Gladys Berejiklian voices vaccine frustration at federal government ahead of national cabinet meeting
State and territory leaders are becoming increasingly tetchy over the national pandemic response, with the Morrison government drawing fire from even its traditional allies, as most of Australia feels the effects of another Covid outbreak.
Unlike many of her Labor counterparts, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian has so far resisted turning blame to the Morrison government, beyond pointing out the state’s desire for more vaccines.
That changed ahead of an “emergency” national cabinet meeting on Monday, as NSW deals with its worst outbreak since the pandemic began, as Berejiklian lamented the lack of pandemic planning “at other levels”.
“You have to plan for the future,” she said.
“You have to plan for the weeks and months ahead. I am getting frustrated that people are not doing that at other levels. We need to plan ahead for the future.
“We need to make sure the vaccine is accessible to all of our population and we have those doses available. We need to make sure enough GPs are being signed up. I have been calling on this for weeks. Weeks and weeks, if not months.
“Our GPs want to do more. They want more doses and they also want more GPs to come online. That is necessary. That is not something that the New South Wales government can control.”
Australia is due to see an increase in its mRNA vaccine supplies in the third and fourth quarter of the year, but a reliance on AstraZeneca, combined with a confused message on who is eligible and vaccine hesitancy has delayed Australia’s vaccine rollout.
Lt General John Frewen has admitted there will be no vaccine campaign until supply can match demand, with the government worried it will not be able to meet an increase in vaccine interest, given Australia’s limited supplies of the Pfizer vaccine, which has been recommended for under-60s.
The delay in the vaccine rollout, which falls under the federal government’s responsibility, means most Australians remain unprotected. An outbreak of the more contagious Delta variant has since spread throughout Sydney, sparking fears of outbreaks in other Australian jurisdictions, with new locally acquired cases of covid reported in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
NSW has been forced to lockdown Sydney and surrounds as it attempts to deal with the outbreak, while almost all other Australian states and territories have enforced social distancing restrictions in an attempt to head off the virus.
The latest outbreak, which comes after months of Scott Morrison and his government describing Australia as the “envy of the world” has turned attention back on the federal government’s response and preparation.
The premiers and chief ministers have grown increasingly frustrated with the level of responsibility they are being made to shoulder, with both vaccines and quarantine becoming flashpoints.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has already signalled she will be pushing for a smaller cap on international arrivals in the wake of the latest outbreak, which Berejiklian, whose state has taken the majority of returned travellers, is already pushing back against.
Ahead of the late Monday afternoon meeting, Palaszczuk was not budging.
“I think we need a good conversation about quarantine facilities that are not hotels. We have seen leaks out of hotels in a large number of states,” she said.
“It is not unique to Queensland. This has happened in Victoria. It’s happened in New South Wales, it’s happened in South Australia and Western Australia. The vaccine rollout is imperative. This is the best thing we can do to fight this virus, to get vaccinated, to get people out of quarantine into regional facilities.”
Both the issues of quarantine, including new guidelines on not quarantining low-risk domestic travellers next to high-risk international travellers side by side, and vaccines are key agenda items for the national cabinet to discuss, but there remains no prospect for the supply concerns to be quickly addressed.
There is also a push for universality in having associated workers with the quarantine program, including those who drive flight crews to the quarantine, vaccinated and masked, while a decision on making vaccines mandatory for aged care workers is also expected.
National cabinet will meet at 5.30.