PoliticsNow: Hope for deal on one-jab Janssen coronavirus vaccine
Australians could soon have access to a one-jab COVID-19 vaccine, as the Morrison government negotiates with its developer.
- ‘Vaccine decision a setback, not failure’
- McGowan defends virtual national cabinet appearance
- Murphy: We knew of vaccine risk
- ‘No one listened to our warnings’
- Government turns to other vaccine developers
- Aussie vaccine canned over ‘false positives’
Welcome to live coverage of the latest Australian political headlines, as well as the nation’s response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
The AMA vice president says the decision to abandon the UQ vaccine trial shows ‘the system working’, as WA Premier Mark McGowan defends his decision to appear virtually at national cabinet. Brendan Murphy admits authorities knew of a false HIV positive risk in the UQ vaccine. Scott Morrison says the government will secure an extra 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and an extra 11 million doses of Novavax as vaccine developer CSL confirms it has cancelled the University of Queensland vaccine amid over false positives for HIV.
Tom Dusevic 9.30pm: Hope for deal on one-jab vaccine
Australians could soon have access to a one-jab COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Janssen.
The Weekend Australian can confirm the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical subsidiary is negotiating with the Morrison government on an advance purchase agreement.
If a deal is struck with Janssen it will give Australians another vaccination option after the home grown University of Queensland-CSL project for 51 million doses was abandoned on Friday.
Janssen’s viral vector vaccine is one of three candidates granted a priority pathway to approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
In the past week Janssen began a rolling submission of clinical tests to the regulator, with the company expecting interim results of phase 3 trials next month.
Along with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the two leading global vaccine candidates, Janssen is now eligible to apply for provisional registration on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.
Australia has supply deals with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax.
The Janssen candidate, which has been sold to the US, UK, EU countries and Canada and has an in-principle supply agreement with New Zealand, provides another option for Australia, with the one-dose feature viewed as an advantage.
“We are in ongoing discussions with national governments, including the Australian Government and global organisations, and are committed to making our COVID-19 vaccine accessible globally,” a spokeswoman for Janssen Australia and New Zealand said
Janssen said its “Phase 3 studies are continuing to progress and we anticipate we may have interim data available some time in January.
Read the full story here.
Mackenzie Scott 8pm: Strong return for pub sales
A string of pub sales over the past six weeks valued at more than $170m has proven the strength of the sector after shrugging off the coronavirus lockdowns.
At least five pubs have changed hands since the start of November, the largest being the record purchase of Sydney’s Narwee Hotel for about $45m by Iris Capital, as competition in the space heats up.
Landlords have been backed by lenders to expand as gaming revenues rise on the back of government stimulus packages, and as food and beverage operations are leveraged to a recovery in consumer spending.
Pub landlords Redcape Hotel Group furthered its expansion into the Queensland market last week with the purchase of the Shafston and Aspley Hotels in Brisbane for a combined $27.5m, complementing the purchase of the Gladstone Hotel in Sydney’s inner west a few weeks earlier for $38m.
Meanwhile, high-flying investment bank Moelis Australia swooped on the adjoining Sydney watering holes, the Kinselas and Courthouse Hotels, in a $67m acquisition.
Read the full story here.
Amos Aikman 7.12pm: Bush ‘may get different solution to the cities’
People living in regional and remote Australia, and even some ethnic minorities, could be offered different types of coronavirus vaccine to those given to people in cities and towns, according to health officials in the Northern Territory.
While the details are not final, the federal government is believed to be developing a vaccine-agnostic rollout plan it can tailor, in conjunction with states and territories, as more information emerges about which jabs work better in different circumstances.
Speaking at a hearing this week, NT Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie said there were particular problems with one type of vaccine — understood to be the Pfizer and BioNTech product in use in the UK — that requires extreme refrigeration.
Dr Heggie said the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee had met recently to discuss vaccine production, supply, distribution and administration in Australia.
Read the full story here.
Penny Hunter 6.32pm: Virus disrupts festive tradition
Normally at this time of year, Frankfurt’s Romerberg Square looks like this, packed with stalls and shoppers, the air itself almost edible with wafts of roasted chestnuts, sugared almonds, gingerbread, bratwurst and mulled wine.
Not in 2020, thanks to COVID-19. About four weeks ago, the city’s leaders called off the traditional Christmas market, which can be traced back to the 14th century. All across Europe, town squares are empty, the sounds of footsteps on cobbles bouncing off the facades of medieval buildings.
Read the full story here.
Ben Wilmot 5.55pm: Covid relief spurs Sydney mansion sales
Sydney’s Mosman mansion market is showing signs of surpassing pre-coronavirus crisis levels as buyers seek out the best properties in the blue ribbon suburb.
The sought-after harbourside suburb has seen a flurry of sales before the traditional Christmas slow down with wealthy buyers diving in after coming through the worst of the crisis.
This year, the buying period has extended and the top end of the market is expected to roll on through January as purchasers seeking to upgrade seek out larger homes while confined to Australia by border closures.
Real estate agents report that prices are running at more than 10 per cent above levels they were before the crisis struck and the market is well past a brief hiccup when the pandemic struck.
The big drivers include exceptionally low interest rates, a shortage of stock and a realisation that asset prices including in the share market are on the rise.
Read the full story here.
Adeshola Ore 5.14pm: McGowan defends virtual national cabinet appearance
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has defended his virtual appearance at today’s national cabinet.
This morning, Scott Morrison and the state and territory leaders met for the final national cabinet of the year. Mr McGowan was the only leader to not attend in-person to avoid coming into contact with South Australian Premier Steven Marshall, in line with his state’s COVID rules.
This morning I took part in the 32nd National Cabinet meeting.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) December 11, 2020
The controlled border rules apply to everyone in WA, and I couldn't ask others to follow them, if I didn't myself.
Given our State's current health advice regarding SA, I stayed in Perth and took part remotely. pic.twitter.com/O1XXtzTPu7
“The controlled border rules apply to everyone in WA, and I couldn’t ask others to follow them, if I didn’t myself,” Mr McGowan said on Twitter.
The premier also tweeted a photo of himself dialling into the national cabinet press conference from Perth.
Asked if Mr McGowan had disrespected the process of national cabinet, Scott Morrison replied “not at all.”
We were heartbroken that Mark couldn’t join us here,” he said.
READ MORE: Virus disrupts festive tradition
Adeshola Ore 4.10pm: CSL decision a setback, not failure: AMA
Australian Medical Association vice president Dr Chris Moy says the cancellation of the University of Queensland and CSL’s vaccine trial is a setback, not a failure.
The Morrison government terminated a deal to buy 50 million doses of Australia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine from CSL after the company detected false positive HIV test results in clinical trials.
Dr Moy said the abandonment of the trial showed the system was working.
“What people are watching for the first time is what normally happens, that you are going through Phase 1, 2, 3 trials,” he told Sky News.
“What you are seeing is the way that the trialling and safety checks of medications and immunisations happen. This is the system working.”
READ MORE: ASX extends losses as CSL setback weighs
Robyn Ironside 3.18pm: No pay for Virgin boss amid staff pitch
Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has told employees she will not be paid until July, in an email encouraging them to vote in favour of new work agreements reducing their pay and conditions.
Voting on the enterprise agreements opened Friday morning and will close at 1pm on Tuesday.
In an email seen by The Australian, Ms Hrdlicka urged workers to support the EAs, pointing out that “sacrifices were being made in every area of our business” to contribute to its long term success.
“To recognise these sacrifices we are asking all of you to make, I will not take a salary as your CEO until June of 2021,” Ms Hrdlicka wrote.
“And when my annual remuneration begins in July of 2021, it will be below market.”
Read the full story here.
Monica Wilkie 2.55pm: Four errors on the way to COVID-19 ‘victory’
COMMENTARY
Australia has passed the COVID-19 test, Scott Morrison says. And with Victoria and Queensland celebrating weeks without a local case, Australians are jubilant, especially compared with the US, which added a million new cases in five days.
Based on these numbers, Australia appears to be the gold standard in fighting coronavirus. Popular opinion insists that case numbers and deaths are the only metrics with which to judge whether coronavirus measures have been successful.
However, when you look beyond the health figures and analyse what the government did and why, you will see Australia’s response to COVID-19 was flawed.
Australian governments made four serious errors. They failed to justify the introduction of draconian restrictions; failed to articulate an exit strategy; failed to consider the adverse impact of restrictions; and confined decision-making to small, opaque groups.
Read the full story here.
Adeshola Ore 2.40pm: Bowen backs any deal with Moderna, J&J
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen says he would support an Australian government COVID vaccine deal with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
The Morrison government today announced it had terminated a deal to buy 50 million doses of Australia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine from CSL after the company detected false positive HIV test results in clinical trials.
Mr Bowen said Australia needed to secure “as many vaccine deals as possible” and noted that best practice was to have five or six.
“The TGA has said that the J&J vaccine is one which shows great promise but we don’t have a deal with the J&J vaccine. The Moderna vaccine is showing a 95 per cent effective rate, but we don’t have a deal for the Moderna vaccine directly,” he said in Sydney.
“If those deals fell through because the vaccines didn’t make it I would understand, and not criticise.
“These deals are the key to ensuring that Australians can return to a more normal life next year, and our economy can come back to a more normal situation next year.”
Mr Bowen also assured Australians that they can have confidence in the country’s medical regulation authorities.
“Our regulators will ensure that no vaccine is rolled out in Australia unless they are very confident, it is safe and effective. That’s the most important message.”
READ MORE: CSL knew of ‘risk’ to vaccine trial
James Hall 2.31pm: Nation’s first week without local case since February
Australia has reported its first week without a locally transmitted coronavirus case for the first time in more than nine months, according to Health Minister Greg Hunt.
The major milestone comes as social distancing restrictions continue to be eased and Queensland announced it would on Saturday open its border to New Zealand travellers.
“Advice just received from the National Incident Centre,” Mr Hunt tweeted on Friday afternoon.
“Today marks the first 7-day period without any cases of community transmission since February 29.”
Advice just received from the National Incident Centre - today marks the first 7 day period without any cases of community transmission since Feb 29.
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) December 11, 2020
Many thanks to all Australians and take care.
Australia’s ability to contain the spread of the deadly virus has allowed nearly all state borders to open ahead of Christmas, with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk breaking from her strict stance on travel to allow tourists to enter the Sunshine State from across the Tasman Sea.
Read the full story here.
Stephen Lunn 2.24pm: Casual workers hit hard by COVID
Casual workers have borne the brunt of COVID-19, accounting for two-thirds of all job losses in the early part of the pandemic despite making up less than 25 per cent of the workforce.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics data also reveals a continuing decline in union membership of employees in Australia, down to 14.3 per cent, down from 14.6 per cent last year and 40.3 per cent in 1992.
“Total employment fell from around 13 million to 12.2 million between February and May 2020, with two thirds of the fall occurring in casual employment,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.
This fall in the first stage of COVID-19 saw the proportion of casual workers fall from 25 per cent to 20 per cent of all workers, Mr Jarvis said.
Read the full story here.
Angelica Snowden 1.55pm: Return of the dancefloor in Canberra
Canberra residents have joined a host of other Australian states and territories in being allowed to return to the dancefloor, as the ACT government announced an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
From noon today, nightclubs are able to host up 25 people in designated dancing areas.
Nightclubs will be permitted to open with either 25 people across the whole venue, or one person per two square metres if the Check In CBR app is used.
Hey Canberra 👋From 12 noon today (Friday 11 December 2020), the following changes to nightclubs will come into effect in the ACT. For more info on these latest changes, visit: https://t.co/yEPwRXPPxl pic.twitter.com/icsxghDHv5
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) December 11, 2020
Other states which also allow dance:
NSW: up to 50 people indoors (since December 7)
Victoria: up to 50 people indoors (since December 7)
Queensland: one person per two square metre (from 12pm, December 14)
Tasmania: up to 100 people indoors and outdoors (from 5pm, December 12)
Western Australia: limit of one person per two square metres and 1.5m social distance required (since June 27)
Northern Territory: no limit on how many people can gather indoors, but they must social distance (since June 5)
South Australia: not allowed
READ MORE: Casual workers hit hard by COVID
Adeshola Ore 1.15pm: Andrews defends BRI ahead of likely axing
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended his government’s Belt and Road deal with China, but says it is up to the federal government to decide the fate of the program.
Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative is likely to be the first agreement on the federal government’s chopping border after its new foreign relations bill passed parliament this week. The bill gives the commonwealth the power to veto agreements with foreign countries struck by state and local governments, as well as universities.
“That agreement, like all agreements that Victoria enters into and I expect the commonwealth and other states are no different, is all about making sure that more Victorian product gets sent to our biggest and smallest customers,” Mr Andrews said.
“Whether it is China or any other part of the world, it’s all about jobs.
“I’ll leave the commonwealth government to make their assessments.”
Asked if he wanted to put a stop to the agreement, Scott Morrison said the government would make “appropriate assessments” based on its new legislation.
READ MORE: On China, we’ve sold ourselves out
Angelica Snowden 12.59pm: SA set for two weeks without local cases
South Australia is on track to go two weeks without recording a locally acquired coronavirus case, after it recorded another day of zero community transmission.
It is the 13th day in a row the state has recorded zero new cases of community transmission, but only 2551 people were tested.
South Australian COVID-19 update 11/12/20. For more information, go to https://t.co/e4B14m8DML or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/UtHUxDf48J
— SA Health (@SAHealth) December 11, 2020
South Australians are currently the only people in the country who are not allowed to enter Western Australia without completing a two week quarantine period.
In order for South Australian residents to enter WA without quarantine, the state must go 28 without recording a case of COVID-19.
READ MORE: CSL knew of ‘risk’ to vaccine trials
Adeshola Ore 12.50pm: Berejiklian, Palaszczuk: no regrets over stoush
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Annastacia Palaszczuk say they have no regrets over their border stoush.
Asked if she had resolved her differences with the NSW Premier, Ms Palaszczuk said: “It was all based on health advice.”
Ms Berejiklian said her position on border closures between NSW and Queensland has been maintained from the beginning of the pandemic.
“I’ve made my position very clear from day one and I maintain that position. I guess that is the beauty of the Federation, it allows that although from time to time we will not agree on everything, it allows us to come forward with our views on how to move forward.”
READ MORE: Queensland opens to Kiwis
Adeshola Ore 12.45pm: Vaccine approval done with 'Australian rules’
Scott Morrsion says the country will approve the accreditation of any COVID vaccine with “Australian rules.”
This week, the UK began the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after an emergency authorisation was issued.
“Australia has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world,” Mr Morrison said.
“The reason for that is we take these issues incredibly seriously and we have the best people in the world making those decisions to protect the safety of Australians.”
Adeshola Ore 12.40pm: ‘More vaccine proof needed’ before quarantine free travel
Brendan Murphy says more evidence is needed on how vaccines can prevent transmission of the virus before the government can reach a position on quarantine-free travel for Australians.
“We still don’t know what the vaccines will do in terms of complete prevention of transmission of the virus,” he said.
The extent to which they will effectively prevent, for example, asymptomatic transmission or people bringing the virus with them when they travel, we still have to find out.”
“There may well come a time when we have evidence that vaccines are very good at
preventing people contracting the infection and in that circumstance it may be appropriate to allow quarantine free travel.”
READ MORE: ‘Monstrous’ weather event to hit Queensland
Adeshola Ore 12.30pm: Murphy: We knew of risk, thought it unlikely
Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy says “no warnings were ignored” about the possibility of false-positives in the University of Queensland and CSL COVID vaccine trial.
Adelaide vaccine scientist Nikolai Petrovsky, whose company Vaxine is developing its own COVID-19 vaccine candidate, said he contacted the Federal health department with concerns after reviewing the published data on the UQ vaccine’s animal studies.
“The possibility of false positives was raised by the University of Queensland very early on and was seen as a very, very unlikely possibility because the fragment of the HIV virus molecule was small,” Professor Murphy said.
“It was unfortunately an unexpectedly high rate when the data came in.
“The risks were appropriately taken and unfortunately it just became a bigger problem than anyone had anticipated.”
READ MORE: HIV warnings ignored
Adeshola Ore 12.20pm: PM: Money well spent on vaccines
Scott Morrison says every cent Australia has spent on vaccine deals has been “money well spent”, despite the University of Queensland and CSL trial being abruptly cancelled due to false-positive HIV results.
“The expectation that there would be 100% success rate across all of these is naive. It is just not true,” The Prime Minister said.
“Australia has made the right investments in science.”
Adeshola Ore 12.15pm: UK vaccine key to bringing Aussies home: PM
Scott Morrison flagged that the vaccine rollout in the UK could increase the number of Australians able to return home.
“We will continue to monitor through contact directly with people overseas about the need to return home. That may change over the next month,” he said.
“That may change as vaccines are introduced, particularly in the United Kingdom, which is one of the key areas where Australians are seeking to come home from.”
There are currently more than 38,000 Australians registered to return home. Mr Morrison said India had the largest number of Australians wanting to come home – with more than 10,000 registered.
Mr Morrison said Australia’s hotel quarantine focus will be on bringing Australian citizens and residents home.
“Of course we want to see a resumption of so many aspects of the services trade that Australia has and international students are an important part of that. But they cannot come at the cost of
Australian citizens,” he said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she wanted to discuss bringing international students and skilled migrants to Australia in 2021.
“That is a conversation we can have next year. Really the priority is to reduce the list of Aussies coming back home. I support the Prime Minister in that” she said.
Adeshola Ore 12.10pm: ‘We’re heartbroken, we miss you Mark’
Scott Morrsion played down the suggestion that Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan had snubbed national cabinet by not attending the meeting in-person.
“We were heartbroken, of course, that Mark couldn’t join us here,” he said.
“Mark, together with all my colleagues have made great contributions to this group.”
He added: “We miss you Mark.”
Adeshola Ore 12.00pm: Process for incoming diplomats to be tightened
Scott Morrison says national cabinet has agreed to tighten processes for incoming diplomats to boost Australia’s protection against coronavirus.
Australia’s leaders convened for the final national cabinet of the year this morning.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan was the only in-person absence and attended virtually to avoid quarantine. It is the first time the state and territory leaders have met face-to-face since March.
“We need to tighten some arrangements particularly around aircrew as well as on diplomats,” The Prime Minister said.
“These are the vulnerabilities. They are not on a grander scale but they are important vulnerabilities and as our success continues, the states and territories become even more razor like focus on the areas where potential vulnerabilities can emerge.”
He said leaders had also agreed that the Commonwealth will have the ability to issue visas for seasonal workers to address labour shortages.
Mr Morrison confirmed that the leaders had agreed on a bilateral arrangement for seasonal workers.
He said Queensland had a successful on-farm quarantine seasonal workers program underway.
“Now we want to ensure that we can move to other arrangements in states and territories where that need is critical,” he said.
Under the arrangement, the seasonal workers would remain under the health control of each state and territory.
READ MORE: Growers call for workers’ bubble
Angelica Snowden 11.55am: Victoria travel voucher site crashes
The Victorian government’s regional travel voucher scheme website has crashed, not two hours after the scheme opened.
After 1.5hrs of trying, I'm giving up, even after finding the apply now button, this whole thing is a clusterf*** @businessvic @DanielAndrewsMP @abcnews
— 10er (@SamuelSakker) December 11, 2020
A form, full of private information going through a private company (sales force) & it doesn't work
Premier Daniel Andrews announced an initial 40,000 vouchers worth $200 would be on offer from 10am December 11 to entice residents to travel to regional Victoria as part of the state’s COVID-19 recovery.
But the Business Victoria site has crashed, with many taking to social media to complain they had difficulty even locating an “apply now” button.
The mythical Apply Now button has finally appeared on the @businessvic #travelvouchers website. Doesn’t go very far though. pic.twitter.com/nD5AMLAC5Z
— Laurel Irving (@laurelirving7) December 11, 2020
The first 40,000 vouchers were set to be released today as part of the $28M regional travel voucher scheme, with another two sets of vouchers to be released next year.
In a statement on their website Business Victoria said it would work to fix the issues as quickly as possible.
“We are currently experiencing a high demand on the website for the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme and we are working to resolve this as soon as possible,” the statement read.
“Thank you for your patience.”
The website crash follows several similar website crashes this year, including that of the Victorian Department of Justice in August, preventing businesses and their employees applying for permits to work during Victoria’s lockdown, and the Business Victoria website as small businesses rushed to apply for pandemic assistance cash grants.
READ MORE: Curtain up for second act
Adeshola Ore 11.35am: Government dragging feet on vaccines: Bowen
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen has accused the Morrison government of dragging its feet on vaccine deals after the University of Queensland CSL vaccine trials were abruptly cancelled.
The government terminated a deal to buy 50 million doses of Australia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccin
Mr Bowen said the government had not adopted the best practice of pursuing more vaccine deals.
“Other countries started securing their deals in March – and we didn’t get our first deal until September,” he said in a statement.
“We were late to the party and we haven’t caught up.”
“It’s up to the government to ensure we have a wider portfolio of vaccines to reduce the impact of hurdles like this.”
READ MORE: COVID comeback to deliver $10bn boost
Angelica Snowden 11.20am: Virus detected in Batemans Bay sewage
Residents on the south coast of NSW are being urged to get tested for COVID-19 after sewage testing revealed the virus could unknowingly be circulating in the community.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 11, 2020
Nine cases were reported in overseas travellers. This brings the total number of cases in NSW since the start of the pandemic to 4,444. pic.twitter.com/3OqDl4RPj2
The news came after NSW Health confirmed the state recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 overnight for the 8th day in a row.
NSW Health reported fragments of the virus which causes COVID-19 were detected at the sewage treatment plant in Batemans Bay.
“The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage may reflect the presence of people who have recovered from COVID-19 such as people released from hotel isolation returning to their place of residence,” NSW Health said in a statement.
“However, NSW Health is concerned there could be other active cases in the local community in people who have not been tested and who might incorrectly assume their symptoms are just a cold.”
Nine cases were reported in overseas travellers with 11,622 tests reported to 8pm last night.
READ MORE: Editorial: Morrison ends year in ascendancy
Adeshola Ore 11.15am: Dutton: McGowan’s non-appearance ‘a joke’
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has described Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan’s decision not to attend national cabinet as a “joke.”
Mark McGowan was the only leader to not attend national cabinet in person today, due to his state’s health advice to avoid contact with South Australians.
“The WA Premier decides that he can’t come to Canberra because he might catch the virus off Steven Marshall, the South Australian Premier,” Mr Dutton told the Today Show.
“It is a joke, really.”
Angelica Snowden 11.00am: Littleproud lashes ‘silly’ McGowan
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has slammed the Western Australia Premier over his decision not to attend national cabinet in person as “silly” and “ridiculous”.
“Mark McGowan is not here because of his own silly rules,” Mr Littleproud told the Today program this morning.
“We have got a situation where a Western Australian can’t be in the same room as a South Australian for more than two hours … I mean dead set two hours,” he said.
“Who came up with this stuff. This is just silly stuff … Mark McGowan should be here.”
He said due to WA COVID restrictions which have classified as South Australia as a “low risk” coronavirus hotspot, Simon Bimingham – an SA senator – and Christian Porter – from WA- cannot be in the same room.
“We have to put one in a different room for some reason that even I think Mark McGowan understands is ridiculous,” he said.
“It is more about perocial borders and politics than it is about commonsense.
“Federations are being tested … about the relevance of states and how they operate in a modern Australia and I just think the Premiers need to start to lead rather than try and have this political game.”
READ MORE: Henry Ergas: Western ideals of aspiration arise from Black Death
Angelica Snowden 10.50am: Queensland to open to Kiwis from Saturday
New Zealanders will be able to visit Queensland under a significant easing of travel restrictions in the state.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the news on Friday, and said Australia’s trans-Tasman neighbours will be able to enter the state from 1am on Saturday.
Queensland will reopen its international border to travellers from New Zealand from tomorrow, Premier @AnnastaciaMP has announced ✈ï¸
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) December 10, 2020
More on this story: https://t.co/HOqKzCTvuU pic.twitter.com/DOPt9QAr87
“I was advised late last night by Dr Jeannette Young that New Zealanders from 1:00am tomorrow morning are welcome to come to Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk told the ABC.
“So that‘s excellent news especially in the lead-up to Christmas and the holidays,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk announced the welcome news for tourism operators and residents alike as the state prepared to throw open it’s borders to all Australian states and territories from midnight tonight.
Adelaide and nearby suburbs are currently the only remaining areas in Australia declared COVID-19 hot spots according to Queensland Health, but from 1am tomorrow South Australian residents will be able to travel to Queensland.
READ the full story
Angelica Snowden 10.40am: UQ researchers ‘made ultimate sacrifice’ for vaccine
Researchers at the University of Queensland have been making the “ultimate sacrifice” to develop a COVID-19 vaccine amid news trials had to be terminated after a number of participants returned false positives for HIV, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.
“I know they’ve been working night and day,” Ms Palaszczuk told the ABC.
"We're very, very disappointed"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) December 10, 2020
Queensland Premier @AnnastaciaMP responds after the University of Queensland abandoned trials of their COVID-19 vaccine after some participants returned false-positive results for HIV.
More on this story: https://t.co/JBbG8UnnHS pic.twitter.com/h72x5YYDdk
“There’s going to be some winners and losers when it comes to vaccines. I’m very proud of the work and effort they have put in,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed she was told the trial had to be abandoned last yesterday afternoon.
“Of course we are disappointed and now all eyes are looking at what is happening in the UK with the rollout of their vaccine.”
READ MORE: HIV warnings ignored
Angelica Snowden 10.35am: McGowan’s national cabinet decision ‘best for him’
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she “understands” Mark McGowan’s decision not to attend the final national cabinet meeting of the year in person.
“Mark and I get along extremely well and he has to make the decisions that is in the best interest for him and his state, I can clearly understand that,” Ms Palaszczuk told the Seven network’s Sunrise.
“Hopefully we will have him on Zoom by teleconference or something, but it will be wonderful to have everyone else back in the same room,” she said.
“It has been nine months since we’ve actually met face-to-face … there has been about 30 of those meetings where we are locked in a room for two or three hours without a break.”
Despite spats over border closures, Ms Palaszczuk said the leadership group had worked well together throughout the pandemic.
“Everyone has done a terrific job and hopefully all of Australia realises that even though we have had our issues from time to time, we do have their interests at heart and from my point of view, we have had to have some robust discussions,” she said.
“My job is to make sure that Queensland is safe and at the end of the day, with Australia opening up, I think it is welcome news, especially based on the health advice and the fact that we are coming up to Christmas.”
READ MORE: Virgin’s frequent flyer counter-attack
Natasha Robinson 9.40am: UQ abandons all efforts to create vaccine
University of Queensland scientists are abandoning any future efforts to create a COVID-19 vaccine candidate despite phase 1 trials of the failed vaccine continuing.
The scientists say they “do not have the luxury of time” to go back to the drawing board and reformulate their v451 protein-based vaccine.
The Federal government has cancelled its deal with UQ and CSL after participants in phase 1 clinical trials of the vaccine returned positive HIV results.
The problem with the vaccine stems from the use of the HIV protein in the molecular clamp that UQ scientists used in their vaccine to stabilise the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Volunteers injected with the vaccine produced antibodies to HIV which resulted in positive HIV tests.
The UQ scientists confirmed that the protein glycoprotein 41 – a sub-unit of the envelope protein complex of the HIV virus – was used in their molecular clamp.
“The Phase 1 data also showed the generation of antibodies directed towards fragments of a protein gp41, which is a component used to stabilise the vaccine,” UQ said in a statement. “Trial participants were fully informed of the possibility of a partial immune response to this component, but it was unexpected that the levels induced would interfere with certain HIV tests.
“There is no possibility the vaccine causes infection, and routine follow up tests confirmed there is no HIV virus present.”
UQ said “significant changes” would need to be made to well-established HIV testing procedures in the healthcare setting to accommodate rollout of its vaccine.” Therefore, CSL and the Australian Government have agreed vaccine development will not proceed to Phase 2/3 trials,” the university said.
UQ vaccine co-lead, Professor Paul Young, said that although it was possible to re-engineer the vaccine, the team “did not have the luxury of time” needed. “Doing so would set back development by another 12 or so months, and while this is a tough decision to take, the urgent need for a vaccine has to be everyone’s priority.
“I said at the start of vaccine development that there were no guarantees, but what is really encouraging is that the core technology approach we used has passed the major clinical test. It is a safe and well-tolerated vaccine, producing the strong virus-neutralising effect that we were hoping to see.”
Dr Andrew Nash, Chief Scientific Officer for CSL said “This outcome highlights the risk of failure associated with early vaccine development, and the rigorous assessment involved in making decisions as to what discoveries advance.”
READ MORE: Fauci calls vaccine a game changer
Natasha Robinson 9.25am: ‘Back to the drawing board’: UQ vaccine funding chair
The international alliance that committed millions to funding the University of Queensland’s vaccine says it supports the Federal government’s decision to cancel the protein-based candidate but will continue to support the team behind the failed vaccine.
Jane Halton, the chair of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness which had partnered with UQ and CSL to develop the vaccine, said the decision to cancel the vaccine was sensible.
“The decision underscores the importance, which we fully support, of taking vaccine hesitancy very seriously,” Ms Halton said. “We cannot do anything that undermines the support of vaccination programs in respect of this pandemic.”
The UQ’s protein-based vaccine has been cancelled after volunteers who were injected with the jab during Phase 1 clinical trials returned false positive results to HIV.
The problem with the vaccine stems from the use of the HIV protein in the molecular clamp that UQ scientists used in their vaccine to stabilise the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Volunteers injected with the vaccine produced antibodies to HIV which resulted in positive HIV tests.
Ms Halton said the technology behind the UQ vaccine was still promising, and it was possible the UQ scientists could go back to the drawing board to work on a new vaccine candidate.
“CEPI will continue to support UQ researchers,” Ms Halton said. “We believe the molecular technology actually has great potential.
“It’s important to remember that with this candidate, there weren’t safety issues and it did show greater immunogenicity.
“This is an issue with this formulation which has proven a problem but in terms of the work of the researchers, we are fully supportive of them and will continue to support them.”
Ms Halton said there was always a significant risk that the UQ vaccine would fail between the phase 1 and phase 2 study periods. UQ’s vaccine was in Phase 1 safety trials.
“Developing vaccines is a difficult process and many candidates fail,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that people should lose confidence, because on the contrary, there are still 48 vaccine candidates in human trials around the world.”
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Natasha Robinson 8.55am: ‘We warned over vaccine: no one wanted to listen’
he Federal government was warned by a prominent Australian vaccine scientist that the use of HIV in the University of Queensland COVID-19 vaccine would present “big problems” months before entering into a multimillion-dollar deal to buy 51 million doses of the protein-based candidate.
Adelaide vaccine scientist Nikolai Petrovsky, whose company Vaxine is developing its own COVID-19 vaccine candidate, contacted the Federal health department with concerns after reviewing the published data on the UQ vaccine’s animal studies.
“No one wanted to listen,” Professor Petrovsky said. “There’s a chunk of HIV protein that they’ve used to attach to the vaccine that was always going to be a problem because it induces most of the immune response against the tag. That was clear in their hamster and mouse data.”
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Angelica Snowden 8.40am: Murphy: Potential for failure always there
Australia’s former Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says the government backed four different COVID-19 vaccine candidates with the potential none would prove successful.
“Of the four vaccines that we did advance purchases on, two are probably the most advanced in terms of Phase 3 data and likely to be, or already are, registered in other parts of the world,” Professor Murphy said.
“We went into this with the potential that none of the four might actually get through to the clinic,” he said.
“To have full population coverage of two vaccines, and local manufacturing of one of the most promising vaccines so that we can guarantee we’ll get it when we need it … I’m very confident now, very confident about the successful vaccination strategy that we’ll be facing next year.”
Professor Murphy said the University of Queensland CSL vaccine appeared likely to work as it entered stage three trials, but after a number of participant returned false positives for HIV he knew the government could not risk public confidence in the vaccine strategy.
“This false-positive test may have caused some confusion and lack of confidence, but it was a very, very good technology, it was looking like it was going to make antibodies, and it probably would have worked very well as a vaccine, but we can’t have any issues with confidence,” he said.
READ MORE: Pfizer vaccine triggers allergic reaction
Angelica Snowden 8.25am: Australia still ‘in strong position’ for vaccine rollout
Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is still in a “strong position” to roll out COVID-19 vaccines early next year, despite the termination of UQ CSL trials.
“Just to let you know, all up, the Australian vaccine portfolio – 53.8 million AstraZeneca units – that’s enough to cover the whole of population,” Mr Hunt said.
“51 million Novavax units – that’s enough to cover the whole of population,” he said.
“10 million Pfizer units, which is the advice that we have is appropriate.”
All up, more than 140 million units of vaccine will be available to Australia – one of the highest ratios of vaccine purchases and availability to population in the world – Mr Hunt said.
He said Australia has “strengthened” our position on two vaccines and discontinued the process with UQ.
“The final outcome from all of that is that there is the potential for slightly earlier completion of the vaccine rollout for Australians in 2021,” he said.
“We planned in all of our contracts for the potential either to discontinue based on the scientific advice … or to expand the number of vaccines.”
READ MORE: Oxford muddled good vaccine with bad PR
Angelica Snowden 8.10am: 31m doses of other vaccines to cover UQ shortfall
Scott Morrison has announced the government will secure an extra 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and an extra 11 million doses of Novavax.
It came after news the University of Queensland CSL vaccine trials had to be abruptly terminated due to a number of participants who returned false positive HIV tests.
“Our vaccine strategy and policy had identified four vaccines that we believed based on scientific advice had the potential to go through the end of stage three trials,” the Prime Minister said.
“At no stage did we believe all four vaccines would get through that process,” he said.
“The University of Quennsland vaccine will not be able to progress based on scientific advice and will no longer feature as part of Australia’s vaccine plan.”
Mr Morrison said Australia’s strategy to battle COVID-19 meant the government had backed multiple vaccine trials and could “adapt” as a result.
“We have been able to reposition and redeploy both our resources and our capability to deliver these vaccines,” he said.
“And so we are increasing our production and purchase of AstraZeneca vaccines from 33.8 million to 53.8 million, and we are increasing our access to the Novavax from 40 million to 51 million – so that’s an extra 20 million doses of AstraZeneca, and an extra 11 million doses of Novavax”.
READ MORE: No jab, no play: Queensland education minister
Angelica Snowden 7.50am: Molecular clamp source of HIV false positives
Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett has explained some participants mounted an immune response to HIV as well as COVID-19 when injected with the trial University of Queensland CSL vaccine, which is why some returned false positive tests.
She explained the vaccine is a “new platform” and used molecular clamp technology, which is derived from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
“It’s an old style vaccine in some respects, in that it’s like the other vaccines it’s actually using the protein that makes up the spike on the COVID virus on the coronavirus and that’s its main target for the human immune response,” she said.
“But in this case they also use something called a molecular clamp – this was a new technology that was derived from the HIV or human immunodeficiency virus as part of building that vaccine.
“And so people aren’t infected by the HIV virus but they wisely tested for people’s response to HIV antibodies, because there is that component … of the HIV virus included in the vaccine and it looks like people are not only mounting a response against a protein spike, but also against those inactive components of the HIV virus.”
She said community trust in a COVID-19 vaccine could evaporate amid news the UQ CSL vaccine trials had to be terminated due to HIV false positive results.
“It does not compromise the efficacy or the safety, but it does compromise I guess the trust in the in the vaccine, in that it interferes with other tests in this case HIV testing … that is a problem and sufficient for the government to pull out of the deal,” Professor Bennettt told Sky news.
READ MORE: Poor face missing out
Jared Lynch 7.50am: CSL confirms cancellation of coronavirus vaccine
The Morrison government has terminated a deal to by 50 million doses of Australia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine from CSL after the company detected false positive HIV test results in clinical trials.
The termination of the agreement – part of a $1.7bn deal to secure four types of COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate Australians – is despite the positive HIV results being false and not putting the health of any of the trial participants at risk.
Trial participants were also “fully informed” before clinical trials began that there was a possibility of a false positive HIV result being recorded. But the Morrison government reportedly scotched the deal, fearing it would undermine public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.
“There were no serious adverse events or safety concerns reported in the 216 trial participants. However, following agreement with the Australian Government, CSL will not progress the vaccine candidate to Phase 2/3 clinical trials,” CSL said in a statement.
The false positives were detected as CSL was analysing data from the phase one clinical trials, which were completed in July. It has been working on developing the vaccine, which uses a “molecular clamp” rather than a live virus, with the University of Queensland since the start of the year.
“The Phase 1 data showed the generation of antibodies directed towards the “molecular
clamp” component of the vaccine. These antibodies interfere with certain HIV diagnostic assays,” CSL said.
“The potential for this cross-reaction had been anticipated prior to the commencement of the trial. Participants were fully informed prior to their involvement that this could occur.”
READ MORE: FDA takes up Pfizer vaccine
Angelica Snowden 7.40am: ‘Not particularly concerned’ at cancellation
National COVID-19 advisory board commissioner Jane Halton says Australians should be confident in the country’s regulatory systems, amid news the University of Queensland CSL vaccine trials were abruptly cancelled.
“We have a number of vaccines options available to us and our regulators are among the best in the world, so no, I’m not particularly concerned,” Ms Halton told the Seven network’s Sunrise.
“We will hear announcements from a number of people later today and in the meantime, our program will continue with, I think, access … for the Oxford vaccine in March next year,” she said.
“I think we are fine with the Oxford vaccine. I don’t think people should be in the slightest bit concerned … CSL will manufacture the Oxford vaccine.”
Jared Lynch 7.22am: CSL set to make announcement on cancelled vaccine
The Morrison government has reportedly terminated a deal to buy 50 million doses of Australia’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine after its developers CSL and University of Queensland detected false positive HIV test results in clinical trials.
Nine Entertainment’s newspapers are reporting that while the HIV positives were in fact false and the health of the participants has not been put at risk, the government has walked away from purchasing the vaccines – which are part of a $1.7bn deal – because it would undermine public confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine.
CSL – the biggest company on the ASX – declined to comment but is expected to make an announcement shortly on the vaccine’s clinical trials.
The government has secured four different types of COVID-19 vaccines, including 30 million doses from AstraZeneca and 10 million doses from Pfizer. The Pfizer vaccine will be the first offered to Australians, with the first injections scheduled for March.
CSL will also manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it was planning to produce in parallel with the University of Queensland vaccine. The Commonwealth had paid CSL $300m to help prepare its advanced manufacturing facility at Broadmeadows in Melbourne’s north to produce the two types of vaccines.
Russell Basser, senior vice president research and development at CSL’s vaccine arm Seqirus said in September the company was approaching the vaccine development with “a sense of urgency” and it was “not cutting corners” to provide a safe and effective vaccine.
Clinical trials are risky and go through a robust process to ensure their safety and effectiveness. AstraZeneca has halted its phase three trials twice after participants developed neurological illnesses after being injected.
The University of Queensland vaccine used a “molecular clamp” rather than a live virus as the basis for its vaccine.
The Bill Gates backed Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is based in Oslo, provided UQ up to $US10.6m ($14.07m) to develop its “molecular clamp” vaccine platform, a transformative technology patented by UniQuest, UQ’s technology transfer company, that enables rapid vaccine design and production.
READ MORE: Singapore Airlines looks to vaccine delivery booster
Angelica Snowden 7.10am: UQ vaccine cancelled but ‘don’t write it off’
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says he will not write off the University of Queensland and CSL vaccine just yet, amid news trials for the once promising vaccine had to be terminated after participants returned false positives to HIV tests.
“Look, this is why we didn’t put all our eggs in one basket,” Mr Littleproud told the Nine network’s Today show.
“This is why we made sure there were four contracts we signed to make sure that we got a vaccine and this is intrinsically very difficult science that UQ and around the world is trying to break,” he said.
The UQ CSL vaccine trials have reportedly had to be halted after a number of patients returned false positive HIV results in a major blow to Australia’s fight against coronavirus.
“We actually spread our risk and made sure if there was a vaccine we got it and got it quickly,” Mr Littlerpoud said.
“I think UQ, I wouldn’t write them off yet but I think this backs what the government has done in making sure that we said we will spread our risk and we will make sure we have multiple agencies that are looking at this and gave us the vaccine that is safe.”
White the news is bad, it proves safety mechanisms are working, epidemiologist Catherine Bennett says.
“It’s not all over but certainly for a community wide vaccine, that’s now been removed,” professor Bennett told Sky news.
“The government is lucky in that it’s got a lot of eggs in different baskets and it can afford to do that,” she said.
“I think, at the end of the day this shows that our testing is working … I think it’s actually proof that the safety systems are working.”
Rachel Baxendale 5.15am: Andrews staffer linked to mysterious Chinese fund
A Daniel Andrews staffer with Chinese Communist Party links has served as the secretary, director and chief marketing director of a mysterious Chinese international investment fund which last year established a US-listed joint venture worth almost AUD$70m, and owns a massage chain with outlets at almost every major Melbourne shopping centre.
Nancy Yang, who works part time in the Victorian Premier’s Mulgrave electorate office in Melbourne’s southeast was listed in 2015 as holding a 1.8 per cent stake in Arem Pacific Corporation, which floated on the US stock exchange in 2019 as part of a $US50m joint venture.
The Australian is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Ms Yang, or Arem Pacific Corporation.
But Ms Yang’s involvement in an international investment fund worth tens of millions of dollars is unusual given her relatively junior part time role in Mr Andrews’ office and that of neighbouring Labor MP Meng Heang Tak. The electorate officer role attracts a full time equivalent salary of approximately $80,000.
Read the full story here.
Max Maddison 5am: Review says two ABC shows biased towards Labor
An internal review has found two of the ABC’s flagship political discussion programs favoured Labor over the Coalition during the 2019 federal election campaign, with one at times showing a “marked enthusiasm’’ for a Labor victory.
The audit of 158 separate items and nine hours of live discussion singled out nightly current affairs program The Drum and political talk show Insiders as being significantly more positive towards Labor than the Coalition.
While the review, by former BBC adviser Kerry Blackburn, found overall the public broadcaster’s content met the impartiality standard, it recommended The Drum reconsider the composition of its panel to “achieve a better balance of voices from across the spectrum of ideas and politics”.
Read the full story here.
Ewin Hannan 4.45am: Business pushes for changes to government’s IR bill
Business is demanding a two-year delay to tougher new penalties for companies ripping off workers, increasing pressure from both employers and unions on the Morrison government to make changes to its industrial relations bill.
As business groups expressed anger at a union campaign to water down the bill, ACTU secretary Sally McManus said unions would press for a raft of changes and warned that the government was “delusional” if it thought it could sell “politically poisonous” laws that could leave workers worse off.
Gotta say this is true. We won't support changes that leave workers worse off - neither will Australians https://t.co/HEgaHLyWAO
— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) December 9, 2020
Escalating the political fight that dominated the final parliamentary week of the year, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson wrote to Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter calling on the government to delay applying increases in penalties for wage underpayments to small business until 2023.
The emerging campaigns by employers and unions to force different amendments to the bill pose further challenges for the Coalition, which is seeking to introduce laws affecting the pay and conditions of workers for the first time since John Howard’s WorkChoices regime.
Read the full story here.
‘Surprise’ jobs rise casts cloud over February rate cut hopes
Labor can deliver low inflation and near-record low unemployment at the same time, Jim Chalmers declares, even as economists say new jobs data meant the Reserve Bank was in no rush to cut rates.
Australia’s carbon emissions target stalled by the Trump effect
Labor is on course to head to the federal election without a 2035 emissions reduction target as the agency tasked with providing advice considers the likely effect of Donald Trump’s presidency.