Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not support this bill, the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Vaccine Indemnity) Bill 2023. The ability to indemnify vaccine manufacturers in an emergency and/or pandemic situation is critical to secure timely access to vaccines for Australia. This was the case during COVID-19, where our ability to indemnify COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers enabled timely access to vaccines. If the Commonwealth had not been able to indemnify COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, there would have been significant delays or refusal from the manufacturers to supply their vaccine in Australia. If this bill were to pass, this change would hinder Australia's ability to secure timely supply to vaccines during worldwide pandemics.

Just by way of background, the Australian government has entered into five separate agreements for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines. These include agreements with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Moderna and the COVAX facility for over 250 million doses of vaccine. The agreements with AstraZeneca and COVAX have been fulfilled. The details of advance purchase agreements with pharmaceutical companies for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines are commercial-in-confidence. The proposed amendment would apply only in relation to the granting of indemnities on or after the day the amendment commences, so should not impact on any indemnities already granted.

The government separately established the COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme to provide an avenue for those who suffered a serious adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine to apply for compensation. The scheme is a no-fault scheme, administered by Services Australia, that allows claimants to access compensation for injuries resulting from diagnosed clinical conditions likely to be caused by a Therapeutic Goods Administration approved COVID-19 vaccine or its administration. Decisions about which conditions are eligible under the scheme are made based on the advice of the TGA on conditions with a recognised link to the vaccine and include consideration of the events listed in the approved Australian product information for the specific COVID-19 vaccine and the clinical significance of the condition. The TGA closely monitors the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and has a well-established and robust system in place to capture reports of suspected adverse effects of all medicines, including the COVID-19 vaccines. The TGA receives reports of adverse reactions from consumers, health professionals, pharmaceutical companies and state and territory health departments.

As I say, the government will not be supporting this bill, primarily because the ability to indemnify vaccine manufacturers in an emergency and/or pandemic situation is critical to secure timely access to vaccines for Australia.