Business needs certainty on jabs

The good news on economic recovery from the pandemic is that it is gathering momentum. If it is to continue, however, businesses need, for planning purposes, as clear timetables as possible from the Morrison government about the national vaccine rollout and the reopening of international borders. On the upside, before JobKeeper ended late last month, businesses reported the best operating conditions on record, National Australia Bank’s latest survey indicates. A smooth transition from emergency stimulus to private sector-led growth is under way, Patrick Commins reports, with profitability, employment and trading conditions rising to all-time highs. Elevated confidence in combination with strong forward orders “points to ongoing strength in activity’’ as the economy passes through the end of JobKeeper, NAB chief economist Alan Oster says. Women are leading the jobs recovery, with Australian Bureau of Statistics payroll figures showing the number of positions held by women is above pre-pandemic levels.

While 1.3 million Australians were on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance last month, job vacancies reached a 12-year high, data from the National Skills Commission showed. Jobs and apprenticeships for chefs, hospitality staff, tradespeople and construction workers were going begging. So were jobs for unskilled workers. Labour shortages, while unemployment remains high, suggest vocational and post-school training programs are out of kilter with the nation’s economic needs. Closing international borders last year denied employers two major sources of workers; backpackers and overseas students.

Blaming the Morrison government for abandoning its October target for Australians to have their first COVID vaccine jabs would be churlish and foolish given the emergence of a rare blood clotting disorder linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. On Tuesday, a second case of blood clots linked to AstraZeneca in Australia was reported. It occurred in a woman in her 40s who was vaccinated in Western Australia. The first case occurred in a 44-year-old Melbourne man. The government abandoned its target last week after the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommended that the Pfizer vaccine be given in preference to AstraZeneca in those aged under 50. The government ordered another 20 million doses of Pfizer, which will not arrive until the fourth quarter of the year. Public health is paramount. But the government needs to send clearer messages.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry argues the absence of a vaccine timeline is harder to manage than a delayed one. “If we can’t expect specific dates, we should at least be aligning our restart plans to milestones in the vaccine rollout,” ACCI acting chief executive Jenny Lambert says. Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox says the government should get states to approve nat­ionally consistent processes for the treatment of vaccinated Australians and overseas visitors. “We may have won a health battle but we risk losing the economic war,” he says. “This is where our relatively slow vaccine rollout may hurt us. Skilled workers, students and tourists will not wait and choose to go where borders are open and where they are welcomed.”

As NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says, there will come a point when the rest of the world begins re-­engaging with each other and “we can’t afford to be left behind”. That is why Scott Morrison’s move to speed up the rollout by asking national cabinet to return to a “warlike footing” and meet twice a week makes sense. This is a time for governments to pull together, as they did at the height of the pandemic.