SUBJECTS: Vaccine rollout; Respect@Work report.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Thanks for joining me. In 2021, Scott Morrison, as the Prime Minister, had just one job. To get the rollout of the vaccine right. Because the rollout of the vaccine is a precondition for us to return to normal life in Australia, for our economy to get going, for us to stop lockdowns, for us to engage in the world. It is very clear that Scott Morrison has got this wrong.
 
The rollout of the vaccine is a debacle. We now have circumstances whereby just under 20 per cent of aged care residents have been vaccinated. They have stopped promising to roll out the vaccine to aged care staff and are now telling aged care staff to check with their GP. Labor was warning for a long period of time that we needed to do what international best practice told us we should do, which is to have access to five or six vaccines. The fact that we now have such uncertainty about the rollout is a direct result of an arrogant Government that was too focused on the 24-hour media cycle and not focused on what Australia needed, which is substance in the response, not just more contribution to Scott Morrison's spin cycle. Scott Morrison is addicted to the spin cycle rather than to substance. 
 
Scott Morrison said that we were at the front of the queue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Australia's struggling to get into the top 100 when it comes to the rollout of the vaccine where in areas like the United Kingdom, we have 60 per cent of the adult population have been vaccinated. Israel's right at the top with 100 per cent of their population being vaccinated. And we're struggling to get beyond two or three per cent at this point in time. Scott Morrison said and repeated on January 7 the clear commitment that four million people would be vaccinated by the end of March. We know that figure is less than one million to even receive their first jab. Scott Morrison has tried to redefine when people are vaccinated from having two jabs by the end of October, into having just one. Trying to change the goal posts. And yesterday, he couldn't even say if people would be vaccinated by the end of 2021. 
 
This is critical for our health, but it's also critical for our national economy. Because if we don't get the health response right, then we won't be able to return our economic activity and our normal way of going about our lives, back to what it was before this pandemic. Scott Morrison likes using the Liberal Party logo on announcements related to the vaccine. Well, Australians won't forget who is responsible for failing to deliver on what are his own promises and his own commitments when it comes to these issues. Now, Labor will always accept the advice of the TGA and ATAGI. And we accept the advice that they have given to the Government overnight. But we also say they should have listened to the expert advice that was given to the Government, and indeed to all governments, about not placing all our eggs in one basket, about making sure that we hedged our bets, if you like. Because we knew just like the UQ vaccine fell over, we knew that there can be issues with the rollout of a vaccine such as this. Which is why international best practice would have had us do deals over Moderna, over Johnson & Johnson. In the UK, with the changes that have been made to AstraZeneca, they can just be replaced. And more use of Moderna, for example, in the UK, can fill that void. Here in Australia, we're not in that position which is why there is such uncertainty. Australians just want to know when they'll be vaccinated. And they deserve that certainty. Vulnerable Australians such as aged care residents particularly deserve that certainty. And the Government must get on top of this issue and stop the addiction to announcements and the spin cycle and saying, ‘She'll be right, mate, don't worry about that’, whilst Australians remain concerned about the failure to deliver on the commitments that the Government has given. 
 
Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: Brendan Murphy says one of the reasons that Australia didn't sign any of those early supply deals with Moderna was because it was such a similar vaccine to the Pfizer. Does that pass muster?
 
ALBANESE: Well, quite clearly best practice was that other countries signed up to both Pfizer and Moderna. They did that for a reason. And they're doing better than us for a reason. The fact that Australia didn't sign up at all until about September of last year. Other countries were doing deals from March. And they were doing multiple deals. And this Government was so addicted to saying that everything is right, and everything is going well, which is what its focus is. Its focus is always on that 24-hour media cycle, never on Australia's national interest, always on political management of any issue. And we can't have political management being the primary focus of a health crisis. It's got to be dealing with that crisis, coming up with solutions, listening to advice, and then implementing that advice. This Government hasn't done that. This Government has failed. This Government couldn't run a choko vine up a back fence. This is a Government that has failed to deliver on its own commitments.
 
JOURNALIST: Does Labor risk undermining confidence in the vaccine program by constantly criticising the Government for failing to diversify its contracts?
 
ALBANESE: We've been constructive the whole way through. There wouldn't have been a day that went past that either Chris Bowen, while he was the Health Shadow, or Mark Butler since, or myself as the Leader, or Penny Wong as the Senate Leader, haven't pointed out some of the weaknesses in our strategy. That's our job, to be constructive. We have done our job. Scott Morrison has not done his job. And he had just one job, to get this vaccine rollout right. And it is that failure that's undermining confidence going forward. Because anyone who looked at last night's media conference would have seen a Prime Minister, a Health Minister, being confused, being uncertain. It's Scott Morrison that last night couldn't even give a commitment that Australians would be vaccinated this calendar year. It's Scott Morrison that said that he would under-promise and over-deliver when he said there would be four million Australians vaccinated by the end of March. The fact that hasn't happened undermines confidence. And the undermining of that sits squarely with Scott Morrison.
 
JOURNALIST: There has been some suggestion we could soon have extra doses of Pfizer given how far along the US is with its rollout. Is that cause for hope?
 
ALBANESE: That would be a good thing. We want to see this rollout occur. But we also want to see the Government step up its attempts to get deals with Moderna, with Johnson & Johnson, with the other vaccines that are available and that have been used. Moderna has been rolled out, for example, substantially. Tens of millions in Europe and in North America. The fact we don't have it here is a real concern. Australians should get vaccinated. We should always listen to the experts. But the TGA, of course, can't analyse any vaccines if they don't have access to it.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think the CSL plant in Melbourne should switch from making AstraZeneca to Novavax once that becomes available?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I think that we should follow the expert advice there. We've said that the whole way along. Listen to the expert advice. We have absolute confidence in the TGA and in Australia's world-class experts. But it is also up to Australian politicians and political leaders, and particularly the Federal Government, to listen to those experts, which is why if they had done that last year, but they dismissed Labor's concerns about these issues. What we've seen is because all the eggs were in one basket, once that egg is broken, there's been nowhere to go. And they need to very quickly get their act together, stop with all the hubris and the arrogance, and saying that everything is all okay, and actually get on with the job of delivering what they said they would do.
 
JOURNALIST: Will people be scared to get the AstraZeneca vaccine now?
 
ALBANESE: Well, people will listen to the expert advice. And I note that the expert advice is now saying for those under the age of 50, they have issued a declaration there. We should all, politicians, shouldn't second guess it. I note Scott Morrison last night, I think, there might have been some confusion as to some of the comments that were made. It's important that the advice be made, that it be made clearly, and that people follow it. People should get vaccinated. But they should get vaccinated according to the expert advice. The problem here is, of course, is that so many people are under the age of 50, are so far away from the front of the queue, that there's some time. But people supposed to have got the vaccine by now, aged care residents, people who are essential workers, aged care workers, none of that has happened as well. And let's be very clear, the failure to meet the deadline isn't because of changed advice with regards to AstraZeneca. It's because this Government was always failing to hit the targets that itself had made, that it said were under-promises. Its target of four million people being vaccinated by the end of March, not getting one jab, but being vaccinated, was very clear. And it made it on multiple occasions. This Government has been too obsessed with getting the Liberal Party logo onto things. It's been distracted by a whole range of issues. But there's something that is very consistent about this Government, which is that it always sees the announcement as the end game, not the delivery on those announcements. And that's why it's failed in so many areas, not just health, but it's failed when it comes to the economy, it's failed when it comes to productivity, it's failed when it comes to so many issues.
 
JOURNALIST: Putting aside the issue of supply contracts, do you think the Government has done a good job with being so cautious with its health advice and communicating it to the public so quickly?
 
ALBANESE: The fact is it's the relevant authorities that give the health advice, the Therapeutic Goods Administration. I have absolute confidence in the TGA and in the ATAGI, the technical advisory group.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think the Federal Government should rush through some funding to try and set up some mRNA technology here so that we could be making vaccines like the Pfizer vaccine onshore?
 
ALBANESE: Well, what the Government needs to do is to come up with a strategy to deal with this beyond the 24-hour media cycle, is not change its advice from day to day. And when you look at what Scott Morrison has said just this week, there's been a range of advice, but it has something in common, which is it's a 'gonna' Government. It's always going to do something, it's going to do this, it's going to do that, and it never gets around to actually delivering it. What we actually need is less 'gonna' announcements from this Government, and more delivery.
 
JOURNALIST: Just a few questions in relation to the Respect@Work report. How do you think the extension of the Sex Discrimination Act to cover MPs and judges should work?
 
ALBANESE: Look, it should be implemented. We shouldn't be exempt. We'll look at the legislation. But I'll make this comment. One of the things that has been said quite rightly in recent times is that we need to listen to women. Kate Jenkins, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, should be listened to. Her report made a comprehensive suite of recommendations, many of which have not been adopted and won't be implemented by this Government. The Government needs to explain why it is that it has ignored so many of those recommendations. Labor will be examining any legislation that the Government puts forward and comparing it with the recommendations made by Ms Jenkins in her very important report that was tabled more than a year ago. I just find it astonishing that it took the Government more than a year to respond to a comprehensive report. And in its response, there's no funding, there's no timelines, and there's no legislation.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think the evidence of cases of sexual harassment have fallen through the cracks because judges and employees haven't been explicitly included?
 
ALBANESE: I'm not aware of any specific cases. But it's a matter of looking at Ms Jenkins' report, making sure that it's implemented, making sure that she's not only listened to, but acted upon.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you see a positive onus on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual discrimination, harassment and victimisation that was recommendation 17 of the report? The Government noted it rather than accepted it.
 
ALBANESE: Yes, I do. And most importantly, it isn't what I think, it's what Kate Jenkins found and what Kate Jenkins recommended. And the Government should listen and respond to the report positively. It shouldn't be the case that the onus is on victims. That there's a responsibility, as well, to make sure that all women, and indeed all Australians, can feel safe at work. It's a pretty fundamental principle. That was the basis of Kate Jenkins' report. It took more than a year for the Government to respond. And quite frankly, a response of noted isn't listening, it's not acting. It is just more of the same. Thanks.
 
ENDS