0/5

Q+A switches from Brisbane to Melbourne

Lockdown sees ABC abandon Brissy broadcast, now with David Speers hosting in Melbourne.

Q+A had plans to broadcast from the Brisbane Powerhouse with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this Thursday.

But that was before Brisbane and parts of Queensland were thrown into a three-day snap lockdown.

It will now broadcast live from Melbourne with guest host David Speers. Premier Palaszczuk will still feature -but presumably in a virtual appearance.

Up to 12 million Australians are in lockdown, or heading that way, as four states now race to contain outbreaks of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

South East Queensland, Magnetic Island and Townsville have gone into a three day snap lockdown. Perth and the Peel region have entered a four-day lockdown. And the Northern Territory has extended its stay-at-home orders until Friday. In New South Wales, the Sydney outbreak shows no sign of ending quickly – with another 19 cases identified today – and Treasurer Dominic Perrotet has unveiled a business rescue package.

Confusion has followed the Prime Minister’s announcement that Australian adults aged under 40 will finally be allowed to request the AstraZeneca vaccine, even though Pfizer is the preferred option for that age group. Scott Morrison has also announced mandatory vaccinations for aged care workers and plans to indemnify doctors against the very rare risk of blood clots. A revamped quarantine scheme will now mandate quarantine workers be both vaccinated and tested, and domestic travellers will be separated from higher-risk international travellers.

Meanwhile, when it comes to vaccinations, it seems we have fallen to the very last of all OECD countries, with only 4.75% of Australians vaccinated, as compared 45.76% in the United States.

And we’ll look at what else is making news this week including Barnaby Joyce copping a $200 fine for not wearing a mask.

Joining David on the panel:

Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland
Michelle Ananda-Rajah, Infectious diseases expert
Stephen Duckett, Director of Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
Jennifer Hewett, Financial Review columnist
5th panellist tbc

8:30pm Thursday on ABC.

This post updates.

Leave a Reply