PoliticsNow: Qantas holds firm on international travel plan despite vaccine delay
Despite delays to Australia’s vaccination program, Qantas is holding firm on international travel resuming this October.
- Qantas sticks to international travel plan
- Feds ‘recalibrate’ jab rollout
- Slow jab rollout ‘risks leaving Australia behind’
- PM shelves vaccine targets
- Minimum wage delay urged
- Laming defies Morrison
Welcome to our live coverage of the latest political headlines from Canberra, as well as updates on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite delays to Australia’s vaccination program, Qantas is holding firm on international travel resuming this October. CMO Paul Kelly says vulnerable groups will be inoculated by mid-year. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called on the commonwealth to apply a greater sense of urgency to the country’s vaccination program, saying Australia risks being left behind as international borders begin to open. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is not possible to know whether every Australian will receive a vaccine shot before the end of the year, saying the federal government has no plans to set new targets.
Jess Malcolm10.37pm:India overtakes Brazil for daily infections
India has overtaken Brazil as the country with the highest number of coronavirus infections today, as it reported a new daily record of more than 168,000 cases.
India now accounts for one in every six daily infections worldwide, having experts worried for a further spike as hundreds of thousands of people gather for a ritual bath in the Ganges river.
Indian health professionals are worried that huge, mostly maskless and tightly packed crowds at political rallies, mass religious festivals and at other public places were fuelling the new wave of infections.
“The whole country has been complacent -- we allowed social, religious and political congregations,” Rajib Dasgupta, a health professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told AFP.
“No-one queued up (for social distancing) anymore.”
The country has recorded more than 873,000 cases in the last seven days, an increase of 70 per cent compared to the previous week.
India’s wealthiest state Maharashtra, which has been the main driver of the infection spike, last week imposed a weekend lockdown and night curfew.
But Maharashtra has warned that a complete lockdown - a drastic measure that national and state governments have tried to avoid to protect the already devastated economy - could be imposed within the next few days as cases continue to rise.
Natasha Robinson9.22pm:New figures reveal Australia’s stockpiled jab doses
The federal health department has for the first time revealed the number of doses of vaccines that have been made available but are sitting on shelves yet to be administered.
The figures reveal that almost 30 per cent of the doses that have been made available to GP practices and the states and territories since the vaccination rollout began are yet to be administered.
A total of 1,905,294 vaccine doses were made available up until April 4. So far, 1,178,302 shots have been administered nationwide, leaving 726,992 still to be shot into arms.
Most states have administered between 75 and 80 per cent of their allocations, but South Australia is lagging far behind, having only administered 57 per cent of its available shots, with 42,334 vaccines sitting in refrigerators.
GP clinics have so far only administered 61 per cent of their allocated doses, with 453,062 vaccines still to deliver to patients.
Doses made available to the aged care sector were fully utilised.
The figures have been published for the first time since national cabinet agreed to a new vaccine transparency regime last Friday.
Jess Malcolm8.24pm:Crew member taken to Perth hospital after testing positive
A crew member on a ship off the coast of West Australia has been moved to a Perth hospital after testing positive to COVID-19.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the man in his 50s was on a ship in commonwealth waters off the coast of Karratha.
He fell ill on Thursday, April 8 and tested positive onboard the AquaGenie ship following a rapid COVID-19 test.
The man was transferred to Karratha Health Campus on Sunday, and then to Royal Perth Hospital this afternoon.
“I am advised all personnel in the retrieval wore full PPE, only a small number of specialist staff are involved in the patient care but continue to stick to COVID-19 safe protocols at all times,” Mr McGowan said.
“The health and well-being of the remaining crew on board the AquaGenie continues to be monitored by the public health emergency operations centre.”
Mr McGowan said everyone on the ship appears to be well, but authorities will continue to closely monitor the situation.
Jess Malcolm8.00pm:Nation has ‘quadrupled vaccines in three weeks’: Hunt
Health Minister Greg Hunt has claimed that the federal government has quadrupled vaccinations in the last three weeks, disputing concerns that Australia has a supply issue with vaccines.
Speaking to the ABC’s 7.30 program, Mr Hunt said Australia has enough jabs to vaccinate everybody over the age of 50 “as quickly as possible”.
“Most significantly, the message for all Australians is, we’ve accelerated and quadrupled vaccinations over the course of the last three weeks,” he said. “We have enough vaccines for every Australian.”
Australia has secured vaccine contracts with Pfizer, for 40 million doses, AstraZeneca, for 53.8 million doses and Novavax, for 51 million units.
Mr Hunt addressed criticism that the federal government has not struck a deal with Moderna.
“We’ve followed the medical advice on all of our agreements,” he said. “We’ve ultimately struck five different agreements, across four vaccines in an international facility and three different platforms.
“I know some might give views outside the medical advice, that’s their right and their freedom, but the people that have kept Australia safe have been our medical advisors.”
Mr Hunt also addressed concerns from GPs, after reports in recent weeks that clinicians are not sure what kind of vaccine they will get and when.
“Every general practice receives an allocation, and that allocation represents their 12-week amount, and then they put in an order each week if they need additional,” he said.
“That allocation gives them certainty on that front.
“We have a 12-week plan which every state has had for some weeks now. Doses have been delivered against that plan in the quantities that have been set out. That plan will again be updated.”
Jess Malcolm6.35pm:Latest national vaccination figures released
A total of 1,178,302 vaccines have been administered as part of the federal government’s vaccination rollout, with 12,227 doses given in the last 24 hours.
The commonwealth has administered 616,568 with 9061 given in the 24 hours to Sunday night.
The states and territories have given 561,734 with 3166 completed in the last 24 hours.
NSW has administered the most with 151,535, followed by Victoria with 144,320, Queensland with 109,314, WA with 67,146, Tasmania with 23,727, South Australia with 37,656, ACT with 17,458 and the Northern Territory with 10,578.
A total of 473,578 have been administered in primary care clinics by the commonwealth, and 142,990 given in aged and disability facilities.
The figures are part of the new commitment by the commonwealth to release daily numbers in a bid to increase transparency in its rollout.
Michael McKenna6.20pm:Controversial MP Andrew Laming disendorsed by LNP
Coalition MP Andrew Laming has been disendorsed by Queensland’s Liberal National Party after refusing to formally withdraw his nomination to contest the next federal election for the Morrison government.
After a month of controversy over his alleged harassment of women, a Monday night meeting of the LNP voted to block his nomination for preselection in his safe Brisbane bayside seat of Bowman.
Dr Laming had earlier fronted the LNP’s candidate vetting committee, headed by former state party president David Hutchinson.
The committee recommended Dr Laming’s nomination not be accepted.
A new preselection process for the sought-after seat will now be reopened.
Dr Laming – who had last month announced he would not recontest the seat he has held since 2004 – now stands to pocket a taxpayer funded “resettlement” payment of $105,600, or six months salary, after he was formally disendorsed by the LNP.
Under parliament rules, a politician who “retires involuntarily” from parliament — including through loss of party endorsement or for reasons other than misconduct — may be eligible for the one-off handout.
READ MORE:Laming defies PM by seeking preselection
Robyn Ironside5.31pm:Qantas holds firm on international travel plan
Qantas is holding firm on its planned return to regular international services on October 31, despite the Prime Minister’s admission the majority of Australians will not be vaccinated against COVID-19 until 2022.
The airline announced in February international flights would recommence to most of its pre-COVID destinations in late October instead of July, based on the federal government’s vaccination program.
At the time, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline would require passengers on all but domestic and trans-Tasman flights to be vaccinated for their own safety as well as that of crew.
In a statement released late Monday, Qantas said they were “closely monitoring the recent developments in the rollout of vaccines in Australia”.
“The government has not updated its timeline for the effective completion of the vaccine rollout and at this stage there’s no change to the planned restart of our international flights,” said a Qantas spokeswoman.
“We’ll continue to have dialogue with the government.”
It follows the revelation last week there was a small risk of blood clots developing as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccination, prompting a recommendation for people under 50 to discuss the issue with their doctor.
On Friday Scott Morrison announced his government had secured an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but they would not arrive until the last quarter of 2021.
READ MORE:Big claim about Qantas job cuts: court
Jess Malcolm4.15pm:No issue with supply of Pfizer: Kelly
Australia has received 100,000 doses of Pfizer every week since the middle of February, Professor Paul Kelly has confirmed.
There have been no issues with supply from the pharmaceutical company, and Australia should expect to receive 40 million doses by the end of the year.
“They will need to increase the numbers they are giving us and we are in negotiations for them to do that on a weekly basis,” Mr Kelly said.
“At the moment, up until now, Pfizer has been mostly either in the aged care rollout and residential aged care or through the states and territories into their clinics for their healthcare workers and quarantine and border workers.”
“I can say we will have 40 million doses of Pfizer by the end of the year so by the end of year we would only have enough to vaccinate basically the entire adult population of Australia.”
The chief health officer was unable to say how many doses of Pfizer that Australia has received so far, but did confirm that all vulnerable groups will be vaccinated by the end of the year.
“To reiterate my previous answer about the vulnerable groups, including healthcare workers, we are continuing with our aim to have them all vaccinated by the middle of the year,” he said.
“Winter is coming and we know that winter is an important component of all respiratory viruses. So those most vulnerable and most likely to be exposed.”
READ MORE: Chinese still want ‘clean, green’ Aussie goods
Jess Malcolm4.10pm:‘Recalibrate’: Feds working through new jab rollout
Professor Paul Kelly said the federal government is working to recalibrate the timeline of the vaccine rollout amid new provisions for the AstraZeneca vaccine for under 50s.
The chief health officer refused to say when all Australians will have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, saying it will take time to work it out.
“We are continuing to put that out and have had a big change in relation to the logistics and rollout in terms of the announcement on AstraZeneca last week,” Mr Kelly said.
“We are working through those logistical challenges and will continue to do that. I’m not going to be led into giving a number.”
Phase 1A and 1B are still ongoing. Mr Kelly confirmed the federal government hopes to have all aged care residents vaccinated with at least their first dose in the next few weeks.
By mid-year, all healthcare, aged care and disability workers are expected to be completed.
READ MORE:PM shelves vaccination targets
Jess Malcolm4.00pm:Blood clots extremely rare: Chief Medical Officer
Professor Paul Kelly has moved to quash fears about AstraZeneca vaccine following the changes to its use for people under 50.
Speaking in a press conference in Canberra, the Chief Health Officer reiterated that blood clots are extremely rare, and the low rates of COVID-19 in Australia have allowed the federal government to take an extremely cautionary approach.
“The Australian government and the AHPCC that I chair, about this matter with these extremely rare but serious issues of blood clots,” Mr Kelly said.
“I was talking to my colleague about this right now about the clotting, very specific a brand-new disease, in relation to this matter, these are not the usual blood clots that are very common that we get on our legs or lungs.
“They are very rare, around four to six per million but can be quite serious, that is why the advice last week, about AstraZeneca, especially in the under 50s, that there was a preference that another vaccine should be used, other than AstraZeneca.”
Mr Kelly said a very small number of people cancelled their scheduled appointments in light of the new medical advice.
As of yesterday, 1,578,302 people have received a dose of their vaccine.
“Yesterday there was a daily increase of 12,227, a Sunday number, so you wouldn’t expect that to be large, and previous days were much higher,” Mr Kelly said.
“We will be looking closely and carefully at what influence that AstraZeneca announcement will make, in relation to those numbers through the week.”
READ MORE: How business rolled up its sleeves
Staff writers3.45pm:Majority of frontline workers still waiting for vaccine
A large majority of frontline workers are still waiting for their COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Victorian union for nurses, midwives and personal care workers.
In a survey taken over the Easter long weekend, 86 per cent of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) private aged care members – nurses and personal care workers – in Victoria said they were yet to get the jab.
They called on the federal government to “urgently ask the Andrews government to take on the vaccination program for the Commonwealth’s phase 1a private aged care workforce”.
Of the small group who had been vaccinated, most had grown tired of waiting for the promise of a workplace vaccination and arranged their own jab through their private GP, the ANMF said.
Read the full story here.
Erin Lyons3.15pm:‘In disarray’: virus expert slams vaccine program
A leading epidemiologist says the federal government’s vaccine rollout was already “pretty much in disarray” before blood-clot concerns with the AstraZeneca jab derailed the program.
Professor Nancy Baxter said the government needed to “entirely rethink” its vaccination strategy after issuing new advice suggesting an alternative to AstraZeneca be given to people younger than 50.
The advice has caused concern, both about the side effects and the logistics of acquiring a new vaccine.
While the government has secured another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the new batches are not scheduled to arrive until December.
Professor Baxter said the federal government would “have to rethink the program entirely” given the lengthy wait.
Read the full story here.
Matthew Denholm2.45pm:Tassie Labor candidate apologises for offensive posts
A Labor Tasmanian election candidate has finally apologised for social media posts attacked as disgusting and offensive, several days after they were first exposed by The Weekend Australian.
In a statement on Monday, Samuel Mitchell, a Labor candidate for the seat of Clark, said: “I apologise for any offence my past social media posts may have caused to people; this was never my intention. I am deeply sorry they found their way into the public domain and sincerely apologise for any offence this has caused to Tasmanians. I am a real person who like all, makes mistakes.”
Labor leader Rebecca White has ignored calls to disendorse Mr Mitchell, selected at the last minute to replace previous Labor candidate, Ben McGregor, who was dumped for sending “vulgar” text messages to a woman.
READ MORE: Bornstein quits Labor Senate bid
Nicholas Jensen 2.15pm: SA records zero new local cases
South Australia has recorded zero new local cases of COVID-19.
A man in his 40s remains in the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition after contracting the virus two weeks ago.
The state currently has five active cases, all of which were acquired overseas.
SA Health administered 458 vaccinations yesterday, bringing the state’s total to 37,656.
South Australian COVID-19 update 12/4/21. For more information, go to https://t.co/mYnZsG7zGQ or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/FBgwXDShQG
— SA Health (@SAHealth) April 12, 2021
Nicholas Jensen2.05pm:Chalmers attacks decision to dump vaccine timetable
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has criticised the government for its decision to jettison its vaccine timetable, calling its current management a shambles which could lead to dire economic consequences.
“This has been a shambles from the very beginning,” Dr Chalmers told Sky News. “The government has been too focused on announcements and on marketing and not enough focus on delivery and on planning.
“The government has gone from the big over promise to the big under deliver,” he said, speaking about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s choice to abandon the rollout plan on Sunday.
“The government seems to have abandoned any sense of giving the Australian people confidence or a plan on how this vaccine will be rolled out.”
The government had already fallen behind in its vaccine timetable, he said, even before it was thrown into further disarray last week.
Last week the International Monetary Fund upgraded Australia’s economic forecast, but said that the “race between the virus and vaccines” would be central to its long-term success.
“You can’t have a first-rate economic recovery with a third-rate vaccine rollout. It risks more lockdowns for longer,” Dr Chalmers said.
READ MORE: PM shelves vaccination target
Nicholas Jensen1.40pm:WA records no new local cases
The West Australian Department of Health has recorded no local cases of COVID-19, with one case detected in hotel quarantine.
The case is a female in her 30s who returned to Perth from overseas.
Media statement: COVID-19 update 12 April 2021 https://t.co/CMak9n3FTL
— WA Health (@WAHealth) April 12, 2021
WA Health recorded 309 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours and is currently monitoring ten active cases.
WA Health has administered 67,146 COVID-19 vaccinations, including 12,172 people who have received both doses. Yesterday, 281 people were vaccinated across the state.
READ MORE:Botched rollout could spell doom
Nicholas Jensen1.33pm:Wage freeze potentially a disaster: McManus
ACTU leader Sally McManus has attacked the prospect of a wage freeze, saying the Fair Work Commission would be short-sighted and foolish, risking long-term damage to local business and the national economy.
Ms McManus warned if the Fair Work Commission agreed to the idea they would contribute to a “direct loss of revenue to local businesses”.
“That’s the type of thing that will flatline the economy … I think it’s a really shortsighted and disastrous proposal by these employer groups,” she said.
“I would say it’s a false economy to say … holding back pay increases for your small number of workers is going to be a good thing for you overall if everyone else isn’t getting that pay increase.”
Ms McManus also defended the approach taken by Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in enacting the state’s snap lockdown last month, saying that lockdowns are the best way of containing the virus and protecting the economy.
“It’s pretty clear COVID-19 spreads when people move around the state,” Ms McManus told Sky News, arguing that short lockdowns that protect workers against the virus was the best way to protect jobs in the long-term.
“Of course no one likes lockdowns that’s very clear, but snap lockdowns are a hell of a lot better than what is happening in Europe at the moment.”
READ MORE: Fair Work speeds up enterprise agreement approvals
Nicholas Jensen 1.15pm:Australia ‘risks being left behind’: NSW Premier
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called on the commonwealth to apply a greater sense of urgency to the country’s vaccination program, saying Australia risks being left behind as international borders begin to open.
Following another day zero local transmissions, Ms Berejiklian said the states were still trying to get clarity regarding the supply of vaccines.
“At the moment what we’re trying to ascertain is about how many doses we are going to get,” she said.
“We’re finishing the 300,000 doses we were asked to do but beyond that we’re still waiting for confirmation and it has been lumpy … some weeks we get some confirmation, some weeks we get less.”
However, Ms Berejiklian said her foremost concern was the opening up of borders.
“We’re at a point now where NSW and Australia are world leaders with how we’ve dealt with COVID, but there will come a point where the rest of the world starts engaging with each other more and we can’t afford to be left behind.”
Ms Berejiklian said Australia “needs to change our thinking about how we measure COVID cases and how we deal with it because we don’t want to be left behind”.
“I know that some people don’t think there is a sense of urgency but we need to make sure we don’t fall behind.”
READ MORE:New case linked to Byron Bay party
Anne Barrowclough 12.55pm:NZ records new case linked to Auckland cluster
New Zealand has recorded a third COVID-19 case linked to an outbreak at an Auckland quarantine facility, just one week before the two way trans-Tasman bubble was due to open.
The case is a hotel worker at Auckland’s Grand Millennium hotel and a close contact of the hotel security who tested positive last week, according to the NZ Minisry of Health.
New border-related positive #COVID19 case and location of interest update.
— Ministry of Health - ManatÅ« Hauora (@minhealthnz) April 11, 2021
Read the full update at https://t.co/iiChmwoXiu
Sarah Elks12.35pm:Laming defies PM to seek preselection
Coalition MP Andrew Laming is continuing to fight for preselection for the Liberal National Party in apparent defiance of Scott Morrison, who insisted he not recontest the next election.
LNP sources have confirmed to The Australian that Dr Laming — who is on leave for empathy training and counselling after a spate of harassment allegations — has not withdrawn his nomination for preselection and will face the LNP’s candidate vetting committee on Monday.
“He wants to acquit himself to the LNP,” a party source said, adding that the MP was collecting evidence in an effort to disprove a series of allegations against him.
If Dr Laming fails to pass vetting to run again in his safe Brisbane bayside seat of Bowman and is disendorsed by the party, there is a possible financial windfall: a taxpayer-funded payment of $105,600, or six-months’ salary, a “resettlement allowance”.
Under parliament rules, a politician who “retires involuntarily” from parliament — including through loss of party endorsement or for reasons other than misconduct — may be eligible for the one-off handout.
If Dr Laming decided not to recontest and retired, as the Prime Minister has said he would, he would not receive the payment.
READ the full story
Nicholas Jensen11.35am:NSW records no local cases
NSW has recorded no local cases of COVID-19, with nine cases recorded in hotel quarantine.
There were 7198 test results received across the state in the last 24 hours.
Health officials are currently monitoring 53 active cases, none of whom are in ICU.
NSW Health said 25,009 vaccinations were administered last week, bringing the state total to 151,535.
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of #COVID19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) April 12, 2021
Nine new cases were acquired overseas, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,150. pic.twitter.com/ntSOnzSOyk
Anton Nilsson11.20am: Fred Nile to retire, names Lyle Shelton as successor
Christian Democratic Party founder Fred Nile will retire from the NSW parliament after 40 years – and has nominated Queenslander and conservative lobbyist Lyle Shelton to replace him.
Mr Nile, 86, the longest-serving current member of the state parliament, will retire in November.
“It has been the privilege of my life to represent Christ’s values in the NSW parliament on behalf of the citizens of this great state,” he said.
He recommended Mr Shelton to succeed him and said he would fill a need for “unashamedly Christian voices in public life”.
Mr Shelton said he was honoured by the nod and he would seek the support of the party’s state council.
Formerly the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby for a decade, Mr Shelton was a leader in the campaign against legalising same-sex marriage in Australia.
READ the full story
Greg Brown 11.04am: Turnbull hits out at Kean’s ‘false media claim’
Malcolm Turnbull has accused NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean of falsely claiming that media coverage by News Corp Australia had nothing to do with the former prime minister’s removal as the state government’s climate change tsar.
Appearing before a Senate committee on media diversity on Monday morning, Mr Turnbull was highly critical of the News Corp, the publisher of The Australian.
“This is the fundamental problem that we’re facing: the most powerful political actor in Australia is not the Liberal Party or the National Party or the Labor Party. It is News Corp,” Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull said the Berejiklian government “crumbled” over coverage in the Daily Telegraph about his appointment as chair to the NSW Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board.
“But the saddest thing about it all was the way Matt Kean, the minister – a good man, you know, very committed to taking action – to then go to the Daily Telegraph and be quoted in it saying News Corp had nothing to do with this decision,” Mr Turnbull said.
“This is like somebody who was taken down to the police station, beaten over the head until they finally signed a fake confession, the last line of which says I confirm that I did so of my own free will.”
READ MORE:Turnbull tucks in for a busy week ahead
Erin Lyons10.45am: NSW feared ‘petrifying’ death toll
There were fears more than 25,000 residents could have died from COVID-19 in NSW alone, with sobering figures outlining what may have happened if the state government didn’t act fast.
State leaders were given advice – and the shocking prediction – from the health department at the height of the pandemic last year.
NSW Health confirmed there were concerns 24,768 would have died from coronavirus within 12 months.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced lockdown measures just days later.
When asked about the terrifying statistics on Monday, Ms Berejiklian described the trajectory as “very scary” and she was “absolutely petrified”.
“We were presented with a whole range of scenarios (around) COVID and they were very concerning,” she said.
“Remember there was a time we had hundreds of people coming in without a quarantine system? There was a time when the trajectory was very scary.
“I was absolutely petrified.”
She said she considered what the figures meant and that every citizens would somehow be touched by such a disaster in one way or another.
“We had the benefit of observing what happened overseas in a very short amount of time, and we knew we had a small window to have a different course for NSW and Australia,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“That’s why we took that course.”
READ MORE:Public trust has been eroded
Robert Gottliebsen10.25am:Why our taxation system is falling apart
The Australian taxation collection system is now some 85 years old and is a relic of our dictatorial-colonial past.
Like other relics of an era where citizens had few rights, it is falling apart and its disintegration is the most dangerous non-defence threat facing the nation.
All sides of the parliament should be equally concerned because once society’s confidence in its tax systems erodes, so does revenue.
One of Australia’s most reputable tax lawyers, Mark Leibler, points out that the taxation commissioner has “almost unlimited power to assess any person to any amount at any time”.
“The commissioner can raise an assessment on almost any basis he pleases, and then require the taxpayer to prove before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or the Federal Court what their liability should have been.”
In other words the Australian tax commissioner has been given dictatorial powers that no other person in the land possesses and that structure goes against our entire legal system.
Greg Craven 9.45am:Sorry PM, states are now the boss
COVID is the virus that keeps on giving. Every day, we realise one of its spikes has locked with another part of our lives, and things will never be the same.
Most people would not use the words “federalism” and “COVID” in the same sentence. Most people would not utter “federalism” at all. But federalism grounds our entire system of government, and COVID has transformed it, possibly permanently.
Federalism is about the feds and the states. For a century, each played their assigned roles. Canberra had power and money and beat the states ragged; the states wept piteously and tried to betray each other. COVID has changed this game, like Kerry Packer changed cricket.
The states control the vast bulk of governmental apparatuses that combats COVID. They run the hospitals. They command police. They have authority over public health. Their laws regulate quarantine hotels. They can lock people up.
For the first time since the central government grabbed most of their powers to wage total conflict in World War I, the states are the boss.
Sure, the feds are still the paymaster, throwing cash at everything from JobKeeper to vaccine purchase. But this time, money does not bring power. What is Canberra going to do? Deny income support to uncooperative Queensland? Refuse vaccines for obstreperous WA? That isn’t power, it’s political suicide.
READ the full story
Charlie Peel9.30am: Qld records one new case in quarantine
Queensland has recorded one new case of coronavirus in hotel quarantine and added a historical case to the state’s tally, taking it to 1502.
The historical case was a person who attended a hen’s party in Byron Bay last month where several other guests became infected with the virus.
Monday 12 April – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) April 11, 2021
• 0 new locally acquired
• 1 overseas acquired
• 55 active cases
• 1,504 total cases
• 2,363,449 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,381 patients have recovered.#covid19pic.twitter.com/zH1whJ52IB
It was spread from a nurse at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital who attended the party after contracting the virus.
The tally from the cluster, which prompted a snap lockdown of Brisbane before Easter, is now at 13.
The latest case had been tested several times while isolating as a precaution but did not trigger a positive result.
Serology tests confirmed they had previously had the virus.
“They were in quarantine at home for the entire period they were infected so there’s no risk to the community at all,” chief health officer Jeannette Young said on Monday morning.
READ MORE:New case linked to Byron party
Nicholas Jensen9.00am: CMO Kelly defends vaccine rollout
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has defended the government’s vaccine program this morning while responding to claims that it would take a couple of years to vaccinate the population under the current rollout strategy.
Earlier this morning distinguished epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws urged the commonwealth to accelerate its vaccination rollout, saying “at this rate of injecting it would take us a couple of years to vaccinate 85% of the population who want to be vaccinated”.
Professor McLaws told the ABC the government “needs to be much more transparent about any issues that they’re having with supplies,” adding that they could have done much more to diversify its vaccine portfolio.
However, Professor Kelly rebuffed these claims, saying she was wrong about the time frame.
“I think if you really looked closely at the data of the rollout, this is not a straight line. It’s an exponential curve,” he said.
“We are right now seeing very large increases in the daily doses. Of course, we expect that may well take a knock as people look and think about that announcement last week”.
Professor Kelly added: “In terms of priority populations the so-called 1A, 1B and 2A are largely unaffected by the announcements last week, except for those aged care and health care workers who are under 50.
“We have the aim of offering the vaccine as soon as possible to as many people as possible and that remains the plan.”
Following Scott Morrison’s decision to abandon a new vaccine deadline, Professor Kelly said: “Of course advice does change the way we were planning to roll it out and we just need some time to work through that.”
However, he said he remained confident Australia’s vaccine supply was still on track.
“We have now locked in absolutely guaranteed deals with Pfizer and with AstraZeneca for 170 million doses, if you include also the COVAX possibilities.”
“We are guaranteeing vaccines to our Pacific neighbours, so we’ve got plenty of vaccines,” Professor Kelly said.
Asked how the extra 20 million Pfizer doses were secure if they were not yet in the country, Professor Kelly said “international supply is always uncertain. If you look at what’s happening in the rest of the world, I’m sure that Pfizer will be here by the end of the year”.
“But it will be back-ended at the end of year, it is true. The one thing we do have is that local supply of AstraZeneca.”
Professor Kelly refused to respond to questions about slower international border openings, saying these issues continue to be discussed.
READ MORE:New case linked to Byron Bay party
Anne Barrowclough 8.35am:Victoria records zero new cases
Victoria has again recorded no new locally acquired cases, but has two cases in international arrivals.
In the past 24 hours 9503 tests were carried out and 903 vaccine doses were administered.
Yesterday there were 2 new internationally acquired cases reported.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) April 11, 2021
- 903 vaccine doses were administered
- 9,503 test results were received
Got symptoms? Get tested.
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Nicholas Jensen 7.40am: ‘Vaccination could take two years for 85pc of population’
Infectious disease expert Mary-Louise McLaws has urged the federal government to ramp up its vaccination rollout, saying: “At this rate of injecting it would take us a couple of years to vaccinate 85 per cent of the population who want to be vaccinated”.
Professor McLaws told the ABC she was “pleased that the younger group, 20-49, are receiving Pfizer because they will act as a barrier to the susceptible who will die,” but warned that much more consideration should be given to supply and the development of mass vaccination sites.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of rethinking on mass vaccination, even with that, I’ve estimated that each state will need at least two mass vaccination sites, and the largest states will need three or four sites,” she said.
According to Professor McLaws vaccinations must accelerate up to 100,000 or 120,000 doses per day.
“If we don’t start until about September this year – if we don’t get up to that rate – we’re probably looking at potentially a whole year.”
The best way to improve the speed of the rollout, Professor McLaws said, “is to start being very transparent with the community about the supplies when they turn up and how fast they roll out”.
“They need to be much more transparent about any issues that they’re having with supplies.”
“They could have had a much more diverse portfolio. But instead of thinking about what they could have, we need to focus on what they can do.”
READ MORE:States are now the boss
Nicholas Jensen7.30am:‘China made pandemic worse than it had to be’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has attacked China’s failure to provide transparent information to “get to the bottom” of the origins of COVID-19, saying it made the pandemic “worse than it had to be”.
Overnight, Mr Blinken joined other members of the Biden administration in criticising China’s lack of transparency in the crucial early days of the pandemic, arguing that China did not give access to international experts or share information in real time.
WATCH: Sec. State Blinken calls on China to "get to the bottom" of Covid outbreak to prevent it "from happening again."
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 11, 2021
"I think China knows that in the early stages of Covid, it didn't do what it needed to do." #MTPpic.twitter.com/3PBYlONjyA
As a consequence “the virus got out of hand faster and with much more egregious results than it might otherwise”, Mr Blinken told NBC’s program Meet the Press.
In late March, the WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said data was withheld from investigators who travelled to China to research the origins of the pandemic.
Mr Ghebreyesus said the issue required further investigation.
“The events highlight why there needs to be a stronger global health security system to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Mr Blinken said.
“Reforms must include a commitment to transparency, information sharing and access for experts … China has to play a part in that,” he said.
EXCLUSIVELY ON #MTP: @chucktodd: "If China does try something in Taiwan, we will militarily respond?"
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 11, 2021
@SecBlinken: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself." pic.twitter.com/XNTNzHjnSM
READ MORE:US promises to defend Taiwan from China
Nicholas Jensen7am:China considers mixing vaccines to bolster efficacy
Chinese health authorities are considering mixing COVID-19 vaccines as a means of bolstering their efficacy, according to the country’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Saturday, China’s director of the CDCP, Gao Fu, said available vaccines “don’t have very high rates of protection” needed to combat the virus.
CDCP data indicates that the country’s vaccine effectiveness lags behind others, such as Pfizer and Moderna, despite requiring less temperature controls during storage.
“Inoculation using vaccines of different technical lines is being considered,” Mr Gao said.
Mr Gao said that efforts to optimise the vaccine would include changing the number of doses and the length of time between administering doses.
China has developed four domestic vaccines approved for public use, with the country tipped to produce three billion doses by December.
A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac was found to have an efficacy rate of slightly above 50 per cent in Brazilian clinical trials.
Another study in Turkey said it was 83.5 per cent effective.
Detailed efficacy data has been withheld on vaccines made by China’s National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, Sinopharm.
It has said two vaccines developed by its units were 79.4 per cent and 72.5 per cent effective.
China has shipped millions of vaccines abroad, as officials and state media defended the shots.
“How to improve the protection rate of vaccines is a problem that requires global scientists to consider,” Mr Gao said, suggesting that the mixing vaccines would offer a sensible solution.
READ MORE:China winning battle in the Pacific
Remy Varga5am:‘Uncertainties’ remain: PM shelves vaccination targets
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is not possible to know whether every Australian will receive a vaccine shot before the end of the year, saying the federal government has no plans to set new targets.
Following new advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the risk of blood clots, Mr Morrison said there were too many uncertainties involved in the rollout to set new targets.
“The government has also not set, nor has any plans to set, any new targets for completing first doses,” he said on Facebook.
“While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved.
“We will just get on with the job of working together to produce, distribute and administer the vaccines as safely and efficiently as possible.”
Read the full story here.
Ewin Hannan4.45am:Employers urge delay in increase to minimum wage
Low-paid workers in COVID-stressed industries could be hit by a second year of delayed minimum wage increases as the Fair Work Commission examines whether to again stagger pay rises for 2.2 million workers across the next financial year.
Citing the winding up of the JobKeeper scheme and doubts over the vaccination rollout, employers in hard-hit sectors are urging the commission to either impose a 12-month minimum wage freeze or delay pay increases in industries adversely impacted by the COVID-19 economic shock by up to seven months.
But business is facing strong resistance from unions, which are pushing the commission to abandon the staggered approach to pay rises taken at the height of the pandemic and award a 3.5 per cent pay rise to all minimum-wage and award-reliant workers from July 1.
Commission president Iain Ross has sought the views of the Morrison government, the ACTU and employers on what action it should take in this year’s review to “deal with” its previous decision to delay rises in impacted industries until as late as February this year.
Read the full story here.
Sarah Elks4.30am:Laming defies Morrison by seeking Bowman preselection
Coalition MP Andrew Laming is continuing to fight for preselection for the Liberal National Party in apparent defiance of Scott Morrison, who insisted he not recontest the next election.
LNP sources have confirmed to The Australian that Dr Laming — who is on leave for empathy training and counselling after a spate of harassment allegations — has not withdrawn his nomination for preselection and will face the LNP’s candidate vetting committee on Monday.
If Dr Laming fails to pass vetting to run again in his safe Brisbane bayside seat of Bowman and is disendorsed by the party, there is a possible financial windfall: a taxpayer-funded payment of $105,600, or six-months’ salary, a “resettlement allowance”.
Under parliament rules, a politician who “retires involuntarily” from parliament — including through loss of party endorsement or for reasons other than misconduct — may be eligible for the one-off handout.
If Dr Laming decided not to recontest and retired, as the Prime Minister has said he would, he would not receive the payment.
Read the full story here.
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Audit on children ditching state care
A full audit has been ordered by the Queensland government to discover why almost 800 vulnerable children in state care are leaving arranged housing placements to tough it out on their own, as unlicensed providers flood the system.
Nats’ odd couple a burr in Littleproud’s saddle
Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce have forged an unlikely bromance that threatens the long-term future of wounded Nationals leader David Littleproud.
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