‘Give yourself an uppercut’: Queensland leaders slam Scott Morrison over vaccine rollout

Leaders in the sunny state have slammed the federal government over vaccine hoarding claims, saying it should give itself an ‘uppercut’.

The Queensland Premier has slammed the federal government for keeping state leaders in the dark about the vaccine rollout, while her deputy says claims of hoarding vaccines are an “orchestrated attack” on the Palaszczuk government.

“Queensland is releasing its vaccine numbers every day. We do not see that from the federal government,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“Secondly, we need to have guaranteed supply and we need to have guaranteed times of delivery.”

Two new cases were recorded in Queensland, both linked to known infectious. One is a nurse at the PA Hospital who the Premier said was vaccinated.

But it’s unclear where she had received both doses.

Now the Premier is hounding the federal government for not providing enough information about when and how many doses will arrive.

“We need surety of supply by the federal government, and if the states are releasing their figures every day, I think that it is only fair, fair and reasonable, that the federal government releases its figures every day “ she said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said state leaders needed more information from the federal government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“Why is the commonwealth not doing the aged care staff at the same time they’re doing our most vulnerable? That’s a very logical question that this needs to be posed to the federal government.”

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles also weighed in, arguing the public needs greater transparency about how many vaccines are available.

He also said claims that Queensland was stockpiling vaccines were an “outrageous” and “orchestrated attack”.

“What we’ve seen throughout this entire pandemic is every time the Morrison government wants to deflect from their failings, they launch an attack on the states and territories. And that’s what we’ve seen overnight,” he said.

He said the agreement between the states and territories and the commonwealth left responsibility for 70 per cent of the vaccination task with the federal government.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has slammed the federal government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Mr Miles then went on to address comments made by Nationals Deputy Leader David Littleproud on breakfast television. Mr Littleproud accused states of “sitting on their hands” and being too complacent.

“He said that if the federal government needs to do better, then they should get an uppercut. Well, it's time that he should give himself an uppercut,” he said.

“The states are doing what they can with what has been distributed to them.”

Experts had widely predicted the Greater Brisbane lockdown would be extended past the Thursday evening deadline, but Ms Palaszczuk described the low figure on Wednesday as a “fantastic” result.

“The fact we do not have any unlinked community transmission in the southeast or in our state is absolutely encouraging news,” she told reporters.

“We are doing a great job, and together we will get through this.”