Latest news with #JarrodBleijie
West Australian
a day ago
- Health
- West Australian
Queensland deputy premier satisfied with low flu vaccination rates as cases soar
Health authorities are urging Australians to still get a flu shot but Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie says he is satisfied with his state's flu vaccine rates, which have toppled to new lows amid increasing flu-related hospitalisations. The state is facing a surge in infections this flu season, with more than 44,000 lab-confirmed cases confirmed in the state this year – 20 per cent higher than the year before. Queensland Health reported 106 flu-related deaths this year until August 9, which is 12 more than the same time last year. Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Chris Owen said 86 per cent of people hospitalised with the flu had not been vaccinated. 'You can't argue with the numbers,' he said in a statement, adding '86 per cent of people hospitalised with flu weren't vaccinated and 90 per cent of reported cases hadn't had the vaccine'. 'The message is clear: get to your community pharmacy and get vaccinated.' On Tuesday, Mr Bleijie told reporters his vaccination status was a 'private matter between me and my doctor'. 'We're not going to be a government, like former governments, dictating what people do in their own homes, their own lives or with their doctors,' he said, referring to Covid-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates. 'If people want to get the flu vaccination they are entitled to do that, I'm not going to dictate whether they should do it or not. 'We will deal with the influx of people in the hospitals, just as the health minister has been doing, with our wonderful doctors and nurses on the frontline.' Australian Medical Association president Nick Yim said the increased flu-related cases were adding to the already overrun healthcare system. 'The cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising due to influenza and that's due to the fact that many people aren't vaccinated,' Dr Yim told Weekend Today. 'And that, unfortunately, is putting pressure on our healthcare system.' He said hospitals were forced to postpone elective surgeries due to the increasing number of flu cases. 'The reason why we had to postpone elective surgery was to give a bit of breathing space due to the fact that many people were coming into hospital needing beds due to influenza and other respiratory conditions,' he said. It comes as flu vaccine rates across the country remain low, with more than 8200 people in NSW testing positive for the flu in the week ending August 2. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said because the majority of people do not test for the flu, the figures are likely to be significantly higher. 'Everyone aged six months or older is recommended to get their flu vaccine, even previously healthy children and adults can experience severe complications from influenza,' she said. 'It's not too late to get vaccinated, getting the flu vaccine is quick, easy and recommended for everyone aged six months or older.' Dr Chant said despite the flu season nearing an end, she still urged everyone to get vaccinated. 'Influenza is a serious illness that can cause pneumonia, make chronic underlying medical conditions like diabetes, lung and heart disease much worse requiring hospital admission, and cause death,' she said. 'Complications can occur in anyone but are more likely in those at higher risk of severe illness.' In Queensland all residents are able to access the flu vaccination for free. 'Getting vaccinated not only protects individuals but also helps prevent the spread of influenza within the community,' Mr Owen said. The flu vaccine is free for NSW, WA, South Australian and Victorian residents aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged six months and over, residents over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
Perth Now
a day ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Deputy Premier shock stance on flu rates
Health authorities are urging Australians to still get a flu shot but Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie says he is satisfied with his state's flu vaccine rates, which have toppled to new lows amid increasing flu-related hospitalisations. The state is facing a surge in infections this flu season, with more than 44,000 lab-confirmed cases confirmed in the state this year – 20 per cent higher than the year before. Queensland Health reported 106 flu-related deaths this year until August 9, which is 12 more than the same time last year. Flu vaccine rates are low among Queenslanders. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Chris Owen said 86 per cent of people hospitalised with the flu had not been vaccinated. 'You can't argue with the numbers,' he said in a statement, adding '86 per cent of people hospitalised with flu weren't vaccinated and 90 per cent of reported cases hadn't had the vaccine'. 'The message is clear: get to your community pharmacy and get vaccinated.' Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie refused to disclose whether he had the jab. Dan Peled / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia On Tuesday, Mr Bleijie told reporters his vaccination status was a 'private matter between me and my doctor'. 'We're not going to be a government, like former governments, dictating what people do in their own homes, their own lives or with their doctors,' he said, referring to Covid-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates. 'If people want to get the flu vaccination they are entitled to do that, I'm not going to dictate whether they should do it or not. 'We will deal with the influx of people in the hospitals, just as the health minister has been doing, with our wonderful doctors and nurses on the frontline.' Some hospitals in Queensland have had to postpone elective surgeries due the increase in flu cases. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia Australian Medical Association president Nick Yim said the increased flu-related cases were adding to the already overrun healthcare system. 'The cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising due to influenza and that's due to the fact that many people aren't vaccinated,' Dr Yim told Weekend Today. 'And that, unfortunately, is putting pressure on our healthcare system.' He said hospitals were forced to postpone elective surgeries due to the increasing number of flu cases. 'The reason why we had to postpone elective surgery was to give a bit of breathing space due to the fact that many people were coming into hospital needing beds due to influenza and other respiratory conditions,' he said. Flu cases are also increasing in NSW. NewsWire/Ian Currie Credit: News Corp Australia It comes as flu vaccine rates across the country remain low, with more than 8200 people in NSW testing positive for the flu in the week ending August 2. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said because the majority of people do not test for the flu, the figures are likely to be significantly higher. 'Everyone aged six months or older is recommended to get their flu vaccine, even previously healthy children and adults can experience severe complications from influenza,' she said. 'It's not too late to get vaccinated, getting the flu vaccine is quick, easy and recommended for everyone aged six months or older.' NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant urged residents to get vaccinated against the flu/. NewsWire / Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia Dr Chant said despite the flu season nearing an end, she still urged everyone to get vaccinated. 'Influenza is a serious illness that can cause pneumonia, make chronic underlying medical conditions like diabetes, lung and heart disease much worse requiring hospital admission, and cause death,' she said. 'Complications can occur in anyone but are more likely in those at higher risk of severe illness.' In Queensland all residents are able to access the flu vaccination for free. 'Getting vaccinated not only protects individuals but also helps prevent the spread of influenza within the community,' Mr Owen said. The flu vaccine is free for NSW, WA, South Australian and Victorian residents aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged six months and over, residents over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Queensland deputy premier satisfied with low flu vaccination rates as cases soar
Health authorities are urging Australians to still get a flu shot but Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie says he is satisfied with his state's flu vaccine rates, which have toppled to new lows amid increasing flu-related hospitalisations. The state is facing a surge in infections this flu season, with more than 44,000 lab-confirmed cases confirmed in the state this year – 20 per cent higher than the year before. Queensland Health reported 106 flu-related deaths this year until August 9, which is 12 more than the same time last year. Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Chris Owen said 86 per cent of people hospitalised with the flu had not been vaccinated. 'You can't argue with the numbers,' he said in a statement, adding '86 per cent of people hospitalised with flu weren't vaccinated and 90 per cent of reported cases hadn't had the vaccine'. 'The message is clear: get to your community pharmacy and get vaccinated.' However, when asked about the hospitalisation and flu rates, Mr Bleijie said he was comfortable with current vaccination rates and would 'deal with' the increasing number of hospitalisations as they came. On Tuesday, Mr Bleijie told reporters his vaccination status was a 'private matter between me and my doctor'. 'We're not going to be a government, like former governments, dictating what people do in their own homes, their own lives or with their doctors,' he said, referring to Covid-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates. 'If people want to get the flu vaccination they are entitled to do that, I'm not going to dictate whether they should do it or not. 'We will deal with the influx of people in the hospitals, just as the health minister has been doing, with our wonderful doctors and nurses on the frontline.' Queensland Premier David Crisafulli offered a similar answer when asked about his own vaccination status, saying it was 'between me and my doctor'. Australian Medical Association president Nick Yim said the increased flu-related cases were adding to the already overrun healthcare system. 'The cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising due to influenza and that's due to the fact that many people aren't vaccinated,' Dr Yim told Weekend Today. 'And that, unfortunately, is putting pressure on our healthcare system.' He said hospitals were forced to postpone elective surgeries due to the increasing number of flu cases. 'The reason why we had to postpone elective surgery was to give a bit of breathing space due to the fact that many people were coming into hospital needing beds due to influenza and other respiratory conditions,' he said. It comes as flu vaccine rates across the country remain low, with more than 8200 people in NSW testing positive for the flu in the week ending August 2. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said because the majority of people do not test for the flu, the figures are likely to be significantly higher. 'Everyone aged six months or older is recommended to get their flu vaccine, even previously healthy children and adults can experience severe complications from influenza,' she said. 'It's not too late to get vaccinated, getting the flu vaccine is quick, easy and recommended for everyone aged six months or older.' Dr Chant said despite the flu season nearing an end, she still urged everyone to get vaccinated. 'Influenza is a serious illness that can cause pneumonia, make chronic underlying medical conditions like diabetes, lung and heart disease much worse requiring hospital admission, and cause death,' she said. 'Complications can occur in anyone but are more likely in those at higher risk of severe illness.' In Queensland all residents are able to access the flu vaccination for free. 'Getting vaccinated not only protects individuals but also helps prevent the spread of influenza within the community,' Mr Owen said. The flu vaccine is free for NSW, WA, South Australian and Victorian residents aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged six months and over, residents over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
The Guardian
06-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Thousands of Queensland teachers have gone on strike with 600,000 school students affected. What happens next?
Thousands of Queensland teachers have downed pens and walked off the job without pay for the first time in 16 years. In Brisbane, members of the Queensland Teachers' Union held placards as they marched on state parliament demanding better pay and conditions after government negotiations broke down. The march was among 30 rallies held across Queensland on Wednesday after more than 50,000 members voted to strike for the first time since 2009. The union believes it to be its biggest strike ever and it comes as a number of other public-sector unions remain locked in negotiations with the state government. The strike disrupted hundreds of state schools – with 600,000 primary and high school students estimated to have been affected. Sign up: AU Breaking News email So why – as protest one sign put it – is this pay offer 'the last straw' for much of state's public-sector workforce and what happens next? For nearly six months, the Queensland Teachers' Union has been locked in negotiations for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. The union's president, Cresta Richardson, said the main priorities were attraction and retention of staff, reducing occupational violence, school resourcing, respect for the profession and salary. But after 18 meetings, the state government's pay offer remains exactly the same: 8% over three years, known as the 'state wage policy'. The industrial relations minister and deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, said the state wage policy 'is the policy of government' and has been agreed to by cabinet. 'The state wage policy is the state wage policy, and we're not changing from that,' he said. The QTU general secretary, Kate Ruttiman, blamed the Liberal National party's 'inflexible' wages policy for strike action that had not taken place under previous governments. The unions say the pay offer would 'place members at the bottom end of the Australian pay scale in three years'. An estimated 600,000 students in state schools were affected. Catholic and independent schools were not affected, and teaching went ahead as usual. Parents were urged to keep their children home where possible. But the department said that schools communicated directly with their communities for alternative arrangements, with some offering excursions, tuckshops and outside school hours care. The teachers' union is the largest public sector union and the first to strike. Members of another public sector union, Professionals Australia, walked off the job this week. About 450 technical and road engineers conducted a 12 hour work stoppage on Monday. Another huge public sector union, the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union, has been conducting lower-level non-strike industrial action since June. That largely takes the form of symbolic steps like wearing union shirts, but also refusing to work overtime, or office tasks like cleaning, and not entering details to rob the department of Medicare rebates. Agreements with even more unions – notably including the Queensland Professional Firefighters' Union – will soon run out. Unions are not permitted to coordinate industrial action with each other. But many are concerned a broader battle is brewing, akin to the general battle over a decade-old wages policy in New South Wales that helped bring down its Coalition in 2023. Teachers voted on Wednesday 'strongly' supporting conducting another 24-hour stoppage 'on a date to be determined, should satisfactory progress towards a reasonable agreement not be made'. Even if a deal is reached, members still have to vote for it. The police union inked an agreement based on the wage policy last week, despite describing the permanent pay component as 'grossly inadequate' – but cops are widely expected to vote it down. But in its first state budget in a decade, the LNP budgeted for just 3.5% increase in wage costs, including headcount and wages. The LNP government last week requested conciliation through the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. Minister John-Paul Langbroek and the premier, David Crisafulli, have committed to bargaining in good faith. With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
The Guardian
01-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Impartiality concerns raised as LNP appoints former Liberal party member to lead Queensland CFMEU inquiry
The lawyer leading a commission of inquiry into Queensland's CFMEU was a former member of the Liberal party and acted for businesses, raising questions about his impartiality, according to the state's union movement. Deputy premier and industrial relations minister Jarrod Bleijie announced on Friday that Stuart Wood AM KC, an industrial relations lawyer of 30 years experience who has worked in Victoria and Queensland, would be the inquiry's commissioner. 'He is the most pre-eminent qualified industrial relations expert in Australia, and I'm so pleased that he has accepted the government's offer to start the royal commission today so we can get to the bottom of the culture of the CFMEU,' Bleijie said. Bleijie said Wood would be required by law to conduct his job 'independently, impartially and fairly' despite being a former member of the Liberal party. Sign up: AU Breaking News email The commission of inquiry will investigate allegations of 'the use of threats of violence, intimidation, misogyny and bullying' within the union, that were revealed last month, among other matters. Wood has been the secretary of the conservative Samuel Griffith Society for the last decade. In 2023, at a ceremonial sitting of the federal court, another lawyer described him as 'one who never appears for unions'. Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King said Wood's background called into question whether he would conduct the inquiry in an impartial manner. 'Are those personal biases and potential conflicts going to get in the way of having an independent, impartial commission of inquiry, independent from government?' King said. 'Why was he selected? Was he selected because of his connections with the Liberal party?' King said the commissioner would have to manage any conflicts of interest, including with prior clients – though, she said, that would also be the case for a lawyer who had only represented unions. She said there was a potential for the inquiry to be a union-bashing and Labor-bashing exercise and Wood would need to manage any conflicts of interest. 'Clearly on the paper, he is very well experienced and should be able to do it … the ball is in his court as to how he manages perceptions about those issues,' she said. On Friday morning, Bleijie said Wood had been the subject of a 'smear campaign' from the Labor party. 'The attorney general and I made the decision and presented that to the governor. It was a governor-in-council appointment. There is no one better qualified in Australia to conduct this inquiry into the CFMEU,' he said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Wood said he was 'delighted to accept this appointment' and was 'committed to conducting it with the thoroughness and rigour the people of Queensland deserve'. 'All Queenslanders deserve workplaces that are safe, respectful and operate within the framework of the law,' he said. CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC said on Thursday night that the inquiry would receive the full cooperation of the union. Several lawyers contacted by the Guardian said it wasn't unusual for industrial relations lawyers to act for only one type of party, whether unions or employers. The commission of inquiry has broad terms of reference, including investigating the involvement of organised crime in the CFMEU and in the broader construction industry. It is scheduled to run for 12 months, but Bleijie said on Friday that its deadline could be extended if needed. Former police deputy commissioner Bob Gee will serve as the inquiry secretary. He will take leave from his role as director general of the Department of Youth Justice and Victim Support to do so. Wood was appointed King's Counsel in 2014, is a member of the Victorian and Queensland Bars and has chambers in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. He was appointed to the Order of Australia in 2019 'for significant service to the legal profession, particularly in the area of industrial relations'.
