The Greens say the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine roll-out in South Africa shows the need for the government to establish a publicly-owned mRNA vaccine manufacturer in Australia.

Australia needs to be nimble and able to quickly adapt vaccines to ever-mutating strains of COVID, which would only be possible with a local, publicly owned facility that puts health, not profits, first.

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said:

The Australian Greens have slammed Labor and Liberal for doing a deal to block the Greens’ inquiry into privatisation.
 
After Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, announced at the National Press Club the party’s plan for a wide-ranging inquiry into the failures of three decades of privatisation and corporatisation, Labor and Liberal did a deal to block the Greens and instead pass their own weaker inquiry that will shield their governments from scrutiny.
 
“Labor and Liberal are running a protection racket for privatisation,” Bandt said.

Greens spokesperson for the public service, Adam Bandt MP, has responded to the Prime Minister’s upcoming speech by launching a new campaign to protect the public service.
 
“Under the major parties, our public service has been privatised by stealth, with jobs cut, government departments hollowed out and work palmed off to the ‘Big 4’ consulting firms in exchange for massive donations,” said Mr Bandt
 
“Scott Morrison’s thinly veiled threats to public servants threaten the future of frank and fearless advice.
 

Greens public sector spokesperson, Adam Bandt MP, has called on the government to boost public sector wages by more than 3% after he questioned the RBA Governor during hearings of the Economics Committee today.
 
The Australian Greens want an annual pay rise of 4% per year for non-executive public servants for the next four years to boost the wages of low paid public sector workers and lift wages across the economy.
 

Greens public sector spokesperson Adam Bandt has responded to the High Court’s decision in Comcare v Banerji, saying the law may need to change to ensure freedom of speech.
 
“The Greens are deeply concerned about the impacts of this decision,” said Mr Bandt.
 
“This threatens public servants’ ability to participate in modern life.
 
“Free speech must be protected and if we now have to change the law to ensure public servants can have a private life while still being apolitical at work, we should look at that. 

Greens spokesperson for the public service, Adam Bandt MP, today commented on reports that the Prime Minister will make ‘immediate and sweeping reforms’ to the public service, warning that the Greens will fight to defend the public service from any attempts by an increasingly authoritarian government to weaken it.
 
“Without a policy agenda, this government seeks only to destroy,” said Mr Bandt.
 
“The Prime Minister’s words today are riddled with euphemisms that foreshadow an attack on the public service.