TRANSCRIPT: INTERVIEW ON NEWSDAY, SKY NEWS, 4 February 2021
11:52AM
E&OE
Subjects: Coronavirus, Road Safety, Getting Australians Home;
TOM CONNELL
Joining me here in the studio after a bit of a delay – not your fault, of course, some shenanigans going on, I’m sure you’ll blame Labor –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Just divisions.
TOM CONNELL
Michael McCormack, the Deputy Prime Minister. Look, a lot of focus on Craig Kelly and what the PM had to say about him. George Christensen has been out there promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 as well. Have you spoken to him?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
I speak to George about a lot of issues.
TOM CONNELL
But about this?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
No, look, George is fighting hard for the area he represents – the Dawson electorate in North Queensland. That’s George’s focus. What I like too, about George, is that he is 100 per cent behind the roll-out of the vaccine – the Government strategy for the vaccine roll-out.
TOM CONNELL
He’s also said that people without symptoms can’t spread the virus. That’s not helpful, is it?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, it’s not and what we’ve done the whole way through is take the best possible advice from the medical professionals. So, of course, Professor Brendan Murphy, now Paul Kelly has taken up the role, of course of Chief Medical Officer, he’s the one to follow, not politicians – unless, of course, they’re doctors and not every politician is a doctor. But we’ve got of course, Dr David Gillespie in the National Party. We’ve got Mike Freelander and Andrew Laming. There are other doctors, of course – Katie Allen – in the political profession. But we have taken the best possible advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee all the way through. We’ve adopted that through the National Cabinet process and that has worked so well.
TOM CONNELL
People will wonder though, why the Prime Minister gets in Craig Kelly and says, “Stick to the lines. We don’t need this other information or misinformation being put out there; it’s dangerous,” and George Christensen, is he just free to keep doing this on Facebook?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, George hasn’t been putting it up regularly on Facebook. Yes, he’s had some comments to make.
TOM CONNELL
So it’s about the regularity?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, it’s also about – I know George is very much pushing for jobs in the North. George is pushing for the fact that the Queensland State Government very much stopped tourism in the Whitsundays and stopped tourism in Mackay and his electorate, Townsville – he takes in part of Townsville. That was very harmful to those economies which hadn’t had a COVID case for many, many months, indeed if at all. And I know George was fighting hard for those limitations to be eased because the tourism industry was just smashed.
TOM CONNELL
But what does this mean? That you’re allowed to do the odd post that undermines the TGA, just don’t do it too much.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
George is right behind the strategy. Right behind the strategy.
TOM CONNELL
But he’s saying hydroxychloroquine should be a treatment when the TGA is saying it shouldn’t.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I would take the advice of the TGA. I would take the advice of the Therapeutic Goods Administration. I take the advice of the AHPPC, Professor Paul Kelly. They’re the ones to follow.
TOM CONNELL
Let’s get to a couple more issues. I know with COVID a lot of things have taken a back seat, including road safety. Governments work a lot on making roads safer –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Road safety has not taken a back seat, Tom.
TOM CONNELL
In terms of attention, in terms of media attention.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
In terms of media attention, yes, sure, I appreciate that.
TOM CONNELL
On Sunday we saw memorials for the Abdallah and Sakr families, four children in this incident a bit over a year ago killed by an out-of-control ute. We had the tragic incident in Brisbane recently. It still seems drivers are just about the biggest danger on the roads – us, people.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Tom, I’m not going to disagree with you. We’ve got better roads, we’ve got better vehicles, we need better driver behaviour. And it’s not just the drivers either, it’s also the passengers. At times, you know, passengers could also say if a driver is doing the wrong thing, if they see that they are fatigued, if they’re blinking and nodding off, if they’re swerving. But if they know they’re affected by drugs or alcohol, tell them to pull over straight away. And if they’re driving too fast, tell them to slow down. It’s so simple and a split second could change your life and indeed, someone else’s.
TOM CONNELL
And just a final topic, Australians stuck overseas. We’ve spoken to a lot of them on air. It seems as though the biggest issue is if all you can afford is an economy flight you keep getting bumped. Is that how the system works?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
No, it’s not how the system works. Indeed, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have got 37,000 names. Those most vulnerable who are on that list, they get preference.
TOM CONNELL
So beyond the most vulnerable. So there’s a most vulnerable group, beyond that, the better airfare you can afford the more likely you are to get home?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, the airlines are running the routes back into Australia and I appreciate that and I understand that. But we’ve also put on 20 additional flights facilitated by the Government. We’re making sure that we get as many Australians home as soon as possible. Of course, the quarantining restrictions, they also play a part in this and that’s why this Victorian outbreak is so unfortunate because, you know, if we then limit the quarantine places available that then pushes the number of Australians who are able to get back sooner, back.
Now, I know Kristina Keneally has been out there and had a lot to say but we have done so much to get so many Australians home. And certainly since the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said on March 13 last year, urged Australians to come home, encouraged them, implored them, indeed, 443,000 have done just that. But we need to get obviously more back.
TOM CONNELL
All right. We might delve more into that another day, we’re a bit truncated today. But I appreciate your time.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Thanks Tom, any time at all.
ENDS 11:56AM