E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
CANBERRA
MONDAY, 31 MAY 2021
 
SUBJECT: COVID outbreak in Maidstone; Morrison Government’s failure to protect vulnerable Australians; vaccination rollout delays; vaccination status of aged and disability care workers.
 
BILL SHORTEN, MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG: I’m here to talk today about the outbreak in Maidstone and actions that the Commonwealth Government should be taking to protect Australia's most vulnerable people.
 
JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, if you work in, say, antenatal areas of hospitals, perinatal, oncology, organ transplant, it is mandatory that you have the flu vaccination. Why is it not mandatory for aged care workers getting a COVID jab?
 
SHORTEN: There may be a good reason, but I can't think of a good reason why it’s not mandatory to provide aged care workers with the vaccinations. The outbreak at Maidstone isn’t because of the lack of a vaccination. It’s because of ultimately the breakdown of the hotel quarantine system, which the Federal Government has failed to implement. It's because there’s poor public health messaging. It’s because there's not enough people getting vaccinated generally. But in the case of Maidstone, I think the Government needs to speed up the vaccination, first and second dose, of both residents and workforce, which is not happening.
 
JOURNALIST: Does it concern you how slow the vaccination rollout has been in Victoria, specifically in aged care, given the hell that Melbourne went through last year?
 
SHORTEN: Given the hell that Melbourne went through last year, I think it is nothing short of completely negligent of the Morrison Government, completely negligent of the Morrison Government not to have sorted out vaccination and aged care and disability care, residents and workforce. The Government's been on notice for sixteen months. There has been a complete complacency, which exhibits the behaviour of the Federal Government. This was their responsibility. I am shocked that residents in my electorate are only getting their second vaccination at Arcare today. I am shocked the workers who look after these people in some cases haven't even had their first vaccination. The Federal Government has been asleep at the wheel. It is negligent and it's putting people's livelihoods and more importantly, their health at risk.
 
JOURNALIST: We're hearing that workers are still being allowed to work at two or more aged care centres in the private system overseen by the Federal Government. How common is that at Maidstone and other aged care centres in your electorate? And do you blame the Morrison government for that?
 
SHORTEN: I've been in touch with individual workers who've worked in aged care and NDIS. I've also spoken to the unions representing workers in aged care. But the fact of the matter is that in the privatised system of aged care, workers, in order to make a living wage, have to work on more than one facility, work for more than one operation. This is because the workers are left with a shocking choice. They work at one operation and starve, or they work at more than one operation and hope like hell there's no COVID outbreak. This is no choice at all. The Federal Government has a system where employers can notify the Federal Government that the workers elected to do the majority of hours at their employer and then that employer can ask for a top up of money for that employee, for the work they’re missing out at the other facility. The reality is this scheme is not working. My colleague Clare O'Neill has said that this process is not working. The Federal Government expects aged care to be done on the cheap. We've had a Royal Commission. We had the horror lockdown of last year. We've got the worrying breakouts now in Melbourne. The Federal Government is out of touch with the way the working people have to do more than one job just to make ends meet.
 
JOURNALIST: Should unvaccinated aged care workers be allowed into the facilities?
 
SHORTEN: Well first of all, we need to make sure that all aged care workers have the option to get vaccinated. At this stage, across Australia, too many workers in aged care and disability haven't been able to get there first, and then their second vaccination dose. Sooner or later, I think we are going to have to have a conversation that it's compulsory to be vaccinated if you want to work with vulnerable people. That conversation is coming.
 
JOURNALIST: Well, that conversation’s got to start today, doesn’t it Mr. Shorten?
 
SHORTEN: I think the first conversation that has to happen today is why on earth are there people who haven't had the chance to be vaccinated twice in the last four months? The Government promised four million Australians by the end of March. It's now the end of May. Two months later, and I've spoken to the family of the resident who has contracted COVID in the residence at Maidstone. This family and this resident shouldn't be having to put up with this situation. And the fact of the matter is the vaccination rollout has been too slow. But now I am worried that it's getting dangerous for people.
 
JOURNALIST: As a statement of principle, though, do you believe that if you are an aged care worker, you should be expected to, that it be mandatory, for you to get a COVID vaccination?
 
SHORTEN: As a statement of principle, I think Australia is well served by our aged care workforce. I don't blame aged care workers for having to work in more than one facility because at twenty three dollars an hour, if you want to be able to pay a mortgage, put food on the table, you have to do more than one job. But further, as a statement of principle, I haven't heard a good argument against vaccinating people who work in close proximity with vulnerable Australians. But first things first. Let's just roll out this vaccination, so that everyone who wants one can get one. Then we can tidy up and make sure that everyone else who is working in close proximity is sufficiently safe to do so.
 
JOURNALIST: The Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino has just said that private sector aged care is a Federal Government responsibility, they're very relevant questions to be put to the Federal Government, but no one is speaking today. What do you make of those comments?
 
SHORTEN: I'm angry that my state has had to go into lockdown for a fourth time. I'm angry for the family I spoke to have to quarantine themselves, whose mother, mother in law, has contracted COVID. I'm angry that the aged care workforce is being upended again. Victoria has been let down. Aged care is a federal responsibility. The Federal Government should have built specific quarantine facilities so that people coming from overseas were in purpose built quarantine facilities before they were let out into the public. I'm also angry that there's a lack of public health messaging. I'm angry that Australians who want to get the jab can't get the jab, and this Government has gone into hiding. It may be a public holiday in Canberra, but it's not a public holiday for the people in Victoria who are locked down. And the Morrison Government needs to stop being asleep at the wheel. They are nothing short of negligent with the public health of Australians.
 
JOURNALIST: There are about two to three million vaccines unused, and these are aside from the ones that have been for the second dose. Do you think that people in their 20s should be getting the jab, given that you've seen the Melbourne outbreak? A lot of youngsters are the ones who been going to multiple venues over the weekend.
 
SHORTEN: My first priority is that the people who are most vulnerable to that should be able to get the jab. But if there are surplus vaccinations, if there's a vaccine warehouse, a vaccine mountain somewhere, then I think that we should stop stuffing around with these very confusing eligibility rules. Just let anyone who wants a jab, get a jab. That's where we're at. And that way I think we can significantly increase our vaccination rates. So, to be very clear, vulnerable people first and foremost. But that should have been going for the last four months. And secondly, if there are surplus vaccinations available, why on earth can't anyone who wants one just get one, rather than having them locked up in warehouses and refrigerators? That's just the definition of silliness.
 
JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, does Emma Husar deserve an apology, and should she get damages from the Labor Party for her treatment?
 
SHORTEN: I can't make any comment about any legal implications. It was a matter ultimately for New South Wales Labor. I have stayed in contact with Emma, without going into every in and out of her matter, I've got no doubt she was on the receiving end of some poor treatment. Thanks, everybody.
 
ENDS
 
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