Prime Minister Media Statement National Cabinet
- Written by Scott Morrison
The National Cabinet has held its 32nd meeting today, in Canberra.
At the final meeting of the year, leaders discussed Australia’s economic recovery, the COVID-19 response, the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, the Framework for National Reopening by Christmas, helping Australians prepare to go back to work in a COVID-safe environment and measures to get the economy moving again.
National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions to the health and economic consequences of COVID-19.
National Cabinet received a detailed briefing on the labour market by the Commonwealth Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy and National Skills Commissioner Adam Boyton. Leaders also noted progress on the successful rollout of the JobTrainer program for over 300,000 free or low-cost training positions across the country.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, provided an update on the latest epidemiological data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19.
There have been more than 28,000 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 908 people have died. There are now around 50 active cases in Australia, all in hotel quarantine. Over the past week there has been no cases of community transmission in Australia. More than 10 million tests have been undertaken across the country.
Australia has done well on both the health and economic fronts compared to most countries around the world. National Cabinet noted the significant increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries and the comparative strength of Australia’s effort in addressing COVID-19 compared to most other developed economies. Globally there have been over 68 million cases and sadly over 1.5 million deaths. Globally, average daily cases have now reached more than 600,000.
National Cabinet welcomed Australia’s achievement of a goal to reopen Australia by Christmas under a three-step framework agreed by all states, except Western Australia. All states are on track to successfully reopen state borders by Christmas, subject to health precautions.
National Cabinet again discussed the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, which sets out the roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth, states and territories in rolling out COVID-19 vaccines. It is vital that Australians have public confidence in vaccination and its roll out. The roll out plans will continue with a partnership between the Commonwealth and States and territories under the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.
National Cabinet welcomed the extension of vaccine purchasing arrangements with AstraZeneca and Novavax, which bolster arrangements with both vaccine suppliers and support Australia’s diversified portfolio of vaccines which also include the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine and the COVAX facility.
While vaccines are being developed, and treatments for COVID-19 are being improved, an important means to continue to bring about a return to normal economic and community activity is rapid testing, contact tracing, isolation and outbreak management. These measures back up the ongoing need for COVID-safe behaviours such as social distancing and good hygiene.
Infrastructure Australia
National Cabinet agreed that Infrastructure Australia will now evaluate project proposals which require more than $250 million in Commonwealth funding, an increase from the existing threshold of $100 million.
The increase will better focus Infrastructure Australia‘s business case evaluation process on the key projects that will help rebuild our economy and support jobs into the future.
All states and territories have advocated for the increase and it is supported by Infrastructure Australia.
The increase will be reflected in an updated Statement of Expectations to be issued by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Development, and will take effect from 1 January 2021.
Streamlining Approvals
National Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to implement ‘single touch’ environmental approvals under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) to speed up projects, support economic recovery and create jobs.
Leaders agreed the immediate priority was to pass legislation streamlining approval processes and to develop national environmental standards reflecting the current requirements of the EPBC Act.
Subsequent phases of reform will build on these streamlining efforts and address any further changes and improvements, including to environmental standards, taking into account the recommendations of the independent review led by Professor Graeme Samuel AC.
Automatic Mutual Recognition of Occupational Registration
All jurisdictions signed the Intergovernmental Agreement on Automatic Mutual Recognition of Occupational Registrations, with the exception of the ACT. The Agreement, which will be subject to revision following consultation and to reflect the legislation agreed by the signatories, will ensure that licenced workers will not bear additional costs to perform the same activities in those jurisdictions and makes it easier to do business across state and territory borders. The ACT will continue to work towards finalising arrangements, with the aim of signing the Intergovernmental Agreement shortly.
Seasonal Workers
National Cabinet acknowledged the importance of Australia’s agricultural sector having sufficient workforce to harvest what is a bumper season across the country. It was agreed that bilateral arrangements will be established between the Commonwealth and jurisdictions based on each jurisdiction’s health protocols for Pacific workers. As a next step, jurisdictions will write to the Commonwealth outlining their health protocols (including for example, on-farm quarantine arrangements similar to the Queensland model, requirements for workers to remain in the jurisdiction etc). The Commonwealth will then be able to facilitate visas for workers under the Seasonal Worker Programme and the Pacific Labour Scheme based on these bilateral arrangements.
International border arrangements
Quarantine arrangements are an essential part of Australia’s response to COVID-19. Existing quarantine arrangements will continue to prioritise returning Australians. Other groups including international students and skilled migrants will be further considered by National Cabinet in February 2021 subject to the health and safety advice.
National Cabinet agreed that the Commonwealth and NSW will work to strengthen standards regarding quarantine and testing arrangements for international air crew and noted an additional compliance requirement being put in place for incoming diplomats.
Priorities for 2021
National Cabinet discussed priorities for 2021 to support Australia’s COVID-19 recovery. Priorities tasked to the Council on Federal Financial Relations and the National Cabinet Reform Committees include:
Delivering the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement;
Delivering a new National Skills Agreement to improve vocational education and training;
Expediting infrastructure projects to support job creation;
Ensuring more affordable and reliable energy, including progressing National Electricity Market and gas-market reforms;
Promoting economic growth and job creation in rural and regional Australia.
National Cabinet will meet again on Friday 5 February, 2021.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you all for joining us and can I start today by, you will be pleased to know, that the National Cabinet is a red tape cutting organisation and we have agreed today that I will make a brief statement at the start and then we will go to questions. The old COAG arrangements would have had us here most of the afternoon at this press conference making statements. So I thank the Premiers and Chief Ministers for further streamlining action by the National Cabinet.
Australia is working together, we are working together and Australia is coming back from COVID-19. On the health front, on the economic front and so many and I want to thank my colleagues who are here with me today and Premier McGowan joining us remotely for the amazing job they have all done individually in their own jurisdictions in Australia’s toughest year in generations. But I also want to thank them for their tremendous support working together with each other but also with ourselves as part of the Commonwealth as part of this innovation of the National Cabinet. This has been a very important group, a very important leadership group for this country, bringing together our Federation, seeing it work in a way that this country I don’t believe has ever seen. And so I am indebted to all my colleagues here. We all run our own Governments, our own cabinets are paramount in decisions we make, federally here and, of course, in each of the state and territory jurisdictions. But the way we keep coming together, we get in the room, we get things done and I thank my colleagues very much for their cooperation and support.
We're also joined by Professor Kelly and the ACT Australian of the Year, Professor Brendan Murphy. I’m sure the ACT Chief Minister will give a big shout out to Brendan and they will be joining us to answer questions on vaccines and the normal health issues that come up at our post-National Cabinet briefing. Today we have the opportunity to discuss the vaccine issues that the Health Minister and I reported on earlier today and talk through further issues about the vaccine rollout. We are making very good progress there and I am sure you will have questions but we are on track for that rollout and working closely together with the states and territories for what is a very unique rollout of the vaccine. The states and territories are always partners in the administration of any vaccine and we absolutely trust them, as you would expect us to, because we are partners in the delivery of health services around the country. This is a very unique vaccine and a very unique rollout so the bespoke arrangements we have here continue to build on that partnership.
We also agreed today on the need to tighten some arrangements, particularly around aircrew and as well as on diplomats. These are the vulnerabilities that I wouldn’t say are at a great scale but they are important vulnerabilities. As the year goes on and as our success continues, the states and territories become even more laser-like focused on the areas where potential vulnerabilities can emerge and so we have had good discussions on how we can tighten arrangements in both those areas, working both bilaterally with the Commonwealth as well as together.
It was also very important today we agreed that we could go forward on developing bilateral arrangements for seasonal workers in Australia. Each of the states and territories are confronted by different circumstances on the ground and different capabilities and capacities. In Queensland, for example, there has been a very, very successful on-farm quarantine for seasonal workers program that has been under way and it has really been supporting the Queensland agriculture sector and the primary producers. But now we want to ensure that we can move to other arrangements in states and territories where that need is critical. Premier Andrews, I know, it is a very important issue in Victoria presently, as it is in many other states and we have agreed that bilateral arrangements will be made on health orders that will be applied to seasonal workers coming into states and that will unlock the ability for the Commonwealth to then provide seasonal worker visas which will confine those seasonal workers in those jurisdictions so they remain completely under the health control of those states and territories and that will be resolved in the bilateral arrangements that exist between the state and territories and the Commonwealth.
We also agreed on very practical emergency services, fire services protocol for the upcoming and we are very much in it now, summer season and that is just a very practical set of arrangements because you know we move emergency services and other volunteers and workers around the country in the course of our disaster seasons and that has been a piece of work under way by officials for some time. Just a very cooperative and practical piece of work.
Other issues, we agreed on the economic front today the progress of the JobTrainer program. It is now operational in all states and territories bar the Northern Territory and that will be very soon implemented in the NT. This is a game changer for young people in particular but all people of all ages who are changing careers, additional places. It is a big partnership, it’s a big financial partnership, a billion-dollar partnership between the Commonwealth and the states and territories on top of our existing commitments to vocational education and training and data sharing is important to ensure that program stays up to the mark.
We also agreed today on two important regulatory congestion busting initiatives that we’ve discussed on earlier occasions. The first one is with the EPBC Act which is as you’ll know federally the subject of changes that we are seeking to pursue as a Commonwealth government. Premiers, Chief Ministers and I agreed today that the first priority, the first priority, is to ensure we streamline the administrative processes. Samuels Review, which will be released soon, will make recommendations as the interim report has flagged, on the environmental standards at a Commonwealth level. But what is important in the first tranche of legislative change and the priority is to ensure that the existing standards that relate to the existing legislation and regulation, no more, no less, must be codified and that we can streamline the approvals process to a single touch decision that occurs at the state level. Now, we estimate that a Commonwealth level a few years ago, to be costing the Australian economy almost half a billion dollars every year for projects which should go ahead, they should comply to environmental standards and the regulations. That will occur. There will be important reporting arrangements that ensures compliance with those standards as they are administered by the states and territories but we all agree it needs to happen faster and it needs to happen in accordance with the standards that we have now. A second phase, after we are able to legislate those arrangements, is to take into account the recommendations of the Samuels Review that may make recommendations about any improvements or changes to those standards more broadly. But we do not have to solve that problem in order to solve the first problem, which is making things go faster.
To that end, we also agreed today that the Commonwealth has supported to lift the threshold for Infrastructure Australia assessment of co-funded projects by the Commonwealth from $100 million to $250 million. This will free up Infrastructure Australia to focus more on the big projects and it will de-clog the process of getting these projects moving sooner. We want to see these projects on the ground because it is are a critical part of the economic recovery that will continue in 2021. And today, seven states and territories, and I don’t think it will be too long before ACT comes on board as we resolve a couple of issues which are quite bespoke to the ACT and its geographic arrangements more than anything else, is mutual recognition of occupational registration. This doesn’t sound like a terribly illuminating issue or one that is going to capture national attention but I can tell you that if you are tradie and you need to have multiple registrations, as an electrician or some other worker, because you're moving between states and territories, it is a pain and it costs you money and it slows your business down and it costs jobs. And I want to particularly thank the treasurers as part of the Council of Federal Financial Relations who have done the heavy lifting on getting that agreement today and seven states and territories have committed to that and, indeed I understand, signed it today.
Next year, we will stay focused on the recovery, both on the health side and the economic side. The National Cabinet, we all agree, is a great privilege to be involved in. Each and every one of us, we take those responsibilities and our respect for each other very seriously and that will continue to provide the platform for what I think has been a game-changer in the Australian Federation this year and we want to see that game-change3 impact so many other issues. This afternoon, the Federation Reform Council will meet and an issue that is close to every single one of our hearts is mental health and the need to work together to address the gaps that occur in mental health across Australia. We all have responsibilities here and this year has taught us just how important people’s mental health is in this country. It’s reminded us of that again and we look forward to applying this very effective mechanism to solving those difficult challenges. With that, I will throw to questions.
JOURNALIST: On bringing people into the country, and hotel quarantine, what is the thinking in National Cabinet about the capacity of the system to bring in more people and I am not just thinking about Australians who want to return home, I’m thinking about workers and also foreign students that the universities want for next year. I know there are different views around National Cabinet but what is your thinking - is there any consensus about what happens next? And are there any Premiers, for instance Queensland and Victoria who might want to comment on the capacity of that system?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I will speak briefly and then my colleagues will as well. Our first priority as a Commonwealth Government is Australians, and Australians returning home and I want to thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers for the work they have done. And I must say, particularly NSW because they carry half the burden for the country, and they are not all NSW Australians returning, they are Australian’s from all across the country who find themselves coming through NSW. Victoria has begun again and the Premier and I are looking forward to see that uplift in the New Year as we work through the capacity and have quarantine fully functioning again in Victoria, that will add additional capacity, Queensland and WA are both up to their capacity and this is a very productive I think working relationship but what we all understand is, there are physical limitations on the hotel quarantine capacity, but that is the safest and most effective way for people to come home and quarantine. I think we all agree that the health standards on quarantine is the most important issue. Where we can create capacity for people to return who are non-residents, who are not Australian citizens, such as on seasonal workers, then we can develop the bespoke arrangements which Queensland is particularly done on on-farm quarantine, which provides over and above capacity to see those economic needs met. But the first priority is the quarantine capacity for returning Australians and residents and that will continue to be our focus. Where we can create additional net capacity above and beyond that, that doesn't prevent an Australian returning to the country, well, we remain very open to that. But I’ll leave it to others to make comments.
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: PM, I might just add quickly, the first thing to do is on behalf of all Victorians thank, principally, New South Wales but all other first ministers from across the country who have been required to have more and more people in their hotel quarantine systems because ours was closed for a period of time. It has now reopened. The Prime Minister and I had a conversation last night about us lifting our numbers and we're very confident we will be able to do that. But that has got to be done safely and I think we will get to the end of the summer and we will certainly be processing more people. I think significantly more people than we are now. That has just got to be done in a steady way. On workers, particularly for our horticulture industry, if we want to guarantee economic activity, we want to guarantee that those crops are in fact harvested, that fruit is picked, stores are full, and people can buy the products that they love at anything like an affordable price, then we have to find a way forward here. We need 15,000- 20,000 workers and no hotel quarantine system will be able to cope with that. But we have had a really good, really good discussion last night and again today and I am very grateful, Premier Palaszczuk shared her best in class system of farm quarantine with us, we will learn from that. We are also continuing to work with Dr. Kelly around some other countries where a bubble might be able to be set up. Again, always safe. We have reintroduced hotel quarantine, we're growing it, but I really just wanted to take the opportunity, and your question allows me to, to say thank you to my colleagues for having shouldered more of the burden and they probably expected to.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] what was your response when Mr McGowan said he would not be attending in person? He is the only leader not to. Is it disrespecting the National Cabinet process?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. Not at all. We were heartbroken of course that Mark couldn't join us here.
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Almost as much as him.
PRIME MINISTER: Almost as much as him. It's OK, WA gets to keep the GST, there’s not a… But of course, Mark and together with all my colleagues here have made great contributions to this group. And we understand every state and territory has its rules and those rules need to be held up to and so we understand, but obviously miss our colleague and look forward to him joining us next year and we look forward to, I look forward to coming to Western Australia again and seeing him there. We wanted to get Australian Open by Christmas and we are going to achieve that, I believe. We are going to achieve that. And that has been made possible, I think, by the patience and the steady work of everyone you see here in front of you, and I think that should be a great encouragement to Australians. Even when we disagree from time to time we keep moving forward. We keep looking to the next thing we have to do and things that have happened behind us, they stay behind us because, frankly, we've got too important a job to do. So we miss you, Mark, we miss you.
JOURNALIST: You pointed to- for seasonal workers, we know the New South Wales Premier is keen to see international students back in Australia, very important for the economy, can you see a scenario where there are bespoke quarantine arrangements on university campuses and we have also heard potentially that there may be some sort of plan for that in Victoria. I know there’s a few questions there. But we would be keen to hear your plan for international students?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, it is Australian citizens and residents returning first, that is the priority for hotel quarantine in Australia. Of course we want to see a resumption of so many aspects of the services trade that Australia has, and international students are an important part of that. But that cannot come at the cost of Australian citizens, who have every right to return to their home country, particularly when we see around the world the great distress that the rest of the world is. I mean, here we sit as a group, presiding over, with the great efforts of Australians, Australian businesses and workers and health workers and everyone who has done such an amazing job and you compare that to what is happening around the rest of the world, then Australia is in a very select group of countries and that is through no small effort from those who sit around me here, around this table. And so on international students, where net additional capacity can safely be established, then that is something we have always been open to. But that must satisfy the public health requirements of the states and territories who have jurisdiction over those things and it can't take away from an Australian's ability to come home and that is our requirement. So where that can be achieved I think the guard rails are set pretty clearly on that. I know states are keen to see that international services opportunity return, but I know they also are very committed to seeing Australians come home.
But Gladys, did you want to?
THE HON. GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Sure. Thanks, PM. As you know we are bringing back 3,000 Australians every week through New South Wales, 45% of those actually go on to other states, and 55% are staying in New South Wales. The Prime Minister has made his position very clear, which I support, in relation to getting Aussies back home. But I would like to have a conversation next year not just about international students but also about skilled migrants. That is a conversation we can have next year. But clearly the priority is to try and reduce the list of Aussies coming back home. And I completely support the PM in that. But I do think at some stage next year we need to broaden the conversation. I'm not happy to see the quarantine system move out of the hotels at this stage. I think that would be too high a risk. That is just New South Wales, I know other states do have other arrangements. And so for that reason the cap of 3,000 is not going to change in New South Wales and so it's a question about when Victoria comes online and other states come online, how far can we eat into the 39,000 Aussies that are still waiting to come home and once that is dealt I’m sure there will be opportunities for us to consider all those other categories which will boost our economy and prospects for jobs in the future.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. And we agreed to come back to that in January and we are constantly monitoring that level of Australians who are seeking to come home. But I can confirm that 45,954 Australians have returned since the 18th I think it is of September. And at the time you will recall there were 26,200 Australians who were registered to come back. So we have got home 45,954. We still have, right now registered overseas, some 38,655. But we will continue to monitor through contact directly with people overseas about their need to return home. That may change over the next month. That may change as vaccines are introduced, particularly in the United Kingdom, which is one of the key areas where Australians are seeking to come home from. The biggest area, the biggest number of people seeking to come home is from India. There are over 10,000 there. There is around about, just under 5,000 in the UK and there are a range of other countries.
Andrew?
JOURNALIST: Can I ask about contact tracing. In recent months you have been complementary of New South Wales and Queensland's systems. You’ve been less complimentary about Victoria. Are you now confident that the system of contact tracing is consistent and of good enough standard across the country? I would like the good professors at the back to venture a view on that. But also with regards to the fellow on the screen, do you think WA is match fit when it comes to contact tracing as well?
PRIME MINISTER: I am going to throw that to both Paul Kelly and Brendan Murphy. Because my view on that is based on their advice. And, in Australia, particularly over the last six months, there has been an absolutely significant investment that has been made by the states and territories, looking and learning from each other to ensure that their contact tracing systems are world standard. And New South Wales, I have been very clear about, I think has led the way in that area. What we have seen most recently and Premier Marshall might want to comment on this, particularly in relation to Western Australia, one of the things the contact tracing system I think has achieved more recently is the ability of its federal capabilities and by that I don't the Federal Government, I mean the states and territories swarm to support a problem. When we had the issue in South Australia the state that actually did the most in support of South Australia, it is fair to say, was Western Australia. And the match fitness of Western Australian's contact tracing system was one of the key things that was assessed in the Finkel review which we have reported on previously. But there has been an enormous amount of sharing and learning between jurisdictions in this issue. That's not to say every system has been perfect and I wouldn't agree with the way that you suggested I had characterised other systems at all. I have tended to focus on the positives. What I think is important though is all the states and territories have worked together, learnt from each other, supported each other and now where I have a great confidence is if it happened in Queensland or in Western Australia or in the Northern Territory, there is a national effort that can be brought to bear on contact tracing with the support of one system to another.
But Paul, did you want to speak about that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, PM. So just to echo the PM's summary there. We did have Professor Alan Finkel, the chief scientist, lead a national review of contact tracing and looked at all of the elements of testing, tracing, and isolation, and his conclusion was that all the states were actually strong. We have learned through this epidemic and we are supporting each other. There were 22 recommendations in that report and we are working through those. Some of them are completed. Particularly the issue of data exchange across borders, and so Victoria, New South Wales, and the ACT have progressed that work with the Commonwealth over the last month and so all of those things gives me great confidence in what we can do as a nation, but also in all of the states.
PRIME MINISTER: Jono?
JOURNALIST: What is your position on vaccinating Australians currently overseas? And once Australians have been vaccinated here, will they be free to travel at will overseas to holiday and for work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the latter point, these are still decisions that are still to be taken, and to that end I might throw to Professor Murphy who is leading the Commonwealth's vaccination strategy and also its roll out. Brendan?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thanks, PM. I think we still don't know what the vaccines will do in terms of complete prevention of transmission of the virus. So the vaccines can prevent disease. We know that very clearly. The extent to which they will effectively prevent, for example, asymptomatic transmission or people bringing the virus with them when they travel, we still have to find out. So this is an evolving place and there may well come a time when we have evidence that vaccines are very good at preventing people contracting the infection and in that circumstance it may be appropriate to allow quarantine free travel. But this is an evolving space and we just have to watch and wait as it develops.
JOURNALIST: Any idea what the time frame might be to make a decision? Because lot of people would like to start planning for the future and such.
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: I think over the course of next calendar year, as we get more and more information on more and more vaccines we will have a much clearer picture.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given the Pfizer vaccine has received approval in the UK and the US, why can't Australia now also give the vaccine approval and Greg Hunt mentioned this morning that 10 million units was appropriate for Australia. Why? Don't we need to buy more of this vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, I will direct that to Professor Murphy. On the issue of the accreditation approval of vaccines in Australia, we will do that on Australian rules with Australian officials and on the Australian timetable. Australia has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world. The reason for that is we take these issues incredibly seriously and we have the best people in the world making those decisions to protect the safety of Australians. We want to ensure that Australians, and I think all of us feel very strongly this way, have full confidence, absolute full confidence that when it gets the tick, they can get the jab. And they can make that decision for themselves and for their families confidently. So we are aware of what is happening in other states and in other nations around the world. We have a front row seat, frankly, as they go through that and work through any potential issues that may arise in the data sharing arrangements that we have, particularly with the United Kingdom, will be very instructive, I think, as they are the first ones to go around the block on this full. But there is a difference between what is happening here in Australia and what's happening overseas. Overseas vaccination is the only thing they’ve got, frankly, now to address what is a level of communication of the virus that is happening in the community in those places. Because of the hard work done by Australians here and the arrangements that have been put in place by all those you see in front of you and our governments, Australia is not in that situation. So that means we can make this decision in the same way we always would, carefully, based on the best science, so when I tell you that it's safe to happen, I can do that with the greatest possible confidence that I can and that is what I owe to every Australian and particularly every parent.
Brendan, did you want to add to that?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Just to say, as the Prime Minister said, we are not in the position of having to do emergency use registration for a vaccine, which is how the Pfizer vaccine has been reached in those countries. We have the time to take our normal process through the TGA. We continue to look at the mRNA vaccines around the world, but I wouldn't underestimate the huge value of what we announced today, that we are now having full population coverage of an onshore manufacture of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Onshore manufacturing is a very precious thing in terms of getting good access over the course of next year. So we will continue to look at the mRNA vaccines over time as well.
JOURNALIST: Why were the warnings about the likelihood of a false positive HIV – for the University of Queensland vaccine – why were those warnings ignored and how much taxpayer dollars has been wasted?
PRIME MINISTER: I will let Brendan also speak to the medical issues here. Every cent we have invested in getting the best and most early available and safe vaccines for Australians in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic has been money well spent. Every single cent. I mean, there are no guarantees when it comes to vaccine development and if you don’t put investment in across a range of opportunities and options, then you don’t get one come out the other end. And I think the expectation that they would be 100 percent success rate across these is naive. It is just not true. Australia has made the right investments in science. We have made those decisions based on best scientists and expert medical advice on where we should place those investments and the net result of that is now not just three vaccines which would administer doses to Australians and I should say vaccinate them fully under those programs twice over. But on top of that, we have ensured that we have enforced our manufacturing capability for important vaccines. I'm advised today that Australia is only one of 20 countries that can manufacture these vaccines. One of 20 countries. So once again, we enter into an elite circle of countries that has been able to respond on behalf of their population.
But Brendan?
DR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thank you. So no warnings were ignored at all about the possibility of false positives was raised by the University of Queensland researchers very early on and was seen as a very, very unlikely possibility because the fragment of the HIV virus molecule was small, very unlikely and it was unfortunately an unexpectedly high rate of false positives that resulted when the data came in. This was very clearly known at the time and the risks were appropriately taken and unfortunately it just became a bigger problem than anyone had anticipated.
JOURNALIST: PM, just in terms of the broader picture here, with three of the leaders around you have had elections this year but we now seem to have a window, a clear window ahead expect for Mr McGowan next year who has an election. But we have a period now of sort of relatively free of election politics. Is there any recognition amongst the group either at dinner last night or the meeting today or even this afternoon’s gathering that this is an opportunity to tackle a bit of serious reform in the Federation with regard to the economic challenges you all face as state leaders and as Commonwealth? That no-one has the immediate pressures of an election to contend with and you might be able to, you might be able to you know, take a few sticky decisions.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Phil. I am happy to defer to my colleagues on this as well. One of the standing items on the National Cabinet agenda, which was agreed and suggested by the Premier of New South Wales, who has been an advocate on this front as a Treasurer, as a Premier and we've made quite a lot of progress, I've got to say, this year, having it's not just about whether they're elections or not. It's, frankly, if you've got the right systems in place to achieve it. And the National Cabinet now and its six priority reform committees that sit beneath it on energy, on regional Australia, on skills and a range of other areas. They now provide, I think, the proper structures and systems which actually can deliver more and so there is a standing item. I mean, today, what we're doing with occupational licencing. It seems like a small thing, but it's actually a very big thing. There are bigger things that we are very keen to discuss which go to the switching of what Commonwealth may do and what states may in important areas and we've undertaken to look at those areas for next year. But I think we've got the structure right to achieve that, whether there's an election or not. I think we've got the model right for how we can get through some of those decisions.
But Gladys, did you want to make a few comments?
THE HON. GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN MP, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: Thanks, PM. I just wanted to echo the PM's comments. I think we do have a great opportunity to keep the momentum going in reducing red tape and streamlining, improving, modernising state-federal relations around a whole range of things. And I was pleased the PM's putting as a standing item that agenda item, so that if there's anything we want to put on there, we can actually resolve it. And I think National Cabinet has demonstrated our ability to get things done more quickly. And what COVID has taught all of us, the state jurisdictions nut I think also as a national government, is that you can do things better and differently and let's use this opportunity to keep improving the quality of life of our citizens and streamlining our processes. I think we've also had an extra bit of confidence to say Australia can actually punch above its weight in terms of responding to global issues like this and let's use that confidence and that momentum to make real positive change and I'm delighted that that's what we will be doing moving forward.
THE HON. ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK MP, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: I might just add to that, I think we shouldn’t gloss over the fact too that this National Cabinet has worked in the best interest of all Australians. That, you know, we haven't met face to face for nine months but during that time, we've had 30 National Cabinet meetings. We have been provided at all times with expert advice on health and at all times expert advice on the economy. So that has been absolutely critical to the way the National Cabinet has worked and how I think it's going to work into the future and as long as there's that goodwill amongst everyone, you will see substantial change that's happening with the cohesiveness of this group working together.
JOURNALIST: On environmental protection and biodiversity, you’re speeding up the administrative processes. How will that single touchpoint work at the state level? What projects and sort of industries do you think might benefit? And given that the states control a lot of the levers in this area, can I ask the Premiers of Victoria and Queensland, how committed are you to actually speeding up project and business kind of approvals in this area, given there's often a lot of pushback from environmental groups and progressive activists?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first part, a single touch approval process means exactly that. There's a single touch. It will be done by the states, ensuring that they reference and ensure that the federal standards are adhered to in the decisions that they make on projects. Now, this will relate to any projects that require federal approval under the EPBC Act. And this means you go through one process, you go through one decision maker. There will be an overarching assessment that is done on each state and how they're fulfilling that over the course of the year. But that's not an appeal jurisdiction and that's not done on a case by case basis. That's just to ensure that the Commonwealth continues to have the assurance that the standards that are there and that is set at that level are being appropriately addressed. So this is going to be a very big change, I think. We've tried to do this before and that hasn't succeeded and that's why I really want to thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers for their commitment to see this done faster. The standards have to be kept and in the first step, we’ll make sure that the standards that we have right now that are part of existing laws, that won't change. That will be done and codified for the states to see next month so they've got a clear idea of what those standards are. And then it is my great hope that when the Parliament returns next year, we will be able to see passage of the legislation that can give effect to giving that authority to the states and territories. But I'll leave it to Dan and to Annastacia to speak to that.
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: This is a logical extension of changes we've made at a Victorian level where we do planning and environmental effects assessments at the same time. So we run a dual track system so that instead of completing one and then beginning a fresh new process at the end of that and taking basically twice as long to build the road, rail, hospital, school, important, fundamentally important infrastructure that we need now and for the future, we've sped that up. Now's the time to make good decisions, but make them as quickly as you can. Because our economy and communities, not just in my state, but across the nation, need those jobs, that confidence, that sense of momentum. This is a really important change and one that we're pleased to support. It's about how you make the decision, not the decision itself. It'll still be against the highest of standards, standards that I think we at a jurisdictional level and nationally are very well known for.
THE HON. ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK MP, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: Yeah, I think you can see the results of those standards to make sure that there is confidence out there in the public that they are high standards. And in some cases, everyone can sometimes say, oh, the states are holding up things. But in other instances we've got projects where we're waiting on federal approval. So I think it works both ways and a streamlined process is, I think, going to be well received by everybody.
PRIME MINISTER: The standards, just to be clear because you'll be aware of the Samuels Report, the first set of standards will be the standards that effectively are there now and they need to be codified very clearly, not a comma more or a comma less when it comes to those standards. The second phase would relate to addressing recommendations of the Samuel Report, which require a broader discussion on, I suppose the overall substance of the standards themselves. We've got time for two more. I'm sorry, because we've got other meetings this afternoon.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can I ask you, do you want to put a stop to Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with Beijing and Premier Andrews can I ask you, what is it you want to get out of the Belt and Road agreement and do you think it presents a sovereign risk?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we will follow through on the legislation that has passed the Parliament in accordance with the process, which will sit there and make the appropriate assessments and then make any decisions from there.
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: And I'm happy to add that, that agreement, like all agreements that Victoria enters into and I expect the Commonwealth and other states are no different, it's all about making sure that more Victorian product gets sent to our biggest and smallest customers. Whether it's to China or any other part of the world, it's all about jobs. It's all about jobs. And I'll leave the Commonwealth Government to make their assessments.
JOURNALIST: Premier [inaudible] is what I'm asking.
THE HON. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: We are comfortable with the arrangements we have in place. But I'll be, if I can put it to you, I think that we'd be probably better off in our relationship if all of us focused on the fact that I think the Prime Minister and I and all of us that you're looking at, even the professors, are all about having the best economic partnerships with customers large and small in every part of the world, because that means jobs and prosperity and profitability for families back home.
JOURNALIST: On this issue to another one, border battles have obviously dominated National Cabinet. Have the New South Wales and Queensland Premiers managed to resolve your personal differences? You've been feuding via duelling press conferences. And do either of you have regrets about the decision you made on the borders?
THE HON. ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK MP, PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND: No.
JOURNALIST: You would do it all again? Your response?
THE HON. GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN MP, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES: My response is contrary to what might be out there, we have constructive dialogue within National Cabinet and I've made my position on borders very clear from day one and I maintain that position and I guess that's the beauty of the Federation. It allows, although from time to time we won't agree on everything, it allows us to come forward with our own views on how to move forward. And I'm pleased now, as the PM said, the important thing is we’ll all be open by Christmas and I think that's what our citizens want and expect and I hope that this is sustained until the end of the pandemic. So we don't want to go backwards.
PRIME MINISTER: When Australia – and we’re going to have to leave it there - when Australia was established as a nation, it was done to federate states. If, when Australia was established as a nation, the idea was that it should be only one government in the country, well, that's what they would have done but they didn't make that call. They made the call to have states and territories. And as a federal nation, I think one of the things that we have demonstrated this year is that, of course, there's going to be differences between states and territories from time to time. I think the assessment that is made that if there's a difference of view or a disagreement then somehow the Federation is not working is again, I think a very naive view. The Federation is working, the Federation has worked for Australia and most importantly, it's got Australia working in one of the most important years that we've had and the challenges we face in many generations. Thank you all very much.
