Daily News Roundup

Friday, March 5

The first locally produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines will be administered in just over a fortnight.

Speaking after a meeting of National Cabinet, Federal Health Department secretary Brendan Murphy said the CSL facility in Melbourne was on track to deliver the first batch of doses in the week starting on March 22.

“A million doses-plus a week, which gives us the capacity to really ramp up and broadly vaccinate our population as quickly as possible,” he said.

The vaccine has been approved for use in Australia, but the initial 300,000 doses were produced overseas.

The second delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines from overseas has been delayed because of export controls imposed by Italy and the European Union.

Both health authorities and the Prime Minister have said the delay will not impact the vaccine rollout in Australia.

Scott Morrison said the government “always anticipated” that a problem like this might arise.

“That’s why we’ve done a number of things, the most significant of which is to ensure that we have our own domestically produced vaccine,” he said.

“We’re one of the few countries that have done that.

“This particular shipment was not one we had counted on for the rollout, and so we will continue unabated.”

Mr Morrison acknowledged that the COVID situation in Italy was vastly different to the one here, with people dying “at the rate of 300 a day”.

“So, I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe,” he said.

Australia has secured 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 50 million will be made locally.

“We are still working and still expect to get those other 3.8 million, and we may yet get more in coming weeks,” Professor Murphy said.

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Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has apologised to Brittany Higgins for calling her a “lying cow” after Ms Higgins went public with allegations she was raped by another staffer in 2019.

The Australian reported yesterday that Senator Reynolds made the comments to her staff in Parliament House a fortnight ago.

“I want to express how deeply sorry I am for these remarks and for any hurt and distress they have caused,” Senator Reynolds said in a statement.

Lawyers representing Ms Higgins issued a letter to the senator yesterday demanding a public apology for the “hurt and distress” the comments caused.

The letter also asked for an immediate and public withdrawal of the comments.

“In response to a letter from Ms Higgins’ lawyers yesterday afternoon, discussions are now underway through our legal representatives in an effort to resolve this matter as soon as possible, with any resolution to include an apology,” Senator Reynolds said.

The Defence Minister also repeated that the comments were not a reference to the allegations Ms Higgins had made.

“I have never questioned Ms Higgins’ account of her alleged sexual assault and have always sought to respect her agency in this matter,” she said.

Ms Higgins has alleged that she was raped by a colleague in the senator’s office in March 2019 when Senator Reynolds was the then-defence industry minister.

She has made a formal complaint to the Australian Federal Police about the alleged incident.

Yesterday, the former staffer said she appreciated it was a stressful time for the senator, who is on medical leave, but “that sort of behaviour and language is never excusable”.

“It’s just further evidence of the toxic workplace culture that occurs behind closed doors in Parliament House,” Ms Higgins said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday that the comments were “inappropriate and wrong” and Senator Reynolds had apologised to her staff before they were made public.

“I think she understood from my comments yesterday and my discussions yesterday that I was, I did not support those comments in any way, shape or form and I’m pleased that she’s taken her decision to apologise,” he said on Friday.

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The lawyer for an 82-year-old man accused of murdering his wife at their home on Queensland’s Gold Coast, says the case should be dealt with quickly as his client has “serious health issues”.

The body of Robyn Beever, 82, was found by her daughter in the garage of the couple’s Varsity Lakes home on February 25.

Maxwell Beever was also at home and was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where he remains in custody, under police guard.

Police have said that an axe and belt found at the scene were part of their investigation.

Mr Beever’s lawyer Jonathan Nyst said his client had “serious health issues”, including Parkinson’s disease and that his family held concerns for his welfare.

Mr Beever was not in the Domestic Violence Court at Southport today where the matter was adjourned for seven weeks.

Maxwell Beever is accused of murdering his wife Robyn Beever at their Varsity Lakes home.

Supplied: Nyst Legal

Mr Nyst said courts usually adjourn for five weeks and took issue with the longer adjournment.

“It is in everyone’s interests that it is resolved as quickly as possible, and that’s also with regard to Mr Beever’s health,” he said.

“He is not a well man, he is an elderly man and he is in hospital for a reason.

“It is a very traumatic set of circumstances for the family.”