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QUESTION ON NOTICE

Question:

16 November 2022

1. Are individuals subjected to Covid vaccine mandates being counted in unemployment figures? If not, how are the number of people out work because of mandates being tracked? 2. Is the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) tracking deaths by vaccinated status – given it is being recorded on the Australian immunisation register it is possible to do? 3. If so, could the ABS please provide a line-by-line breakout of 2021 deaths by vaccinated versus unvaccinated deaths (personal details other than age can be excluded)? Can the detail include date of death and date of last vaccination? 4. Can the ABS provide a breakout of non-specific causes for 2021 deaths by item code? 5. Why isn’t the ABS comparing 2021 data to 2020 data rather than 2015-2019 given those years were pre-Covid conditions?

Answer:

Question Number: 69
PDR Number: SBE069
Date Submitted: 16/11/2022
Department or Body: Australian Bureau of Statistics

1. People who have lost a job will be reflected in ABS unemployment figures, as measured by the Labour Force Survey. The survey does not ask people about their vaccination status or requirements to be vaccinated.

2. The ABS does not track deaths by vaccination status.

3. Not applicable.

4. Causes of death for every code in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) are available in the ‘data downloads’ section of Causes of Death, Australia, 2021. Datacube 1 provides this information for underlying causes of death for all deaths registered in 2021. See: www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-deathaustralia/2021#data-download

5. The ABS compares numbers of death for a year against a baseline average (e.g. 2015- 2019) to serve as a proxy for the expected number of deaths. Comparisons against baseline counts can indicate whether mortality is higher or lower than expected. 2020 is not included in any baseline comparison as the number of deaths was significantly lower than expected. All deaths for individual years are presented in the datacubes attached to the publication so annual comparisons can be made by users. The ABS explains this in the ‘baseline comparisons’ section of Provisional Mortality Statistics, available at www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release.

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28/11/2022

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28/11/2022

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28/11/2022

1. According to the December 2020 update, Australia emitted 499 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to a 5 per cent decrease on 2019. Australia’s grasslands are estimated to be 440 million hectares and native forest 147 million hectares, a total of approximately 587 hectares. It is estimated forest and grasslands absorb between 0.5 and 2 tonnes of carbon per hectare. Assuming an average of 1 tonne of CO2 absorbed by these landscapes then isn’t Australia already at net zero? 2. Can the CSIRO provide a comprehensive roadmap of the work required for Australia to meet a 43% reduction in CO2 by 2030? This roadmap should set out the length of transmission lines, the number of transmission towers, the number of solar panels (for a given wattage), the number of wind turbines (for a given wattage), the number of batteries (for a given storage), the amount of lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel, concrete, and steel etc. needed to build the aforesaid generators and storage. It will need to include the amount of land needed for solar, wind, transmission, and storage products and the biodiversity offsets. Could the amount of CO2 required to build, recycle, or dispose of the aforementioned items also be included. Likewise, could the cost of building, recycling, and disposing of the aforementioned items also be clearly outlined. Biodiversity impacts such as increased tyre wear due to heavier batteries in cars, increased breaking distance on roadkill, impact on bats and birds from transmission lines and wind turbines, and removal of native flora and fauna due to land use should also be clearly outlined. 3. If the CSIRO cannot provide, can it state which department is responsible for maintaining and tracking the roadmap and refer the question onto them? 4. Could the change in Earth’s temperature as a result of Australia undertaking the 43% reduction in CO2 measures please be stated in order to ensure appropriate benchmarking and accountability if targets are not met? 5. Could the CSIRO confirm if every country uses the same methods to calculate CO2 emission and reductions? If not, why not? What guarantees are there under the Net Zero that Australia won’t be disadvantaged as a result of signing up to the Net Zero pledge?

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1. Can the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water provide a comprehensive roadmap of the work required for Australia to meet a 43% reduction in CO2 by 2030. This roadmap should set out the length of transmission lines, the number of transmission towers, the number of solar panels (for a give wattage), the number of wind turbines (for a given wattage), the number of batteries (for a given storage), the amount of lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel, concrete, and steel etc. needed to build the aforesaid generators and storage. It will need to include the amount of land needed for solar, wind, transmission and storage products, and the biodiversity offsets. Could the amount of CO2 required to build, recycle, or dispose of the aforementioned items also be included? Likewise, could the cost of building, recycling, and disposing of the aforementioned items also be clearly outlined? Biodiversity impacts such as increased tyre wear due to heavier batteries in cars, increased breaking distance on roadkill, impact on bats and birds from transmission lines and wind turbines, and removal of native flora and fauna due to land use should also be clearly outlined. 2. If the Department cannot provide, can it state which department is responsible for maintaining and tracking the roadmap and refer the question onto them?

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