CSL, Steven Marshall hang on vaccine tender

Joe AstonColumnist

Dec 1, 2021 – 6.02pm

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Labor frontbencher Ed Husic extracted a curious remark from the Prime Minister in question time on Monday.

Husic asked Scott Morrison why the government still has not awarded a contract to manufacture mRNA vaccines domestically despite then-industry minister Karen Andrews saying 12 months ago: “I would hope that we would be [up and running] in about the nine-month to 12-month timeframe.”

The leading bidders for that contract – CSL in Melbourne and BioCina in Adelaide – are hanging on the outcome of the tender process run by the Commonwealth’s Department of Industry.

Morrison told the House, “The Minister for Industry [Angus Taylor] may wish to add to the answer [but] we’ve been progressing strongly with the discussions we’ve been having with both CSL and Moderna in relation to the manufacturing of mRNA vaccines here in Australia.”

Taylor did add to the answer. He confirmed Moderna is the particular vaccine developer he is negotiating with, then reverted to generic language regarding the selection of a manufacturer: “We approached the market for proposals from industry … We’re working through that process thoroughly now.”

The PM’s office on Wednesday downplayed the significance of his CSL name check, hosing us down like the dunny floor at Engadine Maccas.

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The contract is politically tricky for Morrison. South Australia’s Liberal Premier Steven Marshall has clamorously lobbied his federal counterparts, including the PM, in support of BioCina. Marshall wrote to Health Minister Greg Hunt in May asking for federal funding. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham – the Morrison government’s senior South Australian – spoke publicly in support of that pitch, saying BioCina getting Commonwealth money was “a distinct possibility”.

Marshall’s chief of staff is Courtney Morcombe, Birmingham’s wife – though the Finance Minister is beyond reproach when it comes to his management of that conflict. This is Adelaide we’re talking about, where you probably work with your spouse, if you haven’t dissolved them in acid to live off their Disability Support Pension.

Marshall is fewer than four months from a state election that looks murderously difficult to win, having to win back four Liberal seats from crossbench defectors and with his deputy, Vickie Chapman, politically crippled.

If Canberra rebuffs him and taps CSL, Marshall will sustain more political damage given how much the Premier has staked on the issue.

“We have a very productive relationship with the federal government and continue to have extensive discussions regarding BioCina’s potential,” he said in June. “This puts us in an excellent position in regards to potential ongoing local manufacture of mNRA.”

Of course the decision on vaccine manufacturing sits neither with Hunt nor Birmingham, but with Taylor. A decision, entirely merit-based, is believed to be imminent.