Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Health spokesperson Dr. Richard Di Natale have called on the Morrison government to drop the spin and take real action on a COVID Vaccine.

The Greens say the government’s “big announcement” of a vaccine deal with AstraZeneca has turned out to have little substance and the government has also failed to join the COVAX global vaccine initiative despite the Prime Minister saying the world needs to share the vaccine.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader Adam Bandt:

Greens questioning in the Senate COVID Committee today has confirmed the Morrison government has failed to join the COVAX global vaccine initiative despite the Prime Minister saying the world needs to share the vaccine.

Under questioning by Senator Richard Di Natale the Secretary of Health confirmed the government had not signed up to the main international effort to secure vaccine access globally, nor contributed a single dollar.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader Adam Bandt:

Dr Richard Di Natale, Australian Greens health spokesperson, is today calling on the Prime Minister to adopt an elimination strategy for COVID-19 to keep restrictions in place until the rate of community transmission reaches zero. 

"It's now time to commit to eliminating COVID-19 from the community, and give Australians some level of certainty in the face of this pandemic."

"We have already eliminated the virus in some states, which has allowed people to resume doing many of the things they love and provided some certainty for the business community," said Dr Di Natale.

Local Greens MPs for Melbourne, Adam Bandt and Ellen Sandell, have welcomed the government’s decision to expand the number of supervised injecting trial sites, including in Melbourne, saying the Greens had repeatedly pushed the government to relieve the pressure on Richmond residents by expanding trial locations.

The Greens were the first political party to advocate for the supervised injecting facility trial.

The Australian Greens have called on the government to establish publicly funded vaccine manufacturing capacity in Australia to ensure any COVID19 vaccine is available to all Australians.

A recent Defence science technology report outlined in today’s media has warned of a shortage in vaccines in Australia during a pandemic because of the lack of production capacity in Australia.

The Australian Greens have condemned US President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that the United States will withdraw critical funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and cautions the Australian government from signalling any similar action.

As the international body responsible for coordinating the world’s response to pandemics like the current COVID-19 crisis, it is critical that governments maintain their financial commitments to the organisation. 

The Australian Greens have called for a pause on health insurance premiums during the COVID-19 crisis, and for the government to redirect the private health insurance rebate into the public system to assist in delivering critical care.
 
“Australians should not be paying premiums for a product that can’t be used for its primary purpose, especially when millions of households are facing challenging financial circumstances,” Dr Richard Di Natale, Greens health spokesperson said today.
 

Australian Greens health spokesperson Dr Richard Di Natale has written to the federal health minister calling for the influenza vaccine to be made available free of charge to all Australians as part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“Ensuring everyone can access the flu vaccine for free is a clear step that will provide multiple benefits to the public and to our health system,” Dr Di Natale said today.
 

The Australian Greens have joined calls for a full New Zealand-style mandatory stay at home lockdown to respond to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, backing health experts calling for a ‘go hard, go fast’ response to enforce social distancing.

Greens leader Adam Bandt and health spokesperson Dr Richard Di Natale have called on the Prime Minister and National Cabinet to adopt a lock down in line with New Zealand’s Stage 4 measures. This would require everyone, except those providing essential services, to stay home, and only make physical contact with those they live with.  

A Senate Committee Inquiry examining access to medicinal cannabis in Australia has made a series of landmark recommendations to significantly improve the lives of Australian patients.

The Committee heard from patients up and down the country who are unable to access the medicinal cannabis treatments they need due to regulatory barriers and enormous cost.