've been particularly pleased to see the figures that we released yesterday, which showed that we're just getting so many more Australians back into work and off welfare. I mean, that's one of, that's one of the biggest goals, if not the greatest goal that we have as a Government - that we want to see people get into work. When I saw that youth unemployment figure fall to below 10 per cent, it really did stir my heart. There is nothing more exhilarating than seeing young people get jobs, and there's a lot of them at work here too. Here's one. But, you know, seeing young people get jobs just lights me up every single time. And that's what we're about. And this is about another important responsibility we have as a Government. This is governing. This is what it looks like.
JOURNALIST: Is there an overarching element, though, of course, of climate change? Obviously, we've seen bushfires and simply devastating weather events. Are you doing enough to address that?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, Australia's emissions have fallen by over 20 per cent. And there there are a few countries, developed countries, that, you know, get into that league, particularly with economies like ours. You compare us to countries like Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States - we we outstrip them all. So we're getting it done. See, Australians just get on and do it, and that's what our Government is doing. We've already seen a more than 20 per cent reduction in emissions. We've got one in four households with solar rooftops. It's one of the, it's the highest rate in the world. And then, on top of that, what we're doing is working with our partners in the region - countries like Indonesia, for example - and to ensure that we can help them go on this new energy journey as well. Because I can tell you, whether it's the reef or whether it's our environment, I'll tell you what's putting the impact on climate - emissions that are rising in developing countries. And we want to help them make the transition in what we're doing with hydrogen. You can have many conferences you like, but unless in countries, developing countries, that need jobs - countries like India, countries throughout South East Asia, Vietnam and so on - we're working with them to help them make the transition where they can have an economy that is on lower emissions, but also an economy that has jobs to support their people. And that's how you get it done. The reason climate change will continue to have pressure is because of rising emissions in developing countries, and that's where we have to get it fixed. We're doing our bit. We'll have a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. That's what our forecasts are, and we may well do better than that. We're meeting and beating our commitments, like we always have. It's always surprising when I go overseas and talk to people about our record. You know, they are amazed when I tell them, and many Australians may be amazed if they're hearing this now - Australia's emissions have fallen by more than 20 per cent since 2005. That's about five times more than in Canada. It's it's a great achievement by Australians, and a lot of that was done in our agricultural sector.
JOURNALIST: Melbourne are bidding for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Will the Federal Government provide some funding and support for that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we haven't received any any information on that. As you know, here in Queensland, we we were the first in the, in the cart when it came to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, and very pleased to be doing that. I mean, the Olympics and Comm Games are very different propositions, but we'll see what happens there. And, we'll, you know, we've got experience in those areas, but these are predominantly and principally decisions of state governments. So if they're making that decision, I'm sure they're doing it knowing that they can carry the the financial load of doing that.
JOURNALIST: How will this big spending work to, I guess, bring down our debt?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the way you reduce your debt is you ensure that you grow your economy, in an economy like this. See the demands of on the Government on essential services don't go away. Whether it's the National Disability Insurance Scheme, whether it's aged care, whether it's caring for our country, like the announcements we have here - you know what pays for all that? A strong economy. And that's why having a strong economy over the next five years, over the next 12 months, over the next three years, is so important. If you want to have the sort of environmental programs that we're investing in, if you want to have an NDIS that's fully funded, if you want to support aged care, if you want to do all of these things, then what you need is a strong economy. That is what unlocks the ability to do all of those things as a government, and our Government has got a very strong record on the economy. I mean, yes, we have one of the lowest death rates from COVID in the world, and particularly on Omicron. But we also have one of the strongest advanced economies in the world coming through the pandemic, and that sets us up. But you can't take it for granted. If you have policies that undermine that growth, that take you in a different direction and with people who can't manage money, then you can find yourself in a lot of strife. So there's a lot at stake. But Australia is set up well with our economy to succeed.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, it's been a torrid week for the Queensland Government. You've probably seen the reports about the integrity being questioned of the, of the Premier's Cabinet, of people within the public sector. There's been some some torrid reports by people that used to work there. I guess there'd be some comments from you, a reminder to people to keep their integrity whilst working in the public sector?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course. And, look, I I've, I'm very grateful to the public servants that I work with, and I've always had a very respectful relationship with them and we have a bit of a code between us and the public service - expect and respect. I expect strong performance and we respect their professionalism and their integrity to do their job, and the heads of our public service, and particularly the Minister for the Public Service Ben Morton, this is a very strong focus of his. And the Federal Government's public servants have done an extraordinary job through the course of the pandemic. I remember early on in the pandemic, you know, we had people answering Services Australia calls to make sure that they could get their payments. We had people working who are normally working on committee reports in the Parliament crammed into meeting rooms in Canberra, taking calls and making sure people could get what they needed. Our public servants have done a terrific job for the Commonwealth Government and and we rely on them heavily, and but we also expect, you know, those high standards, which which are imposed on on politicians as well.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] it's quite ironic that you're here in Queensland today, you've got an iconic Queenslander next to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Few, few more iconic than the Irwin family.
JOURNALIST: There's a Queenslander, of course, an Aussie, but there's a Queenslander representing all of Australia tonight in a tennis game.
PRIME MINISTER: There is. Look, unfortunately Jen and I and the girls can't be there tonight, but like most Australians, we'll be huddled around our television screen cheering, cheering Ash on. She is is an amazing Australian. She's got a wonderful team. One of the things I love about Ash is she she always talks about 'we'. She she very rarely talks about 'I', and she sees what she's doing as the spearhead of of a much bigger unit. And that's that's a that's just such a great example, I think, to the country. I've got two daughters, I, you know. I think Ash is just wonderful from that perspective. So she's won before she's even walked out on the court tonight, I think I'd say that on behalf of all Australians. But gee, we'll be cheering. And then, of course, there's the doubles - four Aussies lining up, the M&Ms and the Special Ks.
JOURNALIST: Who are you going for?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I’m going for Australia.
JOURNALIST: Are you a Kyrgios fan?
PRIME MINISTER: I've got to say, look, I think they're all great, I think they're all great. I love, I love how Nick speaks his mind, and I think that's terrific. I think he's great for tennis, frankly. But I think it's going to be a great Aussie night, a really great Aussie night. And we say that here at the Australia Zoo, which is another great Aussie place to be. So thanks very much for coming out today. And Robert, again, mate, thank you for everything you're doing. I hear you're not swapping these conservation shoes for dancing shoes just yet.
ROBERT IRWIN, AUSTRALIA ZOO: Not yet mate, not yet.
PRIME MINISTER: You've got too much work to do looking after the koalas. But thank you to everything that your family has done for our country and for our wildlife, but particularly, you've been such a great ambassador for our country overseas.
ROBERT IRWIN, AUSTRALIA ZOO: Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good on you mate.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I just ask, just on entertainers, before you go. I know you love your American hip hop - Kanye West or is it Ye now, I'm not sure who it is - he wants to come out on tour. He's had one jab. What's your thoughts?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I, the thoughts are the rules. The rules are you've got to be fully vaccinated. They're the rules. They apply to everybody, as people have seen most recently. It doesn't matter who you are, they're the rules. Follow the rules, you can come. You don't follow the rules, you can't. Ok, thanks everyone.
Press Conference - Green Island, QLD
28 January 2022
THE HON. WARREN ENTSCH MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LEICHHARDT: First of all, thank you very much indeed for being here today and taking the opportunity to travel across to this beautiful spot here on Green Island. And I welcome the Prime Minister being here again. And of course, the Environment Minister, Sussan Ley. It's been a while since we've been able to have them up here in our region. Of course, COVID has made it very, very difficult for travel, but it's fantastic that they're up here now. And what's even more important is the announcement that we've made today in relation to the $1 billion investment over an extended period of time is very important, and I want to thank the Prime Minister and Sussan for the great work they've done in that, and I invite the PM to say a few words.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, this really is one of the natural wonders of the world and it has been an absolute thrill to be here, and to just take it all in and we want to see people from around the world and across Australia taking this in for generations and generations well into the future. This is our stewardship. This area has been stewarded by our indigenous population for 65,000 years, and I want to thank them for their welcome today and the opportunity to to speak with them and understand their perspective and and how they have cared for this part of the world for so long. I also thank the local tourism operators who we have been able to speak to today and hear feedback from them firsthand. It has been a really tough time for people in far north Queensland, particularly this is from a tourism point of view. This is the industry that is more reliant on international tourism than any other part of the tourism industry anywhere in the country. I know that from experience, you know, 64,000 jobs are dependent on tourism here, a $6.4 billion industry. And from that, all all of the country benefits from the important tax revenue that is raised from the success of our tourism industry here and the many other sectors here.
So why is all that true? Because of the Great Barrier Reef and the stewardship responsibilities we all have, and today we're committing that billion dollars over the next nine years. That's on top of the $2 billion we've already invested. That is caring for this reef. Whether it's science, whether it's continuing our battle with the crown of thorns starfish, improving the water quality and what this plan and package is all about is working together is the Reef plan here from the Queensland Government. And this fits totally together with that Reef plan working together with the Queensland State Government. But we are funding the works here on a ratio of two to one with the State Government, so twice as much out of the Commonwealth because we understand our special responsibility here. But it's also about working with everybody who lives with and lives off the Reef, whether it's indigenous partners, whether it's the tourism operators who so often are the eyes and ears of this Reef out there every single day seeing the subtle changes, the scientific community and the the officials here from the Great Barrier Marine Park, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, GRMPA as it's colloquially known. Everybody working together, but it's also the landholders back on the mainland. It's working with the cane farmers. It's working with everybody to ensure that we can look after this Reef. And this is a big investment. It's the investments that are needed for us to be doing as a government. What we have been doing throughout our term is a government ensuring that we're putting the Reef first, because when you do that, everybody else benefits. And that's what we're seeing as a result of this package.
I want to thank Sussan Ley as Minister for the Environment. She pulled this package together with Warren and I thank all of our many other members up and down the coast, Phil Thompson and so many others who have worked to ensure that this is the right package for far north Queensland, it is the right package for the Reef, and it's frankly it's the right package for the globe’s keen interest in the Great Barrier Reef. And we're so proud of that work and we can be proud that Australia leads the world in Reef management. We lead the way in this area and the way we manage the Great Barrier Reef together with indigenous wisdom and knowledge through to most recent contemporary science and having the best researchers in the field. This is how you look after the Reef. So Sussan, I want to congratulate you how you’ve pulled this all together and I'll invite you to unpack the package for those who are here with us today.
THE HON. SUSSAN LEY MP, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. Can I also acknowledge the traditional owners up and down the 2,400 kilometres that is the length and breadth of the Great Barrier Reef and note their work on sea country within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and so many of our land managers up and down this coastline. Their work is essential and supported by this package. Warren, can I acknowledge you. You are the Reef champion of champions because you understand that this is about partnerships and this is about our farmers, our fishers, our scientists, our traditional owners, our communities, citizen science, even keeping plastic out of the ocean, understanding our beaches, our coastline, our waterways and working hard to protect them. This is about protection, and as you said, Prime Minister, it's $1 billion. It's a step up in terms of the rate of funding that's going out to all of these actions from the $2 billion that's already invested and it's incredibly strong. It's been developed over months and that consultation [inaudible].
More than half of this funding is about water quality, and I know that farmers up and down the Reef understand this better than anyone else. And I always say it starts on our farms. We've got 437,000 kilometres of catchment that flows into the Reef. Now this funding for water quality is about win-win. It's not about heavy handed regulation. It's about saying to our farmers, we want to partner with you. This is what works for you to keep the sediment on your farms, to keep all of the nutrients on your farms. It works for you, buy it also works for the Reef. So it's that win-win approach and that understanding that our members of parliament up and down the Reef have been able to represent to us wherever we may be.
So science today is an important day to recognise the role of marine biologists, whether they be in the Marine Park Authority or anywhere else, including the ones we met today within the tourism operations here. Because our marine biologists and scientists are looking at the world leading, innovative science that can make a difference. We've been doing this for the $150 million Reef restoration adaptation programme in partnership with Queensland universities. Some good ideas put on the table, but what this package does is step that up again, so we can look at building the resilience of the Reef with scalable options that make a difference to its environment. We know that climate change is the biggest threat to the Reef and we play our part internationally when it comes to emissions. But we also know that building a healthy and resilient Reef is absolutely the best thing we can do in the face of those pressures and to see the work that's done, to build that healthy Reef, the coral and those innovative scientific techniques that I talked about is really very exciting. There's quite a bit more in the package. But I know Warren, it's really, really important to the tourism operators here in Cairns and elsewhere. Over to you.
THE HON. WARREN ENTSCH MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LEICHHARDT: Thank you. There's a number of things in the package, which I find it very exciting. First of all, this is not a just a a three year election term commitment. We're talking 10 years, so it goes from one to another to another, which allows all the stakeholders to actually plan and which is absolutely critical. Secondly, it starts to bring in all of the stakeholders, and I look at Sheradyn here from the RRRC, Gareth here, who kicked off the crown of thorns eradication problem, brought in our traditional owners who are playing a very, very significant role in doing that. Of course, Brian here, Brian Singleton is here. Thank you too. The work they've done, they've actually earned the first specific purpose built boat for a range of programs. And of course, to [inaudible] nice to see you here, my friend. And of course, the work that you're doing as as this is on land, traditional owner, you and your friends that are here as well.
The other thing that I think is important, is starting to recognise that contribution and we are doing that in the package, for example, we had COVID provided us with an opportunity to see outside the square. And this is where the $15 million package that we put through marine operators because they didn't have bums on seats going out to the Reef, what we did is say righteo, this will help you continue to operate, those vessels need to operate, you are now working with the GBRMPA, you're working with the science, working and providing value, the value of it. And so you can go on, keep the crews going. That's been recognised as an outstanding success. And so that is also incorporated in here to make sure that we continue to have that because this management of this is not just one [inaudible], it is the whole community that is part of it and the PM made reference to that. And so, you know, this is what makes this very different and very, very important. And building on a couple of billion dollars that's already invested, sounds a lot when you say it, not much when you say it quickly, but nevertheless, it is the biggest package ever that's been invested here. And of course, the main benefactor is going to be the Reef and it sustains our reputation as by far the best managers of any reef system anywhere in the world. We are the go to people for anybody who's got a Reef, this is where they come to see [inaudible]. So thank you very much indeed, Prime Minister. And to Sussan.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Warren. Happy to take your questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's been concerns that, you know, this is a little too late and what we really need is a commitment to a net zero by 2030. What would you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we committed to net zero by 2050, and we reduced emissions by over 20 percent. Our government's put $2 billion already into world leading management of this Reef, and now we've put another billion in. And so I'd say to those that they need to keep up with just how much we're doing. The Reef has always been a priority for our government and it's been a priority because we know how important it is to the lives of people in far north Queensland. It's important for their livelihoods, but it's also important for their way of life and we are investing in this Reef being here for generations and generations to come. And as Warren and Susan both said, drawing on the wisdom of Indigenous Australians and their management and care for this amazing part of the world and building in the most modern of science and drawing in every operator and everyone who has a stake here in this in this Reef and make sure that it works and that it is protected.
JOURNALIST: For this money to be delivered, you need to be in government for almost another decade. How feasible is it that all of this funding is actually going to come through?
PRIME MINISTER: It's committed, it's in, it's in the budget. And certainly we will continue to fund it. If anyone had a different idea, they'd have to cut funding to do it. And I don't know why they'd want to do that. I mean, we've set out the course, we've set out the commitment, we've laid down the marker and we've set the standard. And I would expect, and certainly my government will continue to follow it and it's in the budget. And if others don't want to follow that, they better explain that to the Australian people why they won't. I mean, our opponents, the Labor Party, they actually want to get rid of the money that we gave to the Reef Foundation. $217 million extra has been brought in by industry to back in the more than $450 million we put into that into that project. And there's some 200 separate projects, over 400 different partners that have been brought into that project. They wanted to rubbish it, they wanted to criticise it. But that's what they do. Lots of criticism. No answers.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why did it take an election for you to make this commitment to the Reef, is it about saving the Reef, or saving seats in far north Queensland?
PRIME MINISTER: We didn't. $2 billion has already been invested and now we're putting a further billion in. This programme and this project have been many, many months in the making. It draws from the Reef Management Plan up here in Queensland with the Queensland State Government, which was recently released, which we worked closely with them on. This is part of a very big and ongoing partnership. This goes out over the next decade. We've got many programmes like that, and it's very important to do that. And so we are maintaining and building on our very strong commitment and delivering for the reef and for the people of far north Queensland.
JOURNALIST: Obviously a lot of the industry here relies on the tourism, which relies on international travel. What's the plan for when that will reopen and what countries are the plan to start with?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as you already probably know, we're fully open for Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore, and a lot of those markets are very important here for far north Queensland, particularly the Japanese and Korean markets, but also I say the Kiwi market, which I know is pretty important to them as well. And Singapore. In addition to that, we've already opened the borders for students across the board. We've already opened the borders for backpackers and this is one of the most popular destinations for backpackers anywhere in the country. And that's important for far north Queensland, not just because it brings tourists to the area, it also brings staff and workers to the area and who support the industry. Almost around about a quarter at a particularly at peak times of the of the of the labour force for this period making far north Queensland work, is here because of backpackers and others. It's a lot like in our agricultural sector. And so they have been important early priorities.
Omicron has only been with us now for about eight weeks. And so we're we're moving carefully. We've taken those steps with the groups that I've mentioned and we're monitoring the impact on that. And so far, so good. We are managing within our hospital system well. There are pressures, of course there are. And those who are working on the frontline in our hospitals, we're very grateful to and those working their aged care facilities. And should that continue to be the case, then I think there is an opportunity for us to extend further with international visitors. And I would hope to see that happen in the next few months. But we don't want to put too early pressure on our hospital system just yet. And that's the issue that I'll be taking further health advice on.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is this enough money to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the UNESCO endangered list?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask the Minister to comment on that, and I want to commend Minister Ley on the fantastic job that she has done in working closely with UNESCO. You know, when people come out here and see it and see what we're doing and they see the world leadership we're displaying, not just by our scientific community, but our commercial community as well and how the Reef is being looked after under the ever watchful eye of our indigenous community here. They rarely leave unimpressed. They leave very impressed about what has been achieved here, and I think that bodes well. But I'll allow the Minister to add further.
THE HON. SUSSAN LEY MP, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Thank you, Prime Minister. Well, it certainly is the case that you can see the Reef from outer space, but not from an office in Paris. And the point I made when I visited European World Heritage ambassadors last year was come and have a look. And I've written formally as I'm required to do. A report is going to be submitted next week and we hope a reactive monitoring mission comes to the Reef and does actually inspect everything that's going on, the science, the communities, the work to restore and protect. So what we're doing is responding to the call that we've always had as a Coalition Government to protect this region, stepping up the funding from $2 billion to $3 billion in this announcement.
JOURNALIST: Minister, this money will be distributed through your department and through the Marine Park Authority. What about smaller local projects and foundations? Will they get a look in?
THE HON. SUSSAN LEY MP, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Yes, they will. Part of this money will, of course, go to community grants as it already is being managed by my department and by the foundation. We're seeing citizen science on the Reef in action up and down its coastline, so very much the community will focus in terms of grants.
JOURNALIST: Many of the groups that are part of the funding that might be going out and using this to restore the Reef are still concerned though that there hasn't been a strong enough commitment to tackling climate change. What's going to change on that front?
THE HON. SUSSAN LEY MP, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: Well, the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister have outlined our commitment to climate change, but I've got to say that is not the feedback I receive from tourism operators and from communities along the Reef who depend on visitors. In fact, tourism operators, when they take people out on the Reef, often have a surprise response, which is "wow, isn't this incredible? This is truly a natural wonder. We didn't realise." So the determination of communities to showcase the Reef is all about the realities of the Reef, but it also recognises that it's really special.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, everyone.
Remarks, 2022 National Citizenship and Flag Raising Ceremony
26 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Your Excellencies, particularly Aunty Violet, thank you so much for that wonderful Welcome to Country, and yes that was great health advice as well. Thank you very, very much.
Can I acknowledge my Ministerial and Parliamentary colleagues.
Can I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese.
But in particular today, can I acknowledge all Australians, Australians all, one and free. Yuma. G’day. Happy Australia Day.
On this, our national day, we begin by honouring the traditional custodians on the land on which we are gathered here today - the Ngunnawal People - and those who have travelled here, met here, and felt at home and been welcomed on this country for thousands of years.
We recognise Indigenous peoples right across our land - from the Torres Strait Islander people in the north, to the Palawa in Tasmania, to the Whadjuk Noongar people across the Nullarbor in Perth, and the Larrakia people in the Top End.
Like the country itself, Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are diverse, they’re unique, and they connect us through time.
And here our, in our Capital, the home of the Ngunnawal People, the home of a free democratic people, the most successful multicultural and multi-faith nation on Earth.
We also honour the men and women past and present who secured and now protect our freedoms by serving in the Australian Defence Forces. And we acknowledge them, those who have pledged themselves to duty, service and sacrifice. And we say to them, thank you for your service.
And there are many others who are wearing uniforms, serving on the front lines of the pandemic - our health workers, those who are working in emergency services and manning COVID clinics, those indeed from the St John’s Ambulance and many other places - doing what they do every day. We celebrate them today and their great service, and we say to them, thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
And we are reminded that we could not be free and we could not be a democratic people without all of those who serve.
So I pay tribute to all those, also, who make this Australia Day event such a wonderful one for Australians:
Danielle Roach, the Chair of the National Australia Day Council, and all of your Board members. Thank you.
And especially our Australians of the Year, who are joined here.
Of course Dylan can’t be with us, but we congratulate him and we wish him all the best at the Australian Open as he competes in that final. And another message, go Ash!
To Aunty Val Dempsey, you’re an inspiration and it’s wonderful to see you here resplendent in your St John’s uniform here today, as you wear so proudly here in the ACT for 40 years.
To Daniel Nour, Dr Daniel Nour, great friend of our family, the Young Australian of the Year. Australia’s proud of you, and the Shire’s proud of you too, mate.
To Shanna Whan, the Local Hero of the Year. You are just a beautiful woman. You are just full of radiance and beauty, and you’re sharing that love with your people and you’re turning their lives around. Thank you for making such a huge difference to people’s lives.
Today there are thousands of gatherings across our country, each reflecting in a different way and celebrating our love of Australia.
And one of the great expressions of love for our country is to become a citizen.
Here and in over 400 places across Australia today, more than 16,000 people from over 150 nations will become an Australian, including right here, as women, men and children from nine nations come together today to become Australians.
Today, each of you will be endowed with the same rights, opportunities, privileges and responsibilities as every other Australian. No longer, no matter how long they’ve been here.
You will be given the inheritance of our history and the promise of our shared future.
But you don’t come to our national story empty handed, either.
As like so many before you, you add your threads to Australia’s rich tapestry. You now write your own chapters in Australia’s story.
In recent times, our national story has once again been one of terrible and great hardship. Times of loss, drought, floods, cyclones, plagues, fires, the global pandemic and the recession and hardship it has caused.
These have been some of the toughest years, if not the toughest we have known since the times of war and the Great Depression.
And at such times, such times we are sustained by many things - our family, our friends, our community, our faith. And we are thankful.
But today, I am just filled with thanks and gratitude for the nation we are blessed to live in as a people.
Despite all we have endured and the challenges that are still ahead, I am just thankful to be an Australian and to live in Australia with my family - this land we call home.
During the pandemic last year, a year 6 class in the Sutherland Shire was asked to read ‘A Sunburnt Country’ by Dorothea MacKellar and they were asked to pen their own poem to Australia.
I could not express my love for this country better than the young girl who wrote this piece, and I’d like to conclude by sharing her thoughts with you.
It’s called ‘My land Australia’.
Land of everything
Sapphire sea and
Dark sparkling nights
Everything in one
Everyone is sung
Can feel a million rejoices
Can hear a million voices
My land called Australia
My heart soiled in loving graceMy cherished home
Filled with love and ancient dreaming
The high mountain ranges
In between my gazes
With the outback on the horizon
We can see new beginnings
Flowers breezing on the lie in song
Whooshing with daintiness on
Waratahs and wattleTry to escape the scary bluebottles
Waves can be crashing
With terror and throttles
Lightning is crackingAnd as we watch cattle and rams go rotten
With drought and flood, we can always come
Together we have a bronzing bondThrough fire, famine, flood and pandemics
Its us going, going, going
We will never tire out
We will keep our flags up
And let it fly, fly, flyAustralia my land
My country of Hardship
My country of Grace
My country of StarsDon’t care how much you try to persuade me
Give me books, money and lovely birch trees
Nothing can take my love from this land
Nothing can take the smile off my face
When we get a sunburn and lie for a bit
My friends my family can ride together
Down to the river, beach or bay
We can sit and reminisce about the time
When the sun spray ears
Yes of course you can do this anywhere
But can you see the drop bears there?
That daughter was written by my poem, that poem was written by my daughter, Lily Morrison.
It’s the same for all of us Lil, including those of us who have joined us here this day to become new Australians. Nothing can take away our love of Australia.
So with gratitude for what has come before, and optimism for what is ahead, Happy Australia Day.
Address, 2022 Australian of the Year Awards Canberra, ACT
25 January 2022
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much.
Friends, this evening we gather together on Ngunnawal country, whose elders past, present and future we acknowledge and we respect.
We gather at what continues to be a time of great trial for our country and our people. From drought to fires, floods and pandemic. It’s been a tough time for Australia.
A time of uncertainty, hardship and loss that we have not known since the days of war and the Great Depression.
And our journey through these trials has not been perfect, but here we are - standing, enduring, overcoming, together.
Making our way and emerging stronger than almost any other nation in the world from this global pandemic.
This is the story of our country.
A story of a quiet, confident people.
A journey of character found through resilience, recovery and renewal.
We all feel the emotions of these difficult times - the frustration, the anger and anxiety, disappointment, fear and grief - and this is understandable.
And while those emotions may remain with us today, there is also much to be thankful for.
As we approach our national day, I am overcome with a sense of thankfulness and gratitude.
Thankful for being an Australian.
To live in this timeless land, of uncommon and unique beauty and diversity, nurtured for over 60,000 years by the world’s oldest living culture in Indigenous Australians.
A land blessed with freedom and prosperity, paid for and built by those who came before us, with great sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, to whom we owe a great debt.
And a land of hope, because of the enduring and optimistic spirit of our people, always believing in our future and what can be done together.
And, of course, you, the nominees for the Australian of the Year. You remind us of all of this - in any setting, at any age, and anywhere in our country.
The nominees here tonight, like the land from which they are drawn, are diverse and different - men, women who strive and study, argue and engage, and who love and care for their community and our country.
You’ve reached out for others from deep within your own experience.
You’ve risen to meet a need or light the way, and whole communities have been changed by your actions.
For me, this ceremony is about more than an award on a mantelpiece, as I’m sure it is for anyone here.
It’s a touchstone of what this country is about.
What makes us tick. Why we keep going, as we do.
You see, the strength of Australia - the wonder of Australia - is, ultimately, the Australian people.
A generous, open hearted, practical people - who look out for each other, care for each other, care for their community and their country, and simply get on with it.
This is what these finalists here embody.
So I congratulate all our finalists tonight.
But to each of you, most of all, I just want to say a humble thank you.
And join with you all in being thankful that we can all call ourselves Australian.
Happy Australia Day.
Remarks, 2022 Australian of the Year Finalists Morning Tea Canberra, ACT
25 January 2022
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, and g’day, everyone.
And welcome here to the Lodge, on behalf of Jenny and I, and Buddy - who you all met, I think, on the way in - and our girls who are here, all here with us over these next couple of days.
Can I begin, of course, by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of this land on which we meet, and their elders, that are past and present and, of course, emerging. Some of them here amongst us today.
I acknowledge, as I always do, those who serve in our Defence Force and who have served in our Defence Forces, and say to them, thank you for that service, because it’s by that service that we enjoy the freedom we do here today in this amazing country.
And, of course, we are joined by the 2021 award winners:
To Grace Tame - congratulations to you Grace and your fiancé - Australian of the Year for 2021.
To Rosemary - it’s great to see your shining face, looking forward to that dance a little later - there she is.
To Isobel - great to see you again. It was good to catch up with you down in South Australia.
And it’s a shame that Dr Miriam-Rose can't be here with us today, but we want to acknowledge her also, the Senior Australian of the Year, and we wish her all the best. COVID has prevented us from being able to, Jenny and I were particularly keen to go up and take up Miriam's invitation, but unfortunately COVID prevented us from doing that. But we're on a promise, Miriam-Rose, and we look forward to seeing you.
Thank you all for joining us here today, and for everything that you’ve done over the course of this past year.
Can I acknowledge Danni, as well. This is a very informal gathering today, and all the Board members of the Australia Day Council who are with us here today.
Can I acknowledge also our sponsors as well, and thank them for their great support that makes this possible.
And I'm glad you're all able to come here together in this way today, and enjoy the Lodge grounds today without that suffocating hot marquee, Danni, which, one of the other many reforms that we've introduced to this event. So it's wonderful to have you here in this way.
To my good friend and colleague Ben Morton, who is here, and who supports all of these events, as the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister. Thank you, Ben, for the great work you do here as well.
Every year, I’m incredibly amazed at the breadth of Australians who are the finalists - the stories that you’ve come together in pulling this together through the nominations through the states and territories. We sit in awe and wonder as we listen to those incredible stories.
Every one of you is incredibly different, but you all share, I think, a great civic mindedness, a desire to make a difference. A great love of our country. A kaleidoscope of Australia.
There are athletes, there are scientists, there are police officers, there are campaigners, there are helpers, there are healers, there’s singers, storytellers, there is inventors, and volunteers.
We’ve got two sporting champions in Patty and Dylan - two household names - who are at the top of their games, who are determined to help so many others succeed.
Our two Indigenous police officers, both pioneers: Colin, the first Aboriginal police officer in this country, and Leanne, the first Aboriginal policewoman in South Australia. Both work so hard for Aboriginal justice and law and order in our country [inaudible].
They are joined by two retired officers - Paul and Kim. Both of them saw a need and filled it. Paul - who is currently in Western Australia - does incredible work teaching cyber safety to children, and I thank in particular all the Western Australians who’ve been able to join us here today and the sacrifice you’ve made to be part of this. And to Kim, who has helped over 800 refugees to get their driver's licence - practical skills that help set them up for a great life in Australia.
There’s another courageous first responder - Leo. Thirty-five years in the Mallacoota SES. A volunteer who provided inspirational leadership during the devastating fires down there two years ago.
We’ve got researchers: Veena in materials and waste recycling, and Helen in vaccinology - both incredibly important, and I must say both very close to my own heart.
Craig Leeson is telling the story of our polluted oceans, enlivening our consciousness to these issues and indeed has enlivened our consciousness as a Government, particularly on those issues regarding plastics and recycling and addressing climate issues. A reminder that we are responsible for our continent, and there is many of us here today, particularly those representing the Indigenous community, who have cared for our country over millennia.
We have many people whose life experiences - it’s been the tough times that they have faced - that have inspired them to help others, a constant refrain in this country:
Is Abla, welcoming and empowering Islamic women in Western Sydney.
Is Robyne, who’s advocating for people with disabilities in the Top End.
Jan is creating support for other grandparents bringing up their grandchildren, a demand placed on so many grandchildren [sic] these days.
There’s Sean, who’s supporting kids with cancer, and their families as well.
Ahmed is helping boys and girls from multicultural backgrounds.
Craig Hollywood is giving haircuts, and importantly, care and dignity, to homeless people in Perth.
Saba is giving refugees opportunities and skills in Brisbane through a social enterprise restaurant. And playing her part in stopping COVID in multicultural communities.
Monique is a champion for those who face lymphoedema, lymphoedema. I’ll try that one more time, I need Greg Hunt to pronounce these these names - lymphoedema.
And there’s Shanna who’s bravely sharing her experience of recovering from alcoholism, and telling other folks in the bush, it’s ‘ok to say no.’ And that is so awesome and that is so courageous.
To Kendall and Tahnee, who know about the heartbreak of suicide and mental illness, and want to make it something that we talk about, and that it’s ok to talk about - ‘it’s ok not to be ok.’ It’s an important message, particularly over the course of this pandemic when so many Australians have been struggling with mental illness. And that is incredibly brave, Kendall and Tahnee. And we are so sorry for your loss, but we are so thankful for your courage.
Mark, also, is generously sharing his expertise in youth mental health.
And Kaytlyn - a university student, a singer-songwriter, who works with young women in regional areas to help them upskill, to thrive and connect.
Sue and Lloyd - two years on, we still have no words for the tragic loss of Hannah and your grandchildren. But we admire your courage and generosity, rising from that terrible sorrow to make the world safer for women and children.
And we have finalists who have profoundly serve their fellow Australians with dignity and respect:
Trudy is a dentist devoted to helping patients who face disadvantage, disability and illness.
Luke is bringing music into the lives of kids with special needs, and breaking down stigma.
Val - or Aunty Val as she’s known - has a lifetime of volunteering with St Johns Ambulance, never more needed in these last few years.
Gaye is passionate about Melbourne’s West, and those hardest hit by outbreaks and lockdowns during the pandemic.
Sizol helping, is helping the most vulnerable teenagers and young people as they come into contact with the justice system.
Daniel is providing mobile GP clinics for homeless people in Sydney - and he’s also from the Shire. That doesn't give him any favouritism, I can tell you, I don't make, get to make the decisions - and creating a network of doctors to help as well, and Jen’s been out with Daniel on occasions, and we’re thank you for involving us in that way. He called this network ‘Street Side Medics’.
Rebecca has raised over $1 million for local charities and causes over the years, and is a tireless community fundraiser who brings her community together.
And then there’s Bruce - an expert in plant knowledge - and using that knowledge helping some of the world’s poorest feed themselves. He has spent decades building a database of over 33,000 edible plants.
What an extraordinary group. I thank you for your patience as I've read through all of that, but I think it's important that we do, that you get a full picture of the tremendous company that you’re in and worthy to be sitting amongst each and every single one of you.
And to the Australia Day Council, what tremendous work you've done in collecting such an extraordinary group of Australians.
At the end of the day, I see Australia in you, Australians see Australia in you, we see our best selves in you and our best country in you. And for that, I'm deeply grateful as Prime Minister. Hard working, passionate, determined, generous, willing to go that extra mile, regardless of how tired, regardless of the stress or pressures, and there are many. But you press on. You're very different, but you're very similar, and you make this country what it is.
You really do inspire all of us. And I believe tonight, as the nation learns all of your stories, they will be similarly inspired at a time when they desperately need it, as we continue to deal with what have been, frankly, some of the toughest years this country has had to face since the times of war and the Great Depression, and here you have been throughout that time serving, at your post, with love, with compassion, and with a great spirit of patriotism.
So congratulations. You’re continuing a very worthy tradition. I have only one thing to ask of all of you. Please keep doing what you're doing. We need you. God bless. Happy Australia Day for tomorrow.
Remarks, Australia-Papua New Guinea Ports Infrastructure Investment Program Virtual Signing Ceremony - Sydney, NSW
21 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much and greetings again to you, Honourable Prime Minister Marape, James, my dear friend, and to your ministers who are joining you, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and of course, the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Mr Duma. Thank you very much for all the work you've done in getting us to this day. The direct relationships between our ministers, Prime Minister, working this issue through our Treasurer, our Finance Minister, Treasurer Frydenberg, Finance Minister Birmingham, has been first class, our officials, our High Commissioners. I think they've all done an extraordinarily excellent job to get us to where we are today.
Papua New Guinea's success is Australia's success. The two contribute to each other and, as you know, I've always seen this as a family relationship, a family relationship right across the Pacific. And at this very moment, I know we both share a keen concern for our Pacific family in Tonga, in the same way that we've stood together to support the situation in the Solomon Islands very recently. And back when there was the the measles outbreak in Samoa, the the COVID outbreak in Fiji, where we were providing vaccines. Our family sticks together in the Pacific and we support each other. And Papua New Guinea is a very, very big part of the Pacific, as you've said, James, representing so much of the economy, the population and the opportunity that's there. And so your success is not just great for Australia and Papua New Guinea, but I believe it's very much part of the success of the Pacific as a whole - our great blue Pacific.
And I remember being at APEC Haus some years ago and when the world came to Papua New Guinea, and I was so pleased to be there on that occasion in that wonderful centre that is built there in the harbour. My grandfather knew that harbour very well because he served there in Port Moresby during the Second World War, unloading supply ships on that very dock up there in Port Moresby to support the Australian Forces, as so many Australians did. And Australians will never forget what the people of Papua New Guinea did for Australia at that time. We will never forget. There is a debt that runs deep and that family partnership was established there firmly during those days, particularly of the Kokoda campaign, but Milne Bay, Finch Haven and so many others. And when I think about that time, and particularly Kokoda, we also this year will mark the 80th anniversary of that campaign in Kokoda. And that is a a timely reminder, I think, of the deep, deep ties that we share as two nations and as two peoples who have an abiding affection for one another. That's reflected in our personal relationship. And I I do want to commend you, James, because so much of what we've done over these last three, you know, three years or so, so much of that has been a function of the working relationship that you and I have been able to have and the deep level of trust.
When we make these commitments to Papua New Guinea, we make them understanding those who we're dealing with and their ability to follow through and to deal with us in this trustworthy way. And so our agreement today and what we're doing is an expression of great confidence in Papua New Guinea's future. Not just, you know, the larger ports in PNG, but now particularly the Port up in Lae, but the many others, as you said, in New Britain, in Manus, in New Ireland, in West and East Sepik - so many other parts of the country that will benefit economically. And as that economic support is put in place and the economic opportunities are realised, then the prosperity and the wellbeing of the people of Papua New Guinea will rise.
This is about enabling, supporting the sovereignty and the independence and the self-sufficiency of Papua New Guinea, and that has always been our absolute goal with all of our support interventions and assistance. Australia is providing $580 million, as you've said - it's around 1.5 billion Kina - of concessional financing to upgrade the priority ports. We're doing this alongside the PNG Government and the PNG Ports Corporation, and I want to commend the Ports Corporation on their work.
Infrastructure strengthens economies, create the conditions for long-term jobs growth. Bigger ports means greater access to global trade opportunities. So it's all good news, because we know from a strong economy then that can support the essential services that people in Papua New Guinea rely on - health services, education services and the many other important services, transport and so on, that the people of Papua New Guinea rely upon.
So I'm very grateful for the very kind words that Minister Duma and yourself have expressed today towards Australia, but within family, these are things that we don't take for granted. But at the same time, we can reasonably expect each other to be standing by each other, and that's what you and I, I believe, have done, and we have sought to do more broadly across our blue Pacific in the leadership responsibilities that we have there.
And so I really do want to thank you, James, Prime Minister, for the way we have been able to prioritise where this support goes. Australia has always been very pleased to support and invest in the future of Papua New Guinea. But what you've brought is a real focus to where that support needs to go to get the best possible outcome for both countries. And that, I think, inspires a lot of confidence in Australians that the investments of the support we're making is making a real difference to the quality of life and prosperity and the futures of people in Papua New Guinea. I have seen the smiles of Papua New Guinean children in their villages and there's nothing more beautiful. And so I hope that as a result of this we will see many more of those smiles. God bless you too, my friend.
Address and Q&A, State of the World Virtual Address World Economic Forum: The Davos Agenda
21 January 2022
Prime Minister: Well, thank you very much, Borge, it’s very good to be joining you, and thank you for that very kind introduction. So, g’day from Australia.
It is a pleasure to join this forum as you continue what has been a half century conversation about the state of the world.
As your 2022 Global Risks Report notes: ‘The economic fallout from the pandemic is compounding with labour market imbalances, protectionism, and widening digital, education and skills gaps that risk splitting the world into divergent trajectories.’
Now like the rest of the world, Australia has not been immune to the disruption and devastating impacts of this global pandemic.
We all have a responsibility to address these challenges, with practical solutions to ensure - both within countries and between them - we grow together, not apart.
We are now facing the immediate challenges of Omicron, a rapidly evolving variant and the need for vaccinations and boosters, as we go around now in Australia for our third round of of doses.
Omicron underscores this simple fact that there is no guidebook to this pandemic. There’s no magic GPS system for avoiding the enormous stresses and strains it continues to place on all nations - be they governments, businesses, communities, families, and indeed individuals, wherever they are.
Yet amidst this fog of radical uncertainty, Australia, well, we’ve charted a very clear path, and it’s been our own unique path through this pandemic - what we call the Australian way.
And in the process, we’ve achieved amongst the lowest death rates in the world, the highest vaccination rates and one of the strongest performing advanced economies in the world to come through those pandemic. We’ve always been prepared to save lives and save livelihoods. And we’ve seen those as important dual tasks through this pandemic.
We have been realists in our approach. We’ve been prepared to take action early, closing our borders, initiating our national pandemic plans, calling it the pandemic some fortnight before even the WHO named COVID-19 as a pandemic.
We’ve been highly pragmatic and consultative. We’ve been prepared to listen to the expert medical advice, and act on it - the best available medical advice - but also the best available economic advice.
As I’ve said many times in Australia, a pandemic is no place for ideology. You’ve got to do what works. At the same time, we’ve been principled and very clear-eyed in our response.
At all times, our goal, as I said, has been to save lives and livelihoods. Our approach has reflected Australia’s unique circumstances and our institutional structures, our federation first and foremost, such as our mixed also public and private health system, which continues to perform well.
Our unprecedented economic supports, delivered in a form that kept employees attached to their workplaces as businesses went into an unspecified period of hibernation back in 2020. It gave businesses the confidence that they could get through tomorrow each and every day.
And we were clear that our measures were never designed to be open-ended, but they were to be temporary and targeted, respecting that there were taxpayers’ money that that was being spent.
And at all times, we put our faith and trust in the common sense and public spiritedness of the Australian people. And that trust was well-founded.
No country, Australia included, we don’t pretend that every every response has been perfect. No country could claim that. No government could claim that. But what I am very proud of is Australia has been able to stay focused on these key, these key goals.
We have the second lowest death rate from COVID in the OECD. We have the eighth highest full vaccination rate in the OECD. And fully 93 per cent of Australians aged over 16 are now double dose vaccinated, and around a third have had a booster dose. And over 60 per cent who are eligible for that booster dose have now had it.
Our latest economic growth figures for the third quarter of 2021 showed we were just 0.2 per cent below where we were going into the pandemic, whereas most advanced countries, economies nations were remain one to two per cent down on pre-pandemic levels.
And we finished 2021 very strongly in the fourth quarter. Our unemployment rate fell to 4.2 per cent. Now that’s the lowest rate we’ve seen since 2008. At the height of the pandemic, we had an effective rate of unemployment of almost 15 per cent. And that effective rate now is equated with the actual rate of 4.2 per cent.
And our participation rate remained at near record highs, so nothing points to any great resignation by Australians. That is not what’s been occurring here. Our economy has been coming through strongly. We’ve retained our AAA credit rating - only one of a handful of countries who’ve been able to do so.
And let me make another point to this audience. From the outset, our Government always say, saw the way through this as backing a business-led recovery. We did not see a Government-centred recovery sustaining into the future. There was certainly a role for Government, but for the role for the Government was to ensure that we would have a sustainable business-led recovery.
We knew we were dealing with a public health crisis, albeit one with profound economic and social consequences. We never saw it as cover for some sort of funky experiment to transform our economic system. We haven’t seen this as some long-term invitation for the return of a, or the establishment of some state-centred economy. And there's good reason for that.
It’s worth remembering that prior to the COVID recession Australia had been recession-free for 28 and a half years - and by some accounts, that is a world record amongst advanced economies. Now this achievement was based on a track record of strong economic management and market-oriented economic reform over many, many decades. Yet we also know that our economy was going to face challenges, and that’s our outlook now.
COVID is helping accelerate big political, economic and technological changes that have been happening for some time. And forces that have been shaping a post-pandemic world is what I really want to focus on this evening, Australian time - these larger forces and the approach that we’re taking in Australia to support our economic recovery and our resilience into the next decade.
And the five I want to touch on tonight are as follows:
Firstly, the acceleration of the digital economy - the need to align the digital and physical worlds, and the centrality of digital to economic growth in the modern economy.
Secondly, heightening demand for skills and research talent in our economy - the need for world-class skills and training, more adaptable workplaces and closer collaboration between business and our research and science community.
Thirdly, a sharper geo-political competition has emerged, and this is playing out in multiple realms and regions, but with an epi-centre being in our region here in the Indo Pacific, as we see it.
Fourthly, there are new pressures on global supply chains and open trade, and we’ve seen that coming for some time now, with governments and companies having to reassess their rules, their assumptions from what some have called the era of ‘hyper-globalisation’.
And fifthly, the drive towards decarbonisation in the global economy, but for continued need to access affordable, reliable energy to drive our economies - with technological innovation and the push for a deep transition in the global energy system, alongside the need to maintain, as I said, that affordable and reliable energy for customers and businesses.
So we face these challenges in tandem with navigating a strong and sustainable recovery. The experience of past recessions suggests it’s less the depth of the recession that matters as the need and speed of the recovery. The world needs a fast recovery - reminiscent of those in the 80s and the 90s - not the prolonged sluggish recovery that followed the GFC in the 2010s.
This is vital because we know COVID has accentuated new divides between those bearing the brunt of the pandemic and those able to insulate, between countries that have strong health and vaccination infrastructure and those who sadly don’t, between the sectors that are growing - such as logistics, and health and IT, and the sectors that have truly suffered - in tourism and travel, and business events and the like.
A fast recovery must be our shared economic mission. A recovery that’s about creating jobs, building wealth and prosperity, and that narrows the divides in our communities - because shared prosperity is always the foundation for a strong and stable democracy and global security.
So let’s talk about some of those in turn. The acceleration of the digital economy. So, when COVID hit, the digital economy went gangbusters. Adaptation and innovation was almost immediate. Australia jumped five years ahead in digital adoption in almost the blink of an eye. Around nine in 10 Australian firms have adopted new technologies.
Our investments across digital capabilities meant essential government services remained operational and available. In 2020-21, there were 1.4 billion online interactions with government, an increase of 126 million on the previous financial year.
And just as we were stepping up as governments, the private sector was doing exactly the same thing. Solving problems. Unleashing change. And understanding that in a pandemic profound change was necessary to be able to push through.
In Australia, we estimate that increased digitalisation could add some $90 billion to our economy, as well as create some 250,000 jobs in the near future. Under our Digital Strategy, Australia aims to be a top 10 digital economy by 2030, and we’re well on the way to that.
And the key question is, how do we navigate this shift sustainably? We do it in a way that serves our economy but also our values as a liberal democratic society. We must encourage investment in jobs and opportunities that digital technologies generate. And at the same time, we need to ensure the digital world - and this is very important - is safe, it is secure and is trusted.
Now as leaders, we’re walking a tightrope - trying to get that balance and those settings right. Some of those settings are about clearing the way for business, getting out of the way. And in Australia, that has meant driving world-leading reforms in open banking, e-invoicing and digital identity, which means frankly people get paid more quickly, boosting cash flows, particularly in the small and medium enterprise sector. And unlocking the transformational opportunity of critical technologies - most recently with a new Quantum Commercialisation Hub, to commercialise the world-class quantum research we do here in Australia.
We’ve seen significant strides in our local tech sector, with global success stories like Atlassian and Canva and Afterpay. And we’ve seen enhanced engagement from international tech giants. For example, Google recently investing $1 billion to expand its presence here in Australia, including with a new Google Research Hub right here in Sydney, one of only a handful of cities where Google has decided that that’s where they need to be to drive that innovation and their investment.
Now as we encourage that investment, we are putting an equal amount of effort into ensuring the online world has the same rules as the physical world. You can’t be the wild west where just anything goes, because while the online world presents many great opportunities, it also presents very real risks to people’s safety, particularly women and children.
And Australia is taking world-leading action on this front, both at home as well as through international fora, like the G20. With the appointment of a dedicated eSafety Commissioner - we understand the world’s first, preparing legislation to unmask trolls who defame others by making platforms responsible for what is published on their platforms, strengthening online privacy protections, working with the social media companies, to make sure they combat misinformation and disinformation on their platforms. And of course, ensuring they take action in relation to terrorist-related content.
Secondly, it’s about heightening demand for skills and talent in our economy. And the pandemic has put up in lights the absolute importance of a healthy, skilled, productive and flexible workforce as the foundation for prosperity and security.
It has brought to the fore the argument that the World Economic Forum has been making for some time about human capital. To put it bluntly, a sense that too many businesses have undervalued and underappreciated the people on which the economic value of their firm and their nation rests.
Just how important can be seen in the context of the pandemic. Suddenly, how we work was completely upended. This led to the reconfiguring of workforces, challenging assumptions about how and where we could work. And as I mentioned earlier, Australia’s unemployment is just down to just over four per cent. Now that’s one of the lowest since records began here in Australia over 40 years ago.
And with that, efficiently matching the skills of our workforce with the needs of a modern and transforming economy, that’s a challenge and it’s incredibly important to meet the challenge. So how we anticipate those needs and plug workforce shortages must now happen in real time.
As a Government we actually doubled our investment in skills training through the pandemic, and one of the first invention initiatives we took in the economy was to keep our apprentices in jobs through wage subsidies for those businesses to ensure we did not suffer a generation of lost skills. Those apprentices, particularly the younger ones, would have been the first off, and they would never have got back on, and they would have been lost from our economy and the important skills training they would have been undertaking during this pandemic period. Well we kept them in there, and today we have more apprentices in trade training in Australia than at any time since we’ve been collecting records since 1963.
And we’re also planning ahead. On Australia’s horizon, there are huge opportunities - in the new energy economy, in the services sector, in modern, high-tech manufacturing - as well as in our traditional sense, strengths like resources, minerals and agriculture.
A few months ago, I met with some workers who have transitioned from car manufacturing to portable brain-scanner technology down in Adelaide. They were making cars before. Now they're making some of the world’s most advanced medical equipment in the world. And we’re going to see much more of that. Our Modern Manufacturing Initiative is investing in businesses right across the country to see them make that leap and do the transition.
So more jobs are requiring higher skills levels. STEM jobs are set to grow twice as fast as non-STEM jobs.
And the National Skills Commission, which was established by our Government, talks about the four C’s - areas that capture the pressing skills needs in the coming years. They are care, computing, cognitive and communication skills. And that’s where we’re headed.
In Australia, we’re working closely with business to design a better skills system - one that’s more integrated with industry, that promotes lifelong learning, and ensures future workforce needs are met. To put it another way, if people get trained to do the jobs that businesses need them to do, and that they need in order to get a job, and have a living in this country into the future with confidence.
Our Government is enhancing incentives for also ‘trailblazer universities’. We’re challenging business to get closer to our research institutes and partnering with business as we look to create a new generation of ‘researcher entrepreneurs’ here in Australia to help fire future growth. This is the, this is the land that brought WiFi, this is the land that brought the cochlear implant.
We have also implemented bold initiatives such as the Global Business and Talent Attraction Taskforce, which has been established to attract exceptional talent and marquee enterprises here to Australia.
The third deep trend I want to touch on is sharper geopolitical competition. Now the global strategic environment has changed rapidly, even over the last few years and before the pandemic, and it has deteriorated in many respects, in our view.
We live in what is an increasingly fragmented and contested world, particularly here in the Indo-Pacific, which has become the world’s strategic centre of gravity. The challenges we face are many. There are tensions over territorial claims, there is rapid military modernisation, there is foreign interference occurring in nations right across the Indo-Pacific and here in Australia, there’s malicious cyber threats and attacks that are taking place, disinformation, economic coercion. This is a highly contested space where we’re seeing much [inaudible] tactics being employed throughout the region intended to seek to coerce and intimidate.
Meeting these challenges demands cooperation and common purpose amongst those who believe in a, in a world order that favours freedom and the rule of law. That has been the basis for the world’s prosperity since the Second World war.
Australia’s interests are inextricably linked to an open, inclusive, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific. One where the rights of all states are protected, along with their aspirations as sovereign nations. We are working constructively towards this, building and strengthening a web of alignment to support these goals. Now that includes our Pacific family, through the Pacific Islands Forum, the nations in the Pacific. Our ASEAN friends, who are central to our vision for the region. Australia is the first nation to have been able to conclude a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement with ASEAN. And through the Quad, with our Quad partners India, Japan and the United States. This is not just about strategic and security issues. It’s about making a positive contribution in our region, from everything from energy supply chains and critical minerals, critical technologies, through to our response collectively to support countries throughout the region through the pandemic. With our growing number of comprehensive strategic partners, and our partners with, across Europe, like multilateral fora including the G20 and APEC and the OECD, and with our longstanding friends and allies, we are forming these alignments that are effective in securing peace and promoting peace in the Indo-Pacific.
I want to particularly draw attention to our new enhanced trilateral security partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom - AUKUS. This will also contribute to peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, benefitting all who live here.
We want to maintain an open, rules-based international system that allows all nations to flourish - free from coercion. Rules that foster international trade, create wealth, bring nations together, and enable them to cooperate and collaborate in trade. This will be vital not only for our recovery from the pandemic but for nations all around the world, but particularly in this region.
Now allied to heightened strategic competition is the new pressures on global supply chains and open trade. For decades, sophisticated and efficient supply chains have been integral to global growth and rising living standards. During the early stages of the pandemic, our normally well-functioning supply chains experienced incredible strain. To the credit of governments, in partnership with transport, freight and logistics companies, there was no wholesale collapse. But still, it was quite a shock. Many critical supply chains are yet to fully recover. And we need them to.
The recovery of global air and sea freight is still too slow. We are witnessing increasing costs and inflationary pressures, as well as reduced consumer supply. We need a greater collective focus on easing the constraints on international shipping and the recovery of passenger flights. The lesson of these times is that supply chain resilience requires a new partnership between countries, governments and business.
We have learned we must build in resilience, because in the future there will inevitably be times of turbulence and disruption. We have learned that just-in-time supply chains aren’t enough anymore. And we can’t take access to critical inputs for granted.
Australia, we’re known as a dependable supplier of goods and services. And we’re open to working together to create secure supply chains with trusted partners that make our countries collectively stronger. Trust is as important, if not even more important, than cost in modern supply chains.
More attention needs to be given to driving open international trade, which is a fundamental enabler of well-functioning supply chains and economic development. In recent times, Australia has experienced the effects of economic protectionism and coercive interests targeted towards Australia. As a trading nation, we have simply sought to held firm to our values. But this has not been without cost. I believe it has also come at a significant cost to the countries which implement such measures. It’s hard to see how anyone wins from those types of tactics. The world cannot afford to march in that direction, and more than ever there is a need to support the multilateral system and promote trade liberalisation.
Over the last decade, Australia has concluded multilateral trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. We have also increased the coverage of our free trade agreements to 15, including the most recently and the first with the United Kingdom since they left the European Union. These arrangements now cover over two billion dollar, two billion new consumers, which represents 75 per cent of our trade, 75 per cent of our trade covered by formal trade agreements.
Now finally, let me just touch on what is arguably one of the greatest shared challenges, and that is the decarbonisation of the global economy. Australia has made a clear commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, and we have a credible pathway to get there. And it’s a very Australian pathway, it’s a very practical one. It’s about technology and letting technology lead that approach. We want to drive down the cost of technology. If you do not get the cost of technology for low emissions, zero and sub zero emissions, down to scale, affordable levels, then we will not see their take-up in developing countries around the world that who are responsible for the largest share of the growth in emissions in the world today. That is how you change it. We must make that technology affordable and scalable and able to be adopted in developing countries. If that does not happen, then all the talk will end in nothing, and emissions will continue to rise. And this is why Australia is so focused on wanting to be at the centre of the solutions that actually deliver low cost, credible, affordable, sustainable, scalable technologies for our new energy economy.
So we’re providing $21 billion here in Australia, working with business to develop the next generation of low emission technologies. These investments will, in turn, unlock more than $84 billion in private and public sector investment. Now this is technologies like hydrogen - and Australia is incredibly well-placed to be a hydrogen power trader of the future, ultra-low-cost solar is another area, carbon capture and storage. Then we want to export these technologies, working with partners in our region and around the world, to support that global energy transition.
We have now established low-emissions technology partnerships with Singapore, with Japan, with Germany, with Korea, with the United Kingdom, and we are close to concluding a partnership with our dear friends in India. And we’re also positioned to be a world-leading producer and exporter of hydrogen. Investing in Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs, working towards a Green Economy Agreement with Singapore, working with partners - including Indonesia and Vietnam - to put the Indo-Pacific at the forefront of the global energy transition. And developing clean hydrogen supply chains, and our first focus is with Japan.
The technologies required to transition to low-emissions technologies require inputs from all over the world. So our clean energy supply chains, they must be diverse, they must be reliable and they must be competitive. And we are very conscious of this in all of our efforts.
We’re hosting the Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum in mid next, mid this year, and we’ll bring together regional and global leaders from a number of sectors and industries - in science and technology, in manufacturing, mining, finance - harnessing their expertise and identifying the practical actions that we need to enable large-scale deployment of secure, reliable and affordable clean energy across the Indo-Pacific. Achieving net zero is now about the how, not the if, not the when, or the why. It’s about the how, and countries, companies, scientists, researchers, technologists, financiers, entrepreneurs, are the ones that need to drive this technological change. If we can achieve that, then we can solve the climate challenge. If we don’t do that, then we will not. And on this, I particularly want to acknowledge the leadership of my dear friend, President Widodo in Indonesia, in guiding global efforts on sustainable energy transitions through the G20, and I look forward to those discussions taking place over the course of their presidency.
So in conclusion, friends, the world faces many challenges. That’s not new. Australia faces these challenges with our trademark optimism. We’re a very optimistic people. We back ourselves to deal with whatever comes, and push through and overcome. We’re ambitious, we’ve got a gritty determination. And I think in a good human way. We’re a strong, stable and reliable partner. We’re culturally diverse - the most successful multicultural and multi-faith nation anywhere on the planet. With the most liveable cities, trusted institutions, world-class education and research institutions, and an economy that is strong and diverse and a workforce that is highly-skilled, we believe we are very well-placed. Yes, like any democracy, we have our arguments, and as we’ve seen over these past few years, when the chips are down, we do back each other in. We’re not perfect but we’re making our way strongly. Australia is and will play its part in the world recovery that the world needs. And I look forward now to taking your questions, and I thank you for your kind attention.
Q&A
Host: Thank you so much, Mr Prime Minister, for that very optimistic and powerful speech. We learnt a lot about the transition, being the green transition, but also the digital transition and how that has also impacted your vision for Australia in the post-COVID world. We have huge interest from the business community. Australia is an interesting country to invest and do business with. So without further ado, I would then turn to some of the CEOs. We're running a little bit over time. So if you're okay, Prime Minister, I'll bundle the questions. So we'll take two questions and then we'll see how how we fare. Let me then start with Henadi Al-Saleh. She's the Chair of the Board of Agility. In the middle of everything that you also addressed - food supply chains, but also inclusive growth. So Henadi, over to you.
Question: Hello. I represent Agility, a global supply chain services investment and innovation company. The issue of SME empowerment via technology is an issue I feel very passionately about. And in Australia, small businesses account for around 60 per cent of all exporters by absolute numbers, but export less than around one per cent of all merchandise value. We have seen the world over that e-commerce is creating new opportunities for SMEs to trade across borders. Can you talk about what you see as key opportunities and challenges for Australian SMEs to engage more actively in the global trade? And can you please also tell us more broadly about your Government's JobMaker business plan to digitally skill SMEs and increase their economic potential in general?
Prime Minister: Sure. Well, thank you for that, and I'll touch again on some of the points that I made. Small and medium-sized enterprises is exactly, as you say, in Australia. They are this, they are the backbone of our economy. Many of our very large companies, particularly our resources companies, can account for the bulk of by value and even volume of a lot of trade. But one of the areas we know there are great opportunities for our SMEs in a digital economy is through digital commerce, and that's why we've been seeking, working with other countries, starting with Singapore, to get new digital trade agreements and the standards that need to apply to those to make them very effective and accessible and easy to use for small and medium-sized businesses. One of the few upsides of the pandemic has been that, by necessity, transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises into embracing the digitisation of their business, and whether that's from their basic accounting systems and information management and their e-invoicing. That's been heavily backed by our approach as a Government to increase how people interface with government for government services, administration of taxation, all of these issues. So that means they upskill and change their systems to engage with government, and it’s more efficient, it costs them less, and that they can start to see the other advantages of of going down that path. The most important one is they get paid on time. That's the most important one. I mean, we've got now our 24, have so for a number of years, our new payments platform, one of the, one of the most fastest in the world, 24-7 instantaneous digital commerce and payment systems, which means that businesses can rapidly cut down the times for payments, which can transform their cash flow, which, for small businesses, it's all about cash flow.
Cyber security, I would argue, is one, if not the most, important thing for seeing a successful digital economy. People have to be confident that they can operate. And we are seeing malevolent actors in the cyber world, both state-based actors, criminal-based actors, others through industrial espionage. All of these sorts of things. And that is why cyber safety and security and the skills that support that, and awareness of that, supported by government institutions is a big part of our plan.
Then, of course, there's the infrastructure. And the National Broadband Network, which has been rolled out right across Australia, with the ability to further upgrade and improve those speeds and times. That's been a massive project here and and our technology, telecommunications experts and companies here in Australia have driven that together with the Government. So getting all of those pieces in place, lifting the skills, though, ultimately, both in quite specific technical areas, as well as a general awareness level, I think is also important. So I see the future of small and medium-sized enterprise in Australia tightly linked to their adoption and integration of digital technologies and how they run their businesses. And that's what the policies designed to support.
Host: Thank you so much, Prime Minister. We have around 10 more minutes and we have three more questions. Do you want me to bundle them or are-
Prime Minister: Sure.
Host: Ok. So then we take the two questions and you can then handle all the three of them. You’re used to Question Time in Parliament, so that's that's a tougher thing than this thing. So let's then move to a Mr Shunichi Miyanaga. He's the Chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Japan, being also one of your key collaborators as a country. So Mr Miyanaga.
Question: Thank you. I thank you very much for your encouraging address, Your Excellency Prime Minister Morrison. I understand that under your leadership Australia is making aggressive efforts towards carbon neutrality and is earnestly promoting production of carbon free fuels like ammonia and hydrogen by utilising renewable energy like solar, not only for your country, but for other countries. In the meantime, Japan is developing a variety of technologies that will contribute to realise carbon neutrality. For example, our Mitsubishi Industries Group is developing 100 per cent hydrogen-fired gas turbines by 2025 and also brushing up our carbon dioxide capture technology, which we have 70 per cent global market share now. I strongly believe that Australia and Japan will help accelerate very much the smooth energy transition of the world through mutual, technological and industrial collaboration, and also future engagement in international law-making for such transition. May I ask Your Excellency about your view on this?
Host: Thank you, arigato. Let's then go to John Holland-Kaye, the CEO of Heathrow Airport.
Question: Thank you, Mr Prime Minister, and I warmly welcome your comments on the importance of passenger travel. But I wanted to ask you about …
Prime Minister: I promise not to mention the Ashes. Oh oops, I did.
Question: I wanted to ask you about net zero. And Qantas and other global airlines have committed to net zero aviation, one of the hardest to [inaudible] sectors, by 2050. But it will take government policy support to get us all there, primarily from switching from fossil fuels to sustainable aviation fuels made with things like capture carbon and hydrogen. I wanted to ask, will Australia join the UK and other governments in supporting a global agreement on net zero aviation at ICAO later this year? Thank you.
Host: Thank you so much. We'll have one more question, Prime Minister. This is from Japan too, from Mr Toshiaki Higashihara. He is the Chairman and CEO of the famous Hitachi. So, Mr Higashihara.
Question: Thank you, Brende. It's my great honour to meet with Prime Minister. I’m Toshiaki Higashihara, Executive Chairman and CEO of Hitachi, and our company Hitachi has had a long history of doing business in Australia over the 55 years and we have always been impressed with the continued stable economic flows and the Australian Government's, you know, approach to infrastructure expansion to various programs. And my question then, in particular, could you please elaborate or explain to us in more detail the asset recycling program and what impact it has had on economic growth in Australia, as well as the future going forward? Please.
Host: Thank you so much. I'll add one question from my side Prime Minister before you go ahead. You also mentioned in your powerful speech the the increasing global fractiousness reality that we’re faced with, and we have the G2 competition, of course, but we're also seeing challenges in Europe these days. How do you see this going forward? Are you expecting like a decoupling in the global economy, or do you think the big powers are going to find ways also to collaborate moving forward? And you have been in the middle of some of these challenges yourself. So thank you so much to the CEOs and the Chairs, and over to you in Canberra, Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Well, thank you and look, thank you for those those questions. I might start with our my friends in Japan. I very recently had the opportunity to have our dialogue with the Prime Minister Kishida, and he's doing a terrific job in picking up the reins of that relationship with Australia. We were able to complete our reciprocal access agreement through our Defence Forces and Self-Defense Defense Forces, and that has been, that is the first such reciprocal agreement, status of forces agreement, that Japan has had with any other country in the world and and really welcome that and the partnership we have with Fumio, with Prime Minister Kishida. And looking forward where we, to where we can actually meet again in person. We had the opportunity to meet when I was in Glasgow for COP26.
So picking up those issues, you're absolutely right about Australia's commitment on hydrogen. And what this is all, I mean, Australia has natural advantages - large large areas, lots of sunlight. And that obviously makes Australia an obvious place for being a hydrogen producer. And that is factoring heavily. But it has to be done at the right cost. So this is about the cost of electrolysers. So what we've done in our hydrogen sector is we have invested heavily in projects, in particular with Japan. They were one of the first countries we started working with on hydrogen. But it's about getting the cost of that production down to $2 Australian per kilo, because we know if we can get it to that, then it takes off. And all of our research, all of our science, all of our collaboration, working with our partners, is about getting those costs into those competitive levels where hydrogen then becomes a real alternative to many of the other fuel options that are out there. There is, I'm not aware of any country that is more committed to the transfer to hydrogen than Japan. And that's why I think the partnership between Australia and Japan when it comes to hydrogen is going to be one of the big game changers for the transition to new energy economy.
Now, one of the things which, why hydrogen’s so important is that many of the other fuel sources - solar and wind and so on - they're intermittent and they impact on the variability, particularly of electricity grids. And that is not necessarily a good thing, and that's why you need firming firming power sources that actually enable the renewable technologies to be effective. And that's why we see gas, traditional gas, as a transition fuel over many years, and we’re we're building gas-fired power stations here in Australia, to firm up our intermittent supplies of of renewable energy. Now we are also building the largest pumped hydro project anywhere in the southern hemisphere, what's called Snowy Hydro 2.0. This is one of the world's biggest batteries using our hydropower and the pump hydro technology in one of our largest hydro systems, which is a massive firming system within our own grid.
So it is all about solving those challenges and getting these these costs and the reliability down to a commercial scale. So we're really looking forward to continuing to take that partnership forward with Japan.
I mentioned Snowy 2.0, that's part of our big infrastructure investment. We've got about $110 billion federally of projects going on. Now that includes, of course, the Western Sydney Airport, Sydney's second airport. It's been a long time coming. It's about a quarter of the way built now, and the Government has been directly involved in that. There's the Inland Rail which is connecting Melbourne all the way up to Brisbane through the inland of the east coast, and then potentially we are considering how that could be taken all the way up to one of our major industrial ports in the north of Queensland, right up the top of Australia, in Gladstone, which is becoming an absolute hub for so many projects, including things like hydrogen and renewable fuels and fuel conversion technologies, with university support and great industry involvement.
So whether it's transport infrastructure, and much of that transport infrastructure by our provincial governments, particularly in my home state here in New South Wales, has been funded by the privatisation of energy assets, which is then, in turn, fuelled major investment in roadways, in bridges and other key infrastructure. Our ports are being reinvested in, and this is incredibly important to provide the engines of our economy.
Talking, moving to our friends in London and the the forthcoming ICAO discussion. We are one of over 100 countries who’s committed to the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation - CORSIA. That was adopted back in 2016 and our major international airlines, Qantas and Virgin, we’re participants in that. Australia doesn't make commitments without fully considering what the impacts are, and when we make commitments, we keep them. Our emissions have fallen by over 20 per cent. Now only the UK, France and Germany and one other of the G20 nations have a, have a bigger reduction than we have across the G20. So we're actually getting it done. Australia cops a bit of a flak on this issue, but it doesn't bear out with the facts. We have cut our emissions by over 20 per cent on 2005 levels. Now, no disrespect to others and they’re dear friends, but that is about four times greater than what's occurred in Canada. It's it's more than 10 times greater what's occurred in New Zealand. And we are a an exporting commodities country. And so our transition to the new energy economy is different to the UK’s and many other countries. And so we will make decisions about how we get to net zero by 2050 in a way that enables to keep the momentum in the economy, but not losing sight of that ultimate objective. And the way we will get there is by ensuring that those technologies and their adoption, Australia can meet those goals.
So, you know, we look at all of these things carefully. But when we make a commitment, we keep it. We beat it. We we beat our Kyoto one, we beat our Kyoto two, we're going to, we're going to run past our Paris Agreement commitment in an absolute canter, and we will exceed it. And at the moment we’re we're projecting that we will have a 35 per cent reduction by 2030. It may well be more than that. Our commitment is a 26 to 28 per cent, but that now is overwhelmed by where we believe we'll get to. So we'll make sensible commitments, we'll keep them, and and we're very serious when we do make them.
Finally on the issues that you’ve raised about what is an increasingly fractious world, and that is very, very true. And we're seeing that play out in Europe at the moment, in the Ukraine, which is a long way from Australia. But we certainly see it in the Indo-Pacific, the comp competition between, as you say, the G2. And and we're seeing that, and all countries in the region are being impacted by that. Now our hope is that common sense prevails. I mean, for many, many years, we have celebrated the growth in the Chinese economy and we've been a key participant in it, just as we did in the growth of the Japanese economy, and as we are now seeing growth of economies like Indonesia, India and Vietnam - who are tremendous partners in Australia - Malaysia and many of the countries of ASEAN. And common sense says that we can respect each other's countries' differences and we can have different political systems. But at the end of the day, we have to respect the sovereignty of each nation, and the idea that we we would be in some sort of a hemisphere of influence by any one power in the region is not something that I think is consistent with global stability and indeed regional stability, and and for good economics and good trade and the prosperity of people in the region. So it means that aligning aligning the policies and the actions of like-minded countries, I think, is an important stabilising influence in our region. And that's why Australia has been so active in setting out where we stand, where we don't cause surprises. We we’re very clear about what we're about and we seek to work with as many like-mindeds and align our interests wherever possible.
Host: Thank you so much, Prime Minister. This has been a very interesting [inaudible]. Also for us to learn more about your vision for Australia and also the positioning of Australia in the global economy. So on behalf of the CEOs, the business community at the World Economic Forum, I really, really thank you for doing this, and it has been a great session.
Prime Minister: Thank you very much. I very much appreciate the invitation.
Host: Thank you. See you soon.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
20 January 2022
Prime Minister: Good afternoon, everyone. Despite a one in hundred year pandemic, that has caused both global and domestic recessions over the last couple of years, the Australian economy is proving resilient through this pandemic - 64,000 jobs in December. It’s more than 2,000 jobs a day. Unemployment has fallen to 4.2 per cent. That is down from 5.2 per cent at the time of the last election. It’s down from 5.7 per cent, when the Government was first elected. 1.7 million more Australians in jobs since then, including one million more women in jobs since then. It peaked during the pandemic at 7.4 per cent, with an effective rate of unemployment which was almost 15 per cent, and here it is today, going through a pandemic, at 4.2 per cent.
And there is nothing that pleases me more than seeing young people getting into jobs. That has been one of the highest priorities for our Government. That is why at the start of the pandemic, it was young people who were in apprenticeships that we moved first to ensure that we secured their employment when the pandemic hit. And to see unemployment for young people in this country falling to 9.4 per cent, the first time we’ve seen it in double, single digits in a very long time. It was peaking at some 11.9 per cent, sorry, 12., 16.4 per cent during the peak of the pandemic, young people losing their jobs. The last election it was at 11.9 per cent, and when we came to Government it was 12.7 per cent. Getting young people into jobs is such a passionate objective of our Government and they’re pleasing figures, but we know there are still challenging times ahead as we seek to secure this economic recovery.
We said back in November, we had hoped that as the economy opened up, there’d be some 280,000 jobs that would come back. Indeed there’s been 400,030. We said 280,000 back in November and to be able to be here in January and have the record results coming through of, recorded results of 430,000 jobs in those two months will be encouraging, but Australians know that it’s still tough. I know it’s still tough. The Government knows it’s still tough. And there is still much more work to do to ensure that we can keep our economy strong through this pandemic. Australia has one of the strongest economies to come through this pandemic, combined with one of the lowest death rates and highest vaccination rates anywhere in the world. And we will continue to work to keep our economy strong and the employment figures today confirm the support of that plan.
On vaccines, we have seen around a million doses delivered in the course of just three days. Two-thirds of those doses are being delivered through primary care. So as we continue to see the state-based hubs open up in the weeks ahead, that will only further aid our capability. Today, we will likely pass six million booster shots having been administered. More than 20 per cent of five to 11-year-olds have had their first dose - 21.62 per cent - and today we are likely to pass the half a million mark for five to 11-year-olds.
There was also announcements made today, which the Chief Medical Officer will speak to, regarding the TGA approval of Novavax and some other antivirals.
At National Cabinet today we also had a very, very useful discussion on the progress of the work we're doing on supply chain durability and workforce. We are, received the same feedback from states and territories today that we’d been receiving in our only, in our own industry consultation and feedback that I reported to you on yesterday, which is saying that the measures that we’ve taken to alleviate the pressures, particularly around close contact rules and isolation rules, are having a positive impact on the distribution centres, on the production side of things, and the challenge still remains to ensure that we keep working the workforce pressures in the logistics and the distribution and the transport sector.
We agreed today that we should retain the arrangements for close contacts for essential workforces in those workforces we’ve already defined and have brought it no further. We have a risk-based setting here and it’s all about getting the right balance between getting people back to work and not over stressing your hospital system, which is of course under a lot of stress. And we believe we have that balance right. And the close contact definition that we have for essential workers is doing the job of alleviating the pressure, and at the same time, helping us stay within our capacity to continue to support our hospital system.
We will also not be changing at this point the isolation period for a positive case of seven days. We’ve considered that again further today, with medical advice from the CMO, the Chief Medical Officer, and we believe the settings are right at seven days to ensure in how we’re managing this pandemic here in Australia. But that issue will remain under constant review.
We took, I took the industry proposals that had come from our consultation in the transport sector for discussion at National Cabinet today. We agreed to proceed no further with the issue of 16-year-old forklift drivers. It was a matter raised with us with the industry. We had a good discussion about it today and that is not something that we believe, collectively, that that should be pursued at this time.
We also agreed, though, to proceed through the Transport Ministers’ National Cabinet Subcommittee on the proposals regarding licensing and ensuring that we can have a experience-based licensing system for our road transport long haul operators and other truck drivers, that can also recognise New Zealand licenses to ensure we can get more of those truck drivers into truck cabs now, who are needed because of the furloughing impacts of COVID. But also, this is an issue which is an ongoing issue. And so presently, the system is based on time, as opposed to actual experience of driving. So the example is that you would get a license after a number of years, as opposed to a number of hours actually driving. So should be based on your experience of driving, just not the lapsing of time. We think that’s better for safety, as well as getting more truck drivers into truck cabs more quickly to deal with those labour shortages not, just not now, but into the future.
Schools, operational plans for the return to schools will be being announced individually by each jurisdiction over the course of the next few days and some will make their announcements indeed today. Those school operational plans will be consistent with the principles that we agreed last week. Where surveillance testing is elected to be done by a state and territory, including for early childhood education and child care centres, the Government, the Commonwealth Government, the Federal Government, will be supporting that 50-50 through the National Partnership Agreement with those states and territories, and that will be done on an individual jurisdiction basis.
There was a lot of discussion today about where the various states are up to in the pandemic and where the crest of their pandemic is. And so states are tailoring that regarding their opening arrangements, but they will be consistent with the principles of getting schools open and keeping schools open, and that is especially true from day one, term one, for those children of essential workers. So even in Queensland and South Australia, where they will have different opening arrangements for essential workers, they will be, their kids will be able to go to those schools, which is very important for the impacts that that can have on labour force.
But on the issue of surveillance testing, while it is not the medical advice recommendation for that to be undertaken, states and territories may be choosing to do that based on the education advice they’re receiving in those states to ensure that schools can open and stay open, and where they believe that is necessary, the Commonwealth Government will be supporting them.
Final point I want to raise before flying, handing over to the Chief Medical Officer, you may be aware of some false claims regarding Commonwealth Government requisitioning of rapid antigen tests. I want to stress that these are false claims. And I want to read to you a statement from the Department of Health: ‘The Commonwealth Government, through the Department of Health, is reporting false claims about the requisition of rapid antigen tests to the ACCC. These claims are categorically untrue. They have also been made in relation to at least one state government and will be a matter for the ACCC. Supplies of rapid antigen testing kits are not being redirected to the Commonwealth, and at no time has the Department sought to place itself ahead of other commercial and retail entities. Where such claims have been made, the Department has written to the relevant retailer to reassure them that it is not the case and seek further detail or evidence of the claims made by suppliers. The Department is liaising closely with the ACCC and is highlighting the pattern of conduct and providing specific examples of such claims. So while we are aware there are supply constraints within the market, it is expected supply will normalise over coming weeks’. So if you're being told by a supplier that you can’t get those rapid antigen tests because the Commonwealth Government has redirected, it’s not true. Get them to tell you the truth. Thank you. Paul.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thank you, PM. So my main role today was to update the premiers and chief ministers on the epidemiology of the disease of COVID-19 in the country to date. We're seeing a lot of cases, we know that, right around Australia, even in WA there are some some cases now, although much less than other states. Their time will come. But at the moment 1.15 million cases reported since the beginning of the year, and we're still in January.
That has led, as we know, to a, to a number of hospitalisations, up again today, over 5,000 in hospital, 417 in ICU, 145 of those on ventilators. And we've sadly seen more deaths today, now 2,896 throughout the whole pandemic.
We've said since the Omicron wave started at the end of November and into December last year that we expected to see a lot of cases in this wave and we have. We expected that this would be because of the high transmissibility of this virus, and we've certainly seen that. We did say and have continued to say and I continue to stand by the fact that this is a much less severe type of the virus than previous waves. But when you get such higher caseloads, you do have, unfortunately, some people that are experiencing severe disease.
The pattern that we've seen all the way through the pandemic remains the same, though. We're seeing younger people in hospital because there are a large number of cases in younger people. But in terms of intensive care, it remains very rare. Only about 0.1 per cent overall are at the end, needing to be admitted to ICU. That's a very much lower rate than we have seen through the whole of the rest of the pandemic. And similarly, with the death rate, it’s about that 0.1 per cent, so one in a 1,000, and and that is much less for younger people. So that the rate of of of of death increases with age, so over 70 is where those rates are higher. And in ICU, it's the, it's the 60 and 70 and 80-year-olds. So that, they're important elements to consider, and we raised those in the room.
The PM’s mentioned about the the medical advice about the balancing of the test, trace, isolate and quarantine, in particular the issues of testing and where rapid antigen tests should be, should be used. And and that's that will be published later today, the AHPPC advice. Similarly, in terms of isolation and quarantine, whilst we're not exactly the same as other countries, where they've gone, that's because of their particular context at the time, and we've gone further in some of those issues. For example, in essential industries and getting people back to work if they're asymptomatic and test negative, that's further than the UK. That's further than the US. That's further than most parts of Europe. But we're sticking with the, with that balance. We think that's right.
As the PM has said, we've had feedback from those essential industries, and including specifically in the health care workforce. We heard from the premiers and chief ministers today about a decrease in furlough, in absenteeism right across health care workforces across Australia. So we think we've got that right. We'll continue to look at that as time goes by.
In terms of what are we doing with the pandemic, we've had, we're continuing with the public health and social measures that are in place and sticking with that for the time being. We think those are right. TTIQ, I've talked about.
Vaccines will be a matter for Lieutenant General Frewen shortly, but that's important that news about Novavax being added to the TGA approved options to to the other safe, high quality and effective vaccines. And so we, of course, have to go through that double green light with the ATAGI advice as well. I understand that that will be with the Minister next week. And then of course, there'll be deliveries and the usual batch testing, which will need to happen. But that's that's good news.
And and now we've added other other elements to our control and that's in relation to the TGA announcement today about two oral antiviral medications. We have antiviral medications here at the moment. Every day or so I’m I sign off on on supplies from the national medical stockpile going to the states for sotrovimab. It's an intravenous medication, and remdesivir, also an intravenous medication for use, mostly in hospitals, sometimes in the hospital, in the home situation. So about 7,000 units of sotrovimab, for example, is going out every week to the states and territories. Is being used, is making a difference. The pre-purchased doses of molnupiravir and paxlovid, the two new oral medications, will make another game changer really in relation to our protection of people that are most at risk of severe disease. And so there'll be more to say about that. We're expecting those supplies to come in in the coming weeks and then we're working through how to prioritise that for the people at highest risk initially, and then as as supplies come, become more more openly available in Australia, then we’ll be hopefully moving to a more regular way of prescriptions through telehealth and and e-prescribing and and home delivery would be options that are certainly on the table for molnupiravir later in the year. Thank you.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Paul.
Lieutenant General JJ Frewen, Coordinator General of Operation Covid Shield: Good afternoon, everybody. We're seeing a very strong response to the vaccination program. As the PM has mentioned, a million people in Australia have taken up vaccine opportunities in just the last three days, and we're now sustaining around about two million doses every seven-day period. Yesterday, we administered 333,000 doses - 245,000 of those were boosters, and 57,000 of those were doses administered to five to 11-year-olds. With boosters now, we're up to about 58.7 per cent of eligible people who've had their booster. That's up just over 10 per cent in the last week. With kids, 492,000 kids have now had their boosters, and that represents more than 21 per cent of kids who've done that in just a little over a week and a half. So the supply is in place, the distribution is in place. There are increasing opportunities for vaccination every day. Appointments are available and walk-in opportunities are available every day. So I please do encourage everybody who hasn't yet come forward to please do so.
As to Novavax, as the Chief Health Officer has mentioned, we now await delivery of Novavax, the testing of Novavax. We have plans in place to distribute it and people should be able to get access to Novavax towards the the end of February.
Again, thanks to all those people who have come forward, the response has been tremendous to see and I encourage everybody else to please take up the opportunities that are open every day.
Prime Minister: Can I just add, stress two other points, and General Frewen and Paul also might want to speak to this. If your children in the 12 to 15 age group, we are still trying to get that rate up to 80 per cent on the second dose, more than, it's over, around about 81.5 per cent have had their first dose. So if you've had your first dose, if you're 12 to 15, please go and get that second dose.
And equally, throughout the aged care network, we've been covering all of those aged care facilities, but I'd encourage family members and others to encourage family members who are in residential aged care settings to be taking up the booster shots that are going through. It’s everybody's own choice, what they choose to do in those those settings. But they're being offered, and we would encourage people to encourage their family to take up those booster shots in residential aged care facilities.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you've told us today that the Federal Government roundly rejects the allegations that it is requisitioning rapid antigen tests for its own stockpiles from suppliers. What do you think is the cause for suppliers to make the claim that they're being requisitioned by the Federal Government? Do you have any suspicions there? And secondly, is the Government distorting the RAT market by offering above market prices, as it does try to boost its own stockpiles?
Prime Minister: No, I don’t believe the Commonwealth is doing that. As to why suppliers would be telling others these falsehoods, you'd have to ask them why they're doing that. All I'm making it very clear is, if you're being told that you can't get access to it or that your supplier is no longer going to supply you because the Commonwealth has been taking your supplies, it's not true. It's just not true.
Journalist: Can you explain to us though what priority do the Commonwealth orders for rapid antigen tests have, and how do you ensure that priority groups get the rapid antigen tests on time without the supplies being redirected to Commonwealth orders?
Prime Minister: Well, we are not redirecting supplies to Commonwealth orders, and we have not put in place any arrangements to do that. We deal with the suppliers directly, as do the state and territory governments, and they enter into commercial arrangements with them, as do the the wholesalers and others who are sourcing supplies in the private market. We're not nationalising the means of production or distribution as a Government, even though some might want to do that. Certainly, our Government would never do that. But that is not what's taking place. And we set out, as I outlined last week, what the priorities were for rapid antigen testing. Firstly, it's to deal with our health care workers and our aged care workforce. That was agreed by National Cabinet last week. And secondly, it's to deal with those who are symptomatic and close contacts. And thirdly, to deal with highly vulnerable populations, particularly Indigenous communities and groups of that nature. And that's where we're saying the tests need to be. The concessional access has been provided through the private market to over, around about 6.7 million Australians. And so that's where the rapid antigen tests are being prioritised, and they're the priorities that National Cabinet agreed last week.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Prime Minister, what consideration was given to ensuring all students could be double vaccinated before school in the classroom started again in the lead up to the start of the school year? And to Professor Kelly, do you have any modelling on what we should expect in terms of the spread of Omicron once school in the classroom does start again?
Prime Minister: I’ll let you, do you want to deal with that second one first, Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Yes. So so having children back in the class will will increase the movement around our cities. We know that, and towns and right across Australia, that's as children come back, that happens every year. In fact, we we shared some modelling with the, with the the room, the National Cabinet today, which sort of demonstrated that every January there is a drop in the, in the mixing and the number of contacts, on average contacts, that people have outside of their households. That's a standard holiday phenomenon. So we do, we do expect that that will increase that transmission potential, as we call it, will increase as schools go back. And but that that's something we need to deal with. We're very much, from the AHPPC perspective, all my colleagues in the states and territories agree, that the most important thing is to get schools back. That is really important from all sorts of reasons, for health, physical, mental, social, developmental for children. And so we certainly have to take that on on its merits and balance, like we've been doing with the essential workers, that issue.
Journalist: Sorry on a case number perspective, what can we expect is likely to happen?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: I don't have a case number for you. And there was a second part to your question, apologies.
Journalist: That was to the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister: Again, case numbers are one thing. People in hospital, people in ICU - that's the objective of of of government policy, both at a federal and state level, and that is to minimise the impact, wherever possible, on our hospital system and our health system and the incidence of severe disease amongst infants and amongst younger children, five to 11 …
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Very, very low.
Prime Minister: … is very, very, very low. The Government, both Commonwealth and at state and territory levels, have no advice that says that schools should not reopen if they haven't had double vaccinations. So it has not been set out as a condition for schools to return, for double vaccinations to be in place, and the ability to have two vaccinations done for five to 11s in that timeframe obviously is not a practical one, and nor was that considered an impediment to schools reopening from a health perspective. So I think that's an important point to make. The second point is as what, as I've stressed for these last couple of weeks, for those children between 12 and 15 and those who are over 15, it's important that they have their two two doses and they have have the opportunity to do that. And that is absolutely achievable. And that's why I would encourage parents, particularly of 12 to 15 year olds, if they haven't had their second dose, to go and do that.
Journalist: Prime Minister, why has the Federal Government agreed to go 50-50 on the cost of testing in schools, if states do go the way of surveillance testing, if the health advice is that that's not necessary? Why not spend that money on more tests for the general population who are looking to get their hands on them? And Professor Kelly, could you just clarify, is there any particular advice around should school or child care students at any point be required to isolate if they are a contact within the classroom, or is it your expectation that across the country if you're exposed to COVID in class, you take a test and return the next day if it is negative?
Prime Minister: I'll deal with the first one, and I'll let you deal with the second one, Paul. We're seeking to work constructively with states and territories, and states and territories will make decisions to keep schools open. And that is our objective. We need the schools open and we need them to stay open. As I told you last week, that if schools aren't open, we could see the peak furloughing of our workforce go from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, which would have a devastating effect on our economy and the broader functioning of the society. And so keeping schools open is a high priority for all of us. Now in the medical advice on this is is is mixed, but I can certainly tell you from the Chief Medical Officer and across the AHPPC, there is not a strong recommendation that surveillance testing is necessary for that purpose. But there are other policy purposes the states need to consider to ensure their schools are open. And so that's why, as a Commonwealth, we've agreed to be supportive and facilitative of that decision, where they choose to make it. But they are supplying the tests, so they have to have ample supply to actually do that, given the other objectives that I've set out, which are: the health care settings, we're obviously focusing on aged care and many Indigenous communities. Secondly, on the, those who are close contacts and those who are symptomatic. This does fall into the category of potential further community - special schools, for example, a very important community within the education sector, which we discussed today. And so where states are going in that direction, then we'll support them. But it’ll be done jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: On the contacts, so the the definition of close contacts is the same for children as it is for adults, that it's household members. And so that that that brings into play that same same approach. If you're a close contact of a case in your house, you should not be coming to school. If you are, if you are sick yourself as a child, you should not be coming to school. Otherwise, its schools are opening on time, staying open as much as possible, minimising that disruption to to face-to-face learning, for the reasons I said. The health advice was was was very clear that we we that was put into the room. But the same, the same issue is what the premiers and chief ministers and indeed the Prime Minister has said. We want to keep schools open. We want to get them open. And part of, the surveillance testing is actually about that, about giving confidence to get kids back to school and teachers back in the classroom as well.
Prime Minister: Including early childhood.
Journalist: Prime Minister, if it's your Government's responsibility to buy rapid tests for the aged care sector, why is it not your Government's responsibility to buy them and procure them for the concession card scheme being run through pharmacies? And just on Ukraine, what are your concerns about the thousands of Russian troops amassed near the border, and what action is the Australian Government considering, given you’re meeting tonight with the UK Foreign and Defence Secretaries?
Prime Minister: Well, on the first matter, we are providing concessional access to private suppliers. We don't, you know, any more stock the shelves of pharmacies as we stock the shelves of supermarkets. We are not nationalising pharmacies. We're not nationalising supermarkets and food stores. And the question implies that, and that's not what we do. They source their supplies. We have agreed to provide for equity purposes a concessional access to things that are bought in the pharmacy, like we do with many products. But I want to be clear, if you require a test by a public health order, if you are symptomatic, if you are a close contact, then you can get a free test from the state testing clinic. You don't have to go to the pharmacy for that. You go to the state testing clinic where public provision is being done through those public channels. Chemists, pharmacies, the warehouse distributors, all of those, they’re private companies making supplies available to the public, like a supermarket. And they have their distribution channels, they have their procurement arrangements. What we're doing is ensuring that those who are concession card holders get equitable access to those private products and are not penalised because of the cost of acquiring those products. So we're dealing with it from an equity point of view. There's no health requirement for them to go there and buy them. If there was a health requirement for to do it, they'd be able to access a public one from a public testing site.
Journalist: And on Ukraine, Prime Minister?
Prime Minister: On the Ukraine, this is a matter we've been following closely, particularly with our Five Eyes partners, and are moving very much in concert with them. There's some 1,400 Australians that live in the Ukraine. And so we're very mindful of that issue and their safety and the consular support that we provide to them. It is obviously a very tense situation and it is one that we'll continue to work with our partners in terms of any response that we are making. But there have been no requests made of Australia and none are anticipated.
Journalist: Can I ask sorry, Professor Kelly, paxlovid - if that's how you say it - is can't be used in combination with other medications, but it's targeted at the elderly who are generally on other medications, and molnupiravir doesn't have a high efficacy rate. How confident are you they'll be used and will work, and can you say that they're better than hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So last part, point first, yes. These, unlike ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, have gone through a rigorous clinical trial process and been demonstrated to be effective and safe. Both of them have their drawbacks. So, for example, molnupiravir cannot be used during pregnancy or when women are, but could potentially become pregnant. So that’s a, will be a specific warning. In terms of of paxlovid there are some drug drug interactions. It’s a, it's a two drug, there's two drugs in the one pill, and one of those is one that's also used as an anti-HIV drug. And so those issues doctors are very familiar with dealing with that. Unlike HIV treatment, which is for life, this is a five-day course. And so it would be a balancing act of of its effectiveness versus that safety profile. But they both have their place. Molnupiravir in their clinical trials has been shown to be very effective at preventing death, less effective at preventing hospitalisation than paxlovid. But they are both very good drugs and will have their place, and I'm really looking forward to having them available in Australia.
Journalist: Prime Minister, just on child care, can I just clarify that it was agreed that it’s the states responsibilities to procure the rapid antigen tests for that sector?
Prime Minister: Yes. And remember, the states and territories regulate child care. We provide financial support to child care and they regulate.
Journalist: And you’re confident there’s sufficient supply available for that sector?
Prime Minister: Well we’re, that is one of the issues that the states and territories will consider in deciding whether to go down that path.
Journalist: Thank you, PM. You spoke yesterday about the frustrations Australians have felt this summer but, you know, with what we know about, you know, the expectations that the Omicron strain is peaking, the supplies of RAT tests will be improving, the supply chain changes and things like that. When do you think that frustrating period will end? I mean, can we look forward to perhaps February as sort of being more of a living with COVID normal sort of period? What's your, what’s-
Prime Minister: What I can say to the Australian people again is this is a very frustrating period of this pandemic and there are many challenges and people are working night and day to ensure we can come through this as strongly as we possibly can, and that's what we will continue to do. The pandemic continues to give us surprises, and Omicron has been one of the biggest in challenging and pretty much turning on its head the way we'd been managing the pandemic up until that point. But we've responded, and, you know, what we're seeing is as some states now moving past their peak, when we're seeing those curves on hospitalisations starting to turn in the larger states. That doesn't mean there's still not a tail on this. There is, of course there is. There always is. That's what the epidemiology always shows. And so we need to continue to get the balance right. But it's that balance that you're constantly adjusting. And a really good example of that was the discussion we had today about the extension of essential worker furlough arrangements, the close contact definitions, and whether we took the essential workers and applied it more broadly to the workforce, like the hospitality sector and groups like that, which I know would like that. But you've got to be careful what you wish for, because if you do have those arrangements in place, then it does have an impact of having people who are infected in the community, which has an impact on the, on the pathway of the virus. So we kept that balance there. Similarly, seven day, five days. I know some other countries are doing five days. That's fine. They'll make calls for their jurisdictions. We talked through the balance of risk on those things, and it is about where you set that risk, that risk dial, and we've chosen to keep it where it is on the seven-day arrangement. So, you know, keeping the combination of sensible measures and precautions, together with keeping the economy functioning by keeping the schools open and by, you know, seeing people come back into the workforce and all of these issues, that will ensure that our economy remains remains strong while we continue to protect the health of Australians at the same time. And today, you know, coming through a pandemic and seeing the unemployment rate fall to 4.2 per cent, and particularly for youth unemployment to fall below 10 per cent, this is a, this is showing what Australians can do under great adversity.
Journalist: Daniel Andrews has said in recent days that he believes that for an Australian to be fully vaccinated they may need to have three doses, that classification. Was there discussion of that today? And do you believe that is a step that we might take in the future?
Prime Minister: Well, I believe that's a step that you would take on the basis of medical advice. And that is, that is what we have been taking for for many, many weeks now. It's been an item of discussion for some time. The practical implications, though, I think are limited. Do I think everyone should seek to have a booster? Yes. Does it protect you more from Omicron? Yes, it does. Boosters are where we're putting enormous effort and Australians are responding in kind, and at this stage we're not seeing, I would say, General Frewen, any lack of demand for getting boosters, quite the opposite. And so whether it became a third dose or a booster, I think you’d continue to see people turning up and getting it, and that's the outcome we want. Whether it becomes formally a three dose program or a two dose with a booster, I will leave to the, to the medical experts to advise us. Paul, did you want to?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: I think my my job's done here, PM, you've summarised that well.
Prime Minister: I listen carefully.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thank you. But ATAGI is meeting - the the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, that reports to the Health Minister Minister Hunt - is meeting weekly now and it was a specific topic of their conversation at yesterday's meeting, on a Wednesday they meet. I met with the executive of ATAGI on Tuesday night and talked that through and the issues involved. I think, as the PM said, there's a number of implementation issues that would need to be considered, but I agree with what the PM has said. The third dose is clearly an important thing. If you have Omicron or Omicron is present, we know that does increase the protection against severe disease and against transmission and against infection.
Journalist: Could you see a moment where that becomes mandated, where it becomes mandatory, for instance, entry to venues and that sort of thing, to be fully vaccinated that you have to have that third shot?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So that's that's a matter that's in front of ATAGI, so we'll wait for their advice.
Prime Minister: But on mandates, I mean, there's been no change to the mandate policy of the Commonwealth Government and and the Commonwealth Government doesn't mandate those arrangements. They are decisions taken solely by states and territories. We have only supported mandates in the case of health and aged care settings and in certain disability settings. And there's been no change in the Commonwealth's view. And I know already that in some states they're doing mandates on boosters, but that is a matter that states are determining, not the Commonwealth Government, and the Commonwealth Government has no power to overturn that.
Journalist: So is the national return to school plan actually gone back to the states for them to make their own decisions based on where they are on the Omicron kind of peak and fall, and that some states might actually follow Queensland and delay the return to school? And while we're on that, I know the symptoms with amongst with, amongst children are a lot lower than for adults. But you talked about the furlough rate going from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. But if you've got kids in schools and Omicron starts spiking and they’re infecting adults, you know, there’s a, is there a potential that the furlough rate could go above 15 per cent because of the return to school?
Prime Minister: Well, that's not the advice we have. So that's not what's been presented to us and National Cabinet more broadly. That wasn't the basis of the work, that wasn't the finding of the work done both jointly with Doherty and and Treasury. And that's where that five per cent figure came from. And and and it took those matters into account, as I understand it. No, the the return to schools will be based on the national principles that were agreed last week. And that's what we agreed to do. There would be national principles and then states would implement their plans consistent with those principles, and that's what they have agreed to do. And what we're talking about is a matter of weeks. I mean, for example, it's a two-week difference between New South Wales and Queensland, but New South, but that will only come back to a one-week difference because the different times that schools go back. So we're talking about some rather minor differences between states and territories based on the particular situation they have in each of those jurisdictions. And so I don't think that's unreasonable. I mean, children don't go to school in two states. I mean, they go to school in one state, principally. I mean, there's a bit of a difference here between in the ACT because of the nature of New South Wales and the ACT. But outside of that, you know, parents will know exactly what's happening in their state where their kids are going to school, whether in the private schools or the public school system. And that will be based on on, you know, the further consideration of their states in what's best for their state.
Journalist: Again on surveillance testing at schools, so under the cost sharing arrangements that states could have with the Commonwealth, would that be for testing of both students and teachers and staff? And secondly, assuming that all states …
Prime Minister: Yes. If states elect to do that, yes.
Journalist: And assuming that all states and territories decide that they want to do it, the Commonwealth strikes agreements with with each of the states and territories. How confident are you and how confident can you be for parents that there would be supply to be able to consistently do the surveillance testing throughout term one and then the rest of the year?
Prime Minister: Well that is the exact consideration states are weighing up in deciding whether to proceed with such a program.
Journalist: But how confident are you?
Prime Minister: Well, I'm not in a position to talk to their supplies because they have full visibility on their supplies and they'll make those decisions based on that knowledge. That is not something the Commonwealth is managing. That's being done by the states.
Journalist: Prime Minister, sorry Jonno, Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick has had a go at you personally for criticising George Christensen’s stance on vaccines yesterday. He called you pathetic. How would you respond to this sort of language being directed at you by one of your own party members? Will there be any repercussions for him or is he allowed to speak his mind?
Prime Minister: I don't propose to do anything about it. I’m not that fussed by it.
Journalist: Professor Kelly, in regards to isolation requirements …
Prime Minister: I made very clear yesterday, they’re my position. Sometimes people disagree with me in my party room. That's okay, they can. But I don't agree with their assessment, and I don't think that's in the public health interest. Sorry, Jonno were you next, or? Ok you’ve been very gracious today.
Journalist: Just isolation requirements for the critical workforce who are close contacts and returning. Is there any evidence, advice or modelling and similar regarding potential infection rates of people returning without daily rapid antigen tests or, you know, with them has there, have we been watching what's happening in Canada and the US, for example? Or what impact could that have if, if you know what I mean, with just a test on the sixth day or a test in the interim period, as well? How effective is that in reducing infection rates?
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So look, it's a balance, as I’ve said, and the PM’s also said that, you know, I we know what the ideal is. If you, if you, in some countries we have a 21-days isolation period, but that in the current context of which would absolutely guarantee you would not be infectious outside of your house. Anything less than that …
Prime Minister: We’re not doing that. Just to be clear.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: And we’re, and we're not doing that and we're not doing that for a reason because of this issue we've had with the furloughing and absenteeism. And so every time you shorten that period, there is an increase in the risk of transmission. That can be mitigated in multiple ways, and the advice that was put out from AHPPC and adopted by National Cabinet in the last few weeks is very clear that there's a bunch of mitigation measures that you can do to make workplaces safer - masks, distancing, etcetera, etcetera. All of the things we know about - good hygiene, ventilation, etcetera. Rapid antigen tests or other testing regimes or indeed symptom symptom checking when people are coming is a, is a standard approach that many businesses and particularly in health care and aged care have been doing from the beginning of the pandemic. Rapid antigen tests is part of that, it's not the only thing, but it's the risk of balance, that balance of risk. There's a risk for not having a workforce. there’s a risk for people coming back a bit earlier, and we think we've got that balance right
Journalist: Back on schools, if you don't mind. Teachers will often say that the classroom is a giant petri dish. So I'm wondering, has there been any modelling done on the spread of the virus amongst students, which will naturally take it back to parents? Where are we at with potentially masks in the classroom in the new year? And Professor, if you don't mind, we've heard a lot now about how Omicron has been a game changer, but we know that Delta was also still running rampant in the community before we've had Omicron, and the borders have since come down and restrictions have since been eased. Is there any breakdown as to the percentage of Delta in the community versus Omicron at the moment? Or is it all just testing?
Prime Minister: Yeah, I’ll ask Paul to do that one. That was one of the issues we discussed today.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So there’s a number of questions there, I'll try to remember them all, but the the Delta versus Omicron, what we’ve found around the world is that Omicron is generally replacing Delta, but not completely. The we’re we because of the volume of cases, we're not doing whole genome testing on every single case anymore. So it's hard to know exactly in that 1.15 million that have happened this year, the cases that we've had this year, what exactly is happening in every individual of those. But we know at the severe end of the spectrum we are still doing a lot of whole genome sequencing. And over time, the percentage of Omicron has increased. So latest figures, from one state it was 98 per cent of their of their isolates. Another one, 95. So it's that sort of ballpark figure.
The other part of the question was about …
Journalist: Just in modelling for for schools in terms of the spread of the virus and and masks in schools. I know the Prime Minister talked about that might be an option.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Yeah, so so certainly it's similar to the previous answer. There's a lot of mitigations that can be done in schools and are being done. The general principle is high school, definitely, and at some, some in some states has been mandated, the use of masks. Primary school - some, some states mandating down to a certain level, others are very strongly encouraging.
In terms of what happens with children, there's a, there's a pre-print paper I was reading last night from New South Wales - so this is Delta, not not Omicron - but from last year, from June until through to December last year, they looked at 17,000 cases of children under the age of 16. There was four per cent of those ended up in hospital. Two thirds of those were because of social reasons, and there were only 15, I believe, that were in ICU. That gives you the sense that this is a very much mild illness in children. It's mild in Delta. We've looked at has there been any change in that hospitalisation, ICU rate in during the Omicron wave, and there hasn't been, so …
Journalist: Is there any modelling about them taking it back to their families? I know it won't necessarily affect them negatively, but their families in the community, the spread.
Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Look, there's that that chance. But there's again, there's that balance of keeping keeping that fundamental principle in place. We want kids back at school, we want them back on day one and to keep them at school as much as possible. And there are trade-offs for that in terms of transmission.
Prime Minister: The other point I’d make is, I remember early on in the pandemic, Paul, when, you know, the likely source of an infection for a child was actually at home. I mean, parents are out in the community, they're out in the community. And so, you know, the nature of Omicron is it's in, it's in many places and it's all over the, all over the place. So, you know, they're they're presented with risk in many places. But last one. Yep.
Journalist: Thanks, Prime Minister. With the unemployment rate the lowest point since 2008 and the tightening labour market, economists say we're yet to see that translate into upward pressure on wage growth or evidence of that. When do you expect to see wage growth start appearing? And on the second point, on the second point, given the unemployment rate, is it time to start thinking about fiscal consolidation and repairing the Budget deficit with the Budget upcoming?
Prime Minister: Well, the Budget will be in late March as we’ve we've already outlined, in terms of the timeframe for this year, because of obviously the electoral cycle, and all of these things and the forecasts will be updated through that process. I'm not going to venture a view on on what those predictions will be at this point. There are plenty of economists out there who will be making those predictions from the banks and others and I can direct you to their analysis at this point.
But today, to see unemployment fall to, as you say, the lowest level since 2008, and particularly to see youth unemployment fall below 10 per cent, this shows that the Australian economy, despite the challenges of this pandemic, the Australian economy has proved incredibly resilient and strong, and it reinforces the approach that our Government has taken from the very outset of this pandemic. It has been about saving lives, and it is also been about saving livelihoods. On saving lives, there'd be more than 40,000 Australians who would be dead today if we had the same experience of COVID of so many other like countries to Australia around the world. And we have an unemployment rate today where we have around 250,000 people more in jobs today than when the pandemic started. And that shows that we've been keeping people's livelihoods in place as well. Saving lives, saving livelihoods, protecting against the future, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. That's what our response has been delivering. Thank you very much, everyone.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
19 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Well, good morning everyone. I’m joined by the Treasurer for an announcement I’m going to make in a few minutes’ time. I just want to start by being very upfront with Australians, that I can assure you that I and all the members of my Government, and have no doubt all the premiers and chief ministers, understand just how frustrating this summer has been for all Australians. The Omicron variant, which has been with us for some seven weeks, has caused great disruption. That's not just true here in Australia, it's true all around the world. Go to Canada, go to the United States, go to Europe, go to the UK - you're seeing the same things. It's been incredibly frustrating. You’ve seen queues, you’ve seen rising cases, you’ve seen pressures on hospital systems, you’ve seen disruption of supply chains, you’ve seen shortages of tests, you’ve seen all of these in all of these countries all around the world. That is what Omicron has brought. But that is of no comfort to Australians who have had a frustrating and difficult and highly concerning summer, and that is something that we must continue to work together to push through.
This has been one of the biggest challenges through this pandemic, certainly not the first. We have been through many challenges over the course of this pandemic and I have stood here on countless occasions as we have outlined measure after measure after measure. Most notably when the Treasurer joined me back in 2020 and we announced the biggest economic support package the country has ever seen, that ensured that livelihoods and lives were saved by the direct actions of the Government supporting Australians right across the country, and that has continued. And Omicron is another big curveball from this pandemic, and over these last seven weeks we’ve been taking actions to address those impacts as best as we possibly can. No response is perfect, I can assure you of that. There's no country in the world that can claim that, including Australia or any of the states and territories. They would readily agree. But all leaders everywhere are doing everything they can to support their their citizens and their populations to get through this as best as we can, and to what end? To save lives and to save livelihoods and to make us as resilient as we possibly can be, as further waves of the pandemic strike, not just here, but all around the world.
So we understand the frustration and we share them and live them. We understand the great concerns, particularly in the early stage of Omicron several weeks ago when we knew it was contagious, but we didn't quite know then just how severe it could be. Good news - yes, it is much more contagious, we do know that - but the good news is that it's far less severe, some 75 per cent less severe, which has given us more options once we could have greater certainty about its severity impact. So we're not isolated. We're not isolated. And the real difference between Australia and so many other countries around the world are in two key areas.
The first one is - yes, other countries have problems with the impacts on aged care systems and health care systems, but in Australia, there are 40,000 more lives that have been saved. There are 40,000 and more people alive today than had we had the same experience of the average of other developed nations around the world. And that is a great credit to Australians and it's a great credit to the way that we’ve been able to push through from the start. It hasn't been without challenge, it hasn't been without loss, it hasn't been without frustration and difficulty, and the natural anger that I know flows from that. But that's where we are - doing better than almost any other country in the world when it comes to even the large number of more than 350 deaths in the course of the past week, our death rate that relates to Omicron is one of the lowest in the world. So we have to keep pushing through because we’ve demonstrated that resilience and the actions we’ve been taking to deal with Omicron have been many.
As we face Omicron, we must respect it, but we should not fear it. We must respect it with sensible, balanced rules, sensible precautions, but at the same time, not shutting Australia away, not locking ourselves up, not destroying people's livelihoods and bringing our society to a halt. That is not the future. That is the past. And one of the key reasons we can say that is because of the extraordinary work Australians have done in going out and getting vaccinated, and Australia has one of the highest vaccination rates of developed countries or any country anywhere in the world. And this is something Australians have achieved and we continue to move forward in that area, and I'll come to that in a sec.
So sensible, balanced rules are in place in Australia to deal with Omicron. It isn't a policy of just letting it go. That is a complete falsehood. In Australia, we have isolation and we have testing where necessary. We have masks and distancing rules. We have density arrangements tailored to the circumstances in each state and territory. We have strong border controls which we stand up for and we protect. And we have vaccination programs which, particularly for five to 11-years-olds, is what have been the fastest five to 11-year-old vaccination take-up rates we’ve seen anywhere in the world.
Over the course of this summer, this frustrating summer for Australians, we have got $9.8 billion that we announced in MYEFO to support the health effort, which brings our total investment in the health response in the pandemic to $34.8 billion. $308.6 million on primary health, telehealth, mental health supports. $180 million alone just in supporting our GPs to deal and support patients who have COVID. Our 50-50 National Partnership Agreement with the states and territories which is funding hospitals, which is funding testing. Remember, there are free tests available to everyone who needs one because they are symptomatic and close contact. There are free tests available to those who are working in health care and in aged care and other important settings such as that. There are free tests available to over 6.5 million concession card holders which starts on Monday, and these tests are being also provided to vulnerable communities, in Indigenous communities, where needed, and in other specific groups which we will discuss further when National Cabinet meets this week. Ten million rapid antigen tests provided to the states by the Commonwealth point of care, and of course the vaccine programs which continue to roll out. Our Pandemic Leave Payment - $331 million has been provided in Pandemic Leave Payments. $95 million of that has been in January alone. We’ve had 55,000 of those payments made this month. In December, it was 8,800. So I want to thank the Services Australia staff, because those, they've been working through the summer, like many of us, to ensure that people could get those payments they needed. Now it's not like it was during the lockdowns where people are in isolation for weeks and weeks and weeks on end, when we had the Pandemic Leave, we had the Pandemic Disaster Payments. But having to take that seven days and not being able to go to work and to be able to make, access that payment has been important, and 55,000 Australians have been able to receive that this month alone, and we continue to ensure that the rules around the Pandemic Leave Payments are closely tied and reflect the health decisions that are being made in relation to people's furloughing requirements.
We extended the biosecurity emergency period back last month in December. National Cabinet has been meeting weekly and making decisions as part of our national response. We provided in the vaccination program an additional $10 payment to both GPs and pharmacists to really support the vaccination program over the summer. And in just 10 days, one in five children aged five to 11 in this country have had their first dose, in just 10 days. And that puts Australia at the top of the pack when it comes to the roll out of those five to 11-year-old vaccines. 27.72 per cent of Australians aged over 18 have had their booster. 236,338 had them yesterday. 95 per cent and more of Australians over the age of 16 have had their first dose. 92.7 per cent have had their second dose. That's what's been happening over the summer.
Workforce has been a particular challenge, and the Treasurer will speak more to this, but workforce was a challenge before the pandemic, and the Government was already taking actions in that area, as we had been over some years, particularly in the area of skills and training, which I'll reflect on in just a moment. But particularly to deal with the challenges of disruption in the workplace - same challenge you’ve seen with the health workforce, aged workforce in countries all around the world. They have these problems in Ottawa like they have them in New South Wales. They have these problems over in the UK just like we have them here, or in France or in Spain or in Germany or in any of these places. They have the same problems that we're dealing with here with disruption to workforces.
Close contact rules were changed for essential workforces, and that definition of "essential workforces" was expanded. The Treasurer can tell you that in the work on supply chain management, that those changes are having an impact and we are seeing some of those shortages alleviated, particularly in the poultry sector which is, I’ve spent a lot of time on the poultry sector in the last week, and we're getting those those poultry sections, those that poultry sector back on a good footing, and but things were pretty tight there for a week or two, in particular. And I want to thank all those leaders in the poultry sector that have worked closely with us, to trouble-shoot and fix some of the immediate problems they had which can ensure that we could maintain continuity of those food supplies. Everyone at the National Coordinating meetings, Joe Buffone in particular, Karen Andrews previously, and of course the Treasurer most recently after his return from having COVID himself.
Private hospital agreement that we put in place at the start of the pandemic - that is now delivering 100,000 extra health care staff, including 57,000 nurses, to support our public hospital system and aged care. That's what preparation is. We put that in place in 2020 and we have drawn on it consistently to be able to draw more workforce in. Now, there aren't magic workforces that can just turn up and provide the sort of care that you need in health care. You need to have people who are trained, and that is true also in aged care. There is not some shadow workforce that sits in the Defence Forces or somewhere else that can automatically just replace furloughed staff because they have COVID. And so that does mean there are shortages and you have to make changes, and I want to thank all those working in the hospital system who’ve been making those to ensure that they can continue not only to support patients who have COVID, but also patients who need necessary treatment in our hospitals.
We have revised the ADF Civilian Assistance Protocol for the Defence Forces and Australian Public Service Support. In November we had start to scale that down. That was pre-Omicron because of the situation we’re in, and there was not the need for that ADF support that had previously been needed in earlier waves. That has been revised over the course of Omicron and the proof of that is there are some 20 ADF drivers who'll be in Victoria supporting their paramedics, and there is additional staff and planners who are going down to support that task in response to the request made by the Premier to me. And also 000 call support centre staff coming out of the Australian Public Service. We don't always meet every single request from the ADF. Sometimes we can meet it from Australian Public Service personnel and we make them available. So 000 call centre is a good example. Contact tracing is another one. The Commonwealth is seeking to support where we can with the people that we have.
On skills and training, $6.4 billion this year alone is being spent on skills and training. That is double what it was before the pandemic. We have doubled skills and training investments by the Government today compared to before the pandemic. One of the first things the Treasurer and I did in the pandemic was ensure that we held on to those apprentices. Even before JobKeeper, the decision we made to give wage subsidies to keep apprentices in their jobs, ensured that those apprentices who would have lost their jobs in the early days of their pandemic, are now two years further on in their training and are working in our economy and keeping our economy functioning. They were the most vulnerable workers in the entire labour force and we moved on keeping them in their apprentices as a, as a top priority as part of our initial economic response. And today, we have a record number of apprentices in trade training - over 220,000. That is the highest number since records began in 1963. No Government has been able to get more trade apprentices in training than this Government, and it's been done in the middle of a pandemic because we need to get Australians solving this workforce challenge.
Unemployment - where it is today at 4.6 per cent - obviously means we’ve got a tight labour market but they’re, we are working, and yesterday there was an important meeting between Anne Ruston and and employers about how we can even better connect Jobactive with the urgent needs of the workforce in those particular critical sectors, and tying the Jobactive providers even more into the priorities that are coming back through the response from those industries.
We have been working to reduce the regulatory requirements in the trucking sector and others. You know the changes we made to the testing arrangements for truck drivers. There are other changes that need to be made and they're at a state level, and I'm continuing to pursue those with the states. There are changes that we need to make around the age of forklift drivers, to get quite specific. There are changes we need to make that Kiwis who are living in Australia, resident in Australia, who have truck licences can drive trucks. That needs to be changed at state level to ensure that can be done all around the country.
I highlight these to you to demonstrate the level of detail that the Government is working through to ensure that we can try and alleviate all of the challenges that we're facing right across the workforce. One of the big ones is the occupational health and safety. Now the clear medical advice to me from the Chief Medical Officer, that except in quite specific circumstances, like aged care or health workforces and things of that nature, there is no requirement for workers to be tested on a daily basis with rapid antigen tests. That is not the medical advice. Those resources should be targeted towards the priority sectors like health and aged care and other critical sectors that are identified, things like meat processing, for example, where there is a much higher rate of infection that occurs in those workplaces, and that is where those resources should be directed. It is not the medical advice for rapid antigen testing to be a requirement for a safe workplace broadly across the Australian economy. And seeking to impose that would not only frustrate the supplies, but it would impose further burdens on our employers at a time when we're seeking to ensure that our economy can push through.
We’ve relaxed the 20-hour rule, and I should say all of that can be clarified by states and territories now. They can change that right now by regulation and make it very clear that daily testing of workers in workplaces is not a requirement of meeting the OH&S regulations. That would provide immediate relief, I think, in those workplaces in enabling getting more people back at work. But that's a matter for the states and territories. We’ve been trying to land that now for a couple of weeks, and are not making the progress I would like to see happen. So those states who want to get their workers back, that is one thing they can do today to ensure that they can alleviate those workforce shortages.
We’ve relaxed the 20-hour rule when it comes to student visas and that they can be working more than 20 hours. I want to stress, though, when it comes to working holiday makers, that we haven't changed any of the rules around the regional requirements. That's very important because we still need people working in those regional areas. We don't want them coming off the farm and coming into the city. We need them out there and we need them in the city as well. And that's why today we're making a further announcement on visas to support the workforce challenge. What we'll be doing is we will be rebating the visa application fees from all those who arrive today - today, and going forward - for students over the next eight weeks, and that is a fee of some $630. And there are around 150,000 students who have visas who we are encouraging to come back to be there for the start of their university or college year, and that is a thank you to them for coming back and continuing to choose Australia. But we also want them to come here and be able to be filling some of these critical workforce shortages, particularly those who are working and being trained in health care, aged care, those types of sectors. That will be incredibly helpful. And that will be for the next eight weeks. So visa application fees rebated when you arrive in Australia, and that will be done through the Department of Home Affairs and that will be eight weeks from today.
The second one is for backpackers, and we'll be rebating their visa application fee, and there are some 23,500 backpackers who have visas to come to Australia right now. And my message to them is - come on down. Come on down now, because you’re wanted to come to Australia, you’ve got your visa. We want you to come to Australia and enjoy a holiday here in Australia, move all the way, all the way around the country, and at the same time join our workforce and help us in our agricultural sector, in our hospitality sector, and so many of the other parts of the, of the economy that rely on that labour, that workforce right now. And we'll be supporting that with a $3 million that we’ll be giving to Tourism Australia to support a marketing program to target backpackers and students to get them out. For backpackers, it will be 12 weeks, 12 weeks from today. If they turn up within the next 12 weeks, they will get their visa application fee rebated by the Department of Home Affairs. Anyone who applies for one and turns up within the next 12 weeks, they will also have their visa application fee rebated.
So Australia continues to prove resilient despite the frustrations and the very genuine concerns. We are proving resilient. Our health system, despite a lot of pressure, is holding up, but we’ve got challenges further ahead as the crest of this Omicron wave is either upon us now or will become upon us in states over the next few weeks. Our rate of fatalities still remains one of the lowest in the world and
has actually fallen further compared to other countries during the Omicron strain. Our economy continues to push through despite the significant challenges and the support we are providing is designed to achieve just that. And the protection that Australia has, not just today, but the measures we're announcing are supporting us into the future and the challenges we'll face in the weeks and months ahead - that protection through vaccination, improving the balance sheets of our businesses, getting our workforce that we need to drive our economy, will enable us to have the confidence to push through. Josh.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. It was 678 days ago that the Prime Minister and I stood in this courtyard and announced a $17.6 billion stimulus package for Australian households and businesses at the start of the pandemic. Little did we know then what we know now. Two years of hardship. Australians subject to curfews and lockdowns. And families and friends separated for extended periods of time. But what we do know is that over the last two years, Australians have pulled together. And that the Morrison Government has pulled out all stops to help Australians get through this pandemic.
There are enormous challenges right now. Our hospital system is under great pressure and our thoughts are with those selfless and professional health care workers who do an amazing job on the frontline and those Australians who are in hospital right now with COVID. And dare I say it, those who are in ICU or on ventilators as well. Our supply chains are under pressure as high levels of absenteeism goes through the economy as the Omicron variant has spread.
But I can tell you that the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong. And that what we have seen over the last two years as, is that the Australian economy has bounced back. It's been resilient. Take jobs - our unemployment rate today is at 4.6 per cent. This is around a 13-year low. Job ads are more than 30 per cent higher than at the start of the pandemic. As the Prime Minister said, our wage subsidy for apprentices has seen a record number of people in a trade apprentice today - 220,000 Australians. JobKeeper saved the economy and more than 700,000 jobs. And the projections in MYEFO and from independent economists and the Reserve Bank is for the unemployment rate to continue to come down from here, even despite the challenges that we face.
With respect to business investment, there's $200 billion of non-mining business investment that is planned over the coming year. And the Business investment incentives that we’ve put in successive budgets have helped achieve that outcome despite this recession. Housing investment - last year there were 150,000 building approvals off the back of programs like HomeBuilder. That's more than 30 per cent higher than the last five-year average. Australia's maintained its AAA credit rating, one of only nine countries in the world to do so from the three leading credit rating agencies, despite all these economic problems and challenges that we’ve faced.
And we know that Australians have accumulated $360 billion on balance sheets - both households and business - as a result of record economic support from the Federal Government and, indeed, state governments, and through unprecedented tax cuts, that is providing more money and disposable income, rewarding effort and encouraging aspiration. So there is good reason to be confident and resilient about our economy.
Now, the Prime Minister referenced the challenges that we face with respect to supply chains. In recent days, I was with Coles workers at a distribution centre in Laverton. 600 workers, many who have been absent. But they were working hard to ensure that the food made its way to the supermarkets and then to people's kitchens. And they said the changes that the Prime Minister led through National Cabinet have made a real difference to their ability for their operations to keep going.
Yesterday the Assistant Treasurer and I were at Cameron trucking business, a family-owned business nearly 50 years’ strong, that has nearly 1,000 workers. And again, it said that those changes that we had made through the isolation requirements through National Cabinet had made a real difference on the ground to allow that trucking business to keep going. So it's changes around isolation that have made a real difference.
It's changes to the visa requirements and the working requirements of people on visas that is going to make a real difference. Today we're opening up an opportunity for 175,000 more students and working holiday makers to come to Australia. We're putting out the welcome mat to 175,000 students and working holiday makers to come to Australia and to take up this opportunity by ensuring that they get rebated that visa application charge.
The Prime Minister is working through the National Cabinet on a schools plan to ensure that our schools open at the start of term one and stay open, and that's going to be critical for the workforce as well. We're rolling out the booster shots in record numbers. And, of course, we're getting the vaccines to young Australians to ensure that they also have this line of defence.
Finally, Australia's performance through this pandemic, as the Prime Minister has said, has not been perfect, but nobody's response has been perfect. But we are in a very, very strong position, relative to the rest of the world, given that we’ve faced a once-in-a-century pandemic and the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression. The fatality rate in the United States per head of population has been 24 times that of Australia. The fatality rate in the United Kingdom from COVID has been 21 times that of Australia, and Australia's output in terms of both GDP and employment outcomes has been better than any major advanced economy across the rest of the world.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on isolation rules, would you consider following the United States and the UK, slashing it for COVID positive people from seven days to five? Is that under active consideration given the workplace shortages?
PRIME MINISTER: All of these things are always under active consideration and that has been for some time. The most recent information that we have is that post-five days you’ve still got 30 per cent that are remaining infectious. And so that is a calibrated decision you’ve got to make. What I'm pleased about is that the the measures that we’ve we’ve have announced and are already taking are having impact. I mean, the difference between standing before you today and a week ago has been quite significant. I mean, a lot of that is yet to be seen, I understand, on the shelves, but where, you know, the challenges were - I mentioned particularly the poultry sector and others, the trucking industry and so on - a lot of those peak pressures that we were seeing, we're seeing some relief for that. It's not back to where we’d want it to be, but the trajectory is right. So we're going to take medical advice on that, and I know the Chief Medical Officer has many sleepless nights over this one because we ask him about it regularly, and he is constantly talking to his colleagues overseas - places Israel, UK and many other places - to to understand what the experience there is, and so if he's in a position to tell me that we can make a change like that, then, of course, that would be something that we would proceed with. But at the moment, that is not the advice, and until we have such advice, then I think it is prudent - because I say, we're we’re living with the virus with balanced, sensible rules, restrictions. They're not lockdowns, they're not those things, we’ve moved past all that. But we are respecting this virus, but we're not fearing it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said it had been a frustrating summer for Australians who had been waiting for rapid antigen tests. You started talking about these tests in June last year, didn't order them for the aged care sector until August, didn't have them in the country for at-home use until December. Knowing that cases would increase when you open up, is it not a reflection on your leadership that you didn't get these tests into the country sooner and preventing the frustrations that Australians have endured over the Christmas and summer period? And on George Christensen's anti-vaccination comments, he's been dancing this line for some time. Why have you allowed him the freedom to be able to say what he has said?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll come back to the comments about George in one moment. On the first issue, on rapid antigen tests, the Government was in the market for those in August. The priority at that time, of course, was to be rolling out the vaccination program. In August I was securing additional Pfizer doses, I think at that time from Poland and the UK and others. And as a result, we met what we said we'd do last year, and that was to get Australia double vaccinated over the course of that year, and we in fact got that done according to our own targets in October like we originally said we would. Rapid antigen tests for the Commonwealth Government are are a responsibility to provide them in aged care sectors, and that's why, as you rightly say, we were doing that in August. I, we accept our share of the responsibility when it comes to providing the tests that we are responsible to provide. States and territories have always had the responsibility providing those tests in their states, just like the PCR tests. PCR tests are free at testing centres. Rapid antigen tests are free and, so, you know, we were working with the, with the states and territories. But you make some assumptions about what demand would be back in June or August. In June or August we were in Delta. In June or August we were not in Omicron. And Omicron completely changed all of the expectations. All of them.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] modelling that said opening up the country with fewer restrictions would lead to a significant increase in cases?
PRIME MINISTER: Nothing like what we're seeing here and to suggest that the Omicron expectation was the same as what was before under Delta, is just simply false and so rapid antigen tests, I remind everybody, even as late as October and November, were not the recommended testing resource by our medical experts. They were not. Their recommendation was that we should remain with PCR tests and that's what should be used to be confirming cases, not rapid antigen tests. That was the medical advice. Now Omicron has changed everything for one simple reason. Volume. PCR tests are no less effective. They are still the gold standard. Rapid antigen tests are no more effective. They are no more able to provide a reliable result than they were back in November. What has changed is the level of demand, and that happened because of Omicron. And it's not just Australia. I mean, if you could in countries and there are very few, in fact, I'm only aware of the UK, where they have a universal policy, which is that they're not able to actually deliver upon, I mean, people who want them can't get them there either. But are you suggesting that their testing regime has meant that they haven't had a rapid escalation in cases? Of course, they have. The rapid antigen tests are not a cure. The vaccine is what protects. And that's why we have channelled our efforts into those vaccines. And that's why one of the other areas we're working in the workforce is targeting pop up booster programmes in essential workforces. So I understand that those rapid antigen test shortages have been a great frustration. But a lot of these comments are made with hindsight, not foresight. And Australia can still say that we have the lowest death rate, strongest economy and highest vaccination rates in the world. We have been able to secure supplies of rapid antigen tests for the things the Commonwealth was responsible for providing them for in aged care. But even that has been strained now because of Omicron and Omicron means we've had more outbreaks than we would have otherwise expected under Delta. And so we had the resources to do surveillance testing, but those resources have been strained because of the outbreak requirements that we've had to respond to in aged care. So that's how you deal with the virus. You respond to it.
Now on George Christensen. I don't think I could have been any clearer yesterday. Don't listen to George Christensen. He's not a doctor. He can't tell you what to do with vaccines. I listen to Professor Paul Kelly and their advice is children should be vaccinated. And so I would strongly encourage people not to follow that advice. Now, you know, Australia is a free country. We can't go around locking people up for what they say as Australians. I'm sure the media wouldn't be suggesting we're doing that. He is allowed to speak his mind, but Australians shouldn't be listening to him.
JOURNALIST: There were warnings in December about rising case numbers. So I'm wondering what action did the government take in December on the supply of rapid antigen tests? I've got family and friends who've got COVID. They cannot find tests. I know I'm not alone. That's a widespread experience. So my question for you also on this is, do you accept any responsibility for the federal government to fix that shortage that people are seeing at their local pharmacy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in Australia in December, we approved $116 million for the funding of rapid antigen tests, and that order now is over 75 million. And at that time, we had already secured the supplies of 10 million rapid antigen tests and it was two weeks ago I think now that, which is just out of December, we committed to provide 10 million rapid antigen tests, point of care tests, to the states and territories. So the supplies, I should stress in the private market, in pharmacies and so on. Australia's experience of the earlier waves of the virus were completely different, and that's what the chief medical officer said at one of the presentations we had over the last few weeks. Very different. We didn't have the spiralling numbers of cases like other countries were experiencing, which had led them to go to the lesser option of rapid antigen tests. The advice was we could stay with the PCR tests and that those PCR tests were able to be done in the earlier waves of the virus. So rapid antigen tests were not being widely used in Australia for pretty much all of the pandemic up until we hit December, and Omicron arrived. So in the private sector, they hadn't been stocking their shelves and orders in the same way that would have been occurring in other countries where it was more of a common use tool. Because in Australia, the medical advice was it wasn't as effective as a tool which could provide misleading results compared to PCRs. And the medical advice was to prefer the PCRs. So that explains why the private market wouldn't have been doing the forward orders that they might otherwise have been doing. They had no more a crystal ball about Omicron than anyone else did, and but there were already supplies in other countries because they were already using them. So this is my point. Omicron changed everything, and it particularly changed it for Australia because this is the first time we've seen in this pandemic the rapid escalation in cases like we've seen in other countries, in earlier parts of the pandemic. The key difference is it's less deadly, it's less severe. And this is a virus that we can best cope with with our hospital system, despite the pressure that is there.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] to fix the pharmacy shortage or is, are you leaving the market to look after itself when people are queuing at pharmacies to try and find RAT kits?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, where we have food shortages, where we have other shortages, another key issue that we were able to address over the summer was AdBlue and the requirement for that for Diesel to keep our trucks running. Now that was another shortage that was in place, and I was able last year working with Angus Taylor to ensure that we could work to get a private sector outcome, which we've been able to deliver, which has meant the trucks can keep running. Now you may not have heard too much about that because the problem was averted. That was another important thing going on over the summer. So we do work through industry when supply shortages emerge. But whether it's in supermarkets or in other places like that, they are placing their orders just like state governments are and the Commonwealth government is and they've been able to source those orders and they're being able to source supply. The lag in supply was a function of the rapid change in demand that occurred after the introduction of Omicron.
JOURNALIST: Occupational health and safety rules may no longer require low risk businesses to do daily or regular RAT testing. But you can understand why the private sector would want to protect their business given the impact of isolation rules on staff shortages. So is this change, this call out to the states and territories to make their rules clearer simply a response to the lack of supply of RATs? Would it be a problem if there was an abundance of rapid tests in Australia, if businesses continued to require regular testing of their staff?
PRIME MINISTER: What I'm seeking to clarify for business, what a business may choose to do of its own volition is up to them. What I'm seeking to clarify is that there is no obligation on them to do it because businesses will be doing it, I know are doing it, that's their response to us in the consultation we have because they believe they are required to do it by the OH&S laws. And so what we are seeking to do is remove that obligation. And so if businesses choose to go and do the other thing, well, that's a matter for them and they can choose to do that. But they shouldn't feel they're obliged to do it when our medical advice is, they shouldn't be required to do it.
JOURNALIST: Just in regards to the student and backpackers, what sort of jobs do you see them filling? And do states with lingering international quarantine requirements potentially miss out on the benefit or sort of have a bit of a lag effect on on any sort of flow through in alleviating those workforce shortages?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as you know, we reintroduced student and backpacker visas back in December when they started coming back, which was great and they still must satisfy, so there's over 20,000 backpackers who have an eligible visa. When they turn up at the border, of course, they will have to be double vaccinated like anybody else, and they will face the same quarantine arrangements that are enforced and required by the states. Now for New South Wales and Victoria, that won't be as big an issue. Other states, I would be encouraging to look at those rules to ensure that they can get those critical workers in because the clear medical advice, you're more likely to catch that from somebody who's already here. And so if we're only allowing, as we do, double vaccinated people in the country, they've already taken that precaution and they present a lower risk. And so I think that commends itself to a relaxation of those quarantine arrangements for vaccinated arrivals.
JOURNALIST: You know that George Christensen isn't like any other person talking about anti-vaccination sentiment. He's a government member. Is George Christensen taking you for a ride?
PRIME MINISTER: He's not a candidate for the government at the next election, and George has been putting these views now for some time. I'm not seeking to amplify them. In fact, I don't think anyone should be paying attention to him on this issue at all. And anyone who was also pushing those views. I don't think, you know, those who said people shouldn't take the AstraZeneca vaccine. I don't think people should listen to those views either. And you know, people hold those views on the other side of politics, but it's a free country, people are allowed to say what they think. But, you know, we don't have to listen to them and we don't have to amplify their views. And I'm certainly not seeking to do that. I think they're unwise views. I think they're dangerous views. I don't think parents should be listening to them. That's certainly the medical advice I have from the chief medical officer, and that's consistent with the advice you get anywhere in the world. And what I do say parents, is this. I know parents as they're considering their children's vaccine, they want information and they want good information, and they want credible information to help them make their choice about their children's vaccination, particularly for young ones, 5 to 11. Now my daughters are older than that, but Josh's kids aren't. You want the best information. So my advice to them is to get the best information from the official sources. Don't go off to things that are people are just rabbiting on on Facebook and social media and all the rest of it. You're not going to find answers there. You're not going to find things that can help you there. Go to the credible sources information on vaccines, and George Christensen is not one of them.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] that is within your power to do, to kick him out of the party room. Why don't you do that, given that he holds dangerous views, in your words?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think the more important thing to do is just simply to say that his views are not the government's views. They have in no way whatsoever influenced government policy at all. And the greater attention people give to his views, which is not the government, then I can only encourage those to simply ignore him.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just given you've noted the success of the relaxed isolation requirements you've already put in. Are you extending, is national cabinet going to consider extending those to other sectors such as hospitality and retail? And this may be one for the Treasurer, but I know you've noted that you've seen success so far. Is that anecdotally or is there any data behind that to prove that these measures are working?
PRIME MINISTER: The Treasurer will comment that, none of our rules are set and forget. And so it's the same question as the seven day or five day. That will be based on medical advice. We've got a number of states now, New South Wales I've said it a couple of times now, has probably already passed their peak. That's that's our understanding. That could have occurred by now. It's certainly a view within New South Wales. Victoria is either approaching it or possibly there as well. Queensland is still a few more weeks away, and so those issues are quite relevant in terms of when you could look at broader scale changes than that about how it might play into the acceleration of some of those issues or worsening a peak. And so they're the things that the medical experts are carefully considering, but those sorts of things are certainly not off the table. And if they're safe to do, I think they would make a lot of sense to do.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: No, not that isn't. No. But it is still being considered by the AHPPC, the medical expert panel. It has been a regular item of review, and when the medical advice is that we could safely do that, then I think you can expect that we will. And I don't think that's too far away because it is under active review and that's what we've asked for. Josh.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: And also to point out that national cabinet has expanded that group well beyond the food production supply chain. So you've got telecommunications, you've got energy, you've got water, you've obviously got teachers because schools are going to be critical. And I point you to the the analysis by Treasury, which was presented by the Secretary to the national cabinet last week, which is, at any one point in time as we head towards that peak of the Omicron variant, we could see 10 per cent of our workforce, that's 1.3 million Australian workers who were absent, and that could be five per cent higher. An additional 740,000 people could be absent if our schools were closed or our childcare centres were also closed. And that's why it's so important to put together that school plan. That evidence that we've had coming in is is anecdotal, but is coming from industry bodies as well as individual players. And obviously this is early early days and that will be more formalised.
Just one other thing I'd add in terms of the student visa charges that and the backpacker charges that are now being rebated, that's at an expected cost of $55 million. And to give you some numbers currently, as both the prime minister and I have said, there's 150,000 students offshore. There are now 324,000 students onshore. There are 23,500 working holidaymakers offshore and 18,500 onshore. So that is, I think, a welcome initiative. Opening it, opening up to a much broader cohort.
PRIME MINISTER: Since that opened up in December, which is great, they're coming back for the start of college and university, backpackers have been slower. That's why I want to put a bigger, even bigger effort into the backpackers to get them back. But we've seen quite a number come back, but we'd like to see those numbers escalate. But just going back to national cabinet, the schools issue is our focus now, whether all the states and territories will agree to the same set of arrangements, I can't promise you that. You know, the states and territories often have different views about these things, and at the end of the day, they're responsible for their schooling system and they're responsible for public health in their states and territories. And ultimately, they're going to make decisions that they believe is best for their own jurisdictions. We are seeking to harmonise that as much as possible. We are seeking to provide consistent support to measures that they want to be able to do and been working those through, particularly with the largest states in New South Wales and Victoria. But the Treasurer is right. If schools don't open and stay open, that's another five per cent of your workforce that gets taken out and that has a very serious impact. And that was the point we looked at last week. Jen.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I just get an update on the devastation out of Tonga please? And also your reaction to the tragic story out of New South Wales today about the man that's been charged over the death of the missing nine year old girl?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, look first of all on, well, let me deal with the second matter. I've been following this privately, and this matter in New South Wales, a young girl from the Blue Mountains area, and I can't imagine what the parents and the community have been going through. I want to thank all those who've been getting around that family and providing love and support to them. I want to thank also those who have been involved in the search operations and the police operations for the sensitivity, I know that they will be showing to that family. And I hope for the best. You pray for it, but it doesn't always occur. And so my thoughts and prayers are frankly with with the family today and that that little girl and I hope she's all right. I really do. I'm sure we all do. Let's hope that that has a good ending. And if that's someone who's been brought to justice, then that is also very important.
On the other issue in relation to Tonga, I hadn't had an update on that case, by the way, this morning before coming out here, on the other issue of Tonga, as I met with, by phone, with the Prime Minister of New Zealand the other day, and we're working together with flights that are going there and we're providing aid support. It is a very difficult environment to be operating in the ash clouds and things of that nature. Minister Seselja has been directly engaging on that issue with counterparts. I'll probably speak to the Prime Minister later today and because communications have been a challenge over the last little while. I really feel, it's a very small island community in Tonga, and there are a lot of Australians of Tongan descent and who have family and friends, and many Australians have visited there. So they would be expecting us to do everything we can to stand with our Pacific family in Tonga and and their faithful community and their beautiful community. And I'm sure they'll be supporting each other, but they need us now and they're getting our help.
JOURNALIST: Just to confirm, have you received the formal request from the Tongan Prime Minister from from Tonga, from the Tongan Government for assistance for humanitarian assistance and considering the serious nature and just the devastation that this volcano has occurred, will Australia consider increasing its long term aid to the nation?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've always been prepared to provide a support to our Pacific family whenever they've needed it. And and that's exactly what we're doing in Tonga. It's exactly what we're doing in Papua New Guinea. It's exactly what we're doing right now in the Solomon Islands. It's exactly what we did in Samoa when they had their outbreaks there previously. I mean, any time a Pacific nation has called on us for support, we have always said yes. And so, you know, I'll be talking to the Prime Minister, I hope later today, communications allowing. And we can run through whatever else they might need. But our Defence Forces have stood up their operation and are and are deploying as necessary and as directed, so we feel deeply for our family in Tonga.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, back on rapid antigen tests. There are reports coming out of South Australia that other states might have requisitioned rapid antigen tests. There are some claims that the federal government might have redirected rapid antigen tests as well. Is there any truth to that? Has the federal government redirected rapid antigen tests destined for other states? And on hospitals, do you anticipate that other states will follow in the footsteps of Victoria in announcing Code Browns imminently?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the second matter, we'll be getting an update tomorrow as we do at every national cabinet meeting on the status of each of the hospital systems around the country. And that will include an update on the situation in Victoria from Premier Andrews. So we'll have further information on that tomorrow.
On the other issue, there have been some absurd allegations made over the, particularly over the summer, the allegations that the Commonwealth has redirected supplies of rapid antigen tests, or indeed that the Commonwealth has impounded private supplies or sought to frustrate private supplies. None of this is true. I have no idea where that's coming from and you know, it just floats around on social media and then it gets reported. I mean, something happening on social media isn't a story. It's usually just rubbish.
JOURNALIST: The sector says there's more than a thousand outbreaks and predictions that possibly or more than half of aged care homes across the country could have outbreaks by the end of the week. It was your responsibility to secure the RAT tests for that sector, which you have told us repeatedly. The sector hasn't had enough supplies to be able to conduct adequate surveillance to prevent those outbreaks in the first place. Do you take responsibility for the situation we're seeing in aged care at the moment, we are seeing elderly, vulnerable people confined to their rooms for sometimes weeks at a time. And just quickly on another issue, if I may. On Monday, you said that those held in the Park Hotel in Melbourne were not refugees. Most of them are. 25 of them are. Do you apologise for that mistake? Or if you, if you're now aware that that is not the case, is it appropriate that some of those people have been held in detention for more than eight years?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with the first matter. Well, aged care is the government's responsibility, and we have procured supplies for aged care surveillance testing going back as far as August. And Omicron has put further strains on those, and that's why we've secured additional supplies. It was a long question, I'm only about like 30 seconds into the answer. And so we are providing, particularly at the moment, tests to support areas of outbreaks because that has become a higher priority to ensure we put the test in outbreaks. What is important, though, even more important in aged care, is that, you know, we've got them double vaccinated and rapidly well over halfway through having them boosted as well. And that's why we're not seeing in aged care the the number of tragedies that we saw during the dreadful wave that we saw back in 2020. So the precautionary action to make our aged care system more resilient is getting a very different outcome this time than we saw in the first wave. Now, the biggest challenges we have in aged care is workforce. That is the reason why you have the challenges of people not having enough workforce in aged care that has led to them having to have different arrangements in aged care in terms of how care is being delivered. Now that is very frustrating and I know it is very challenging for the aged care sector, but aged care workers are in short supply. They're in short supply in every country that is facing this crisis. You'll find it in Canada, the UK, Europe and the United States. You'll find it everywhere. So it's not unique to Australia and the surveillance tests and the tests that are there to ensure that we can deal with the outbreaks, which means these outbreaks have been well managed. Now in many of these cases, I'm advised that these outbreaks involve a staff member. They're not we're not seeing as much of the virus in the actual resident population. Now a big part of that is we have very high rates of vaccination for those who are in aged care and indeed now with booster shots. For those aged over 70, we've got more than 50 per cent of the over 70 population who's had their booster shots. So that has provided a strong resilience. I mean, Omicron is going to move far more quickly than the previous strains of the virus. And so it is not unexpected that we would see the virus getting to more places, but it is not having the same devastating effect that it had previously. So yes, we are responsible for the aged care sector and I we are doing everything we can to support them in providing that care and support that is needed through workforce and through rapid antigen testing and booster clinics and other things that are being done to support them and where possible, are providing additional workforce and in acute situations. As I said before, the Defence Forces are not a surrogate aged care workforce. They can't just make those problems go away. They will continue to be challenges in aged care. That is a problem of the virus. And it's a problem that has been seen in many jurisdictions.
Now on the other matter. I didn't make the statement that every single person was who was in that place was not a refugee. I said that was, to my understanding, the case with some people who were there. There are a number of people who were at that facility who have not been found to be owed protection.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] I'm asking about the 25 people …
PRIME MINISTER: They are all in various stages, various stages of the pathway to where they will ultimately be located. Now, as I can tell you, as it was confirmed to me this morning that those who are there, with some obvious exceptions, who have who arrived more recently, are people who came to Australia, illegally entered Australia by boat. And, you know, the policy of the government, which I thought was bipartisan, but there seems to be a question mark over that with the statement by the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, that someone who has illegally entered Australia by boat will not be offered permanent settlement here. That's the government's policy. Now that's our policy. We're not wavering on that. The vast majority of people who are going through this process are actually out in the community, but there are some cases which are very sensitive and have very specific reasons as to why they would be there. Some of them are on a pathway to the United States. I'm aware of one particular individual who has been the comment of this focus of a lot of attention, who is on such a pathway, and I would be encouraging them to take up that permanent option that is available to them in the United States. We provided it, we secured it, we got it in place. And so if they wished they could go to the United States along that pathway. And that's what we are encouraging them to do. So there are people at a range of situations, and I'm happy to add to that information. The suggestion that I said they were all not found to be refugees is not true. That's not what I said. It was a question in a radio interview. I answered to the best of my knowledge at that time. And in quite a number of cases, that was indeed the case. There are people who who are in detention, who are not owed protection under the, under the Refugee Convention and our rules. Others, but I can tell you the ones that are, they arrived in Australia illegally by boat.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] should IVF services have been amongst elective surgeries cancelled as resources are diverted to support COVID efforts there.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, earlier on in the pandemic, we exempted IVF treatments as being elective procedures, and that remains my view. There's nothing, there's no choice involved in fertility treatments. It's not an elective procedure, in my view, that should be subject to these things. I respect the fact that these are decisions of the Victorian Government. I respect that. It's not a decision the Commonwealth can make. It is a decision of the Victorian Government and I appreciate the extreme pressure their hospital system is under, and I can appreciate that this is a very difficult choice for the Victorian Government. I understand a similar arrangement, I could stand corrected, I understand a similar arrangement has been put in place in Queensland. But earlier on in the pandemic, at national cabinet, we said that IVF treatments were not elective procedures and should continue. And I believe that should be done wherever possible, and that should be such a last resort measure, if any resort measure, in my view.
JOURNALIST: Just one last one on George Christensen. He holds a relatively lucrative position for a backbencher on the Joint Committee for Trade and Investment and Trade, I should say. Does he still deserve to hold such a position, given that he's sprouting dangerous views that are contrary to government advice? Should he step aside for another more deserving member of your team?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a matter I'm discussing with the Deputy Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: You were saying before, the daily rapid antigen tests weren't necessarily needed for most industries. Given that schools are going back soon, New South Wales has floated plans for students to be given daily rapid antigen tests quite regularly. Should that approach be used in all the states and territories, and should students be given daily rapid antigen tests?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, certainly in relation to teachers, I think there is a very strong case about surveillance testing with teachers, just like we do with health care workers. The predominant way I'm advised that the virus comes into a community like that is actually through the teachers, not through the students. That's the experience. I mean, that can change with Omicron. Anything's possible. And so we had a good discussion about this last week, and I think there was a strong view about teachers, but each state jurisdiction is going to make their own call on that at the end of the day. And where they do, then the Commonwealth will be supporting them in that, to do that. And including arrangements for students. There's mixed medical advice on this when it comes to surveillance testing of students to be to be clear. And the medical advice that we have received. I couldn't say is strongly in favour. That would be a very generous statement that it's in favour of surveillance testing in schools. But I do understand that for parents and for teachers, for confidence in the education system, that a role for that, you know, states, I can understand why they would go forward on that basis and the discussions I've had with a number of states. The Commonwealth has indicated its support for it, for the reasons that the Treasurer said, we need to keep schools open and keep them open. So that is a national interest issue. It is a state interest issue. But ultimately, those calls about the extent of surveillance testing in schools are decisions that premiers will make. But where they do make them along the lines that we've been discussing with each other than the the Commonwealth will be pleased to support that under the under the the National Partnership Agreement. Okay, thank you very much.
JOURNALIST: I wonder if you wanted to revise your comments. You said you hoped there'd be a happy ending. The police have found her body and charged a man.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sorry, I hadn’t seen that before I came out today, and so that is devastating news. I'm very sorry. Since early this morning, I've been engaged in other issues this morning, as I'm sure you can imagine. But having heard that news, that's just devastating. Thank you.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
13 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I’m joined by the Chief Medical Officer and General Frewen. We have to be very clear about our objectives. This is a key point of discussion we had with premiers and chief ministers today. What what is it that all of these measures are designed to achieve? That was set out very clearly in the National Plan. That objective in this phase of dealing with the pandemic is to minimise serious illness, hospitalisations and fatalities, and to maintain those baseline restrictions to support that goal. So the idea that our measures, as governments across the country, Commonwealth and at a state and territory level, is to prevent everyone in the country from being infected with the virus, that is not the objective. That is not a realistic objective. It’s not a practical objective. Nowhere in the world are they trying to achieve that, virtually. And that is not something that we are trying to achieve. What we are trying to achieve is to ensure that we can keep our hospitals under the least pressure that can possibly be put on them, that we can maintain the strength of our hospitals through this pandemic and we recognise that, of course, our hospitals and our health systems are under significant strain at present. That is unavoidable when you have a pandemic operating at this scale with this latest variant of the virus. The pressures on the hospital system is things that we have been working to ensure that we can cope with for a very long time. And hospitals again, despite the pressures there, and I thank all the staff who are working in those, in those hospitals who are under significant strain. But we are, at this stage, continuing to manage the number of cases coming into hospitals within those tolerances. It’s not easy. It’s putting a lot of pressure on people. But it is being achieved and that remains a very important objective for all of us as we continue to manage this pandemic.
The other thing we’re trying to do at exactly the same time is keeping our economy functioning. Now this is a closed system, it’s a finite system. As we have progressed with the Omicron variant, which, remember, has two key characteristics. The first one is it’s highly transmissible, and the second one is it’s less severe. Now both of these facts, particularly the latter one, it wasn’t till several weeks ago that that was able to be confirmed. And so the suggestion that somehow restrictions may have been lessened earlier when we had no clear evidence at that time that the severity was less, would have been a very, very unwise decision, and that’s not the decision we took. Once we became aware that the severity was less, then that has enabled us to move to ensure we can relax some of the restrictions in critical workforces. And so this is a constant daily process of balancing the need to keep people at work and to protect our hospitals. And that’s why it changes almost daily. Because this balance changes daily.
We will go through a period where this peaks, and then we’ll be into another phase about how we’re managing it from there on, and different states and territories will enter those peaks at different times. But they will enter that peak and they all understand that, some sooner than others. It’s possible that New South Wales may have already passed it. But we’ll see as the weeks unfold over the next little while.
So the key point we wanted to stress today, and that I want to stress today, is this is a constantly moving target. We know what we have to hit - keep our hospitals going, keeping our health system strong and keeping as many people at work. The less restrictions you put on people to get them at work, the more pressure that can potentially put on your hospital system. And vice-versa. The more you try to protect your hospital system, the more people you’re taking out of work, which disrupts supply chains. So this is a very delicate balance that needs to be constantly recalibrated. And so today, I think, was another very good discussion in getting those trade-offs right and making sure we get those trade-offs in place.
The workforce implications was a critical discussion today and I’ll make some further announcements about what was agreed, but just let me remind people about the decisions that we’ve already taken. The redefinition of close contacts is still only quite recent and through the meetings of the National Coordinating Mechanism, led by Joe Buffone with the support oversight Minister of Karen Andrews, we are already getting feedback that those measures, particularly in the supermarket distribution systems, are already having a positive impact. But we need to go further. The close contact rule, remember, is that you’re a close contact if you have someone in your own accommodation setting that has the virus, ok. That’s when you’re a close contact. You’re not a close contact because you happened to be here today and one of you might have COVID. You’re not a close contact if you’ve gone to a bar or to a restaurant or another venue and there happened to be a case there. This notion of exposure sites, which means you’re a close contact, that’s Delta. That’s in the past. Close contact is if you’re living with someone in an accommodation type environment and you’re in that situation for that protracted time. That’s if you’re a close contact.
And of course, the other one is if you’re symptomatic. And if you’re symptomatic or you’re a close contact, you should get tested and you go to the testing centre and they’ll either give you a rapid antigen test or they will give you, and all free, a PCR test, depending on what is necessary in both of those cases.
Now the biggest armoury we have to fight the virus is the vaccination. And yesterday, as General Frewen will outline, we had the best day on dose administration since I think it was the 5th of October. We had 346,349 doses administered yesterday. Now of those, 254,112 were boosters. And that’s tremendous. That is absolutely tremendous. We had in total now, with five to 11 year-olds, we have got 141,587 doses admitted to children aged five to 11. Now that’s, in three days, over six per cent of that population, and those doses continue to roll out, and there’s 1.1 million children’s dose vaccines on shelves, in fridges, in those more than 6,000 points of presence where people can access those vaccines.
Could I also remind parents with children aged, in the secondary school age, to go and get their - so the 12 to 15 year-olds, we have already passed the 80 per cent first dose for that group. We need to get to the second dose. We’re over 75 per cent, so we’re closing in on it. So a reminder, and it’s not just five to 11 year-olds that are on the back to school list, make sure for the 12 to 15 years, if they haven’t had their second dose, to go and get those as well.
I also want to note that reinfection on Omicron can occur. So all this nonsense about COVID parties, it’s ridiculous, ok. Reinfection can occur with Omicron. And so if you think you can go out there, get the virus and get it over with, that’s not how it works. That’s not how the virus is writing the rules. So continue to take the precautions, continue to exercise common sense, continue to be responsible and managing your own health and the baseline measures that are in place to support you and the health of others.
Today we agreed the concessional access to rapid antigen tests, which will commence on the 24th of January, after discussions with the Pharmacy Guild, and that will be done on a 50-50 basis. The pharmacies will source those supplies and you will be able to get it along the terms that I announced last week. And I thank the states and territories to their agreement on that. That will be funded 50-50 under the COVID Health Agreement, Partnership Agreement. So that is, just to be clear again, 10 tests in total over three months with a maximum of five a month. And you go to the pharmacy, you present your relevant concession card, which we have announced before, and they can process that and provide you with that test from the 24th of January. Obviously supplies are limited, just as they are for the rest of the community, and that’s those arrangements.
We also discussed the key priorities for rapid antigen tests, particularly those provided publicly, and they are, firstly, the health and aged care workforce - the Commonwealth, of course, looks after aged care, and the states and territories look after the health workforce - and for symptomatic and close contacts, which is provided through the state testing centres, and thirdly, for vulnerable communities. So that’s particularly Indigenous communities and a good note there, just like 12 to 15-year-olds, our double dose vaccination rate for Indigenous communities is now gone over 75 per cent. Our first dose is also [inaudible] at 80 per cent. That’s a tremendous result in Indigenous communities and I want to thank particularly all of those in those Indigenous communities and Indigenous leaders for the great work they’ve been doing right across the country.
To further ease the pressure on supply chains, we extended the easing of restrictions for close contacts. So that’s the one which enables someone who may be a close contact, they get a negative RAT test and go straight back to work. They don’t have to isolate for that period. They just go straight back to work. Now the most immediate extension of that is to all transport, freight and logistics employees. So not just those directly involved in food distribution, but all in the transport, freight and logistics sector. And that also will include those who work at service stations, to ensure that they continue to be staffed and people can get access to those services. We will also be extending it to, if it hasn't already been done, and in many cases it has, it will cover all health welfare care and support, emergency services, which includes law enforcement, correctional services, energy resources and water and waste management, food, beverage and other critical goods supplies. So that’s the food distribution system and production system. I’m not talking about hospitality, there. Telecommunications, data, broadcasting and media. And it will also extend to education and child care. But I’ll address that separately now.
Well before I do that, let me note the Commonwealth has already lifted the 20-hour rule on student visa holders. That decision’s already been taken. That was taken yesterday, after the meetings we had yesterday. So students will have no hour restrictions on them being able to, available for work in Australia if they’re already here. I also note that students can return, that’s been in place for some time now. Backpackers can also come to Australia now under those work and holiday visas. So they’re all able to enter the country, both of which - students and backpackers - if they are double vaccinated. And that is a necessary condition for entry to Australia.
But moving back to schools, one of the most important ways of ensuring that our workforce is not depleted, and we heard today from the Treasury Secretary that we could be looking at an up to 10 per cent absenteeism from our workforce at any one time at its peak. That's 10 per cent of your workforce taken out by COVID. Now that is the impact of a highly contagious infection and and virus. And that is going to have an inevitable impact on your workforce and then that has to be managed. If schools don't open, then that can add an additional five per cent to the absenteeism in the workforce. So it is absolutely essential for schools to go back safely and to remain safely open if we are not to see any further exacerbation of the workforce challenges we’re currently facing. So schools open means shops open. Schools open means hospitals are open. It means aged care facilities are open. It means essential services and groceries are on the shelves. That's what schools opens mean, and it's very important they go back. And the health advice is they can go back. And the Chief Medical Officer may make further comments on that.
We agreed some key principles today and they are, and next week the detailed operational plans will come back, which will deal with the role of surveillance testing, with rapid antigen tests, where that's deemed necessary, it will deal with how that applies to staff in particular, it’ll deal with mask wearing in, and those arrangements are being worked through by the states and territories now. But the first principle is that child care and schools are essential and should be first to open and last to close wherever possible, with face-to-face learning prioritised. Now we note in particular in South Australia and in Queensland they have delayed the full reopening of schools by two weeks. That is on the basis of the estimated peak of the virus in those states and to align those opening times around that issue, so there is some specific medical reasons while they are doing that in those two states which is recognised and understood by the other states and territories. But we note that in both of those cases, those states will have the ability for children of essential workers, which covers all of those groups I mentioned before, to be able to send their kids to school on that day. So they are still addressing the key workforce need and we hope they’ll be getting as best a possible education for the children of those essential workers when they go back.
The baseline public health measures continue to apply. That no vulnerable child or child of an essential worker is turned away. That responses must be proportionate and health risk based. That child care services and schools are equipped to respond on the basis of public health advice, with support from public health authorities where required, and the wellbeing of children and education staff to be supported. So supporting essential workers in education and child care will be important, and the Commonwealth and the states are working together to have 50-50 funding arrangements in place to ensure that is put in place certainly by the time school comes back, and we’ll have a bit more to say about that next week. Not unlike how last week we talked about concessional access. We were able to detail those plans over the course of this week and bring them into agreement now.
So a fairly busy day with the focus very much on keeping Australians at work and keeping Australians out of hospital. We keep achieving that as best as we possibly can, that enables us to push through. That is done through a combination of getting people vaccinated, ensuring we continue to have sensible precautions in place and those public health social measures in place, whether they be in schools, workplaces or anywhere else, and that can limit. But the goal is not to stop everyone in the country getting COVID. The goal is to protect our hospitals and keep our society and economy functioning as we ride this latest wave of Omicron. Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So my main role today was to talk through the epidemiology of the disease here in Australia and to remind the premiers also about this being a global pandemic. And I think that's really important for us to remember here in Australia. For the last two years, we have not really had to cope with the issues we are facing in the last few weeks. And all of the issues we talked about today in terms of essential workers, of changes to the test, trace and isolate and quarantine system, to achieve that balance between control of the virus and the the effects on society and the economy, are really important. But these are not new in the global pandemic. These are exactly the issues that every other country, other than us, New Zealand and some Pacific Island countries, have learnt to cope with for the last two years. And so we have plenty to work through in relation to what they have done.
Just as a reminder, there are now 315 million people have been diagnosed with this disease in the world. Yesterday alone, there were 2.2 million people. Through the whole pandemic in Australia, we have had over a million now, and, sadly, 2,500 thousand deaths. But that is a very different situation to the rest of the world. But in the last few weeks, we have now caught up with the rest of the world. About half of our cases that have been diagnosed through the entire pandemic here in Australia have been diagnosed since the beginning of the year. So that does give a different scope to what we are trying to achieve. We are not eliminating this virus. We are not protecting everyone from getting this virus in the coming weeks and months. What we are doing is protecting our hospitals and our intensive care units and that is being achieved.
We have had plans in place since the beginning of the pandemic and and re-planned last year exactly for this sort of event. And so we have every week we have a common operating picture, which we we publish, which talks about where are the stress, stressors in the system - in aged care, in health care, in ICU, and as well as the cases, TTIQ and so forth. And through every single jurisdiction, there’s a traffic light system, green being good, red being more more concerning. For every jurisdiction, it is green for hospitals. In some of the jurisdictions, it is amber for ICU, but there is still the majority of, so nationally, 18 per cent of our ICU capacity is currently being used with people with COVID. So there is plenty of room. There is plenty of scope for that.
What we are trying to do now is to make sure that that remains the case, whilst balancing all of the issues that the Prime Minister has talked about in terms of the rest of society and the rest of health, indeed. If there is not food on the shelves, that is a problem. If there is not emergency services operating, that is a problem. We need to balance those two things and that's what we're doing.
The final thing I'd say, I said at a previously presser earlier this week, is that there are, this is a new phase for all of us and we need to learn about living with the virus, and living with the virus may mean that you may contract COVID-19. For the vast majority of people, the overwhelming majority of people, this will be a mild illness. So you need to be ready for that. You need to go, know where to go to get further information and advice if needed, and there is a 1800 number - 1800 020 080 - that is the health direct number. It is manned 24/7. You can always get information and depending on what that information you share, your issues will be escalated, including to a health practitioner and advice be given. You can go to your general practitioner for advice as well. There are telehealth options available for general practitioners. You do not need to see them. But they are available, they have guidelines, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners have excellent guidelines, and that's also accessible to anybody, not just to GPs. And finally we have a health website, healthdirect.gov.au, with a lot of information and ability to go to other places to get more information if required. So I encourage people to use those free resources.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Professor Kelly. General Frewen.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Thanks, PM. Good afternoon everybody. As the PM has alluded, the vaccine rollout is proceeding strongly and we are again gathering momentum. Yesterday 346,000 doses were delivered, that is just shy of a record day for the overall rollout. As the PM has mentioned, we did 254,000 booster shots. That is a record day for boosters. And we also did 250,000 doses through primary care, and that is a record day for primary care. We’ve got, now we’re seeing the additional capacity of pharmacies coming into play. We’re also still looking forward to the states and territories coming back to their full capacities as well, which means we’ll be able to get even higher numbers in the days and weeks ahead. We're just shy of 95 per cent of the nation have now had their first dose, and in terms of boosters, 48.6 per cent of eligible people have had their boosters. A week ago, that was only 36 per cent. So boosters are proceeding well, and I thank all those people who’ve come forward.
With relation to the rollout for five to 11-year-olds, again, the PM mentioned we have done 142,000 kids already. That is 6.2 per cent of that eligible cohort within three days. We did 35,000 doses on the first day of the program on Monday, 51,000 doses on Tuesday, and 55,000 doses yesterday, and again thanks to all those parents who’ve brought their kids forward. I know there’s a lot to do in preparation for the new school year but we hope to see increasing convenience through GPs, pharmacists and state hubs, with increasing opportunities for kids to get vaccinated.
With respect to aged care sector, I'd like to commend the vaccine providers who have worked tirelessly throughout the Christmas and New Year, period including conducting vaccinations in aged care facilities on Christmas Day. Of the 2,590 aged care facilities across the country now, we have already done booster visits to around 1,700 of those, and all the remaining facilities have been allocated providers and all will have visit, booster visits scheduled within January.
And just in closing, I do want to thank all health workers who are working across the vaccine rollout again for all of their great efforts and all of the hard work that they’ve done across the Christmas, New Year period. I also want to thank the, all the workers in the distribution network. The national distribution network is, you know, experiencing some strain at the moment, but the record numbers of deliveries of vaccines that have been done across the recent weeks has been greatly appreciated. And again I encourage everyone to come forward, if you haven't done so already, to either get your first dose, your second dose, your booster, or if you're a parent, to get your kids forward for their vaccinations as soon as you can.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, has there been any economic modelling or cost-benefit analysis on the universal provision of free rapid antigen tests. And do you believe that those costs would be greater than the cost we've seen imposed on the economy through people's difficultly to actually source them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've already addressed this issue at earlier meetings and our position hasn't changed. The focus of the rapid antigen tests should be as we've set them out firstly for health care and aged care workers and then for those who are symptomatic and close contacts. We're working directly with industry. We've had major meetings with industry this week which have confirmed back to us again for those large companies that they have been sourcing their rapid antigen tests now for some period of time, going back many months as indeed the Commonwealth has going back to August of last year. Before Omicron even onset. So the targeted uses of rapid antigen tests in the workforce, but particularly for health and aged care workforces, is very important. And the more broader testing of the community for those who are symptomatic and those who are close contacts, and that's where the government is focusing its resources.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER: That the position that we've adopted and we've been taking that position based on health advice all the way through.
JOURNALIST: Are rapid antigen tests going to be given out for free in schools, do children and teachers count as those more vulnerable groups. And then sorry, just secondly, you keep saying that the variant or the the variant rather is more mild, but we're still seeing record deaths around the place. You've drawn this dichotomy between we either have lockdowns or we don't, we have complete freedom. Is there more of a middle ground that we can find considering the number of deaths we're seeing coming out of the bigger states?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let Paul talk about the incidence. I mean, you've got a lot more people with the virus and it's 75 per cent less severe. And so basically the maths has changed. So if you've got a much bigger number of people who've got the virus but a smaller proportion with severe illness, well, that number can be bigger simply because you got more people with a virus. But the medical fact remains that the Omicron variant is a far less severe form of the virus than Delta, and that's just a medical fact. But more people are getting it. And so the challenge that it presents is you get more people furloughed taken out of the workforce with mild illness. I mean, most people in Australia now, if not all, will know someone who has had the virus. And most of those stories are stories of mild illness. Couple of days, you know, pretty unpleasant with fevers or whatnot, but then making a recovery and no need to go to hospital and and things of that nature, that's that's the majority experience. But when it comes to fatality numbers, over two and a half thousand, that is obviously devastating. And but at the same time, when you compare that to the rest of the world, Australia still has one of the lowest death rates of COVID of any country in the world. And that is a result of the the many practises we've put in place over many years to to achieve that outcome.
So we're simply saying that Omicron is very different to Delta and we have to change how we manage it. I mean, one of the biggest game changes on Omicron was when it was determined that the vaccines didn't prevent transmission. Now that changed everything. Before Omicron, we had a double vaccinated population, which protected us very strongly against the Delta variant and meant that we could be moving and opening up, and that's exactly what we were doing. Now Omicron comes along, highly transmissible. The vaccine doesn't prevent that transmission. It does have a very positive effect on reducing the severity of the illness, which combined with a less severe strain, means it presents less of an individual risk to every person who contracts it. But that's what you now manage in this environment. So what you were doing before and what you might thought was necessary before, for example, before, PCR tests dealt with all the cases. But in Omicron on that volume, they can't, and that was a completely different set of circumstances that evolved as a result, and we've been adjusting to that, particularly since we were able to confirm the severity was less and we understood the impact of the vaccinations’ effect on transmission as well as serious illness, but Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think that it's very important to know that we cannot protect everyone from this virus as I've said and there will be a very small proportion of people who will have severe illness and unfortunately, some that will die. There is a very clear link between death and not being vaccinated and between death and not having a third vaccination, if you're eligible for that at the moment. So there are two very, very important things that we need to take into account. But there are consequences of this approach we're taking now. It is the approach that was decided at national cabinet based on the medical advice to move ahead with opening society, when all we had was Delta. Omicron has changed things, but there's been some positives to that. And then the most positive is it is a far less severe illness for most people, but that you still need to take care.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, the children question?
PRIME MINISTER: We did have a very extensive discussion about that today, and we took some advice from the Expert Medical Panel - the Chief Medical Officer and the AHPPC. We will be confirming our views on that over the course of the next week, and we are working through some arrangements for that. And, if that were to proceed, there are two issues. There is the testing surveillance testing of teachers, both in child care and in school settings and then in school settings. Primary is different to secondary because in secondary, mask wearing, things of that nature is more effective than with younger children. Try and keep a mask on a six year old for a whole day. That's obviously going to be far more challenging and they also will not have the same level of vaccination as in the secondary school population. So there are the issues we're working through. The role of potentially the role of surveillance testing for students, but also what is a more high priority necessity for teachers. Because as we've often seen through the course of the pandemic, one of the key ways of entry of the virus into an education setting is actually through staff just like we've seen in aged care settings. And that's why that would be a priority also. So we will have more to say about that next week. We had a very extensive discussion on it today. There are a range of views across the states and territories about what the best way forward is there, but we agreed that we would come to a position next week. And so parents and teachers and those working in schools, teachers' aides and so on will be well aware of what the arrangements are before school goes back.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, Prime Minister and also Professor Kelly. Was there any epidemiology projections presented to national cabinet today. And just on the projections, or the thinking around potential peak caseloads. You suggested New South Wales might have already peaked. It's uncertain. But could you talk to us and elaborate a bit about the expectations around peak caseloads in the various states or nationally?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask Paul to speak to that. Other than to note that we did look at the case looking at New South Wales and the impact on furloughing of workforce of schools not going back. So that was the particular modelling work that was done today and that was presented by the Secretary of Treasury, Dr Kennedy, which was very important to understand. But I'll allow Paul to address the other things about when things peak and for how long.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So we've got a lot of real data now we can chart that. So we know that in the past couple of weeks, there's been a levelling off in terms of hospitalisations, particularly in New South Wales. That's the real data that we see from New South Wales shared with the National Incident Centre. So but you know, we need to be clear that the case numbers we have at the moment, we know that's not the full picture in terms of cases in the community and the rapid antigen tests will assist us with that. But there are many people in the community in the community right now who have not been diagnosed. So it's a bit hard to tell exactly where we are. What we know from from previous forecasting that we do every week is that New South Wales is a bit ahead of the other states and it's not surprising they started earlier and but that they are close to peaking, if not already would be my suggestion, the other the other states are a little bit further behind that, but I think end of January, early February is probably where we will start to see a change and that's what we've seen around the world. There's been a very rapid rise in cases, a peak and then a decrease in some places.
PRIME MINISTER: What we're particularly looking at when the data is being presented is obviously the case issues. But even more significantly, there's the hospitalisation, ICU figures and they're interesting to watch at the moment, and that will be different by state and territory as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why has a decision about Novak Djokovic's visa yet to be made, and how long is your government going to let this drag on for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I refer you to Minister Hawke's most recent statement and that position hasn't changed, and there are, these personal ministerial powers able to be exercised by Minister Hawke, and I don't propose to make any further comment at this time.
JOURNALIST: The aged care sector at the moment, according to some providers, is in a diabolical shambles in their own words, and the problem is a lack of access to rapid antigen tests. How has it come to this? And if big private retailers, for example, have amassed big stockpiles of rapid antigen tests, is it time for them to either hand them over or to have them compulsorily acquired by the government for these most vulnerable people?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, I wouldn't agree with your characterisation of what is held by the supermarkets or the retailers. What I said was that they had acquired tests to be able to test their workforce in distribution centres, which keeps food on the shelves. So that's a very important objective and that is a very important objective of all of all governments. We have already had 10 million rapid antigen tests that the Commonwealth had acquired, and we have 78 million in total on top of that coming, some of which have already arrived. Right around the country there is over 200 million. So aged care are being provided with rapid antigen tests.
The workforce challenges in aged care, though, are very real. We know that they are in health care as well. That is a simple consequence of large numbers of people contracting COVID and being close contacts. Now, not anyone can just go into an aged care centre and provide care, that is a skilled occupation. And those of you who have elderly relatives who are in aged care would be very concerned about who was coming in to provide care. And they are, there are important regulations that sit around that. I've seen the suggestion that Defence Forces can go in and operate in aged care. No, that's not the case. The Defence Forces are not a shadow workforce for the entire economy, economy or the health workforce. There are limited numbers of people in the Defence Forces that can be used in acute situations and indeed have been. That was particularly the case in the second wave in Victoria in 2020, where they went in. But there are not large numbers of people who are in the Defence Forces that are available to go and replace workforce in the aged care system. That's why these furloughing arrangements are very important and that's why we've moved on them, and that's why we continue to move on them and continue to support them in the rapid antigen testing. And while we continue to support them in the booster shots that are going to people in aged care.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] about the critical nature of that workforce situation. If it's a non-critical workforce that has access to these rapid antigen tests at the moment, shouldn't they be handed over.
PRIME MINISTER: They are critical workers.
JOURNALIST: If they're retailers who are not in a critical workforce?
PRIME MINISTER: No, but the tests that I'm referring to for people working in distribution centres. So if you want food on the shelves, they need to test their staff turning up at the distribution centres and driving their trucks and producing their food. They are essential workers, very essential workers. So I support the use of the tests for those, that those supermarkets and others have to keep food on the shelves. That's what they're for.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible], are you ruling out the ADF of helping them out in any way with cooking, cleaning, etc?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we don't rule anything out. I just want to be very clear that I just want to dispel this notion that the Defence Forces can come in and replace workforces all across the country, whether it be in aged care or health care or transport or in food production or anything like that. I mean, the Defence Forces can provide very important support. General Frewen is a case in point and we have people with specialist knowledge and skills, including people with specialist medical knowledge and skills that can assist, but that of itself is not going to solve that issue. What's going to solve that issue, increasingly is a pushing through, ensuring that we can get as many of those staff not isolated and back working in aged care facilities as quickly as possible, and to ensure that we manage all the other demands in aged care facilities as best as we possibly can with rapid antigen testing and so on, which is being provided, the personal protective equipment, the training that was put in place over the last two years. We're working very closely with the aged care sector and we are under no illusions about the stresses and strains that are there. But those stresses and strains are being caused by a large number of people getting the virus or being close contacts.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've now spread out the close contact rules and you're saying you want to maximise the number of people who can be at work and to minimise the number of people in hospital. RAT tests are crucial to that. Have you got an assessment about whether across those sectors there are enough RAT tests available to allow people to actually facilitate them and get back to work if they feel that they might be vulnerable? And is there a role for the federal government given that we've got, as you say, a series of peaks and that this is going to go on for a long time, is there a role for the federal government to be providing a RAT test supply across those sectors that you're opening up? And just one other thing, if I may. National Cabinet in November said that you should look for national standards in RAT test registration. Obviously, states are doing different things now. I'm just wondering whether there's any attempt to get a uniform registration system in place?
PRIME MINISTER: Of the results of the test, yeah. Well, the states are acting on that now. I mean some of them are doing them on a mandatory basis, other doing otherwise. What is important is the states are just getting the information, frankly, about as many of the positive results as they can. None of us are under any illusion that that is as a perfect population of results. And you know, we factor that in when we look at these numbers and you watch the trend and you look for consistency. But again, that is less the priority than looking at hospitalisation, ICU and ventilation numbers. I mean, they are entire populations. And so you do get a very strong indication of what the trends are and the impacts on the hospital systems there. The issue of cases is a is a lead indicator. The important indicators is what the impact directly is on the hospital systems as well. So those states are doing their thing, they're getting the results reported in. They were doing that, you know, the day after we made the decision to start moving more towards rapid antigen testing and away from PCR. There's no doubt, by the way, though, that the health position is that PCR tests are obviously superior to rapid antigen tests, but obviously that can't be done in every case, particularly when you're dealing with the volumes that we are now dealing with, which is very different to what was the case when we were dealing with Delta. Now just remind me, Laura?
JOURNALIST: Given your opening up, that definition of close contact, a lot more essential industries and services?
PRIME MINISTER: I understand. Well, what we need to do is focus our rapid antigen test on the sectors that need the most and where there are sectors like in the supermarkets and so on that can self-supply and meet their own needs, which they are telling us they are, great. We're doing it for aged care. State governments are doing it for health care workers and those workforces. Many workforces were moving on supplies already, going back many, many months. But one of the things we are particularly working with at the moment and Minister Ruston has been working with the small business sector on this on where there may be gaps for small and medium sized businesses in critical supply chain parts of the economy and whether there is a need to fill some gaps in those areas.
So that is exactly what the national coordinating mechanism and the states and territories and ourselves are working on to plug those gaps and an obvious one, which we'd always envisaged that there was the possibility that we would be providing, whether it is to early childhood educators in childcare and preschools or to teachers in primary school and secondary school, it was always envisaged that there would be a role for the federal and state governments in both of those areas. And indeed, I'm sure there will be, but that will depend on the regime that the states and territories want to put in place for their schools.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, today you noted double dose vaccination, today, you noted that double dose vaccination is a requirement to enter Australia. Does your government still regard unvaccinated non-citizen, non-residents as a potential threat to public health? And should such a person keep an Australian visa if they were allowed in?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, given the other matters that are being considered at the moment, all I will simply say is that the reason we've had since the 15th of December, where fully vaccinated eligible visa holders could travel to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption and to enter those states that were allowing them to enter quarantine free. That individual has to show that they're double vaccinated or must provide acceptable proof that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. That is the policy. That policy hasn't changed. That is the policy. And of course, we would expect authorities to be implementing the policy of the government when it comes to those matters. Now that relates to people who are coming to Australia. So these are non-citizens, non-residents, they're visa holders, and they may have acquired a visa recently. They may have acquired a visa some time ago and be returning when some of these issues weren't even stand at the time. And so that's why it's important we have to distinguish between the visa and then the condition to enter the border. They're not one and the same thing, and they're often conflated and shouldn't be. They are two things. You can have a visa, just like you can be a citizen or a resident returning and the condition for you to come in and what happens after that will depend on vaccination status and so on. If you're a citizen, a resident, of course, you can come back into your own country, but you would be able to have to quarantine in those circumstances. If you're not a citizen or resident, then the health rules we have in place to protect our borders and our border protection policies have been central to the government's achievements when it comes and Australia's achievements more generally and having one of the lowest death rates, strongest economies and highest vaccination rates in the world. Thank you very much.
Oh, and one last thing, indulge me this, happy anniversary, Jenny. I hope I get to see you soon.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
10 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Morning, everyone. I’m joined by the Chief Medical Officer and General Frewen, as usual. And there are a number of issues I want to raise with you today. First of all, I want to start with the floods in Queensland and I want to express my condolences to the family of the 22-year-old man who was killed during the course of those floods, and also we continue to hold out hope and prayers for the young girl, 14-year-old girl, who was washed away in the floods, and our thoughts are with her family as well. I have a daughter who’s 14-years-old, so I can understand the terrible, the terrible time that that family must be going through at the moment. And I want to thank all of those who are engaged in the rescue and search work up there in Queensland at the moment.
It was quite a deluge, as we know. The floodwaters peaked in Maryborough last night at at 10 metres. That’s a little less, I understand, then back in 2013, but that’s a very serious flood. An evacuation order was put in place for the CBD area. Homes were obviously affected, as was parts of the CBD. There is a a evacuation centre that has been established at the Brolga Theatre. There was around 25 people there at the last advice I had on that. COMDIS Plan was activated by the head of Emergency Management yesterday. What that enables is all the disaster arrangements and requests being facilitated through the Commonwealth, through the Emergency Management Authority.
I've directed the Commissioner of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, who was in Queensland at the time, to be there in that area and to be liaising with officials in Queensland. I want to thank the Queensland Premier, we were in contact yesterday. The capacity of the Queensland Government and particularly local authorities, and I want to thank the local mayors and local government areas in that region who have been doing an excellent job. They are, of course, used to floods in that part of Australia at this time of year especially, and they’ve been doing an excellent job and there has been no request for federal resources to support any response or recovery effort. That is well in hand with those local authorities.
But you would have seen this morning that Minister McKenzie has announced that the Commonwealth Disaster Payments, which are $1,000 for adults and $400 for children, have been activated. You will be able to get those online or by ringing up by tomorrow at 9am and get those payments if you’re in the Gympie, Bundaberg or Fraser Coast areas, as defined. That is the same area that the Queensland Government has been working on in terms of any DRFA assistance that’s necessary.
There’s also the Disaster Recovery Allowance for those who’ve had income impacted, which is a payment for up to 13 weeks at the, at the JobSeeker rate. And that will also be available from tomorrow morning to be able to access that.
The weather system, which is now linked to Tropical Cyclone Tiffany, it’s currently at a category 2. It’s due to make landfall between Cooktown and the Lockhart River today. And so an area that is obviously a lot less populated than the areas that we’ve seen affected by the floods to date, but nonetheless, I know Queensland authorities will be watching that closely and the Commonwealth will be available to assist.
I particularly want to thank, in addition to the Premier, to Llew O'Brien and Keith Pitt, who are our local members in that area, who have been working closely with local authorities and I’ve been staying in touch with both of them for the work on the ground, and they have two messages. First of all, if it’s flooded, forget it. I cannot stress this enough. This is a season that we were anticipating floods, and wherever they might be, whatever they might strike next, if it is flooded, forget it, please. The other message is to thank all of those who have worked so hard on the ground to support people, those who are in the evacuation centres as we speak.
So we’ll continue to monitor those situations. I was here yesterday working through that with Joe Buffone, the head of Emergency Management Australia.
On the issues of the virus and Omicron, I will ask the Chief Medical Officer to speak further to this, as well as the General Frewen. Omicron is a gear change and we have to push through. That’s what Omicron is about. We're dealing with serious volumes of cases but we are not seeing the same impact proportionally from previous variants in terms of the impact on hospitalisations, ICU and ventilated patients. There are 5,097 patients in hospital who have COVID. That does not mean they went to hospital because of COVID. It meant they’re in hospital and they have COVID. As we outlined a week or so ago, up to half or thereabouts of those patients who are being admitted are being admitted for other reasons and have COVID. That still means they have to be treated in hospital as a COVID patient, but that is not the reason they went to hospital. We're also seeing that, as the CMO advised us yesterday, in ICU numbers as well. So people who are in ICU haven't gone into ICU because of COVID. They’re in ICU for other reasons and they have COVID. So it’s important to have that qualification around those numbers. There are 78 patients who are on ventilators, which is well, well, well within the capacity. The major stresses on the hospital system relate to workforce issues and I’ll come back to that in a moment.
But, of course, today, living with COVID means continuing to ensure we press ahead with the vaccination program, and the children's vaccine commences today. We have contracted 3.3 million vaccines. There are over two million of those which are already in the country, the balance will be here within a week. There are 2.3 million children in those age groups of five to 11. There are 6,000 places where people can go and get those children's vaccines. There are 835,000 vaccines in those places right now as of last Friday, and more would have been added to that since last Friday. So the aim here is to have as many of the places where you can go and get it. So if you can't get it from where you would normally go, know there are 5,999 and more other places where these vaccines are on the shelves. So there’s 835,000 doses on those shelves, in those fridges, in those pharmacies, in those GPs, and in those state hubs right now. And General Frewen can go into more detail about the breakdown of those when he speaks in a moment. 5,100 children have already had, aged five to 11, that vaccine, because they are in those priority categories of a medically required earlier vaccination.
I'm also pleased to note that the booster program, around 1.3 million boosters have been delivered, doses administered in the past week. We are now running at eight times the rate for boosters that we were on the first dose of the vaccine and now well over two times the second dose rate for those boosters. There’s 3.65 million boosters that have now been administered around the country and that rate is accelerating and we expect it to accelerate more, particularly as the state hubs now come online. As you know, the GPs and pharmacies, they’ve all been there. They’ve been carrying that load, particularly over this summer period, getting those boosters done, with those larger state hubs coming back online now, and over the next few weeks we will see those numbers improve even further and we welcome that. That is something that we’ve been working closely with the states and territories on through the National Cabinet process.
I note also what the New South Wales Premier said this morning, another reminder - the people who are predominately in hospital, who have gone there because of COVID, are unvaccinated. If you want to end up in hospital, being unvaccinated against this virus is the most likely way to end up there. So, please, take availability of those vaccines that are available to all Australians, free of charge, all around the country.
We’ve also been working, as we were yesterday, on the critical supply chain issue, and the Chief Medical Officer will go into more detail on this, but the medical expert panel, the AHPPC, has endorsed a new set of arrangements that relate to workers in critical supply chains - in food processing, food production and distribution, as well as emergency services. Now, as you know, some states have already moved on that, as we are working together on that. I understand the Victorian Government will be making further announcements on that today. That paper is now before National Cabinet for endorsement. I was not going to wait until Thursday for that, and after discussions with the Chief Medical Officer as soon as it was endorsed we agreed that that should immediately go to National Cabinet for endorsement. I anticipate that will happen over the course of the morning. It was sent to them earlier today. So we will just wait for their endorsement and that will enable them to take that up. What that involves is asymptomatic close contacts being able to go to work in those sectors. But I’ll allow the Chief Medical Officer to speak more to that.
The next step is to take that further into other critical sectors, and we’re especially looking at the transport sector, both in aviation, and in other distribution tasks. So not customer facing, I should note, on the food side. So if we’re talking about Coles and Woolies, we're not talking about people who are working on checkouts. Anyone who’s customer facing, they are not doing that. But those who are driving the trucks to deliver the food, those who are stacking the shelves at night, those who are in the distribution centres, those who are in the abattoirs, those who are in the manufacturing places that are producing food - all of those now caught up in those new critical supply chain rules, and we’re looking to extend those to other sectors.
I note some premiers have noted that they’d be keen to look at how we could apply that in the hospitality sector. We'll take that one step at a time. But for now, we are very focused, through the process being led by Minister Andrews, on those critical supply chains and getting the workers where we need them to go.
As the case numbers continue to rise, the volume of cases will, of course, have an inevitable impact on the workforce. And so we’re looking to maximise those who can remain in the workforce. And that is why these arrangements are being put in place. But anyone who is symptomatic or has COVID, they are not going into work. And I should note that these arrangements are already in place in the aged care sector, they’re already operating there, as they are in the health care sector.
Now this is an incredibly tough time on business. There aren't lockdowns but there are many people obviously impacted by being close contacts or people being wary, or those indeed who have COVID themselves. And that is having an impact on consumer spending. That's predictable and understandable. And that will be the case for a while yet while Omicron works its way through and moves to its peak, but that means it is very tough on business, and so we’re working to ensure that we can alleviate the impacts on business.
Firstly, when it comes to any regulatory issues, and the first of those is occupational health and safety regulations. The Attorney-General is leading a process with the states and territories which we anticipate being concluded in time for National Cabinet on Thursday, which will remove any suggestion of a requirement that small medium-sized businesses have to be undertaking testing of their staff. There is some confusion about that. I should note in pretty much all states, except possibly for Western Australia, there are no exposure sites anymore. And so the risk of a business becoming an exposure site is not something that they as they were concerned about earlier in the year, that is now changed because of the definition of close contacts and the like. So working out those occupational health and safety regulations and giving small business certainty around that is very, very important. We identified this issue last week and so that work has been done.
Secondly, while large businesses in critical supply chains like Coles and Woolies and so on have the means to be able to support the arrangements that are set out in the medical expert paper about how their close contacts are managed in their centres, there are small and medium-sized businesses in the supply chain, in those critical supply chains, which won't have necessarily those resources. And yesterday I tasked Minister Robert with Minister Andrews to be working with those small businesses in those particular sectors about how we can support them more effectively, together with states and territories, to ensure that they can be taking up these new arrangements that are set out by the medical expert panel.
We have also, the Treasurer, despite having COVID, he is still battling on. He's improving. I speak to him very regularly, and he's been speaking to the banks as well to be monitoring what the impact is on their customer base, on their small businesses, and the reports we’re getting back are that while this is a tough time, and it is really tough for businesses because of the impact of COVID. That's, living with COVID when there are a high number of cases is difficult. But what we are seeing is there are strong balance sheets, right across the economy. And that is backed up by what the data from APRA that the Treasurer’s referred to today, and this is in the household sector, but we’ve got 45 months, on average, ahead of monthly mortgage repayments, as of October of last year. Now that's up from 32 months. In September of last year there was $222 billion on mortgage, in mortgage offset accounts, and that’s up from $174 billion in March 2020. So Australians have been making good decisions to increase their financial resilience during the course of this pandemic. They’re using their smarts. They’re making their choices. They’re ensuring they’re getting their financial position in as strong a position it can be to get through this pandemic. That's obviously been massively supported by everything from JobKeeper to Commonwealth Disaster Payments during the lockdowns that occurred, and these have been used well to strengthen people's resilience, and small businesses have had similar supports but they’re obviously dealing with the challenge of reduced consumer activity at the moment because of the Omicron variant.
Now, the final issue I was going to raise before passing on to the Chief Medical Officer is our real focus, in addition to those other critical supply areas on Thursday, is going to be on schools. The Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Secretary Gaetjens, has been working with all of the other states and territories to harmonise their back to school plans. Remember, as I said last week, our objective is go back, stay back, day one, term one. Now, the peak of the Omicron virus is going to be different in different states and territories. It's clearly going to peak in NSW and Victoria versus other states. And so states and territories will obviously work that through and I’ll ask the CMO to talk more about that. So the idea is, once we go back, we stay back. And we get certainty around that issue. And so we’ll be working through those issues this week and to get further certainty and harmonisation between the states and territories, and I thank all of them for working with us on that process. It’s obviously a key issue for parents as they are thinking about their children going back to school in a few weeks’ time, and we’ll look to have those arrangements very clear by the time that occurs. And with that, I’ll pass you on to the CMO. Thank you, Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister and good morning, everyone. We're in a new phase of the pandemic, as we've been talking about in the last few weeks. We're living with COVID and that that brings with it many advantages. But some issues that need to, leads us to change some of our settings in relation to living with COVID. One of the key areas there was discussed by my colleague, Professor Michael Kidd, yesterday at a press conference. That was about preparing yourself in case you are in contact with or actually contract COVID. I'm sure everyone who's listening to this and seeing this knows someone now in Australia that that has COVID. We have had, we have over 500,000 active cases at the moment. That is a very different situation to even a few weeks ago.
So those issues about being prepared - having some paracetamol or some ibuprofen in your cupboard. Don't wait to get symptoms before you do that to treat yourself with if you have symptoms of COVID. Make sure you know where to get the best advice to assist you in those circumstances, and there are, there are several ways of doing that. Of course, talking to your general practitioner is one of those ways, and there are very good guidelines that have been funded by the Commonwealth and developed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners for GPs to follow. So they are informed about what should and could happen. There are other ways of getting 24-7 advice. Any time of the day or night, you can ring one 1800 020 080. That is the health direct line. You can get advice.
If you develop severe symptoms, then you should not hesitate and call an ambulance. But that is a very, very small proportion of what we are seeing. The vast majority of those 500,000 active cases are mild or indeed asymptomatic, and that is an important part. But sometimes those those more severe things can happen, and so seek advice and seek it early.
We know that we have, in the meantime, our three main levers for dealing with the virus and decreasing the transmission of the virus in the community, and those three levers are still being used. Public health and social measures have been introduced by states and territories through the last few weeks in different ways in different states and territories. That is their responsibility. They have the powers under their Public Health Acts to do that. We discuss those those exact issues at AHPPC on regular meetings - twice, for example, over the weekend. We still have our test, trace, isolate and quarantine procedures, and I'll talk specifically about the issue of the food supply shortly in relation to that. We always foreshadowed that if in a high case situation, as we are at the moment, those that particular lever will be adjusted. It has to be adjusted. We cannot test everybody when there are so many cases. Hence, the discussions we've had around rapid antigen testing, and that will assist in the coming weeks. We cannot trace everybody as we used to. That contact tracing exercise has changed and there are reasons, very strong and good reasons, for society to keep functioning, for our health care system to keep functioning, for our aged care residents to be cared for, and now in the food and grocery supply chain to make sure that we do have those products on the shelves, that we do need to make a risk-based approach to those settings of isolation and quarantine. And the third lever, of course, we have is vaccination, and I'll leave General Frewen to talk through that. But today is another great day in terms of opening up for the five to 11s, and I would encourage all parents to go ahead and get that vaccination in the coming weeks.
So to the, as I said, the AHPPC agreement we we got to yesterday, an agreement right across Australia through AHPPC, on the provisions and restrictions for workers in food and grocery supply chains. So I would point out that this is, this is a reasonable step in relation to the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant and the expected high number of incident cases in the community, and with the majority both mild and, majority of mild illness. The provisions that allow greater flexibility in balancing the need to reduce transmission against detrimental loss of workforce is an appropriate measure. That's the, that's the headline in this, in these particular guidance, which will become public shortly, as the PM has mentioned.
So we've worked very closely with this particular sector right from the beginning of the pandemic in relation to these matters. They have a lot of mitigation measures in the workplace in place. They've had that, particularly in distribution centres, which are a key component of the food supply chain. But I would really stress, as the Prime Minister did, that this includes food production, grocery production, it includes manufacturers, transport and other matters, it includes the distribution facilities. It does not include or apply to people working in the retail sector that are immediately facing the public. But it does include night stackers, for example, in stores themselves, online ordering, etcetera.
So similar to the, this document is based on the one that I showed last week in relation to aged care. It's been adjusted and adapted to the particular different setting, but it has that same risk-based approach that I showed yesterday, with particularly what we do with asymptomatic people who are test negative, even if they are close contacts, that they can come back to to work earlier than has been the case in the past. So I would really stress that. We are not asking people that are sick to go to work. We're not asking people that have been shown to absolutely have COVID to be in the workplace. But we are taking, we are allowing people to come back, to be monitored for their symptoms, to be monitored using rapid antigen tests in the workplace, so that they can work and keep those supply chains moving.
Just briefly on schools, as the PM mentioned, there is work being undertaken on behalf of National Cabinet in relation to that. The AHPPC met on this issue yesterday. We’ll meet again today, and take those health-based issues into account. Again, it's a, it's related to balancing the wider aspects and the importance of face-to-face learning in schools with the risk of COVID. And that's a matter that's going through AHPPC now and will be discussed at National Cabinet on Thursday.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Paul. General Frewen.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Thanks, PM. Good morning, everybody. The commencement of the rollout for five to 11-year-olds is an important day in the vaccine program. This is the last piece in the puzzle, if you like, in our comprehensive national vaccination plan. The, I do want to emphasise again that there is enough paediatric doses in the country to offer every five to 11-year-old a first dose before they commence school this year. The PM has mentioned, right now there is over 800,000 doses sitting in pharmacies and GPs and other state and territory hubs around the country. There is another 400,000 doses being delivered as we speak, and there will be 200 million doses out on the shelves by the 21st of January, with more doses to follow after that.
PRIME MINISTER: Not 200 million.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: What did I say?
PRIME MINISTER: You said 200 million.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Two million, two million doses. Yes. The PM has mentioned, as at today, there are 6,000 places that are offering paediatric doses. That will grow to around 8,000. Of the more than 10,000 vaccination points, 8,000 will be participating in the paediatric dose rollout. So the message again is there has been very strong take up on bookings, and I do commend parents for their determination and willingness to bring their kids forward to get vaccinated. I do understand if there had been frustrations around getting appointments for some. But please, if you can't get an immediate appointment with your primary health care provider, if that is your GP, please do try the pharmacies. Please do try the state hubs. There are additional bookings coming online every day and there will be more and more opportunities over the weeks ahead.
In terms of boosters, the PM also mentioned there has been a very strong response to boosters. I think Wednesday, Thursday, Friday last week we were doing over 250,000 vaccine doses a day. The vast majority of those were boosters. We've done more than another 250,000 doses across the weekend. Again, a majority of boosters. The rates are far exceeding what we saw for first and second dose at the height of the program back in August, September and October. Again, the points of presence are growing. The state hubs are coming back into play. There are bookings available right now for boosters. Response has been very strong, very encouraging. But, again, I do emphasise to everybody, if you are eligible or becoming eligible, get a booking in. Get along as quickly as you can to get your booster done. And if you are still out there and you haven't started your primary course, it is absolutely the best protection against Omicron, as it has been for all of the variants. So please do get out there and get your initial doses done as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, General Frewen and Professor Kelly. Sure, I'll just start here and move across. It's probably the easiest way. Yeah. I’ll start with you, Sarah.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister. I wanted to check a couple of things. Firstly, how many more workers do you anticipate will be in the, in the private market and in the distribution supply chains as a result of the AHPPC changes, compared to what otherwise would be the case? On schools, National Cabinet, excuse me, in November first discussed a test to stay approach for schools. Why is it that two months later, we’re we still haven't got a plan for the return to school?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Omicron is the answer. Omicron changed everything. Delta was a completely different variant of this virus, and so as we have had to do on so many occasions during this pandemic, rules that were written for one situation have to be reconsidered and redone again for Omicron. And that's what's being done right now. And so the the applicability of those types of arrangements and the sensibility of those types of arrangements is being reconsidered by the medical experts. And that's what Paul and his team have been doing quite thoroughly. And that's what we set out to be able to be talking about this Thursday. That's why I was very keen for us to move on these critical workforce shortage areas and get those done today. And I anticipate even before Thursday we'll be able to hopefully move what Professor Kelly has done already into some of these other sectors, like aviation and so on.
How many additional workers? Well, I can't give you an estimate of that. I mean, that requires an absolute crystal ball. All I can tell you is more than would have been the case otherwise, and I, can I say, can I, I just want to thank the businesses and the unions for the way they're working together with us on this. It is a critical supply shortage issue and we need to have people at work wherever we can. And we've been working constructively through the National Coordinating Mechanism process, which is led, as I've said by Joe Buffone, but at a ministerial level is led by Minister Andrews. I announced that last week. So she is leading all the work and coordinating it around from the Commonwealth's point of view, ensuring we can keep as many people in work as we possibly can and to do so safely. But Paul, did you want to add anything to that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Just to give a scale of of the of the issue and the reason why we've gone down this path. We heard from from the CEO of Woolworths yesterday. He's come to AHPPC before, as well as the the chief operating officer from Coles to give us a sense of the of the concern they had. That they're finding 30 to 50 per cent absenteeism rate. It's huge, particularly in the distribution centre. They cannot operate in those sort of circumstances. We asked them specifically about whether that's because people are contacts or whether they're actually sick. It's a mixture and it's different. It's patchy around the country, but that's the sort of issues we're dealing with and we need to move faster to take these, these risk based approaches so we can deal with that issue.
JOURNALIST: Just a follow on from Sarah's question. Just with regards to the rules as they currently stand, is there any thought to widen, to bring, you know, isolation requirements in line with US, doing five days isolation rather than seven days for workers in critical sectors? Given the fact that this is only going to get worse as the weeks progress. And secondly, on the measures introduced by New South Wales and Victoria. I mean, it's relying on there being ample supply of rapid antigen tests. I mean, as everyone in Australia has experienced so far, that's not actually the case. Is the government considering providing workers with free rapid antigen testing to enable them to get back to work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the second one, the advice we have from particularly those big companies and there I'm talking about Woolworths and Coles and others. They have ample rapid antigen tests to meet their need, and they've advised us that. So that is not a challenge that they're facing. Remember, we've also got those point of care tests, which you can do in workplace settings as well, so you don't always need the self-administered tests to deal with those issues. I did refer in my earlier remarks that we're looking specifically at if there are small and medium sized businesses that don't have the same resources as the large businesses, which dominate a lot of that sector, then we're looking at what direct support we might provide to those. And that's what Minister Robert is doing right now. That issue hasn't been raised with us, but that is an area where we may become involved with the states and the territories. Sorry and your first question? Oh the broadening of the rules, I'll ask Professor Kelly to comment. As I said, our measures are never set and forget. They never set and forget, but they're always set for Australia. Let me stress that. Other countries are doing any number of things. We always look at what they're doing, but that doesn't mean it works here. Other countries have different experiences, different health systems. They have different experiences of the pandemic. We set Australia's rules for Australia, and Australia has one of the lowest death rates, one of the strongest economies coming through the pandemic. One of the highest vaccination rates in the world. By following the Australian way these Australian results have been proved to be very good for Australians by and large. And so we're going to keep focused on making sure our settings are for Australia and for Australians. Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, so we've certainly looked at all options of ways we could in a risk based approach go forward with this to increase the availability of the workforce in these critical areas. We have kept with the seven days for people that have been proven to be positive actual cases, but that can be and will be reviewed, as the PM has said, according to circumstances. But for asymptomatic people, if they are negative on, even if they are close contacts, if they are negative on their day one test, they will be back at work. They can come back to work and we're encouraging them to do so. So we've in fact gone further than some other countries in relation to that.
JOURNALIST: Some pharmacies are saying with relation to the concessional rollout of free RAT tests, they're saying that they're a bit confused about how they're going to be administered and given to the most vulnerable Australians. How is that going to work and how are we going to make sure that those tests get where they need to go? And then just one for Professor Kelly. Given the sad news out of New South Wales this morning about the young child who passed away with COVID. Why shouldn't parents withhold their children from going to school if they're not fully vaccinated, if they have concerns about severe or potentially severe illness?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll let you start with that one, Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Oh, well, of course as always, our condolences go to the family of the person that's passed away. I don't know the details of that particular case. What I would know is that from the beginning of the, from the beginning of the pandemic, we've been very closely monitoring the effect of COVID on on children and and universally throughout all of the different variants we've seen, it's been much less severe in children. Now with large numbers of cases, there will be, the occasional terrible event like this. There was a young man who died last last week too actually who had been working with the health department, so we felt that very closely. So these are very difficult matters. And as I say, our condolences go out. In terms of returning to school. They're there in general, and the vast majority of children that have Omicron is a very, very mild disease. And that's that's the reality. There are many other reasons why children should be at school. These are the matters that are before the AHPPC to give that health advice in the widest terms, including mental health, including developmental health, including physical health outside of COVID. So these are these are tricky things to talk through, but we are talking through them.
PRIME MINISTER: And on the other matter, the Health Minister has been closely engaged with the Pharmacy Guild since the announcement of last week and we'll be making an announcement shortly about the arrangements we've come into play, we're bringing the place with them. I thank Trent and everyone over there at the Pharmacy Guild for working with us on that issue. As you know, those costs are being shared also between the Commonwealth and the states and territories 50/50, as all free rapid antigen tests and indeed PCR tests are. And that includes I note, as I said last week, there will be direct supply of rapid antigen tests based on health needs. States will do that. We will do that as a Commonwealth, but that is not a general rule that is just where there is a direct health need in a particular area. A good example is if something were to happen in a public housing block or something like that, that's a case where we, the state government, would move in those circumstances, and we'd share those costs 50/50. But the arrangements with the pharmacies are quite straightforward. I mean, someone has to have one of the concession cards that I mentioned last week, that's a very obvious area of proof and they're used to doing that with many other medicines and that follow a very similar process. And that's why we chose to do it with the pharmacies because they have those systems in place. That's why you can't do it with supermarkets, because they don't have those systems in place. That obviously constrains the number of outlets that they can go to to get their free tests. But I want to stress anyone who is symptomatic or a close contacts gets a free test. Always has, always will. That hasn't changed and that is done through the testing centres and that will continue. That will continue as it should and the additional supplementary tests that are that people are getting concessional to access to. They are not essential tests. They are discretionary tests that people are getting. They will get 10 of those, a maximum of five a month. They'll come through the pharmacies and the pharmacies are responsible for securing their private supplies to meet that demand.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, Prime Minister. Just on the SMES, beyond the cutting of red tape around the OSH issue, what are the sorts of examples that Ministers Robert and also Andrews are looking at in terms of helping with more support for SMES? And more broadly, what's the latest economic advice you are receiving about this latest disruption to the economy? Is it going to last a matter of weeks or months and how big is it going to be?
PRIME MINISTER: It's a bit too early to tell on the latter point, John, I think at this stage and the Treasurer is keeping a close eye on that, as you'd expect them to. And as is the Treasury. But at this stage, it is a bit too early to tell, but there's obviously been a dampening impact on consumer demand. I think that's fairly obvious and understandable. But what we've seen so many times that when you, it's a bit like when you've come out of lockdown, you see the economy surge back quite quickly. We've seen that on numerous occasions now. And we have no reason to think that would be any different once we go through. That's why I'm saying. You have two choices here. You can push through or you can lockdown. We're for pushing through. That's how you get through this. We get through to the other side. It's going to be tough. The whole pandemic has been tough and Australians have shown a resilience and a patience and a determination. They've dealt with the circumstances as they're in front of them, not behind them. And the government is taking the same approach based on the best possible medical advice and the best possible medical advice is to push through. We're seeing the Omicron variant peak in a number of other countries, particularly in major cities like London. There's the suggestion, well more than a suggestion Paul, that people in South Africa, that they've peaked there and and we will have a similar experience. And so you push through. You don't lockdown.
JOURNALIST: On the return to school. You mentioned that every state and territory is going to have to tailor that based on their own circumstances, and that's something that can be discussed ...
PRIME MINISTER: Take into account their circumstances. Hopefully, they'll be a lot of agreement on the principles that are being applied, but obviously if those principles or the situation on the ground is different and we often see that in places like the Northern Territory, for example, which has a very different population to many other, many other states and territories, but yeah sorry?
JOURNALIST: Does that mean that you accept or indeed expect other states and territories to follow Queensland's lead and delay that return to the classroom? And If I could to Professor Kelly as well. We're hearing anecdotally, many, many people saying that they have been repeatedly testing negative on a rapid test. But then when they do finally get access to a PCR test, they are testing positive. What sort of ongoing testing and quality assurance is happening with those rapid tests to ensure their efficacy? And are we going to have to deal with the situation where many cases could simply be falling through the cracks?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let the CMO speak to that second matter. But on the first matter, no, I don't anticipate that being the case necessarily. I, as you've heard already from the New South Wales Premier, the Victorian Premier, that the situation, both of those states are fairly similar. And I do welcome the fact that in Queensland, that children of essential workers and others are able to go back at the same time. So one of the big one of the big challenges we have is to balance that need to ensure we have kids back at school because we need kids back at school learning. We need kids back at school because it also has very significant impacts on workforce availability, particularly in our health sector. And so that is very important. And obviously, of course, above and beyond all of those issues is the health and welfare of our kids and those who work in our schools. And so they are the issues that are being managed. And I think we can have some very clear principles around all of those that can be applied to the to the relevant circumstances on the ground in each state and territory. Because it's a big country and the situation is different in many parts of the country. But what we do know about Omicron is if you're not there yet, you will be there. And the sort of scenes we're seeing in New South Wales and Victoria, we're already seeing other states and territories moving pretty rapidly towards those sorts of situations, but Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So on the rapid antigen tests, there's two specific types. There's a point of care test arrangements that are done through and with medical or health practitioners. Then there's the self-test. They have slightly different characteristics. Neither of them are as as good as the gold standard test, which is the PCR test. But in the current circumstances that we're in, they are a very valid way of making the diagnosis. What's happening at the moment, a lot of people are using rapid antigen tests early in their illness when the virus is not, there's not as much virus in the in the nose and throat. And so that can be negative initially, but they become positive as you go through the illness. The PCR test is more sensitive to that, so they even very early or even in asymptomatic cases, the PCR can become truly positive. So it is a matter of persisting. I think my message to Australians at the moment, if you have respiratory symptoms, particularly if you're in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT and increasingly in other states, it's likely to be COVID and you should take take actions along those lines whilst you're waiting to get a test or get your test result.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a number of medical experts are now saying that Australia is most certainly in the let it rip stage of management of the pandemic. Why are we at that point now? And is there an acceptable death toll that's just a reality now in the same way as the flu?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't accept that analysis because that's not the approach the government is taking at a Commonwealth level or in the states and territories. I'd describe it more as a as I said before, is pushing through. I mean, we do have public health social measures in place. We do have other restrictions that are in place, but we also have a very practical understanding of how the Omicron variant works, and it works very differently to the Delta strain. So no, I've heard those suggestions, and I understand Mr Albanese has made this suggestion. Well, you know, if Mr Albanese thinks the answer is to put Australia back into lockdown, then I don't agree with him. I agree with the advice that we're receiving that we need to keep pushing through, and I'd encourage Mr Albanese to seek a briefing with the health authorities. I understand the last one he had was on the 2nd of December, and so that is available to him. I'm sure he'll take that up. But the fact is Omicron has changed everything. And what we're doing is sensibly listening carefully to the medical advice that we're receiving and and we're ensuring that Australia can keep moving forward. But if Labor are for lockdowns, that's for them. My Government is for keeping Australia open and pushing through.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in relation to your encouragement to Australians to push through. Looking at potential future new strains, are you satisfied with the level of preparation and contingency planning that was done ahead of Omicron and has the government, the federal government stepped up in in relation to what's occurred with Omicron, its future preparation and contingency planning for potential new variants?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just in regards to sorry, Just in regards to comments that state and federal officials gave conflicting advice. What is your response to his claims? Do you accept that there has been confusion and will the government cancel Djokovic's visa again if he does actually win the case?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the matter is before the court, so I'm not going to be making any comment on the matter before the court and in relation to any other action the government may undertake. I mean, that's purely a matter before the courts at the moment. But in relation to the government, our government, the federal government's advice to Tennis Australia, that was set out very clearly in November as I read the extract from this very podium. It could not be more clear.
JOURNALIST: New South Wales, just in regards to Omicron. New South Wales talked about passing 20,000 cases by the end of the month. It actually passed that at the start of the month. You've seen 18 deaths in New South Wales. Now hospitals are starting to struggle. We see a shortage of food. Can you answer honestly, has Omicron spread faster than you expected?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll let the Chief Medical Officer, I think, respond to that. I mean, no one has a crystal ball on these things. There's no, there is, we do have the best advice. And I think what we've also seen is the severity of it being far less than perhaps was anticipated. I mean, early on, we were thinking about about a 30 to 50 per cent less severity. That was about right, I think Paul, and it's ended up being about a 75 per cent less severity. It's rate of escalation has been very strong and I would agree that that has been moving at a very quick rate compared to our early estimates.
JOURNALIST: Is it faster than you expected?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the point is, what is the ultimate result? And the ultimate result is that we have in ICU now 299 patients and not all of those are there because of COVID and 78 on ventilators in Australia, despite the terrible fatalities that we've seen. Still, Australia still does have one of the lowest death rates from COVID anywhere in the world.
JOURNALIST: With respect, that wasn’t the question, has it spread faster than you expected?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think I've already answered that question.
JOURNALIST: You just said that it's not as bad. Has it spread faster?
PRIME MINISTER: What I said was it's increased higher than the estimates that we saw. So I think it's a fairly direct answer.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So we know, what do we know about Omicron when when it came to Australia, we knew that it was more transmissible, we knew that quite quickly and we knew that it was less severe and that, as the PM has said, become more and more clear and in a very good way, over the last month or so. We've seen in other countries the doubling rate of cases of about two to three days. That that became evident during towards the end of December. In the UK, that was similar to what had been seen in southern Africa and subsequently in many other parts of the world. The the experience we're having in Australia is the same as the rest of the world now. That is new for us, but that is the reality. It's the reality of living with COVID is we will have cases and when you have such a transmissible virus, they will spread quickly and the case numbers will go up, but they are mostly mild or asymptomatic. We have to remember that very, very much so. The PM has mentioned the figures that are in are in ICU at the moment and our approach nationally has been to suppress the virus, to decrease the, to make sure that our health care system is coping. And it is coping. There are challenges, particularly in New South Wales at the moment and increasingly in Victoria and in Queensland, but they are challenges we have expected and planned for. We have surge plans in relation to that. These issues about making sure health health care workers, aged care workers and other essential workers can come back to work safely is an important component of those surge plans and we'll carry on as as we are. That's what we have in front of us now.
JOURNALIST: PM, you said about earlier in the press conference about the need to maximise the workforce. You mentioned also about hospitality being a one step at a time. Do you think eventually, though, that we will reach the point where people in customer facing roles, anyone who essentially can't work from home will be exempted from these isolation requirements? What do you say to the unions who are concerned about putting, you know, people who are asymptomatic but who can spread the disease back into workforces? And to Professor Kelly understand, obviously the states are different paces, aware that is the virus. But do you have any national modelling on on the impacts on when hospitalisations will peak and what we can see in that picture?
PRIME MINISTER: Okay. Well, look on the other matter and customer facing roles. I mean, we haven't moved to those at this point. I mean, we're very focused on the non-customer facing roles in the critical supply chains. To the extent customer facing is probably not the word, public facing would be the word for emergency service operators and police and others like that. And that's covered by this statement, which has been which has already been agreed today by AHPPC. And we'll be releasing that, that that statement, which is the one Paul was referring to earlier. So that's why I say you look at that one step at a time. I do want to thank the unions for engaging as they've been engaging with the Attorney General, particularly on this issue around OH&S and what the implications of those issues are and they're being worked through at the moment. We've just got to keep working together to keep solving these challenges. That has been the notion of the pandemic from day one. You are presented with situations and you've got to work them through. So the point where you can start dealing with customer facing, public facing roles. Well, we'll take the medical advice on that and try and get the balance right. And this is always the critical issue. I mean, you can just shut everything down and lock everybody away, and then there'll be no food on the shelves and there'll be no children getting taught and there'll be no one providing health care. So that's obviously not a practical way to move forward. And so what we have done as a government has always sought to balance the various demands and pressures on the system with the health imperative. And and that's what I think as a country, we've done far better than so many other countries around the world. It's a very difficult issue to manage, but it means just not looking at these things from one perspective. There are so many things that this virus impacts, and when you have high case numbers, the high case numbers to go back to the earlier question, the threat increasingly is less about the direct health because the majority of cases, although very unpleasant, based on Josh's own account of the last few days. At the same time, not getting to the point where they're having to be admitted to hospital that the issue goes to workforces being eroded and that putting pressures right across the system. So it is a very, very complex challenge. And that's why I appreciate the constructive way that premiers and chief ministers, emergency management, offices, industry, unions and others are just working together each and every day to solve these problems. Paul.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So the modelling and particularly forecasting and particularly forecasting of of health services, capacity and ability to cope over the over the pandemic has been something we've been doing since the beginning of the pandemic and continue to do. So, just talking about essential essential workers. I was informed today that some of our modelling team have have COVID, so that's another another key touchpoint, which is which is it is touching our own work in this matter. But we do have we do have that. There's work that is done on behalf of national cabinet that is presented weekly to the AHPPC in relation to transmission potential and other matters that we've talked about before. But that also increasingly has improved forecasting of exactly those matters. So that was discussed on Friday at AHPPC, and it will be brought to national cabinet on the next meeting to work through those matters.
JOURNALIST: And just in regards to schools, is it disappointing that Queensland moved first ahead of the other states and before the health advice is received at the National Cabinet on Thursday? And on a related matter, do you see teachers being added to that critical workforce having the the lower testing requirements as this peak continues?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, all those issues are being addressed in the advice that's coming forward from the medical expert panel, the AHPPC now, particularly in relation to those testing issues, whether it be for teachers or others. So I'll wait for that advice to come through, and we'll have that with the major, the major focus of our discussion on Thursday. Each state is going to make some calls here and and that's why I do welcome the fact that in Queensland that the schools are open for those essential workers. That's very important. That helps solve one element of that problem. But as we see in, Paul might want to comment on this as we see the Omicron wave rise, I mean, sometimes you do things, which just pushes the wave further out. You still get the same outcome. And so, you know, you've got to balance those types of actions with the other pressures that are on the system. And so that's what states are trying to manage to go back to the question on this side, it is really about trying to get the balance of those things right. And in each state and territory, the timings and the push on that wave is is going to be different just because of where they are. I mean, Western Australia hasn't even entered it yet, but we know what happens with Omicron. And that will happen everywhere. The minute it gets in and it will be in everywhere it will, it will take that path. That's why I say you have to push through as one of I think one of you said the other day, I think it was Boris who said it, riding that wave. But you do that as sensibly and as carefully as you can, taking the best possible medical advice on the way through which is what we are doing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, many people who work in the food supply industry they travel from state to state are yet not all states have adopted these new rules regarding isolation. So how do you prevent workers from getting caught up in the isolation rules of another state? And also, can I clarify, you mentioned Coles and Woolies have plenty of rapid tests for their employees and that you're looking at what else can be done with smaller companies? Are you looking at giving free RAT tests to those companies?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to do the consultation first with them before prejudging any actions that they may require. Many of them are doing that already. And accessing supplies, but that's something I'm looking forward to the advice to come back through from Minister Andrews and Minister Robert. On the other issue, just remind me?
JOURNALIST: The workers travelling from state.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I anticipate given the paper, that we've been able to have agreed by all the states and territories chief health officers that that will see agreement occur between all the jurisdictions. And I think that's very important because you're right and you've got people working in food production, food processing, food distribution that does move across borders now. A really good example of that cooperation was last week when we abolished the seven day rolling testing for truck drivers. Now that has been something we put in place. And now, if that had not been done and agreed by everyone, bar WA which has a different set of circumstances, then that obviously would have been very problematic. But premiers were very, very quick and very practical about that and I'd expect a similar response here. Ok, thank you very much, everyone.