Capitalism and Australia’s Response to COVID-19
20/01/2022
Nath O'Flanahee
Recently there has been a large and justified public outcry against the Federal Government over their refusal to make rapid antigen test kits free for all Australians [1]. This comes after multiple COVID-19 PCR testing sites in New South Wales and Victoria closed in order to process a backlog of testing, in the face of overwhelming demand during the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant [2]. Rapid antigen test kits have quickly become highly sought after and difficult to source, and some businesses have been all too happy to take advantage of this by implementing price hikes on testing kits [3].
Despite the shortages and price hikes, Scott Morrison has made it clear that the Federal Government has no plans to make rapid antigen test kits free for all Australians, as businesses need “confidence that they won't be undercut by the government” [4]. From this statement alone, it’s clear to see that the Federal Government has prioritised the profits of private businesses over the health of the general public. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Australia’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has always been conducted with the class interests of the rich in mind.
The Ruby Princess
On the 25th of January 2020, Australia recorded its first case of COVID-19 after a man from Wuhan, China, caught a plane from the Chinese Province of Guangdong, to Melbourne, VIC [5]. Just one month later, on the 2nd of March, Australia’s first cases of human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus were recorded [6]. These cases of transmission occurred in Sydney, NSW [6]. Less than a week later, on the 8th of March, Princess Cruises’ ‘Ruby Princess’ docked in Sydney Harbour after multiple passengers presented with flu-like symptoms [7]. NSW Health identified over 360 passengers and crew on board who had “respiratory disease symptoms of some kind” and conducted swab tests on nine individuals [7]. Authorities allowed passengers to disembark, and hours later allowed 2700 new passengers to board the cruise ship which was on a return trip to New Zealand [8]. A Northern Territory couple, who were allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess on the 8th of March, later tested positive for COVID-19 after they had flown to Darwin [8].
On the 16th of March, a week after the Ruby Princess was allowed to disembark from Sydney Harbour, the Federal Government declared that they had “banned cruise ships from foreign ports (including round trip international cruises originating in Australia) from arriving at Australian ports for an initial 30 days, effective as at 11:59pm Sunday 15 March 2020” [9]. They also announced that all international arrivals into Australia were required to self-isolate for 14 days [9]. Despite these new rules, the Ruby Princess was allowed to return from New Zealand and dock in Sydney Harbour, just days later on the 19th of March [7]. They had 13 swab samples that needed urgent testing for COVID-19, and 11 passengers in isolation with flu-like symptoms on board [7]. Authorities allowed all 2700 passengers to disembark the Ruby Princess despite the fact that the 13 swab samples had not yet been tested, and when they finally were tested 3 of them returned a positive result for COVID-19 [7].
This negligence, on the part of State and Federal authorities, resulted in over 900 cases of COVID-19, and 28 deaths [10]. But why was it allowed to happen in the first place? Why was the Ruby Princess allowed to disembark in Sydney Harbour on the 8th of March 2020, with 2700 new passengers on board, during a global pandemic, when authorities knew that there was sickness on the ship? Why was the Ruby Princess allowed to dock during a ban on all international cruises entering Australian ports? The answer to these questions is simple: the NSW and Federal Governments put the profits of Princess Cruises, a multi-billion-dollar cruise company, before public health and peoples’ lives. It seems that every effort was made to ensure that the Ruby Princess continued to operate as close to normal as possible, while concerns over quarantine and, more generally, public health were pushed to the sidelines.
The Ruby Princess became infamous in 2020 after it was the source of 10% of Australia's early COVID-19 cases.
Quarantine
On the 27th of March 2020, the Federal Government announced that all arrivals into Australia from the 29th of March onwards, would need to quarantine in hotels for 14 days [11]. This move not only pleased large hotel owners, who had seen a substantial decline in business due to the pandemic [12], but also the Australian Labor Party (ALP) with its leader, Anthony Albanese, sharing an enthusiastic tweet online declaring his party’s support for hotel quarantine [13]. However, it wasn’t long before the consequences of placing potentially infectious people in large and poorly ventilated hotels, often located in the heart of cities, became glaringly obvious. Two months later, on the 27th of May, Melbourne’s first major hotel quarantine leak was identified, and by November of that year it had resulted in 768 deaths and over 18,000 cases [14]. Despite this horrific outcome, Federal and State Governments continued to use hotels as quarantine facilities, and by mid-July of 2021 there had been up to 30 outbreaks directly linked to hotel quarantine cases [15]. Again, it is clear that Australian Governments, with the exception of the Northern Territory, prioritised the interests of private businesses over public health, by choosing to help financially prop up large hotels rather than acting quickly to build fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities.
The Northern Territory is currently the only state with a government run, fit-for-purpose, COVID-19 quarantine facility. This facility, which is officially named the Howard Springs ‘Centre for National Resilience’[16], has the capacity to quarantine 2000 people at any given time [17]. Whilst this facility has been incredibly successful in the fight against COVID-19, the Federal Government and other State Governments have been slow to follow the Northern Territory’s lead. More Centres for National Resilience are currently being built in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth [18], but at this stage of the pandemic, 2 years since the COVID-19 virus was first detected in Australia, fit-for-purpose quarantine facilities should have already been built in every Australian state. Upon the global emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, was asked if the NSW Government would consider purpose-built quarantine facilities. He responded to this question by stating that the “NSW [Government] has just never had any interest in running a permanent system” [19]. Given that NSW has borne much of the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, this response is especially infuriating, but it’s hardly surprising as on the 1st of November 2021, in line with Dominic Perrottet’s “let it rip” COVID-19 “strategy”, the NSW government completely scrapped quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated international arrivals [20].
Lockdowns, Restrictions & Policing
Whilst the states of NSW and Victoria, more specifically the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, have consistently been hit hardest by the pandemic, they’ve also been the hotbeds of class antagonism and racism. Police have been heavily criticised, and rightly so, for disproportionately issuing fines for breaches of health restrictions to people in working class suburbs or suburbs with large Indigenous or migrant populations, compared to suburbs largely populated by the wealthy [21]. During the second lockdown of NSW, thousands of residents in Sydney’s wealthy Eastern Local Government Areas (LGAs) were largely allowed to sunbake daily on Bondi Beach, while ignoring mask and social distancing health orders [22]. In stark contrast, residents in Sydney’s, largely working class, Western and South Western ‘LGAs of concern’ endured over-policing and had curfews as well as exercise time limits imposed on them [23].
It’s now been revealed that the NSW Government went against the recommendations of NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant, who recommended that “consistent measures” be implemented “across greater metropolitan Sydney with outdoor masks, consistent 5km rule and authorised workers only” [24]. Instead the NSW Government hit Sydney’s Western and South Western ‘LGAs of concern’ with harsher restrictions including a curfew [24], and mobilised a large and intimidating police presence to enforce the harsh restrictions [25], in what has now been dubbed “a tale of two cities” [26].
On the 4th of July 2020, with no prior notice given to residents, the Victorian State Government sent 500 police officers to lock-down the affected complexes, and as a result, many residents were left without food, medication and other essentials. For the first 48 hours of hard lockdown there were inexcusable problems with food supply, where authorities supplied residents with expired food or food that did not meet their dietary requirements.
The war on the working class didn’t end there, as both Labor and Liberal State Governments went out of their way to infringe on the human rights of social housing residents. Two highly publicised instances of this occurred in Melbourne and Sydney during COVID-19 outbreaks in social housing complexes. The first instance took place in Melbourne at the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers after multiple cases of COVID-19 were detected in these densely populated complexes. On the 4th of July 2020, with no prior notice given to residents, the Victorian State Government sent 500 police officers to lock-down the affected complexes [27],and as a result, many residents were left without food, medication and other essentials [28]. For the first 48 hours of hard lockdown there were inexcusable problems with food supply, where authorities supplied residents with expired food or food that did not meet their dietary requirements [29]. Some residents didn’t eat the food that was provided to them out of fear that authorities were trying to poison them [29]. Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, believed that such fears would likely have been prevented if the Victorian Government had provided residents with prior notice of the hard lockdown [29]. She also found the timing of this hard lockdown to be a violation of the State’s human rights laws [30].
The second instance of this nature occurred in Sydney at Mission Australia’s ‘Common Ground’ social housing complex, where residents were also subjected to a sudden and poorly communicated hard lockdown after four COVID-19 cases were detected in the building [31]. Residents were not provided with adequate food supplies, they had their packages searched, and deliveries of alcohol and cigarettes were confiscated [31].
In both of these instances the Community Union Defence League (CUDL) and other community groups were forced to intervene by organising the supply of home cooked meals, groceries and other essential items, to residents in need [32]. Community groups like CUDL proved in practice that they were far more dedicated to supporting working class people in hard lockdown, than our well-resourced State Governments.
Community Union Defence League (CUDL) volunteers pictured preparing hot, nutritious meals for residents of the locked-down ‘Common Ground’ social housing complex.
Vaccine Roll-Out, Misinformation & Mandates
Early in the pandemic the Federal Government planned to rely heavily on two vaccines to combat COVID-19; the AstraZeneca vaccine and the University of Queensland vaccine [33]. Both could be produced domestically (unlike mRNA vaccines) however, the University of Queensland vaccine was abandoned by the Federal Government after it was found to produce chemicals in the body that would confuse some HIV tests and cause them to return false-positives [34]. Since then, scientists at the University of Queensland have been working to re-engineer their COVID-19 vaccine [35]. Australia’s other vaccine of choice, AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), was an attractive choice to the Federal Government for multiple reasons. It was much cheaper than the Pfizer BioNTech (Comirnaty) and Moderna (Spikevax) vaccines, and unlike other vaccines AstraZeneca didn’t need to be stored at extremely low temperatures [36]. Prior to the roll-out of vaccines in Australia, AstraZeneca said they would charge between $3 and $5 USD a dose, compared to Pfizer who said they would charge $19.50 USD per dose for the first 100 million doses, and Moderna who said they would charge between $25 and $37 USD per dose [36].
On the 30th of June 2020, Pfizer wrote to Federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, wanting to urgently discuss a vaccination deal [37]. The Federal Government were in no rush to secure a deal with Pfizer as the University of Queensland were still developing their vaccine and hadn’t yet encountered any issues with it. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t until November of that year that the Federal Government signed their first deal with Pfizer to secure 10 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine [38]. At two doses per-person, the order was only enough to vaccinate one-fifth of Australia’s population [39]. The Federal Government then went on to order another 10 million doses of the Pfizer Vaccine in February 2021 [40] – two months after they abandoned the University of Queensland Vaccine [41]. On the 8th of April 2021, ATAGI recommended that the Pfizer vaccine be the preferred vaccine for adults under 50 years of age. This recommendation was based on the “potentially increased risk of thrombosis (blood clots) with thrombocytopenia (low platelet counts) following AstraZeneca vaccine in those under 50 years” [42]. In response to ATAGI’s recommendation, the Federal Government secured another 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that same day [43]. While this was welcome news for Australians under the age of 50, it would still be quite some time before this order reached the country, and consequently most Australian’s under the age of 40 wouldn’t be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine until September or October of 2021 [44].
On the 17th of June 2021, ATAGI revised their previous recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines, and recommended that Pfizer be the preferred vaccine for people 16 to 60 years of age [45]. This revised recommendation was due to “a higher risk and observed severity of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) related to the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine observed in Australia in the 50-59 year old age group than reported internationally and initially estimated in Australia” [45]. Not only was the AstraZeneca vaccine found to pose a risk of causing TTS in people under the age of 60, it was also found to pose a higher risk to younger people, and severe cases of TTS are believed to be more common in younger women [46]. By the 22nd of July 2021, 6 Australians had died as a result of receiving their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine [47].
These deaths understandably contributed to vaccination hesitation amongst Australia’s population; with many fearing AstraZeneca’s rare blood clot side effect, and some fearing possible side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations in general. Membership of Australian anti-vaccine Facebook groups swelled by 280% in the first 15 months of the global COVID-19 pandemic [48], and social media algorithms were helping to promote the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation [49]. Far-right “news” channel, Sky News, which broadcasts over free-to-air television in regional and non-metropolitan Australia, as well as cable television, was also aggressively spreading COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation [50]. Vaccine uptake was far from where it needed to be, and rather than moving to counter misinformation with a large campaign aimed at educating people on the dangers of COVID-19 and the benefits of vaccination, Federal and State Governments instead chose to sit on their hands. As the CFMEU’s Construction and General Division NSW Secretary, Darren Greenfield, put it: “If the government is serious about increasing vaccination rates, they need to make vaccines available to everyone who wants one and back it up with a clear and consistent public information campaign so workers can make an informed and confident choice” [51].
On the 12th of August 2021, the Fair Work Commission gave employers the green light to introduce workplace vaccination mandates [52]. Although it makes sense that health care workers and those that work with vulnerable people be required to be vaccinated, there isn’t really a need for construction or mining workers to be compelled to do the same. They’re not front-line workers and they’re not caring for vulnerable or sick people, yet the Fair Work Commission have allowed employers to introduce vaccine mandates for workers in these industries. In December 2021, the Fair Work Commission signed off on BHP’s vaccine mandate for workers at their Hunter Valley coal mine [53]. This came after the multi-billion-dollar mining company had their original workplace vaccine mandate overturned by the Fair Work Commission on the 3rd of December 2021, when the CFMEU took legal action over BHP’s lack of consultation with its workers [54].
The Fair Work Commission’s guidance on workplace vaccine mandates makes it clear that employers will often be required to “consult” with their employees before introducing vaccine mandates, in accordance with industry awards and workplace enterprise bargaining agreements [55], but that is all that it makes clear. As the Mining and Energy branch of the CFMEU have stated: “the legal rights and responsibilities of employers and employees have not been made clear” [56]. The Mining and Energy branch of the CFMEU have maintained a principled position of encouraging vaccination against COVID-19 amongst their membership, whilst opposing vaccine mandates for mining and energy workers stating that it isn’t “reasonably practicable to expect these workers, not on the front line of fighting COVID, to be compulsorily required to be fully vaccinated” [56].
It’s not just unions making the case against vaccine mandates either. In August 2015, Professors Raina MacIntyre, Daniel Salmon and Saad Omar published an opinion piece in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal [57], stating that whilst it was “well intentioned” to make “vaccination truly compulsory”, it was also “ill conceived” and “may result in more harm than good, and may even backfire by driving hesitant parents to become anti-vaccination” [58]. The professors are all experts in their fields of global health, epidemiology and vaccines [59]. Professor Raina MacIntyre is also currently on the World Health Organisation’s Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition [60]. These individuals know what they’re talking about, and in their report they went on to reference the UK’s smallpox vaccination mandates in the 1800s [58], which sparked the formation of the ‘Anti-Vaccination League’ and the ‘Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League’, and lead to large anti-vaccination demonstrations in the town of Leicester [61]. Parents who refused to vaccinate their children against smallpox became martyrs, and in 1898 the UK Government was forced to implement a non-medical ‘conscientious objector’ vaccination exemption [61].
When looking at history, it’s not surprising to see that Australia’s vaccination mandates have pushed many vaccine hesitant workers into the arms of anti-vaccine and far-right groups [62]. The Government failed to conduct a large public information campaign to educate people on the dangers of COVID-19 and the benefits of vaccination, and their bungled vaccine roll-out only helped to add to the confusion and anxiety that workers were already feeling. When the Fair Work Commission gave the green light for employers to introduce vaccination mandates in their workplaces, they effectively placed the blame for the slow vaccine uptake squarely on the shoulders of workers. This blame couldn’t be further misplaced, as not only does the blame lie with the Federal and State Governments over their failure to educate the public with regards to COVID-19 and vaccines, but it also lies with many large pharmaceutical companies who have tightly controlled the production and distribution of their vaccines, thus contributing to Australia’s bungled vaccine roll-out. Instead of treating vaccines as vital public goods, capitalist intellectual property rights let private pharmaceutical corporations handle live-saving vaccines as commodities. The result of this jealous guarding of the monopoly on the production and supply of vaccines was, and continues to be, vaccine shortages and further unnecessary death and suffering [63].
Australia's woeful response to COVID-19 has pushed many people into the arms of anti-vaccine and far-right groups.
South Africa and India have attempted to combat vaccine shortages by proposing a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights over COVID-19 vaccines and tests, but such a proposal will require the support all 164 member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) before it is passed [64]. Unfortunately Australia is one of the member states that has been actively stalling this process by failing to co-sponsor the waiver [65], despite an announcement by Australian Trade Minister, Dan Tehan, that Australia would support the proposal [66]. Actions speak far louder than words, and the actions of the Australian Federal Government show that once again they have chosen to prioritise the profits and interests of the rich over the health and safety of the general public.
Australia’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been atrocious to say the least, but it’s not at all surprising. Australia is a capitalist country, ruled by the rich, and for as long as we remain a capitalist country the government will continue to act with the class interests of the rich in mind, even if it is to the detriment of public health. Workers will continue to shoulder the burdens of decisions made that favour the rich, and in times of crisis those burdens will become ever greater. Only a socialist state will truly respect the health and rights of working class Australian’s, and only a Marxist Leninist party can bring about such a state. Join the Australian Communist Party, and help us build Australia’s revolutionary vanguard!
References:
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/05/coalition-wont-budge-on-free-rapid-covid-tests-for-all-but-concession-card-holders-are-covered
[2] https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/major-pathology-lab-shuts-covid19-testing-clinics-due-to-overwhelming-demand/news-story/3a5181a2ee5e14277b843c808abf1e53
[3] https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/consumer-rights-and-advice/your-rights/articles/price-gouging-on-covid-19-rapid-antigen-tests
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[5] https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/first-confirmed-case-of-novel-coronavirus-in-australia
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[9] https://www.pm.gov.au/media/coronavirus-measures-endorsed-national-cabinet
[10] https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamarathiessen/2020/08/14/ruby-princess-inquiry-health-covid-australia-us/?sh=4f0fcb2d3809
[12] https://www.tourismaccommodation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/accomclosures270320.pdf
[13] https://twitter.com/albomp/status/1243419462465761280
[15] https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2021/jul/12/inadequate-covid-breaches-on-the-rise-in-australias-hotel-quarantine
[17] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-07/nt-howard-springs-set-to-reach-capacity-quarantine/100358058
[18] https://www.finance.gov.au/government/property-and-construction/centres-national-resilience
[20] https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/hotel-quarantine.aspx
[21] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/nsw-police-covid19-fines-double-the-amount-issued-in-western-sydney-compared-to-eastern-suburbs/news-story/e505c427317003d5ec5e371cf02c9a20; http://honisoit.com/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-cases-fines-and-anti-asian-racism-in-nsw/; https://www.sbs.com.au/news/concerns-police-using-coronavirus-powers-to-target-marginalised-communities-in-australia/548a6a66-1482-41eb-abfd-b018965a549c; https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/02/people-in-lower-socio-economic-areas-twice-as-likely-to-cop-a-covid-fine-victorian-inquiry-finds; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/06/covid-19-lockdown-victoria-police-data-sparks-fears-disadvantaged-unfairly-targeted
[23] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/q-a-wrap-sydney-two-cities-emerging/100469236
[24] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-23/nsw-government-responds-to-kerry-chant-lockdown-email/100643112
[25] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/15/we-feel-intimidated-residents-in-south-west-sydney-covid-hotspots-say-police-are-making-things-worse
[26] https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/sydney-lockdown-a-tale-of-two-cities-c-3972379
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[28] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55342990
[30] https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/news/public-housing-tower-lockdown/
[32] https://7ampodcast.com.au/episodes/locked-in-the-nine-blocks; https://www.reddit.com/r/RedAustralia/comments/pofu6p/last_night_members_of_the_community_union_defence/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhC1JBrqbMk
[33] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/10/stuffed-how-australias-unconscionablegamble-on-covid-vaccines-backfired
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[35] https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2021-04-26/university-queensland-covid-19-vaccineresearch-molecular-clamp/100050240
[36] https://www.businessinsider.com.au/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-comparedastrazeneca-cheaper-temperature-2020-11
[37] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/12/in-hindsight-there-was-no-foresighthow-australia-bungled-its-pfizer-covid-deal
[38] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/09/scott-morrison-insists-every-effortwas-made-to-get-vaccines-despite-greg-hunt-missing-pfizer-meeting
[39] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/10/stuffed-how-australias-unconscionablegamble-on-covid-vaccines-backfired
[40] https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/about-rollout/vaccineagreements
[41] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/11/australia-terminates-university-ofqueensland-vaccine-deal-with-csl-after-false-positives-for-hiv
[42] https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-statement-on-astrazeneca-vaccine-in-response-to-newvaccine-safety-concerns
[43] https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-australian-parliament-house-act-09april21
[44] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-06/australians-under-40-pfizer-or-moderna-septemberoctober/100269850
[45] https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-statement-on-revised-recommendations-on-the-use-ofcovid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-17-june-2021
[46] https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-doesthe-vaxzevria-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-cause-blood-clots; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-05/nsw-woman-becomes-australia-seventh-astrazeneca-related-death/100354032
[47] https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-astrazeneca-vaccine-two-deaths-recorded-inpast-week-from-rare-blood-clotting-disorder/7605e3d5-29fc-4408-9638-b08b2ccca39f
[48] https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/05/18/anti-vaxxer-facebook-groups-vaccine-hesitancy/
[49] https://www.businessinsider.com.au/social-media-algorithms-unwinnable-misinformationbattle-2021-9
[50] https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sky-news-australia-defends-broadcasting-covid-19-misinformation/2c55c4c7-9c2d-44ed-b9e5-bb2a3f1ff73a; https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/10/skynews-australia-deletes-dozens-of-videos-promoting-unproven-covid-treatments
[51] https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/green-light-for-mandatory-jabs-as-sydney-tradiesconsider-legal-action/news-story/7081e2e2be84c64fdeea4ed999420bf5
[52] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/12/fair-work-ombudsman-suggestsaustralian-employers-could-force-certain-workers-to-get-covid-jab
[53] https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/bhp-reimposes-vaccine-mandates-in-nationaltest-case-20211217-p59ime.html
[54] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-03/bhps-vaccine-mandate-unlawful-fair-workcommission-finds/100673390
[55] https://coronavirus.fairwork.gov.au/coronavirus-and-australian-workplace-laws/covid-19-vaccinations-and-the-workplace/covid-19-vaccinations-workplace-rights-and-obligations
[56] https://me.cfmeu.org.au/news/covid-vaccination-mining-and-energy-workplaces
[57] https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(15)00156-5.pdf
[58] https://sph.med.unsw.edu.au/news/making-vaccination-truly-compulsory-well-intentioned-illconceived
[59] https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-raina-macintyre; https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/1015/daniel-salmon; https://sph.emory.edu/faculty/profile/index.php?FID=saad-omer-581
[60] https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-raina-macintyre
[61] https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements
[62] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-22/how-antivaxxers-conspiracy-theorists-far-rightmelbourne-protest/100481874
[63] https://www.amnesty.org.au/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-trips-waiver/
[64] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/10/covid-19-time-for-countries-blocking-tripswaiver-to-support-lifting-of-restrictions-2/
[65] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/25/australian-government-trying-tohave-it-both-ways-on-covid-vaccine-ip-waiver
[66] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/australia-waive-intellectual-property-covid-vaccines/100445094