COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): Supplementary question: given the shared nature of the responsibility that the Premier has referred to, what is the state government's responsibility for rolling out the vaccine in the APY lands?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:17): It's almost impossible—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: Have you run out of questions already?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to believe that a few minutes in—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I have made it clear that this is a very important—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. The Premier will resume his seat. Interjections on my left will cease. I call the Deputy Premier to order. I remind members on my left that the subject matter of the leader's now series of questions I'm certain is important to all members of the house. The Premier is entitled to be heard in silence in answering the question. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I have been answering questions in this chamber on the vaccine rollout for some days now and I think it's a very important issue for our state and for our nation. There are shared responsibilities between the commonwealth and the state. The commonwealth is responsible for the purchase and the procurement of those vaccines and the distribution of those vaccines around the country, and there is a real complexity with that.

With regard to the administration of the vaccine, that is very much a shared responsibility. The feds have been responsible for aged care. They have been responsible for disability care. They are also responsible for the vaccine rollout via GPs and, ultimately, they will also be responsible for vaccine rollouts via pharmacies. We have our own responsibilities, which I think have been now well canvassed here.

With regard to the distribution on the APY lands, as I said, this is provided by Nganampa Health. This is federally funded, so it will differ from other areas, other Aboriginal communities. I can get the exact details of when that rollout starts with Nganampa Health, but it will be eligible to begin as of next week.