MINISTER ROBERT:
Good morning. Can I reiterate what the Premier of Queensland said this morning and encourage Queenslanders to continue to get vaccinated, especially here on the Gold Coast. We want as many people vaccinated as possible. Nationally of course, over 90 per cent of the population has been double vaccinated. Of those, over the age of 50, 96 per cent; over the age of 70, 99 per cent, which are extraordinary results. We're seeing with Omicron that the vaccine efficacy remains high. Vaccines work. Vaccines help. I encourage everyone to continue to get vaccinated. Across Queensland, of course, 85 per cent, a little above that double vaccinated- single vaccinated; 90 per cent- sorry, 85 per cent double vaccinated; 90 per cent single vaccinated. We just need to continue the vaccinations and the high vaccination rate.
And whilst agreeing with the Premier on encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, the Premier and I part ways when it comes to PCR testing. In the last week, we've had a quarter of a million southerners come to Queensland, which is superb. As the Small Business Minister, I want to see more and more of our tourism locations open and Australians enjoying everything that Queensland's got, especially here in the magnificent Gold Coast. But the idea of asymptomatic travellers having to get a PCR test three days before travelling and then five days after arriving is not supported by the evidence. It's not supported by Dr Kelly, the Chief Medical Officer, as he said yesterday. It's not supported by the AHPPC, which is the medical advisory body to the states and territories and the Commonwealth Government. So I'd ask the Premier, when you put forward, Premier, the plan to open Queensland, you indicated a TGA-approved test. You then changed your mind to say it should be a PCR test. You've now stated you're looking at the rapid antigen testing on the 1st of January. Look at it today, Premier. Look at it now. There is no reason we should be holding up loved ones from connecting with their families because of the need for a PCR test. The Prime Minister said yesterday only one in a thousand asymptomatic travellers lining up for these tests are proving positive. Only one in 1,000. It's holding up travel plans. It's holding up loved ones connecting for Christmas, and it's holding up the tourism industry.
QUESTION:
Just on testing. Has the Federal Government been shutting down any testing sites?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Not at all. In fact, the Prime Minister made announcements yesterday with respect to further funding for areas of vaccines and boosters. There are 9000-plus places for Australians now to get their booster shot, and there are numerous places in terms of testing. The Commonwealth Government's commitment on a 50-50 sharing with the states and territories for these costs remains extant, and the Federal Government has now spent over $1.8 billion in the pathology testing regime – evidence of our commitment.
QUESTION:
We have seen quite a few Gold Coast businesses outwardly defy the vaccine mandate. Do you have a message for them?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Everyone should follow the law, regardless or not whether you agree with it again. The Prime Minister's made it clear: we want everyone to get vaccinated, but we don't believe in the mandatory nature of it apart from those critical areas of aged care and health, which of course, you saw the mandatory nature for flu vaccines prior to COVID. So that is completely consistent. But the law of the state remains the law of the state. Now, all this can be solved if everyone got vaccinated.
QUESTION:
On South Australia pushing back its vax bookings for children by two days, is the Government confident the vials for these kids’ vaccinations will be available in time for the scheduled date in January?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Absolutely. There are 20 million doses at a macro level of vaccine in Australia right now. A quarter of those are in fridges in chemists and GPs and clinics, and of course, the Government's ordered well over 100 million vials. So absolutely.
QUESTION:
Some doctors are worried about the booster program and they'll be overwhelmed in January. Are there any concerns on that front?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Again, the Minister for Health is standing up literally as we speak to address issues of vaccination and concerns and respond to the Leader of the Opposition's comments. But we have cone through one of the most extraordinary vaccination periods in Australia’s history, to be one of the most vaccinated countries on earth. And our systems, our approach and the way we have done it through GPs, chemists and large walk-ins has shown to be able to withstand the volumes. We had 200,000 vaccines administered yesterday, the vast bulk of which were boosters, so they system is working well.
QUESTION:
On MH-17, the prosecutor has demanded life sentences for the four people responsible. What’s your response to that?
MINISTER ROBERT:
The Australian Government strongly supports what the prosecutors are doing in the Netherlands, and we strongly support the advocacy for life sentences. And on that note, can I thank all those who have been involved in what has been a very difficult case – I was one of the defence ministers when MH-17 went down. Can I also reiterate our thanks for the joint investigative taskforce that has been working on this tirelessly, and we are looking forward to a successful prosecution.
QUESTION:
On cybersecurity, the Five Eyes Nations have issued a fresh warning about the Log4j. Are Australian organisations prepared for that?
MINISTER ROBERT:
They have. Remember, Log4j first appeared on 10 December, and we've been working steadfastly through this for the last two weeks. The Australian Cybersecurity Centre, working with ASD, has been working very strongly with Commonwealth departments to ensure that Commonwealth data in the Commonwealth agencies are secure. I've been briefed every day on this and I have a great deal of confidence in where the Commonwealth Government standing is. The ACSC is also there to provide advice to states and territories, as well as to businesses, as are the various other cyber organisations. I'd be encouraging all businesses to take the Log4j malware issue seriously. It is a serious virus- serious piece of malware. There are serious consequences. Organisations and software developers, especially in areas of Apache and MobileIron, have been releasing patches, and I'd been encouraging all businesses at a degree of urgency to ensure their servers, especially their web servers and any of their remote access through MobileIron are appropriately patched, and they should be doing it now.
QUESTION:
I’m sorry, on the vaccine mandate the state introduced last Friday, Logan and the [indistinct] perimeter, we've seen some businesses –not all, but some businesses - lose up to half of their revenue as a result of the mandate. As Minister for Small Business, what message would you send to small businesses in Logan who have been affected in this way? Would a stimulus package from the Federal Government be a possible solution to businesses who are being affected by COVID?
MINISTER ROBERT:
The Prime Minister has made it clear that we don't advocate for the mandatory nature of vaccines outside of the health settings that we've all agreed on. These are decisions that state premiers have made, and these are questions for state premiers. If state premiers wish to provide greater degrees of mandating, they need to be prepared for the consequences and prepared for any support that may or may not arise.
QUESTION:
I guess as well - sorry, you go. One last thing about vaccine mandates as well, we are seeing the goalposts move. Western Australia wants triple-vax to be fully vaxxed. Do you think that'll become the norm across other states, too?
MINISTER ROBERT:
I think we should follow the National Plan. The National Plan is the social contract that the Government has with the people of Australia. The National Plan said to Australians, get vaccinated so we can learn to live with the virus and open our economies up and get back to living with the virus as normal as possible. Well, the Australian people have, and continue to honour that social contract. 90 per cent double-dosed across the country and growing. The Australian people have done their bit. It's now up to governments to continue to do their bit.
QUESTION:
It's been a very hard time for small businesses in the state. Do you have a Christmas message for them as Small Business Minister?
MINISTER ROBERT:
If everyone gets vaccinated, then everyone will get back to normal life and living with the virus. We can get back to strong consumption, we can get back to strong employment growth, we can get back to people shopping and getting on with their normal life. My message - I'll end with as I started - get vaccinated.
Thanks very much.