Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services (Senator Colbeck) to questions without notice asked by Senators Gallagher and Walsh today relating to COVID-19 vaccination.

We've been asking for information which I understand the minister just tabled at the end of question time. We've been after this information since Monday. The Senate actually passed an OPD to require the minister to table it, which was not followed, and then we had a series of letters, and now it has been tabled. Obviously we will have to take our time to read this, but I would hope that this information is the information that we were seeking and hasn't been modified by the government in any way at all. We will take our time to have a look at that.

I note that our focus on the vaccine has been around the commitments the government has given and then failed to meet, so this is an important document to make sure that we are getting the amount of vaccine supplied, particularly over the winter months, to ensure that everybody who needs to be vaccinated is vaccinated. We already know there are still people in category 1a who remain unvaccinated and there are still people in category 1b who remain unvaccinated because the Commonwealth has failed to roll out this vaccine program efficiently and effectively.

I have no idea why the government decided to hold so much back and ensure that they were responsible for rolling it out, because it's clear the states and territories have the infrastructure and ability to roll out the vaccine in a much more efficient way than the Commonwealth has been proven to do. This has meant that particularly vulnerable groups—people who live in residential aged care, people who receive home care packages, people in disability group homes, those staff who work in those homes, the families who visit people who live in those homes—are now exposed to much more significant risk from the outbreaks that will come across the country because of a number of failures—not just the vaccination failure but the failure to put in place a national quarantine system that allows travelling Australians to quarantine safely and not pass the virus on; we've had a number of outbreaks from quarantine.

Our concern has been the failure of the Commonwealth to meet its own targets. Remember, these targets were not set by anyone but the government itself. The government went out and said: 'We will vaccinate four million by the end of March. We will fully vaccinate all Australians—two shots—by the end of October. We will do residential aged care and the workers who work in it in six weeks, by Easter. There will be six million Australians vaccinated by early May.' None of that has been met. None of it. None of those targets the government set itself have been met.

Now they've brought in military leadership essentially to take the responsibility away from the Department of Health. The Department of Health, who have been guiding this in the pandemic, have basically been told to stand aside and let Lieutenant General Frewen take over even strategic communications. We've seen a very diminished role for Health because the Commonwealth failed to plan and execute a rollout strategy that kept Australians safe—particularly vulnerable Australians, older Australians, Australians living in aged care, workers in those sectors and people over the age of 50. All the data from serious outbreaks overseas shows that these are the groups that need to be protected.

This is the vulnerability we face going into winter. The hospitals in Australia are already full, and they're not even at their busiest point in time yet. I think hospital activity peaks in September. We can only hope that as many people as possible roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine in the next three months. We must hope the government numbers, if they are to be believed, actually do get supply to the states and territories so that they can run the program and so that we reduce some of the risks that Australians face going into this winter period. I imagine this is an extremely scary time for many Australians who are hoping not to catch COVID, hoping to be kept safe and hoping to get a vaccine.

These are important numbers. I hope the government has released everything that they've provided to the states and territories. We will look at these closely, because transparency is key to holding the government to account to deliver for Australians when it comes to the vaccine rollout.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After 20-odd years in the military, one thing I have learnt is that the old saying that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy is true. You can plan. You make your plan on the basis of your analysis of the situation and assumptions. But, when facts change, the person who is going to win the battle is the person who is prepared to be flexible and use the basis of that planning as the basis for new plans to respond to situations. And so it is globally, as we look at the changing situation with COVID, that the very best laid plans will have to change as the facts on the ground change.

With ATAGI being the independent expert group in Australia who advises the government and national cabinet—so, governments of our states and territories as well—about the efficacy of vaccines, there are those considerations, coupled with supply considerations, that at times are outside the control of the Australian government. So, we look at some of the well-advertised situations where supply has been limited in terms of exports from Europe and other places. Those are factors that will impact on a plan. A good military, a good government and a good deliverer of an outcome in a global pandemic not seen for 100 years is one that can adapt to the circumstances and the facts as they arise—as opposed to sticking rigidly with a plan or being unwilling or afraid to articulate a plan upfront. The whole concept of delivery means looking at the circumstances, making a plan based on the information available and then using that information to adapt and move forward. The information that is considered by national cabinet includes those supply constraints, includes the information from ATAGI about effectiveness, and then provides the best available information to people who are delivering services in the interests of the Australian people.

The Coordinator General of Operation COVID Shield is Lieutenant General Frewen. I believe part of the reason the military play a critical role in times of national disasters like floods, fires and pandemics is that they are good at planning, adapting and delivering. General Frewen has updated the planning projections for Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses for the jurisdictions for the remainder of 2021. As delivered, that information is valid. But the reality of life is that it may change. It is important that, rather than complain that the facts have changed, people know how to adapt and how to optimise available resources. General Frewen has indicated that the Commonwealth is fast-tracking plans to expand the number of access points for Pfizer. By the end of July, all 136 Commonwealth vaccination clinics and around 1,300 GPs will be administering Prizer, and many more primary care providers will be offered the chance to administer the mRNA vaccines as the supply of Prizer significantly increases and the first supplies of Moderna arrive in September and October.

General Frewen was able to indicate that with the adaptation that has occurred, using that basis of planning to respond to the new facts on the ground, Australia is still on track with the expected supply picture to offer every eligible person in Australia a first dose of a COVID vaccine by the end of 2021. It's important to understand that. It's also important to understand that many vaccines have already been delivered. Last Monday was a record for vaccines. We've had 63,000, and then 119,000—these are the kinds of figures we're now getting—and the figure of 128,000 on this most recent Monday shows that Australians are taking up the vaccine. That's a really important thing, because it means that more than 65 per cent of over-70s are protected, more than 45 per cent of over-50s are protected and more than one in four of the eligible population aged over 16 years are protected. So, facts will change, but good planning means you can adapt to the new facts and continue to deliver the outcome that Australians need. (Time expired)

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do really want to believe Senator Fawcett, and perhaps, if he was representing the minister for health and he was managing the portfolio instead of the hapless Minister Colbeck, Australians might indeed have a degree of confidence. But what we've seen today in question time, in answers to questions from my colleagues Senator Walsh and Senator Gallagher, is once again this pattern of game-playing—playing with information in a game that is about people's lives. We saw the game-playing from this government and the false premise upon which they proceeded, and their failures to implement and deliver proper processes to protect Australians has cost hundreds of lives in Victoria.

As I stand and speak here as a senator for New South Wales, our state is going into another very challenging period, with potential lockdowns and, certainly, changes to our practices because this virus remains. Senator Colbeck, in his responses to questions from Senator Walsh, seemed to be very proud of these figures—that 33 per cent of aged-care workers have had their first dose. It's better than zero, but it's a long, long way from where it needs to be, and it's a huge distance from where this government promised Australians they would be. Only 15 per cent of the people who are working in aged care across Australia have had their second dose.

Now, I can only hope that, in New South Wales, the delta variant which is out in our community and causing so much concern doesn't end up in an aged-care worker in an aged-care setting, or we're in all sorts of problems. And the reason that we're in this situation is because this government isn't telling the truth—it isn't telling the truth to the Australian people; it isn't coming in here and telling the truth—and it isn't doing the work that needs to be done to provide the necessary protection for the Australian people. If you're in Sydney and you've got somebody going to the home of someone you love—a home-care worker—you want to be really hoping that, on the watch of this government that is responsible for rolling out the vaccine to home-care workers and aged-care workers, that delta variant doesn't get into that home-care situation, because only 4.3 per cent of all home-care workers have had their second dose. That's the bit of the job that this government was supposed to do. That's the bit of the job where the government stand up and say, 'Yes, we're responsible for that; we're responsible for aged care,' and they promised—they promised—they would do this job properly, but they didn't.

In response to a question from his own side today, Minister Colbeck pretended once again that they've accepted the aged-care royal commission recommendations. But that is at odds with what he said in response to a question from Senator Walsh, because, when she asked what was going on with the registration of people who are working across multiple sites, he had to tell the truth, and the truth is that the government rejected the recommendation to set up a system to monitor who is working where—just like they didn't know who was vaccinated amongst aged-care workers. They've got no idea how many people are working across what sites. And then he faffed on for ages, trying to pretend that they've got some system in place. 'It is required,' he said. 'We are doing consultations. We are going to use'—notice the future tense, not even the present tense and certainly not the past tense; they have not established anything—'a system already in place to get that up and running.' Well, there is an absolute failure of responsibility.

The government had one major job this year, and that was to effectively roll out the vaccine. They had a particular responsibility in the aged-care sector. They have failed and it has cost lives. I fear that the complacency of this government, who thought it wasn't a race against this deadly disease, is going to cost more lives, especially with the delta strain out and active. We lag behind countries like Fiji, Azerbaijan and Panama, just to name a few. They've got better vaccination rates than Australia. This is hurting our economy, it's hurting our families and it's hurting our aged care. It's time the government did their job and told the truth.

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

Once again, we rise to speak on the vaccination rollout in this place and once again we have those opposite attempting to play politics with what is a very complex, very important multijurisdictional rollout of vaccination across Australia using different varieties of vaccines in an environment where the health advice has changed a number of times—and that is exactly what those opposite do not want to talk about. The health advice has changed to a significant degree on a number of occasions, including just last week, when, once again, the advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine changed the age recommendation for Australians. I said in this place before that I was booked in for the AstraZeneca vaccine. I had chosen to do it at the start of our winter recess so that, if there were any side effects—I'm not worried about an adverse reaction—I wouldn't be travelling to Canberra in the imminent near future. As a result of the changed health recommendation, that booking has since been changed to a Pfizer vaccine and it's going to be slightly later. Obviously, when the health advice changes, the rollout is going to change. Those opposite playing politics on this is not only unhelpful but plays into the hands of those who wish to raise doubt about the vaccine efficacy. I think those opposite should take that into account when they do play these political games.

Obviously, when ATAGI came to the government with its changed recommendation on AstraZeneca—that it was now recommended only for people aged 60 and over—things needed to change. The experts at ATAGI have made it clear that, for those Australians who have had their first dose of AstraZeneca, it's strongly recommended they do have their second dose of AstraZeneca, given the risks from the second shot of the vaccine are much, much smaller. On receiving the advice of the change of age, the government acted quickly—very quickly. Within half an hour, in fact, of receiving that advice, the government announced it publicly. and then that flowed on through the various jurisdictions to ensure changes were made to the vaccine rollout and people were informed if their particular circumstances changed, as mine did,

Obviously, there are other outcomes from the national cabinet meeting. The Coordinator-General of Operation COVID Shield, Lieutenant General Frewen, provided each state and territory government with applications for Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses for their jurisdiction over the remainder of 2021. This will allow the state jurisdictions to plan their individual rollouts. The coordinator-general confirmed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine allocations are provided on a proportional population basis. The coordinator-general confirmed the Commonwealth delivers all first-dose allocations to states and territories, with matching second-dose allocations delivered three weeks after first doses are administered. This is important. This ensures that states and territories have control over first- and second-dose administration based on their supply schedules.

National cabinet also noted the Commonwealth is fast-tracking plans to expand the number of access points for Pfizer by the end of July, and 136 Commonwealth vaccination clinics, 40 ACCHSs and 1,300 GPs will be administering Pfizer. Many more primary care providers will be offered the chance to administer mRNA vaccines as the supply of Pfizer significantly increases and the first supplies of Moderna arrive in September and October. The coordinator-general also confirmed that, based on expected supplies, Australia remains on track to offer every eligible person in Australia a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021. Once again, the government's and my message to all Australians is to make sure you are booked in for your first shot; make sure you are vaccinated. That is the best way to protect our loved ones and protect our community in this pandemic and to return to normal.

Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is, I think, the third time in recent weeks I've taken note on similar topics around the rollout of vaccines in aged care, in response this time to questions from Senators Walsh and Gallagher. It's frustrating me that I'm doing that. It's a sign that we still have so many unanswered questions on our side about what's happening with the vaccination rollout, about what's happening in aged care and about how it impacts residents and workers in aged care. The government has two jobs when it comes to this pandemic: quarantine and the vaccination rollout. On both jobs we are seeing failure after failure, delay after delay and excuse after excuse.

Today in question time we saw Senator Colbeck again try to blame the states for a failure to provide data at the time requested by the Senate. It's not the first time he's blamed the states and territories for his errors, for his failures and for the failures of the Morrison government when it comes to the vaccine rollout and when it comes to quarantine. The impact of this is very serious. Just look at what's happening in New South Wales. I echo Senator O'Neill's comments and concerns around what's happening in New South Wales at the moment. People are scared. People are worried, particularly the families of those in residential aged care, the workers who want to keep the residents they care for safe, the in-home-care workers and the workers in our disability sector. This is dangerous, and because the government is botching it people are feeling more scared than they should have to.

We've heard today that only 15.6 per cent of residential aged-care workers have received their second dose, meaning that only 15.6 per cent of residential aged-care workers are fully vaccinated. This is the front line. We saw what happened in 2020 in aged care. Australians watched in absolute horror as COVID rampaged through aged-care homes—in Victoria, especially, where over 600 Australians died. They were horrific scenes, which shook all of us, and the lessons learned should be that we cannot wait, that we cannot delay. This is a race. The Prime Minister says it is not a race, but it is a race. It's a race and Australians want it to be happening quicker, happening faster and happening effectively. They want the implementation going better.

We ask questions about the numbers and about the data over and over again because this matters. How can you possibly track the implementation of something so important if you can't even answer basic questions about who's had the jab and who hasn't, if you can't even have basic delineations between what you're responsible for and what the states and territories are responsible for and if you can't even come into this and say, 'Yep, I'll cop that; my bad. I've made a mistake. I'm going to take responsibility now'? Australians are worried that on your two jobs—quarantine and vaccination rollout—you're failing and it's costing them. It's costing our country. It's costing our future. It's going to impact how we come through this pandemic, without a doubt, and Australians are right to be worried.

I join Senator Brockman in my absolute support for making sure that we take these vaccinations. As soon as I'm eligible I'm getting vaccinated, and I really look forward to the opportunity to do that. More Australians want to be vaccinated, but we want to get this rollout right so that they can be. We need to get this rollout right so that the people who are the most vulnerable in this pandemic, those in our aged-care homes, those working there and those in disability care are safe and can keep those around them safe. That's what Australians want, but they need the government to step up to the plate on their jobs.

Question agreed to.