The Saturday Paper, POST, 23 November 2021:
"Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backflipped on vaccine mandates, following a rebellion of Coalition senators that threatens to derail his parliamentary agenda.
What we know:
- Five Coalition senators crossed the floor to vote for a failed One Nation bill that would have overridden state government vaccine mandates (The Age);
- Two of the five, Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic, have threatened to withhold their support for all government bills over the issue;
- To defuse the rebellion Morrison declared business owners should set their own rules on vaccinations for customers and staff, in a dramatic reversal of previous support for mandates (The New Daily);
- The prime minister targeted rules in Queensland in particular preventing unvaccinated people from visiting cafes;
- The opposition noted Morrison was singling out a Labor state government rule also applied by the Coalition government in NSW, and had repeatedly backed vaccine mandates for workplaces previously;
- Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie unleashed a scathing speech in opposition to One Nation’s vaccine bill, declaring “Being held accountable for your own actions isn't called discrimination – it is called being a bloody adult” (SBS);
- It comes amidst a rising tide of protests against vaccines and lockdowns globally (Crikey)."
