Prime Minister
JIM WILSON: The Prime Minister is on the line. G’day Scott.
PRIME MINISTER: Hey Jimmy how are you?
WILSON: Very good thank you. Thank you for your time Prime Minister. National Cabinet has met today for the 31st time. Lots of discussion around borders.
PRIME MINISTER: Nothing about State of Origin though.
WILSON: No no, we'll talk about that shortly okay don’t mention Queensland or the Maroons, don’t rub it in. Just on Queensland though on the borders. Are you frustrated that Annastasia Palaszczuk will not open the Queensland border to Greater Sydney well before Christmas?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look let's wait and see what she actually does decide Jim. I think that's the issue. I mean we had a positive meeting today, everyone this was the first meeting since the election and so the Queensland Government signed up to this opening framework by Christmas. There's a lot to be achieved under that plan and and there was no hesitation there. So I welcome that. You know me Jim, I'm always very optimistic and hopeful about these things and they've indicated I understand in the press conference she held later after the meeting that they’re heading in that direction, talking positively also about Victoria. What was very important about today's meeting is Dr Alan Finkel who’s the Chief Scientist for Australia. I tasked him a couple of months ago to go around and look at all the contact tracing systems all around the country and he had unhindered access to everything all around the states and territories and while he says, you know you can't have a zero risk system, he said that you know there's been really great improvements made particularly in Victoria which was not looking that great several months back but all of the states with Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, everywhere they have the capacity to deal with things with outbreaks through their tracing system but there's no substitute for the first line of defence which is COVIDSafe behaviours and distancing and making sure you're checking in when you’re going into restaurants and doing all those things. So we have we’ve built the systems up Jim that's the point and so that means that has enabled a decision to open up and so I hope to see that soon. I think there's very strong health reasons and defence in our health systems up there to do it and and so there's no reason not to be confident making that decision in Queensland.
WILSON: We've heard some cruel stories. We've got one coming up after 5 this afternoon a heartbreaking story of a family, Ted who's a Vietnam veteran dying in hospital on the Gold Coast, he has three daughters two are in Wollongong. They can get into Queensland because they're from regional New South Wales and the other one the other daughter is in Penrith with Ted's sister but they are being rejected flatly rejected to go into Queensland and yet we can have a full Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday night. It's just, it's just I think it's very, very cruel on behalf of the Queensland Premier.
PRIME MINISTER: Well look this has been the great frustration with the whole system and I've made a comment on these issues before as you know and it's the it's the inability I think, for, you know, whether you live in Sydney or elsewhere of trying to understand that very point you make and I think that's why it's important they move there as quickly as possible. I mean borders are not a sign that you've got it under control. Borders are a sign that you don't think you can control it and that's what they actually are. It's like when you've had to lock down it's not because everything worked it's because everything failed and that's why I've always been pushing the states to get their contact tracing systems, their public health response systems, their COVIDSafe behaviours and COVIDSafe plans, in their pubs, in their restaurants.
WILSON: But the contact tracing, the contact tracing Prime Minister in Sydney in greater Sydney has been world class.
PRIME MINISTER: It is. It is.
WILSON: So yeah,
PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. They can handle it. The cases I think today's cases again, were only cases in quarantine now the reason New South Wales will have more cases in quarantine is because there are over 3000 people coming in every day in New South Wales and I think that's on a daily basis and there's 1,000 coming in to Queensland.
WILSON: Are you frustrated that you can't make and you talked about this earlier in your press conference I was listening to you, that you can't force the borders open earlier than Christmas as far as Queensland’s concerned?
PRIME MINISTER: That's the Constitution and states have the states have the powers regarding public health management in their states. That's see for listeners who haven't spent time around the Constitution but basically when the Federal Government was formed it was powers that were given to the Federal Government by the states. So if they wasn't specifically given to us they keep everything else.
WILSON: But you'd love to see some common sense and compassion?
PRIME MINISTER: All the way through every day and these things should not be there a second longer for health reasons than than they should be and what Alan Finkel’s saying is that, hey Queensland you've got a good contact tracing system. You've got a good public health system and they do. So I think Queenslanders could feel confident about their borders opening and their ability of the Queensland Government to handle it the delay can only suggest that perhaps they don't think they can and I don't think they've got any reason to think that.
WILSON: Today, the Government also released its vaccination policy for COVID-19 who will be the first Prime Minister to get the vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first step of, most importantly is to ensure that the TGA the Therapeutic Goods Organisation actually signs off on the health side of this. So there'll be no shortcuts on any of that. So once we've been able to deal with that then and we know the vaccine is safe then it can start to be administered. Now those who are in the front of the line of all of this are our health workers and and people in that area and they obviously are the first ones we need to vaccinate and that will make sure that those places are much safer as well. We saw it also around aged care facilities and things like that where our most vulnerable people are and those who are interacting with them and in those in those areas are very important but what we agreed today was a vaccination policy. We needed to agree. It's a Commonwealth, it's a Federal Government policy it's our responsibility. But it was good the states and territories approved and endorsed it they said that's a great plan and there will be further plans which we will get into the specifics as we move through the various groups in the community. I mean one of the things we've often talked about is that you've got a lot of people working in occupations that have a lot of contact with the public and can be potentially transmitters of the virus. People who drive buses, people who drive cabs or Ubers, people who are couriers.
JOURNALIST: Just on that, just on that Prime Minister, Professor Mary-Louise McLaws will join me very shortly she's an epidemiologist also an adviser to the World Health Organisation. She says we should look at vaccinating those who are considered COVID super spreaders that is socially connected people aged between 20 and 30. She says they should get it first. What do you say to that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I say I'll turn to my epidemiologist and Dr Brendan Murphy who heads up a very expert panel and I will put all of those sorts of medical questions to those people. It's not really Jim for politicians. I'm a geographer with a science degree so I'm going to rely on the medical doctors and experts when it comes to how those strategies and priorities are set. I mean those points that you've just outlined have been made and so they're the sorts the very sorts of things that Dr Murphy, who everyone knows who was the former Chief Medical Officer there particularly through the height of the pandemic and he will be the one ultimately making those recommendations.
JOURNALIST: A couple of things before I let you go. Really appreciate your time. The Premiers discussed the Bushfire Royal Commission Report at the National Cabinet. You've supported most recommendations, but why not the push for national aerial firefighting fleet?
PRIME MINISTER: The states don't either. I mean the states hold assets these firefighting vehicles, the fire firefighting aircraft they own some of them and what happens each year is that the firefighting chiefs actually make a recommendation to us about what things we should go and get to support them in the year. Now some of them they already have and they just share them between the states and territories and that has worked very effectively. Now we put money into that and we're putting additional money into that this year some $11 million. We put a lot more into it in the last fire season. So what all the Premiers and Chief Ministers and myself agree is that the firefighters and the fire chiefs are the best people to tell us about what we need and that has been working and we've provided additional support to it and we'll continue to do that and so we're basically going to continue to be guided by the fire chiefs on those things and they're not calling for that.
JOURNALIST: Just quickly, before I let you go you're going to Japan and PNG next week. Reports emerging this afternoon of political strife in Papua New Guinea. So just as there's been a move against the country's PM will you still be able to go?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's my plan and as I said earlier today with all of these sorts of things you monitor events as they unfold but these are reports we've also received today but that's my plan. I'm also very much looking forward to heading up to see the new Japanese Prime Minister. This is an incredibly important relationship for Australia. I mean I was planning on going to PNG on my way back through because I would have been out of the country it wasn't planned as a very big visit to Papua New Guinea but we thought we'd take the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Marape on the way through because we're doing a lot there to support with COVID, particularly to talk through the vaccine, the commitments we've got in the area. This weekend I'm participating in a virtual summit with Vietnam and all the countries of South East Asia where that will be a big focus. COVID The COVID vaccine our support for those initiatives which you know we have a vested interest in making sure our entire region is more stable. So Jim this is a big part of the job but it doesn't take away from the job that is needed here every single day. On the vaccine front I'm very encouraged about how that's moving forward. I was very pleased we got the agreement on the support for the policy today. Greg Hunt has been up at the University of Queensland seeing how that's all going. Another thing that I know comes up on vaccines a lot Jim this Pfizer vaccine which requires cold storage I think it's about 80 degrees minus celsius. Now, that is you know, that's not an easy thing. It's dry ice effectively but our contract with Pfizer requires them to deliver through the supply chain all the way to the point of immunisation where it's administered that cold storage transfer. So we covered that off in the contract as you'd expect us to do but that's just one of four vaccines that we've invested in. I mean, the other one AstraZeneca, that's already being manufactured now down in Melbourne but no one will be offered it until it has cleared all the health checks.
WILSON: and also good progress as far as the University of Queensland. Now, finally, you’ll be away for Origin III. We’re trying to get Ray Warren into Queensland to call Game III. So can you maybe ring Annastacia Palaszczuk and try to bring it forward to Tuesday or Wednesday and get Rabs in there for State of Origin III and do the Blues win the decider?
PRIME MINISTER: Without Rabs I mean that’s just insane that’s mad you can’t have that but I was here in Canberra this week and enjoyed the games with one of my Queensland colleagues and the week before I was watching with my Chief of Staff who is a Queenslander and so the tables were turned let's see how it goes this weekend. Hopefully the Blues will do as good as the Wallabies did up there that was a magnificent game. It was nice to see that turnaround too.
WILSON: We’ve got to get Rabs to Queensland to Brisbane. It’s not Origin without Rabs being there.
PRIME MINISTER: I couldn't agree more sign me up.
WILSON: Good on you, thanks for your time. It’s been a busy day with National Cabinet as always appreciate your time and have a good weekend.
PRIME MINISTER: You too, Jim.
WILSON: Safe travels to Japan and PNG. That’s the Prime Minister Scott Morrison.