Press Conference Canberra, ACT

Prime Minister: Good afternoon, everyone. Despite a one in hundred year pandemic, that has caused both global and domestic recessions over the last couple of years, the Australian economy is proving resilient through this pandemic - 64,000 jobs in December. It's more than 2,000 jobs a day. Unemployment has fallen to 4.2 per cent. That is down from 5.2 per cent at the time of the last election. It's down from 5.7 per cent, when the Government was first elected. 1.7 million more Australians in jobs since then, including one million more women in jobs since then. It peaked during the pandemic at 7.4 per cent, with an effective rate of unemployment which was almost 15 per cent, and here it is today, going through a pandemic, at 4.2 per cent.

And there is nothing that pleases me more than seeing young people getting into jobs. That has been one of the highest priorities for our Government. That is why at the start of the pandemic, it was young people who were in apprenticeships that we moved first to ensure that we secured their employment when the pandemic hit. And to see unemployment for young people in this country falling to 9.4 per cent, the first time we've seen it in double, single digits in a very long time. It was peaking at some 11.9 per cent, sorry, 12., 16.4 per cent during the peak of the pandemic, young people losing their jobs. The last election it was at 11.9 per cent, and when we came to Government it was 12.7 per cent. Getting young people into jobs is such a passionate objective of our Government and they're pleasing figures, but we know there are still challenging times ahead as we seek to secure this economic recovery.

We said back in November, we had hoped that as the economy opened up, there'd be some 280,000 jobs that would come back. Indeed there's been 400,030. We said 280,000 back in November and to be able to be here in January and have the record results coming through of, recorded results of 430,000 jobs in those two months will be encouraging, but Australians know that it's still tough. I know it's still tough. The Government knows it's still tough. And there is still much more work to do to ensure that we can keep our economy strong through this pandemic. Australia has one of the strongest economies to come through this pandemic, combined with one of the lowest death rates and highest vaccination rates anywhere in the world. And we will continue to work to keep our economy strong and the employment figures today confirm the support of that plan.

On vaccines, we have seen around a million doses delivered in the course of just three days. Two-thirds of those doses are being delivered through primary care. So as we continue to see the state-based hubs open up in the weeks ahead, that will only further aid our capability. Today, we will likely pass six million booster shots having been administered. More than 20 per cent of five to 11-year-olds have had their first dose - 21.62 per cent - and today we are likely to pass the half a million mark for five to 11-year-olds.

There was also announcements made today, which the Chief Medical Officer will speak to, regarding the TGA approval of Novavax and some other antivirals.

At National Cabinet today we also had a very, very useful discussion on the progress of the work we're doing on supply chain durability and workforce. We are, received the same feedback from states and territories today that we'd been receiving in our only, in our own industry consultation and feedback that I reported to you on yesterday, which is saying that the measures that we've taken to alleviate the pressures, particularly around close contact rules and isolation rules, are having a positive impact on the distribution centres, on the production side of things, and the challenge still remains to ensure that we keep working the workforce pressures in the logistics and the distribution and the transport sector.

We agreed today that we should retain the arrangements for close contacts for essential workforces in those workforces we've already defined and have brought it no further. We have a risk-based setting here and it's all about getting the right balance between getting people back to work and not over stressing your hospital system, which is of course under a lot of stress. And we believe we have that balance right. And the close contact definition that we have for essential workers is doing the job of alleviating the pressure, and at the same time, helping us stay within our capacity to continue to support our hospital system.

We will also not be changing at this point the isolation period for a positive case of seven days. We've considered that again further today, with medical advice from the CMO, the Chief Medical Officer, and we believe the settings are right at seven days to ensure in how we're managing this pandemic here in Australia. But that issue will remain under constant review.

We took, I took the industry proposals that had come from our consultation in the transport sector for discussion at National Cabinet today. We agreed to proceed no further with the issue of 16-year-old forklift drivers. It was a matter raised with us with the industry. We had a good discussion about it today and that is not something that we believe, collectively, that that should be pursued at this time.

We also agreed, though, to proceed through the Transport Ministers' National Cabinet Subcommittee on the proposals regarding licensing and ensuring that we can have a experience-based licensing system for our road transport long haul operators and other truck drivers, that can also recognise New Zealand licenses to ensure we can get more of those truck drivers into truck cabs now, who are needed because of the furloughing impacts of COVID. But also, this is an issue which is an ongoing issue. And so presently, the system is based on time, as opposed to actual experience of driving. So the example is that you would get a license after a number of years, as opposed to a number of hours actually driving. So should be based on your experience of driving, just not the lapsing of time. We think that's better for safety, as well as getting more truck drivers into truck cabs more quickly to deal with those labour shortages not, just not now, but into the future.

Schools, operational plans for the return to schools will be being announced individually by each jurisdiction over the course of the next few days and some will make their announcements indeed today. Those school operational plans will be consistent with the principles that we agreed last week. Where surveillance testing is elected to be done by a state and territory, including for early childhood education and child care centres, the Government, the Commonwealth Government, the Federal Government, will be supporting that 50-50 through the National Partnership Agreement with those states and territories, and that will be done on an individual jurisdiction basis.

There was a lot of discussion today about where the various states are up to in the pandemic and where the crest of their pandemic is. And so states are tailoring that regarding their opening arrangements, but they will be consistent with the principles of getting schools open and keeping schools open, and that is especially true from day one, term one, for those children of essential workers. So even in Queensland and South Australia, where they will have different opening arrangements for essential workers, they will be, their kids will be able to go to those schools, which is very important for the impacts that that can have on labour force.

But on the issue of surveillance testing, while it is not the medical advice recommendation for that to be undertaken, states and territories may be choosing to do that based on the education advice they're receiving in those states to ensure that schools can open and stay open, and where they believe that is necessary, the Commonwealth Government will be supporting them.

Final point I want to raise before flying, handing over to the Chief Medical Officer, you may be aware of some false claims regarding Commonwealth Government requisitioning of rapid antigen tests. I want to stress that these are false claims. And I want to read to you a statement from the Department of Health: 'The Commonwealth Government, through the Department of Health, is reporting false claims about the requisition of rapid antigen tests to the ACCC. These claims are categorically untrue. They have also been made in relation to at least one state government and will be a matter for the ACCC. Supplies of rapid antigen testing kits are not being redirected to the Commonwealth, and at no time has the Department sought to place itself ahead of other commercial and retail entities. Where such claims have been made, the Department has written to the relevant retailer to reassure them that it is not the case and seek further detail or evidence of the claims made by suppliers. The Department is liaising closely with the ACCC and is highlighting the pattern of conduct and providing specific examples of such claims. So while we are aware there are supply constraints within the market, it is expected supply will normalise over coming weeks'. So if you're being told by a supplier that you can't get those rapid antigen tests because the Commonwealth Government has redirected, it's not true. Get them to tell you the truth. Thank you. Paul.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thank you, PM. So my main role today was to update the premiers and chief ministers on the epidemiology of the disease of COVID-19 in the country to date. We're seeing a lot of cases, we know that, right around Australia, even in WA there are some some cases now, although much less than other states. Their time will come. But at the moment 1.15 million cases reported since the beginning of the year, and we're still in January.

That has led, as we know, to a, to a number of hospitalisations, up again today, over 5,000 in hospital, 417 in ICU, 145 of those on ventilators. And we've sadly seen more deaths today, now 2,896 throughout the whole pandemic.

We've said since the Omicron wave started at the end of November and into December last year that we expected to see a lot of cases in this wave and we have. We expected that this would be because of the high transmissibility of this virus, and we've certainly seen that. We did say and have continued to say and I continue to stand by the fact that this is a much less severe type of the virus than previous waves. But when you get such higher caseloads, you do have, unfortunately, some people that are experiencing severe disease.

The pattern that we've seen all the way through the pandemic remains the same, though. We're seeing younger people in hospital because there are a large number of cases in younger people. But in terms of intensive care, it remains very rare. Only about 0.1 per cent overall are at the end, needing to be admitted to ICU. That's a very much lower rate than we have seen through the whole of the rest of the pandemic. And similarly, with the death rate, it's about that 0.1 per cent, so one in a 1,000, and and that is much less for younger people. So that the rate of of of of death increases with age, so over 70 is where those rates are higher. And in ICU, it's the, it's the 60 and 70 and 80-year-olds. So that, they're important elements to consider, and we raised those in the room.

The PM's mentioned about the the medical advice about the balancing of the test, trace, isolate and quarantine, in particular the issues of testing and where rapid antigen tests should be, should be used. And and that's that will be published later today, the AHPPC advice. Similarly, in terms of isolation and quarantine, whilst we're not exactly the same as other countries, where they've gone, that's because of their particular context at the time, and we've gone further in some of those issues. For example, in essential industries and getting people back to work if they're asymptomatic and test negative, that's further than the UK. That's further than the US. That's further than most parts of Europe. But we're sticking with the, with that balance. We think that's right.

As the PM has said, we've had feedback from those essential industries, and including specifically in the health care workforce. We heard from the premiers and chief ministers today about a decrease in furlough, in absenteeism right across health care workforces across Australia. So we think we've got that right. We'll continue to look at that as time goes by.

In terms of what are we doing with the pandemic, we've had, we're continuing with the public health and social measures that are in place and sticking with that for the time being. We think those are right. TTIQ, I've talked about.

Vaccines will be a matter for Lieutenant General Frewen shortly, but that's important that news about Novavax being added to the TGA approved options to to the other safe, high quality and effective vaccines. And so we, of course, have to go through that double green light with the ATAGI advice as well. I understand that that will be with the Minister next week. And then of course, there'll be deliveries and the usual batch testing, which will need to happen. But that's that's good news.

And and now we've added other other elements to our control and that's in relation to the TGA announcement today about two oral antiviral medications. We have antiviral medications here at the moment. Every day or so I'm I sign off on on supplies from the national medical stockpile going to the states for sotrovimab. It's an intravenous medication, and remdesivir, also an intravenous medication for use, mostly in hospitals, sometimes in the hospital, in the home situation. So about 7,000 units of sotrovimab, for example, is going out every week to the states and territories. Is being used, is making a difference. The pre-purchased doses of molnupiravir and paxlovid, the two new oral medications, will make another game changer really in relation to our protection of people that are most at risk of severe disease. And so there'll be more to say about that. We're expecting those supplies to come in in the coming weeks and then we're working through how to prioritise that for the people at highest risk initially, and then as as supplies come, become more more openly available in Australia, then we'll be hopefully moving to a more regular way of prescriptions through telehealth and and e-prescribing and and home delivery would be options that are certainly on the table for molnupiravir later in the year. Thank you.

Prime Minister: Thank you, Paul.

Lieutenant General JJ Frewen, Coordinator General of Operation Covid Shield: Good afternoon, everybody. We're seeing a very strong response to the vaccination program. As the PM has mentioned, a million people in Australia have taken up vaccine opportunities in just the last three days, and we're now sustaining around about two million doses every seven-day period. Yesterday, we administered 333,000 doses - 245,000 of those were boosters, and 57,000 of those were doses administered to five to 11-year-olds. With boosters now, we're up to about 58.7 per cent of eligible people who've had their booster. That's up just over 10 per cent in the last week. With kids, 492,000 kids have now had their boosters, and that represents more than 21 per cent of kids who've done that in just a little over a week and a half. So the supply is in place, the distribution is in place. There are increasing opportunities for vaccination every day. Appointments are available and walk-in opportunities are available every day. So I please do encourage everybody who hasn't yet come forward to please do so.

As to Novavax, as the Chief Health Officer has mentioned, we now await delivery of Novavax, the testing of Novavax. We have plans in place to distribute it and people should be able to get access to Novavax towards the the end of February.

Again, thanks to all those people who have come forward, the response has been tremendous to see and I encourage everybody else to please take up the opportunities that are open every day.

Prime Minister: Can I just add, stress two other points, and General Frewen and Paul also might want to speak to this. If your children in the 12 to 15 age group, we are still trying to get that rate up to 80 per cent on the second dose, more than, it's over, around about 81.5 per cent have had their first dose. So if you've had your first dose, if you're 12 to 15, please go and get that second dose.

And equally, throughout the aged care network, we've been covering all of those aged care facilities, but I'd encourage family members and others to encourage family members who are in residential aged care settings to be taking up the booster shots that are going through. It's everybody's own choice, what they choose to do in those those settings. But they're being offered, and we would encourage people to encourage their family to take up those booster shots in residential aged care facilities.

Journalist: Prime Minister, you've told us today that the Federal Government roundly rejects the allegations that it is requisitioning rapid antigen tests for its own stockpiles from suppliers. What do you think is the cause for suppliers to make the claim that they're being requisitioned by the Federal Government? Do you have any suspicions there? And secondly, is the Government distorting the RAT market by offering above market prices, as it does try to boost its own stockpiles?

Prime Minister: No, I don't believe the Commonwealth is doing that. As to why suppliers would be telling others these falsehoods, you'd have to ask them why they're doing that. All I'm making it very clear is, if you're being told that you can't get access to it or that your supplier is no longer going to supply you because the Commonwealth has been taking your supplies, it's not true. It's just not true.

Journalist: Can you explain to us though what priority do the Commonwealth orders for rapid antigen tests have, and how do you ensure that priority groups get the rapid antigen tests on time without the supplies being redirected to Commonwealth orders?

Prime Minister: Well, we are not redirecting supplies to Commonwealth orders, and we have not put in place any arrangements to do that. We deal with the suppliers directly, as do the state and territory governments, and they enter into commercial arrangements with them, as do the the wholesalers and others who are sourcing supplies in the private market. We're not nationalising the means of production or distribution as a Government, even though some might want to do that. Certainly, our Government would never do that. But that is not what's taking place. And we set out, as I outlined last week, what the priorities were for rapid antigen testing. Firstly, it's to deal with our health care workers and our aged care workforce. That was agreed by National Cabinet last week. And secondly, it's to deal with those who are symptomatic and close contacts. And thirdly, to deal with highly vulnerable populations, particularly Indigenous communities and groups of that nature. And that's where we're saying the tests need to be. The concessional access has been provided through the private market to over, around about 6.7 million Australians. And so that's where the rapid antigen tests are being prioritised, and they're the priorities that National Cabinet agreed last week.

Journalist: Prime Minister, Prime Minister, what consideration was given to ensuring all students could be double vaccinated before school in the classroom started again in the lead up to the start of the school year? And to Professor Kelly, do you have any modelling on what we should expect in terms of the spread of Omicron once school in the classroom does start again?

Prime Minister: I'll let you, do you want to deal with that second one first, Paul?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Yes. So so having children back in the class will will increase the movement around our cities. We know that, and towns and right across Australia, that's as children come back, that happens every year. In fact, we we shared some modelling with the, with the the room, the National Cabinet today, which sort of demonstrated that every January there is a drop in the, in the mixing and the number of contacts, on average contacts, that people have outside of their households. That's a standard holiday phenomenon. So we do, we do expect that that will increase that transmission potential, as we call it, will increase as schools go back. And but that that's something we need to deal with. We're very much, from the AHPPC perspective, all my colleagues in the states and territories agree, that the most important thing is to get schools back. That is really important from all sorts of reasons, for health, physical, mental, social, developmental for children. And so we certainly have to take that on on its merits and balance, like we've been doing with the essential workers, that issue.

Journalist: Sorry on a case number perspective, what can we expect is likely to happen?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: I don't have a case number for you. And there was a second part to your question, apologies.

Journalist: That was to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: Again, case numbers are one thing. People in hospital, people in ICU - that's the objective of of of government policy, both at a federal and state level, and that is to minimise the impact, wherever possible, on our hospital system and our health system and the incidence of severe disease amongst infants and amongst younger children, five to 11 …

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Very, very low.

Prime Minister: … is very, very, very low. The Government, both Commonwealth and at state and territory levels, have no advice that says that schools should not reopen if they haven't had double vaccinations. So it has not been set out as a condition for schools to return, for double vaccinations to be in place, and the ability to have two vaccinations done for five to 11s in that timeframe obviously is not a practical one, and nor was that considered an impediment to schools reopening from a health perspective. So I think that's an important point to make. The second point is as what, as I've stressed for these last couple of weeks, for those children between 12 and 15 and those who are over 15, it's important that they have their two two doses and they have have the opportunity to do that. And that is absolutely achievable. And that's why I would encourage parents, particularly of 12 to 15 year olds, if they haven't had their second dose, to go and do that.

Journalist: Prime Minister, why has the Federal Government agreed to go 50-50 on the cost of testing in schools, if states do go the way of surveillance testing, if the health advice is that that's not necessary? Why not spend that money on more tests for the general population who are looking to get their hands on them? And Professor Kelly, could you just clarify, is there any particular advice around should school or child care students at any point be required to isolate if they are a contact within the classroom, or is it your expectation that across the country if you're exposed to COVID in class, you take a test and return the next day if it is negative?

Prime Minister: I'll deal with the first one, and I'll let you deal with the second one, Paul. We're seeking to work constructively with states and territories, and states and territories will make decisions to keep schools open. And that is our objective. We need the schools open and we need them to stay open. As I told you last week, that if schools aren't open, we could see the peak furloughing of our workforce go from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, which would have a devastating effect on our economy and the broader functioning of the society. And so keeping schools open is a high priority for all of us. Now in the medical advice on this is is is mixed, but I can certainly tell you from the Chief Medical Officer and across the AHPPC, there is not a strong recommendation that surveillance testing is necessary for that purpose. But there are other policy purposes the states need to consider to ensure their schools are open. And so that's why, as a Commonwealth, we've agreed to be supportive and facilitative of that decision, where they choose to make it. But they are supplying the tests, so they have to have ample supply to actually do that, given the other objectives that I've set out, which are: the health care settings, we're obviously focusing on aged care and many Indigenous communities. Secondly, on the, those who are close contacts and those who are symptomatic. This does fall into the category of potential further community - special schools, for example, a very important community within the education sector, which we discussed today. And so where states are going in that direction, then we'll support them. But it'll be done jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: On the contacts, so the the definition of close contacts is the same for children as it is for adults, that it's household members. And so that that that brings into play that same same approach. If you're a close contact of a case in your house, you should not be coming to school. If you are, if you are sick yourself as a child, you should not be coming to school. Otherwise, its schools are opening on time, staying open as much as possible, minimising that disruption to to face-to-face learning, for the reasons I said. The health advice was was was very clear that we we that was put into the room. But the same, the same issue is what the premiers and chief ministers and indeed the Prime Minister has said. We want to keep schools open. We want to get them open. And part of, the surveillance testing is actually about that, about giving confidence to get kids back to school and teachers back in the classroom as well.

Prime Minister: Including early childhood.

Journalist: Prime Minister, if it's your Government's responsibility to buy rapid tests for the aged care sector, why is it not your Government's responsibility to buy them and procure them for the concession card scheme being run through pharmacies? And just on Ukraine, what are your concerns about the thousands of Russian troops amassed near the border, and what action is the Australian Government considering, given you're meeting tonight with the UK Foreign and Defence Secretaries?

Prime Minister: Well, on the first matter, we are providing concessional access to private suppliers. We don't, you know, any more stock the shelves of pharmacies as we stock the shelves of supermarkets. We are not nationalising pharmacies. We're not nationalising supermarkets and food stores. And the question implies that, and that's not what we do. They source their supplies. We have agreed to provide for equity purposes a concessional access to things that are bought in the pharmacy, like we do with many products. But I want to be clear, if you require a test by a public health order, if you are symptomatic, if you are a close contact, then you can get a free test from the state testing clinic. You don't have to go to the pharmacy for that. You go to the state testing clinic where public provision is being done through those public channels. Chemists, pharmacies, the warehouse distributors, all of those, they're private companies making supplies available to the public, like a supermarket. And they have their distribution channels, they have their procurement arrangements. What we're doing is ensuring that those who are concession card holders get equitable access to those private products and are not penalised because of the cost of acquiring those products. So we're dealing with it from an equity point of view. There's no health requirement for them to go there and buy them. If there was a health requirement for to do it, they'd be able to access a public one from a public testing site.

Journalist: And on Ukraine, Prime Minister?

Prime Minister: On the Ukraine, this is a matter we've been following closely, particularly with our Five Eyes partners, and are moving very much in concert with them. There's some 1,400 Australians that live in the Ukraine. And so we're very mindful of that issue and their safety and the consular support that we provide to them. It is obviously a very tense situation and it is one that we'll continue to work with our partners in terms of any response that we are making. But there have been no requests made of Australia and none are anticipated.

Journalist: Can I ask sorry, Professor Kelly, paxlovid - if that's how you say it - is can't be used in combination with other medications, but it's targeted at the elderly who are generally on other medications, and molnupiravir doesn't have a high efficacy rate. How confident are you they'll be used and will work, and can you say that they're better than hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So last part, point first, yes. These, unlike ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, have gone through a rigorous clinical trial process and been demonstrated to be effective and safe. Both of them have their drawbacks. So, for example, molnupiravir cannot be used during pregnancy or when women are, but could potentially become pregnant. So that's a, will be a specific warning. In terms of of paxlovid there are some drug drug interactions. It's a, it's a two drug, there's two drugs in the one pill, and one of those is one that's also used as an anti-HIV drug. And so those issues doctors are very familiar with dealing with that. Unlike HIV treatment, which is for life, this is a five-day course. And so it would be a balancing act of of its effectiveness versus that safety profile. But they both have their place. Molnupiravir in their clinical trials has been shown to be very effective at preventing death, less effective at preventing hospitalisation than paxlovid. But they are both very good drugs and will have their place, and I'm really looking forward to having them available in Australia.

Journalist: Prime Minister, just on child care, can I just clarify that it was agreed that it's the states responsibilities to procure the rapid antigen tests for that sector?

Prime Minister: Yes. And remember, the states and territories regulate child care. We provide financial support to child care and they regulate.

Journalist: And you're confident there's sufficient supply available for that sector?

Prime Minister: Well we're, that is one of the issues that the states and territories will consider in deciding whether to go down that path.

Journalist: Thank you, PM. You spoke yesterday about the frustrations Australians have felt this summer but, you know, with what we know about, you know, the expectations that the Omicron strain is peaking, the supplies of RAT tests will be improving, the supply chain changes and things like that. When do you think that frustrating period will end? I mean, can we look forward to perhaps February as sort of being more of a living with COVID normal sort of period? What's your, what's-

Prime Minister: What I can say to the Australian people again is this is a very frustrating period of this pandemic and there are many challenges and people are working night and day to ensure we can come through this as strongly as we possibly can, and that's what we will continue to do. The pandemic continues to give us surprises, and Omicron has been one of the biggest in challenging and pretty much turning on its head the way we'd been managing the pandemic up until that point. But we've responded, and, you know, what we're seeing is as some states now moving past their peak, when we're seeing those curves on hospitalisations starting to turn in the larger states. That doesn't mean there's still not a tail on this. There is, of course there is. There always is. That's what the epidemiology always shows. And so we need to continue to get the balance right. But it's that balance that you're constantly adjusting. And a really good example of that was the discussion we had today about the extension of essential worker furlough arrangements, the close contact definitions, and whether we took the essential workers and applied it more broadly to the workforce, like the hospitality sector and groups like that, which I know would like that. But you've got to be careful what you wish for, because if you do have those arrangements in place, then it does have an impact of having people who are infected in the community, which has an impact on the, on the pathway of the virus. So we kept that balance there. Similarly, seven day, five days. I know some other countries are doing five days. That's fine. They'll make calls for their jurisdictions. We talked through the balance of risk on those things, and it is about where you set that risk, that risk dial, and we've chosen to keep it where it is on the seven-day arrangement. So, you know, keeping the combination of sensible measures and precautions, together with keeping the economy functioning by keeping the schools open and by, you know, seeing people come back into the workforce and all of these issues, that will ensure that our economy remains remains strong while we continue to protect the health of Australians at the same time. And today, you know, coming through a pandemic and seeing the unemployment rate fall to 4.2 per cent, and particularly for youth unemployment to fall below 10 per cent, this is a, this is showing what Australians can do under great adversity.

Journalist: Daniel Andrews has said in recent days that he believes that for an Australian to be fully vaccinated they may need to have three doses, that classification. Was there discussion of that today? And do you believe that is a step that we might take in the future?

Prime Minister: Well, I believe that's a step that you would take on the basis of medical advice. And that is, that is what we have been taking for for many, many weeks now. It's been an item of discussion for some time. The practical implications, though, I think are limited. Do I think everyone should seek to have a booster? Yes. Does it protect you more from Omicron? Yes, it does. Boosters are where we're putting enormous effort and Australians are responding in kind, and at this stage we're not seeing, I would say, General Frewen, any lack of demand for getting boosters, quite the opposite. And so whether it became a third dose or a booster, I think you'd continue to see people turning up and getting it, and that's the outcome we want. Whether it becomes formally a three dose program or a two dose with a booster, I will leave to the, to the medical experts to advise us. Paul, did you want to?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: I think my my job's done here, PM, you've summarised that well.

Prime Minister: I listen carefully.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Thank you. But ATAGI is meeting - the the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, that reports to the Health Minister Minister Hunt - is meeting weekly now and it was a specific topic of their conversation at yesterday's meeting, on a Wednesday they meet. I met with the executive of ATAGI on Tuesday night and talked that through and the issues involved. I think, as the PM said, there's a number of implementation issues that would need to be considered, but I agree with what the PM has said. The third dose is clearly an important thing. If you have Omicron or Omicron is present, we know that does increase the protection against severe disease and against transmission and against infection.

Journalist: Could you see a moment where that becomes mandated, where it becomes mandatory, for instance, entry to venues and that sort of thing, to be fully vaccinated that you have to have that third shot?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So that's that's a matter that's in front of ATAGI, so we'll wait for their advice.

Prime Minister: But on mandates, I mean, there's been no change to the mandate policy of the Commonwealth Government and and the Commonwealth Government doesn't mandate those arrangements. They are decisions taken solely by states and territories. We have only supported mandates in the case of health and aged care settings and in certain disability settings. And there's been no change in the Commonwealth's view. And I know already that in some states they're doing mandates on boosters, but that is a matter that states are determining, not the Commonwealth Government, and the Commonwealth Government has no power to overturn that.

Journalist: So is the national return to school plan actually gone back to the states for them to make their own decisions based on where they are on the Omicron kind of peak and fall, and that some states might actually follow Queensland and delay the return to school? And while we're on that, I know the symptoms with amongst with, amongst children are a lot lower than for adults. But you talked about the furlough rate going from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. But if you've got kids in schools and Omicron starts spiking and they're infecting adults, you know, there's a, is there a potential that the furlough rate could go above 15 per cent because of the return to school?

Prime Minister: Well, that's not the advice we have. So that's not what's been presented to us and National Cabinet more broadly. That wasn't the basis of the work, that wasn't the finding of the work done both jointly with Doherty and and Treasury. And that's where that five per cent figure came from. And and and it took those matters into account, as I understand it. No, the the return to schools will be based on the national principles that were agreed last week. And that's what we agreed to do. There would be national principles and then states would implement their plans consistent with those principles, and that's what they have agreed to do. And what we're talking about is a matter of weeks. I mean, for example, it's a two-week difference between New South Wales and Queensland, but New South, but that will only come back to a one-week difference because the different times that schools go back. So we're talking about some rather minor differences between states and territories based on the particular situation they have in each of those jurisdictions. And so I don't think that's unreasonable. I mean, children don't go to school in two states. I mean, they go to school in one state, principally. I mean, there's a bit of a difference here between in the ACT because of the nature of New South Wales and the ACT. But outside of that, you know, parents will know exactly what's happening in their state where their kids are going to school, whether in the private schools or the public school system. And that will be based on on, you know, the further consideration of their states in what's best for their state.

Journalist: Again on surveillance testing at schools, so under the cost sharing arrangements that states could have with the Commonwealth, would that be for testing of both students and teachers and staff? And secondly, assuming that all states …

Prime Minister: Yes. If states elect to do that, yes.

Journalist: And assuming that all states and territories decide that they want to do it, the Commonwealth strikes agreements with with each of the states and territories. How confident are you and how confident can you be for parents that there would be supply to be able to consistently do the surveillance testing throughout term one and then the rest of the year?

Prime Minister: Well that is the exact consideration states are weighing up in deciding whether to proceed with such a program.

Journalist: But how confident are you?

Prime Minister: Well, I'm not in a position to talk to their supplies because they have full visibility on their supplies and they'll make those decisions based on that knowledge. That is not something the Commonwealth is managing. That's being done by the states.

Journalist: Prime Minister, sorry Jonno, Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick has had a go at you personally for criticising George Christensen's stance on vaccines yesterday. He called you pathetic. How would you respond to this sort of language being directed at you by one of your own party members? Will there be any repercussions for him or is he allowed to speak his mind?

Prime Minister: I don't propose to do anything about it. I'm not that fussed by it.

Journalist: Professor Kelly, in regards to isolation requirements …

Prime Minister: I made very clear yesterday, they're my position. Sometimes people disagree with me in my party room. That's okay, they can. But I don't agree with their assessment, and I don't think that's in the public health interest. Sorry, Jonno were you next, or? Ok you've been very gracious today.

Journalist: Just isolation requirements for the critical workforce who are close contacts and returning. Is there any evidence, advice or modelling and similar regarding potential infection rates of people returning without daily rapid antigen tests or, you know, with them has there, have we been watching what's happening in Canada and the US, for example? Or what impact could that have if, if you know what I mean, with just a test on the sixth day or a test in the interim period, as well? How effective is that in reducing infection rates?

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So look, it's a balance, as I've said, and the PM's also said that, you know, I we know what the ideal is. If you, if you, in some countries we have a 21-days isolation period, but that in the current context of which would absolutely guarantee you would not be infectious outside of your house. Anything less than that …

Prime Minister: We're not doing that. Just to be clear.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: And we're, and we're not doing that and we're not doing that for a reason because of this issue we've had with the furloughing and absenteeism. And so every time you shorten that period, there is an increase in the risk of transmission. That can be mitigated in multiple ways, and the advice that was put out from AHPPC and adopted by National Cabinet in the last few weeks is very clear that there's a bunch of mitigation measures that you can do to make workplaces safer - masks, distancing, etcetera, etcetera. All of the things we know about - good hygiene, ventilation, etcetera. Rapid antigen tests or other testing regimes or indeed symptom symptom checking when people are coming is a, is a standard approach that many businesses and particularly in health care and aged care have been doing from the beginning of the pandemic. Rapid antigen tests is part of that, it's not the only thing, but it's the risk of balance, that balance of risk. There's a risk for not having a workforce. there's a risk for people coming back a bit earlier, and we think we've got that balance right

Journalist: Back on schools, if you don't mind. Teachers will often say that the classroom is a giant petri dish. So I'm wondering, has there been any modelling done on the spread of the virus amongst students, which will naturally take it back to parents? Where are we at with potentially masks in the classroom in the new year? And Professor, if you don't mind, we've heard a lot now about how Omicron has been a game changer, but we know that Delta was also still running rampant in the community before we've had Omicron, and the borders have since come down and restrictions have since been eased. Is there any breakdown as to the percentage of Delta in the community versus Omicron at the moment? Or is it all just testing?

Prime Minister: Yeah, I'll ask Paul to do that one. That was one of the issues we discussed today.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: So there's a number of questions there, I'll try to remember them all, but the the Delta versus Omicron, what we've found around the world is that Omicron is generally replacing Delta, but not completely. The we're we because of the volume of cases, we're not doing whole genome testing on every single case anymore. So it's hard to know exactly in that 1.15 million that have happened this year, the cases that we've had this year, what exactly is happening in every individual of those. But we know at the severe end of the spectrum we are still doing a lot of whole genome sequencing. And over time, the percentage of Omicron has increased. So latest figures, from one state it was 98 per cent of their of their isolates. Another one, 95. So it's that sort of ballpark figure.

The other part of the question was about …

Journalist: Just in modelling for for schools in terms of the spread of the virus and and masks in schools. I know the Prime Minister talked about that might be an option.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Yeah, so so certainly it's similar to the previous answer. There's a lot of mitigations that can be done in schools and are being done. The general principle is high school, definitely, and at some, some in some states has been mandated, the use of masks. Primary school - some, some states mandating down to a certain level, others are very strongly encouraging.

In terms of what happens with children, there's a, there's a pre-print paper I was reading last night from New South Wales - so this is Delta, not not Omicron - but from last year, from June until through to December last year, they looked at 17,000 cases of children under the age of 16. There was four per cent of those ended up in hospital. Two thirds of those were because of social reasons, and there were only 15, I believe, that were in ICU. That gives you the sense that this is a very much mild illness in children. It's mild in Delta. We've looked at has there been any change in that hospitalisation, ICU rate in during the Omicron wave, and there hasn't been, so …

Journalist: Is there any modelling about them taking it back to their families? I know it won't necessarily affect them negatively, but their families in the community, the spread.

Professor Paul Kelly, Chief Medical Officer: Look, there's that that chance. But there's again, there's that balance of keeping keeping that fundamental principle in place. We want kids back at school, we want them back on day one and to keep them at school as much as possible. And there are trade-offs for that in terms of transmission.

Prime Minister: The other point I'd make is, I remember early on in the pandemic, Paul, when, you know, the likely source of an infection for a child was actually at home. I mean, parents are out in the community, they're out in the community. And so, you know, the nature of Omicron is it's in, it's in many places and it's all over the, all over the place. So, you know, they're they're presented with risk in many places. But last one. Yep.

Journalist: Thanks, Prime Minister. With the unemployment rate the lowest point since 2008 and the tightening labour market, economists say we're yet to see that translate into upward pressure on wage growth or evidence of that. When do you expect to see wage growth start appearing? And on the second point, on the second point, given the unemployment rate, is it time to start thinking about fiscal consolidation and repairing the Budget deficit with the Budget upcoming?

Prime Minister: Well, the Budget will be in late March as we've we've already outlined, in terms of the timeframe for this year, because of obviously the electoral cycle, and all of these things and the forecasts will be updated through that process. I'm not going to venture a view on on what those predictions will be at this point. There are plenty of economists out there who will be making those predictions from the banks and others and I can direct you to their analysis at this point.

But today, to see unemployment fall to, as you say, the lowest level since 2008, and particularly to see youth unemployment fall below 10 per cent, this shows that the Australian economy, despite the challenges of this pandemic, the Australian economy has proved incredibly resilient and strong, and it reinforces the approach that our Government has taken from the very outset of this pandemic. It has been about saving lives, and it is also been about saving livelihoods. On saving lives, there'd be more than 40,000 Australians who would be dead today if we had the same experience of COVID of so many other like countries to Australia around the world. And we have an unemployment rate today where we have around 250,000 people more in jobs today than when the pandemic started. And that shows that we've been keeping people's livelihoods in place as well. Saving lives, saving livelihoods, protecting against the future, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. That's what our response has been delivering. Thank you very much, everyone.

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