Health News at Your Fingertips

The wonderful Josh Taylor will take you through the evening – a very big thank you to everyone who joined with us today, as we juggled Covid and parliament.

It’s a huge amount of information to take in and I know it’s made more difficult when you are in lockdown, or just frustrated/worried/anxious for answers about what is happening in your community, and it is not something we take lightly. Seven weeks in lockdown, without a clear sight to the end, is mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting and to everyone who is going through it right now – or just battling with this year in general – we understand and we are thinking of you. If there was any way to get the information to you quicker, we would do it – thank you for checking back, and thank you for your comments and questions. We do read them, and we do take them on board. And right now, whatever you need to do to get through is the right thing. It’s hard.

And it can’t be easy being in that position and listening to some of the things we hear our leaders say. We get that too. Remember you are not alone, and if it helps to scream, do that too.

Mike Bowers will be back with us tomorrow, as will your Canberra team of Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Daniel Hurst and Paul Karp. I’ll be with you from early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, please – take care of you.

Greens senator Larissa Waters has seen a motion pass in the Senate which calls on the government to release documents relating to the awarding of a $21m grant to the fracking company Empire Energy

The order compels the government to produce by 9.30am on Thursday 12 August, all correspondence, lists of applicants and grant guidelines related to its Beetaloo Basin grant scheme, in addition to details of any meetings between Ministers Angus Taylor or Keith Pitt and Empire Energy.

In case you missed it earlier today (it was during the press conference deluge) Greens senator Rachel Siewert officially announced her retirement:

Matt Kean, the NSW Liberal environment minister also had some things to say about his federal Coalition colleague:

Paul Fletcher may want to indulge the wacko views of George Christensen on this and any other topic but I am certainly not going to. I think that he is as qualified to talk about health policy as he is to perform brain surgery and I think George Christensen would do us all a favour by being a team player, supporting the prime minister and making sure that we can all get out of this crisis on the other side.

… People are entitled to their opinions. They are just not entitled to their own facts. And George is making up his own fact here. What we know is that we need to listen to the science, we need to take the expert advice and put in place policy based on that. We should not just do it when it comes to dealing with Covid-19, we should do it when it comes with dealing with climate change as well and that is what I am arguing on both fronts.

… I think we should call our people who are spreading misinformation and falsehoods in the public square at any time, regardless of what team they play for. I am always respectful of people having a different opinion but I am not very respectful of people putting out this information and making up their own facts. We should call it out, whether it be in regards to Covid-19 or whether it be in regard to climate science. That is what I am doing here today.

Warren Entsch, another LNP MP, has called out George Christensen (something Paul Fletcher, a cabinet minister, didn’t manage to do, despite being asked five times).

Here is Entsch on the ABC:

I have to say I was absolutely appalled by his contribution. I think it was totally inappropriate.

That is the sort of nonsense that I see in protests outside my office from time to time for those with conspiracy theories but I think it is reasonable to say that it was raised in the parliament today, I think it was resoundingly rejected right across the whole political spectrum when the motion was put up it was supported, there was not a single dissenter.

People are entitled to have a view but I think as an elected member you need to be a little more, if you like, careful with the views that you express. It is very, very unhelpful and totally inappropriate in dealing with the situation we are in at the moment and I am glad to see that there is that unity across the political spectrum today when those views were soundly rejected.

Why is the Coalition so scared of pulling George Christensen into line?

There are two issues at play. One is linked to Christensen himself – the government doesn’t have enough of a buffer in the House any longer to allow it to lose any more MPs, after Craig Kelly moved to the crossbench.

Here’s how Craig Kelly is going, by the way:

(He is apparently using his time in lockdown to set up timers to take sad photos of himself, and tweet, given his feed.)

But back to Christensen – so yes, it would be a problem if he decided to quit. Which he could – he’s threatened it previously, and has nothing to lose.

The other issue, is the Coalition, under John Howard, spent a lot of time courting One Nation voters, who remain in the party, in small but noisy numbers. They help make up a lot of the “base” we hear so much about. And the problem with that is, Christensen (and Kelly) and Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick speak to those people, and keep them in the tent.

So if you are the Coalition, which is only governing with a tiny majority, in a nation which has spent much of the last six years on a 49.5% to 50.5% split in the vote, you can’t afford to see those people get huffy and take their vote elsewhere, by criticising the people in your party that you are listening to.

It’s the same problem the Coalition has on climate.

So that’s the short answer – the Coalition can’t afford to lose any more numbers in the House, and it has to try and keep a small cohort of its base happy.

Ain’t party politics grand?

So just a short time after the House condemned comments like the ones George Christensen has made (in a debate where the prime minister couldn’t even say Christensen’s name) Paul Fletcher can’t bring himself to say he disagrees with his colleague on the misleading, false, outright wrong, and dangerous comments he makes in relation to the health response to Covid.

Yup.

The non-answers continue:

Q: Hallelujah to science because it is the only thing that is going to get us out of this situation. Science is the answer. George Christensen is not relying on science. If you look at his statements. When Craig Kelly was making statements that the government deemed offensive he was dressed down and now sits on the crossbench. Should the same thing happen to George Christensen?

Paul Fletcher:

Again, Patricia, you can engage in all kinds of questions about particular scenarios, what we are focused on is a cabinet and what the prime minister, health minister and government are focused on is dealing with this health crisis and the associated economic difficulties, saving lives, saving livelihoods. We will get on without a lever to others …

Q: But it is not up to others because you are cabinet ministers … you are important person in the government, a compliment from me. You have a key role in the government. A cabinet minister in the Morrison government. Here you have someone on the government benches in the Nationals but in the Coalition, saying stuff that I am assuming would be alarming to you. Given it is not based on science fact. So given that, why not denounce him? Why not treat him in the same way that Craig Kelly was treated?

Fletcher:

Well, Patricia, you can keep inviting me to issue denunciations or condemnations but I will stay focused as with the prime minister, as well cabinet, as will government on the challenges in front of us in dealing with those in a calm, methodical way.

Q: Yes, but the misinformation about the vaccine, masks, is contributing to some of this bad behaviour we are seeing around the country is it not?

Fletcher:

Well, what we’re seeing now is significant increases in vaccine take-up numbers. Of course that reflects both the demand and supply side. We have seen, pleasingly I think, Australians around the country coming forward to get vaccinated up I know in my own electorate for example, I am in contact with GPs who are administering vaccines such as the Roseville respiratory clinic, the doctor leading that outstanding work just a couple of days ago said that there was strong demand and they are increasing the amounts of AstraZeneca.

And there has been I think a very strong response from the Australian people, people have identified the challenge that we collectively face and people are coming forward, behaving responsibly in terms of their own health but also in the best outcome for the community. And if you are vaccinated, you are not only greatly improve your own chances of not falling hill and being hospitalised, what you also do is improve overall outcomes for community.

Paul Fletcher meanwhile, has been asked five or so times whether he disagrees with George Christensen’s statements on Afternoon Briefing, and won’t answer.

Q: Your Coalition colleague George Christensen has called to an end to Covid-19 restrictions. He used a speech to parliament earlier today to describe restrictions as madness arguing masks and lockdowns don’t work. Darren Chester a colleague of his in the party tweeted he doesn’t agree with the minister’s views. What do you think?

Fletcher:

I think our government led by Prime Minister Morrison and Health Minister Hunt and the National Security Committee has a very clear plan and focus in relation to dealing with Covid.

That includes of course, working with state governments, supporting them through lockdowns as they judged appropriate to administer them or to introduce them, providing support through the ADF map and providing very substantial funding support for the Covid disaster payments and business payments in both New South Wales and Victoria. And of course our relentless focus on the vaccine with another 234,000 vaccinated in the last 24 hours, numbers continuing to build …

Q: That is your focus. Do you denounce what George Christensen has said?

Fletcher:

Look, what we are interested in is focusing on the issues …

Q: You might be interested in that but with respect minister, if you don’t call out misinformation – is he wrong?

Fletcher:

The government’s position is very clear. In relation to the efficacy of vaccines, it is based on the science. Is George Christensen statement wrong? The government’s position is clear …

Q: That is not what I am asking you. I am asking about his statements.

Fletcher:

You can ask me whatever you want but the answer I am going to give you is that as a cabinet ministers in the Morrison government, focused on dealing with the largest health crisis are nation has faced for a hundred years, we are focused on taking the scientific advice and implementing measures in response to that.

Darren Chester, who was dumped from the ministry by Barnaby Joyce, seems to have run out of [patience, what iPhone corrects to ducks you choose].