Michaelia Cash to brief bosses, unions on workers’ Covid-19 jabs

Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash will meet with employers and unions on Wednesday to discuss progress on the vaccine rollout.

Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash. Picture: Gary Ramage

Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash will meet with employers and unions on Wednesday to discuss progress on the vaccine rollout, as Gladys Berejiklian warned Australians would be living with restrictions well after Australia had achieved the 80 per cent vaccination target.

The meeting will examine how businesses can comply with health and safety obligations without mandating the jab in workplaces, with lockdowns being extended through to September in Victoria and the ACT. Darwin and Katherine were also plunged into a snap three-day lockdown after the Northern Territory recorded a ­single new case.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker will brief the meeting on the regulator’s recent legal guidance, including how employers required to open in Covid hotspots during lockdowns could have the power to direct workers to be vaccinated against Covid.

Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk – who believes new laws might be required to protect privacy if mooted vaccine passports are introduced – will also attend to answer questions from employers and unions.

ACTU secretary Sally Mc­Manus on Monday called on the government to provide a new universal leave entitlement via the National Employment Standards for paid vaccination leave for every worker, including casuals, to get the jab and recover from any routine side effects.

The Morrison government was on Monday considering cancelling parliament next week after 19 new cases were recorded in Canberra, with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr declaring he would prefer for the remaining August sitting periods to be delayed.

Tensions flared between national cabinet leaders with Scott Morrison condemning West Australian Premier Mark McGowan for saying the state would pursue a zero Covid policy even when vaccination rates reach 80 per cent.

“Covid zero was never the goal of anybody anywhere. The idea that you can eliminate this thing is … just not realistic and it has never been Australia’s goal,” Mr Morrison told the Nine network.

He said reaching jab rates of 80 per cent ensured governments could treat Covid like the flu.

“We don’t go and shut down the whole country because of the flu every year,” Mr Morrison said. “That (is the) national plan that everybody has signed up to. It’s ­actually a commitment they’ve made to the Australian people and people in their own states about the pathway out.”

With NSW recording a record-high 478 cases and eight deaths including a 15-year-old boy, the Premier said transmission rates in the state were “disturbingly high”.

Ms Berejiklian rejected Mr McGowan’s push for a Covid-zero policy, saying it was “not a realistic proposition”.

“While the Delta strain is causing carnage all around the world, we can’t pretend we will get to zero and stay at zero forever,” she said.

However, Ms Berejiklian conceded restrictions such as social distancing and mask wearing would remain, even with no community transmission and vaccination rates of 80 per cent.

She indicated targeted lockdowns may be needed if cases became high.

“So long as Delta has presence in the world, even if we had zero cases and we were at 80 per cent double dose, you would still have to respect rules that exist around vaccinations, around social distancing, around mask-wearing,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Mr McGowan returned fire on NSW, slamming the Berejiklian government’s management of the pandemic. “I’m getting criticised over east, I understand, for saying I’d prefer to not have Covid. What’s the alternative? NSW? Is that what they want? This defence by the Sydney press corp of NSW is getting a bit ridiculous,” he said.

Mr McGowan noted that the transition plan agreed by the states at a meeting of national cabinet late last month explicitly stated that “highly targeted” lockdowns would still be possible even once vaccination rates exceed 80 per cent and the nation entered phase C of the transition.

Only at phase D, which does not have an agreed vaccination rate trigger, would lockdowns fall away and international borders be reopened. In the meantime, he said, WA would continue to target minimal or no Covid in the state.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner also said more than 80 per cent of people may need to be vaccinated before locations with vulnerable populations were reopened.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews warned his state was at a “tipping point” as he extended the lockdown and implemented a ­curfew between 9pm and 5am.

“I don’t want us to become like Sydney where it has fundamentally got away from them,” he said.