Live Breaking News: Australia still considering 'no jab, no play' approach

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dropped a major hint about a possible “no jab, no play” approach while being grilled on the vaccine rollout.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dropped a major hint about a possible “no jab, no play” approach while being grilled on the vaccine rollout.

 

 

 

"I didn't say we wouldn't," the Prime Minister told reporters this afternoon, questioned over whether he'd implement the measure, which is "about as close as you can get to mandating [the] vaccine".

However, he said, it's not a decision that he or the Federal Government can make for the entire country.

"Ultimately, restrictions to be placed on people moving about in their states can only be imposed by states," he said.

"The Commonwealth Government can't do that. Only the state governments can place restrictions on people entering a venue, entering a place of work, things like this, there are also industrial relations issues here at play as well. They can apply, the public health orders, mandate vaccinations like the Western Australia premier has done in terms of quarantine-based workers. They have those powers. They can implement them."

The PM encouraged "people to have the vaccines that are available to them" but said that he couldn't make them mandatory.

"That's not the way that we do things in this country. People will make their own choices. I totally respect that," he said.

You can read more and follow our live coverage in the blog below. For the latest on Victoria, we have a separate blog here.