Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday the Prime Minister said, 'Ultimately, everything is a state matter.' Is it the states or is it the Prime Minister who is responsible for vaccinating children aged 12 to 15? When will they be vaccinated?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. It is, indeed, the federal government's responsibility to run the national vaccination program. I've made that point very clearly, whether it be from this dispatch box or any other place which I've been speaking from. We've made that very clear. When we received the final advice—I know the member does follow these things earnestly—from ATAGI last Friday, we made the immediate decision to proceed with the vaccination of 12- to 15-year-olds, and bookings will be available from the 13th of this month. That will follow the expansion of the program to 16- to 29-year-olds from earlier this week. We did that knowing full well that we'd be able to give greater support to that vaccination program for 12- to 15-year-olds because of what we knew was in the works in terms of accessing additional Pfizer supplies, particularly out of Singapore.

Dr Freelander interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Macarthur has asked his question.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We were able to announce those decisions this week because of an additional half a million doses that we were able to bring forward to ensure that that can support the vaccination of children aged 12 to 15. We will report those figures of vaccinations, of those 12 to 15, as we have reported all other figures throughout the course of the pandemic and been very transparent about them, because I know that parents—as a parent of two children aged between 12 and 15—will be very interested to know about how we're progressing with those vaccinations for that age group. It's an important group to be vaccinated. That's why we moved immediately to ensure that they, more broadly, would be able to be vaccinated.

We had already taken the decision, some weeks ago, for those in Indigenous communities and remote places and those with other health conditions to be vaccinated prior to that, and that program has already been running for many weeks as the member is, I'm sure, aware. And I want to thank—as the member himself, a local health professional in his own community over many years, greatly respected, knows—the tremendous job that general practitioners are doing in supporting that vaccination program.

When you're talking about young children, as I'm sure the member knows—I'm sure he's given many injections to young children—the opportunity for them to go and sit there with a local GP who's helped them with every other sneeze and sniffle or even more serious things over time and to be able to see a face they know, to be able to get that injection and to have that assurance from that health professional, is extremely important. I want to thank the GPs as they go about that job of vaccinating our children. That's an important trust we give to our GPs and nurses and everyone else who's doing it. I thank you for doing it, and I thank you for the way that you will engage in that. I'm pleased that we've been able to get the additional doses to support that, and there are more irons in the fire for that outcome as well.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar. The member for Boothby?

Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a technical issue. Am I able to ask the question on behalf of the member for Mackellar?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, this is questions without notice—anyone can ask a question!