The Qld premier wants an apology from Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt after he ‘legitimised’ a point he’d previously criticised her for.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has demanded an apology from Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt after her concerns over the vulnerability of unvaccinated children were ‘legitimised’ by the Federal Government’s exploration of a Pfizer trial for kids.
Ms Palaszczuk used Wednesday’s Covid-19 update to direct a spray at the federal government, saying its contact with drug maker Pfizer yesterday validated concerns she had raised on September 1 over the state’s reopening, and specifically the impact on children not yet old enough to receive a vaccine.
Several federal government ministers accused Ms Palaszczuk of fear mongering and moving to deviate from the national reopening plan, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg saying it would be “ludicrous” if the rest of Australia was able to “travel to Canada before Cairns”.
Mr Hunt had also taken a shot at the Qld leader for her hard stance on borders, while accusing her “misusing” Doherty Institute data to talk up the dangers of the Delta strain and undermine public confidence.
But Ms Palaszczuk noted this morning Mr Hunt had encouraged Pfizer to apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to have its vaccine approved for kids aged under 12. This followed promising clinical trials for 5 to 11-year olds.
Ms Palaszczuk said Queenslanders “should feel vindicated” that the federal government was now in step with her concerns over the vulnerability of children to the coronavirus.
“I was attacked, relentlessly, by the federal government,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“And today and yesterday we hear that Greg Hunt is now speaking with the TGA to run analysis of the trials of five to elevens which Pfizer has been conducting. I just want to say to Queenslanders that I will always protect you and do what I think is right, but I will not be criticised for no reason.”
Ms Palaszczuk’s spray came after the state reported one new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, with the person in home quarantine and linked to the Sunnybank cluster.
There were no new cases in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, meaning there have been no cases linked to Friday’s exposure incident at Brisbane Domestic airport.
The update came after the Tweed and Byron areas of NSW were last night ejected from the border bubble, after an infected reality TV crew member travelled through the regions over the weekend.
The Premier also this morning rejected an assertion made by Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall that the state’s hotel quarantine system and exemption process was flawed, and favoured celebrities and sportspeople.
“Well I reject that, I completely reject that,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Mr McDougall earlier said he had fielded more than 100 complaints about hotel quarantine since the pandemic began, and was concerned blanket approaches to exemption applications had not properly considered the rights of those affected by restrictions, and may not have been proportionate to the risk.
“The Commission is concerned that to maintain public confidence in pandemic decision making, successful exemptions are not seen to be granted on the basis of an applicant’s celebrity status or otherwise because of the media attention they have been able to attract, but rather on the extenuating circumstances of the applicant and consistent assessments of risk,” Mr McDougall said.
State treasurer Cameron Dick defended the treasurer and said the reason Queensland had not gone the way of New South Wales and Victoria was because it had got its health response spot on.
“A couple of weeks ago, the premier made some very sensible and reasonable comments about what we were going to do to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” Mr Dick said.
“How often does Queensland have to get it right for the rest of the country to listen? How often does Queensland have to get it right for the rest of the country to understand the health response we have in Queensland has kept our people safe, has kept our economy open has allowed us to make big announcements about the future of our economy, and to look beyond to look beyond the shackles that COVID puts on all of us in this country?”
Ms Palaszczuk said she was eyeing another “super-Pfizer” weekend, with walk-in vaccinations now available at the Caboolture Square Community Vaccination Clinic, Doomben Racecourse, Kippa Ring, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, and Boondall.
There were 11,913 tests taken and 23,913 vaccines administered in Qld yesterday.
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