Turnbull calls Morrison’s vaccine rollout an ‘incredible failure

Malcolm Turnbull has lashed out at the man who took his job, accusing Scott Morrison of an ‘incredible failure’ in a key Covid area.

Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Scott Morrison’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout as an “incredible failure”.

In an eye-opening appearing on Channel 7’s The Morning Show on Thursday, the former prime minister described the rollout as “the biggest failure in public administration” he had ever seen.

“The federal government had one big job, which was to get plenty of vaccines and get everyone vaccinated, and they failed. It‘s an incredible failure,” Mr Turnbull said.

Australia ranked last out of the OECD when it came to vaccination rates.

As of July 7, less than 8 per cent of the Australian population has been fully vaccinated.

Mr Turnbull said the federal government's failure to buy enough vaccines was the primary cause of the disastrous vaccine rollout.

“People rush off and find there‘s nothing to be vaccinated with!” he said.

While Mr Turnbull cited vaccine supply as the primary issue, he maintained that an effective “sticks and carrots” strategy was still needed to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“You need to have a really aggressive campaign … a lot of other countries are doing that,” he said.

Mr Turnbull suggested a similar strategy to the “no jab, no play” used by preschools to push the general population to get vaccinated.

“We’ve basically got to say: you can’t get on a plane unless you’ve been vaccinated, you can’t go to the movies if you haven’t been vaccinated,” he said.

Over 30,000 Australians have signed a petition to stop Annastacia Palaszczuk flying to Tokyo
Picture: John Gass

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sparked controversy this week by insisting she would attend the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to tout Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 Games.

It came just days after she successfully pushed national cabinet to halve the number of international arrivals to Australia, and more than 30,000 Australians have signed a petition to bar her from leaving the country.

Mr Turnbull conceded the trip “isn‘t a great look” politically, but insisted Ms Palaszczuk would be a ”more compelling advocate” by attending in person.

“If Brisbane really wants to get the Games, then they’ve got to make their best case,” he said.

“Look, it‘s a tough call, but I think on balance, she’s right in going.”