Transcript: Interview with Peta Credlin, Sky News - 19 August 2024

TRANSCRIPT

Interview with Peta Credlin, Sky News

19 August 2024

Topics: National shortage of saline IV fluids, safety of NDIS workers

E&OE…………………………………

PETA CREDLIN: For more on this, let's bring in now the Shadow Health Minister, Anne Ruston. Senator, welcome. New Zealand says they've got no issues. The very mighty US Food and Drug Administration says there's no issues at all over there. There's a shortage of a particular size of the saline product, but across the board no they're fine. So how on earth has Australia got a so-called global problem that no one else has got?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, I mean, the really shocking thing about all this, Peta, is the fact that the Government admitted last week that they actually knew that there was a potential shortage pending over a year ago. And clearly, other places around the world have done whatever they needed to do to sure up supplies of IV saline so that they could support their healthcare systems in their countries. I mean, even as close as New Zealand is saying that there's no shortage. But it's really pretty disingenuous of the Minister last week to say this was a global shortage, as if to say that, you know, the Albanese Labor Government didn't need to take any responsibility for the fact that we find ourselves in this position. It's quite extraordinary. And I asked Katy Gallagher again today what the situation was, and she continued to obfuscate and just say it was somebody else's problem. You know, it was a problem of the states and territories and that they were handling the situation really well. Well, I've got to say, Australians who are going into hospital and not being able to get saline drips - I heard today that there were patients in hospitals who have been told by their doctors to drink more water because they're not able to get a saline drip - that should not be happening in Australia. And I think Minister Butler and the Albanese Government need to come out and explain to Australians how come this is happening here in Australia and it's not happening anywhere else in the world, despite the fact they've known for a year.

PETA CREDLIN: So we've got, as I mentioned, one domestic manufacturer. This is Baxter in Western Sydney. They supply basically all the saline fluids to New Zealand. They're in a good place. How on earth can we have a domestic manufacturer, we're in trouble, but New Zealand's not? And what's the Government doing about it?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, one of the things that we did during the pandemic - We didn't have a year's notice by the way, we had a few minutes notice that we were potentially challenged about some of the supplies of these really important health products - We used a mechanism that was already in place, the National Medical Stockpile, so the Federal Government took a leadership role and negotiated to make sure that we had a stockpile of these really important medical products. What the Albanese Government has done is they've just left the states and territories to do their own negotiations. Clearly, they haven't been done. And now we find that the supply in Australia has been depleted, where it hasn't elsewhere in the world. I mean, obviously New Zealand, who are also supplied by Baxter out of Australia, has done their homework and they've worked out that they needed to make sure that they had their supply contracts in place. So I think it's incumbent on the Australian Federal Government to actually take a leadership role here. They were very quick to criticise the Coalition Government during the pandemic. So I think that maybe it's time for them to take a little bit of responsibility, because what's good for us is good for them. And I think that the Albanese Government's really let down Australians, because you should not have a situation like we've got here. As I said, a year's notice is an awful lot of notice to fix up a problem.

PETA CREDLIN: How concerned are medicos? I mean, what are medicos saying to you?

ANNE RUSTON: They're very, very concerned. Because, I mean, despite the fact that this is a very simple product - It is really nothing more than salt water, but obviously of an extraordinarily high quality - but it is absolutely fundamental in just about every healthcare setting. So, we're now going to see a situation where it'll only be able to be used and rationed out in emergency situations. It will probably have major impacts on elective surgery, because of course, we are not going to be able to use saline in those sorts of situations. So I think, you know, Minister Butler and the TGA need to get off their collective tails and get out there and do a little bit more. We found out last week that they'd set up a monitoring committee a week and a half ago. You know, over a year into this, and the first Federal Government action was setting up a monitoring committee. I think we're a bit past monitoring.

PETA CREDLIN: You're not wrong. Hey, I've got to ask you about another issue before you go. The Nine newspapers earlier in the year reported that serial sex abusers, rapists and paedophiles were getting substantial support from the NDIS. Some of them were getting close to $1 million in their accounts to live under supervision in the community after their release from detention. Now this led to concerns that there's, you know, workers alone with them, often in their own homes. What protocols are in place to protect those workers? We learn from an FOI today that there are still no regulations or any guidance to protect these workers. These men, and they are predominately men, often have very violent and predatory backgrounds. Surely the NDIS workers need better protection than this?

ANNE RUSTON: Well, absolutely. The one thing that needs to be absolutely assured is the safety of workers, particularly workers who find themselves looking after some of, you know, Australia's most vulnerable people. They're very caring people, and we need to make sure that protections are in place. But this is just another classic example, Peta, of this government taking no responsibility for the detail. I mean, we saw over the last few months 100, well over 100, people let out into the community on visa conditions that were non-existent, who the Federal Government knew they had records that were likely to be challenging potentially to the security and safety of Australians, but they just didn't seem to care. So, you know, we'd be saying to the Government, if you're going to put people in this sort of situation, there needs to be adequate provisions put in place to make sure that these people are getting the care that they need, but at the same time we've got a responsibility for those workers that we're not just saying we're putting things in place to protect them, but we actually are doing it.

PETA CREDLIN: Anne Ruston. Thank you. We'll follow this IV fluid issue throughout the week and see if there's movement from the Government.

ENDS