Interview with Michael Rowland, ABC News Breakfast

Michael Rowland: We are now joined by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. PM, good morning.

Prime Minister: Good morning, Michael.

Rowland: Spending is far as the eye can see. Is this Budget part economic recovery and part attempted political recovery for the Coalition government?

Prime Minister: This is an economic plan to secure our recovery, Michael. That's what this is. This is all about ensuring that we come through the worst pandemic we've seen in 100 years and that recovery cannot be taken for granted. There are more Australians working today then there was before the pandemic. If we had the same fatality rate that we have seen across the OECD from COVID-19, 30,000 more Australians would have perished during this crisis. We've come a long way, but we have to keep going further. This Budget is about securing that recovery, because it can be risked, it can be lost, the gains can be taken away. Just like we've seen in Europe as they go into a double dip recession. We need to keep going on the path that we have set ourselves. Over $300 billion already invested in this plan and that has been upgraded in the Budget we released last night. That is about securing jobs, protecting lives, about protecting livelihoods.

Rowland: When you speak about risk, the big risk, of course, is the ongoing pandemic. Let's turn to the vaccine rollout. The Government committing an extra $1.9 billion. You talk in the Budget Papers about having a population-wide vaccine rollout in place by the end of the year. Does that mean every Australian will be fully vaccinated come December 31?

Prime Minister: No. There are assumptions that go to the rollout. They are not policy settings. We will continue to roll the vaccine out, as we have been, and accelerating it. From next week we will see over 50s being able to go to GP clinics all around the country, to our GPs. We will soon hit 3 million Australians vaccinated. We're already over 10 per cent of the adult population that is eligible for the vaccination. Over 30 per cent for those aged over 70. We will continue to do everything we possibly can to ensure we're progressing that vaccination program. But, more importantly, when it comes to our economy, the reason our economy has been able to perform strongly is when we shut those borders, we have allowed our domestic economy to continue to grow. That is what is driving or jobs growth. So it is important we secure Australia from the incursion of COVID-19 into the country and it is important we keep Australia within our borders open as possible, because it's those closures internally that can really risk Australia's economic recovery. And so we need to keep creating that confidence, keep providing that support. Australians have done incredibly well during the course of this pandemic. We need to keep going, we need to keep going further and this plan for our recovery will ensure that we stay on that course.

Rowland: Prime Minister, Melbourne is on edge, as you would know this morning, care of that case of community transmission. I know you talk about hotel quarantine being 99.99 per cent effective. This came from hotel quarantine in South Australia. Isn't it time and shouldn't it have been time last night for the Government to at least commit to what the Victorian government is proposing to do, and that is build a separate Howard Springs-type purpose-built facility? Where was the money for that?

Prime Minister: Well, as you say, we've already invested in the Howard Springs facility. Half a billion dollars. This month it goes from 850 to 2,000 people, which will enable us to be particularly bringing those commercial repatriation flights for people coming back from India. The Victorian government has put forward, I think, a very good proposal and we're working through the detail of that right now. And so we will work with the states and territories. Hotel quarantine is one of many links in the chain and what we have seen, whether it's been in New South Wales, indeed, Western Australia, Queensland, and now I believe what we will see in Victoria, it's not just hotel quarantine, which as you rightly say, 99.99 per cent effectiveness rate. If there any other country that has a more secure system than that, I would like you to tell me who it is. But beyond that, it is the ring of containment that is by contact tracing. The Victorian second wave was not just a product of obviously a quarantine failure, it was the product then of not being able to contain it once it got out. Now, all the other states and territories, and I think Victoria, has done the work to ensure that even when the things occasionally happen, and they will, that we can move quickly to ensure that that is contained. And that's how we have been so successful. I have seen the states and territories only improve their effectiveness on that tracing and testing, which ensures that we can keep Australians safe through COVID.

Rowland: You can increase Howard Springs, though, to 3,000. That's the maximum capacity. It is only up to 2,000. What is stopping you doing that?

Prime Minister: It is also used for other purposes. But we have got it from 850 to 2,000, Michael. And that's also a function of-

Rowland: What are the purposes, excuse the interruption. What other purposes is it being used for at the moment?

Prime Minister: It has been used for other purposes. My point is it is also about workforce, Michael. I mean, a quarantine facility isn't just beds. It's actually about the workforce you have to bring to support that and the facilities that need to be supported through infection control and support services of police and others. So they are the things that need to be brought to bear in a quarantine facility. And those are particularly involved around our major state capitals, where the flights actually come in. That's why it's important that we continue to work with the state and territories, so we have got a 2,000-bed facility. We're spending half a billion dollars on that, as it was recommended to do in the Halton Review. Now we're working closely with the Victorian proposal and we will see how we can work together on that initiative.

Rowland: Lots of potential election sweeteners in the Budget, but you are on record, Prime Minister, of describing yourself as a full-termer, full term means an election not until next year. Will you hold on to that pledge to the Australian people?

Prime Minister: The fight I'm in is against the pandemic. That's the fight I'm in. That's what we're contesting this year and I believe we will be for some time to come. It's the pandemic, it's the virus that threatens people's jobs and livelihoods and, indeed, their health. So, the only fight I'm focused on, the contest I'm focused on, is fighting this pandemic to ensure we can protect the lives and livelihoods of Australians. I will leave the politics to others. As I've said, the election is next year. I can't foresee all the circumstances that can contribute to things like that in this country. But my focus isn't on that. My focus is on this pandemic. That's why this is a recovery plan to get us through this pandemic and get us beyond that. Australia is doing better than almost every single country in the world and that can all be placed at risk, unless we continue down that path, going further, ensuring we're doing the things that back Australians in. Because it's Australians, their efforts, their sacrifices, them keeping Australians in jobs, just backed in by the Budget. Lower taxes, incentives for investment, supporting our manufacturing industries, securing supply chains, building the infrastructure, investing in the skills and training with more apprentices. All these things designed to drive growth in our economy, to ensure that we can continue to keep Australians safe, that we can keep Australians in jobs and in work, and we can improve the resilience and security of our country into the future.

Rowland: Prime Minister, we will leave it there. Thank you for joining us this morning.

Prime Minister: Thank you very much, Michael.

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