Prime Minister
Karl Stefanovic: PM, good morning to you. Thanks for your time this morning. Look, the situation in Sydney …
Prime Minister: Thanks Karl, thanks Ally.
Stefanovic: … is developing really fast, as we’ve seen on our show this morning. Health Minister Brad Hazzard is in isolation. It’s a big worry.
Prime Minister: Well, it is and it’s obviously very troubling. The pandemic is unrelenting, I mean, they’re inconsistent. The pandemic hasn't gone anywhere, the virus hasn't gone anywhere, and it continues to seek to strike where it can, not just here in Australia but all around the world. I mean, we had 27 people die in the United Kingdom yesterday from this virus. There were 12,000 new cases there, and I’ve just come from there. Here in Australia we continue to fight this thing and the way that we’ve been able to fight it here has been more successful than most countries around the world, but that doesn't mean we still don't have our challenges, and I’m very confident that the NSW Government, that has shown such strength and determination over the course of this pandemic, and the people of NSW, and particularly those in Sydney now, will work together to ensure they get through this latest challenge.
Allison Langdon: Well, that’s it, isn't it? I mean, you have praised the Premier for her handling of the pandemic. So has the world. In fact, we have on the show here. But is her policy of keeping things open potentially going to come back to bite her?
Prime Minister: Look, I don't believe so. The Premier and I spoke at some length yesterday and I’ve been keeping in contact over the course of this last week with the situation in NSW. I think the approach that she’s taking is the right one. There are sensible restrictions that are being put in place and they’re affecting people right across Sydney. My family is back in Sydney. I was talking to Jen and the girls last night and they’ll be obviously doing what everyone else in Sydney is doing. But everyone knows that to get out of this current situation we’ve got to follow those rules, and I have no doubt that the NSW Government will ease those restrictions the second they can. That’s always been their disposition and I think that encourages people, particularly in NSW, knowing that as soon as those restrictions aren’t necessary they will be lifted, because that’s what Gladys Berejiklian and her Government have always sought to do during the course of this pandemic.
Stefanovic: Are you surprised that NSW, or at least parts of it, haven't gone into lockdown?
Prime Minister: No, I’m not, because that has always been, I think, their determination through this process, where we go back to the situation earlier in the year, they didn't shut the whole city down ...
Stefanovic: This is different, though.
Prime Minister: … They focused on the Northern Beaches, and they’ve always had a very targeted approach to how they address these things, a hotspot approach, and, as you know, I’ve always been a big proponent of that hotspot approach. Now, there are hotspots in Sydney now. But the virus, we’ve got to remind ourselves, the virus has not gone away, and I know it’s incredibly frustrating that it hasn't gone away, but we’re not alone in that. And, you know, we are still in this fight with this virus. But despite that fight, our economy is stronger today than it was before the pandemic. There are more people in work today than there was before the pandemic. There are few countries in the world that can say that, and there is not one person in the country right now who’s in an ICU because of COVID-19. That is something most countries in the world also can't say.
Langdon: But, we’re still in a position where we’re seeing borders close and lockdowns across the country, so how much of this is on you and the slow vaccine rollout?
Prime Minister: Well, the vaccine rollout will hit 7 million doses this week. We’re at, just, two thirds of people aged over 70 have had their first dose. Around half of those over 50 have had their first dose, and more than one in four over 16 have had their first dose. The ramp up with the supply will really kick in next month in July. There'll be some 600,000 doses of Pfizer that will come in a week and that will ramp up, as General Frewen, who heads up the operation for the vaccine, that will be hitting over two million when we get into October. The challenge we’ve had, of course, has been with AstraZeneca. I mean, the medical advice has restricted its availability to those over 60, and prior to that over 50. Now, that was a big shock to the rollout and they are events outside of the Government's control. But thankfully we are able to put in place significant supply arrangements, not just with AstraZeneca, but also with Pfizer and Moderna. And of course there’s the Novavax and the COVAX facilities as well. So, we’ll keep working towards that goal, by the end of the year, of offering that vaccine to everybody who would want one and there will be an escalating ramp up as we move through the second half of the year.
Stefanovic: So Jacqui Lambie says the Government took the cheap option on vaccinations and it’s come back to bite you.
Prime Minister: Well, that’s rubbish. I mean, it’s $7 billion, that’s not cheap in anybody's language.
Stefanovic: Cheaper than Pfizer, though.
Prime Minister: $7 billion. No, I’m sorry, $7 billion in actually creating a manufacturing capability here for AstraZeneca, and then the purchase of some 40 million doses of Pfizer, and then on top of that the doses from Moderna and through the COVAX Facility and Novavax. I mean, the Commonwealth has invested over $310 billion in supporting Australia through this pandemic in health and economic measures. That’s more than twice what all the states and territories have done together combined, and more. So Australia has spared no effort in protecting the lives and livelihoods of Australians and, had we not, if we had the same death rate as countries around the world, like Australia, 30,000 more Australians would have died. I’d say that we’ve acted to save lives and livelihoods.
Langdon: Well, I mean, AstraZeneca’s going to be phased out in October, that’s the only one we can produce on home soil. You’re now reliant on international supplies. It puts us in a very vulnerable position, doesn't it?
Prime Minister: Well, we’re no different to most countries around the world. I mean those mRNA vaccines were a proprietary IP that was held in the United States and it can be manufactured in Europe. It’s not manufactured anywhere else. And so it’s important that we secured those supplies, and I’ve got to say the Pfizer supply deliveries have been consistent with their contractual arrangements. So, you know, we’re in the same boat as New Zealand. They don’t have a manufacturing capability there either for those mRNA vaccines. We’re all working to establish those. But let’s not forget, when we were talking a year ago - a year ago mRNA vaccines - indeed a vaccine for COVID, was almost science fiction. A year on they’re being dispensed around the world and Australia has millions of them going into the arms of Australians.
Stefanovic: Ok. In reality, it will be at least until the end of the year before the majority of Australians get their second vaccination, right? So …
Prime Minister: That was always the case, Karl.
Stefanovic: But, it does leave the majority of Australians in the meanwhile vulnerable to this variant. The rollout is that slow, those who have their vaccinations will probably need a booster shot by the time it rolls around for a second shot for some Australians, the way it’s going. If the public believes this rollout has been too slow, too mistake ridden, will it cost you the next election?
Prime Minister: That is the last thing on my mind, Karl. I’m just simply doing everything we can to save lives and livelihoods. And as I said, the record of where we are in this country - I mean, there were 14,000 cases in the UK yesterday, 14,000. They’ve got a vaccination rate of 81 per cent. You know, more than 20 people died in the UK yesterday. That’s not happening in Australia, and Australians understand that. And, so we’ll continue to ramp up the vaccination program. It had its challenges on the AstraZeneca vaccine because of the medical advice, and we’ve responded to that and we’ve ramped up the vaccination program. So it’s just important that we just get on with it, Karl. I’ll leave the politics to others.
Stefanovic: Ok. Look, it’s good to see, while you’ve been away, the cat has been playing. Barnaby is back. He’s kind of like a pebble in your RM William boat, isn’t he Prime Minister? I mean, how are you going to control him?
Prime Minister: No, I’d describe him as a wind in the sails, a wind in the sails. Barnaby and I have worked together before ...
Langdon: Do you like him and can you work with him?
Prime Minister: Of course, we have before. I was Treasurer when he was Deputy Prime Minister before. Barnaby and I have sat around Cabinet tables for years. And, we’re both passionate about what we want to achieve for this country, and the Government's program, which has been, you know, making an enormous difference. I mean, just think about where we are. Unemployment rate in Australia is 5.1 per cent. I mean, while the pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world, when I sat around the G7 table only South Korea and Australia could say their economies were bigger now than they were before the pandemic, and the rest of the world is in astonishment that while they’ve had fatality rates like they’ve experienced overseas, Australia has been able to come through this pandemic to this state with losses that are dwarfed by those overseas. So Australia has done, Australians have done well, is really my point, Karl and Ally.
Stefanovic: Yep.
Prime Minister: Australia, and Sydneysiders are going to be doing well over the course of this next week, and we will get through it like we have every time. But we can't kid ourselves, this pandemic, this virus …
Stefanovic: Yep.
Prime Minister: … COVID-19 is out to cause damage, and we’re going to fight it, as we always have, with everything we’ve got.
Stefanovic: Having sailed a few times, wind when you’re on board a vessel can be a funny thing. It can be helpful, it can also be very destructive.
Prime Minister: This is going to get us where we need to go as a country.
Langdon: Where are you taking us?
Stefanovic: Well done on the sailing analogies.
Prime Minister: You’ll see.
Stefanovic: Good on you, PM. Thanks for your time today, appreciate it.
Prime Minister: Thank a lot Karl, thanks Ally, all the best.
Langdon: Thank you, nice to talk to you.