Category: Australian News

The Australian Government is getting on with the job of rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to regional, remote and rural Australia, with almost 500 facilities in New South Wales signed up to administer the vaccine.
Federal Regional Health Minister and Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton today visited a clinic in Gunnedah, NSW where the rollout is underway.
“I’m pleased to be at Barber Street Practice in Gunnedah to visit one of the many GP clinics across rural Australia which has signed up to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations,” Minister Coulton said.
“Everyone, no matter where they live in Australia, will be offered a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is free and the consult appointment for patients to receive their vaccinations is also free.”
The Government has established almost 1,500 primary care vaccination sites in rural Australia to administer vaccines under phase 1b to support Australians living in rural, regional and remote communities.
“Although cases of the virus have remained low in rural Australia, the Government’s targeted COVID-19 vaccine program will keep communities, like Gunnedah, safe,” Minister Coulton said.
“GP clinics, like this, provide a great service to their local community, as do all doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals living and working in country Australia.
“I’m pleased to see so many people in rural, regional and remote Australia continue to be eager to get the jab when it’s their turn.”
The COVID-19 vaccination program is one of the largest logistical exercises in Australia’s history – protecting the lives of millions of people across the country.
The Government is working closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Services, general practices, state and territory governments, Primary Health Networks, General Practitioner-led Respiratory Clinics and community pharmacies, to ensure that everyone living outside our major cities has access to COVID-19 vaccinations if they choose to.
Recent updated advice from the vaccine expert taskforce, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to the Government is that the risk of a very specific blood clotting side effect from the AstraZeneca vaccine is four to six in one million people.
This is a rare, but serious side effect of this particular vaccine so on that basis the recommendation is that it is preferred that the Pfizer vaccine be provided to adults under the age of 50.
The Government is working through this implication with the states and territories as an urgent priority.
Minister Coulton said it was important to note the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine remains highly effective at preventing death and severe illness among people who have contracted COVID-19—and the incidence of this blood-clotting syndrome is very rare.
For more information about the Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy, visit health.gov.au.

Labour force figures released today by the ABS show that the Australian labour market continued to recover strongly in March 2021, with employment increasing by a robust 70,700 over the month, exceeding all market expectations.
There are now a record 13,077,600 Australians in work, with the level of employment now 74,300 (or 0.6 per cent) above its pre-COVID level in March 2020 and 947,100 (or 7.8 per cent) higher than the trough in the labour market recorded in May 2020.
The increase in employment over the month was due, entirely, to a rise in part-time jobs, which increased by 91,500 (or 2.2 per cent) in March, to a record high of 4,203,400. Part-time employment is now 76,800 (or 1.9 per cent) above the level recorded in March 2020.
While full-time employment fell by 20,800 (or 0.2 per cent) over the month, to 8,874,200 in March 2021, the decline this month was not surprising, given the five consecutive monthly increases totalling 359,600 recorded between October 2020 and February 2021.
Women accounted for the vast majority of the rise in employment in March, up by 55,400 (or 0.9 per cent), to a record high of 6,229,600 in March 2021, while male employment also rose, by 15,300 (or 0.2 per cent).
Aggregate hours worked continued to increase in March, up by 38.3 million hours (or 2.2 per cent), and are now 21.8 million hours (or 1.2 per cent) above the level recorded in March 2020.
The level of unemployment in Australia fell by 27,100 (or 3.4 per cent) over the month, to 778,100 in March 2021, but remains 62,100 (or 8.7 per cent) higher than it was a year ago.
The unemployment rate also decreased over the month, by 0.2 percentage points, to 5.6 per cent, but is still above the 5.2 per cent recorded in March 2020.
The stronger labour market conditions that continued into March also encouraged more people to enter the labour market, with the participation rate increasing by 0.2 percentage points over the month, to an historic high of 66.3 per cent in March 2021, above the 65.9 per cent recorded a year ago.
The rise in overall participation was driven, entirely, by women, with the female participation rate increasing by 0.4 percentage points over the month, to a record high of 61.8 per cent in March 2021.
The Government welcomes today’s positive labour force results, but acknowledges the economic and labour market fallout from COVID-19 will continue for some time to come. The Government has provided unprecedented direct economic support to help rebuild the economy and put Australia back on the road to recovery.
This includes record levels of investment in skills and training, new infrastructure projects, tax cuts, unprecedented business investment incentives and new targeted support, such as the $1.2 billion aviation and tourism package.
The Government’s Economic Recovery Plan, described as ‘key’ to saving jobs by the OECD, will continue to create employment opportunities in Australia and will help to secure this country’s economic and labour market future.

Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today the Government’s plans to stall the introduction of compulsory independent assessments was an acknowledgement of the broad opposition to the controversial changes from disabled people and peak advocacy organisations.
“It’s pretty clear that the new NDIS Minister has seen the writing on the wall about compulsory independent assessments,” Steele-John said, “Which is a direct result of pressure from our community, who have been campaigning against them from the very beginning!”
“But, the Liberals have a track record of introducing dodgy legislation, pushing it back due to community pressure only to re-introduce it later on when everyone’s guard is down.
“This is exactly the same tactics this government used to ram the racist cashless debit card legislation through the Senate in the final hours before we parted for Christmas break at the end of last year, and it is exactly what I anticipate they will do with these changes to our NDIS.
“We must not back down now. Earlier this week we saw proof – in the form of a leaked internal document – that Scott Morrison and the Liberals are trying to kick disabled people off the NDIS and cut money out of our plans because they think that disabled people are a financial burden.
“When the plan to introduce compulsory independent assessments was announced, our community said very clearly that this proposal was just a smokescreen for blocking access and cutting support.
“Scott Morrison, the Liberals and their mates in the agency told us we were being ridiculous; they told us these changes were about “consistency” and “fairness”. We knew they were lying and now we have proof.
“Let’s be clear – the Morrison government has been gaslighting disabled people for years about their plans for the NDIS. Why would we trust them now when they say they will consider the evidence and feedback from the second Independent Assessment trial before making a decision about the future of these changes?
“As disabled people our concerns, conclusions and instincts are so often dismissed. Today’s announcement is a reminder that our collective bullshit detector is more than a match for this trash-fire government!”

The Greens say the government should use unallocated discretionary funds set aside for COVID to begin work on a publicly-owned domestic vaccine manufacturer. If the government fails to act, the Greens plan to move in the Senate to demand action on domestic vaccine production when Parliament resumes.
The Greens call on the Government to ensure that the 2021/22 budget allocates funding for the urgent development of publicly-owned mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability in Australia, and that it immediately initiates this work by drawing on $1 billion from the $10 billion made available in the 2020/21 Advance to the Finance Minister, which was boosted for the specific purpose of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of which remains unallocated.
The Greens say this discretionary budget was conceived to deal with unexpected costs of the pandemic and shoring up vaccine supplies against international uncertainty is a perfect example of a universally beneficial application of the fund.
The Government previously announced $1b in funding to support the domestic manufacture of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Greens are calling for $1b to be allocated to a publicly-owned manufacturer which has mRNA capacity. The Greens together with scientists have been calling for domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity for several months.
Current expert advice and international experience suggests that it could take 6 months to construct and commence mRNA production domestically in Australia, which is not only competitive with the Government’s best guess timeline around international vaccine imports, but vastly superior, as it would provide a permanent buffer against unexpected events overseas.
Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said:
“We should be able to make each key type of COVID vaccine here in Australia, to look after ourselves and our neighbours.
“By failing to diversify domestic vaccine production, the government has left us exposed to international events and the whims of big drug corporations.
“If the government had set up a publicly-owned vaccine maker when the Greens first called for it almost a year ago, it could be up and running by now.
“This government wants to build a publicly funded gas power plant to cook the planet, but not a publicly funded vaccine facility to keep Australians safe.
“So much of Scott Morrison’s failures have come as a result of poor planning for international uncertainty, and assuming that everything will go smoothly from here is reckless.
“The government set aside $10b in discretionary funding for the COVID response. The government should immediately direct $1b of the unallocated discretionary funds to help set up a publicly-owned vaccine manufacturer with mRNA capability.
“This is exactly the kind of public health measure that the government should be using the discretionary budget to fund. If Scott Morrison fails to act, the Greens will be moving in Parliament during the Budget session to demand funding for domestic vaccine production.
“The abandonment of the vaccination timetable is in part due to the Government’s failure to heed calls to develop domestic, publicly-owned vaccine production.”
Greens Health spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert said:
“Australia unfortunately sold off our publicly-owned vaccine capacity – cheaply. Now it’s time to buy back the farm.
“If we had domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity established in Australia, we would be in a position to roll-out the vaccines we need with a timeline that we had some control over.
“The Greens put the case for publicly-owned domestic vaccine production to the government a year ago. But we say today that it is better late than never, and in the post-Covid era such capacity will put us in good stead for decades to come.
“With publicly-owned domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity, we will be able to beat this pandemic, and any one that follows it. With domestic vaccine production we’ll be able to rapidly adjust to new strains as they develop, and  become a vaccine production hub for the region.”

Further sickening revelations about the existence of an illegal drinking establishment at Tarinkot base in Afghanistan, and the involvement of senior commanding officers at that establishment, are yet more evidence of the culture that General’s Campbell and Burr are not fit to implement the recommendations of the Brereton Inquiry report.
Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John the revelations were yet more evidence of the horrific cultural problem that existed within our ADF throughout Afghanistan while General’s Campbell and Burr were in senior leadership positions, and that has been allowed to continue to this very day.
“Chief of the Defence Force, General Campbell, and Chief of Army, General Burr, have irresolvable conflicts of interest; it is impossible for the public to trust that commanding officers will be held to account when the process is led by the top brass who themselves held commanding roles during the period of time when many of these alleged crimes were committed,” Steele-John said.
“If this level of alleged systemic failure had occurred within a financial institution, it would be totally inappropriate for the reform of that institution to be led by an individual who held a senior executive position during the time that alleged criminal activity occurred.
“It is simply unimaginable that the top brass were unaware of the existence of this drinking establishment or the fact that it was frequented by commanding officers. Given what we’ve seen reported today in The Age, it was clearly an open secret.
“The perception that there has been a deliberate cover up, or that the top brass have turned a blind eye to the behaviour of our ADF personnel in Afghanistan, is undermining the process that must be undertaken.
“It is untenable for either General Campbell or General Burr to play a role in the implementation of recommendations from the Brereton Report; they must both immediately resign.”

In a major boost to Australia’s film and television industry, the Morrison Government will extend two measures that will support the continued production of quality, local screen content as the sector recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The highly effective $50 million Temporary Interruption Fund (TIF) will be extended for a further six months, to provide coverage for productions that commence principal photography prior to 31 December 2021.
The Morrison Government will also retain at 40 per cent the Producer Offset rate for feature films with a theatrical release. In addition, as announced last year, the Government will raise the Producer Offset rate from 20 to 30 per cent for other eligible formats such as drama and documentary content for television and streaming platforms.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said these support measures would enable the local screen industry to continue to create quality Australian productions and keep thousands of jobs and businesses in the local production sector.
“Despite our successes in managing COVID-19 in Australia, the continuing severity of the pandemic internationally is a problem for screen production, with insurers still not providing coverage for COVID-19 related events,” Minister Fletcher said.
“TIF has been vital in providing the certainty that productions need to secure financing, and it will have assisted with more than 12,000 production roles and 5000 business contracts in its first year of operation.”
The 40 per cent Producer Offset supports around 50 Australian feature films per year with total average rebates of around $124 million. This injects over $300 million per year into the Australian economy, and underpins the tremendous success Australian feature films have had at the box office in recent times.
Minister Fletcher said, “Australian feature films play an important role in our cultural identity and resonate strongly with audiences at home and abroad. After consulting with Australian feature film producers and considering the feature film environment abroad, we have determined that retaining the offset at 40 per cent is appropriate to ensure the ongoing vitality of the sector.”
TIF and the Producer Offset are administered by Screen Australia. Eligibility criteria, guidelines and how to apply are available at: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support

The Australian Greens have lashed the Morrison Government’s vaccine rollout, saying that tonight’s announcement of a health advisory to no longer vaccinate many people under 50 would have been avoidable if Australia had a domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity.
“The government’s rollout is in shambles. This is precisely why Australia should have built domestic mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity at the start of the pandemic,” Senator Siewert said.
“We shouldn’t be playing catch-up – completely rewriting our vaccine strategy weeks into the rollout, with vaccine choice determined by availability, not evidence based health policy.
“If we had domestic mRNA manufacturing capacity established in Australia, we wouldn’t be telling under 50’s that they should only be vaccinated where ‘the benefits outweigh the risk’. We would be vaccinating them with the best, safest vaccine.
“If we had domestic mRNA vaccine production ability, we could be shifting our rollout to other vaccines, like Novovax or Pfizer.
“Instead, Scott Morrison is seemingly just making it up as we go along.
“We need to make sure that people here are rapidly vaccinated with the best available vaccine, and that we’re able to play our role in supplying vaccines to the Pacific.
“To do that, we need a publicly-owned mRNA vaccine manufacturer in Australia.
“Scientists and health experts have backed the Greens’ call for Australia to build mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity on our shores.
“With publicly-owned domestic manufacturing capacity, we won’t just be able to make sure that everyone here is inoculated against new pandemics as they come, but we’ll be a vaccine production hub for the region.”

The Australian Government is investing $8.75 million over four years to provide additional health services in the Northern Territory as part of its commitment to strengthen Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.
Delivered through the Northern Territory Pathways to Community Control program (NT P2CC), the funding will provide First Nations people with access to effective, high quality, comprehensive and culturally appropriate primary health care services.
This investment builds on the $4 million already committed for transition activities occurring in West Arnhem, demonstrating the strong partnerships that exist between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Government and other key members of the NT Aboriginal Health Forum, including the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT (AMSANT).
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said community driven approaches to delivering health services were delivering major benefits for First Nations people.
“We have held extensive consultation with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, which is key to giving communities real control over their own health and wellbeing,” Minister Hunt said.
Northern Territory Minster for Health, Natasha Fyles, said, the Northern Territory Government welcomed the Commonwealth’s ongoing commitment to supporting community control.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the Commonwealth to deliver on this important initiative. This is the continuation of our commitment to local decision making, and recognition of the importance of listening to the community and working hand-in-hand to meet community needs,” Ms Fyles said.
Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory, CEO, John Paterson, said, AMSANT welcomed the ongoing funding commitment from the Australian Government to continue transition to community control health services.
“This is consistent with the Closing the Gap National Agreement priorities to strengthen Aboriginal decision making and enhancing Aboriginal community control organisations,” Mr Paterson said.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap, released in July 2020, identified health as a priority sector.
The NT P2CC program, which falls under the Indigenous Australians’ Health Programme (IAHP) will continue to make an important contribution to realising the commitments made under the National Agreement.
To date, the IAHP has successfully transitioned health services to community control in Yirrkala (2012), Milingimbi (2016), Ramingining (2019), Gapuwiyak (2019) and Maningrida (2021). The Yirrkala clinic has already recorded improvements in care and patient numbers, and has had success in lowering childhood anaemia and increasing immunisation rates.
The additional funding will be available from 1 July 2021 and will be focused on the priority regions for transitioning of West Arnhem, Maningrida and Central Australia.

The Morrison Government continues to make it easier for Australians to eat well and reduce the risk of chronic health conditions linked to diets high in saturated fats, sodium and sugars.
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck said the Government was working with food companies to reformulate products and improve the nutritional value of many common foods.
“The Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Program is about improving overall population health and wellbeing,” Minister Colbeck said.
“The reformulation of food products helps all Australians to eat well and not unknowingly overdo the intake of salt, sugars and saturated fats, which can increase the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, some forms of cancer and type 2 diabetes.”
Food companies participating in the program will work towards reducing the levels of sodium, saturated fat or sugar in foods they manufacture, in line with the specific nutrient targets identified for certain food categories.
“The program will operate over four years to reach reformulation targets, giving food industry time to make any necessary changes to their products,” Minister Colbeck said.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting intake of foods high in risk nutrients—salt, added sugars and saturated fat—while enjoying a wide variety of nutritious foods including vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean meats and low fat dairy.
“More than a third of Australian’s energy intake is from discretionary foods high in saturated fats, sugars and/or salt and the reformulation program will support Australians to better follow the advice in the Australian Dietary Guidelines,” Minister Colbeck said.
The Government established the Healthy Food Partnership to improve the dietary habits of Australians by making healthier food choices easier and more accessible, and by raising awareness of appropriate food choices and portion sizes.
The Partnership is a non-regulatory, collaborative forum between the Australian Government, food industry bodies and public health groups which aims to tackle obesity, encourage healthy eating and empower food manufacturers to make positive changes to their products.
All food industry businesses are encouraged to participate in the Partnership Reformulation Program.
Further information about the Healthy Food Partnership is on the Department of Health website at www.health.gov.au/healthyfoodpartnership

For nearly 80 years, Prince Philip served his Crown, his country and the Commonwealth.
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was, in the words of Her Majesty, her ‘strength and stay’.
He embodied a generation that we will never see again.
Beginning as a naval cadet in 1939, he served in war and in peace. When Her Majesty ascended the throne, The Duke ended his military service and became her constant support.
Prince Philip was no stranger to Australia, having visited our country on more than 20 occasions.
Through his service to the Commonwealth he presided as patron or president of nearly 50 organisations in Australia. Given his own service, Prince Philip also had a strong connection with the Australian Defence Force.
For 65 years, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme has encouraged over 775,000 young Australians to explore their leadership potential. Forty thousand young Australians are currently participating in the program.
Australians send our love and deepest condolences to her Majesty and all the Royal family. The Commonwealth family joins together in sorrow and thanksgiving for the loss and life of Prince Philip. God bless from all here in Australia.
Further details about Australia’s remembrance of Prince Philip will be announced over coming days. Flags will be lowered in honour of His Royal Highness.