NATIONAL BROADCAST - 28 June 2021

PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: The New South Wales premier expressed her frustration about the vaccine rollout today. She really didn't hold back. So I want to put it to you: does the Federal Government need to do more heavy lifting to get more vaccine supply into the system? Not in a couple of months, but now?

JASON FALINSKI, MEMBER FOR MACKELLAR: Look, if we could, we would. We’ve been doing everything we can to get as much vaccine into the system as we possibly can. We have 2.8 or 2.6 million Pfizer jabs coming next month. We've been hampered by supply problems out of Europe. We've been hampered by changing medical advice. But despite all that, we've shown as a nation a lot of agility. And we've got a lot of vaccines in the system now. 

KARVELAS: OK, you say a lot of vaccines, but given the AstraZeneca rules have changed, you don't have enough Pfizer in the system. You just don't have enough to vaccinate the population. And we're facing a national emergency of COVID across the country. That's diabolical, isn't it? 

FALINSKI: Well, look, let's not over-egg it, PK.

KARVELAS: It’s pretty bad. You’ve got a population that’s not vaccinated –

FALINSKI: We've been through a lot worse than this before. So we'll get through this on the other end, and I'm sure it won't be as bad as it was before. You are right. We do have a shortage of Pfizer. We have secured 2.6 million doses for next month and then it ramps up the months after that. There are a lot of people who I know in the Sydney region -- and I encourage everyone to get on the website and book your appointment now because of the 100,000 extra appointments that have been opened up, the Westmead Centre is now open on Sundays. This is a good opportunity for everyone to start that process. And yes, you're right, we have a lot of AstraZeneca vaccines and we need more Pfizer. And that's why the Federal Government has managed to secure those doses for next month.

KARVELAS: OK, so let me put this to you. Given the cost benefit, the risk analysis –  

FALINSKI: Could I stop you, by any chance? 

KARVELAS: No. And I'm sorry I didn't tweet that you were on the show. It was very rude of me. You're a delightful member of my panel, so apologies 

FALINSKI: Don’t apologise, you’re delightful.

KARVELAS: And we're enjoying each other's company vastly. But let's go to the substance here, which is should we now look at the rules around AstraZeneca and allow more people to get this jab in their arm, given the risk has changed? We've got a real wave on our hands. If we do, isn't it better that people get some coverage? 

FALINSKI: Well, look, Patricia, as you know, my many years of medical training has allowed me to opine on this subject with great expertise. However, I do find it confusing, and I’d love an expert to explain to me why it is that we allow women to take birth control that is ten times more likely to cause clots than AstraZeneca. I’m just 50, and I'll be getting the AstraZeneca dose if I'm allowed to, because I just don't think the risks are massively outweighed by the benefits. And maybe I'm less risk-averse than others, but I'm happy to take it an AZ dose that frees up another Pfizer dose for someone who is more risk-averse than I am.

KARVELAS: Luke, what are your thoughts on this? You’re in the Northern Territory. You're facing an unprecedented situation. You haven't had this community transmission in the NT, we haven't got people vaccinated enough. Ken Wyatt revealing to us that in terms of first dose of 16 per cent of the Aboriginal population across the country have been vaccinated, even though the figure for the total vaccination seems to me is probably not particularly high. What do we need to be doing?

LUKE GOSLING, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: We need to be vaccinating a lot more people. Now the NT Government is doing a fantastic job, and we haven't had a lockdown situation since last May, and we've been running the only dedicated quarantine facility in the country. So the NT Government is doing a fantastic job. But I think around the country, what we're seeing is I think we're up to 26 quarantine leaks now. And while Jason is being quite light-hearted, this is a serious issue for the country. We need more dedicated quarantine facilities around the country, and we need to roll these vaccines out a lot quicker. And it's not a secret that last year the Federal Government, Scott Morrison, had the opportunity to get Pfizer in big numbers. They squandered that opportunity. And ever since then, they have failed to realise the seriousness of this situation, whether it be for people in business or right now in the school holidays where people were looking forward to a great break. The tourism industry is going to be really hurting from this. So I'd like to see it taken a lot more seriously around the country and get this vaccine rollout sorted and back on track.

KARVELAS: Jason, New South Wales and the Northern Territory have extended their lockdowns and several border closures have been announced, impacting school holiday travel that was just outlined from Luke. What does that mean for this debate that we've been having around lockdowns? Because New South Wales was long spruiking that you didn't need to lock down, here you are in a two-week lockdown. Clearly, this is one of the levers that can be pulled. Has it changed the politics around this, that it's some sort of choice that the premiers are running to lockdowns too easily?

FALINSKI: Look, I think the answer to that question is, I don't think it's changed anything, to be blunt. I think the New South Wales Government's view has always been that it would pull the lever to lock down, just as the Northern Territory Government has always been it would pull the lever on border closures, but that as soon as it became clear that they didn't need to be continuing, they would open them up. I don't think it has changed the answer to that question. I think that this continues to be an imprecise science. And, you know, the New South Wales Government has done an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances. I mean, Luke talks about the Northern Territory having the only dedicated quarantine station, which is true. But the vast majority of returning Australians have come through Sydney. And it's a record that I know must be South Welshmen are very, very proud of. Welsh people, I should say. Sorry.

KARVELAS: Welshpeople, that's right. You have many women in your state.

FALINSKI: Indeed.

KARVELAS: Luke Gosling, obviously, that fact about New South Wales is a fact, right? It's absolutely true that they've brought in a lot of people. Do you want to see hotel quarantine shut down?

GOSLING: We've got a second facility up here in Darwin that can take 1,500 people that's available. That's a dedicated facility that the US Marines and the Australian Defence Force have been using. There's no reason why we can't be bringing more people back through dedicated quarantine that's ready to go, right now. We've seen in Queensland and in Victoria, where the Federal Government's dragged its feet about setting up a dedicated quarantine facilities. And for those people in New South Wales, you are seeing the result of Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, and your Premier, just playing politics with this, having a crack at Victoria. But now they found themselves in a situation where, again, until quarantine and has failed the people of Australia when it comes to the Northern Territory. It was a hotel quarantine leak from Queensland that caused the lockdown here. It was from South Australia that caused the lockdown in Victoria. So there's a bit of a pattern here. Get the dedicated quarantine sorted out, get the vaccine sorted out, get a proper public awareness campaign for getting vaccinated sorted out, and we'll be on the way back to normal. But with these muppets, we're a long way from that.

KARVELAS: OK, I'm going to have to leave it there. Even though Jason Falinski, I'm very sure that you would like to contest the word “muppets”. So let's just say you do contest the word “muppets”. Liberal MP Jason Falinsky and Labor MP Luke Gosling joining me there. 

ENDS