SUBJECTS: Scott Morrison’s failure to plan; vaccine supply problems; international arrival caps; Australians stranded overseas; vaccine targets; the importance of Pfizer and Moderna; Julia Banks; Simon Birmingham saying the Government could have done things differently in hindsight.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Scott Morrison’s failure to plan has been a plan to fail. This new deal is just the old deal that has never been delivered. We've known from the very beginning that the key to removing restrictions and going back to our way of life is the rollout of the vaccine. But the truth is that Scott Morrison has failed to roll out the vaccine and has also failed to put in place national quarantine facilities. They've been the two big jobs that he's had this year. And it's extraordinary that 18 months into the pandemic he's decided that we're at stage one. For goodness sake. If we had got this right, we would have been in a position that other countries find themselves in today, able to move forward. In the UK, over 50s have been told that they'll be offered their booster shot, their third vaccine, from October. And here we are in Australia, at the bottom of the OECD, something like six per cent of Australians being fully vaccinated. In spite of that, Australians still continue to do magnificent work, looking after each other. And the number of people who've come forward for testing is indeed a great tribute to the sense of solidarity and unity that is out there and the determination that Australians have to do the right thing. What they need is a government that is prepared to do the right thing. And the key issue here is that of supply. The truth is that so many Australians are still trying to get vaccinated but are unable to because of supply issues. And we know that that's the case because the state governments, who are all doing magnificent work, have been telling us that that's the case. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Do you agree with the decision to halve the international arrival caps?

ALBANESE: Well, this is a decision that is a direct result of the failure of the Morison Government to put in place appropriate national quarantine facilities and to get Australians vaccinated. Scott Morrison promised Australians that they'd be home by Christmas. And we know that over 30,000 Australians are still stranded overseas. And my heart goes out to them and their families. But this decision is a direct result of that failure. If Scott Morrison had delivered on the targets and the promises that he made to the Australian people that were the front of the queue, that people in category 1A would all be vaccinated by Easter, that Australians would be home by Christmas, we wouldn't be dealing with this. But in the announcement that’s made yesterday, again, the Prime Minister has no targets and no timelines, just a horizon. Well, horizons are never met.

JOURNALIST: Gladys Berejiklian, though, says that this cut didn’t have to be made. Do you think it should have been (inaudible) to get more Australians home?

ALBANESE: I have continued to campaign to get Australians home by last Christmas. That was something that I suggested. We put forward practical measures that could have achieved that. There's so many practical things that the Government could have done that they simply haven't done. The most important of which, of course, is to increase supply of the vaccines but then to roll it out effectively through mass immunisation sites, by using pharmacists, by using all means at our disposal, as other countries have done. We haven't done that. And that's why, as a direct consequence of the Government's failure, the Government's failure to, for example, agree on the site at Toowoomba that was put forward by Premier Palaszczuk last October. And it could have been, according to Mr Wagner, a 600-bed facility up and running within 12 weeks. We had announcements about the expansion of Howard Springs, that still aren't seeing those places fully utilised. The Federal Government is responsible for migration and is responsible for quarantine and they haven't delivered on the two jobs that they've had this year. And those two jobs are very simple. The two jobs Mr Morrison had was to roll out the vaccine and to establish national quarantine facilities. And as a direct result, 12 million Australians have been locked down. And it took 12 million Australians to be locked down for Mr Morrison to emerge and actually have something to say, four days later. And what he said was basically the old plan, which is reliant upon rollout of the vaccine. We know that that's the key.

JOURNALIST: What percentage of Australians do you think need to be fully vaccinated before we can avoid lockdowns and restore flight caps?

ALBANESE: We should listen to the medical advice. What we know is that we can't get a higher percentage of Australians vaccinated because there are supply issues. That's been the problem. And the Government needs to get onto our friends in the United States and these companies, Pfizer and Moderna, and see what we can do to bring forward our access to more of the vaccine. That has always been the key. Early on, Mr Morrison didn't have enough deals with enough vaccines in enough quantity to deal with this crisis. And as a direct result, we are the lowest vaccination rates in the advanced world.

JOURNALIST: How important is it that we get more Pfizer?

ALBANESE: Pfizer is absolutely critical. Or getting access earlier to the Moderna vaccine is critical as well. The fact is that until we have access to those vaccines, there will be ongoing issues. And all of the National Cabinet has recognised this. But the real tragedy is it didn't have to be this way. The Federal Government met with Pfizer for the first time in July last year. Nothing happened until November, before a deal was reached. And then, of course, Pfizer supplies didn't come online till much later than that. And we have no position with regard to manufacturing mRNA vaccines here. If we'd have done that earlier, we could have been in a position of producing them here. And that would be one step towards the vision that I put forward yesterday at the National Press Club, which is how we manufacture more things here, create more high value jobs here, boost our economy here by being an advanced manufacturing country, including for pharmaceuticals.

JOURNALIST: What do you make of Julia Banks’ allegations detailed in the Good Weekend today?

ALBANESE: Well, Julia Banks has put forward her experience as a Coalition MP, as a member of the Liberal Party. And of course, Julia Banks’ comments on Scott Morrison and on her experience as a member of the Coalition will of course come as no surprise given the strong statements that Julia Banks made when she went to the crossbenchers about the failure to get support from senior people in the Cabinet. Her book is out there for all to read. But Julia Banks, of course, is someone who, in my experience, was someone of really integrity and someone who always tried to represent her constituents and represent her values in in this Parliament and certainly in her private life. I wish Julia Banks well.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask one more last question? Last night, Simon Birmingham was on The Project and he said the Government could have done things differently in hindsight. Is it refreshing to hear such honesty?

ALBANESE: Well, Simon Birmingham has belled the cat on this Government and its failure. The truth is, though, that we were saying the vaccine needed to be rolled out last year. We were saying you needed to have national quarantine facilities last year. We were calling for a public information campaign in support of vaccinations last year. We were calling for the manufacture of mRNA vaccines. We have put these forward for a long period of time. This is a Government that Simon Birmingham is the Leader in the Senate of, who were saying we're at the front of the queue. Earlier this week, he acknowledged that we're at the back of the queue. And we're at the back of the queue due to a failure of the Government to plan effectively and to look after the health, the economic interests and the lifestyle of Australians. And Australians are suffering as a direct consequence of Scott Morrison's failure to do those two jobs, to roll out the vaccine and to set up national quarantine facilities. Thank you.

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