Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services (Senator Colbeck) to a question without notice asked by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Wong) today relating to the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Just three days ago, on 14 June, the Minister for Health and Aged Care told Australians:

… in terms of the vaccines that are available at this point, the Commonwealth has made AstraZeneca available on the medical advice for those that are over 50 …

He also said regarding the vaccine rollout:

… supply dictates the rollout, and we've provided advice on all of the confirmed supply that we have … So we obviously have very clear line of sight with regards to AstraZeneca. The states and territories have ample volumes of AstraZeneca.

Just a few minutes ago in question time, we had the minister representing the health minister tell us every Australian who wants a vaccine will have access to one by the end of the year, but what they can't tell us is how they're going to do this. Thoughts and prayers aren't going to cut it. Wishful thinking certainly won't deliver an adequate supply of the Pfizer vaccine, especially now we have changed health advice meaning more Australians will be wanting the Pfizer vaccine. Remember, this was the health minister who told Australians last month that for anyone hesitant to get the AstraZeneca shot there would be enough Pfizer for everyone by the end of the year. He then had to come out and correct this statement, telling us that in fact we shouldn't be waiting for Pfizer stocks to increase. Is your head spinning? Mine certainly is.

Is it any wonder Australians have lost trust in what this government is telling them about the vaccine rollout? Trust in the public health system is absolutely crucial to support vaccine uptake, and we cannot afford for this to be damaged by the bungling of the Morrison government. Improving access to COVID-19 vaccines is crucial to increasing uptake. It's crucial the government is honest with us about how long those under 60 may now have to wait to access the Pfizer vaccine. I know it is a big ask of the Morrison government to stop the spin machine and just tell us simply and clearly when all Australians under 60 can get their Pfizer shot. They also need to tell us exactly when they were first advised by ATAGI that they should be considering raising the age for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

This inability to be clear and straight with us is impacting on individuals and communities. There is already vaccine hesitancy among some of our most vulnerable populations. Just last week a Central Australian Aboriginal medical centre was avoiding Pfizer vaccine waste by offering vaccines to non-Aboriginal people over the age of 50. Dr John Boffa, Chief Medical Officer of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, conceded there had been vaccine hesitancy among the Aboriginal population. In order to not waste a single dose, congress put friends and family of staff on a waiting list to use up any of the leftovers. I'm very pleased there was take-up here, but I'm also concerned that there was so much vaccine left over—and this is for Pfizer. We can't get figures on what percentage of the population in remote communities have taken up the vaccine offer; I've tried. Australian Medical Association Northern Territory President Dr Robert Parker has said concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine had already sparked fears and hesitancy. That was before today's announcement about the medical advice to raise the age.

I've been out there talking to families and Territorians, urging them to get the jab. I've also been urging the Morrison government to do its job and invest in a nationwide public awareness campaign, including translation into First Nations languages. The messaging by the federal government to the community, let alone to First Nations and those with second languages who are not First Nations—obviously multicultural communities—has really been lacking in this whole process. First Nations media did an amazing job at the start of this pandemic getting out messages about hygiene and movement restrictions to keep people in communities safe. Their efforts have been recognised internationally and held up as best practice, but they've not been funded to do the same thing when it comes to the vaccine rollout. There have been restrictions on the ability of First Nations media and other organisations to craft their own messages in language and at the community level to encourage vaccine take-up.

Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator McCarthy, for raising this very important issue and highlighting the vaccination rollout across the country. I acknowledge Senator McCarthy's concerns about the different vaccines that are available and the new health advice that we have relating to the AstraZeneca vaccine, but I also want to reassure the Australian people that this government is on the job. We are getting the vaccines out there. Vaccinations are predominantly very safe and we don't want to engage in this rhetoric that leads to and adds to vaccine hesitancy.

I want to thank the millions of Australians who have already put their arms out and received their vaccinations. I note that we are getting better at our vaccination rollout. Whereas in the early days of the rollout it took 45 days to reach the first million doses, it took only 10 days to get the latest million. We've got over six million doses out into people's arms across the country. We have more than 60 per cent of people aged over 70 vaccinated and protected. We have more than 40 per cent of people aged over 50 vaccinated and protected. And we have about one in four of the eligible population—that is, people aged over 16—with at least one dose of a vaccine.

We will see our first arrivals of the Moderna vaccine from September and October this year. And we are already getting more GPs the vaccines they need so they can give their patients, their clients, the vaccine and we can really ramp up the rollout to get more and more people vaccinated throughout the country.

We are expanding access to Pfizer across Australia, and that's why we are using the valuable GP workforce. This expansion was planned to coincide with our highest expected arrival of Pfizer doses so far, and, during July, we expect another 2.8 million doses to come.

We are continuing to work very closely with the states and territories and supporting their vaccination hubs, which are hugely successful—I note that NSW and Victoria are seeing record numbers of vaccinations going out the door. Our core infrastructure is now well established and well tested.

I also want to come to the point raised by Senator McCarthy about educating the community—across our multicultural community. Our government has provided $1.3 million to help peak multicultural organisations reach culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including First Nations communities. Our ethnic media include press, radio, social, and out-of-home campaigns to ensure that people in linguistically diverse communities understand the vaccination rollout, are aware of what their rights are and are aware of the importance of getting vaccinations. Campaign assets have been translated into 32 languages, while other materials are in over 60 languages across Australia. We are very aware that, in our multicultural society, it is very important that we don't limit ourselves to a homogenous education and communications campaign.

Our research also shows that people want the facts. That is why, when people go to Australia's COVID vaccination rollout website, they will be able to find out whether they're eligible, where they can go to book a vaccination and how to book a vaccination. They can also access advice from trusted people such as the head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, John Skerritt, former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth and our chief nurse, among other experts. This campaign is working. Our record vaccination day saw over 120,000 vaccinations in one day. I encourage anyone listening to go to Australia.gov.au to find those facts, to check if they're eligible, to find their local clinic and to book now—to put their arm out, get their vaccination and join the one in four people in Australia who have already got a vaccine dose.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Under this government it is clear that this vaccine rollout is bungled, botched and a bloody mess. What we know is that, under this government, we have seen a vaccine rollout that has been delayed and played down. We've even been told by the Prime Minister that it isn't a race. I want to join with my colleague Senator McCarthy in encouraging the government to deal with vaccine hesitancy.

Be clear that, in standing in this chamber today, we are not seeking to downplay the importance of the vaccine. Anyone who tries to say that is absolutely wrong. We have always—always—supported the vaccine itself. But it is absolutely fundamental that we should be able to come in here and criticise the government's vaccine rollout, because they are doing a shoddy job. Senator McCarthy and I have sat in Senate estimates and asked officials of government departments what they are doing to deal with vaccine hesitancy, particularly in First Nations communities, and the answers have been absolutely galling. I made sure that those department officials knew that there was a problem with vaccine hesitancy in the Torres Strait and throughout the cape, and I got told that it wasn't a problem—but the figures show that it is.

Instead of just trying to pretend like everything is okay, we want to see the government taking this seriously and understanding that no amount of spin can make this any better. We have been in this pandemic for more than a year, and Scott Morrison still can't get quarantine right and he still can't get vaccines right either. There are no excuses any more when if comes to what this Prime Minister's responsible for. Yet, again today, we have seen the Prime Minister and the government trying to make sure that people know that this isn't their fault, that they are not responsible for the vaccine rollout. Well, Australians feel incredibly different.

We found out today that the AstraZeneca vaccine will only be recommended for use in people aged 60 and over due to the concerns over rare blood clotting. That is medical advice, and we accept that advice. But can I be very clear about this: we are now only producing a vaccine type in Australia that can only be used for people over the age of 60. So the majority of people are not able to get the vaccine type that we are producing here in Australia. If only we could have foreseen the need to produce a vaccine here onshore 12 months ago. That's what other countries did—they foresaw that issue.

The government like to talk about statistics a lot, but they definitely cherrypick the best ones. When we look at what's happening in other countries, we see that the US has vaccinated 44 per cent of its population—and Donald Trump was their president—and, in the UK, 45 per cent of people have been vaccinated—and their government has been described as a 'shopping trolley smashing between aisles'. What does that say about you lot and your vaccine rollout? The worldwide average is 6.2 per cent of the population being vaccinated, but Australia is sitting at just under three per cent of the population being fully vaccinated.

While the government talk about doses, what they are not talking about is people who are fully vaccinated—because they want to back in the Prime Minister when he says that this is not a race. The Prime Minister says that the vaccinations are not a race. Well, tell that to aged-care workers still waiting to be vaccinated and the disability workers who are still waiting to receive a single dose. The Prime Minister says that this is not a race. Well, tell that to communities still facing lockdowns. They have had enough. The Prime Minister says that this is not a race. Tell that to international tourism businesses, who have been told that they will have to wait until mid-2022 before international tourists return to our shores. They think that this is a race. The Prime Minister says that this is not a race. Tell that to the 36,000 Australians waiting to come home because this government refuses to take responsibility for national quarantine. They think that this is a race. The Prime Minister says that this is not a race. Well, tell that to the remote Indigenous communities who have not received a single dose of this vaccine but remain incredibly vulnerable to COVID-19. They think that this is a race.

Vaccinating our country and making quarantine safe is a race, and we are dead last. We don't even have our shoes on. We haven't even got ready yet. (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think thou doth protest too much, Senator Green. You stand up and you begin your speech here today by saying, 'Oh, no, Labor is not politicising this issue; we're not trying to make this issue a political pointscoring exercise,' and then you spend the next five minutes—and you spent many hours in estimates—doing exactly that, politicising this issue and trying to turn what is a very complex and technical undertaking into a political pointscoring exercise.

I would encourage all Australians to get out there and get a vaccine. I'm on the list to get my vaccine. It was going to be AstraZeneca, and now that may have changed depending on what happens over the next few months—and timing will potentially shift in terms of my booking. But the point is that 'when the facts change I change my mind'. I don't often quote John Maynard Keynes in this place; I don't think I've ever done it before and I don't plan to do it again, probably. But that's what John Maynard Keynes said.

So, what have we got? Today ATAGI, the expert medical group—the group that Labor constantly tells us we should be seeking and following the medical advice from—has changed the recommendation on the AstraZeneca vaccine. This is the second time the recommendation has been changed. The government has been completely upfront about that. It's the second time the age recommendation on the AstraZeneca vaccine has been changed as new information has come to hand, which is exactly appropriate. It's exactly the way that this rollout should be managed. It is the government taking note of the change to the recommendation, the updated advice on the Pfizer vaccine for adults aged under 60. Until today ATAGI's advice had been that the Pfizer vaccine was preferred for adults under the age of 50. This updated advice, taking that age to 60, is based on new evidence demonstrating a higher risk than originally thought of a rare blood-clotting condition—I'm not even going to try to say the condition's name—for the 50- to 59-year-old age group.

But those opposite also don't like the facts about the vaccine rollout. The facts include that there have been over six million vaccinations, with a daily increase of 152,000 as of midnight 15 June 2021. In the last seven days, there were 738,000 doses, in the last eight days there were almost 900,000 doses and in the last nine days there were one million doses. The rollout, as we always said it would—and as the Australian people would expect—has been significantly boosted over time. The first million doses took 45 days. The second million doses took 20 days. The third million doses took 17 days. The four-million-doses mark was hit 13 days after that, the five-million-doses mark nine days after that and the six-million-doses mark around 10 days after that. So the rollout has significantly ramped up over time but, obviously, the government has taken note of the medical advice, has acted on that expert medical advice and has altered the program accordingly.

I'm extraordinarily proud of what we've managed to do in response to an international pandemic, the like of which the global community has not seen for 100 years. Australia has responded extraordinarily well in so many ways. I think the Australian people, as they choose to do so, will be vaccinated, and I encourage all Australians who are currently eligible for a vaccine to make sure they are using the appropriate websites to register for those vaccines. I went through the Western Australian Department of Health website to register for my own vaccine, and I would encourage all my fellow citizens of Western Australia to do so. If you are eligible to have a vaccine, you should register and you should get vaccinated. That is the quickest path to continuing the very solid foundation we have of recovering from this once-in-century global pandemic and getting life back to normal as much as possible, as we always want it to, as quickly as possible.

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brockman says that he's 'proud' of the Australian government's response. Stone cold, motherless last—that is where Australia is and that is where the Morrison government is in terms of vaccine schedule and vaccine delivery. That has real consequences for ordinary Australians and ordinary people. It has real consequences in terms of their health. It has real consequences in terms of the economy. We've seen from the budget projections of this government that it knows that because of its vaccine failure there will be at least one citywide lockdown every month for the duration of the financial year.

I watched Senator Colbeck's performance, answering questions about these issues in this afternoon's question time. Senator Colbeck very much gives the impression of a bloke who needs a hand crossing the road. He doesn't inspire confidence. He doesn't know the answers to basic questions. He doesn't appear to have the capability or the guts to face up to the big issues that face Australia in the vaccine rollout, in our response to the pandemic.

But Minister Hunt belled the cat in the other place this afternoon when he was asked the question. He confessed that there were discussions with Pfizer in July last year. Well, why on earth don't we have the proper levels of supply and the right vaccine options, enough vaccine options, for Australians to make sure that we are in the right position, that we are not sitting at the bottom of the queue, outside the league table of the top 100, when it comes to vaccine delivery? In July the government had it within its grasp to secure enough Pfizer vaccine doses to vaccinate Australians. But, instead—who knows why?—it put all our eggs in the AstraZeneca basket. How on earth are we going to get out of this mess?

The vaccine rollout catastrophe hurts ordinary Australians. There will be more of this disease because of the government's vaccine failure. That means more Australians will die of the COVID-19 virus. Others will be disabled. Many, many who didn't need to be ill will be ill. There will be more outbreaks. They will spread faster because of the government's vaccine failure. It will have significant economic impacts and we will be held back in terms of our living standards, jobs and economic growth because of the government's failure.

Ordinary Australians pulled their weight. They deserve a government that actually pulls its weight. We've heard all the excuses and all the language designed to deflect and blame others. We even heard the minister representing the health minister, Senator Colbeck, say yesterday that the government was 'repivoting'. What on earth does that mean? The truth is that we've gone from, 'I don't hold a hose, mate,' to, 'I don't hold a dose, mate.' Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, is running out of other people to blame. We are in a post-repivot analysis now.

The truth is that the Prime Minister, when it comes to organising a press conference or a photo opportunity, is always there with bells on. There were 16 press conferences to make announcements over the course of last year and the first part of this year. On 7 September there was a big press conference to announce the AstraZeneca deal, with hundreds of photos. It was a big announcement. On 19 August there was another announcement. On 13 November there was another announcement. On 16 November he announced CSL as the local manufacturing site. I think that's when, wearing his Australian flag face mask, he held up an empty vaccine vial. Nothing could more symbolise the jingoism and the announcement-before-delivery approach of this government than holding up an empty vial at a press conference. They're all announcement and no delivery. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.