Media Releases
Coronavirus Measures Endorsed by National Cabinet
16 March 2020
A significant step-up to Australia’s national response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has been endorsed by the National Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers and Territory Chief Ministers.
Based on the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), the National Cabinet agreed that our core objective now is to slow the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia by taking additional steps to reduce community transmission. We must ensure our health system can care for the most vulnerable, in particular the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
To help stay ahead of the curve, the Australian Government has imposed a universal precautionary self-isolation requirement on all international arrivals, effective as at 11:59pm Sunday 15 March 2020.
This means that all people - whether they be citizens, residents or visitors - will be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival in Australia. Enhanced screening for arrivals will remain in place to identify anyone arriving sick or with symptoms of COVID-19.
Arrangements will be made for passengers transiting through Australia to the Pacific Island countries or transiting after arriving off of cruise ships. Limited exemptions will apply for flight crews, who will be expected to monitor their health and practice social distancing while they are in Australia.
The Australian Government has also banned cruise ships from foreign ports (including round trip international cruises originating in Australia) from arriving at Australian ports for an initial 30 days, effective as at 11:59pm Sunday 15 March 2020.
This restriction will help avoid the risk of a cruise ship arriving with a mass outbreak of the virus and putting significant pressure on our health system.
Arrangements will be made for certain cruise ships already in transit to enable Australian citizens and permanent residents to get off those ships.
The National Cabinet also endorsed the advice of the AHPPC to further introduce social distancing measures. This includes the requirement that non-essential, organised public gatherings of more than 500 people should not occur.
At this stage, these measures do not include schools, universities and workplaces, or prevent the operation of public transport. However, the principle of social distancing should still apply in these settings. For example, assemblies and lectures housing more than 500 students in schools and universities should be avoided.
Specifically the National Cabinet agreed that there is no requirement for schools to close at this time.
Further advice on these requirements is available at: https://www.health.gov.au/committees-and-groups/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc
The National Cabinet also activated the second stage of the Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus, which enables governments to undertake targeted action to the COVID-19 outbreak and ensures that resources are properly allocated where needed and the risks to vulnerable people in the community are mitigated.
These actions include changes to intensive care unit configurations, social isolation, fever clinics and restrictions on mass gatherings.
The National Cabinet will meet again this week to consider further advice from the AHPPC on events held indoors and in other closed spaced environments and further advice on actions to further protect aged care facilities.
All the actions we are putting in place are based on advice from Australia’s leading medical experts and are designed to protect Australia.
The National Cabinet continues to urge all Australians to play their role in reducing the spread of COVID-19 through personal social distancing and hygiene measures. Further information can be found at www.health.gov.au.
Anniversary of Christchurch Terrorist Attacks
15 March 2020
Today Australia stands in unity and solidarity with New Zealand on the first anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks in Christchurch.
New Zealanders responded to hate with love in the aftermath of this terrible incident, and that powerful message endures today.
I recently spoke again with survivor Mr Farid Ahmed, who I first met at the remembrance service in the weeks after the attacks. Mr Ahmed, who tragically lost his wife in the attacks, spoke to me again of his message of peace and forgiveness.
That message remains far more powerful and enduring than the hate and violence perpetrated on that day.
Our two nations share an ongoing commitment to peace and freedom and we continue to reject those who seek to spread division and hatred.
Globally, whether it’s the Christchurch Call to Action or last year’s G20 and G7 resolutions to stamp out online hate and violence, New Zealand and Australia will continue our work to ensure something like this does not happen again. We owe it to the memory of the Christchurch victims.
We stand side by side with our Kiwi brothers and sisters, as we remember and honour the victims and their loved ones.
Advice on Coronavirus
13 March 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Health, Chief Medical Officer
Based on the expert medical advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), Commonwealth, State and Territory governments have agreed to provide public advice against holding non-essential, organised public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday 16th March 2020.
A new National Cabinet, made up of the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers has been set up and will meet at least weekly to address the country’s response to the coronavirus, COVID-19.
The AHPPC, led by the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer and comprising the chief health and medical officers from each jurisdiction, together with the National Coordination Mechanism convened by the Department of Home Affairs, will be the primary bodies that will advise the National Cabinet. The National Coordination Mechanism will work across all jurisdictions, industry and key stakeholders to ensure a consistent approach to managing the impacts of this pandemic beyond immediate health issues.
The recommendation to advise against non-essential, organised public gatherings of more than 500 people is precautionary and designed to reduce community transmission of COVID-19 in Australia.
The advice from the AHPPC was that this measure will slow the increase in the number of new cases, given community transmission in Australia is increasing.
Essential services such as schools, workplaces, hospitals, public transportation, domestic travel and universities as well as public transient places such as shopping centres will not be impacted.
The National Cabinet will meet again on Sunday to finalise implementation arrangements on further advice from the AHPPC.
Management of venues and events will continue to be a matter for organisers and states and territories.
In addition, we have upgraded our Smartraveller travel advice (smartraveller.gov.au) for all Australians travelling overseas to level 3 - ‘reconsider your need for overseas travel at this time.’
Regardless of your destination, age or health, if your overseas travel is not essential, you should consider carefully whether now is the right time.
This is because the health risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic are increasing, you may be more exposed to contracting COVID-19 overseas, and overseas travel has become more complex and unpredictable.
We have not taken these decisions lightly, but based on expert health advice they are clearly in the national interest.
We continue to urge all Australians to go about their regular life and business as much as possible.
Further information about the COVID-19 pandemic can be found at www.health.gov.au.
Doorstop - Parramatta, NSW
13 March 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone, it's great to be here in the heart of Sydney in Parramatta. And today, all state and territory leaders are coming together to focus on one very important job. And that is as I said last night, it's about the health of Australians, it's about keeping Australians in jobs, keeping Australian businesses in business. It's about bouncing back strongly on the other side of this virus. All of the leaders are working very closely together. The health officers from each of the states and territories have been working incredibly close with our Chief Medical Officer, and that is ensuring that all of the leaders are getting the right advice and the best medical advice to make the decisions that they need to make in terms of how they manage the impact in Australia. So I'm looking forward to meeting today. I think this will provide an excellent opportunity again for us to align what we're doing. There already has been a very high level of alignment and cooperation. We're all working together for the health and well-being of Australians, the strength of our economy and a strong bounce back on the other side.
JOURNALIST: We're hearing that the Melbourne Grand Prix has been cancelled this weekend. That will surely cause some panic around the country, what's your message to Australians?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, each of these organisations will make their own decisions about these events. And the states themselves will act on the best medical advice in relation to these issues. But I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow afternoon.
JOURNALIST: What contribution would you like to see the states commit to today?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, today we will be in a position to finalise the health agreement on responding to the coronavirus. I want to thank all the states and territories for their strong partnership in coming to agreement on that. More broadly, what we're looking for now is just having the Commonwealth put down the very significant stimulus package we have for the economy as well as investing some $2.4 billion in our health system, which includes support for public hospitals. Obviously the states are now in a position to set out how they will be working to support jobs and support businesses in their own states.
JOURNALIST: Will you be following President Trump in banning European travel to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER: That's not the advice we have.
JOURNALIST: Are countries like the US doing enough in terms of the stimulus they're providing?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a matter for the United States. I'm focussed on what's needed in Australia, the health of Australians, the jobs of Australians, Australian businesses, and ensuring that we all work together, state and territory leaders, together with the Commonwealth to look after Australians, to look after our economy. We will get through this together, Australia. And today is another important opportunity for us to focus on that task. Thank you.
Interview with Alan Jones, 2GB
13 March 2020
ALAN JONES: The Prime Minister's on the line. Prime Minister, good morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Alan.
JONES: Well done in very difficult circumstances. Can I just begin with a negative though, people are emailing me this morning and on the line, a little indignant that welfare recipients will get $750. And there are workers out there saying, look we're doing it really tough. And they're wondering what they get. How do you answer that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's what the whole stimulus package is about. It's about keeping people in business. The reason we're putting these payments out there, which includes 2.4 [million] aged pensioners, it also includes people on family tax benefits, they’re people who pay taxes, there’s 180,000 or thereabouts of those who are impacted by this. But it's going to veteran's benefits, carers, Commonwealth seniors health card holders, farm household allowance recipients. It's a very wide, wide ranging payment, but it's entire- designed for people to spend in the economy because that's what supports people's jobs. The $25,000 for small and medium sized businesses, 690,000 of them that's designed to support their cashflow, to keep people in jobs and the investment allowance. The instant asset write off. These are designed to get people investing, to keep people in jobs. So I want to keep people in jobs, Alan. And -
JONES: I know. I know you do.
PRIME MINISTER: If I keep people in jobs, that's what's best for them.
JONES: Yeah, now just on that, keeping people in jobs, I mean I'm broadcasting from Souths Juniors, now there is a mood out there where people are saying, don't go out there, don't go anywhere. Shut this down. Don't meet in gatherings. And so here we've got a stack of people here for the broadcast. Well if that's the case, well, the bloke making the pies is out of work. The bloke making the sandwiches is out of work. The bloke selling the drinks are out of work. The people who are here are out of work. You've been saying life get on as usual. Is that still the advice?
PRIME MINISTER: It is, look I’m sorry to say that to the Bunnies fans down there at South Juniors this morning, but I'll be out supporting the Sharks on Saturday night. I’ll be out there -
JONES: Well, that’s your problem.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm sure it’ll be a great game. But look, unless there's health advice and we haven't got that health advice to this point, where those sorts of things have been cancelled and those sorts of things, and you know people just should go about what they're doing. Go to work, but exercise common sense, the sort of common hygiene practices. I mean, if people have been in contact with someone who's been in an affected area or you know, you're in the middle of having a test and you’re self isolating, fair enough - you shouldn't go to the footy on Saturday. But otherwise, I think it's important for our economy and just our general wellbeing Alan, that people sort of get on about their lives, you know, keep calm and carry on is the saying -
JONES: I know. You've been saying that for a week, but nonetheless, the people out there saying, oh, we might have to close down this and we might have to close down that. And we might say the football matches will be off and something else will be off. And this is not the positive mood that we need here to address the problem.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've got to maintain our positivity. I mean, we'll, all the Premiers we’re all meeting today out in Parramatta, with the Premiers, Chief Ministers and myself, and they’ll all take the best possible medical advice. If that were necessary to protect people's health, then they would make a decision along those lines. But we don't have to get ahead of all those sorts of things. We should just continue to conduct ourselves rationally and sensibly supporting each other. That's what I said last night in my address to the nation. We're gonna get through this Australia, and we're going to get through it together. And it takes all of us, neighbours, friends, doctors, nurses, teachers and everybody, Prime Ministers, radio broadcasters, you know all of us, just doing our thing, supporting each other. And as you said, rightly in your introduction, and I said that to big business. You know, supporting their suppliers, paying them early. And I've got to say, I was very thrilled with the response. Telstra, Andy Penn, they’ve put in place casual leave payments for casual workers who are affected by the virus. Good for them. That's exactly the sort of leadership I was asking for from them, and I'm pleased to see that from them. Alan Joyce has been terrific over at Qantas, even the big banks, which I'm a bit critical of from time to time. They passed on, in full, the rate cuts that came from the Reserve Bank and I asked them to do that and they responded. So -
JONES: You might have a word with Andy Penn about getting, you might have a word with Andy Penn about getting some landlines up in the bushfire-damaged areas. There are people down the South Coast that just don’t have any communication at all -
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m happy to do that. Happy to do that.
JONES: Yeah, Telstra have been very poor on that. Look, a very critical point that you made, and I’ll just repeat it here, because people were ringing about this yesterday, and I just want you to reinforce this. You've said that casual workers who've contracted the virus or have had to isolate themselves will be eligible for a Newstart welfare payment while out of work?
PRIME MINISTER: Correct. Yeah. And we're waiving the waiting period that would normally apply to that as well. What will apply is of course the assets test, that if people are sitting there with lots of money in the bank, like anyone else they, like if they were going on Newstart in that environment, their assets test would still apply. But yes, if you're a casual employee, there is that, it has been called the sickness payment. It'll be called the jobseeker payment, but that is what they'll be eligible for and that's built into our system. And so yesterday we waived the waiting period so they could get access to that.
JONES: Right, apprentices?
PRIME MINISTER: Apprentices, 117,000 being supported through wage subsidies, paying half their wages for companies less than 20 employees. This is, this was one I'm very passionate about. Getting young people into work, I can't think of anything more important than that. Get a young person into work by the time they're about 22 or 23, you know what they don't do? They don’t spend a life on welfare. I learnt that when I was Social Services Minister. Getting young people into work is so important. And I don't want to see apprentices in small businesses losing their jobs because of the difficult time small businesses will face over the next six months. So yeah, that backdates to the 1st of January. And you know, my nephew, he's a plumbing apprentice. And he works for a wonderful small business down in the Shire, Wazza, and they do a great job. And I just am so impressed by small businesses who take on apprentices, particularly in, you know, in our suburbs and our regional towns and rural areas. Good on them. And they are one of the first people I looked at to back.
JONES: Right. Cash payments to small and medium businesses between $2,000 and $25,000?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah. What this does and no-one has to apply for it, there’s no assessment. There's, you don't have to ring anybody. It will come through your BAS in April. And so if you're employing people as a small and medium sized business, up to $50 million, depending on the size of effectively your income tax payroll, you will get a grant up to $25,000. And that's just designed to give you a cash boost in your small business to help you get through.
JONES: The instant asset write off?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we've supercharged this from, it's currently $30,000, any item you buy for $30,000 for a business up to $50 million, you can write off immediately. We're going to supercharge that to $150,000 and for businesses up to half a billion in turnover. And that's designed to ensure businesses keep their investment plans in place over the next, certainly over the next three months, and beyond to six months. And that will keep the wheels turning and keep the businesses getting prepared for the other side, because that's an important part. There is another side. We've got to remember that, this is a virus, it runs a course. And then once the virus passes, I want Australia to be in the best possible position to bounce back. And so investing in that new equipment, which can be vehicles and as you’d know, we have seen, thankfully, some rain in important areas and and a lot of farmers going to put in a winter crop. How good is that? And they're going to need to get some equipment and supplies and various things. And these these measures will help them too.
JONES: Just in three areas, as I've been talking about. I mean, you take the abalone fishermen in Tasmania and the lobster fishermen. I mean, 90 per cent of their orders go to China, their boats, they're all out of work, and then you've mentioned a billion bucks to the tourism sector. Where do these sorts of people fit in to the announcements that you've made in the last 48 hours?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the examples you've used are good ones, and whether it's the crayfish fishermen over in Geraldton in Western Australia or also the abalones, I was talking to Peter Gutwein the Premier down there last night about this and there, or up in North Queensland with tourism operators. We've put it together a billion dollar fund. That will do a number of things. We're already waiving all the marine park fees and the national park fees that the Federal Government is responsible for, that helps those tourism operators in those places. But also Alan, the sort of things that we've done in the bushfires, and thank you for your acknowledgement of the changes we made to those small business payments this week, in specific areas that have a much worse impact, like the types of examples you've talked about, we'd be looking to provide the sort of support that you'd normally provide in a sort of a disaster area, but where those details are not yet locked in, that will take a bit more time to get that right. And the Premiers and I were discussing it last night. We're gonna talk about it again today. But that is quite targeted support. I'd call that less stimulus. I'd call it more about supporting the very affected areas, particularly in specific locations, to how we help them through and get them back on their feet. Because you say, I mean, they can't help it, that the Chinese restaurants up in Beijing are not ordering crayfish. I mean, that's… they will again.
JONES: That’s it. Just on the deeming rates, because what we’re trying to do, on the deeming rates, the announcement -
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JONES: ...and that's excellent. But can you say should there be two kinds of, you've been the Treasurer as well, should there be two kinds of deeming rates? I understand why you've kept the deeming rate above $51,800 at 2.5 per cent, because there are other instruments of investment, which most probably are earning fairly attractive returns. But for the, we don't want elderly people going into risky investments. So they stick their stuff in the bank and they're still going to have to pay 2.5 over $51,800 and they can't earn 2.5. Shouldn't there be a different deeming rate for orthodox bank deposits?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the deeming rate provisions do exactly what you said. I mean, the lower rate is the cash rate, 0.5. And it's, we've aligned it with the cash rate. And so we dropped that this week down to 0.5. The upper rate, which is 2.5 per cent, that means your investments would be getting 200 basis points above the cash rate. Now, I wouldn't call the sort of investments that would be achieving that, I really wouldn't be calling them risky Alan. We're talking superannuation type fund investments now -
JONES: No, but I'm talking about people who stick their money in bank deposits and the bank, because they think that's safe. And so they're on, they're paying 2.5 per cent and they're struggling to earn 1.4?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'd be encouraging them to talk to their financial advisers because I think they can, they can do better for themselves and not be taking on the risks that they fear they might be. And I think if they get good financial advice, they'd find themselves in a position to be doing better than that.
JONES: Just on interest rates, we've now got several central banks around the world with interest rates minus, and on interest rates when they’re minus of course, the depositor pays the bank. Do you think our Reserve Bank is on a mission to lower interest rates to go below zero? The International Monetary Fund is openly talking about central banks needing to go to minus 4 per cent in a recession. In that circumstance, of course, the depositor would be paying the bank. Where do you think this is heading?
PRIME MINISTER: I'd be very surprised if we saw that situation in Australia, Alan. And based on my long-term, not just short-term, more recent discussions with the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Australia is in a stronger position than that. I mean, we're 0.5 on the cash rate. The Reserve Bank Governor has talked about having a bit more room there, but not a lot. And the heavy lifting that needs to be done now has to be done by fiscal policy, by the Government, and that's why we announced what we did yesterday. So the, the important message to listeners is that the Reserve Bank and the Treasury and the Government, we are working very closely together on this. So I remember many years ago, you know after the GFC had well passed and all that spending -
JONES: There’s only two people that can stop you, one is the speaker and the other’s Alan Jones. We've got to go, unfortunately to the news PM. There are other things I'd love to raise, but we, perhaps we can talk again next week?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course. Thanks Alan. All the best.
JONES: Thank you so much for your time you too.
Minister for Home Affairs, Coronavirus Update
13 March 2020
Following confirmation the Minister for Home Affairs has tested positive for coronavirus, he has been isolated according to the policies of Queensland Health.
Queensland Health will undertake the appropriate contact tracing.
The Minister attended Tuesday’s meeting of the Federal Cabinet in person and Thursday’s meeting of the National Security Committee via video link.
In advice provided to the Prime Minister this evening, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has reiterated that only people who had close contact with the Minister in the preceding 24 hours before he became symptomatic need to self-isolate.
That does not include the Prime Minister or any other members of the Cabinet.
Economic Stimulus Package
12 March 2020
Prime Minister, Treasurer
The Morrison Government has today announced a $17.6 billion economic plan to keep Australians in jobs, keep businesses in business and support households and the Australian economy as the world deals with the significant challenges posed by the spread of the coronavirus.
Our targeted stimulus package is focused on keeping Australians in jobs and helping small and medium sized businesses to stay in business.
The package has four parts:
Supporting business investment
Providing cash flow assistance to help small and medium sized business to stay in business and keep their employees in jobs
Targeted support for the most severely affected sectors, regions and communities;
Household stimulus payments that will benefit the wider economy
The measures are all temporary, targeted and proportionate to the challenge we face. Our actions will ensure we respond to the immediate challenges we face and help Australia bounce back stronger on the other side, without undermining the structural integrity of the Budget.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said as part of the plan up to 6.5 million individuals and 3.5 million businesses would be directly supported by the package.
“Just as we have acted decisively to protect the health of the Australian people, based on the best evidence and medical advice, our support package responds to the economic challenges presented by this pandemic in a timely, proportionate and targeted way,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our plan will back Australian households with a stimulus payment to boost growth, bolster domestic confidence and consumption, reduce cash flow pressures for businesses and support new investments to lift productivity.
“Australia is not immune to the global coronavirus challenge but we have already taken steps to prepare for this looming international economic crisis.
“We’ve balanced the budget and managed our economy so we can now use this to protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Australians.
“Our targeted stimulus package will focus on keeping Australians in jobs and keeping businesses in business so we can bounce back strongly.
“The economy needs temporary help right now to bounce back better so the livelihoods of all Australians are protected.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Australia is approaching the economic challenge from the Coronavirus from a position of strength with IMF and the OECD both forecasting Australia to grow faster than comparable countries including the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany and France.
“Our plan keeps businesses operating, supports jobs and provides a stimulus to households,” the Treasurer said.
“The Government has worked hard over the last six and a half years to return the budget to balance so we have the flexibility to respond to the serious economic challenges posed by the Coronavirus.”
“Given Australia’s strong economic and fiscal position, the international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s indicated that temporary stimulus would be “unlikely to strain Australia’s creditworthiness.
“In our response, we have been very careful not to repeat the mistakes of previous stimulus programs and not undermine the structural integrity of the budget.
“Today’s announcement will provide the support businesses need to stay in business and keep Australians in a job.
“By acting decisively this package will put Australia in the strongest possible position to deal with the economic challenges we face and to make sure our economy bounces back even stronger.”
Delivering support for business investment
$700 million to increase the instant asset write off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expand access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) until 30 June 2020. For example, assets that may be able to be immediately written off are a concrete tank for a builder, a tractor for a farming business, and a truck for a delivery business.
$3.2 billion to back business investment by providing a time limited 15 month investment incentive (through to 30 June 2021) to support business investment and economic growth over the short term, by accelerating depreciation deductions. Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct an additional 50 per cent of the asset cost in the year of purchase.
These measures start today and will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees or 3 in every 4 workers. The measures are designed to support business sticking with investment they had planned, and encouraging them to bring investment forward to support economic growth over the short term.
Cash flow assistance for businesses
$6.7 billion to Boost Cash Flow for Employers by up to $25,000 with a minimum payment of $2,000 for eligible small and medium-sized businesses. The payment will provide cash flow support to businesses with a turnover of less than $50 million that employ staff, between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020. The payment will be tax free. This measure will benefit around 690,000 businesses employing around 7.8 million people. Businesses will receive payments of 50 per cent of their Business Activity Statements or Instalment Activity Statement from 28 April with refunds to then be paid within 14 days.
$1.3 billion to support small businesses to support the jobs of around 120,000 apprentices and trainees. Eligible employers can apply for a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for up to 9 months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. Where a small business is not able to retain an apprentice, the subsidy will be available to a new employer that employs that apprentice.
Stimulus payments to households to support growth
$4.8 billion to provide a one-off $750 stimulus payment to pensioners, social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders. Around half of those that will benefit are pensioners. The payment will be tax free and will not count as income for Social Security, Farm Household Allowance and Veteran payments. There will be one payment per eligible recipient. If a person qualifies for the one off payment in multiple ways, they will only receive one payment.
Payments will be from 31 March 2020 on a progressive basis, with over 90 per cent of payments expected to be made by mid-April.
Assistance for severely-affected regions
$1 billion to support those sectors, regions and communities that have been disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of the Coronavirus, including those heavily reliant on industries such as tourism, agriculture and education. This will include the waiver of fees and charges for tourism businesses that operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Commonwealth National Parks. It will also include additional assistance to help businesses identify alternative export markets or supply chains. Targeted measures will also be developed to further promote domestic tourism. Further plans and measures to support recovery will be designed and delivered in partnership with the affected industries and communities.
The Government is also offering administrative relief for certain tax obligations, including deferring tax payments up to four months. This is similar to relief provided following the bushfires for taxpayers affected by the coronavirus, on a case-by-case basis. The ATO will set up a temporary shop front in Cairns within the next few weeks with dedicated staff specialising in assisting small business. In addition, the ATO will consider ways to enhance its presence in other significantly affected regions to make it easier for people to apply for relief, including considering further temporary shop fronts and face-to-face options.
The Government’s economic support package is proportionate, timely and scalable to respond to the economic challenges presented by the spread of the coronavirus.
Through our response today and the actions we have taken to bring the Budget back to balance over the last six and a half years, Australians can be confident that our nation is one of the best prepared to respond to the economic impacts of the coronavirus.
Interview with Thomas Oriti, ABC AM
12 March 2020
THOMAS ORITI: Prime Minister, good morning. As the virus spreads, one critical issue is the uncertainty. I think it's spreading beyond any initial expectations. It's now a pandemic. Will this stimulus package be big enough, given that no-one really knows when the outbreak will end?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've made this decision two weeks ago that this would be necessary and that we knew that it would move to a pandemic phase. We called that two weeks before the World Health Organization did. Just like earlier in January, we also made the move on declaring the virus under our relevant statute provisions in terms of our response. So we've been quite awake to this for some time, and the fiscal response today has been designed around the type of situation people are seeing right now and extending out into, you know, more than 100 countries. And we understand the impacts of that have been particularly hitting the cash flow of small and medium sized businesses. And so our objective here is pretty straightforward to keep Australians in jobs, to keep businesses in business, particularly small and medium sized businesses, but importantly, positioning us to bounce back strongly on the other side. I mean, viruses have finite lives to them in terms of how they run their course. Now it's true, at this point in time we don't have a fixed position on how long that is, whether it's six months, nine months or whatever it is, but it is a finite life and there will be a bounce back on the other side. And we need to have -
ORITI: But could this be. Sorry to interrupt, but could this be then the start of a bigger response? I mean is there any cap in your mind in terms of how much the Government's going to spend as this virus spreads?
PRIME MINISTER: Well what we're doing today is just shy of 1 per cent of the economy, and that is a significant injection into the Australian economy. And we'll obviously watch it very closely. One of the principles I set out for this package that I said earlier this week was that it must be scalable and this is a scalable package. Importantly, what we're doing today is using all existing mechanisms. People don’t have to fill out forms, it's an automatic way that we will get these these investments into the economy. The ones that particularly we've talked about this morning is up to $25,000 for small businesses and medium sized businesses who employ people. There’s the instant asset right up that will go up to businesses of half a billion dollars turnover on individual items of 150,000. That's to drive investment. That's the sort of investment that you need to be in place, and so on the other side our businesses are well positioned to take advantage of the bounce back. And apprentices, paying 50 per cent or thereabouts of their apprentice wages for small businesses of less than 20 employees. That's 120,000 just under that actually.
ORITI: A lot of elements there, but can you, can you give us, because when you look at the coverage of this today, there doesn't seem to be an agreement about how much his package is going to cost. Can you confirm the total cost so far with a dollar figure?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I'll be doing that later today when the Treasurer and I announce the full package.
ORITI: Ok.
PRIME MINISTER: Like I said, this is just under 1 per cent of the GDP.
ORITI: Will it keep Australia out of recession?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that will be, I mean, I don't speculate on those things. What I do is I take actions and what we're doing is taking action on this economic plan. I was pleased last night that S&P confirmed that Australia's AAA credit rating and the work that the Government had done to put the Budget back into balance means that we can make this response. I mean, that's an, that's an important factor here. We worked incredibly hard to get the Budget back into balance, that is [inaudible] right now to enable us to give this type of response. We, you know, we kept our heads, we kept building the Budget back, and now we're in a position to deploy that just when Australia needs it.
ORITI: Now in terms of those in terms of those measures, let's look at that cash flow boost for employers. That payment’s going to go to employers to boost the cash flow for businesses. Now in our coverage of this virus, we've been looking at vulnerable Australians and thinking of casual employees for example. How can the Government guarantee that those businesses will use those cash payments to support their most vulnerable workers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's up to $25,000, as I say, to people, businesses, small businesses and medium sized businesses that employ people. And what we're saying to those businesses, you've got to do the right things about your employees because you're going to need them on the other side. And I recall that, you know, when we went through the Global Financial Crisis, those same small and medium sized enterprises did just that, because they know that on the other side they will need their team to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that will be there on the other side. The welfare system more broadly has safety net provisions, which through what is currently called the sickness payment and things like that, that can support people who might find themselves in that situation. And so there will be elements of what we'll be doing, which are directly related stimulus to boost the economy. And that's what that up to $25,000 grant payment does.
ORITI: Do you acknowledge though that it will still leave some casual workers vulnerable? And in turn, how do you stop them from going to work if they're sick?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the virus will have a significant impact on the Australian economy, and that's why we’re boosting the Australian economy with just under a half, just under 1 per cent of the size of our economy being injected in as a result of this package today - that is the most important thing - we can protect Australians jobs.
ORITI: Aside from businesses, who will be receiving cash payments and how much will they get?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll confirm that later today when we make those announcements, when I make those announcements with the Treasurer.
ORITI: So you can't confirm the reports of the one-off cash bonuses at this point?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, people are speculating around that, but I have said all along that there needs to be a demand side component to the stimulus. And that's, and there will be, and we'll confirm those details later this morning. But importantly, this stimulus package is one that is heavily geared towards supporting businesses to keep people in jobs and to keep them in business, to invest, to build back for the other side of this virus. So that the economy, and the Budget can bounce back strongly on the other side and not have weighed down for a decade as we've seen on previous occasions. This is a targeted stimulus that is designed to do a job and that is to keep Australians in work, and particularly those young apprentices. I mean, if you're an apprentice today going off to work or, you know, one of your kids or grandkids, know that the Government is going to if they work for a small business like that. And you know, people in my own family, my nephews they’re apprentices, and you know that they’re the ones who are vulnerable in these situations. And I'm pleased that we've been able to provide that support to keep them on the tills.
ORITI: So we still haven’t got a going to specific dollar figure there and there is this uncertainty, but does it come at the cost of a Budget surplus, and not just in the coming year, but in the years to come?
PRIME MINISTER: I will be dealing with that later today.
ORITI: Do you think you've acted quickly and decisively enough in the face of the threat?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I do. I mean two weeks ago the World Health Organization wasn't calling this a pandemic, we did. Earlier in January, it wasn't calling it out as something happening more broadly than in China, we did. And we've been acting to get ahead of it right from the outset. And we've got just over 100 cases here in Australia. But of course, we expect that to change based on the medical advice. But the $2.4 billion we put in yesterday to support our health system response, I mean, this is a health crisis, this is not a financial crisis. It has very serious economic implications. But at its heart, at its cause, is a health issue, a virus. And that's why we've put the additional investment into our health system, supporting our states, and then addressing the economic impacts, and that is predominantly about supporting people to stay in work, and to ensure that those businesses can remain in businesses that will be most vulnerable. And that it really goes to their issues of cash flow, and that's why the measures we're talking about this morning are designed to address that cash flow.
ORITI: Certainly tough times, and then we've seen some Australians doing some pretty extreme things in recent days in terms of the stockpiling of goods, for example. In your view, I mean, is it too late to stop the panic?
PRIME MINISTER: Look I think Australians, and I would hope they continue to moderate their behaviour on these sorts of things. I don't think that's, I mean, there's been a bit of a social media frenzy about those sorts of things, and there's been quite a bit of excitement, and even in the mainstream media. But the vast majority of Australians, I think are taking a far more sensible approach. And one of the key things we announced yesterday is getting more information out to people. You know, go to trusted sources of information, medical experts, not Twitter, not Facebook, not rubbishy reports in the media. That's not the way you look after your kids health or your own health. You actually talk to people and get information from people who know what they're talking about. And that's very important. And that's why the Government will be investing in getting more of that information out to families, out to households, to individuals. But it's also important to understand that, as the Chief Medical Officer said yesterday, I mean for most Australians who might be affected by this virus, but they will have a very mild health problem. For those who are most at risk here, obviously the more vulnerable, the more frail, and those who have what they call comorbidities. Those we’ve particularly put funding into the health support for those remote Indigenous communities, because we fear that they may, if there was an outbreak in those communities, that would be more severe. So we've put plans in place to deal with that and we’ve committed funding to deal with that. So it's a very comprehensive plan dealing with both the health and the economics here. And that's why we will get through this. But all Australians have a role to play - governments, business, individuals - we've all got to do our bit, and we've got ahead. We’re going to work hard to stay ahead together, but it's important that everybody keeps their head too.
ORITI: Prime Minister, thanks very much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Tom.
Interview with Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon, Today
12 March 2020
KARL STEFANOVIC: PM, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Karl. G’day, Ally.
KARL STEFANOVIC: We saw that announcement from the World Health Organization a little earlier declaring a pandemic. They accused us not so long ago of overreacting. They have a lot to answer for, don’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we made this call two weeks ago, as you know, and initially back in January, we also made the call to take this very seriously. And that has enabled Australia to prepare and get ahead, not just on the economic measures that we're announcing today, which we've been working steadily on, but also the health response to this as well. Yesterday we announced $2.4 billion. That's putting money into hospitals and the pop up clinics, into testing, into making sure people can get their medicines, telehealth, support for remote communities, facemasks. So dealing with the health issues, dealing with the economic issues to keep Australians in jobs, to keep business in business, and to ensure we bounce back strongly on the other side of this.
ALLISON LANGDON: There are strong suggestions this morning that the package could be up to $20 billion. Can we afford it firstly? And when will it roll out?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've worked hard to get the budget back in balance, and that was acknowledged by S&P, one of the big ratings agencies overnight, which puts us in a position to make this sort of response. And that's why you actually do that and get your budget under repair. And this will be rolling out over the course of this next quarter. It’ll start in April and we'll get the legislation sorted out when we come back to parliament in a week. And that legislation will now be drafted having settled these measures.
But an important one today. I mean, there's around 120,000 apprentices who would be at risk, and we're going to pay half their wage with their employers for those small business employers who are putting on apprentices. I think it's fantastic that small business puts on apprentices. And this is going to ensure that we help them carry that load through this virus. We're giving support to businesses of up to $50 million in turnover with grants of up to $25, 000, and that will just come automatically through their, what's called the Business Activity Statement, the BAS process. They don’t have to fill out any forms and they don't have to make any applications and no one has to come and go through their books. This is just an automatic payment that they’ll receive and it's based on businesses that employ people. This is all about keeping people in jobs.
KARL STEFANOVIC: PM, Pensioners, as you would know, are really scared right now. They've got little money anyway. There is a concern that they won't spend this, this injection.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that certainly hasn't been the history, every time these sorts of things have been done. Those who we will target, and we’ll announce those payments a little later today, those groups that we'll be working with to provide that stimulus to the economy, the experience has always been that that has flowed through very quickly to the economy. And that's why I think it's important to have the health measures in place as well, Karl. That's the difference, I suppose, with this event, this is about a health crisis. This is not a financial crisis. It is a global health crisis. Australia is not immune from that. But what we can do is take the action.
I mean, another important measure today is the instant asset write off. Now, this allows businesses to write off purchases of equipment that they're putting into their business, which they may have planned to do, particularly over the next three months. Well, this will give them the confidence to go ahead because they'll be able to write off completely, 100 per cent, $150,000 worth of investment in each and every item. And that's for businesses up to half a billion a year in turnover. So that's about putting the investment into the economy so on the other side, the economy bounces back and the jobs are strengthened even further. And the budget bounces back because this package does not have expenditure into the never-never. It's targeted. It's now. It's to support us here and now.
ALLISON LANGDON: When is the other side? When do you expect us to get through this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we don't have a finite view on that at the moment. And we’re having another meeting of the National Security Committee today, where we're getting further advice from our medical experts. They've been doing a lot of work on this, working with people overseas. But what we do know about viruses is that they do have a fixed life, whether it's six months, whether it's nine months. I mean, these sorts of things are not yet determined. But we do know they do have a finite life. And there is another side to this. And what I'm really pleased about Karl and Ally , is that I called on big business earlier this week to do their bit. And we've already seen QANTAS step up and we've seen the big banks pass through that rate cut, first time that's happened by all of them in five years. And last night, Telstra told me, Andy Penn told me that for casual employees, they're going to be ensuring that they get looked after if they have to go into self-isolation. That's the sort of thing I was asking big businesses to do. They’ve got the balance sheets and so does the federal government. And we're going to be supporting and I'm pleased to say that they're following that lead.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Okay. So you're relying on business to do that. You won't be supporting the 3.3 million casual workers if they're in a situation where they're isolated.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh no, there are payments in the welfare system that can be targeted to those sorts of things. I'll have a bit more to say about that today. My simple point is, well, I'll talk about that later today, Karl. But what I'm saying is big business has a role to play in this as well. And I'm pleased at the early signs of them doing that. Our state governments have a role to play, and we all do actually at the end of the day, Karl, whether it's making sure that the reporting of the information is is clear and based on the facts from the medical experts, or whether it's people helping out their neighbours if they've gone into self-isolation. We've all got a role to play. We've got ahead early, but we've got to stay ahead. That's not something the government takes for granted. But all Australians, we’ll keep our heads and we'll get through this.
ALLISON LANGDON: Is it your belief that this package is enough to keep us out of a recession?
PRIME MINISTER: It's well-targeted. It's just under about 1 per cent of the size of our economy. So that's a very significant injection and it happens very quickly over the next quarter. So that's very important. But it's scalable. We're in a position to ramp this up should that be required further. And as you've probably seen from this, we've learnt more and more about this virus almost every day and we've responded to that information. We've not been reckless about this. We've been very careful about it because we know on the other side we're going to bounce back. We're going to bounce back strong.
KARL STEFANOVIC: OK, so it’s $20 billion at this stage, give or take,
PRIME MINISTER: That’s the speculation.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Will you go again?
PRIME MINISTER: As I say, it's scalable, Karl. We've got a budget coming up in a few months, just over a month's time, and the government is always in a position to do what we need to do because we worked so hard to get the budget back into balance. That gives us the platform. I mean, overnight, Standard and Poor's confirmed our triple-A credit rating. They said that what we've been able to do puts Australia in a position to deal with the temporary shock of this virus and that how long that goes for, whether it's six months or a bit less than that or a bit more than that, we're well positioned to deal with it.
ALLISON LANGDON: Prime Minister, we know that this will get worse before it gets better. Can we expect our borders to be closed at some point? Is that on the table?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, once the virus moves into a real sort of global pandemic phase, and we've got more than 100 countries that are now affected by this, the medical advice to us is that those measures become less and less effective because Australians are still returning from wherever they've been. Whether it's the United States or the United Kingdom or many countries that to this point in time have been, you know, less affected by the virus. What matters is then how you manage it within the community. And that's why we scaled up the investment in our health system with over 100 pop up clinics and money for additional testing. And on the testing, just a point the Medical Officer made yesterday. You've got to be presenting symptoms. You would have had to have had contact with someone quite directly that would have either had the virus or been in a country where it had been quite exposed to it. Just rushing off and having a test when you're not presenting any symptoms, on the maybe, that test is not going to do you any good. It's not going to tell you anything. So listen to the medical advice, not to Twitter.
KARL STEFANOVIC: Do you worry about your wife and kids getting it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, one of the things that the Medical Officer said, Karl, is that for the vast majority of Australians who would contract this virus, it'll be a mild illness, as Dr Murphy has said. And so whether I were to contract it or you were to contract it. The other thing is it showed no severity, particularly, towards younger people and especially children. The more at risk populations are the older population. That's what we've seen. That's why we put an additional $100 million into support for aged care facilities yesterday. The $500 million that we're putting into the state hospital system also helps them support the aged care system. We put money into support remote indigenous communities yesterday. If there were to be an outbreak in those communities, we can react. So there's been a lot of thought go through into the planning of how we’ll respond on the health side and on the economic side. Because together we will get through this, and we'll get through it strongly.
KARL STEFANOVIC: PM, thanks for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, guys.
Interview with David Koch and Sam Armytage, Sunrise
12 March 2020
DAVID KOCH: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins us now live from Kirribilli House. Prime Minister, good morning to you.
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, David.
DAVID KOCH: Overnight, the World Health Organization has declared a pandemic. Basically, you've said it's been a pandemic for a couple of weeks. Is that announcement going to change the way you act?
PRIME MINISTER: No, because as you said, we called this 2 weeks ago and they've called it today. We welcome that. But we've been planning on that basis for the last two weeks as we've been working together on this package today to provide support to keep Australians in jobs, to keep businesses in business. But importantly, on the other side of this, because there is another side of this, when we bounce back, the economy will bounce back strongly and the Budget bounces back as well. So that's what we're, that's what the package today is all about.
SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE: Okay. You've targeted small business in this package. Why do you think they'll be hardest hit by coronavirus?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the cash flow effects of what we're going to see in the months ahead is really going to hurt the small and medium sized businesses the most. And that's why we've done a number of important things. The first one is, is for those apprentices, around 120,000 of them working for these businesses of less than 20 employees, paying half their wages. And that will be done going back dated from the 1st of January of this year. And we're also going to provide immediate support through the BAS system of some $25,000 grants up to that for small and medium sized businesses, up to a turnover of $50 million. With that support, those businesses that employ Australians and that will give them some additional cash flow support as they go through these next few months over this, over that June quarter. The other thing we're doing, as you've said, is the instant asset write off. Now, this is something that's been incredibly successful for us over over recent years as we've encouraged small and medium sized businesses to invest. It used to be for businesses up to $50 million with purchases of some $30,000 dollars, now we've supercharged that to $150,000 and it will go to businesses with a turnover of up to $500 million. So it's about ensuring cash flow, investment and jobs are protected and supported over what will be a limited period of time crisis. This is a health crisis. It is not a financial crisis. It certainly has very real economic effects. And that's what we're addressing today.
KOCH: And the cash splash, if you like, is going to be done through welfare recipients. Newstart and pensioners will get a boost?
PRIME MINISTER: We will make an announcement about that later today David, and the details that are being reported on that are a bit off, by the way, but the important thing-
KOCH: Is it going to be more generous?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, well, in a few hours time, we'll release those details. But what it is about, as you'd know, is getting a cash injection into the economy through those, particularly older Australians. I mean, pensioners make up the majority of these arrangements and that they can go and put that money straight into the economy. And that will support businesses as well by injecting that cash into the economy when it's needed. And that will complement what is the majority of the package, which is all about supporting small and medium sized businesses, the cash flow crunch that they'll likely experience in the months ahead. It's about getting ahead of this. We have already seen some of those economic impacts already, particularly in the tourism industry, the travel industry, parts of our export sector.
KOCH: Are you going to help pensioners out with deeming rates?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, we're going to cut the deeming rates by 50 basis points so it’ll go down to 50 basis points, 0.5 at the lowest level and 2.5 at the higher level. So that's bringing it down 50 basis points. Now, that is actually a response to the most recent decision of the Reserve Bank, I mean, it goes along on the same day that announcing this package, but that is a longer term measure obviously, you change deeming rates, it has an impact over the cycle of the Budget and beyond. But that's an important point, David, because what we're doing here is we've worked hard to get this Budget back in balance. And what we're doing today are temporary measures, things that hit now and over the next 6 to 9 months, which ensures that on the other side of this, we don't hold the budget down for a decade under water with big spending programs, insulation batts and all that sort of stuff. That's not what this is. This is targeted, it's proportionate, and it's to happen now to support jobs right now, particularly those young apprentices.
ARMYTAGE: Okay we don't know how long this health crisis is going to last or how how deep it will run. Is there more money in the kitty, if we need, if you know, if we need more stimulus? Have you got it as a government?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, that's why we've worked so hard to get the Budget back into balance is so we can set ourselves up to make these responses. I mean, yesterday we announced $2.4 billion as part of our health response. So dealing with the health issues, dealing with the economic issues today, it's a clear plan to ensure people stay in work, but also upfront, to ensure that the health system- supporting the states, the pop up clinics, the telehealth, getting the medicines out to people who might be self isolated, particularly older Australians who need their prescription medicines. A lot of practical things there. This is a very practical plan. It's designed for the fixed period that we will see this virus impact Australia. And we're not alone in this as you know, I mean, there's over 100 countries that are dealing with this and so far we've been able to get ahead. But you've got to stay ahead. But most importantly, all Australians have got to keep their head.
KOCH: Yeah, exactly. Alright Prime Minister, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Look forward to that stimulus package this afternoon.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, David.
Interview with Peta Credlin, Sky News
11 March 2020
PETA CREDLIN: Prime Minister Scott Morrison joins me now live from Kirribilli House. PM, thanks very much for your time tonight.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Peta. Good to be with you.
CREDLIN: Look, I have to say, and you've remarked on this, Australians have been really tested in recent months with the bushfire crisis and of course, this new virus. Now over the summer I thought our national character was on display in the way we really pulled together this time around it's been played out in the aisles of our supermarkets. And rather than pulling together, it's a bit like every man, every woman for themselves. How do you think the country is coping now?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think far better than some of those displays you’re talking about. I think those are more isolated incidents. And they've got plenty of media play, no doubt, and even more on social media. But I think Australians more broadly, I think there's a lot more common sense going on there. Look I understand the anxiety and we've seen that anxiety played out from time to time. That's why it's always important to get good information. I mean, as we've been working through our responses and you’re right, today, we announced the health response. Health first. I mean, at the end of the day, this is a health crisis, it is a global health crisis. It’s happened far away from Australia and it's made its way here. We've been able to contain it relatively effectively up until now. But obviously, the pressure of that gets stronger when you've got more than 100 countries where the virus is now present. But, you know, you have to deal with these shocks as they come. And that's why you do the work to ensure you get the budget back in balance and you run a world class health system and you put yourself in a position to respond to these events, which are indeed outside your control. But you control what you do and how you behave and and how you conduct yourself and and how you support your fellow Australians. And whether you run a business or you work for one or you you're a doctor or you're a nurse or you drive a bus or you're the prime minister, it doesn't matter. We all have a job to do.
CREDLIN: PM in the United Kingdom, the health minister there, Nadine Dorries, she's tested positive for coronavirus. And clearly she's going to stand down from her position for a period of time. She'll go into quarantine and she's been mixing with the PM and other ministers, been in and out of the parliament. So the big question, doesn't it, about contingency measures for government. Now I know business have this issue front of their minds. But what's the sort of continuity of government work you've been putting in place, you know, for you, or senior ministers, military chiefs, if any of you are put out of action by coronavirus?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first point to note, Peta, is and Dr Murphy's been making this point fairly regularly, for the overwhelming majority of Australians who might actually contract the virus, the experience to date has been that those who've contracted it have had a very mild illness, very mild. For those who are most vulnerable, and that's particularly the elderly, we're also concerned about remote communities as well and that's why today's health announcement had particular measures that focussed on those communities. I mean, the normal processes apply, whether it's myself or the Deputy Prime Minister or the Chief of the Defence Force or any others. I mean, those arrangements are there every single day. But we're talking about someone who might just contract the virus and have the mild symptoms of what would be like a flu. So these are not things that are going to bring the government to a halt. Quite the contrary. What matters is ensuring that we're making the right decisions and not, you know, we've got to move swiftly, but we've also got to make sure we don't rush. I mean, the measures we announced today, I hope people saw, in the health package, it was everything from dealing with testing to ensuring there were treatment places through the pop up clinics that were established, there were the telehealth facilities that were there. But also just thinking through well how will elderly patients who may have to be contained at home, how will they get access to their prescription medicines? I mean, there's a lot of thought that has gone into this and a lot of people have been working to have the right response, $2.4 billion is a big investment, no doubt about it. But the virus is known, if not for its severe impacts on individuals, it is a highly transmissible virus. And that means that, you know, it has widespread effects and especially on the economy, which we’ll particularly deal with tomorrow.
CREDLIN: We'll get into that right now. I mean, you'll be announcing a package of measures designed to stimulate things tomorrow. How much is the spend PM?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll outline what that is tomorrow. I mean, tonight we've announced the fact that we're going to put in place a mechanism to support apprentices, some 117,000 apprentices will be supported through wage subsidies for employers of less than 20 employees. I mean, one of the things that really can, you know, I’ve focussed on and the Treasurer's focussed on is we've looked at this event, if you’re an apprentice, if you were there on the 1st of March, we want to make sure that you continue to work through your apprenticeship over the course of this virus and so that on the other side, your business will benefit, you'll benefit and you'll be there as part of the bouncing back strongly, which is part of our plan to get through the coronavirus event. And so that's going to cost about $1.3 billion. And that's about keeping people in jobs, but not just in a job for a young person, but keep them in training so their skills development is not disrupted. We think this is a very helpful measure where we think that potentially in a smaller business, which will be under a lot more pressure, you know, we don't want them to have to let their apprentices go. And this will provide up to 9 months worth of subsidised support for the wages of apprentices. As I said 117,000. So if you’re one of those apprentices tonight or they're one of your kids, I hope you find that encouraging that that's one of the first things we've thought about is to keep those apprentices in work and on the tools.
CREDLIN: All right. Let's go back to some history you and I share. Back at the time of the GFC, Labor have tried very much to I think rewrite their own history on the back of this current crisis, the GFC history. As I said we were both here at the time. The opposition, you made the point, the opposition was the Coalition, you made the point today that the opposition supported the first tranche of stimulus spending the $10 billion, not the next tranche, which was $42 billion. Do you expect bipartisanship here from Labor?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I would hope so. I mean, you're right. The Coalition I was there and we supported, I was the shadow housing and local government minister, I think at the time. And there was a housing component-
CREDLIN: Yes you were.
PRIME MINISTER: So I was brought into the shadow cabinet discussions. And I remember the conversation and there was support for the initial stimulus. It was proportionate that first stimulus. But importantly Peta, as you’ll recall, It worked through existing payment systems. So the risk of cheques going off to pets and those sorts of things from that first stimulus was, didn't exist because they were channelling money through existing channels. They weren't dreaming up schemes like insulation batts and overpriced school halls and all of those other schemes, some of which were still being funded years after the GFC had even passed. And I think there were big lessons from that. Stimulus at a time like this is important, but there's good stimulus and there's ineffective or bad stimulus. The good stimulus accords I think to the principles I set out yesterday, we need to understand this is a temporary economic event. It's not a permanent one. As I think Paul Kelly was saying, when you were interviewing before, there's no failure of the financial system here. There is obviously economic impacts that are affecting both demand in the short term, but also supply chains, which is disrupting supply. Obviously, in the travel and tourism sector, in the external sector with exports, there are disruptions there. But this goes for a period of time. What we've been having to deal with over the last 6 years is repairing an over extended stimulus that went well beyond the event and baked in spending, you know, a decade into the future. Now, what we're going to do will be quite targeted, it will be very timely. It will deal with the problem we have here. It will be proportionate and it will have an exit strategy for the budget so when the economy bounces back, which it will, this is important, it will, then the budget also will be able to follow the economy's trajectory and it can bounce back. We've got the budget back into balance. We've worked hard to achieve that. We can now put that to work for the Australian people at what will be a very challenging time.
CREDLIN: So I can read political code there, we're talking about people on fixed incomes. We're talking about people with, in and around the export industries. You've already said you've got a big focus on small to medium sized businesses. You put the wood on big business yesterday, do the right thing by their employees. I'd have to say the last couple of years have been pretty worrying for older Australians. Interest rates are low, so that impacts their savings. And obviously now they've got this added, the added hit of health risk. What would your message be to older Australians tonight who are watching the program? Because, you know, any money you deliver via the pension system, let's say, you've also got to get them out to spend it. And that's a bit of a challenge?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, what we've always known from, you know, where these types of things have been done that pensioners, particularly pensioners, but many in similar circumstances, they will go and spend that in the economy. That has been the experience. You're right. I mean, there is a different sort of health environment and context to this event. But our advice is very strong that this is a group that is always in a position, I think, to spend and be in the economy where they have those extra resources because, you know, they've got a lot of things that they would, they would normally deny themselves. It's a pretty, pretty astute and responsible group of people, those who are on the pension. And they they don't do it easy. And so, you know, where we can provide support, but the support is designed to deliver a stimulus to the economy. That's the important thing, because that helps business.
CREDLIN: But they got to leave home to spend it PM, and of course there’s concerns about mass gatherings they are being banned overseas. We're not at that stage here yet. But that's now one of the challenges here?
PRIME MINISTER: No we’re not that that stage here. And that's why well, this is why I also urge calm and particularly in the reporting that's done. I mean, there's been some reporting that I think's been obviously very unhelpful. And what we need to understand is just over 100 people currently in Australia who've had the coronavirus, well over a quarter of those have actually fully recovered and another quarter are well on their way to doing that. And we do expect, as the chief medical officer has said, that there would be broader community transmission. But our health system has been prepared to deal with that. And we understand the, those particularly who are in nursing homes, in aged care facilities, that will need some additional support and plans. And we've got those in place. And today, I said we put an extra $100 million in to support workforce needs in aged care facilities to meet additional demands and supports. So, yes, they will be a key focus of our attention both for their health, their health care and wellbeing, but also obviously for their economic needs. And so maybe the suggestion is, is take Nanna and Pa out for a meal at the club. It might be their shout!
CREDLIN: PM have you been in contact with other world leaders? I know there's been a whole sort of international movement working on vaccines. Have you been in contact with other world leaders?
PRIME MINISTER: Look there's been some contact around that. But, and particularly our officials have been dealing with particular on the health side with a lot of the five eyes countries in particular. But we’ve had contact with Indonesia, with Japan, with South Korea. There's been quite a lot of that contact. Everybody's trying to learn from each other and from the data so we can all get our modelling right to know when the virus might peak and have a peak demand on the health system. That's a key thing to understand. I mean, the package today included $500 million to co-fund the increased demand in public hospitals and the public health systems, support for things like aged care facilities or other things they do in the community, the state governments will obviously lead the public health response through hospitals as they do always. And they've been scaling up what they're doing and they've been looking at how they arrange things in their hospitals and ward beds and things like that. That's necessary planning. We're also hoping to see that the state governments as well as I say, everyone has a role to play here. We'll be doing heavy lifting when it comes to our balance sheet on the economic side of things, as well as doing our bit on the primary care, aged care, $30 million for seeking to do research for a vaccine. But equally, the state governments, I would expect would be looking at what they can be doing through their own budgets and their own works programs to provide that support both to the economy and they'll obviously be doing that when it comes to meeting the needs in their health system.
CREDLIN: PM, just before we go. What's your fundamental message to Australians tonight?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, to keep calm, but to know this, together we will get through this. And of course, we will. We've worked hard to put the budget into balance. So we have a balance sheet that can support both our economy and the needs in our health system to find our way and to make our way strongly together through this crisis. And it is a crisis that has come from external to Australia. We understand that, but we're not immune to that. And we moved very early. We've been able to stay ahead. And we're also going to keep our head, Peta. I think that's very important. Be good to each other I think is a very commonsense message. Follow the commonsense rules that are out there. Seek information from the trusted sources. That means not social media, that's not terribly reliable on virtually all occasions, good for keeping up with your friends and your relatives. But I wouldn't be looking to it for health advice. There is trusted sources of that information and at the end of the day we will bounce back strongly. The package tomorrow will be about keeping business in business, keeping Australians in jobs, and ensuring that we set up the Australian economy to bounce back strongly on the other side and maintain that optimistic spirit that Australians are well known for and look after each other.
CREDLIN: Well you’ve got a lot on your plate, PM. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot. Peta, good to be with you.
Major Earthworks at Western Sydney International Airport Ficks Off
11 March 2020
Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is entering a monumental new phase today as major earthworks commence.
The new phase will lead to construction of the terminal, runway and all airport infrastructure, and pave the way for thousands of local jobs.
It also signals that the Morrison Government's $5.3 billion Western Sydney International is on track to commence operations in 2026.
The scale of the earthworks equate to over 10,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of earth being moved over the site with 12 storeys difference in height from top to bottom.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the commencement of major earthworks was yet another milestone in the construction of a new airport for Western Sydney.
“We are getting on with the job of providing an airport for the people of Western Sydney that will enable them to continue to secure their economic future,” the Prime Minister said.
“Undertaking major earthworks will be a mammoth task, with 25 million cubic metres of earth to be moved, laying the platform for the construction of the runway, roads and terminal.
“This phase of airport construction will continue to provide a huge boost to jobs and economic activity for the Western Sydney community.
“We never underestimated the task of building this airport after generations of delay, and we remain committed to Western Sydney and getting it done.”
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development said the Western Sydney Airport is getting on with delivering vital infrastructure to unleash the economic powerhouse of the region.
“Hundreds of workers and more than 200 pieces of earthmoving machinery will soon be on site, getting on with one of Australia’s largest earthmoving projects,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said this was a key step in the construction of the once-in-a-lifetime infrastructure project which will transform Western Sydney.
“The Airport and the surrounding aerotropolis will multiply job and economic benefits by attracting business and industry to the region,” Minister Cormann said.
Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said as major earthworks ramped up so would the number of jobs opportunities closer to home for Western Sydney locals.
“The jobs generated by the airport means thousands of local people, won’t have to travel in peak hour traffic to the other side of Sydney – or further – for work each day,” Minister Tudge said.
Senator for Western Sydney, Minister Marise Payne, said the airport would drive job creation.
“The airport will support thousands of jobs during the construction phase, with many more to follow after it is operational. This means new and diverse job opportunities for locals right on their doorstep,” Senator Payne said.
Member for Hume Angus Taylor said it was great to see targets for local job numbers being exceeded.
“The construction phase of the project has local job targets of 30 per cent. It’s great to see the Western Sydney Airport exceeding this target, generating employment for Western Sydney locals”.
Member for Lindsay Melissa McIntosh said by 2026 over 28,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created by the Western Sydney Airport.
“We’re looking at the jobs of the future coming into Western Sydney with advanced manufacturing and export opportunities,” Ms McIntosh said.
“The technical challenge ahead with the scale of earthworks will be a great learning opportunity for workers and apprentices in Western Sydney.
“This is a momentous start for construction so we’re ready for the airport in 2026.”
$2.4 Billion Health Plan to Fight COVID-19
11 March 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Health, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Minister for Youth and Sport
The Australian Government has unveiled a comprehensive $2.4 billion health package to protect all Australians, including vulnerable groups such as the elderly, those with chronic conditions and Indigenous communities, from the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The package provides unprecedented support across primary care, aged care, hospitals, research and the national medical stockpile.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was ensuring Australia’s health system was well-prepared and had the resources it needed to fight coronavirus and protect the community.
“Australia isn’t immune but with this $2.4 billion boost we’re as well prepared as any country in the world,” the Prime Minister said.
“This package is about preventing and treating coronavirus in the coming weeks.
“Our medical experts have been preparing for an event like this for years and this is the next step up in Australia’s plan.
“Our Government alongside the country’s leading medical experts is working around the clock to ensure we have the right tools, information and resources to keep Australians safe.”
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said the Government was boosting the capacity of the health system to effectively assess, diagnose and treat people with COVID-19 in a way that minimises spread of the disease in the community.
“We are ensuring people can access essential care in a way that reduces their potential exposure to infection. This includes support for telehealth, primary care and medical supplies,” Minister Hunt said.
Primary care
$100 million will fund a new Medicare service for people in home isolation or quarantine, as a result coronavirus, to receive health consultations via the phone or video such as FaceTime or Skype.
The telehealth service will help contain the spread of the virus and it will be bulk-billed at no cost to patients and will be available from Friday 13 March.
These telehealth consultation services will be provided by doctors, both GPs and specialists, nurses and mental health allied health workers and will also be available under Medicare for people aged over 70, people with chronic diseases, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over 50, people who are immunocompromised, pregnant people and new parents with babies.
These people are at greater risk from the virus and treatment home will minimise their risk of exposure. This will be available to these groups for non-coronavirus consultations as a general health measure.
The Government will provide $25 million to fund home medicines services which will enable patients to have their PBS prescriptions filled online or remotely, and have the medicines delivered to their home.
This service will be available for people in home isolation and for vulnerable patient groups.
All pharmacies with e-prescribing will be eligible to participate in the home medicines services and patients will continue to retain choice in their preferred community pharmacy.
To support GPs and pharmacies, the Government will fast track the rollout of electronic prescribing across Australia with funding of $5 million.
Patients will have access to services via the GP, telehealth, the national hotline, state hotlines, dedicated respiratory clinics and hospitals.
The national triage phone line will therefore be expanded with an additional $50.7 million in funding, operating 24/7 to provide advice to patients.
The free-call hotline will advise people on the best course of action depending on their symptoms and risks. Medical staff will direct people to the nearest hospital or respiratory clinic, or advise them to stay home and self-monitor, or contact their GP.
People who are not severely ill with COVID-19 – 80 per cent of people will have a mild illness – will be directed to GPs or a network of well-resourced GP-led respiratory clinics.
The Government is investing $206.7 million for up to 100 dedicated respiratory clinics. The Primary Health Networks will co-ordinate with the AMA, RACGP and states and territories to identify areas of need. The clinics will be a one-stop-shop for people who are concerned they may have the virus, to be tested and isolated from other patients.
People living and working in remote locations, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, will benefit from increased capacity to prevent outbreaks, including the tools to proactively screen visitors and fly-in, fly-out workers, additional support to evacuate early cases if required, and mobile respiratory clinics to quickly respond to outbreaks where there is no hospital or available health service. $58.7 million will be provided to support these functions.
The Government will establish dedicated Medicare funded and bulk billed pathology test for COVID-19. This is expected to cost $170.2 million and patients will also receive both the COVID-19 and flu test. Funding will also be provided for pathology testing to be conducted in aged care facilities.
Aged care
Senior Australians will be protected through a major funding boost of $101.2 million to educate and train aged care workers in infection control, and enable aged care providers to hire extra nurses and aged care workers for both residential and home care.
Additional aged care staff will be available for deployment to facilities as needed, where an urgent health response is required and to provide extra support for staff and training.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will receive additional funding to work with providers on improving infection control.
Hospitals
The Government has already announced $500 million in funding for the states and territories for COVID-19. The Commonwealth will pay for half of all additional costs incurred by states and territories in diagnosing and treating patients with COVID-19, or suspected of having the disease, and efforts to minimise the spread of the disease. This will be provided on a 50-50 basis for state health COVID-19 activities both within and outside hospitals.
The funding, beginning with an initial upfront payment of $100 million from the Commonwealth, is over and above ongoing public hospitals funding to the states and territories under the National Health Reform Agreement. The funding will be uncapped and demand driven.
Research
The Government will allocate $30 million from the Medical Research Future Fund for vaccine, anti-viral and respiratory medicine research. This will enable Australian researchers to be at the forefront of the drive to develop both treatments and a vaccine.
National Support for Ongoing Response
Ensuring Australia has sufficient medicines, face masks and other personal protective equipment is crucial to the COVID-19 response. Funding of $1.1 billion will ensure patients and critical health care staff have face masks, and other protective equipment such as surgical gowns, goggles and hand sanitiser for health professionals.
This funding will also be used to purchase antibiotics and antivirals for the National Medical Stockpile, so that patients who experience secondary infection as a result of COVID-19 can be treated quickly, and health effects minimised.
The Government will also invest $30 million in infection control training and programs for health and aged care workers.
Communication
$30 million will deliver a new national communications campaign - across all media – to provide people with practical advice on how they can play their part in containing the virus and staying healthy.
The campaign will keep the health and aged care industry informed, including providing up to date clinical guidance, triaging and caring for patients, development of an app and advice to workers in looking after their own safety.
The information will be based on the most up to date medical advice and will be targeted at the entire community as well as high risk groups and in up to 20 languages.
Q&A, AFR Business Summit - Sydney, NSW
10 March 2020
Well thanks Prime Minister, we’ve got time just for a few questions. You’ve got a pretty big day as I understand, ERC, Cabinet, etc, decisions to make. Look, this time last year you gave a speech last year, very different circumstances. There was an election coming. You were making the case for re-election, you actually invoked the word recession last year but in a different context, you were warning against a change of government. Now we’re, as you’ve said in your speech, we’ve been mugged by circumstance in the last couple of months. And a lot of people in this room and economists are talking about the possibility of a recession. What confidence do you have that what you're going to announce later this week plus the collective efforts you’ve called for, that we can head that off, we can keep our heads above water in June and beyond?
Well look Phil, I don't find speculation on those things terribly helpful. What I find helpful is what we do, and what we announce, and explaining why we're doing it and how we're doing it and ensuring that we're delivering on the things we say we're going to do. That's what change of circumstances, that's what delivers the desired effect. And that's what the government and I am very focussed on, what we do. What you do matters. And what you’ll see from the announcements we’ll make later this week I think demonstrate our understanding along the terms I’ve outlined today. You made reference to last year. What I'm pleased about is we’re going into this crisis with a balanced budget and not $387 billion dollars worth of higher taxes. I don't think that would have put Australia at all in a good position to deal with this. As I said, we have been patient and steady as we’ve restored the budget to balance. And in doing that, as I you know, warned back in 2016 as the Treasurer, that's what you need to do to build your buffers to be able to take the action, and it's not just me saying this. This is something that’s recognised, whether it's by the IMF or the OECD or others, they recognise that Australia is well positioned to deal with this. Well positioned to deal with this.
You mentioned in your speech about balance sheets, you've said the unis, and previously the universities, have savings on which they’ll have to draw, you’ve asked big corporations here today to keep paying workers even casuals and part timers if they don’t, even if there’s no work for them, and households, is it a case that everyone's going have to dip into their savings, even households? On top of what the government’s going to do, is it an admission that the government can’t do everything?
Well the economy just isn’t made up of the government. It's made up of businesses, it’s made up of households, it’s made up of everybody. And what I’m referring to is the people's individual household balance sheets. For the stats I quoted about being ahead of mortgages and the way they’ve been able to restore those balances, business balance sheets, bank balance sheets, the Commonwealth's balance sheet, I'd say state balance sheets as well, state governments. All of us are in a position today to be able to do what we need to do, over the course of this virus crisis to strengthen and see the Australian economy through. And it requires I think that mindset, if you want to have a bounce back stronger on the other side, then it will require I think using those balance sheets that you’ve built for such a time as this, to ensure that Australia emerges stronger.
And we’ve seen another shaky night, overnight on Wall Street. The ASX here is down nearly 20 percent just in a couple of weeks, what’s your message to investors? And by extension, just people who are worried about their super? Given what’s happening in the markets?
I think particularly with the markets, and I don’t often comment on this, but I’d simply make this observation. I mean markets are attempting to reprice risk. And what we're seeing at the moment is a lot of uncertainty regarding the future path and trajectory of this virus, and that is quite a big uncertainty. And as they reach around trying to settle on a view about how that can be priced. Then we see this volatility, and we see the challenge to liquidity in these markets. Now, I would expect to see that settle in terms of their ability to price risk, with more information. And the government itself, we are getting more information about the nature and the trajectory of this virus. I mean there are a couple of things we already know about it. It has nowhere near the mortality rates that we've seen from SARS and MERS. The figures we’re seeing now are sub-one percent. And you know, SARS and MERS were more than double digit times those sorts of, those mortality rates. It’s still a serious virus, but it is moving more towards a very bad flu than it is to a deadly type of virus like SARS and MERS. It is a long way from those sorts of impacts. Viruses run a course. That's what the epidemiologists tell us. And so there's a lot of work, not just being done in Australia, but around the world and I’m sure being resourced by many financial houses as well. So they can best plot the course of this, and understand what that risk means and so they can price it in the decisions that they’re making in markets on a daily basis. So I think with more information and better understanding, and as we've seen the virus extended into more countries, that gives the availability of a lot more datasets upon which to run these models. And I’d say at the moment, some of the best learnings are coming out of Korea, where we have a very high testing rate, we have a much more advanced health system and the data we're seeing come out of there is informing a lot more I think of the modelling which is being done, which means that I think as markets get better information, they'll respond I think in a less volatile way. In the meantime, it's important that the Reserve Bank, and these are conversations that we, of course, have with them, and I’m sure others do, are keeping a close eye on those liquidity issues in those markets. And the roles that they have to play. And equally, the Treasury is doing the same thing.
Okay and just briefly I know you have to go. On the Reserve Bank do you think we're getting closer to quantitative easing?
Well I’m going to leave that one to Phil Lowe, I’ve got plenty of decisions that I have to make, and they don’t involve whether that step is taken or not. But what I will say is this, and that is that, one of the first things I did when I was Treasurer is as I restored again the process of meeting on a monthly basis with the Reserve Bank, and I know the current Treasurer keeps that process up, it's a very important relationship and we both have different roles to play. It's important we understand each other's thinking. It's not for us to, sort of I suppose, run each other’s book, that's what we’re both tasked individually to do. But I can assure people that there is a very high level of alignment in understanding what the challenges are. And that will I think continue to support confidence throughout Australian markets and the Australian economy, that both arms of monetary and fiscal policy will be pulling in the same direction.
Okay and just finally I did have one question from the floor I was to ask, and that’s quite succinct. Is the world over reacting to this virus?
Well if you look at the supermarkets at Chullora you could quickly come to that conclusion. And that's why I think it is important that we get this into perspective. The government's been very sober about our assessment of this, we’ve taken it seriously from the outset, I remember in the first couple of days, when this was presenting in January, we were dealing with the bushfire crisis at the time, but the incident response centre in Canberra had been set up and I went there with Doctor Murphy. Those who were attending seemed to be interested in other political issues at the time, but for me it was very clear that this was going to be a very significant issue that had very profound, broader, economy wide impacts, globally. Because what it does is, what this virus does is disrupts economies. Global economies, domestic economies. It's a disruptor. But it is a health disruptor, not a financial disruptor in terms of its cause. And so it's important to keep it in perspective. This has a fixed life. This virus. It will run its course. And it's important we do things while we address this that does not impede a longer term position. In fact, use the time for training, skills development, investment. I know that many companies will ask staff to take their built up leave during this period of time. There are many things companies can do to work together with their employees, to work through this. We will face, I suspect depending on how the virus spreads, there will be shortages of labour in particular areas. And that will mean that some people who have been working in some places, who may not be working in those places will have the opportunity to be working in other roles. If that’s possible depending on the training that’s required for that. It’s very possible that we’re going to have to see, and I know state governments are going to be working closely on this, to draw more part-time nurses into more full-time nurses in the weeks and months ahead. So, it's about getting ahead of it. It's about staying ahead of it. It's about keeping a level head on it and ensuring that we take the actions that are necessary in accordance with the principles I’ve set out today. As I said, we're all in this together and we’ve all got a role to play.
Thank you very much Prime Minister.
Thanks Phil.
Australia Welcomes the Start of MH17 Trials in the Netherlands
7 March 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women
Australia welcomes the commencement of the trials of four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
The trials are a significant step towards achieving justice and accountability for the 298 victims of MH17, including 38 people who called Australia home. Prosecuting these crimes in an open and independent court sends a powerful message that alleged perpetrators will face justice.
While nothing can bring back those who lost their lives, Australia will continue to fight for justice for the victims of MH17 and their families. We are supporting the Dutch prosecutions, including funding the victims’ families to participate in, travel to, or otherwise have meaningful access to the trials. Court hearings will also be livestreamed and translated.
These Dutch trials are the result of a five-year international criminal investigation into the downing conducted by the Joint Investigation Team, comprising Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Malaysia.
The prosecutions are separate but complementary to the ongoing talks following Australia and the Netherlands’ attribution of State responsibility to the Russian Federation for its role in the downing of flight MH17. The Australian Government remains steadfast in its commitment to pursuing justice and accountability for MH17.
Coronavirus Public Health Partnership with the States - Commonwealth to Meet 50 Per Cent of State Costs
6 March 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Health, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Cabinet
The Australian Government has committed to a 50-50 shared health funding deal with the states and territories to ensure a rapid health response to the evolving COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
The Australian Government will pay 50 per cent of the additional costs incurred by state and territory health services as a result of the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19, those suspected of having the virus or activities to prevent the spread of it.
This support will be uncapped and demand driven and our funding will rise in response to the changing health needs of Australians.
We estimate a likely partnership of $1 billion to meet state health costs including $500 million of Commonwealth funding.
Under the proposed agreement, an immediate $100 million advance payment will be delivered, on a population basis, to support states and territories as we partner together to protect the health of all Australians.
This support will cover health services provided by state or territory governments in public hospitals, primary care, aged care and community health expenditure, such as health related activities in childcare centres.
This recognises the need for immediate financial assistance so we can prepare the health system, while providing maximum flexibility to respond as the outbreak evolves.
The National Partnership Agreement would be effective from 21 January 2020; the date that ‘human coronavirus with pandemic potential’ was identified as a Listed Human Disease under the Biosecurity Act 2015.
This new support sits above the current health agreements with the states and territories, and follows the health ministers meeting last week where we activated our Emergency Plan.
Under the current agreement, the Commonwealth and the states and territories jointly fund hospital services on a 45 per cent Commonwealth and 55 per cent states and territory share basis. The states and territories are responsible and fund community health services, while the Commonwealth funds general practice and health services through Medicare.
In addition, the Australian Government is conducting two forums today with the primary care providers and the aged care sector to identify areas for additional support.
We understand that our doctors and aged care providers will be central to management of COVID-19.
Our support will be aimed at protecting patients, particularly people with chronic conditions, and aged care residents – the groups most at risk of serious illness from the virus
As part of this the Commonwealth government will meet 100 per cent of the costs of additional Medicare services in areas such as Medicare Telehealth or home visits, increased Medicare pathology services, and the national medical stockpile.
The Government is ensuring the capacity of our health system to effectively assess, diagnose and treat people with COVID-19 in a way that minimises spread of the disease in the community.
We continue to manage the risk of the virus based on the best and latest evidence and medical advice.
The Australian Government’s aim is to slow the spread of the disease and ensure Australia stays ahead of the curve in reducing the impact of COVID-19.
Update on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia
5 March 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Health
The National Security Committee of Cabinet has agreed today to introduce new travel restrictions, update the travel advice and implement new screening measures as part of the Government’s coordinated measures to protect Australians from COVID-19.
The Australian Government’s highest priority remains the wellbeing and safety of Australians.
These actions are based on advice that the volume of reported COVID-19 cases in the Republic of Korea, and the scale of travel to Australia from the Republic of Korea, means that they present a high risk of further transmission of COVID-19 in Australia.
Therefore, screening measures alone would not be sufficient for the Republic of Korea.
For arrivals from Italy, we will implement enhanced health screening and temperature testing arrangements.
These measures are part of our ongoing strategy of containment and minimising risk to the Australian community as detailed in our pandemic preparedness plan.
As of 5 March 2020:
Foreign nationals (excluding permanent residents of Australia) who are in the Republic of Korea on or after today will not be allowed to enter Australia for 14 days from the time they have left or transited through the Republic of Korea;
Australian citizens and permanent residents will still be able to enter Australia, as will their immediate family members (spouses, legal guardians or dependants only). They will be required to self-isolate at home for 14 days from the day they left the Republic of Korea.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will raise the level of the travel advisory for the Republic of Korea to ‘reconsider your need to travel’ (level 3 of 4) up from ‘exercise a high degree of caution’ (level 2).
The level of the travel advice will also be raised to ‘do not travel’ to Daegu (level 4 of 4) because of the significant outbreak of COVID-19 there. People in the Republic of Korea should monitor their health closely and follow the advice of local authorities.
Travellers from the Republic of Korea constitute at this time a materially greater risk of COVID-19 importation than other countries outside of China and Iran.
We are grateful to the Government of the Republic of Korea for the transparent way it has dealt with this outbreak. It should be commended for its strong efforts in combatting COVID-19, including with its extensive testing regime.
The travel restrictions for the Republic of Korea will now be consistent with those in place for China and Iran.
The aim of these measures is to slow the importation of COVID-19 cases into Australia to enable preparatory measures to continue and to enable a public health response to the initial cases.
The current travel restrictions regarding mainland China and Iran continue to be successful in reducing the volume of travellers from those countries and will continue.
As part of the Australian Government’s preparedness response beyond the health system, today we have also activated the National Coordination Mechanism. The mechanism will coordinate activities across the Commonwealth, state and territory governments as well as industry to ensure a consistent national approach is taken to provide essential services across a range of critical sectors and supply chains.
While we are not immune as a country, we are as well prepared as anybody could possibly be.
The Australian Government continues to monitor and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak as it evolves.
We will work in close cooperation with state Government authorities and our international partners to coordinate our response and keep Australians safe.
Interview with Alan Jones, 2GB
4 March 2020
ALAN JONES: Prime Minister, good morning and thank you for your quick time. Just a comment, if you could please, to across Australia here, in relation to what apparently is going on in supermarkets and the fear that people have, and the way in which you believe they should respond, and the way in which your Government is responding.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, sure Alan. As I said yesterday, I mean, what we have in Australia at the moment, and I understand why people are anxious. Let me make that point first. I can understand as they see what's happening around the world, 75 countries where this virus has now spread. I mean, we’ve got more than 20 members of the Iranian Parliament that’s contracted the virus. And that has been a very intense part of the virus around the world. That's why we've put the ban in place.
But in Australia, 38 cases, 21 of those who've had the virus have passed through the virus now and are back in the community. We got ahead of it at the start. We're working hard to stay ahead of it. And the medical advice from Dr Brendan Murphy, who has been calling this right all the way along, well ahead of the rest of the world. His advice is exactly as I said yesterday, Australians can go about their business. Unless you've been in an affected area, you're the one that shouldn't then go and be at a place of what they say, mass gathering or something like that. But the rest of us, we just get up on about our lives as normal. And I can understand why people may be concerned, and go to supermarkets, and do those sorts of things. But the advice is that's not necessary. I spoke to Coles and Woollies yesterday when I, this was brought to my attention. And they’ve been putting things in place to ensure that they get those shelves stocked up again and all the rest of it. But what we're dealing with here is something that's very serious. But we have an emergency response plan that's been put in place. It's been put in place well before the rest of the world. We are taking it very seriously, but we've got one of the best health systems in the world. And the border arrangements we've had in place have been working very effectively and we're changing things as we need to each and every day on the best possible advice and information that we have. So I get it, why people are anxious. I understand. I mean Jenny and I have two girls as well, young kids, so I can understand why families would be worried. I mean, interestingly, Alan, one of the points that was made by Dr Murphy yesterday was that young children, and particularly infants, have proved to be no more vulnerable to this than other members of the population. It's actually older Australians or older people, I should say, more generally, that have been most at risk, just like they are in a flu season. And that's why we've been working so carefully with aged care facilities to ensure that our preparedness there is right. And if it was necessary, that we've got systems in place where aged care facilities can actually be locked off to protect those residents, in cases where the virus would be spreading. So it's a serious issue, but we're on top of it, as is the state Government in New South Wales, and Queensland, and other places. And people can just go about their business. That is what you can do, most importantly to help the economy, to help each other, and to lower the anxiety levels.
JONES: Good on you. Well done. Just one quick one then on that. I said I wouldn't keep you -
PRIME MINISTER: You’re alright.
JONES: …but to go about the business. Now you acknowledged businesses everywhere are in really desperate trouble as a result of this. Necessarily, we have had to stop travel. Necessarily, we have had to stop movement. And so in the tourism industry, in the wine industry, because of the bushfires, smoke taint, the fishing industry that relies on China, when do you think you'll be able to have what you've called a modest, responsible, and a package that is going to address those issues?
PRIME MINISTER: We will be announcing that well before the Budget. We're working hard on that just right now. People, and once you’ll particularly remember Alan, when the Labor Government did a stimulus many years ago, we end up with overpriced school halls and pink batts programs -
JONES: Correct. Correct.
PRIME MINISTER: All of these things. I'm not going to be making those mistakes, I can assure, I can make, you know, you pay for that for a decade. So we're getting that right. And what we're focussing on is exactly what you’ve said. It's about the cash flow of particularly small and medium sized businesses. It's about keeping people in jobs, keeping businesses in business. Because on the other side of this, because this is not, I mean the economic effects here are very significant, but it's not the same as the Global Financial Crisis, because on the other side, when the virus works its way through, the economy will pick up. And so we want those businesses to be there for that, for that bounce back. And I want them to bounce back strongly. So we're designing those measures to do that, so they can work immediately. I mean, these things can be difficult. And so we're getting the design right, and we're working closely, as you could see yesterday, we worked very closely with the Reserve Bank. And again, I want to thank the four big banks for passing on those rate cuts. I asked them to do it, they did it. I thank them very much for doing that. That’s the first time that's happened in about five years - the banks passed on the rate cuts. And it was just like Qantas showing up and doing the right thing by Australians. So, what people can see is everybody's working together here. Everyone's working together here to get Australia through it. We will get through it. We will get right through this. And we’ll bounce back on the other side really strongly.
JONES: Quite. Just a general comment then, because the abalone fishermen in Tasmania is listening to me and their entire fleet of dive boats have ground to a halt. I mean the lobster fishermen in Port Macdonnell on the Great Australian Bight, the entire town is shut down. The lobster boats are sitting in the harbour. And up in North Queensland, Townsville, where you’ve been recently, they’re listening as well, and they've reported more than 19,000 cancellations in a week, worth more than $10 million dollars. What are you saying to them?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the program will be targeted as well. And we're looking particularly at some specific industries that are affected. Tourism businesses as well, right around the country, also affected by this. And so the issue here is how we can best support some of those specific sectors, that might take a little longer for those. But they will certainly benefit from the things that we're looking at doing for the small and medium sized businesses. As I say, we need them to be there once the planes start running again and they can put their produce in the bellies of those planes. And if we have to look at ways that we can work on that in the meantime, well we're open to all of the options and we're going to need to work specifically with some of those sectors so we can get the right measures to support them. We can't make it like it was before the virus. I mean, I think people understand that. But we will work through this together and get everybody through as best as we possibly can.
JONES: Good on you. So finally, go about your business you said yesterday, your words, in the normal processes, in a calm manner.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, just before I lose you Alan, as I think I mentioned to you the other day, I had a good chat with Andrew Constance the other week -
JONES: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: …when we saw each other at the Memorial Service.
JONES: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER: And we are repackaging that small business program for bushfire assistance.
JONES: Thank you. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: It hasn’t been getting to the places, that we, and we understand the problem. And Andrew Colvin is working on that. He's been working on that over the past week. And when we're in a position to re-launch that program we will. But we get what the problem is. It's not going as well, the way we'd hoped it would and so we’re out there-
JONES: Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: … we are making some changes there. And we’ll get that out as soon as we can.
JONES: I'll keep you posted on the anecdotal experience that comes my way as well. So, there you are.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Alan. All the best.
JONES: No, thank you, Prime Minister. Much appreciated.
Interview with Leigh Sales, 7.30 - ABC
3 March 2020
LEIGH SALES: Scott Morrison joins me live now from Parliament House. Prime Minister, welcome to the program and thank you for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Leigh. Good to be with you.
SALES: Is the combination of coronavirus and the bushfires going to drive Australia into a recession?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm not getting ahead of these issues. What we have done on the coronavirus has focussed very much on the health challenge. And that's what we always have to put first. And that health challenge is a very serious one. But at the same time, we know that this global health crisis around the coronavirus is going to have very significant and very real economic impacts, which we are already feeling here in Australia, it is being felt in many other countries, in most, I should say, all around the world. And so well we'll see how that plays out, Leigh. What we need to do is ensure that with the fiscal response that we will provide and which I flagged last week, that we'd be delivering, that it is very targeted, that it's very measured and it's very scalable. So we can continue to respond to these issues as they emerge.
SALES: And when will you be announcing the details of that package and where will it be targeted?
PRIME MINISTER: We'll be announcing those soon Leigh, and we'll be announcing the key areas will be targeting at that time.
SALES: And is soon before the May Federal Budget? Because one assumes there's a degree of urgency here.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, it is.
SALES: On the health challenge that you mention, Australia's borders afford it some natural protection. Why isn't there a broader travel ban in place than China and Iran, particularly given the rapid spread in countries like South Korea and Italy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've been following the medical advice, Leigh. Right from the outset. The medical advice has been outstanding. I mean, Dr Brendan Murphy, the Chief Medical Officer, called this well out ahead of the rest of the world, particularly the WHO. And that happened again last week as we move to put in place the emergency response plan to deal with a pandemic phase and that was actioned last week. And now the health advice at this moment has not suggested going beyond the existing travel bans that we have. That said, today, particularly with the information we're seeing coming out of Korea and out of Italy, then we are looking again at those measures right now. But it is important to point out that in Iran, this is the place which has been the most severe set of conditions we've seen outside mainland China. And you're also dealing with a situation in Iran that does not have an advanced health system and different sort of issues pertaining to their economy and how their country operates. In places like Korea though, and in places like Italy, we're dealing with something quite different. So but, there are no options off the table, I can assure you Leigh. And we'll be always putting the health of Australians first.
SALES: The Reserve Bank has once again today cut interest rates to try to bolster the economy. As we've heard. The RBA and business leaders have been urging the Government to come up with a detailed fiscal plan to help the economy out for quite awhile. How is it possible that you don't have an economic centrepiece beyond a slogan for jobs and growth?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I completely reject that Leigh. I mean, last year alone, we brought forward $4.2 billion worth of our program on infrastructure to address the very issues that you've just raised. Last year we passed tax cuts for Australians, which were some of the most significant we've seen in decades. I mean, the Government has been continuing to expand our trade borders through the arrangements we've put in place, which has meant that we would have been even more reliant on those countries that have been most affected by this crisis, were we are not acting in the way we were. So I completely just don't accept that allegation, Leigh.
SALES: Well, let me run through some of it with you. You mentioned your income tax cuts. Their effect on the economy has been muted when you look at the major indicators. You've done nothing on IR, nothing on superannuation, nothing on GST reform, nothing big on company tax reform, no target for emissions reduction beyond 2030. Business leaders feel there's no agenda.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't agree with them Leigh. And we're at the beginning of the term. When I came after the last election, I set out an agenda that dealt with infrastructure, that dealt with industrial relations in fact, quite specifically. The only…
SALES: Well, why do you have then… well, let me ask you, why do you think business leaders are always out there saying we need the Government to be doing more?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me take the issue they often make on emissions reduction. I'm not going to put up people's taxes, Leigh. I'm not going to put on a carbon tax. And whether it's, if it's business leaders asking me to do it, or the Labor Party asking me to do it, or indeed you asking me to do it. I'm not going to put on a tax to reduce emissions nor am I going to put people's jobs at risk or nor am I going to see rural and regional parts of the economy, which depend on industries, I'm not going to put them at risk. We have an emissions reduction target, Leigh, and it is for 2030. And we've been able to reduce emissions by 13.1 per cent since 2005, ahead of most like countries, whether that's New Zealand or Canada. And we have a target to hit our 26 per cent by 2030 and we're on track to achieve that. And we've got a plan to achieve, which is more important. Plenty of people can have targets, but we have a habit of hitting our targets like we will in 2020 this year where people said we wouldn't and we're going to beat it by 411 million tonnes.
SALES: But you seem to suggest that doing more would be costing jobs and potentially economic growth. Take the example of the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. His Government and successive conservative governments there have been on the front foot on climate change action. They have a net zero by 2050 policy. Since 1990, Britain's cut emissions by 42 percent and at the same time seen a 73 per cent increase in economic growth.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'd make the point about the UK economy is it's quite different to the Australian economy, Leigh. You've gotta have plans that relate to your, to your own country. The UK also has nuclear power, Leigh. And they also have a bigger, they also have a big extension cord which plugs into the nuclear power in France. So, you’ve got to deal with like for like countries. So what I'm telling you is that we're ahead of New Zealand and we're ahead of Canada. And particularly when you compare us to Canada, I think you're looking at more like for like economies -
SALES: You talk about the costs,
PRIME MINISTER: And we'll have a plan for achieving these things. I mean plenty of people that have targets, but if you don't have a plan to achieve them, then all that means is at the end of the day is you don't know what it's gonna cost and you're going to end up taxing people and threatening people's jobs without a plan.
SALES: But also a plan without a target is meaningless because you don't know where you're going. Can I ask you, you’ve raised the point,
PRIME MINISTER: No, I don’t agree with that Leigh. No, Leigh I don’t agree with that. If you have a plan -
SALES: You think you can have a plan, without a goal, without an end goal?
PRIME MINISTER: No, Leigh. What I'm saying is we're developing the technology plan. The Minister for Energy was making reference to that last night. Now that technology plan will enable Australia to reduce its emissions without putting up electricity prices, without putting people's jobs at risk and without saying to people who live in North Queensland or anywhere else, sorry you're gonna have to go and do something else.
SALES: But a technology plan has limitations. You could have made a technology plan, say in 2001. It would have been obsolete by 2006 because technology changes?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, but that's the whole point about the technology plan is it’s looking at future technologies. Take hydrogen for example -
SALES: How can you look at future technologies? They’re not invented yet!
PRIME MINISTER: Well Leigh, let's talk about hydrogen. We've got a plan in place with both the Japanese Government, the Victorian Government and the Australian Government, it’s worth half a billion dollars. And that is to ensure we have a viable hydrogen energy system in Australia into the future, as other countries can. Finding those technologies and doing the ground research now to make sure they are available post-2030 is what we're doing. The reason we're getting more gas out of the ground through arrangements we're putting into place with state governments is to ensure that we've got those fuels which can provide transition, which give you the lead time for these other technologies to come in place. That's what our plan does -
SALES: You were talking,
PRIME MINISTER: And if that plan results in receiving about 20, at 2050, if that were to result in a net zero carbon position by that period by that time, well fine. But it would only be because we had a plan that achieved that. Just mounting a target is quite meaningless unless you've got a plan.
SALES: But when all the states and territories in Australia have committed to a zero emissions target by 2050, when 73 major businesses, including Qantas, whose praises you were singing today and BHP have agreed to that, when peak business groups are calling for it, when environmentalists and scientists calling for it? Why is the Federal Government determinedly isolated?
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, I'm not going to commit to a target when I can't look Australians in the eye and tell them what it costs or how it's going to be achieved-
SALES: Have you done any of the modelling of the costs of not going to net zero by 2050?
PRIME MINISTER: This is why we do take action on climate change, Leigh. So the argument that it's about what what's the costs of not doing anything, well we are doing something. So I don't accept that argument, what we’re working on is -
SALES: But have you modelled it? Because for example, sorry to interrupt, Prime Minister,
PRIME MINISTER: No, you can interrupt.
SALES: But Melbourne University’s had a look at it. They've found that the potential economic risk to Australia if global emissions patterns remain the same are 584 billion by 2020 and 762 billion by 2050.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're not planning to take no action, Leigh. So the that argument is moot.
SALES: No, that’s if patterns remain the same.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're not planning to have patterns remain the same. We're planning to reduce emissions with a technology plan which will achieve that. But I'm going to do it in a way where I can look Australians in the eye and say, I'm not going to put a tax on you. I'm not going to take your job from you. And I'm not going to undermine industries that are very important to rural and regional Australians. I think they're fairly reasonable commitments and balanced commitments. I mean, it is about having a balanced plan to achieve all of these things. That's what I took to the last election. That's what I said to the Australian people. I took a 2030 plan and the Labor Party today can't even tell you what it should be in 2030 -
SALES: You were talking-
PRIME MINISTER: We did that when we were opposition and in 2010, when we were in opposition, we set out a plan to how we would meet the 2020 Kyoto targets. We have a Labor Party today that can't agree on themselves about anything and can't even tell you what should happen in 2030. So how can you believe them about 2050?
SALES: You were talking earlier about the need to keep investment going, particularly at the moment. The Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott, wants a net zero target by 2050 legislated because she said it would cause a massive advance in this country. It would drive investment. Isn't it time to give business that certainty they would like for investment in this area?
PRIME MINISTER: I don't agree with having a target that provides a reverse tax on the Australian economy. I mean, whether it's the business -
SALES: How is that a reverse tax?
PRIME MINISTER: If it’s the business community who says they want a tax or if it's if it's you or anyone else. I don't agree. I don't agree that we should be putting a tax on the Australian economy to meet a targeted emissions level.
SALES: Ok.
PRIME MINISTER: I don't agree.
SALES: Let's zip around some other matters in the news, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
SALES: Your office exchanged 136 emails with Bridget McKenzie's Office regarding the sports grant affair. Why?
PRIME MINISTER: We made representations on the basis of projects that were brought to us and to pass on information about other funding programs which related to those projects. I've been pretty clear about that.
SALES: The Australian National Audit Office has told Senate Estimates that Senator McKenzie wrote to your office on April the 10th, including the colour-coded spreadsheets of what she intended to fund, summarised by state, political party, and electorate. The Brief then went to Sports Australia on April the 11th. The National Audit Office also told Senate Estimates that projects were added and removed after correspondence with your Office. Can you see why to the average Australian that looks like it was worked out for political gain?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I can tell you is that the projects that were authorised by the Minister that Brief was signed and dated on the 4th of April. And the Minister was the decision maker here Leigh. The Prime Minister’s Office was not. The Minister made decisions and the National Audit Office found that all the representations that were made by my Office were no more effective than anyone else’s. So if anything, I was accused of not being a particularly good advocate.
SALES: Broadly, the Auditor-General found it was a politicised process. The Secretary of your department, Phil Gaetjens says it was not transparent. He noted the disconnect between the Minister's decisions and Sports Australia's recommendations. And yet Australian taxpayers still haven't been given any explanation of the decision making process that drove 100 million dollars in spending of their taxes. You don't see a problem with that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is, this is what the government has done. The Australian National Audit Office did a report, which went into the very issues you've talked about. It made four recommendations. We've adopted all of those recommendations -
SALES: But Prime Minister, my point is, Australians…
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, no, Leigh. If I could just. I'm sorry -
SALES: ...no, no, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I want to go to the question here.
PRIME MINISTER: This is what I’m trying to answer Leigh.
SALES: Australians do not understand. There's been no transparency around that decision making process.
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, what one of those recommendations was related to ensuring that the transparency of that process should be there in the future. Because what occurred on this occasion was that the Minister had complete discretion around these issues, not what might have otherwise happened on under the many other programs.
SALES: But, it’s caused you a lot of grief. Haven’t you wanted to get to the bottom of how she made those decisions?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is what I'm trying to tell you, if you'd just let me finish the answer. They made recommendations that that should change and we have agreed with that. Secondly, I initiated the review that was done by the Secretary of the Department who didn't find that bias to be in place, by the way -
SALES: Well, we wouldn’t know that because we haven’t seen the report.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, he released a statement Leigh, which actually went into the same matters that were covered in that report. So he's been very transparent about that. But the other point was, is that he made recommendations about whether the Statement of Ministerial Standards had been breached and the Minister resigned when I shared those results with her. So an Auditor-General has reported on it. We've accepted all the recommendations of the report. And in relation to the report done by the Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Minister has resigned. I would say the Government has taken quite a bit of action on that.
SALES: Angus Taylor had to apologise for issuing false information from his office, which brought your government into disrepute, on this program last night he was clear that he's not worried as to how that happened. He's not puzzled about the discrepancy between his account and the metadata from Sydney City Council. You had to deal with days of distraction because of it. Are you bothered to get to the bottom of how one of your senior ministers came to be distributing doctored material?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Leigh, those matters were considered by two police investigations and dismissed. What I'm interested in, Leigh, and I think what Australians are interested in is what's going on with the coronavirus, what's going on with bushfires, what's going on with the economy, which are the matters that we discussed earlier in this interview, these matters -
SALES: But Prime Minister the reason I’m asking if I can pick you up on that point.
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
SALES: The reason I'm asking about this is because when you want to talk about those big issues, your trust- people's trust in you and your credibility are your most important assets. I've outlined two examples there where your Ministers have breached public trust. And in both cases, you're saying to voters, there's nothing to see here when there, when there are still unanswered questions?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, that's not what I said, Leigh, and you shouldn't paraphrase me in that way. What I said, is the National Audit Office reviewed this matter, made recommendations, and we adopted all of them and the Minister resigned over the matter-
SALES: We still do know in this matter how these decisions were made?
PRIME MINISTER: They were made based on the discretion of the minister, which was the way that that program was lawfully established and these matters, that's what that program was. It was a program of Ministerial discretion. See when Ministers become Ministers, they go through elections in, whether it's in the Senate or the House of Representatives, politicians are elected to make decisions. She made decisions with that authority to do so. That's how that scheme was established, lawfully. And the Auditor-General has looked at that and made recommendations about how that should be done in the future. And I have agreed and the government has agreed with that. And in relation to particular matters about how the program was administered the Minister resigned. So I think it would be unfair for you Leigh to suggest that the government hasn't taken that issue, and indeed the Minister hasn't taken it seriously when indeed the Minister ended up resigning.
SALES: You won't release the Gaetjens report into the sports rorts. Your office tried to conceal when you were on holidays in Hawaii in December. The government cited national security to avoid answering a question under FOI about whether Pastor Brian Houston was invited to a White House dinner, although you've finally admitted this afternoon that he was invited. Why all the secrecy on stuff that on the surface would seem to be not that big a deal?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, those things aren't that big a deal that you've talked about. And I'm always focussed on the-
SALES: But why the secrecy then?
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, I'm just focused on the things that I took to the Australian people. And I know-
SALES: No no, I just want to know why the secrecy? You're not answering what I'm asking.
PRIME MINISTER: Leigh, well I’ve disclosed the issues you've referred to. So, I mean, in relation to one of those matters, I mean, I could have been more candid the time about it. I wish I was, but frankly, it wasn't a big deal -
SALES: But you want, you go back to the trust question, you want Australians to trust you, does this excessive secrecy help that?
PRIME MINISTER: No. Well, I don't accept- I don't accept the assertion you're putting to me Leigh. I mean, you're making accusations like the Labor Party -
SALES: I just gave three examples.
PRIME MINISTER: -does -
SALES: No, no, I gave you three concrete examples.
PRIME MINISTER: These are these are minor matters, Leigh, that I don't think go to the issues you're talking about-
SALES: That’s my point.
PRIME MINISTER: If you want to if you want to join in on the accusations that the Labor leader makes in parliament every day, well, you can join in-
SALES: I’m not interested in what the Labor leader's got to say. I'm putting to you three examples.
PRIME MINISTER: Well there's an uncanny resemblance between the allegations Leigh.
SALES: I’m putting to you three examples, where there has been secrecy that I can't understand why you'd have secrecy around. Say for example, Brian Houston, you've said this afternoon, you invited him to the White House-
PRIME MINISTER: Well let me deal with the issue of the governance committee Leigh, the governance committee of Cabinet, which involves the Attorney-General, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, which is the Treasurer. That is a governance committee of Cabinet, which deals with very sensitive information. It is not the practice of any government to release information that has been before the governance committee. And so there is nothing extraordinary about that, Leigh. The Cabinet is a very serious committee of obviously the running of the government. And to suggest that somehow the governance committee of Cabinet should somehow be open slather I don't think is a serious suggestion, and so-
SALES: And so about Brian Houston thing, why did you keep that a secret?
PRIME MINISTER: Well Leigh at the time I was in the United States, we had had a very important meeting with the President of the United States. It was not a matter I was intending to be distracted by. And look at the time I could have answered the question differently, I've been upfront about that. But honestly, at the end of the day, it was not a significant matter and people haven't asked me about it for months and months and months. A journalist asked me about it today and I gave, I just answered it straight up.
SALES: The only reason I'm asking about it, because it is a minor matter, is because of the secrecy around it. I mean, there was an FOI request put in about it that came back and said that the information couldn't be disclosed because it would jeopardise Australia's relationship with the United States?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the allegations that were being made at the time when I was in the United States went around possible leaks out of the President's office. Now, I wasn't about to get into the issues regarding what was said or wasn't said out of the president's office, as a guest in that country at the time I didn't think that to be a very discreet way or diplomatic way to handle those questions.
SALES: Prime Minister, appreciate your time. Thank you for joining us this evening.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks a lot, Leigh.
Interview with Leila McKinnon, A Current Affair - Channel 9
3 March 2020
LEILA MCKINNON: A short time ago, I spoke with the Prime Minister from Parliament House in Canberra.
Prime Minister, the message that we're getting today is to be calm, but seeing what we're seeing unfold around the world, I guess the anxiety is justified, isn't it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I understand the anxiety. I mean, this is a very serious global virus. It is extended to 75 countries or thereabouts around the world, and that has been increasing. But here in Australia, we moved very early. We got ahead of it early and we're staying ahead of it. And we're working together with state and territory governments, but also those in the private sector as well, the big companies to ensure that we can stay ahead of what's occurring here. But I understand why people might be anxious. But people should have a lot of confidence in the very strong health system we have in Australia. We've tested some 10,000 people around the country and there are currently 38 cases. But I stress 21 of those have already cleared the virus and have gone back about their lives. So we are managing this at present, but we're not complacent about it and we're working very hard to stay ahead of it.
MCKINNON: What's the advice you're getting? Are we heading into a pandemic?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're certainly preparing for that. Whether it eventuates in those sort of extreme terms, well, we'll have to wait and see. But we're certainly preparing, for example we've been working with aged care facilities in recent, in recent weeks to ensure that they're prepared. I mean, we are able to lock down aged care facilities if we need to, to protect the residents in those areas because they are some of the most vulnerable in the community. What we're also doing is ensuring that our hospitals have that surge capacity and that we have arrangements in place as to how people might present for medical attention outside hospitals or to have special clinics for that if that's needed. So there's a lot of preparatory work that's being done. But right now, people can just go about their business. They don't have to, not turn up to the footy, or go out for a Chinese meal or any of these things. The best thing we can do is just keep going on about our lives in the way we usually do. But just exercising common sense.
MCKINNON: You've shown yourself to be a pretty committed handshaker in the past, is, are you still shaking hands? Is that, or is that off the table?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, I'm still shaking hands. And there are precautions people can take, which they normally do during a severe flu season. And that's really all I think we have to be mindful of. That's certainly the advice that we're getting. And it's important that people do go about their business. And I know parents would be very worried about young children. I mean, Jenny and I, we have two children, 10 and 12. And I can understand why people might be anxious. But the important thing is to go to the right source for information.
LEILA MCKINNON: There's also a lot of concern in the community that we might run out of household essentials. Toilet paper is flying off the shelves, hand sanitizer, those kind of things. What information do you have? Should we be stocking up on things?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's not the advice we're getting from the medical experts. And we've seen a bit of that in particular locations going back to about last Wednesday the big retailers tell me. I spoke to both Coles and Woolworths today, and they have arrangements in place to address some of that rather stocked up buying that we've seen. But it's good news that the, Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures toilet paper, for example, that's one of the key items along with hand sanitiser where there's been a real run on that. They're now opening up their manufacturing lines in South Australia to deal with that. And so what that says is when these challenges come up, or these issues arise, whether it's in the private sector, amongst companies or the government ourselves. We're all talking to each other and making sure those issues can be addressed in a convenient way.
MCKINNON: Now, we're already seeing the effects on the economy that, are we looking perhaps after having the drought, after having the fires, now we've got this health crisis. Is it inevitable that we're heading towards a recession?
PRIME MINISTER: I never make any statements about what's inevitable. What I do know, though, is the government will work together with everyone else to ensure we get people through this, and that includes economically. This isn't the global financial crisis. This is something very different. That was a big shock to the economy all those years ago. This will also have a significant impact on our economy, but it will be because of a virus, a health crisis. It's not a financial crisis. It's a health one, but it has very real economic impacts. And the government is pulling together a response to support, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, keeping them in business, keeping people employed, dealing with cash flow, supporting investment, because when the virus runs its course on the other side, there will be an up tick and we will bounce back. I'm planning to ensure that the Australian economy bounce back better. And that would include ultimately with the budget. But we will make those investments that we've committed to that the Reserve Bank today cut interest rates by 25 basis points and I put the banks on early notice, earlier today and I really want to thank them for responding to the call. All of the four major banks have passed on the full rate cuts of 25 basis points, that will support householders, those who are paying for mortgages. And that's a good thing. And I want to thank the banks for the way they've really enlisted here, working with everyone else to ensure that we put the best possible support into the economy at this time.
MCKINNON: What kind of relief or stimulus can businesses that will struggle with this, expect? I mean people like the travel industry or the seafood industry or I know construction's already suffering. Will there be some kind of tax relief or debt relief?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have more to say about that once those packages have been finalized Leila and I don't want to speculate on too many of those details now. What I want to be clear about, though, is we've been working closely with the Reserve Bank and with the, and with the Treasury to ensure that what we do was targeted, that it really addresses those issues being faced by particular parts of our economy, but also looks at the cash flow issues that small and medium sized businesses will be confronted with, and we’ve got to help businesses get through-
MCKINNON: Yeah well they’re having those issues now though, how quickly,
PRIME MINISTER: Of course they are.
MCKINNON: How quickly can we expect that relief or stimulus?
PRIME MINISTER: We're working on that right now Leila and we'll be making an announcement in the not too distant future, but it's important to get it right. Last time when the government ran out a whole big cash splash and they spent over $50 billion or thereabouts, we paid for it for a very long time and it wasn't very well-targeted. And it left the government's balance sheet in a terrible mess. And we also had a whole bunch of programs, you’ll remember the pink batts programs and the overpriced school halls and all of these things. And we're not going to go and repeat those mistakes. We're getting it right. We're being careful, but we're not delaying and we're moving quickly.
MCKINNON: Okay. Prime Minister, thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, Leila