Rape scandal at the heart of Australia's parliament leaves PM exposed.

Extract from The Guardian 

Australia news

Usually media-savvy Scott Morrison has been unable to find his footing dealing with the fallout of an alleged assault inside a minister’s office.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Amy Remeikis in Canberra

@amyremeikis

Sat 27 Feb 2021 06.00 AEDT

Last modified on Sat 27 Feb 2021 07.22 AEDT

Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, prides himself on his ability to shape media narratives. A former advertising executive, he is used to controlling the message. But over the past two weeks one story has refused to bend to his will and exposed a weak spot: women.

Morrison is struggling to manage growing anger over the handling of a young staffer’s rape allegation, the parliamentary culture at large, and how women working within it are treated.

He has been unable to direct attention away from the issues raised by Brittany Higgins, a former media adviser who alleged she was raped by a colleague in a ministerial office in March 2019.

Initially the matter was handled internally, with Higgins offered support, but also made aware that an election was looming just weeks away.

The then-24-year-old, who had been made to tell her story to her minister in the same room where the alleged rape took place, said she felt she was being made to choose between her “dream job” and reporting the matter to police.

Brittany Higgins outside the ministerial entrance to Parliament House in Canberra Photograph: Supplied

She stayed with the government, but continued to wrestle with what had happened.

Two years later, a photo of the prime minister with Grace Tame, a fearless advocate for sexual assault victims, proved too much for Higgins, who said she felt she had been “silenced” by the government.

She resigned, spoke to the Australian Federal Police about the possibility of re-opening her case and went public, sparking a firestorm for the Morrison government, which has struggled to find an adequate response.

Nearly two weeks after Higgins went public, the government, and Morrison in particular, are still flailing.

What the prime minister didn’t know

Who knew what and when has dogged the government since Higgins went public.

Why the prime minister didn’t know, and why no one thought to tell him, has proved one of the most damaging hurdles for Morrison to navigate. Morrison has insisted his office was not aware of the allegations until 12 February, three days before the story went public and he himself was made aware when it was first published by News Corp on 15 February.

But a growing number of people who work in the prime minister’s inner sanctum have been revealed as being aware of the allegations, due to their previous roles within the government.

There’s the defence minister’s chief of staff, who was one of the first people Higgins told, after she was questioned over being found by security, half-naked, on minister Linda Reynold’s office couch.

The staffer who worked with the former special minister of state whose job it was to handle termination payouts.

The fellow colleague who told Higgins they had raised the matter with a staffer in the prime minister’s office who was “mortified” and wanted to help.

With each passing day came new revelations of someone who knew something, while the prime minister maintained he learned of Higgins’ story at the same time the nation did.

It’s meant the usually-media-savvy prime minister, known for dismissing questions as “coming from the Canberra bubble” has been unable to find his footing in dealing with the fallout. An immediate attempt at deflecting questions by claiming the matter was subject to a police investigation was quickly dismissed by the police themselves who confirmed it was not. Moves to avoid questions to protect Higgins’s privacy were batted away by the woman herself, who continued to speak and publicly waived any concerns ministers may have about speaking about her case.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a press conference to answer sexual assault allegations made by staffer Brittany Higgins against a parliamentary staffer Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Morrison’s ‘daggy dad’ persona

Morrison’s fall-back political move, that of the average husband and father, which has been termed his “daggy dad” persona, also fell flat when he said he had spoken to his wife Jenny who “clarified” the issue for him, and urged him to think about his own daughters in Higgins’s place. Other clumsy comments, including that Higgins had “found herself” in the situation drew immediate censure; Higgins accused Morrison of engaging in “victim-blaming rhetoric”, and took back control of the narrative, casting the prime minister as a reactionary player.

His response, to launch four inquiries into the culture of parliamentary life, the complaints process for staffers, and what his office knew and when, has also been criticised, with all four being carried out by government members or staffers, leading to a promise of an “arm’s length” approach. But there has been no commitment to release all the reports, and cabinet protocols have already been invoked, meaning it will be up to the government what information is released, with no recourse for public review.

A speech he gave for an International Women’s Day event attempted to calm the whirling storm, with Morrison mentioning “respect” 42 times in his short address, and a promise to “respect, protect, and reflect” women without providing solutions or recognition of the structural power issues women had raised over the past fortnight.

Parliament House in Canberra has been at the centre of rape allegations. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Parliament ended with government MPs and the prime minister happy to be able to leave what had become a pressure cooker, where the Australian vaccine rollout took second place to tales of a corporate culture seemingly decades behind public expectations, and a government struggling to provide answers.

Higgins has since reopened her police case. But as she said last week, she is looking for wider reforms.

“From the outset, I have been driven by my desire to ensure that no other person would have to go through the trauma that I experienced during my time in Parliament House,” she said.

“I was failed repeatedly, but I now have my voice, and I am determined to use it to ensure that this is never allowed to happen to another member of staff again.”

With more women adding their own voices, the prime minister has struggled to give voice to the right words to calm theirs, ensuring the calls for change grow louder.

A fresh allegation on Friday night – this time against a cabinet minister who has been accused of a historical rape more than three decades ago – means pressure on the PM to act will only intensify.

The ‘jobdobber’ hotline is another policy aimed at keeping wages low.

Extract from The Guardian

Grogonomics graph of the week Wages growth

Greg Jericho

Two things define the Liberal party’s economic agenda: lower taxes for companies and the wealthy, and lower wages for everyone else

‘When unemployment goes up, more people are fighting for each job and so employers are under less pressure to raise wages’.

Sun 28 Feb 2021 06.00 AEDT

Last modified on Sun 28 Feb 2021 12.04 AEDT

This week came further confirmation that even in the midst of a wages crisis, the Morrison government remains determined to push wages even lower.

When you get down to it, there are really two things that define the Liberal party’s economic agenda: low taxes for wealthy people and those who own companies, and low wages growth for everyone else.

The ambition of every economic policy the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments have pursued over the course of their time in power since 1996 (and even beforehand when in opposition) has been to produce these two results.

This week we saw the government announce a meagre increase in the jobseeker rate and an increase in mutual obligations. They also announced a hotline for employers to call to dob in unemployed people who refuse job offers – a job offer that might be declined upon discovering the wage and conditions.

Such a policy serves to keep wages low – employers can offer lower wages and know that a threat hangs over people should they refuse.

It is one of the most bastardly policies this government, which specialises in barstardry, has devised.

And it comes at a time when low wages growth is now a permanent feature of the economy.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, where economic data from GDP to retail spending has gone absolutely nuts, wages continue to grow at the exact pace expected over the past five years.

Graph not displaying? Click here

Three years ago when Gareth Hutchens and I did a report into low-wages growth, wages were growing at 2% a year. This week the bureau of statistics revealed that in 2020 wages grew by just 1.4% – a record low for any calendar year.

It might be low, but it is not an aberration.

When unemployment goes up, more people are fighting for each job and so employers are under less pressure to raise wages to attract people to apply, or to stop current employees leaving for a better paying job.

And so in March last year when the unemployment rate was 5.2%, wages grew at an annual rate of 2.2%. In December when unemployment had risen to 6.6% wages growth had slowed to 1.4% – exactly in line with the trend since 2016.

The problem is that trend has completely fallen from what it used to be.

Up until 2012 an unemployment rate of 6.6% would be usually associated with wage growth of around 3%.

Even when wages growth was a bit lower than expected they were well above what we now have. In March 2000 the unemployment rate was also 6.6% and wages grew by 2.7% – a rate we have not had for nearly seven years.

Wages now grow around 1.5% slower for every level of unemployment. Or to put it more starkly: for wages to grow at the pace they used to, unemployment needs to be around 3%pts lower than in the past.

The Reserve Bank has said it will not raise interest rates until inflation growth is consistently above 2% and for that to occur wages would need to grow at around 3%.

In the past that would have meant getting unemployment below 7%; now it means below 4%.

Less worker bargaining power, more restrictions on industrial action, less need for employers to negotiate in good faith, enforced lower wages growth in the public sector, and threats to the unemployed are policies designed to keep wages down – and they are working.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, even with all other economic data going haywire, wages are behaving as expected – and that expectation is now terribly and permanently low.

Cabinet minister rape claim: victim’s friend says she wants alleged perpetrator ‘sacked’

Extract from The Guardian

Australian politics

Simon Birmingham rejects suggestion unnamed minister at centre of allegations should stand aside

An Australian cabinet minister is facing historical rape allegations dating from before he entered parliament.

Melissa Davey

@MelissaLDavey

Sat 27 Feb 2021 17.00 AEDT

Last modified on Sat 27 Feb 2021 17.21 AEDT

As pressure builds on Scott Morrison to investigate allegations of a historical rape levelled against one of his cabinet ministers, a woman who had known the victim for 30 years has come out to say she “absolutely, 100% believes” her friend.

New South Wales police have confirmed the alleged victim reported the incident to them in February 2020, and the allegations have also been forwarded to the Australian federal police.

The woman took her own life in June.

“It’s just so tragic, she would have turned 50 a few days ago,” the woman’s friend, who did not want to be named, told Guardian Australia.

“When I last spoke to her, her self-esteem was pretty low. She told me about what had happened with the rape. And I was trying to build her up again. I was so angry … At one point I wanted to write to [the alleged perpetrator] and say ‘this is what my friend said, and I believe her’. But what would that have done?”

She said while she did not believe the alleged rape was the key factor that led to her friend’s death, it was a contributing factor because the position of the man meant he was constantly in the media.

“I want him to be sacked,” she said. “She was just such a lovely, inspiring woman … Why would she be making it up?”.

Another friend of the woman told Guardian Australia on Friday the alleged rape and the woman’s death last year had been “a source of great anguish to the many friends of the young woman concerned”.

“All we wanted was justice for her – it seems now we’re inching closer to that in some way.”

On Saturday, Labor’s leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, issued a statement saying that during the week her office received an anonymous letter which was also addressed to the prime minister and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

“The contents of the letter, and an attachment which appears to be a statement prepared by the complainant, relate to an allegation of rape,” Wong said.

“The woman who made this allegation died in June 2020. I understand the complainant reported this allegation to the NSW police force and South Australia police. I have forwarded the letter to the NSW police force, South Australia police and the Australian federal police to assist in any investigations which may be underway.

“I have also written to the prime minister and Senator Hanson-Young to outline the steps I have taken following receipt of this anonymous letter.”

A coronial investigation into the complainant’s death is underway in Adelaide, and Wong said she had offered to help that inquiry. Wong said she first became aware of the complainant’s allegation when she ran into her in Adelaide in November 2019.

“The complainant reminded me we had met once before,” Wong said. “The complainant made an allegation that she had been raped many years earlier by a person who is now a senior member of the federal government. She indicated she intended to report the matter to NSW police.

“I said that making a report to the appropriate authorities was the right thing to do.”

The death of the woman was “a tragedy, and devastating for everyone who knew and loved her”, she said. “The woman, and her family and friends, have been in my thoughts throughout.”

The federal finance minister, Simon Birmingham, on Saturday rejected the suggestion that the minister at the centre of the allegations should stand aside or come forward.

“Everybody is entitled to natural justice and it’s important to back the police to do their job,” he said. “We back the police to do their job in this and every other instance, and that’s the right way to handle this … I want to see the police empowered to do their job.

“I think we have to respect that we have justice systems in Australia ... and in this case, if allegations have been made, as I understand from media reports they have been, that we have to back the appropriate authorities, the police, to do everything they can to investigate and to, to their satisfaction, determine the appropriate course forward, free of any sense of political interference or direction.”

Hanson-Young said on Saturday that “it is only right that the prime minister makes sure that this isn’t swept under the carpet, and that he acts to ensure the integrity of his government”.

“We can’t have a situation where such an horrific allegation of rape is levelled against a senior member of his government and no one does anything,” she said.

'All the bones are there': could a new electric vehicle be built in Australia?

 Extract from The Guardian

Australia news

With the right incentives, many believe Australia can still ride the electric revolution, reviving its car industry and slashing emissions at the same time.

EV manufacturing in Australia. The old Holden factory site in Elizabeth, South Australia.

Royce Kurmelovs

@RoyceRk2

Sun 28 Feb 2021 06.00 AEDT

Last modified on Sun 28 Feb 2021 10.37 AEDT

Walking around the old Holden factory site in Elizabeth, Paschal Somers points out each piece of machinery to explain what it does and how it could be brought back to life.

Though the massive factory complex in suburban Adelaide closed down three years ago, General Motors abandoned most of the machines to the site’s new owners when they sold the land, and they are still sitting there idle.

Rows of mechanical arms hanging from the ceiling were used to install the doors. Another row handled cockpit assembly. An arm used to install sunroofs is still in place. It cost $30,000 to build and $50,000 to develop, Somers says.

Across the complex, steel towers rise into the air, still able to lift a car body into the ceiling for transport elsewhere. Spare parts sit on old conveyer belts. An entire crane system is in perfect working order.

A conveyer belt at the Elizabeth factory. Photograph: Royce Kurmelovs/The Guardian

Over in the paint shop, the plant is in the same condition it was when it closed. Huge presses still stand in the press shop, even if they are in the process of being dismantled on account of their age.

“General Motors sold the factory to the new owners as is. Machines included,” Somers says. “All the bones are there. We could absolutely build electric cars here. It’s just a matter of retooling as you need.”

Teslas at the company’s Shanghai factory. A South Australian MP says he will write to Elon Musk asking him to establish a facility in his state. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters

The 54-year-old site operations manager says that while some machinery has been sold off, the fixed infrastructure is still in place and it wouldn’t take much to install state-of-the-art hardware and bring it all back to life. He should know. Somers was one of seven former Holden workers who finished up on 17 October 2017, but stayed on with the new owners in what is now the Lionsgate business park.

“In the first couple of months after the closure it was it was tough,” Somers says. “I would take them through. People would come in, look around and say ‘it’s a nice shed’. It screamed at me inside. People didn’t see what we saw. No one seemed to understand what you could do with all this.

“If you were a start-up looking to move in, you’d be getting a six-to-18-month head start. Ask yourself, what’s the difference between an electric vehicle and a petrol vehicle? Not much, just the engine. You still need a wiring harness. You still need carpet. Sound dimmers. Glass. We could absolutely build electric vehicles – you just have to want to.”

That part – wanting to – is the perhaps the biggest hurdle in a nation whose political leadership has long thought of car manufacturing as hard work and electric vehicles a fad.

The situation is deeply frustrating to Electric Vehicle Council of Australia chief executive Behyad Jafari, who says he regularly talks to companies looking to manufacture EVs in Australia.

While critics charge that Australian labour costs are too high, Jafari says the actual work of manufacturing electric vehicles is half what it once was. Rather than “guys bending metal” it’s more about building the robots that build the cars – and with a highly educated workforce, Australia is highly competitive.

“On paper, Australia looks really good to these companies,” Jafari says.

“The second thing they ask is a question about the competitive landscape. What are governments doing? Essentially, they’re asking whether there will be a market for 50,000 vehicles in Australia – but we sell 7,000 electric vehicles a year here and there’s nothing in place to change that, when every other country in the world has an ambitious plan in place to change it.

Many elements of the production line at the old GM factory are still in place. Photograph: Royce Kurmelovs/The Guardian

“It’s not even an accident anymore. It’s decided government policy that they should do nothing. They’ve entrenched that to the country as a whole, teaching us we can’t do these things. But the only reason we can’t do it is inaction.”

According to political economist Dr Mark Dean, that will have to change fast if Australia has any hope of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. A transition to electric would be required in a space of about 10 years – a feat that requires a plan.

“When you’ve mothballed the industrial-scale facilities that produce these things, you can’t just switch them back on,” Dean said. “And Elon Musk isn’t a genius who came up with the concept for EVs. His success is based on decades of public investment.

“There’s a lot of work needed to achieve decarbonisation and it’s work we can do. It would take a strong industry policy direction to identify something like this as a target, not a burden, and to whip up an economy geared to act on that. If we take risks, the rewards are enormous.”

The final Holden Commodore comes off the line at the Elizabeth plant in 2017. Photograph: HOLDEN / HANDOUT/EPA

The vision for a new electric vehicle sector in Australia is not without its supporters.

Ed Husic, Labor’s shadow minister for industry and innovation, has been promoting the idea lately, saying on Tuesday that it represented an opportunity for Australia.

“I certainly accept it’s a massive challenge, right, to do this, especially after the government chased out car-makers from the country, but I think Australians do believe that we have got a great track record on manufacturing, we’ve got a lot to offer and why couldn’t we make a big difference, a big push in this space,” Husic said.

“With the 17 million cars we have on Australian roads, we need to upgrade the fleet so that we can see cars and transport in terms of reducing emissions is a big thing. So a win on manufacturing, a win of emissions. Why can’t we do it?”

Even on the local level there is support. In South Australia, SA Best parliamentarian Frank Pangallo says he will write to Elon Musk to invite the world’s richest man to set up an EV manufacturing plant in the state.

“Of course we can build electric cars here,” Pangallo said. “I’m no engineer, but I would say we already had the skills and expertise to build cars. We were building them for decades.

“The fact is that we know that we still have a great deal of infrastructure at the Holden site in Elizabeth. We know it’s still there. It’ll be a great opportunity for a start-up or a company like Tesla to move here and save considerably on set up costs. I’ll be impressing that upon Mr Musk.”

If Tesla has a powerful hold on the popular imagination, Australia has its own EV entrepreneurs.

Greg McGarvie is the founder of ACE Electric, an Australian start-up with plans to build electric utes, vans and passenger cars. While starting from scratch has taken more time, he says it has meant the company could rethink the best way to build a car and investigate the most advanced manufacturing techniques.

His vehicles are stitched together with a method similar to that used to build the Boeing Dreamliner, where sheets of carbon-fibre composite – a material two-to-three times stronger than steel – are chemically welded together.

The company has already recorded over $2 million in reservations, enough that they hope to begin production on the first 300 vehicles later this year.

While McGarvie says he’s had strong interest from south-east Asia and countries as far afield as eastern Europe, Australian authorities have been slow to act. It took the South Australian state government to offer development support at the end of 2020 for things to really get moving.

“We can manufacture these vehicles. Easy,” McGarvie says. “The only condition is government making it easy to proceed and to actually support it. The reason China is manufacturing 1.2 million electric vehicles a year is because their government said we will support anyone who’s got the go to set up auto.

“This is already happening everywhere else, Australia is just playing catching up. In five years, 10-years-time, if you’re parked at a traffic light and a fossil fuel smoker sitting beside you, it’ll be like going into a hospital or nursery and lighting a cigarette.”

‘The honourable thing to do’: PM under pressure to stand down cabinet minister accused of rape.

Extract from The New Daily

Cait Kelly Reporter

6:00am, Feb 28, 2021 Updated: 4h ago

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is under increasing pressure to investigate a cabinet minister at the centre of a historical rape allegation.

ABC’s Four Corners on Friday reported the Australian Federal Police had been notified of a letter sent to the Prime Minister detailing an alleged rape in 1988 by one of Mr Morrison’s current cabinet ministers of a then 16-year-old girl.

Independent Senator Rex Patrick has called for the unnamed minster to be stood down – with a presumption of innocence – while the allegations are investigated.

“The matter that has been aired is a very serious one. It has sufficient grounds to see involvement by police forces and the South Australian coroner,” Senator Patrick told The New Daily. 

Senator Rex Patrick has called for the minister to be stood down while an investigation takes place. Photo: AAP

Prosecutors cannot pursue a criminal conviction because the woman’s death means the allegations cannot be tested, but Senator Patrick said the Mr Morrison should call an investigation.

“Whilst the presumption of innocence is important, the very serious nature of the allegation is such that the cabinet minister in question must stand down pending the outcome of any investigation,” he said.

To do nothing would open every cabinet minister to speculation, Senator Patrick said.

“That is the honourable thing to do. In the absence of such action, all other male cabinet members have a cloud over their reputations. If the Minister doesn’t want to do that, the PM should insist,” he said.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the shocking allegations should not be “swept under the carpet” and urged the prime minister to act to ensure the integrity of the government.

She said Scott Morrison’s silence on the matter was “deafening”.

The woman reported the allegation to New South Wales Police in February last year, triggering an investigation.

However, the investigation was dropped after the woman died by suicide in June.

The cabinet minster’s identity is not publicly known.

Labor Senator Penny Wong, who along with Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and the PM received a copy of the letter, said she had been told of the allegations in 2019 after she “ran into” the woman in Adelaide.

“The complainant made an allegation that she had been raped many years earlier by a person who is now a senior member of the federal government. She indicated she intended to report the matter to NSW Police,” Senator Wong said.

“I said that making a report to the appropriate authorities was the right thing to do. I facilitated her referral to rape support services and confirmed she was being supported in reporting the matter to NSW Police.”

A coronial investigation into the complainant’s death is underway in Adelaide and the AFP has been notified.

Penny Wong said she had been made aware of the allegation in 2019. Photo: AAP

Senator Hanson-Young called on Mr Morrison to take action.

“He needs to make a judgement as to what he will do. The Prime Minister needs to say something and he needs to do something,” she said on Saturday.

Senator Hanson-Young called on the PM to act to ensure the integrity of his government.

“We can’t have a situation where such a horrific allegation of rape is levelled against a senior member of his government and no one does anything,” she said.

When Morrison government frontbencher Simon Birmingham was asked on Saturday if the accused should be identified, so as not to cast aspersions on the rest of the government, he said the matter should be left to the police to handle.

Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham said the matter should be left to police. Photo: AAP

“Everybody is entitled to natural justice and it’s important to back the police to do their job,” Senator Birmingham said.

“We back the police to do their job in this and every other instance.

“I don’t wish to see anybody lose their rights to natural justice.”

The AFP issued a statement on Saturday saying it has received a complaint relating to a historical sexual assault and will liaise with relevant state authorities.

“Further enquiries can be directed to the New South Wales Police Force,” the statement said.

“The AFP will not be making further comment.”

The explosive allegations come a fortnight after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins‘ claim she was raped by a senior Liberal adviser engulfed parliament and highlighted what some say is a ‘toxic’ culture.

Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape by a senior Liberal staffer has rocked the government.

Gender Equity Victoria chief executive Tanja Kovac said the “systematic sexism” in Parliament House needed to be cleaned up.

“But treating them as a one-off individual incident isn’t what is going to stop the behaviours,” she said.

“There is a systemic issue here. Its people in power misusing it in relation to people who have less power.”

There are four inquiries currently underway including a multi-party investigation into the culture.

Ms Kovac said the government needed to be held accountable for the culture and the findings of the inquiries.

“It appears to be a pattern of men in politics, in powerful positions, using their positions to take advantage of women,” she said.

“We don’t need it in this in parliament.”

Sexual assault support services:

• Canberra Rape Crisis Centre (24 hours): 02 6247 2525
• 1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732
• Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636

The great unknown: do Covid vaccines stop you spreading the virus?

Extract from The Guardian 

Australia news

We know vaccination is very effective in preventing serious illness, but whether it stops coronavirus transmission is another story.

Researchers say it is difficult to determine the effect of vaccines on transmission because of the many other factors in play.

Melissa Davey

@MelissaLDavey

Sat 27 Feb 2021 06.00 AEDT

Last modified on Sat 27 Feb 2021 06.02 AEDT

As Australia joins the worldwide Covid-19 vaccine rollout, researchers keep emphasising that while we know the various vaccines in use are strong at preventing hospitalisation and severe disease, it’s less clear how well they stop the virus spreading to other people.

While the term ‘Covid-19’ is often used interchangeably to describe both the virus and the disease, it is important to understand the distinction between the two.

The virus is Sars-CoV-2, while the disease that can cause symptoms such as coughing and fever is Covid-19. We know vaccinated people are protected in 63-95% of cases from developing Covid-19 and its symptoms, depending on the vaccine. All of the vaccines being rolled out are similarly highly effective at stopping severe disease.

The big unanswered question is whether vaccinated people can still pass Sars-CoV-2 on, even if they haven’t developed Covid-19. Researchers keep saying we need more data and monitoring of those who have been vaccinated to understand this. But with more than 200m doses administered worldwide, why are we still unsure?

The chair of epidemiology at Deakin University in Melbourne, Professor Catherine Bennett, says the studies needed to determine whether the vaccine stops virus spread are among the most difficult to do.

“Countries that have a highly vaccinated population are those where there was an emergency vaccine rollout due to the severity of the situation, they were just swamped with cases,” Bennett says.

“But that means they are usually also the countries where measures such as lockdowns have been stepped up. So it is hard to know what’s contributing to the stop of spread; the vaccines, or other measures such as lockdowns.

“The other aspect is that all the vaccine rollouts have focused on those most vulnerable and at risk, but most of those people are in places with lots of hygiene and protective measures already in place, such as hospitals and nursing homes. So again it’s hard to know how much the vaccine is contributing, because it’s being given in settings that are not being as challenged by the virus as the general population.”

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital nurse manager Sue McGrady was among the first Australians to receive the Pfizer vaccine, on February 22. Photograph: Toby Zerna/AP

The good news is that even if the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission of Sars-CoV-2 in most cases, there is already evidence that a non-vaccinated person who catches the virus from a vaccinated person will develop a less severe disease.

It is believed the higher the level of exposure to droplets and aerosols from an infected person, the more aggressive the illness. If vaccinated people don’t develop symptoms, then the chance of it spreading via coughing and spluttering, where droplets containing high amounts of the virus are expelled into the air, will be greatly reduced.

“It takes time to actually follow up people and regularly test and check them for their viral loads,” Bennett said. “This work is being done, and data so far is showing that on average vaccinated people have lower viral loads compared to pre-vaccination, or unvaccinated people.”

That’s why ongoing monitoring of those who are vaccinated will be critical, the director of the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases, Professor Tania Sorrell, and University of Queensland immunologist Professor Ian Frazer wrote in a review for the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences published in December. Control of the pandemic will depend on “sustained and enhanced support for research and innovation to continue to deliver the knowledge and tools required to tackle the pandemic – even when case numbers are low,” they wrote.

Professor Gregory Dore is an infectious diseases physician at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney studying the long-term impacts of Covid-19 on patients admitted to hospital. He said the “gold standard” in vaccinology was to stop infection as well as disease, something known as “sterilising immunity”. The rubella and smallpox vaccines are examples of vaccines that provide this extreme level of immunity.

“But it’s not always achieved for all vaccines,” Dore said.

A lack of sterilising immunity is not always a problem, however. Polio has been virtually eradicated worldwide despite its vaccine not providing sterilising immunity.

Influenza vaccines don’t provide sterilising immunity, and depending on the vaccine type have an efficacy of between 40-60% in terms of preventing disease. But they have proven invaluable at preventing hospitalisation and the burden of other diseases in vulnerable populations. It has also been shown with flu that other aspects of the immune system, unrelated to the immune response triggered by the vaccine, can kick in to fill the gaps. This may prove to be the case with Covid, but more time is needed to see if that effect kicks in.

“There’s some confusion in terms of all these different sort of efficacy end points,” Dore said.

“The main efficacy end point studied in clinical trials, and what we know most about, is the prevention of symptoms, and prevention of severe disease and hospitalisation. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for example show a prevention of symptomatic infection efficacy of 95%. A lot of people assume that percentage also applies for the ability of those vaccines to prevent infections to others, but it does not.”

In fact, Dore says it’s extremely unlikely that any vaccine will achieve such a high level of infection prevention.

“I think it would be great if we could achieve 70 to 80% efficacy at this.”

And he said all indications are that’s the case for at least the Pfizer vaccine, and there are some signs AstraZeneca will considerably reduce infections as well.

Dore says overall the primary aim of any vaccination program has to be protecting people from severe disease. All of the Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out achieve this.

“The big question for Australia is what level of vaccination is required so we don’t use strict restriction levers like lockdown and quarantine all the time,” Dore says. “That’s a tricky balancing act and still a moving feast. Do you reduce harsh measures once most adults are vaccinated, even if kids aren’t yet? It’s not straightforward. As a country we’ll need to calibrate our response as we get more information. I think the next six months will tell us an enormous amount.”

Letter containing rape allegation against a Cabinet Minister could tumble into full-blown crisis for Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Extract from ABC News

Analysis

By political editor Andrew Probyn

Posted 26minutes ago

Until the allegation is somehow resolved, Scott Morrison's oft-spoken-about "woman problem" only worsens.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Scott Morrison has a man problem. Sixteen of them, to be precise.

They are the 16 men in the 22-strong Federal Cabinet over whom hang an allegation of a horrible crime, outlined in an anonymous letter sent to the Prime Minister.

One of them is accused of a horrific 1988 rape of a 16-year-old but until he is identified, all 16 live under a cloud of broader public suspicion.

This is the political conundrum at the heart of the Prime Minister's man problem that threatens to tumble the scandal over parliamentary culture into a full-blown Cabinet crisis.

And until this is somehow resolved, Morrison's oft-spoken-about "woman problem" only worsens — a woman problem that's undeniably contributed to Liberal MP Nicolle Flint quitting politics in disgust at the toxic treatment of women in Canberra.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison wore an Australian Diamonds shirt, representing the national netball team, when he received his COVID-19 vaccination.(AAP: Joel Carrett)

A woman problem some Liberals fear will further discourage women from pursuing a political career. A woman problem that hasn't been remedied by any of Morrison's efforts to promote women.

For now, the Morrison Government argues that the minister in question must be afforded natural justice. It points to 7.1 of the ministerial code which states that "a Minister should stand aside if that Minister becomes the subject of an official investigation of alleged illegal or improper conduct."

One prime ministerial aide argues there is no official police investigation, in South Australia, NSW or federally, nor has a minister been charged.

Liberal strategists might have already calculated that the prospect of prosecution is remote in any case, given the complainant took her own life in June last year, aged 49.

Sexual assault support services:

• Canberra Rape Crisis Centre (24 hours): 02 6247 2525
• 1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732
• Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636

But other senior coalition folk wonder if a wait-it-out strategy is politically tenable in the long run, especially after the past fortnight of sleaze, shame and self-reflection.

They question whether the Government can sustain resistance against calls for an independent inquiry.

Some in Labor suggest the Coalition might fight fire with fire, that historical claims of sexual assault against a senior Labor figure might be revisited.

But this wouldn't help Morrison, whose acknowledgement of significant cultural problems in the Parliament and his party requires action that restores the Coalition's reputation.

In the wake of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins's explosive claim of rape by a colleague in the office of a minister in 2019, the PM has set himself the task of rebuilding female faith in federal politics.

He urged MPs and senators to heed the guidance of Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw by referring allegations of sexual assault and other serious offences to the police "without delay".

"I cannot state strongly enough the importance of timely referrals of allegations of criminal conduct," Commissioner Kershaw wrote to the Prime Minister on Wednesday, February 24.

The ABC understands that the AFP Commissioner had already received — by email earlier that day — the anonymous complaint of rape against the Federal Minister.

Sarah Hanson-Young says she sent rape allegations to the AFP.

Express mail envelopes containing a 31-page dossier outlining the allegation — including the complainant's statement to her solicitor, excerpts of her 1988 diary and a photograph from the time — had also arrived at the offices of the Prime Minister, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong on Wednesday too, although neither Wong nor Hanson-Young opened the envelope until Friday morning.

Whether the tone of Commissioner Kershaw's letter to the PM was influenced by the historical allegation of rape against a Cabinet minister cannot be tested, but his letter to the PM went on:

"Failure to report alleged criminal behaviour in this manner, or choosing to communicate or disseminate allegations via other means, such as through the media or third parties, risks prejudicing any subsequent police investigation."

The Prime Minister's Office cited this last paragraph when comment was sought on Friday about the rape allegations levelled at one of his Cabinet Ministers, as if it were a shield.

But Commissioner Kershaw wasn't simply criticising the use of media, as much as any hardened copper resents the Fourth Estate getting the scoop.

The AFP, it's understood, had become alarmed that the bevy of inquiries announced by the PM in the wake of the Higgins allegation was obscuring the preferred path for complaints: straight to police.

Which, according to one Liberal, puts Morrison's criticism of Linda Reynolds into sharper perspective.

The PM says he's disappointed Reynolds never informed him of Brittany Higgins's complaint but at the same time says he would have handled the allegation the same if he'd been in Reynolds's place, which is an insight into his instinct for political management.

So how does Cabinet function from here on, Liberals are asking?

"Linda copped it for not telling Morrison there'd been an alleged rape in her office, he finds himself in a similar situation," one male Liberal said.

"Now he has knowledge of an alleged rape by a Cabinet colleague, what is he going to do about [it] and how does he see his moral obligation?

"And what are the six female Cabinet Ministers expected to do — to remain quiet knowing that one of the 16 men around the table is facing a rape allegation?"

For a Prime Minister urging his party towards a new compact with women, this is a perilous moment.

What you need to know about the letter containing a historical rape allegation against a Cabinet Minister.

Extract from ABC News

By political reporter Matthew Doran

Posted Yesterday at 2:49pm, updated Yesterday at 5:04pm

An historical rape allegation involving a Cabinet Minister has been referred to the AFP.(ABC News)

A letter alleging a man who is now a federal Cabinet Minister raped a young woman in 1988 has been referred to the Australian Federal Police, sending shockwaves through Parliament.

It follows a fortnight of debate over the culture on Capital Hill and in politics more broadly.

Who has been told about the allegation?

The letter containing the allegation was sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Copies were sent to Labor's Senate Leader Penny Wong, and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, accompanied by a statement outlining the details of the alleged sexual assault.

The matter has been referred to the AFP, with the letter sent on to AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw.

It is understood he has briefed police in New South Wales and South Australia about the letter's contents.

Senator Wong explained the letter was not the first she had heard of the situation.

"I first became aware of the complainant's allegation when I ran into her in Adelaide in November 2019. The complainant reminded me we had met once before," she said in a statement.

"I facilitated her referral to rape support services and confirmed she was being supported in reporting the matter to NSW Police."

Veteran political journalist Malcolm Farr says the new rape allegation is far too serious for the government to try to spin its way out of it.

The alleged victim also wrote to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2019.

Senator Wong and Mr Turnbull both informed SA Police, as state police forces would generally have jurisdiction over such offences.

The AFP has now been alerted, given the situation has escalated with the sending of the letter to the PM.

What do we know about the allegation?

A copy of the anonymous letter, attaching a detailed statement written by the alleged victim, was shared with the ABC's Four Corners by a friend of the alleged victim.

The woman said she was 16 at the time she was allegedly anally raped in Sydney in 1988, before the man entered federal politics.

What investigations are underway?

The woman went to New South Wales Police last year, kickstarting the investigation process.

Sexual assault support services:

• Canberra Rape Crisis Centre (24 hours): 02 6247 2525
• 1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732
• Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636

But officers were hampered by COVID-19 border restrictions, and were unable to travel to South Australia to interview her.

Since then, the woman has taken her own life.

It is understood that on the day before she died, she told officers she did not want to proceed with an investigation.

New South Wales Police said in a statement that the investigation was suspended when she died.

South Australian Police are looking into her death and say a report will be prepared for the coroner.

How has the Prime Minister responded?

The Prime Minister's Office has not commented specifically on the allegation, rather referring to advice from the AFP earlier this week about the need to refer sexual assault allegations to police.

Senator Wong said she had told South Australian Police about what she knew of the allegation when the woman died. She said there needed to be "appropriate action" to examine the allegation.

Senator Hanson-Young said it was a "disturbing" and "very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a member of the government".

What happens now?

The biggest question is what police will do, given the woman who made the allegations has died.

NSW Police suspended their inquiry because of her death, while SA Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

The AFP issued a statement saying it would liaise with relevant state authorities, and would be making no further comment.

It remains to be seen how the Prime Minister will respond to the allegation — whether he will agree to the demand in the letter for an independent inquiry.

He may be reluctant to do so, but a serious allegation has been aired about one of his ministers, meaning he may have no choice but to act.

A Morrison government minister has been accused of rape in a letter sent to the Prime Minister.

Extract from The New Daily

The New Daily

6:15am, Feb 27, 2021 Updated: 1h ago

A rape allegation against one of Scott Morrison’s own Cabinet Ministers has been referred to federal police after a letter was sent to the Prime Minister detailing the allegations.

The alleged sexual assault dates to 1988, before the unnamed senior minister entered politics. The victim, who was 16 at the time of the alleged crime, took her own life last year.

The letter came with a detailed statement prepared by the complainant for her lawyer and was shared with the ABC’s Four Corners program by a friend of the alleged victim.

It was forwarded to AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw by Labor’s Leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, and Greens Senator Hanson-Young, who were also recipients.

The latest allegation comes a day after Commission Kershaw urged all federal politicians to refer such allegations to police “without delay” in the ongoing reaction to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins speaking out about her alleged rape.

Ms Higgins’ explosive revelations have engulfed parliamentary sittings, prompting Australia’s major political parties to back a cultural overhaul.

Former Liberal minister Dr Sharman Stone has publicly urged the Prime Minister to further investigate the serving Cabinet Minister while calling out “secret men’s business”.

“I’m presuming our Prime Minister’s going to be told the name of the alleged person who this poor woman is saying raped her when she was just a young girl,” Dr Stone told ABC’s Radio National.

“Then it’s a matter of character, and yes, the party should be looking at this person in terms of their ongoing preselection.

“The party itself must be satisfied that there isn’t a further history of inappropriate, disrespectful behaviour.”

Former Liberal minister Dr Sharman Stone is calling for action after the latest rape allegation. Photo: ABC

The Morrison government has been under intense pressure over its response to allegations Ms Higgins was sexually assaulted by a former colleague in Parliament House in 2019.

There are four inquiries under way including a multi-party investigation aimed at ensuring parliament is a safe working environment.

Meanwhile a female South Australian MP who has previously been the target of sexist treatment has announced she will not be recontesting the next election.

Nicolle Flint, the member for Boothy, has not given a reason for her decision but The Weekend Australian reports she could no longer tolerate the pressures of political life as a female MP.

Ms Flint was the target of a vicious election campaign in 2019 and has spoken out about her experience of misogyny and abuse as a woman in politics and hit out at men who criticised her appearance.

Responding to the letter alleging rape, a spokesperson for Mr Morrison on Friday evening said any allegations should be referred to the Australian Federal Police.

On Friday night an AFP spokesperson said in a statement the force would “not be commenting” on the latest matter relating to the Cabinet Minister.

Four Corners says the woman reported the alleged rape to NSW police in February 2020, but took her own life in June after informing them she no longer wanted to proceed with the complaint.

NSW Police said in a statement on Friday night that a report of alleged historic sexual violence was received in February 2020 and detectives commenced an investigation under Strike Force Wyndarra.

“After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police (SAPOL) on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,” the statement said.

Senators Hanson-Young and Wong both released statements saying they had contacted the AFP about the letter.

Ms Hanson-Young said the information she had received regarded a “disturbing and a very serious allegation of a criminal nature against a senior member of the government”.

Senator Wong said it was her understanding the complainant, who was 16 at the time of the alleged attack in Sydney, reported the assault to NSW Police and South Australia Police.

Dr Stone was a minister in the Howard Liberal-National government and told the ABC sexism and bullying were rife in parliament.

Dr Stone said she recalled a group of men in parliament who called themselves the “swinging dicks” and actively blocked Liberal MP Julie Bishop’s leadership aspirations.

“It was a very gendered thing obviously when you call yourself that, and you’re all men in the group,” she said.

“Women were considered shrill and hysterical if they raised their voices, or if they shed a tear they were weak.”

Dr Stone said it appeared little had changed since she left parliament four years ago.

“This whole secret men’s business has to stop. It has to be about fairness, justice, equity”.

Female MP won’t recontest election

Federal coalition MP Nicolle Flint says she will not recontest her South Australian seat of Boothby at the next election.

The second-term Liberal MP and deputy whip has been vocal about problems facing women in parliament, calling out what she described as sexist “rubbish” they too often faced.

“It has been an honour to represent the people of Boothby over two terms and I am grateful to them, and to my Liberal Party members, for giving me this opportunity,” Ms Flint said in a statement.

“I will continue to work hard to serve my local community until the election.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a statement on Friday night saying Ms Flint had been an “invaluable member of the Liberal team and my government”.

“The public attention from being a parliamentarian does sometimes attract unacceptable behaviour, and I have admired Nicolle’s efforts to stand against the bullying and nastiness of particular groups and individuals,” Mr Morrison said.

“I wish her all the best for what comes next.”

Ms Flint’s Boothby electorate is held by a margin of 1.4 per cent.

-with AAP