KIERAN GILBERT:
Stuart Robert, thanks so much for your time. Now, where you are in south‑east Queensland, things are looking more promising against this latest outbreak, the Delta strain in that state. Are you worried, though, that New South Wales, the Government has given up against the outbreak amid this ongoing lockdown there?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Kieran, I think we’re all concerned about what the delta variant’s doing. It’s spreading very fast. It’s rate of transmission is a lot faster than what we’re used to. In Queensland, we’re hopeful. Things are looking pretty good. The Chief Health Officer, of course, will speak sometime today in terms of next steps. But again, we’re seeing some challenges in Victoria and New South Wales. We all just need to keep following the rules on this and keep getting vaccinated. That’s the message.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Has the Federal Government been urging New South Wales to go harder in terms of the lockdown?
MINISTER ROBERT:
The Prime Minister was ‑ has been very clear under the Delta variant now that we need to move very quickly, very fast. This phase of where we're going is strongly vaccinating Australians – 226,000 on Friday – and of course, if outbreaks come along, he has made the point that a lockdown quickly is certainly moving the dial. We've got a few more months as we roll out vaccine very, very strongly, and that's everything we have to be focused on, Kieran. We've got to get Australians vaccinated. And they're doing that. They're turning up in their hundreds of thousands.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says there needs to be a circuit breaker in New South Wales. Brad Hazzard, the New South Wales Minister, says the lockdown is the circuit breaker. Is there more that New South Wales can do? Curfews or something of that sort?
MINISTER ROBERT:
I'll leave the New South Wales Government to respond to that. The key message for all those Australians in New South Wales: vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. Two hundred and twenty‑six thousand on Friday. That's a million or 1.1 million in the last five days. It just shows that Australians are motivated. They are getting out there. There's no incentives required right now, because freedom itself is its own incentive. And we know in the first phase of where we are that we want to get to 70 per cent as per the Doherty modelling. That has to be our priority – 70 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated. And that’ll allow us to move to Phase Two, and that's when we can start seeing greater freedoms.
KIERAN GILBERT:
The problem is, though‑ and this was raised at National Cabinet, the other premiers, the Prime Minister confronting Gladys Berejiklian she’d‑ about the fact that she’d previously said she would open up when we get to that 70, 80 per cent mark that you allude to, Minister. But now she's been indicating at recent news conferences that at the end of the month, at the end of August, in the middle of the outbreak, she’ll be looking to ease restrictions.
MINISTER ROBERT:
States have always reserved their rights on a whole range of issues. We've seen that consistently. But we've also seen the simple message: Phase One, let's get 70 per cent of the population vaccinated. We’ll then move onto Phase Two. These phases have been agreed by National Cabinet. They're well published. The Doherty modelling, of course, comes in and backs it up as we move towards 80 per cent of the population vaccinated. And pleasingly, we’re over 80 per cent of first dose for those over 70, 66 per cent first dose for those over 50. So the dial is moving. The key? Get to your GP, go and see your pharmacists, get to a state‑run facility, get a jab in your arm, Kieran.
KIERAN GILBERT:
It is a crucial few months, as you alluded to, as that number‑ as we await the arrival of that key percentage of the population vaccinated. New South Wales, though, again, I go back to their approach. They're allowing construction workers in the hot spot LGA, the local government areas, to go back to work if they're vaccinated and if there’s a three‑week window after their first jab before going back to work. Do you welcome that sort of approach? It's easing the restriction but based upon someone being vaccinated.
MINISTER ROBERT:
The construction industry is very adept at this, and they've shown that over the last 12 months where they can actually run site‑specific operations. They can close sites down quickly. It comes down to being vaccinated. And that, of course, lowers the risk substantially. So I've got a fair bit of faith in what the construction industry has been able to do across the country in the last 12 months and the processes they've put in place.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Do you understand why, in the face of these lockdowns, many are blaming the Federal Government and the Prime Minister over the fact that it's been a slow vaccine rollout to this point?
MINISTER ROBERT:
There's certainly frustrations, Kieran. But again, if you look at the UK, they did emergency vaccination. The reason their numbers are so high is they didn't wait to the formal approval by their goods administrations – in our case, the equivalent of the TGA. They just rushed forward an emergency level. You can imagine, Kieran, if we'd done that, the outcry from many sectors would have been, hang on, you're not waiting to the TGA has approved it. We waited to the TGA approved, and then moved quickly after that. That doesn't lessen the frustration. There's always going to be frustrations when our freedoms are inhibited. The key message, though, and the Doherty model shows it, let's get vaccinated, and that's the path to freedom.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Is it true the Government's been lobbying the Biden Administration for their leftover Pfizer jabs? If so, what's the Government been doing to extract that excess from the US?
MINISTER ROBERT:
There's continual conversations right around the world, Kieran, with respect to vaccines, on how we get them into vulnerable populations, how we can support our Pacific Island family, how we can support our ASEAN region. And we'll continue to do that. And those discussions will be ongoing as they [indistinct]…
KIERAN GILBERT:
[Talks over] And with Biden?
MINISTER ROBERT:
… and you can be rest assured‑ and you can rest assured the Government will leave no stone unturned when it comes to maximising the amount of vaccination for our population, our Pacific Island family, and, of course, our wider region, because we're all in this together. It is fundamental that we get as much vaccine into arms as possible.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Is it inevitable that companies and some institutions will end up mandating vaccines?
MINISTER ROBERT:
I think so. We've seen that with SPC. They've been the first mover, if you like, in terms of what they're able to do. Now, they'll have to defend that in court. I think many other companies will follow. A lot of it comes down to health and safety regulations at the state level, but I think you will see other state enterprise moving. And of course, the states always reserve the rights under their public health orders, Kieran, to be able to mandate, as you've seen with the flu vaccine, for example, mandating that requirement for aged care residents. So they’re the areas you’ll start to see some movement in it.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Yeah. Okay. Well, the income support payments that have been flowing from the Federal Government, they've been very smooth to workers. New South Wales, the Service New South Wales site has struggled; in fact, very little if any businesses have got money six weeks into the lockdown. What sort of damaging impact does that have on the economy?
MINISTER ROBERT:
Well, cash flow’s important, speaking as a small business minister, Kieran, cash is king, and businesses have got to have the cash rolling through. Services Australia at a federal level is invested very heavily in its systems. We've done 1.4 million of these COVID disaster payments. The vast bulk of them are citizens receiving it within 40 minutes. So that's the level of investment that we've made in the last few years in Services Australia. It is a slick operation in what it runs: more transactions than the big four banks put together. And we stand ready to help the states and territories – we always will, and we always have – to assist people because that cash flow is just so important, and we need to get it to businesses so they can continue to trade, operate, and support their staff.
KIERAN GILBERT:
And finally, one not in your area of responsibility, but I'm interested to see what the Government reaction is to this news that emerged the last couple of days. The founder of Hillsong, Brian Houston, charged by police for allegedly concealing the abuse of a child in the 70s. The PM invited Reverend Houston to the White House. How well does the PM or do you know him? And what is the Government's reaction to that development?
MINISTER ROBERT:
I think all these matters when they come before the courts, Kieran, we should let the courts roll it through. The police have been doing their work. I note it's been a two‑year investigation, so we’ll just let that flow out. We’ll let the courts do their work. Justice should be seen to be done transparently. And in this case, it seems to be very transparent.
KIERAN GILBERT:
Employment Minister and Minister for Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, thank you for joining me this morning.
MINISTER ROBERT:
Thanks, Kieran.