Professor Chris Goodnow, Medical Research Director at the Garvan Institute, whose scientists have engineered human antibodies that attack SARS-CoV-2. Once optimised, the viral therapy will be tested in human clinical trials by the Kirby Institute and may provide immunity to the coronavirus for both treatment and prevention. Professor Goodnow says he is “very optimistic” that the antibodies would form the basis of a therapy. The first phase of human clinical trials could start towards the later part of this year.

Katherine Faulks, Head of the Chronic Conditions Unit & Spokesperson for the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, joins Luke Grant to discuss a new report that shows 1 in 5 Australians over the age of 45 are experiencing chronic pain.

‘Chronic pain is ongoing and debilitating, and can impact a person’s ability to participate in work, daily activities, exercise, and access health care. It lasts beyond the normal healing time after injury or illness, and is experienced on most days of the week. It can result from injury, surgery, musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis, or other medical conditions such as cancer.’

‘People with chronic pain are more likely than those without chronic pain to experience mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, sleep disturbance and fatigue,’ Ms. Faulks said.

‘For people aged 45 and over, those with chronic pain are almost 3 times as likely to have been dispensed pain medication as those without chronic pain,’ Ms. Faulks said. Pain medication includes opioids, migraine medication, and other analgesics.

Rachel Baxendale , Victorian political reporter for The Australian, joins Luke Grant to talk about one of Victoria’s largest outbreaks of COVID-19, that was given a three week head-start following a major oversight by the state’s Health Department.

 

The Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday night confirmed the first case of COVID-19 linked to the Melbourne abattoir Cedar Meats was diagnosed on April 2 — three weeks before a second case was identified as part of a cluster which has now reached 45 infections.

Listen to the full show podcast with Luke Grant filling in for Michael Mclaren

Alexandra Smith, State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, joins Luke Grant to discuss her article ‘Transport Minister Andrew Constance says no bad blood with the PM’.

 

Ms Smith writes, ‘NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance has vowed to continue his bushfire recovery focus in his tilt at federal Parliament and insists there is no bad blood with the Prime Minister.’

 

'Speaking in Narooma in his South Coast electorate of Bega on Tuesday, Mr Constance said he would nominate for Liberal preselection for the marginal seat of Eden-Monaro and quit state politics.’

‘Mr Constance's declaration came after his cabinet colleague and close friend NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro ruled out contesting the seat for the Nationals. The party still intends to run.’

‘The Bega MP immediately downplayed any tensions between himself and Scott Morrison after Mr Constance took an extraordinary swipe at the Prime Minister during the height of the bushfire crisis.'

Jim Chalmers MP, Shadow Treasurer & Labor member for Rankin, joins Luke Grant regarding his press conference yesterday where he spoke about a variety of topics including the confronting numbers released by the Reserve Bank, the Federal Government and by the Bureau of Statistics in the wake of coronavirus.

 

Mr Chalmers said yesterday “my fear is that there are job losses in the economy which could have been prevented.”

 

“The unemployment cues will be longer than they need to be because too many workers are being denied access to the JobKeeper wage subsidies. It remains to be seen whether unemployment has peaked already, or whether it will peak in the weeks and months to come.”

 

“What is clear is that in crises like this it takes longer for unemployment to go down than it took unemployment to go up. The recovery when it comes will be patchy at best.”

Listen to the full show podcast with Luke Grant filling in for Michael Mclaren

Luke Grant is joined by John-Paul Cashen, Principal Lawyer at Macpherson Kelly, regarding the privacy concerns over the leaking of photos from inside a police station of former AFL player & coach Dean Laidley in a long blonde wig and wearing a dress.

 

Laidley was arrested last weekend outside a home in St Kilda and was charged with stalking and other offences, but Victorian police have been forced to investigate

his mug shot and a photo of him in heavy makeup, taken inside a police station, appearing on social media.

Cameron Stewart, Associate Editor & Washington Correspondent of The Australian Newspaper, joins Luke Grant about his article regarding US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claiming there is now ‘enormous evidence’ that coronavirus came from a research laboratory in Wuhan in China.

 

Mr Stewart writes, “his comments are the strongest US claim so far linking the virus to Chinese scientists and will add to pressure on China to explain the origins of the virus that has cut a swath of death and economic pain across the world.’

 

 

‘“There is enormous evidence that (a Wuhan lab) is where this began,’ Mr Pompeo said.’

Listen to the full show podcast with Luke Grant, filling in for Michael McLaren.