Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

8 May 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Always being thankful is a common lesson our mothers advise us, and I have always found that particularly good advice from my mum, especially if you're going through difficult times. It turns your focus on others, who are not so advantaged as yourself. We've been doing a lot of that lately, I'm sure. So many Australians are hurting right now. Lives turned upside down, painful separation from their loved ones. Livelihoods that they have spent a lifetime building stripped away. Uncertainty about their futures and their family's future. The last few months have given us a reminder of the things that are really important. Our health, our wellbeing, a strong health system and all those who keep it strong. A growing economy. Our jobs and our incomes that rely on it. We cannot take this for granted. Every job matters, whatever job you do. Every job is essential.

Our children's education. Caring for our elderly, respecting their dignity. The selfless and humble service of so many Australians who just get on with it every day make this great country work. We have seen these heroes in action. Above all though, the importance of each other. That every Australian matters. Every life, every job, every future. And we have learnt some important lessons that we can meet the tests, as we have, and the challenges that we have so far confronted. That when we have to, we can and we do pull together. That we can focus on something bigger than just ourselves. Be encouraged, Australia, that we are successfully making our way through this difficult battle on two fronts. And we're certainly doing it better than many and most around the world today.

Firstly, we've been fighting the virus and we are winning. Secondly, we have put in place and are delivering the economic lifeline through JobKeeper and JobSeeker and many other programs to get us through the worst of this, to buy Australians time as we fight the virus and we chart our way back. Thirdly, and particularly today, we move ahead with reopening our economy and our society, with a clear plan, and a clear framework, that shows Australians the road ahead. The next step beyond this will be to build the confidence and momentum that will see our economy get back up and running and get Australians back up on their feet and moving ahead with confidence. And then we can reset our economy for growth in the years ahead in this new environment. So we can deliver the jobs, guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on, keep Australians safe, and take care of this amazing country that we have the great responsibility of looking after. This is the plan we are working through to get through this together, as we promised.

So today our focus is on the road back. Today, we have put Australia in a position to go forward. We have strengthened our health system and put the protections in place. On the front-line, our testing and our tracing capabilities, containing outbreaks, all backed up by a health system with more ICU beds and ventilators, more personal protective equipment, doctors, nurses, first responders, ready to go. JobSeeker and JobKeeper in place. So with that work being done, today National Cabinet agreed on a three step plan and a national framework to achieve a COVID safe economy and society and it is our goal to move through all of these steps to achieve that COVID safe economy in July of this year. In this plan, we walk before we run. We know we need to be careful to preserve our gains, but we also know that if we wish to reclaim the ground we have lost, we cannot be too timid. There will be risks, there will be challenges, there will be outbreaks, there will be more cases, there will be setbacks. Not everything will go to plan. There will be inconsistencies. States will and must move at their own pace, and will cut and paste out of this plan to suit their local circumstances. There will undoubtedly be some human error. No-one is perfect. Everyone is doing their best. To think or expect otherwise, I think, would be very unrealistic. This is a complex and very uncertain environment. But we cannot allow our fear of going backwards from stopping us from going forwards.

The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Murphy, will go into the plan in more detail. But this is the plan for a COVID safe Australia. Three steps, moved at at the pace of states and territories that will get us back where we need to be as quickly as we can. A plan that, according to Treasury, can see some 850,000 jobs restored in the months ahead.

Step one will enable greater connection with friends and family, allowing gatherings up to 10 people, and five guests in your own home. Working from home, if it works for you, and your employer. That's a difference in emphasis, as I'm sure you’ve picked up. It will see children back in classrooms and in playgrounds in their communities. Golfers back on the green. Lap swimmers back in the pool. Boot camps back in the parks. Retail and small cafes and restaurants reopening. Intrastate recreational travel starting again. It will see easing of restrictions for funerals with up to 30 attendees, outdoors, and 10 at weddings.

Step two will allow larger size gatherings up to 20 people, including for venues such as cinemas and galleries, more retail openings on sector-based COVID safe plans, organised community sport, and beauty parlours, and you'll be pleased to know, barre classes open once again.

Step three, allowing gatherings up to 100 people. This will become clearer as we move through the first two steps. So there will be more work to do on step three. But most workers, by then, will be back in the workplace. Interstate travel will likely resume. Pubs and clubs, with some restrictions, will be open and also possibly gaming venues. As I said, step three, but also step two, will get greater definition as we move through the success of step one.

As I said, it's our aspiration as agreed among premiers and chief ministers and myself that in July, we will have moved through these three steps across the country. The pace, though, will totally be up to the states and territories. They'll be responsible for setting their own timetable and communicating that to their citizens and residents in their own states and territories. Premiers and chief ministers have asked me to stress there should be no expectation of step one starting on day one, unless they are indeed already there. Moving on these steps will take some preparation. It is also important to note that movement from one step to the next will depend on three criteria that we have always outlined, and indeed, has enabled us to move today, a week earlier than we had planned. Those criteria again - that the medical evidence suggests that further easing would not present an undue risk, that widespread testing is adequately identifying community transmission, and thirdly, public health actions are able to trace cases and trap local outbreaks. Testing, tracing, trapping, as they were saying in the Northern Territory recently. Downloading the COVIDSafe app, which is now over 5.3 million, is the best way to help us do this job, to keep you and your family safe. And I would say that especially now, because for some time now, Australians have been kept at home and they know who they've been seeing each and every day now for some time. But that's going to change in the weeks ahead. You'll be seeing more people, you’ll be connecting with more people. So the COVIDSafe app will be even more important to protect you and your family and your safety and for those in your community, those you work with, those you come in contact with. So I would encourage you to continue to download the COVIDSafe app. For industry and businesses, it's all about getting your COVID safe plans in place for your workplaces and your premises, and Safe Work Australia has been doing some excellent work there and I referred to that earlier this week with Nev Power and the Minister for Industrial Relations, Christian Porter.

So, that's the plan for taking us forward. We'll be reviewing progress of our plan every three weeks and making any changes as we need to. I again want to thank all the premiers and chief ministers for the spirit in which they have engaged in this process over the last several months. I also want to thank our expert medical and economic advisors, and of course Professor Murphy, who is here with us today, as always, and to you Brendan and your team, thank you for the excellent work that you’ve all done. I also want to thank my own team from our own Government, the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, and the Minister for Health, of course, Greg Hunt, and all of my colleagues for getting us to where we are today. But we've still got a long way to go. We've got a plan to get there, done the work to get there, Australians have done the work to get where we are and I want to thank them most of all, for enabling us to get to this point.

A year ago, I made a promise to all Australians. That we would work each and every day to keep our economy strong, to keep Australians safe, and to keep Australians together. We're keeping that promise to Australians. That's the fight we've been in. That's the fight we remain in. It's the fight we're winning. And it's the fight we'll continue to win together.

Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM. I might just go through the power point. So we'll go to the first slide. This is again, you're familiar with this slide, it's showing where we are with our flat curve. You will see some little spike in numbers in the last few days. Most of that, 50 per cent of the cases in the last week have related to two outbreaks, the Cedar Meats outbreak in Victoria and the Newmarch aged care outbreak in New South Wales. This is what we expect to see and what we will continue to see and that's not such a concern if we're getting on top and managing these outbreaks as we have in those two cases. So, despite, other than those two cases, we've got very low case numbers. But the virus is still there, it's still in our community. That's why, despite our very good position, we've got to be very cautious and wary with our next steps. Some very good news on testing. Testing has really ramped up across the whole country, we've done more than 730,000 tests. We are just shy of 6,900 cases at the moment. Six out of eight states have had multiple days of zero cases. But they all know that that doesn't mean the virus isn't still in their community and all of us have to be very careful as we move forward. Next slide.

This just demonstrates some of the measures we've taken over the period of this outbreak. You can see the progressive impact of the border measures and the various social distancing measures that we put in place and how they have brought the curve and case numbers down and now it's time to look at those measures. We're not looking at the border measures. As we have said on many occasions, two-thirds of the cases in Australia have been from returning travellers. We're not going to relax any of our border measures soon and we're going to continue to quarantine all returning travellers because this virus is certainly in a much worse position in many other countries from which our citizens are returning. I'll go to the next slide, thanks.

This is, as the Prime Minister outlined, our three step process. Step one is cautious. It's gentle. It's not doing too much at once because we're in uncharted territory. There are not many countries in the world like Australia that is in a position to start gently relaxing measures with such low case numbers and we don't want to lose the control we've got. We want to make sure that outbreaks that occur are managed and controlled. We also want to make sure that before we do anything, every Australian follows these measures, everyone continues to practise that physical distancing all the time. Everyone maintains good hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, everybody stays home when they're unwell, no matter how mild your cold or your cough, stay home when you're unwell, and please get a COVID test. That's the best way we'll find these hidden cases of the virus in our community, is if every single person who has any respiratory symptoms gets a COVID test and stays home. No more heroics of coming to work with a cough and a cold and a sore throat. That's off the agenda for every Australian for the foreseeable future. Please. The COVID safe plans for the workplaces are really important, as the Prime Minister said. Clearly also there's the health response. The Prime Minister has already alluded to that. Testing, tracking and responding to outbreaks. So in step one, it's essentially getting people in groups of 10 together, outdoors, particularly, staying working at home if it's going alright for you and your employer. Allowing 10 people in a one person per four square metre distance in small cafes and restaurants. We know that that will mean many cafes and restaurants won't be able to open, but many doing takeaway may want to put up enough distant tables to start just gently serving 10 people at a time. Some libraries and community centres, again, with only small numbers of people.

In step two, we're looking at larger gatherings of around 20, potentially in some states, they may look in some venues at really good COVID safe plans to go more than that. Opening a range of other things such as gyms, indoor fitness, beauty therapy, cinemas, galleries, and the like. Some interstate travel, we think, might reoccur in that stage. Step three is much more relaxed. This, as the Prime Minister said, there is still a lot of work to be done in step three, there's still quite a bit of work to be done in step two. We have more certainty around the definition of step one, and each of the states and territories will be separately defining how and when they will implement that. But in step three, we are talking about opening up most of the economy, but again, in a COVID safe way, with strict distancing, strict hygiene, all of those measures that we have to live with while the virus is with us in the community. Next slide.

This just provides a little bit more detail and really gives a bit of a narrative around each of the steps. So, very cautious early reopening in stage one, step two, many more businesses and activities and venues opening again. But still, with significant numbers, control, and step three, a much more broader opening but again, in that principle of good distancing and good hygiene. And in step three, we're hopeful that there will be more travel around the country and we might start to get some domestic tourism again. But step one, well defined, step two, a bit more work to be done, and step three, still a lot of discussion to be had before we can well define that properly. The next slide.

So what are we asking the community to do? Keep those personal responsibilities. I know I have said it already today, but please, keep that distancing. We could lose the battle that we have won so well so far. You only have to look at the nightly news and see what is happening in really good countries with good health systems like Australia, where they let this virus get out of control, unfortunately. We have managed, we've been lucky to control this virus and we want to keep that control. So while we relax some of these measures cautiously, every Australian has to do their bit. Every Australian has to do the things that I've said already about distancing and good health and staying at home when well. We'll continue to do all the things as a public health response, and we'll make sure that if we find outbreaks as we surely will, we'll get on top of them and control them. If we all do the right thing together, we can get through the next few months and gradually get a COVID safe normal life again.

Thanks, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Brendan. I might start over this side. There's quite a few more of you, you're a bit bunched up, I'm noticing.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, have any states and territories indicated when they're likely to start step one? And also, just on the NRL, would you support a no jab, no play policy?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, on the issue of premiers, they'll be announcing their own timetables for when they're making those statements. I think you can expect to see some of them later today, making some initial comments and I'd expect to see them making further comments over the days ahead, over the weekend, and early next week. So that's when you can expect them to outline those timetables. I note, as I am sure Brendan would also, that when you look at those three steps, I mean there are some states like Western Australia where step one is pretty much tick the box. They're very much well advanced on that. South Australia, Northern Territory, quite similarly. But those on the east coast, a very different situation. So they’ve all got different starting points. But the important point is the whole country has the same end point, and that is to get to a COVID safe economy. As I noted the other day, as the then Minister for Social Services who started no jab, no play, I obviously had a lot of sympathy for that as it opposed to, at that time, vaccination of children in child care centres. Now, ultimately the states and territories have to determine what the health requirements are as they apply to the NRL. If they were to be insisting on that, then I would think that's entirely reasonable.

Tim?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you say Treasury has advised you 850,000 jobs restored in the months ahead. When does it say those jobs will be restored, how many will be left unrestored by your calculations on the current employment rate, and is this the snapback that you envisaged when you  put JobKeeper in place?

PRIME MINISTER: A lot has happened since then, Tim, as you would know. I think we've got a lot more information than we had back then. What was important back then was we knew that Australians would need an economic lifeline and that's why, firstly, JobSeeker and the effective doubling of JobSeeker, and JobKeeper were then put in place, to provide that lifeline. Since then, we've seen a lot of changes in the global economy and how other countries are dealing with this. Those 850,000 jobs I'm advised by Treasury, that includes those who may be on JobKeeper now or on JobSeeker. It’s people who have been stood down, going back into their full employment. And those, that work is being done based on the steps that you can see here today. So it's very much a function of how and when all of those steps are completed.

JOURNALIST: And by July?

PRIME MINISTER: That's the aspiration, Tim. But as we have learnt during the course of this COVID crisis, there's a lot of uncertainties. So that's what we understand to be the value of doing this. We've got one million people and more who are now on JobSeeker and that's been a Herculean task by those at Services Australia and Centrelink to get all of those claims processed in that period of time. And I want to see everyone get back to work, Tim, and that's why the plan that I set out, not just in relation to the opening up of our economy, and the reset we need to do on the policy level, that is what is going to drive the jobs and make them sustainable in the future. That’s what’s going to guarantee the essentials on hospital and education funding and disability care and aged care, that all requires a strong economy. That's why those subsequent policy measures, building on a lot of the reforms we put into place before we came into the COVID crisis, that is what is going to drive the jobs growth into the future. But as I set out at the beginning, Australia has had a record run on economic growth. And I always said, both as a Treasurer and as a Prime Minister, that we can never take that for granted. Any number of things can disrupt that and we've seen that happen. And so, we can never be complacent about the things we need to do to grow our economy and generate jobs. David?

JOURNALIST: So, I'm not actually sure if you said that in the press conference, but it's been reported that you want to have businesses, 80 per cent of businesses, fully operational by that July cut off. Is that the case?

PRIME MINISTER: I don't know what you're referring to. I haven't given such a statement.

JOURNALIST: Ok. What percentage, or do you know what percentage at the moment, of businesses are closed or running at half capacity, or anything like that? Just so we know kind of what we're going from.

PRIME MINISTER: I don't have an estimate of that in front of me. What we've seen is the reductions in employment. That's known. What we have seen is the reduction in the incomes people are taking home and we've been able to get, through Treasury, some early runs on some of that data and the Treasury can speak more to that. But whichever way you look at this, the economic impact has been very harsh. Today, the Reserve Bank has set out their various scenarios. They've got an average scenario there, I'm pleased that that average scenario is a little better than the one they were talking about not that long ago. I suppose that goes to Tim's point, things change. Look, I'm hopeful we can put this plan in place and that's why what follows this plan is building the confidence. We’ve got to get Australians to get their confidence back and they have every reason to get their confidence back. Because there are very few countries in the world that can stand here today and outline a plan like this because of where we have got ourselves to. There are a few, and I have been having discussions with some of them, very recently. But we're a small group at the moment. I hope that group gets a lot larger. Sam, did you have one before we move around? You have deferred it to the press gallery president.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. PM, two questions, if I may. The first on Cedar Meats which is the big break out concern here. Do you have any concerns about the way that's being managed and does it actually make the case for a slower easing in Victoria, and the second question is about those state border controls. Business complains about those. They restrict business. Do you think those state border controls have to be eased in the first step here, urgently?

PRIME MINISTER: Firstly, on Cedar Meats. We're going to have outbreaks. They're going to occur. Where people have the COVIDSafe app, it helps our health officials actually deal with those outbreaks. That would have sped things up had all of that been fully operational and they would have all been in place. I can tell you that will have occurred by the end of today. The code is being released later today, I'm advised, on the COVIDSafe app. I commend Premier Andrews for the way that he has sought to address this issue. These outbreaks are difficult. But you've got to move quickly and use the tools you've got available to you. Outbreaks are not a reason to slow things down. Outbreaks are going to happen. All premiers and chief ministers understand that. And so it's how you respond to them and I think in this case, I mean, not all information is perfect. When you go into them, how long they have been going on, not always clear. That's why I think some of these automated tools are very helpful to the premiers and health ministers in those jurisdictions. Each one of these is going to be tough but it's not a reason to slow things down. It's a reason to ensure you got the COVIDSafe app downloaded, you’ve got workplace practices, COVID safe premise practices, workplace practices, which is what is sitting at the foundation of the plan we've set out today.

Brendan, did you want to add anything on that?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: This virus, as we know, is incredibly infectious. We've seen from one wedding 35 people infected. So it's not surprising that when you get an outbreak in a workplace such as this, it will spread significantly. The important thing is not the size of the outbreak, the important thing is the response. And the response is testing everybody, every contact, locking the place down, closing it down, quarantining and isolating, all of those things have been done and I'm very confident that outbreak is under control.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] scalable, you're now opening the economy a lot faster than people thought. Is all of that stimulus locked in, JobKeeper - the end date is in the legislation, but is there any stimulus that you might need to wind back?

PRIME MINISTER: There's another payment to be made in July, which is a repeat of the $750 payment that was made just a few weeks ago. That's factored in as the next phase of stimulus which is going through to beneficiaries. The JobKeeper and the JobSeeker program, as you note, have a legislative life which was set out over a six month timeframe. I say it was scalable and what our objective is, is to grow the economy and get people back into jobs, and we’re making sure that people are being supported by the economy, and not the taxpayer, as quickly as possible. There's a review built into JobKeeper to be done before the end of June. Treasury will be doing that, they’ve been doing a lot of work on that just over the last week or so. So, look, we'll take that one step at a time. But I need to stress again that that was a temporary lifeline put in place to help Australians through the worst of this crisis. It comes at a very significant cost, not just to current but to future generations as well. And it will be there to get us, to meet that objective, but it's not envisaged - never was - to be a longer term arrangement.

Yep, Michelle.

JOURNALIST: The economy obviously won't be completely opened up until you're able to open the borders. Is it a fair assumption, leaving aside New Zealand, that the borders will not be open before next year? And when you do, are you attracted to a staged process? For example, I notice Nev Power said the other day it would maybe be a good idea to have charter flights for overseas students? Are you attracted to that sort of approach?

PRIME MINISTER: A couple of things. And I’ll pick up David's question, of which I didn't answer the second part of that. On the interstate travel and the border issues that are there, they have never been part of the national baselines. That has never been a recommendation. And they have been decisions that have been taken unilaterally by those states. I'm not making judgements about them one way or the other and they'll decide those. I did see data, though, that the Treasurer shared with me - I think he shared with you the other day - which showed that the freight travel, which is being done by road and other forms, was actually holding up, despite those border restrictions and that was welcome. Of course, the recreational transport and those sorts of things has come down significantly, and that includes air freight. But the road freight and the land-based freight transport, you know, goods are getting through, goods are moving around the country and I understand there's a whole bunch of kegs on their way to Darwin as we speak, running up the highway. Much eagerly anticipated, I'm sure, there for next week sometime. So, that is occurring. In relation to the borders, international borders, we've spoken about New Zealand, as you've already noted. Issues of international students, you'll note that it does come into the third step of the plan and that is a possibility and how you would work that through, well, they'd have to be carefully tested. So, we are open to that, and we would be working with institutions to see how that could be achieved. But it has to be done according to those strict quarantine restrictions and how that's done, and how those costs are met. So, there's a lot of steps to work through. But, I mean, we're open to everything, pretty much, to get the Australian economy back and firing again as much as possible. We've just got to step through it carefully.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the numbers of people under each step - so, 10 and 20 and 100 - does that include parents and children? Or could you have 10 adults and 10 children in one gathering under step one? And given that the states can make their own decisions about precisely what particular things open up when they want, how was the list decided today? So, how was it decided that playgrounds would definitely be in step one on the list that you've shown us all today and the various other measures?

PRIME MINISTER: I think I will let Brendan take over.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, there was a process where all the states and territories fed in what they thought was safe to do at each stage. So, it's 10 people. I mean, whilst we acknowledge that children don't transmit as often, we've got to keep it simple. We want to keep only five people visiting in your household, or 10 people in a gathering outside. So, 10 people training in a football field, it's 10 people getting together in a park. Again, hopefully with distancing. So, we got together and we looked at what was like a consensus position. Not every state agrees with every step, but we look at the relative risk of each thing. So, there's an absolute risk about gathering size. So, that's a protection, so that if things do break out, if we've only got gatherings of 10, that means much less potential for transmission. So, some states, though, don't want to open cafes and restaurants initially, because they feel that their situation, they would prefer to take some time. Everyone, playgrounds, for example - the evidence is really accumulating internationally that most transmission is occurring indoors. We now know that every citizen is following good hygiene practices. As long as you only have 10 people at a playground, and as long as the parents bring along sanitiser and wipes - people are changing their behaviour, so the feeling was that the risk for playgrounds is now lower. The risk for small gatherings is lower. There is necessarily an arbitrariness about this, and in step one there are things that could have been included that weren't, on the basis that we want to keep it gentle and careful. Step one is tentative, baby steps into normalisation. If everything goes well, we don't have big outbreaks, step two could be more confident.

PRIME MINISTER: Right up the back?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister the federal health department decided to take no punitive action against a Sydney Council that told its staff downloading the Covidsafe app was compulsory on their work phones. Why should Australians trust the government to enforce those privacy protections, when a sunbather on the beach got an on the spot fine and an employer who breached the Biosecurity Act got basically no consequences?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll have a chat to the Health Minister about that. But look, the vast majority of the enforcement arrangements on all of these measures are actually followed through by state and territory authorities. And if anything, there's been criticism of how thorough they've been. And so in relation to specific matter you've raised, I'd have to, I'd have to be briefed on that in terms of what the specific circumstances were and the actions that were or weren't taken by the department and I can follow it up with them.

Ellen, did you want? Or you’re good?

JOURNALIST: Yes please, in terms of the task of rebuilding confidence, given the scale of unemployment that's come as a result of this, how do you rebuild that confidence? And would you look at bringing forward government spending on infrastructure, and major projects?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we already have. That's something we're already doing. That's part of the plan now. And whether it's in Victoria or New South Wales, Western Australia or anywhere else, we've already got a very large infrastructure program - we went through the process of bringing many of those projects forward at the last quarter of 2019. And as I've reported previously, we're making pretty good progress on that. And now that we've been able to get through these issues in reopening the economy, which I think is one of the key issues for confidence. I mean, the reason you've got three steps here - we could have released just one step today, given that steps 2 and 3 still have more definition to go into them. But it's important that the gym's know they’re next off, cab off the rank. It's important that people know that pubs and clubs are in Step 3. They need to know that because they need to prepare for it and they need to know where we're going to go next and where the states and territories are going to follow. And that's why the states and territories timetables are also so, so important. That's what builds confidence. Having COVID safe working premises plans, builds confidence, because I understand Australians having been at home for several months; may be a bit cautious as they venture out again. And so they need to be confident when they're going into a restaurant or a cafe or doing things like that or going to a playground or whatever it happens to be that the plans are in place, that people are taking that action, that lifts public confidence in health, which means they're more active economically. And this is what has the flow on. Now I don't think anyone could suggest that the Commonwealth hasn't turned up when it comes to providing the economic supports at this time. I mean, it's unprecedented. And that is on top of the almost $9 billion of extra support we've put into the health system and of course, the $100 billion that has been rolling out for infrastructure around the country. So you're right, Ellen. It's got to be a part of that economic plan. Always has been. And we're already acting on it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned earlier that there will be outbreaks, you say that there will be clusters. Is it a case that the states, the territories and Australians will need to hold their nerve once they go down this path and not snap back to tighten restrictions?

PRIME MINISTER: Yes.

JOURNALIST: And can I ask you on stage 1, for the stage 1 restrictions, do students need to be back in the classroom at schools?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's what step 1 is. And for the vast majority of states and territories, that's exactly where they're heading. And that advice has been consistent from when this COVID crisis first began. There's been no change. So I'm looking forward to seeing children back in classrooms learning, that's the best place for them to get an education. But on the other point, yes, I think it is important that we all hold our nerve. That's why I was saying before, you, these are cautious first steps, but important first steps. You know, we can, you can stay under the doona forever. And you'll, you know, you'll you'll never face any danger. But we've got to get out from under the doona at some time. And if not now, then when?

Yeah, no I’m coming round.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask a bit more how that 3 week review process will work? And also, just picking up on Michelle's question. Can you give a rough timeframe for when you think we might see general international travel allowed again?

PRIME MINISTER: I can't see that happening anytime soon. There is nothing on our radar which would see us opening up international travel, in the foreseeable future. There are already some very, very minor exceptions where the Border Force can provide an exemption for outbound travel, but that's in areas like facilitating development aid in third countries and things like that. It's a very limited set of circumstances. I've already mentioned in my answer to Michelle. How we could potentially consider how things for international students might work. But these are exceptions, not the rule. It is something that other countries are discussing, but it, by and large, almost without exception, I'm not aware of any countries that are looking at that option at this point. And, Greece is, I know, is considering that coming into their summer. They mentioned that at the meeting we had last night. But it sounds, you know, that they're still working through that issue. And I wish them well with it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister You've talked about businesses needing certainty. But can you give the 5 million people on JobKeeper and all those on JobSeeker with the corona supplement the certainty that they'll get that for at least for the six months?

PRIME MINISTER: I give them the certainty that I want them to be back in their jobs where they don't need it, that's what we want. I mean, people don't want to be on JobKeeper and JobSeeker. They want to be in a job that's paying them. And that's why we're, that's what this plan is about, not to keep people on income support from the taxpayer, but to have a wage that's provided by business that's successful and earning again and going forward and creating a strong economy. That's what the lifeline is for, to get people to that point. That's what we're aiming towards.

Sorry we’ll go to Brett, I'm going to come around. We're just moving right around. OK.

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, I'm sure your best PowerPoint presentation yet. Australians are appreciating this clarity around where things are headed. One question to you, where do pubs and clubs sit on these steps. We can't see them on there? And then Prime Minister just continuing the road analogy. You talk about not letting the fear of going backward stop us from going forwards. Do you envisage a point where we might need to make a U-turn on some of these steps? Or is it a case that we just keep powering through regardless of what happens if there are outbreaks or things escalate beyond what you might envisage happening?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So I'll start with, so seated restaurants in pubs and clubs like in other venues can, if the states and territories choose to implement in stage one, they could start with 10 people. They may well not for a pub and club that will be a pretty small restaurant. Similarly, in step two, they can still do seated dining. The general view is that with the exception of the Northern Territory, which is moving forward more quickly, that it will be level 3 before bars and nightclub type venues without seat dining would be open and gaming type venues. But as the Prime Minister has said, there's still a lot more work to be done in that space.

PRIME MINISTER: Step 3.

PROFESSOR MURPHY: Yeah.

JOURNALIST: And just on u-turns, going backwards. Is it a case that you know that the journey might stop momentarily? We won't revert back steps?

PRIME MINISTER: That's certainly the intention. I mean, it's, I said the other day, it's like the emu and the kangaroo. They go forward, not backwards. And that's what that's how this has to work. Premiers and Chief Ministers are very keen to ensure that you continue to move forward. And, but look, it's- it's a level of confidence is building on this. And that's what I think these, this first step also enables us to carefully look at how that step is going. The question was about how often we're reviewing. Well, that's every three weeks. And basically we'll go around the grounds of the Premiers and the Chief Ministers and ask them how it's going. There'll be some empirical evidence about how that's tracking. We'll have the health data, but we'll also have the economic data. And that will help guide, I mean, they're not formal reviews. They're just, I'd describe it more as stocktakes as to where the framework is at and and looking where all the states are and how we're going towards our ultimate aspiration of being there in July.

Okay, Kath?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister though you must have, you say outbreaks aren't a reason to slow things down and all the momentum is forward, and the Premiers are on board with that, but it's just a point of common sense that at a certain point of outbreak, I mean, God forbid, but let's say we get some really substantial outbreaks following the restrictions, you're not actually saying are you that we will just continue to power forward?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm saying we’ll continue to act on health advice, Katharine. That's what we'll always do that’s, and all of these steps, the the key requirement as you move from one to the next is it's subject to the health advice. We've always acted on the basis of the expert advice. And if the expert health advice that, God forbid, we're in a situation like you outline, then we'd have to take the health advice in those circumstances. But this is why we're so keen to stress and I don’t know if we go back to that second last slide about what Australians can do, that scenario you talk about is so much less likely. If the COVIDSafe app is downloaded, if people are following the distancing practices and the hand hygiene, and if workplaces and premises have effective COVID safe plans for those operations, that's what protects you. It's not about whether there are cases, as Brendan has said. It's about the response. And if the response is effective, well, then we don't find ourselves in the situation you're talking about. But in those circumstances, the health advice, you can be assured, would play heavily in the decisions of Premiers.

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] thresholds, is there actually a threshold because there are thresholds for going forward?

PRIME MINISTER: No, based on the case. It's case specific. It's case specific at the time.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on community sport last week, you raised expectations that we could see a return to the soccer pitch for kids. It's not on that step, what step does community sport fall into-

PRIME MINISTER: Two.

JOURNALIST: ...and how soon do you think we could see kids back playing sport?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's up to the states and territories. They'll have to outline their plans. But what you can see, I think now under step one, should the states move on that in their jurisdictions, that training would be able to occur for those types of sports, that can be happening under step one and in many places that would already be happening. Step two involves community sport. That's right, isn’t it Brendan?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: Yes, so step 2 has sport in groups of 20. And again, more work will be done that may well be possible for some competition to occur then. Then but full level C of the AIS framework will be in step 3. Step 2 is still being worked through. But in step one, people can train in groups of 10 according to the AIS level B, and we want that to happen.

PRIME MINISTER: And it involves, it doesn't have to be organised sport. But step 1 with 10 people in a park having a kick of a ball around, or a soccer on a Sunday afternoon. That's what step 1 envisages.

PROFESSOR MURPHY: Correct.

PRIME MINISTER: Yep, yeah Phil?

JOURNALIST: PM the economic forecasts the Treasury’s put on step 1, 2, 3 the job creation. Does that supersede the estimates put out an hour ago, a couple of hours ago by the RBA? They're still forecasting unemployment at 9 per cent at Christmas, 8.5 per cent next June. So do they, are these figures subsequent to what the RBA is saying? And if that's the case, could this take the edge off the economic forecast the RBA has just released? Could they not be as bad as?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they were done, they weren't done as part of the same exercise, I mean the RBA and Treasury are different organisations, as you know. So they've been prepared independently of what RBA has been doing. There's a lot of dialogue that goes on between the RBA and Treasury. But the RBA set out 3 scenarios there. They've got a median case scenario. But all I know is, is that the more we open up, the more people go back into jobs and the better off everyone will be and the numbers will then tell the story, whatever those numbers happen to be. At the moment, I don't like what those numbers are at all. As all the Premiers, you know, affirmed again today, success is not being able to stand up every day and say there's 3 cases or 12 cases or 18 cases, not when you got a million people out of work. That's not success. And so we want to, they’re the estimates Treasury have done and we, this plan takes us a long way back, but not all the way back.

JOURNALIST: PM, your early access to super scheme has been frozen because of alleged identity fraud. Were there enough protections built in? How can Australians have confidence their details won't be stolen? And Professor Murphy, do you believe NRL players should be allowed to play without receiving a flu shot? And how significant is that health risk?

PRIME MINISTER: Well do you want to do that one first Brendan?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So I think that's really a matter for the relevant state health authorities, I think. Now, I personally have a view that everyone should get a flu shot. And it's important where, but I think that's a matter for the relevant state.

PRIME MINISTER: Look, over $10 billion has been claimed and has been moved through that system and that program. We've had this incident and it's been moved on quickly, as you'd expect. When people undertake fraud, there was a response to fraud. I mean, fraud is possible in any program anywhere. Over my government experience, I've been in immigration, I've been in social services and I've been in Treasury. And I can tell you fraudsters try and have a crack at every single one of those systems every single day. So the fact that people have tried to have a crack at this doesn't surprise me. The Home Affairs Minister already, I understand, made some comments on this. I mean, it's a serious fraud issue, and that's why the precaution was taken to to pause that for at least 24 hours while that's being addressed. The fact that there has been such a swift response I think demonstrates that there are protections in place and action is taken and they should find them, they should lock them up.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this week the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, seems to have stepped back from his previous assertion that there was enormous evidence for the Wuhan labs theory. Do you welcome the shift in emphasis from your US allies? And to what extent has this focus on the theory made it harder for you to gain international support for your inquiry?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, in terms of Secretary Pompeo, I want to extend my best wishes to him and his family. He has just lost his father and I know from recent experience how difficult that must be. He's an extraordinary fellow, and I'm sure his father would been incredibly proud of him. So all my best to you, Mike. I've already made comment on these matters. I think what is important is we find out and the world doesn't yet know. I raised this at the meeting with international colleagues last night. The Health Minister continues to do that through his forums. It's not directed at anyone. We just want to know what happened so it doesn't happen again. It's a pretty honest question with an honest intent and an honest motive and I'm seeing more and more support for that position. And we're supporting a European motion that's going to the World Health Assembly and there's an independent oversight committee of the Health Emergencies Program within the World Health Organisation. And on top of that, there's a health regulations review process that's going on that I think can accommodate the recommendations made by the Europeans as a good first step to getting down this path. But you can't let the trail go cold and I think Australia and the United States and the United Kingdom and countries all around the world would like to know what happened because we don't want to see it happen again.

We'll go here and then we will finish up with you.

JOURNALIST: PM, what's the role of business in the return of confidence? When should they restore pay cuts to staff and start paying their rent again?

PRIME MINISTER: As businesses are able to reopen and get on their feet, then I'm looking forward, as I'm sure they are, to getting staff back on the floor, lifting their wages again from their stand down arrangements and to be able to take that enterprise forward again. One of the things I'm very hopeful of is that because of the supports we put in place, the arrangements that the states and territories supported under the commercial tenancies code, was it basically allowed businesses to go through this incredibly difficult time with the loss of trade and not have the businesses collapse. Now, there will be some, sadly, who will have collapsed, but there are so many more that I think as a result of the supports and protections we put in place and the good mindedness and the fair mindedness of whether it's landlords, tenants, banks. I mean, as the Treasurer, I think indicated between $120 and $160 billion of loans have had their payments deferred as a result of the banks. I want to thank Matt Comyn and all the team he leads, the Australian Bankers Association, of course, CommBank. You know, they've engaged. I mean, I've given them a bit of a hard time from here and now, including from this podium not that long ago, but they responded well to it and I thank them for doing that. So I think all of this people have worked together, which means, yeah, people can get back up to their hours. People can get back up to what they were doing before. That's the whole point. That's what we're trying to do here. But it's not easy. It's one thing for things to be shut down. That can be done relatively quickly. It's terribly painful. But building it back up again and getting the confidence of businesses to go and do that is important. That's why we've set out this plan so they know where we're heading. They know where we're going. They know when we want to get there. They can plan around that. The Norwegian Prime Minister last night was making a similar point in how they're doing something quite similar to us, knowing who's next and what's going to happen next, even if they won't know the precise timing of it. They can prepare for it. And I’ve got to say, the COVID safe workplace and premises plans, training your staff in those things, they're important. They're important because when people come into a shop, they'll want to know that it's COVID safe and that you've got that sorted and I have no doubt businesses will be turning their minds to that.

JOURNALIST: One for you and one for Professor Murphy. Professor Murphy, after all this is over, are we going to see a change in that attitude of powering through your cold at work and employees requiring a sick certificate as well? And for you, Prime Minister, the JobKeeper payments have been undersubscribed, so why not spend some of that money on the arts, casual workers and migrant workers as well?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I think we will see a permanent change in that sort of cavalier attitude of going to work when you've got a cold or flu and I think that will be, even when COVID is gone and we don't know whether it will be fully gone from society. That would help with flu seasons and help with general health in the community. So I think that one of the two permanent changes I can see forever is good quality hand hygiene and that stay at home if you're unwell mentality. And I think we've all been guilty of that at various times. I know I have. And we're all going to have to change that mentality.

PRIME MINISTER: JobKeeper is a demand driven program. It doesn't have a target level of subscriptions at all. Never has. Estimates were made at a time when things were very uncertain about where things are heading. The fact that fewer may ultimately seek or need that support is a good thing. And as a result, the program will continue to run on the parameters we set out for it and will provide support to those that it's designed to assist. The JobSeeker program works in parallel with it. It's not JobKeeper or nothing. It's JobKeeper and JobSeeker. The two work together and this is very important. The economic lifeline we've put together is there to spread right across the economy. And so the premise of the question is false. It's a demand driven program and it will be delivered as it was designed. We've made some adjustments to it along the way that have largely dealt with administrative issues and clarification issues and where that is needed, then we'll continue to do that. But at the end of the day, that lifeline of JobKeeper and JobSeeker has bought us the time to do exactly this plan. Very few countries in the world are in a position to stand here today and outline the plan that we are now embarking on because they're in no position to do so.

Australians have given myself, the Chief Medical Officer, the premiers, chief ministers, you have given us the opportunity, Australia, to go forward with this plan, and now we will implement this plan together. And when that plan has been implemented, people will be back in work. People will be back together and Australia will be stronger. Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42813

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

5 May 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I'm joined by the Attorney-General and the Minister for Industrial Relations and Nev Power who is the Chair of the Covid Commission. Earlier today the National Cabinet met. There are no matters to report from a health point of view in relation to today's National Cabinet, we are working towards those decisions on Friday as I've indicated to you, and the Chief Medical Officer will hold his usual daily press conference as part of that normal program this afternoon.

Today we are focusing on another topic, and that is very much about getting Australia back to work and I will ask the Attorney-General and the Chairman of the Commission to work through some important work they have been doing with Safe Work Australia. Hundreds of thousands of Australians have been protected, in terms of their health, in recent weeks and months. Thousands of Australian lives have been saved, when you look at the experience of how coronavirus has affected so many countries around the world. But we now need to get a million Australians back to work. That is the curve we need to address. We have had, particularly when you look at it at an international level, quite an amount of success as a National Cabinet, Federal Government working together closely with state and territory governments to ensure we have been able to manage and contain the outbreak of the virus here in Australia. And those decisions that we have taken have been incredibly important, and no doubt had we not taken them, that not only would the health impact have been disastrous, but the economic cost would have been even greater then what we are now currently experiencing, and as the Treasurer has gone into some detail today explaining. But it is also true that it has come at a cost. That cost will continue so long as we have Australians in a position where they are unable to open their businesses and able to go back to the offices, children unable to go back to school, and the many restrictions in place. That is why the National Cabinet has been working very effectively again today as we move towards the decisions we need to take on Friday, that will impact on these restrictions in weeks and months that are ahead.

But to get Australia back to work, we have to get Australians back to work in a COVID safe economy. The National Cabinet is working very hard to define what that national COVID safe economy looks like, so we can move towards that. But as long as these restrictions are in place, they are costing our economy some $4 billion each week, and today at National Cabinet we had the opportunity to go into the Treasury work that has been supporting those figures that the Treasurer was talking about today, and I can assure you that the National Cabinet and certainly the Commonwealth Government is under no illusion about the ongoing costs of these measures, and it certainly puts enormous pressure, as it should, on the timetable as we seek to move Australia back to a COVID safe economy because of those significant costs. And as we plan our way back and getting those million Australians back to work, those costs are expressed in so many different ways. By the end of the day, more than a million Australians will have had their claims processed for JobSeeker. Around 5 million are estimated to be on JobKeeper. One million, or more than one million I should say, are accessing their own super, of almost $10 billion. 384,000 businesses are accessing around $7 billion in cash flow assistance, and that is just to date.

I just want to spend a couple of minutes taking you through the same figures that I was able to share today with the National Cabinet when it comes to the impact on the economy, if I could just have the slides up. What you can see here is the estimate over the first half of this year, obviously the first half of this year is not completed, but this is the estimate by Treasury on how the impacts on the economy are being played out. On the left hand side is the impact of the fall in GDP, which is just over 11 per cent over that period, and on the right hand side is how that is expressed in jobs. So the play out on jobs as opposed to GDP is different. If you look at what is done in the areas that have had great restrictions, you can see that some three percentage points of that 11 per cent fall, but when you look at the jobs, 708,000 jobs estimated to be lost and impacted by these restrictions, specifically on those industry sectors. You have a broader impact on domestic demand, on flow ons from these changes of around 4 percentage points, and that equates to some 516,000 jobs. And when it comes to schools, the school shutdown, 3 percentage points, estimated of that growth, and that flows through to around 304,000 jobs. Next slide.

When you break it out, the same impact in terms of the percentage decline in gross domestic product and you look at jobs, you can see that for, particularly the hospitality sector, accommodation and food services, just under 2 per cent fall, but in terms of jobs, 441,000 jobs. That is the sector most affected by all of this, when you look at the retail services, you’re at just 1 per cent, that’s retail and wholesale trade, 146,000 jobs, 120,000 or just under that on construction jobs, arts and recreation services, around 180,000. The broader remaining industries, you can see around four per cent fall on GDP, and that translates proportionately to fewer lost jobs and you can see why, in terms of the other sectors that have been more acutely affected. When you look at areas, though, like accommodation and food services, while restaurants and cafes and groups like that, businesses like that,are closed, it isn't just the effect, though, ultimately, these are first round effects. It is the effect on food supply, and so we have in the agricultural sector at the moment some welcome news in seeing, in some places, the drought starting to break and rain getting to areas it hasn’t been. But when restaurants and cafes are closed, they are not buying from those producers like they were before, and so, there is a compounding of the effect and so keeping those types of places closed, and there have, obviously, been very good reasons for having them closed but the longer that goes on, it is not just the waiter and the chef that is affected. It is the food producer, it is the supply chain that actually goes into those sectors, and we need to take that into account. Thanks, next slide.

When you break it down by states, and what is is a simple extension of what the overall fall in economic activities across the states and territories, based on their usual share of gross domestic product, and of employment. And so the actual impacts will be different when they can be more closely modelled. What you can see from that, as you would expect, obviously New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are going to have the biggest fall is based on an ordinary proportion of what happens with economic activity across Australia. And on that basis, a 3.7 per cent fall in New South Wales and on the job side, that is just under 500,000 jobs. But it is also true because these restrictions have impacted more on the services side of the economy, that those economies particularly, in Victoria and others if their restrictions are stronger, then it means that the job losses would be greater. So this is what that $4 billion each week starts to translate into when you look at it on a state-by-state basis. Thanks.

So you can understand that with numbers like that, the National Cabinet are not in any way unaware of the serious implications of the decisions we have had to take now over many months, and that is why we are not seeking to delay any time at all in terms of trying to get things moving again, but we must be able to move them forward safely. Ultimately, they will be decisions that will be taken by the states and territories, and I look forward to outlining a framework later this week once we have our next meeting. So to get Australians back to work, what is absolutely essential is they could go back into a COVID safe workplace, and this is something the Minister for Industrial Relations, the Attorney-General, and the COVID Commission together with the unions and others have been working on for some time. Already, businesses are acting on this. It is not just about being able to go back to a workplace that is safe but it is also about being able to do that confidently and it’s also about being able to go into a workplace where where there are outbreaks, and let's not forget when we move and start to ease some of these restrictions, of course you will see numbers increase in some areas, you will see outbreaks occur in other places, that is to be expected. What matters is how you deal with it, and how you respond to it, and it is important that businesses, employees and employers have the tools to deal with the COVID environment and ensure they are all working together to support a COVID safe workplace.

So I am very pleased with the work that Christian and Nev have done, ably supported, of course, by Greg Combet, who is the Commissioner who works as part of Nev’s team who has been very involved in this, and I want to thank you, Greg, for the great jobe you’ve done, not just on this issue but on many of the issues we’ve been engaging across the workforce and that has made a very big difference. So with that, I might pass you over to Christian to talk through the new tools and work that is being done, and Nev also to speak to those matters. Thank you very much.

THE HON. CHRISTIAN PORTER MP, ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: Thanks, PM, and maybe if I start with some of the complications around the health and safety landscape in Australia. There are obviously a range of strict legal requirements that are placed on all employers under work health and safety legislation across Australia, and they are meant to be able to allow businesses to manage a whole range of risks, and now we had this new risk that will be with us for some time in the form of COVID-19. Now obviously, there are measures that businesses have and will continue to need to put around COVID-19, social distancing, which will be measures determined through National Cabinet but which emanate through state legislation, either emergency legislation or health legislation, personal protective equipment, hygiene, cleaning, and these are, on occasions, not going to be uncomplicated matters as businesses across Australia reanimate and get back into business. So the monitoring enforcement of health and safety regulation occurs in each of the state and territory jurisdictions. All states other than Western Australia and Victoria are part of a model code but even those that are part of the model code, there will be slight differences in the way that it is monitored and enforced.

So to try and cope with some of the complexities of the system, there have been four things, obviously, that have happened. The first was that National Cabinet adopted a set of national COVID-19 safe workplace principles and that is a very important first step in ensuring there is consistency in approach as the reanimates. Obviously, the COVIDSafe app is a very important part of the health and safety work to reanimate the Australian economy. Nev shortly will be talking about the COVID-19 planning toolkit which will allow businesses on a broader level to prepare and plan. I just wanted to quickly focus on the Safe Work Australia website. So that website can be found at www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au and as we went into the constraining phase in April with COVID-19, there were almost a million visits to the Safe Work Australia website which was massively an increase on the number of visits that you usually get to the Safe Work Australia website. And what was clear is as the constraints were necessarily placed as a health response of the Australian economy, businesses had a great hunger for information in what was a very dynamic and fluid environment so they could be doing the right thing, discharging their obligations according to federal and state law, and understanding how those laws would be enforced and regulated. So in response to that need for information, we have effectively rebuilt the appropriate parts of the Safe Work Australia website. So what we have done is create 1,300 different webpages which will apply to 23 different industry sectors, so anyone, an employer or employee, can go on the Safe Work Australia website using the content filter and tailored drop-down menus, they can navigate fairly simply to get precise answers to the questions that will apply to their particular business, whether they are a manufacturer, or an abattoir, or a cafe, whether they want to know about how cleaning should work, what are the standards that are appropriate, what products should be used,. So down to a very granular level of detail Safe Work Australia, acknowledging the role of state and territory health systems and acknowledging the role of state and territory enforcements, is able now to provide a relatively consistent, detailed, head start to every business in Australia so they can thoroughly understand the best way in which they can cope with working and carrying on their business in a COVID safe environment in the weeks and months that followed.

So that is something that will be a very important tool for all businesses, large and small, in Australia, as they reanimate and that will engage in information such as the existing duties under workplace health and safety laws in all the states and territories, how to conduct risk assessments, what physical distancing will mean for a particular point in time for a particular jurisdiction, for a particular business, so that you can go on with your business, describe its effective and fundamental dimensions, and you will get an effective and fundamental response as to how you might respond to social distancing as that applies in any given point in time, hygiene, cleaning, personal protective equipment. So it is the largest repository of information that we have available to ensure there is a consistent headstart approach to understanding how you can safely reanimate any particular business. So obviously I would encourage people to get onto the website as they go about reopening their businesses so they can get a very thorough headstart as to how to do that safely, and effectively, and in accordance with state and territory laws and regulations and I think with that, Nev, you will describe the Commission's role in that.

NEV POWER, CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION: Thanks very much, Christian, and thank you PM. Everyone, I think, Australians have done a fantastic job responding to the call to arms around the COVID-19 and we have seen that disciplined approach turn out very good results for the community. The business sector is exactly the same. We have been working with businesses, with peak bodies, with unions, with associations, to try and make sure that there has been clear, consistent communication two way, so we can understand what the issues that businesses are seeing and how we can work around those, but secondly, and perhaps just as importantly, to provide guidance and counselling for businesses about how to operate through the various phases as we come through the virus. As the Attorney-General mentioned, there has been a lot of work put into the resources necessary for businesses to have that information, and what we have been doing is meeting with hundreds of businesses and individual businesses and over 100 peak bodies and associations and unions to talk about how they can get their businesses ready to be COVID safe.

That comes around really four key issues, the first is reconfiguring and restructuring worksites to make jobs safe in those worksites. That is very much a business by business proposition under the guidelines of social distancing and personal hygiene. Secondly, how to respond in the event that there is an incident in a workplace, how people are communicating and how the tracking and tracing is done, and how those people are supported. And then, how do we return that worksite to a safe place to work as quickly as we possibly can. Very importantly, the communication process of sitting down with employees, making sure everyone understands what is required and what will happen, how their families will be supported and that communication processes right through the workplace. That has gone really well and with the Work Safe Australia website now as a resource, businesses will have a complete toolkit once we complete the COVID-19 toolkit that they will have resources there that they could draw on.

Some businesses are doing quite well and are ready and continuing to operate with reconfigured workplaces. Some businesses are in the preparation stage and some need a little more help to get there and that’s where we are working on that at the moment. But it would be fair to say the level of ingenuity and innovation that we have seen has been fantastic. Businesses are looking at this as just another business problem and saying how do we get as many people back to work as we possibly can while having those protections in place to reduce the transmission of the virus. A key part of that has been the IR task force set up with the Attorney-General 's office and being led by Greg Combet and that is about advising workplaces and businesses about how to set up the workplace but it's also about fixing problems when they occur so we can intervene quickly and settle any issues that might have arisen because of issues in the workplace.

So, my message to business is a very, very simple: continue to work with your employees to find ways of configuring your business so you are able to introduce the restrictions on social distancing and hygiene into your normal business activities and have plans in place and be ready as the restrictions change that you can continue to do that as more customers are coming into your business, as there is a higher level of activity and make sure that we continue to contain the virus as the economy starts to expand again. And it's really important I think also that if we do have outbreaks in the economy, in the community, that we are able to deal with those directly without needing to go back and reintroduce further restrictions. We want to make sure we are able to deal with those quickly, that's been our guidance to business, is to make sure that this is a progressive, disciplined and well organised change in those restrictions. So great response from everyone, I think we are all looking forward to having a more relaxed set of restrictions but we need to make sure that we’re continuing to do the right thing. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Nev. Now, I will start with you and move our way around the room. Before I do that, just an update on the COVIDSafe app, it will pass 5 million today, we’re actually not far away from that just as we speak of a targeted population of some 16 million, that puts us almost at a third of that. That's a welcome response, and obviously a bit more we would like to see, I would like to thank everybody including those in the media for their support of promoting that app and passing on the important messages part of that app. Let’s not forget its most important job is to keep you safe, every single Australian that downloads it, it keeps them safe. Because if you have come into contact with someone who also has the app who has been infected by the coronavirus, then you will know and people will get in touch with you so they can tell you you have been potentially compromised by the virus and then you can make decisions to make sure you protect your other family members and those in your household and those who are around about you. The first job of the COVIDSafe app is to keep you safe and that is its best reason why I would encourage people to continue to do that. Of course, the more people we get, then the better protection we all have as we go back to work or as the National Cabinet considers further restrictions, there have already been quite a number of restrictions eased and I particularly welcome the changes that were announced by the Queensland Premier in relation to schools. We are already seeing a lot of changes happening, all of those changes get better supported by how we all keep each other more safe by ensuring we download the COVIDSafe app. So please continue to do that in days and weeks ahead. Greg?

JOURNALIST: Thanks Prime Minister, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there is enormous evidence that the coronavirus came from a research lab in Wuhan. Do you still believe the most likely source of COVID-19 is a wet market, or is there, according to your advice, growing evidence it emanated from a lab? And will you urge the Americans, the Trump administration to share their apparently compelling evidence with Australia or even globally through the United Nations forum?

PRIME MINISTER: We work closely with the United States, and I've already made comments on this matter and there's been no change to the Australian position on this. And whether, and which was to say that we can't rule out any of these arrangements, that's what I said the other day. But the most likely has been in a wildlife wet market, and that that wildlife wet market is an important definition of what we're talking about here. There are wet markets and there are wildlife wet markets. They're two different types of things, and that is the most likely outcome. But what's really important is that we have a proper review, an independent review, which looks into the sources of these things in a transparent way so we can learn the lessons to ensure that were there to be a virus of pandemic potential that would originate anywhere else in the world, we can learn the lessons from that. And that's what Australia is focussed on. And I've written to all the G20 leaders to that end.

Lanai?

JOURNALIST: Josh Frydenberg said today at the Press Club that widespread closure of schools and childcare centres would have cost the economy $34 billion. What's your message to states that are still dragging their feet on reopening schools in a widespread way? And Mr Power, you've also said just now, that there are some businesses that are ready to reopen. What proportion of businesses is that? Do you have a percentage on how many businesses are ready right now to reopen?

PRIME MINISTER: Well on schools, I can only repeat what I've been saying for months, and that is that the expert medical advice is that schools can be fully open. And the expert economic advice that we've received from the Treasury is that not opening schools fully is costing jobs and it does cost the economy. That's, they’re the facts and those facts have led the Commonwealth government to have a very consistent position on that and to welcome every day where there is a school with a classroom that is open with more and more students attending and getting their learning face to face in the classroom.

Nev, did you want to add?

NEV POWER, CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION: Yeah, I think you are beginning to get,

PRIME MINISTER: probably going to need to go to a mic.

NEV POWER, CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION: I need to go to a mic - It's a little hard to tell exactly how many are each category, but we've got a number of businesses that are working either at full capacity. For example, the mining, supermarkets, food processing industries, they've introduced COVID safe practices and COVID safe business models for their businesses and are continuing to operate right through. Other businesses have had some impact on demand so they're running at partial capacity. A lot of, in the housing construction area, for example, some have had to change their working practices to work around that. And there are businesses, particularly in hospitality and restaurants and pubs and tourism that are still impacted by the restrictions that are there. And those are the businesses that we're focussing on at the moment. There's a lot of small to medium sized businesses in there. And we're working with them now to make sure that they have all of the information they need to get their businesses back up and running, not only from a safety point of view, but also that they've got the ability to fund their businesses and get them back up to fund the working capital to restart, and that they're ready to make sure the public are safe when they come into those businesses as well. So it is now very much about as the restrictions are changed, that businesses can fill, can come back onto line or increase their capacity to do that. So it's very hard to give you the exact percentages because we're talking of hundreds and hundreds of businesses across Australia. But what I can tell you is that we're reaching out across the board to make sure that those businesses are absolutely ready to come back.

PRIME MINISTER: Katharine?

JOURNALIST: What exemption was agreed on the trans-Tasman, sorry, that's quite hard to say, travel bubble today, given just Jacinda Ardern's presence in the National Cabinet? And also, just so that I'm clear, just picking up something you said a minute ago, just about the restricted or the easing of restrictions, I think you said that ultimately these are the decisions that will be taken by the states and territories that on Friday we’ll get a framework, but ultimately states and territories decide. So does that mean that not all states and territories will start to ease restrictions from Friday?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can't pre-empt decisions of Friday. The National Cabinet, particularly on these issues where the Commonwealth has no direct authority at all, our job here is to try and ensure as much consistency across state and territory jurisdictions as possible. And it has been one of the more effective tools that we've had when we compare ourselves to other countries that exist in federations - Australia really has operated as a federation remarkably well, but as we've seen already and as has been the case, states and territories have operated on different timetables, there have been different nuances. They've reflected the case characteristics in each of those states and territories. In some cases, they've just reflected the sheer geography of the different states and territories, and that's to be expected. And so what you can expect on Friday is that, again, will seek to have as consistent a national position as possible. But ultimately, each state and territory are the arbiters of their own position. But I have no doubt they will seek to do that in as consistent a way as possible. They are already moving on many restrictions there, I would expect that on Friday there will be some restrictions which are formally eased, which many states have already moved on. Others are yet to move on. And so I think that framework will assist states. But more importantly, it's our hope that where we get to on Friday can sort of lay out much more of the road map for Australians so they can see what's happening in the weeks and the months ahead. But the point that Nev and Christian have made today is very important, and that is to get people back to work, to get people back on trains, to get people, you know, commuting to work. All of these things you need to have these very arrangements and the tools in place for businesses to give Australians that confidence so they can be out and about. Now, you'll have to remind me of the first part of that question Katherine, sorry?

JOURNALIST: What I can't say; trans-Tasman?

PRIME MINISTER: Trans-Tasman. Well it was great to have the Prime Minister Ardern there with us today. I understand that's the first time a New Zealand Prime Minister has joined a meeting of the states and territory Premiers and the Prime Minister since John Curtin was Prime Minister. So that was some time ago. The discussion was at my invitation for Jacinda to be able to share what their experience has been in New Zealand with my state and territory colleagues. That was the primary purpose of today's discussion. I mean, I've had the benefit of having those discussions with her and many other leaders around the world, and I thought that would be of great value to my colleagues. And so they could swap notes on a whole range of different restrictions and the economic impacts and things of that nature. The Prime Minister and I have been now for several weeks been talking about a safe travel zone between Australia and New Zealand. It is still some time away, but it is important to flag it because it is part of the road back, at some point both Australia and New Zealand will start connecting with the rest of the world again, and the most obvious place for that start is between Australia and New Zealand. And we could see that happening. But it's not something that's about to happen next week or anything like that. It is something that will better sit alongside when we're seeing Australians travel from Melbourne to Cairns at at about that time, I would expect everything being equal, that we'd be able to, you know, fly from Melbourne to Auckland or to Christchurch or things like that. The two-way travel between Australia and New Zealand is about 1.4 million a year, both ways, as many, almost as many Kiwis come here as Australians go there, and particularly for states like Queensland. There is a much greater share of that tourism travel that comes out of New Zealand into Queensland. And as we're building up our economies again, and particularly for trans-Tasman travel and what that means for the airlines as well, that will be important to support jobs in those sectors. So we're working cooperatively together. New Zealand has a strong biosecurity and border arrangements, as do we. And so it's the obvious place to start.

JOURNALIST: PM, just mindful of the answer Mr Power just gave, if we just press a bit further. If this toolkit and these protocols are widely and quickly adopted by business, do you have a timeframe in mind by which the overwhelming majority of our businesses could be open again, excluding the obvious cases like international tourism and so forth. But is there any reason why we can't have nearly everyone up and running in a matter of months if this is?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I hope to have a bit more to say about that later in the week. It's certainly something the states and territories and I have been discussing in some detail. I think we do have to have some aspirations and some targets about this. But even when you're easing restrictions in some sectors, it may take you a week or two for those particular sectors that have been closed down to be able to actually reopen, to get their staff back and to reopen the premises and get their supplies in and do all those sorts of things, so it so it can take a bit of a step up on the way back. But it is our goal to ensure that we can get back to the state you're talking about, which is what we are talking about as a COVID safe economy - to try and get to that point as quickly as we can. Because at $4 billion a week, we have a very strong incentive for all Australians who are wearing that cost every week, to reduce that as much as possible as soon as we can.
Michelle?

JOURNALIST: You mentioned that as more things get going the number of cases are likely to, to increase somewhat. What has been the health advice on that rise?

PRIME MINISTER: Nothing at this point because it all is a function of what restrictions and how quickly and so there are the parameters that would go into such an equation. But let's remember that one of the key things we have done in the last six to eight weeks is to triple our ICU capability. Now, when we start opening up again, we already have started opening up again, but when we take further steps, if we take ourselves back six, eight weeks ago when we were sitting around a table just as we were the day we formed the National Cabinet, I remember Premier Berejiklian over the course of that day, she was sitting next to me and she goes at the start of the day, the cases were low. By the end of the day, there were over 100 cases in New South Wales. So things were moving very quickly at that time. What I'd add to that, is at that time there was not the same sort of sense of social distancing. There were not the things we have in place now. There was not the same stockpile of personal protective equipment. There was not the number of respirators that we now have. There were not five million people on the COVIDSafe app and so we've built these protections over the last six weeks and more. And that means that we're in a much stronger position to resist and deal with any increase in cases. And we're seeing the same thing in Germany and other places like that, they have far more cases than we do, and they're also looking at easing and they're not allowing any movement in those cases to prevent them from keeping on with that program. So it will be a balance, but we're in a much stronger position today to deal with the sort of things that we saw six weeks ago. We're in a much stronger position to do that today than we were then and that gives us the confidence to be able to move into the space we're now seeking to move into. Andrew?

JOURNALIST: PM, you've talked about the next step being pubs and restaurants and things like that. Could you tell us…

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I haven't been specific, to be fair Andrew.

JOURNALIST: I think Nev Power was, actually. But could you explain and give us an idea of what a COVID safe pub looks like? And knowing what you know, when will it be legally safe for the two Andrews, Tehan and… ah, two Dans I say, Dan Andrews and Dan Tehan, to legally have a drink together?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they can legally have a drink together right now, just not in a pub. And I'm sure all of us are looking to that into the future. At the present point, Andrew, we do not have a clear set of rules that would apply to a pub. But what we do have is a set of recommendations that have been provided to us by the AHA and the Restaurant and Caterers Association and that is exactly the thing we're looking for from industry groups right across the country. All industry groups, all businesses - as Christian said - whether you’re an abattoir or a newsagent, you should be thinking about the sorts of things that you can satisfy yourself about in terms of having a COVID safe environment as well as those who come in and out of your shop, your patrons, to ensure that that is sustainable. The last thing the business want, and this is a common feedback that Nev and I get, is what's called the sawtooth, which means you open, you shut, you open, you shut, you open, you shut. That is not good for business. There needs to be the certainty to keep moving forward all the time. And so to have that, you know, you need to have these things in place and what we're talking about today is a further encouraging business to do just that. So thanks to the AHA and the Restaurant and Caters, that advice will go off to the medical expert panel, and that'll be part of the process that we will work through to get back to a position when pubs and clubs and restaurants or cafes in the future can be open. But as I say, we're not making those decisions today. We've had some good discussions on that today, but we've still got quite a bit of work to do.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in the time that we're sitting here waiting for the press conference to start, a friend of mine was stood down from her job in Victoria and there's clear frustration amongst some Victorians with the extent of the lockdown, the position on schools. Within your own team, we saw that frustration on Sunday. Is there anything that you can do as Prime Minister, leader of the nation, to put more pressure on some states that perhaps not everyone agrees with the extent of their lockdown?

PRIME MINISTER: We’re a federation and at the end of the day, states have sovereignty over decisions that fall specifically within their domain. And the National Cabinet, more than any other tool I've seen in my time in public life, has brought about a consistency of approach between states and territories, not a uniformity, but a greater consistency. And within those discussions, they have always been candid, they've always been honest, and they've always been in good faith. And you know, whether it's considering as I did today, demonstrating what the impact is by state to the economy. At the end of the day, every Premier, every Chief Minister has to stand in front of their state and justify the decisions that they're taking in terms of the extent of the restrictions that are in place. The trade off that they're making between people having jobs and the impact on the containment of the coronavirus. Now, my view has always been this and I've said it from this podium many times. Just having a low number of cases is not success. Particularly when you got a lot of people out of work like your friend today. That is the curve that I'm looking to address. Now, we've had great success on flattening the health curve, and that's great and we all wanted that. But it has come at a price and we now have to start balancing that up. I think there is, having spoken to all the Premiers and Chief Ministers regularly, there is no shortage of pressure on the decisions that they're making, I can assure you. But I respect the fact that they've each got to make their own call, just like I do, and they've got to explain it to the people who live in their state and they've got to justify it. And I think that's the appropriate transparency and accountability.

JOURNALIST: PM, thank you. The US Department of Homeland Security has released a report that accuses China of covering up the severity of the coronavirus outbreak to essentially buy time to hoard medical supplies. Obviously, cover up is a very particularly strong assessment. Is that a view that you share of the Chinese actions in those initial first few weeks?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'm keen to have undertaken is a proper assessment and review of these questions. I don't want to express an opinion about it, I want to know. And I think the best way to arrive at that is what I've proposed and as I’ve said, I've written to all the G20 leaders this week proposing exactly that process. I think on the 18th of May, the World Health Assembly will be meeting and they'll be considering a proposal being put forward by the European Union. I spoke to Ursula about that last week, discussed that with Boris Johnson and many others. And I think there's good support for that motion. That's a good first step. It doesn't cover all the issues that I've been advocating, but I'll continue to advocate for those and to do it in the global interests and in Australia's national interests. So that's where we're focussing our effort. How other nations choose to pursue those issues, I'll leave to them.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’ve repeatedly said that schools are safe and you've said today that keeping them closed is going to cost jobs. Given that Victoria still doesn't have a return to class plan, at least made public, is that something that you would consider when Daniel Andrews potentially comes to you in the future as their economy potentially suffers as a result of these prolonged restrictions, especially on schools and further to that, did the premier come to National Cabinet today with any sort of plan about returning Victoria's students to classes after May 11th?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that wasn't on the agenda today, the issue of schools and the advice from the medical expert panel, it hasn't just been me saying it. I've been saying it on the basis of the advice from the medical expert panel. It's not an opinion of mine. I'm relaying what is the expert medical advice on the issue of schools being able to be fully open and that is why the Commonwealth, under the National Principals for education, took the decisions that we did in relation to non-state schools. And those principles and the agreements that were set around the national principles, understood by all the Premiers and Chief Ministers. I made it very clear some weeks ago, that we would be taking those actions in relation to non-state schools because we fund non-state schools to the extent of 80 percent of what they receive. So we have required a plan, regardless of what state or territory that non-state school is in, to return to in-classroom teaching and on that basis, we are happy to encourage in the way that we're bringing forward funding. So the Premier in Victoria will continue to make the decisions as he sees them in relation to state schools, and that's entirely within his bailiwick. Other Premiers are making different decisions, like in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, the Northern Territory and in Western Australia. And I think they're making good calls.

JOURNALIST: Did the Deputy Prime Minister raise any concerns with you that John Barilaro would cause problems for him in Federal Parliament and are you concerned this Nationals infighting occurring now, will affect the government's chances in Eden-Monaro?

PRIME MINISTER: No and no.

JOURNALIST: PM, you talked about the benefit a safe travel zone would have on the tourism industry, including airlines. What role do you see intrastate travel having in terms of the economic recovery as restrictions are wound back over the coming weeks?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, very positive. And that's part of the road back that National Cabinet is considering. I mean, there are still hard borders with Western Australia. There was a bit of friendly banter about whether Kiwis would be welcome into Western Australia before those from the East Coast were. That's still to play out. But there is, I think, no doubt a big benefit once we're back in that situation where people hopefully by the end of term school holidays, if they're able to go and have a holiday on the Gold Coast or in South Australia and wherever it happens to be out of one's home state, well, let's hope that that's possible, because that will be great for those places in terms of the tourism impact. Already in New South Wales, which is what I get to see a bit more of here in the ACT, we're seeing those restrictions about people being able to move and travel a bit further. Same is true up in Queensland. That's good. I welcome that. I think that's great. I think Australians are welcoming that, too. That is all part of getting back to that COVID safe economy. But what is really important is people need to still hold to those principles that are around a COVID safe environment, the social distancing, keeping in contact, but not physically in contact, the hand hygiene, all of these things remain just as important. And of course, downloading the COVIDSafe app that provides that passport, I think, to protect those you're with, your family, yourself as well as those you're coming in contact with.

JOURNALIST: Yeah, thanks, Prime Minister. Three weeks ago your Communications Minister promised urgent short term support to regional broadcasters, but we haven't really heard anything since. Do you know why some of these relief measures are taking so long?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll refer you to the Comms Minister, but we’re happy come back to you on that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you talked about the agriculture producers who don't have a market for their produce, but a more pressing issue for many more is not having capital to actually restock and grow their crops after the drought. The Federal Government has not announced any drought recovery measures since certain parts of the state had rainfall earlier in the year. Obviously, the drought fund… the future fund doesn't start flowing until July. What measures might be considered beyond what exists with the Regional Investment Corporation loan to assist those farmers with cashflow?

PRIME MINISTER: The original investment corporation loan actually provides for hundreds of thousands of dollars of loans for that exact purpose. It already provides for it. That's part of existing government policy. That's one of the reasons why it exists and so the exact thing you're asking for currently exists. It's part of existing government policy and it's an important part of government policy, that they get access to those loans. That has particularly been put in place with additional support in relation to bushfire affected areas and the primary producer grants that went into those bushfire affected areas and particularly those in south-eastern New South Wales, which remain in a drought affected state. They do have access to those loans as well and their take up has been lifting, the primary producer grant certainly has been lifting over the last few months. And we welcome that. The Drought Recovery Agency, that Shane Stone leads, has been working just as hard during the COVID period as they were from whence they were first established. And that COVID, sorry the Drought Recovery Agency has been working right across the country. And I'd encourage you to go to their website and see all the tremendous work that they're doing to connect farmers to loans and other forms of assistance and support for which there is a very large set of measures for them to draw down on.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, last week you revealed that there’d be this fall in net overseas migration, the 85 per cent cut or fall. What's your goal for Australia in the recovery phase from COVID? Do you want to get net overseas migration back to the levels that we've seen in recent years? Or do you think that there's an argument after this crisis where we should accept lower net overseas migration every year?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you know, the government's policy on permanent migration and that is it's got a cap at 160,000. That's not a target, that's a cap, and our policy hasn't changed on that front. On net overseas migration, you may be familiar with the work from Professor McDonald from some years ago that was done for the Department of Immigration. And he'd always put a range on net overseas migration that was consistent with maintaining per capita GDP growth at between about 160,000 and 210,000. So that's, there the figures that have sat around for some time. Of course, having a responsible immigration program is part of having a strong economy. What I think Australians have been quite cautious about when it comes to issues of immigration has been the infrastructure support for a growing population, and that has particularly been felt in the high growth metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne, and that's why we've had the Urban Congestion Fund and the range of of new project measures that we've put in place now over some years, the $100 billion of rolling infrastructure all around the country. You've got to build the infrastructure to support the population, and you've got to have an economy growing to support that population. Now, you would know that if you drop your net overseas migration to 34,000 or thereabouts, then that's going to have a consequential impact on the construction pipeline and the housing market, which is going to cost people's jobs. And so you need to get the balance right, we believe that our policies around this have kept the balance right. I think one of the lesser understood elements of the net overseas migration outcomes and how temporary migration plays into permanent migration is the vast majority of skilled migration these days actually comes from those who are already here on a temporary skilled visa. And so if you're, if you're wanting to hack into the temporary skilled migration program, you're basically saying you want to hack into the skilled permanent migration program and and those communities all around the country, who's, that permanent migration program is incredibly important to, I think that an insensitive way and dealing with that, an unbalanced way is not only not good for the economy, but equally, I think it puts unnecessary pressures on on particular communities around Australia and shows an insensitivity to those.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in Josh Frydenberg's speech just a second ago, he said that your government wouldn't be cutting services. He then also went on to say that the government would cut back on quote, “wasteful spending”. What would you classify as wasteful spending?

PRIME MINISTER: We've always ensured that the government has lived within its means. That's how we were able to balance the Budget for the first time in 11 years. That has been the core feature of every budget that I've been involved in, and our Government's been involved in over the time we've sat on the Treasury benches. We've also been very clear that the way to grow your revenues is to grow your economy, and the way to ensure you can support health and education and disability services, is to have a strong economy. I mean, that is that is the theme of every single Budget that I've been involved with and that will continue to be the theme. I've talked before about sovereignty. Sovereignty means that we can get Australians back into jobs. It means we can guarantee the essential services that they rely on and that we can guarantee their national security as well, both in terms of environmental security as well as the strategic security that is afforded to us by the work of our intelligence agencies, our law enforcement agencies, our defence forces and others. And that's what sovereignty is about, having an economy that can support our jobs, our services, and our national security. And that will continue to be the way we approach our Budgets in the future.

JOURNALIST: Just on schools, we're told that schools are low risk, the New South Wales Premier also says that we can expect to see more outbreaks as they start to reopen. So if you can tell us how many jobs the school closures are impacting on right now, as you have today, can you tell me how many people are going to get sick? Do you have any estimate of how many additional cases are potentially, of COVID, are involved in getting all of that school system up and running around the country?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the estimate from Treasury, based on the second round impacts of schools being reduced in the way they have over a six month period, is around 300,000 jobs. And one of the issues that was flagged early on in this debate was, in particular, the impact on the health workforce and the first responder workforce and those employment sectors. And that's why we were so cautious with the rush that was taking place some months ago to try and close the schools down, because at that stage, we were not in a position to have any knowledge about how bad the COVID crisis could become and whether we'd be seeing the scenes that were ultimately seen in New York or London or other places. Now, fortunately, because of the measures we've taken, that has been avoided and that's welcome. But the impact on jobs has happened as a result of that. That's why it's so important not just for the fact that it's safe for kids to go back to school, and that's always been the case, it's also important because it frees up the workforce to go back to work. And women are some of the most affected by that with school closures and even if they're trying to work from home while at the same time looking after kids, it's not an easy job, whether with you’re a mum or dad. Doesn't matter either. It does impact on the productivity. So kids going back to school lifts productivity, helps people get back to work and helps the economy get back on its feet. Now, we do not have other than the modelling estimates that you've seen provided by Professor Murphy about where we see the track of the virus moving into the future. But if we continue to have the strong defences that we've been building, whether it's overall on ICU capacity and PPE and things like that, but also a lot of the more tactile responses which are about the surveillance testing and the broader testing network. And I commend all of the states and territories which have all been lifting their game on testing and I know Victoria, in particular, right now is putting a lot of effort into boosting its testing effort, and that means that you can move on outbreaks far more quickly. Of course, with the COVIDSafe app, you're more able to quickly isolate those who have come in contact with someone who's contracted COVID-19. But the third area, Sam, I think it’s really important. You've seen this with a number of these schools and the one in Melbourne most recently. Where it does happen, you've got to move very quickly, lock it down, scrub it down and then reopen it as quickly. Now, that's true for a school, but as Nev and Christian were saying, that's what you have to do at a manufacturing plant, that's what you have to do in a shop. It's what you have to do in any number of other workplaces. And so having the processes to move on that really quickly is important and those types of things will have a big impact on how many more cases that you see.

Now, Professor Murphy has been pretty consistent, immaculately consistent, on the low levels of transmission and numbers of cases amongst those, you know, of children's ages. And that hasn't changed and that research has not changed also in the international experience. So our expectation is that, yes, I suspect undoubtedly you will get cases, of course, that will happen. We aren't pursuing an eradication strategy. But those cases can be managed and those cases can be contained in a strong health system and that's our focus. So rather than be focused on how many more cases there would be, what we're focused on is making sure we have the capacity to deal with the cases and that's an approach which has been mirrored by many other countries and I think Germany is a good example of that. And they provide a good guide, as we do to them, on those types of issues.

If there are no other burning questions, thank you all very much. I'll see you next time. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-43954

Video Message - Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Event

5 May 2020

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G'day from Australia. We're very pleased to be part of this important event today, and I want to thank the European Commission for bringing us all together for this important purpose.

COVID-19 is putting us all to the test and it is a test we are all rising to. This is a great shared project by the peoples of the world with a clear purpose: to find that vaccine for COVID-19. A safe vaccine, available to all, affordable to all.

In Australia and around the world, our best and brightest medical minds and researchers are working tirelessly in the service of all peoples.

Today, Australia is pledging $352 million Australian dollars towards this global effort to fight COVID-19 and to find that vaccine.

We're providing $15 million Australian dollars to help develop COVID-19 vaccines and diagnostics to be shared equally between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND).

As well, here in Australia, we're also providing $337 million Australian dollars to fund COVID-19 research and development work on vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and respiratory medicine.

Our world-class medical researchers and institutions, the University of Queensland, the Doherty Institute and our CSIRO are already working with CEPI to fast track a vaccine. Our pledge builds on A$170 million that we contribute every single year to global partners working on the development and deployment of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics.

We look forward to continuing our strong support also for GAVI at the pledging conference hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson next month. And it's great to see you looking so well, Boris.

We're also stepping up to assist our region. Our development program is pivoting to focus on COVID-19, especially in our family neighbourhood of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, where we can have the most impact.

I know we're all hurting and grieving for what has been lost, and so much has been lost. But out of our grief and sadness comes a strong determination to beat this virus by working together. And in so doing, ensuring we are better prepared for future pandemics.

Thank you so much for the ability to contribute today and be part of this important initiative. And I think the European Commission again for the opportunity.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42808

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

1 May 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined today by the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport and for Ageing, Richard Colbeck, and of course as always, by Professor Brendan Murphy, the Chief Medical Officer.

It's been another very productive meeting of the National Cabinet today and importantly today, we discussed many issues - both from the economic front as well as on the health front. Success during the COVID-19 pandemic is not just about containing the virus and having low numbers of cases. It is true that we have had some real success on the health front. There are now only around 1,000 active cases around the country today and in many jurisdictions on the numbers, no active cases in those jurisdictions and I note Andrew Barr today has made further announcements on the basis of that.

But that’s not the only curve we need to flatten. We need to reduce unemployment, we need to get businesses open, we need to enable Australians to go back to work, to earn, to be able to support their families, their households, and support the Australian economy. These are the curves that we also need to influence. And that’s what success will be measured by together with the outcomes we are seeking on health. We need to restart our economy, we need to restart our society, we can’t keep Australia under the doona, we need to be able to move ahead.

National Cabinet was briefed again today by the Secretary of Treasury Dr Kennedy, and his advice confirms the significant impact that COVID-19 is having on our economy, and the decisions that have had to be taken to protect the health of the nation. There is now about 1.5 million, just over, Australians who are on JobSeeker. Over 900,000 claims have been processed in just over the past 6 weeks. This bears out the Treasury estimate that suggests unemployment rate will rise to 10 per cent, and potentially beyond. JobKeeper registrations are now over 650,000 businesses. Over 950,000 applications have been made to access super, totalling some $7.9 billion in claims. More than 340,000 businesses have received a cashflow boost under our cashflow programme worth over $6 billion dollars. 6.8 million Australians have received that one off payment, that $750 dollar payment and that brings to a total of $5.1 billion of those payments that have been made and of course another one will be made in July. There’s also been, we’ve heard today, a significant fall expected in net overseas migration, which is expected to fall by about a third this year, financial year, and by 85 per cent off its peak, or off it’s previous year, in the following year in ‘21, sorry 2021, sorry ‘21/’22.

Our economic and income support programmes have put a floor under our economy in these extreme times, it’s all about underpinning confidence going forward, and these programmes have been put in place well before these rather concerning numbers whether it be on unemployment or business closures or others have been presented. Despite those figures, and those figures people will be seeing in the weeks and months ahead, it’s important that Australians can take confidence that there has been a clear plan to get those supports in place early - to ensure that Australia can be cushioned from an even more significant blow that we’ve seen occur in so many other parts around the world. Not just on the health front, but on the economic front as well. And a key part of that plan going forward as we see these shocks hit our economy, is the plan to re-open and to rebuild. The road back, which we have been on now for a few weeks.

Today, the National Cabinet agreed to bring forward our consideration of the decision on relaxing restrictions to next Friday. Australians have earned an early mark. Through the work that they have done. Australians have earned an early mark through the work that they have done, and that decision will now be made on next Friday. And we'll be meeting twice over the course of the next week to ensure that we can work through the many things that have to be resolved in order to make those decisions.

Our plan has been to get the virus under control and to ensure that we can contain it, to get the preparations in place for our ICU systems and health systems, and to get the protections in place, the build up of the tracing capabilities within state health departments. The expansion of our ICU facilities. The build up and training of our workforces to ensure we can get the respirators in place and the access to the critical testing equipment and the tests as well as the personal protective equipment. Today, they considered at the reporting of the expert medical panel a series of conditions, precedent, that need to be satisfied in order to go forward with the easing restrictions and 11 out of those 15 conditions have already been met. And the Chief Medical Officer will go into further detail on those. But of those that remain outstanding, there is one that Australians can do something about, and that is downloading the COVIDSafe app. This is a critical issue for National Cabinet when it comes to making decisions next Friday about how restrictions can be eased.

There are currently over 3 and a half million downloads and registrations of the COVIDSafe app and there needs to be millions more. This is incredibly important. As I explained it the other day, it's like not putting on sunscreen, to go out into the blazing sun. The coronavirus is still out there. Our numbers may be low, but it's still out there. And if we allow Australians back out into a more open economy, a more open environment without the protection of the COVIDSafe app, which enables us to know who has been in contact, how we can isolate those groups, how we can constrain and constrict that virus from getting to other people. We need that tool so we can open up the economy. And that's why it's so important. So if you haven't downloaded the app yet, download it. If you know someone who hasn't downloaded the app yet and you have, encourage them to do so, because if you're doing that, then that is enabling the National Cabinet to be able to ease these restrictions next Friday. It's about putting the health protections in place so we can ensure that the coronavirus does not get a run on it again.

When we move to reduce those restrictions, the National Cabinet is very adamant that we want to ensure we keep moving forward. We do not want to go into a start, stop or an even worse; reverse process into the future. When we start opening up businesses again, that is going to require those businesses opening the doors, getting people back in, taking risks. And we don't want that to have to be reversed because of the virus getting a run on again. And that's why it's important that we get these protections in place. Kate Langbroek, I thought put it pretty well last night when she said we've got to be like the emblems on our Coat of Arms, the kangaroo and the emu. They only go forward and we only want to go forward when it comes to this. So it's pretty important that we get people downloading that app over the course of the next week. So it's over to you Australia, as we go through this next 7 days and we will consider that when we come together in a week from now.

Now, in terms of some other important decisions that we've made today and issues that we've considered, there was the presentation, as I flagged earlier in the week from Christine Morgan on the National Mental Health Plan, and that's coming together. And we anticipate that hopefully that'll be in a position to be reviewed next Friday. We were also able to agree national principles for sport and recreation, and they'll be released today. And that also included a consideration of the elite sports codes. And we were also able to adopt the aged care code and that was strongly welcomed by the National Cabinet. And that's why the Minister for Aged Care joins me today. As you know, National Cabinet has had a very strong view about the need to ensure that its position, that it is held consistently from the advice received by the medical expert panel to ensure that Australians can continue to have reasonable access to their family, friends and others they're supporting in aged care facilities. I want to commend Minister Colbeck for the great job he's done over the course of this past week, working with the industry to establish an industry code that has been supported by the major peak, major peak aged care organisations in Australia, as well as the consumer groups in the aged care sector, and drawing together an industry code that reflects absolutely the National Cabinet advice that it had adopted from the medical expert panel, which provides important access for families and other support people to those who are in aged care facilities. And so we welcome that and we appreciate the collaborative way in which the industry is engaged with the government to achieve that over the course of the past week.

Now, in addition to that, what we're announcing today is the Commonwealth, will be putting an additional $205 million into the aged care sector as a one off payment to facilities all around the country to support them in the costs that they are incurring to deal with the COVID-19 crisis in their sector. There are a range of additional costs and expenses that the aged care Minister has been able to identify working with the sector. And this payment is designed to give them that financial support so they can put all those measures in place, that will assist with the industry code implementation. It will keep those who are in aged care facilities safer and give their families greater peace of mind when it comes to how those issues have been managed within the aged care sector.

So with that, I might hand over to Richard to go through the industry code and the announcement we've made that brings to $850 million that the federal government has put into aged care specifically to address the issues around the COVID-19 crisis.

Thanks, Richard.

SENATOR THE HON. RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIOR AUSTRALIANS: Thanks. Thanks PM and firstly, I'll go to the code and can I specifically express my gratitude to the aged care sector for the very, very speedy way in which they've managed to pull this code together, which will facilitate visitation by residents, loved ones across the aged care sector. The concept was only designed earlier in the week and they've done a brilliant job, so all of the aged care residential facility peaks ACSA, LASA, Catholic Health Australia, Baptist Care Australia, the Aged Care Guild, Uniting Care and Anglicare have all signed up to this code as of last night. To the consumer organisations who also drove its design, Council of the Ageing, National Seniors, Dementia Australia, the older person's advocacy network, and Carers Australia, can I thank them also for the work that they've done. I'm not sure I've seen an industry code designed as quickly as this one was. But for it to facilitate the things that National Cabinet expressed on two occasions now on the advice of the AHPPC is fantastic. I've had some very, very good conversations with some key players in the sector this week with respect to the development of their code and things that they are already doing to facilitate visitation of loved ones into aged care facilities. And importantly, it not only contemplates visitation for those who are at end of life, which was something that the AHPPC was concerned about, those in palliation, but also those who have had a long history of visitation, working with their loved ones, going in for meals, helping the aged care facility to, to support their relatives. So those people who have a history are also contemplated as part of the code. So, again, congratulations to the sector. Thank you so much for the work that you've done. And can I say, Prime Minister. I think the aged care sector should be congratulated for the work that it's done in managing COVID, in this country. We have had only 23 residential aged care facilities that have had an outbreak of COVID-19 of those 23, 15 have completely cleared it, 8 are still dealing with it. But there'll be more that will have cleared it in coming days. And that's a tribute to them. It's also a tribute to the work that the Australian community has done in managing transmission in the community, which has prevented it from getting in but, into the residential aged care facilities. But I think that's a great result. And in the majority of cases, it's been two, one, two or three cases within the facility. Only on a couple of occasions have we had more. And Dorothy Henderson Lodge, which was one of the first major outbreaks, is now actually COVID-19 free so great work by Dorothy Henderson Lodge. They should be congratulated for that work. It took a little while, but great work.

With respect to the announcement that the Prime Minister's mentioned for a COVID specific support payment of $205 million across the sector. The sector will understand this more than perhaps others in the broader community, but providers across the country will get a $900 per occupied bed support payment in residential codes MMN-1, Monash model one. So that's effectively metropolitan areas and those in regional Australia, in recognition of the fact that they generally have higher costs, will get a 50 per cent uplift on that, so $1,350 dollars per residential bed. This will contribute towards the genuine extra costs that they are incurring as they manage COVID-19 outbreak. They are screening staff every day as they come and go from their shifts, particularly as they come in, so that we don't get COVID-19 into the facility. That takes them time, they will be screening visitors as they come into the facilities to ensure that we don't get COVID-19 outbreaks. They've suffered additional costs in things like personal protective equipment because it's been so rare and prices have gone up. So they've had some other costs that have increased as well. And of course, just in some of their other everyday work that they've been doing, they've had additional costs. So this measure is in recognition of those additional costs in managing COVID-19 and as the Prime Minister said, that takes the total amount that the Government's put in specifically for COVID-19, up to over $850 million, which is a significant amount of money. Thanks, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Brendan to come up.

I just want to correct one thing I said before on net overseas migration. Off the 2018-19 year for net overseas migration, we're expecting just over a 30 per cent fall in 2019-20, the current financial year and in 2021, an 85 per cent fall off those 2018-19 levels as well. So they are quite significant falls.

Thank you, Brendan.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, PM. So the status of the pandemic in Australia today, we have 6,765 cases. Still consistently getting less than 20 new cases per day over recent days. 93 deaths, unfortunately, and we mustn't forget those tragic deaths. And we're testing extensively with over 570,000 tests done so far.

The Prime Minister talked about the conditions precedent that National Cabinet challenged us to make sure we met before they were prepared to consider any relaxation of current measures, and I was pleased to be able to present to the National Cabinet what we call the Pandemic Health Intelligence Plan. And I'll go into that in a little bit more in my presentation, at the end of my presentation. But in that plan was listed a table of those conditions precedent and we're doing pretty well. The conditions, I'll just outline them in an overview way. The first one was around surveillance and we have a surveillance plan and we have sufficient surveillance mechanisms, surveillance being the tracking and identification of outbreaks.

Another one that we've met is what we call community adherence to public health measures, and we'll show you on the presentation that we’re tracking that people are doing what we have said, they are reducing their mobility and their interactions as required by those original measures. Modelling was a prerequisite that was very important. And you've seen already each week that we are presenting modelling, we have data modelling. And yes, you'll see today later our modelling methodology changes to reflect the case numbers and the epidemiology. Testing capacity, expansion of testing capacity was a really important issue. You've heard the announcement from Minister Hunt earlier in this week about our secure supply line of COVID-19 PCR tests now. And we now have a framework of testing, which I'll come to later on.

Our public health workforce in the states and territories has to be mature and large enough to meet any response. In fact, every state and territory now expanded so much in the very active phase of the outbreak that they have now been able to stand down some of the expanded workforce. But they're there and ready and waiting if we need them again. Our contact tracing capacity had to be really good, and we've proven that we're tracing contacts very quickly at the moment with those small numbers of cases, and the methodology is really up to speed except for one thing, except for the app uptake and that's not green at the moment. As the Prime Minister has said, we need the app uptake to be higher before we can say that that final piece in the jigsaw puzzle of contact tracing is there.

Then there was a range of measures National Cabinet were very concerned about to make sure that we had in place, before we relaxed measures just on the off chance that we did have a big outbreak that we needed to manage in our health systems. So we needed a well-prepared health system with good surge capacity, with enough ventilators and an ICU expansion capacity. All of those are in place. Personal protective equipment was a big issue, very pleasing to say that we now are very clear that we have enough masks. That's a great thing after all the issues we've had with masks and making sure we can bring in sufficient supplies. We're still doing some work to be absolutely confident about other elements of PPE, but we've got good confidence and most supply lines are now being restored.

The other final two measures in the health system were drugs and other consumables. And again, we have done a good assessment of those and feel that they are in a good place. And we've also completed workforce training that was required to prepare the health systems. So those measures really gave us a pretty good tick from the National Cabinet today and that's the basis upon which the National Cabinet has said, bring back next week some measures for careful consideration of gentle relaxation.

So I'll now go to my now well-renowned weekly presentation and I will also talk a little bit about our testing capacity and the Pandemic Intelligence Plan. So this is a familiar graph to all of you and pretty convincingly, we have flattened the curve and you can see that our numbers of cases each day continue to be pretty flat. Next slide.

This I showed you also last week and this is the forecast of what the predictions from the previous case numbers that we would likely get and you can see again that we are having case numbers that are below the median predicted case number. So we're doing better than the modelling would have predicted from the previous data. Next slide.

Now, you know that there are only two jurisdictions left on this effective reproduction rate number. That's because although other jurisdictions have had cases, remember last week I said ACT and the Northern Territory had a badge of honour by dropping off, by not having any cases. But the case numbers in every other jurisdiction are so small that the modellers feel that they can't usefully use the effective reproduction number. Those error margins are so broad in the other jurisdictions that the modellers aren't comfortable with producing that. Only in New South Wales and Tasmania are there enough numbers to show an effective reproduction number and even then they're pretty much at the lower limit of what you would expect. And you can see that Tasmania is comfortably now below the one benchmark as they have so expertly brought the north west Tasmania outbreak under control. And we do continue to congratulate the Tasmanian Public Health Unit and all of the people of north west Tasmania for complying with what was a very burdensome but necessary public health intervention. Next slide.

This is a new measure and we have this you’ll see in the modelling paper that will be published on the Doherty website tonight. We’ll show this for every jurisdiction. We’re only showing it here for New South Wales because it becomes a very busy slide if we show too much. Basically, this is showing measures that people are adhering to distancing measures. So this is for New South Wales showing when we introduced those measures for Apple has given us data on directions for driving. You can see the directions for driving have dropped dramatically. Google has got data on time at transit stations. Again, that's dropped. But the converse is the Google data on times at residential. Google does track people. The COVIDSafe app doesn't. But this is showing how well people have adhered to our measures that we've put in place. And you can see some little spikes around Easter time. But generally, people are doing the right thing. Next slide.

So I said before that the effective reproduction rate is not really a valuable measure at the moment because case numbers are so small. So what we have now presented to the National Cabinet is this Pandemic Health Intelligence Plan. And we'll need to be looking at things that are much more granular than the effective reproduction rate. Our case numbers are so low now that we can analyse each case, each cluster and get really detailed epidemiological information on what's happening. And so we can get a feeling of whether there is a cluster that's breaking out and that we need to control. I've mentioned all of those parameters of the Pandemic Health Intelligence Plan before, but I do want to go into our testing strategy because this is really quite important. We've done a lot of work on that, as I've said on in meeting and on many occasions, we need to test more people if we are going to get on top of those small outbreaks. And we've seen a couple of them just in recent weeks, couple in Victoria, and they've got on top of them expertly and well and contained them. But we cannot afford to have an outbreak that takes off so that we get a second wave when we reduce restrictions, such as a number of other countries have seen. So our testing has to be very, very good.

The most important thing in testing is for everybody who has any respiratory symptoms, cough or a cold or a sore throat or runny nose. Please get tested. It's safe to get tested. There are testing centres, GPs can do testing, they can send you to pathology labs. It's very simple and straightforward. We want everybody who has a cough or a cold or any respiratory symptoms because most people with COVID-19 have mild symptoms, just like a cough or a cold - get tested and don't go to work, particularly if you work with vulnerable people. That's the most important thing. But we're also doing testing in a lot of other settings. Any outbreak in an age case sector. Minister Colbeck said we have done extremely well in most of those outbreaks. Sure, there have been some very troublesome ones and one that's very active at the moment, but in most cases, once you get one case, we go in and test every staff member, every resident and any potential contact, and that's enabled us to identify very quickly and exclude infection in others. Any health care sector outbreak will test all the health care workers, all the other asymptomatic patients, every contact of someone with COVID-19 is now going to be tested to make sure that we chase the contacts very actively and make sure we lock that down.

We have talked, there's been a lot of talk about what's called active surveillance, where you test, well asymptomatic people in the community. Given the current very low positivity in testing, that does not seem to be a very effective way of monitoring this virus. However, we are going to do what we call cohort tests. So we want to make sure the community and sample sections of the community just to make sure that our confidence that we don't have significant asymptomatic transmission is correct. So we will be doing some testing of some consecutive elective surgery patients just to reassure those people coming in for surgery and the hospital staff that we're not having cases in that group. We will be also testing aged care workers voluntarily if they wish to, even though they're perfectly well, just to reassure us and them that they're not carrying this virus and we'll do a sample of those. Similarly, we'll be looking at some health care workers, again, with their consent and in partnership with their industrial organisations. And we'll be doing a range of other cohorts from time to time, just going out and sampling parts of the community just to assure that we are not seeing asymptomatic transmission. We know that there are some people who do have the virus detected without symptoms. We still don't really know whether they transmit the virus effectively or not. We still think that most people who are transmitting the virus from one person to another actually have some symptoms. That's why I say again and again and again, anyone with a cough or a cold or a sore throat or a temperature or a runny nose, please get tested. That, plus downloading the app and sticking to what we've asked you to do makes the country safe for you. So I’ll stop there. Thanks, PM. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, Brendan. Lanai, we’ll start and just go across and work our way towards the back.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you give us any more indication about what things might be reopened once the decision is made next week? Will it be that people will be able to go back to pilates or barre classes or, you know, various other things?

PRIME MINISTER: I might have my first one, Lanai.

JOURNALIST: Great. Just on another issue that obviously has been topical this week in regards to China. You spoke about that this morning on radio. Is there anything further that you're doing in terms of ensuring that we continue to have a good relationship with China?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first issue, National Cabinet will consider these things next Friday and so I'm not going to prejudice that discussion by canvassing any particular areas. People will be very familiar with the full range of restrictions that were put in place some weeks ago and they're all obviously being reviewed and they're being reviewed both in terms of the health mitigations that would need to be put in place if they were to reopen. But as well looking at the economic opportunities that are extended to those particular activities as well and that's the basis on which the assessment will be made. So I'm not going to second guess that process. There'll be a lot of work done. National Cabinet is meeting on Tuesday and is meeting on Friday. And it's largely focusing only on that issue so we can work through the many different options that we have available to us. We're also, through my Cabinet, I'm working directly with industry sectors about what mitigations can be put in place in workplaces. So it's not just about whether an activity can be reopened, it's how it can be reopened. The COVID safe economy, the COVID safe environment and society we're going to be living in will be different. Of course it will, because the virus will be out there and we need to be able to protect our economy, our health, our safety against the coronavirus in that environment. So those mitigations are very important and the AHPPC, the medical expert panel, is informing that process.

We work every day on our relationship with China. We have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China. It is a mutually beneficial partnership. It is not a one way street and is one that is, of course, important to Australia. Otherwise, we would never have entered into it and China would never have entered into it with Australia. And so we will continue to work within that arrangement and pursue that relationship based on that agreement. Phil?

JOURNALIST: PM on the app, the government, you've you know shied away or ruled out from mandating it, but would you encourage, there are reports of some employers who are making it a requirement of people coming back to work if you are going to have everyone sitting in the same office or workplace? Would you encourage that sort of action?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it can't be a requirement, that's prevented under the legal arrangements, but we are encouraging as a public, in the public service, we are, we are encouraging it within the Commonwealth public service. The state governments will be encouraging it within the state public services to encourage the employees to download the COVIDSafe app. And there is nothing wrong with that. Patrons of takeaway cafes or restaurants or pubs operating in the takeaway mode, I'm sure will be encouraging their patrons to download the COVIDSafe app, because if you download the COVIDSafe app, then more businesses will be open, and that's it, so it's done on the basis of encouragement in the national public health interest. And, but I've got to say, in the national economic interests, the protections are there. They're in place. They've been reviewed. And you've seen all of that. And so it is our path back for people to download the COVIDSafe app.

JOURNALIST: PM, there's a lot of speculation about whether the NRL can begin its season at the end of May as it wants to. There's also speculation about whether a plane of Kiwi footy players can land this Sunday to begin preparations. Is it the case that National Cabinet has cleared any of that ground for NRL to start in that way and can I also ask a question of Professor Murphy on asymptomatic testing? I'm interested in your observations about whether, whether you'll do cohort testing of school-aged children and what your advice is today on asymptomatic transmission among school children?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, no, those authorities have not been provided and the National Cabinet has not provided that endorsement, nor is it for the National Cabinet to do that. The individual jurisdictions will ultimately provide any of the clearances that are necessary on a health basis to deal with any of the major codes. Be it the NRL, the AFL or others, we had a good discussion on that today. And we received the advice that we did from the medical expert panel. And what will be occurring is that those jurisdictions that are relevant to those codes are going to, through the medical expert panel, provide consistent health advice to those jurisdictions, which is Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, of course South Australia and others, about the decisions they would need to make regarding the proposals being put forward by those codes. But ultimately, those decisions will be made in those states, but at least they'll be doing so on the basis of a set of consistent medical advice and that should assist I think those codes and how they're progressing those issues and not having to do it on multiple occasions. In relation to the border issues with New Zealand well, that authority has not been provided and no amount of reporting it will change that decision. That will be made on the basis of the border assessments of the Australian Border Force. And they're working through that application. They've received that application. And when they're in a position to authorise it well they will, and that’s how that will follow. Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, thanks, on asymptomatic testing, we may someday, I think one state is already considering testing a cohort of teachers, not because we think teachers are at higher risk, but because they may feel that that would reassure them. We have tested a lot of asymptomatic children in outbreaks in New South Wales, you’ll recall 800 of them were tested and I think 1 was positive. So we've already done some testing of children. There is increasing evidence from Europe now, studies from the UK, studies from the Netherlands that consistently show that transmission amongst children is not being seen. It's not significant. So there really isn't a strong basis to test a cohort of children at this time.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you’ve said that you need the uptake of the app to increase dramatically in the next 7 days, are you prepared to put a figure on what you'd like to see in terms of the per cent of people? And also we've seen this movement data that the number of people staying at home versus going out, as these restrictions are eased, the burden to maintain that will fall much higher on the densely populated areas like Sydney. We've had states saying, you know, don't do a Bondi. What is your expectation of the community, if they head down to the beach and see that it's really busy? Are they supposed to go home? What is going to be put in place for cities that just aren't going to be able to social distance in the way that other regional areas could?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, no we haven't put a target number on. It just needs to be higher and it has to be as high as it possibly can be. And the higher the number it is, the greater protection there is, the higher the number of people who have downloaded COVIDsafe app, then the safer you are, being in the community, particularly if we are to move towards easing those restrictions. Now, in relation to that, in an environment where there'll be greater mobility. People need to exercise common sense. I think the principles of social distancing, physical distancing, with connection, as Christine Morgan put it, but that distancing of 1 and a half metres, this is something that I think has really started to sink in to most people. And those things would have to always be practised. So long as the coronavirus is out there, then that is your best defence against it. That together with hand hygiene and the many other elements that go into protecting individuals and downloading the COVIDSafe app is also very important for that. So I think people should exercise judgement in their own health interests. People walking into a crowded room, and Brendan may want to comment on this, will be putting themselves at risk. I mean, you wouldn't do, you wouldn't knowingly put your health at risk when you had clear knowledge that doing something like that would do that. And so people should act in their own interest and not put their health at risk by acting contrary to those social distancing principles at any time. 
But Brendan, do you want to comment on that?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, thanks PM, so I think as I've said on many occasions, whilst we're living with this virus, the way we interact with each other, will have to be different and remain different. So we will have to practise that room density measures we’ll have to practise that keeping at least one and a half metres apart from each other, where possible. And even when we do open up some things in the future, there will clearly be significant limits. There'll be limits on, there will continue to be limits on gathering, there will continue to be limits on people in rooms. But wherever you go, however you interact, you'll need to practise that distancing. And that is just a long-term adjustment that we all have to make. The other one I always say is that I think we're going to be washing our hands in a new way for the rest of our lives, even beyond this virus, because I think we've all learned how important hand hygiene is and we're going to keep doing it.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Jen?

JOURNALIST: In relation to the meeting, you've brought forward the National Cabinet meeting for easing restrictions on May 8. Can you elaborate on what you'll be discussing there or potentially moving on? Is that reopening pubs and clubs nationally, restaurants, is it relaxing the four square metre rule? And also for Professor Murphy, what's your reaction to the Victorian Deputy Chief Medical Officer who tweeted a comparison, well, compared COVID-19 to Captain Cook's landing?

PRIME MINISTER: Well the first one, I think I covered that off earlier. I mean, we'll be looking at all the matters that are currently subject to restrictions and we'll be reviewing that and making decisions about which are the ones we can move on and with a degree of confidence that we can do that safely. And that will bring about a welcome relief for the community and importantly, enable the economy to move to a higher gear. That's what we want to see happen. So I'm not going to flag in any particular ones at all. It's important that the National Cabinet consider that based on the best possible medical advice. I think that's certainly the approach.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: On that other issue. She's a fine young public health physician who's been working you know, 80 hours a week for the last two months. She made a personal tweet, and that's a matter, on a personal Twitter account, it's a matter for her. I don't personally concur with her view, but I think that's a matter for her.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, John?

JOURNALIST: Thanks PM, the 85 per cent decline forecast in net, of net overseas migration from next financial year. I mean, that sounds very significant economically, as you'd appreciate. What's the sort of economic advice you're getting about the potential economic impact from that? And it does suggest that the negative hit from coronavirus is going to drag well on into next year, at least from that. Even beyond the initial sort of lifting of social distancing measures and therefore, the economy might need some sort of policy support and other measures going forward well into next year?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is a significant drop. I mean, it's currently sitting around, in last year I think they had 240-odd thousand. And so that's a significant fall. And you'll be well aware from past Budgets the importance of those numbers and how they contribute to overall gross domestic product and its growth each year. And so that is a significant change. It is not expected to be a long term change in terms of net overseas migration. I mean, that is making assumptions about where borders will be over that, you know, up until the end of next year. Those assumptions are not unreasonable from where we sit today. But let's not forget that 6 weeks ago we didn't think we'd be here today. We didn't think we would have made this much progress on the coronavirus at this time and we have. So there are, I think, many uncertainties. But there's no doubt, John, that the coronavirus will have its immediate impact, which is what we are addressing through JobKeeper and JobSeeker and the cash flow support and the access to super and all of these arrangements to provide that underpinning, both to confidence and to people's incomes at a very, very devastating time. Beyond that emergency period, though, there will certainly be lagged impacts of COVID-19. Those will happen both within Australia as businesses seek to get back up on their feet and consumption seeks to lift to back to levels where it was and that may take some time. And it's important as we move into another phase that we not only give people the confidence about their jobs opening up and businesses opening up, but just for individuals to feel confident in their own health to be able to go and engage again in the community, which, and I’m sorry to sound like a broken record, but that's why downloading the COVIDSafe app is so important. That is the ticket to opening up our economy and getting people back into jobs and getting businesses open again and opening up those opportunities for social interaction again. So, John, yes there will be those lag effects and that's why I've flagged before that we need growth orientated policies to overcome what will be quite stiff headwinds, which will be the carryover from what we've seen from the COVID19 crisis.

JOURNALIST: Apart from the app, what specific steps are outstanding that Aussies need to tick off to earn that early mark next week? And how excited are you to get the Sharkies back out?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can assure you I haven't asked the NRL to reset the competition points even though we had those first two losses. Look, I know everyone's looking forward to that coming back, but it's got to happen in accordance with the health rules and the other arrangements in place. There are very comprehensive proposals that have been put forward by a number of the codes and I know the states and territories will work through those I think very efficiently. And I thank the codes for the detailed work they've put into that and I know they want to get training going soon and hopefully that can be achieved.

When it comes to the other issues, I mean, the Chief Medical Officer went through them earlier. The main one is the app, downloading the COVIDSafe app is the major obstacle now between us freeing up a lot of these restrictions in a cautious way, in a careful way. It's not open slather. That's not what has ever been contemplated and I wouldn't want to raise expectations in that sense. They'll be carefully considered because we want to continue to build up. We don't want to have to go back. We don't want to have to be able to respond to an outbreak that gets well out of control and that's why these protections are important. But the areas that there are some issues around gowns, I think Brendan, and gloves, that's not seen as an unresolvable hurdle. That's an issue which will go on for some months. But we don't see that impeding us next week and there have been some others just around the testing regime and the rollout of that. But the plans are already in place for that. So the one that still remains uncertain is the degree to which we can get the COVIDSafe app throughout the community in a way that would give us confidence - that when we open up the economy, then when people go out into the economy, that if anyone is a risk, that those who have come in contact with them can be very quickly identified and we can keep it under control.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, still on sport, you say the National Cabinet agreed to these principles regarding sport and how they could go ahead. Are you able to run through what that is, particularly for community sport and when can we expect to see kids back on the soccer field and the netball field?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Sport Minister, who’s here, he also has those responsibilities, he may want to speak to this. The principles today draw heavily on the Australian Institute of Sport’s Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 environment and they're quite detailed and they'll be circulated. Many of you will probably be familiar with those already. They do set out important principles that, for example, outdoor activities are a lower risk setting for COVID-19 transmission. A lot more of the risk is in indoor facilities, not just playing indoor, but indoor change rooms and things like that and the mitigations you'd have to have in place to deal with that. It speaks of the need for community sport to be moving, not just elite sport. Now, that may not be able to be completely synchronised and you wouldn't have one necessarily hold up the other. But it's important that  people should be able to see the sport, but they should be able to play it as well in those participation exercises. But that will be done in a staged manner. The principles talk about an initial phase of small groups, less than 10 person activities in a non-contact fashion, with individual jurisdictions determining how that progresses. The inclusion of the resumption of children's outdoor sport and the resumption of outdoor recreational activities. But these are the things that will be looked at next week. Decisions have not been taken to move on any of those matters, but these principles set out, I think, the basis upon which we might be able to go forward when we consider whether we can this time next week. But Richard, do you want to offer another comment on that?

SENATOR THE HON. RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIOR AUSTRALIANS: Thanks, PM. So there's, as the PM's just indicated, a set of high-level principles which have been developed by the AHPPC, taken up by National Cabinet, that will provide that overarching framework for the recommencement of sport across the country. They are, again, as the Prime Minister indicated, very heavily guided by some work that's been done by, and led by the Australian Institute of Sport, and I extend my thanks to Dr David Hughes who's led that work, but also along with the chief medical officers from a number of the national sporting organisations and the professional codes have had input into the work that the AIS has coordinated. That contemplates a staged recommencement of sport. It indicates the types of activities at various levels that might be considered as part of that process and so when you see that document, we are currently at level A. As the National Cabinet considers opening up the capacity to move around. The opportunity goes then to level B, which talks, as the PM said, of commencing training in small groups of, say, up to 10 with 10 athletes and officials working together. And then stage C, which goes back to full training and full commencement. And so that I can get my plug in for COVIDSafe as well, if you want to get out to play, download the app today.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned 650,000 businesses have applied for JobKeeper.

PRIME MINISTER: Registered.

JOURNALIST: Registered, yep. Can I please ask how many employees are receiving that payment? And if the number of employees settles at something less than six million, will you commit to expand the eligibility criteria for that program, or is it possible it could come in at less than $130 billion?

PRIME MINISTER: The Treasurer will have a bit more to say about the number of employees covered and because that process is still being evaluated through the tax office. So I'm not in a position to give you that figure today, but the Treasurer will have a bit more to say about that, I understand, next week. And at this point it is too early to make estimates about what the final reconciliation would be against the budgeted amount. And there are many calls, there are many calls on the Budget in relation to COVID-19 and we do see some movement between JobSeeker and JobKeeper. Remember the JobSeeker payments, that costing related to the additional payment and there is also the uplift in costs for the Commonwealth in relation to many other welfare payments that are happening at the moment as well, what's called the automatic stabilisers. So I can assure you the Commonwealth will be footing - that is, the Commonwealth taxpayer - will be footing a very big bill and they understand that. And that's why every single element of that we are considering very carefully and we've set the parameters for JobKeeper and for JobSeeker and we have no plans to change that, apart from the administrative changes like the ones the Treasurer announced last week.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, firstly, if there is not a dramatic uptake in the app by next Friday, will there still be further restrictions announced and also something I think many Australians want to know the answer to, when can we go to the pub?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the first step to getting back to that is downloading COVIDSafe. Now, if that isn't an incentive for Australians to download COVIDSafe on a Friday, I don't know what is. And so I'd encourage people to do just that this afternoon and to encourage them if they're talking to each other on Zoom or they are having a cold one later on today in that environment, if they're looking forward to doing it in a pub? Well, that is a prerequisite to even getting to that conversation. So we're not, we haven't been considering additional restrictions, we've been out of that mode now for some weeks, so there's no suggestion that there'd be additional restrictions. But the degree, honestly, to which we can confidently ease restrictions that are in place now, it really does depend on how much of a coverage we can get with the COVIDSafe app and how much that builds over the course of the next week. It really does.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Andrew Barr last night flagged that support for professional sporting bodies from governments may be at an end. We're talking about community sport today and the balance between getting kids on the field versus professionals. Can you take me through what the government's currently thinking about the level of sport, the level of support for professional sport compared to community sport. And to take me straight into the Border Force decision, what is holding that up? Specifically, what is the Border Force agent thinking about? Is it the employment potential for the NRL? Is it other compassionate grounds? Take us into that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with that one. I mean, they are exercising their authority as is extended to them under the Act. That's what I expect them to be doing. And they are just doing their job and they'll do it in the same way. And there will be no special treatment for the NRL or any other code. And they'll be treated like any other request. And I'm sure I have no doubt that there's no delay. This is just the ABF officials doing their job as they do every single day, protecting Australia's borders and ensuring they're making wise decisions.

In relation to the support for professional sport or other sports. I mean, I'd probably better, might leave that to the Minister for Sport, but we have not contemplated or are we considering any changes to those arrangements that have been in place.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, [inaudible] a month ago when you were here announcing the free childcare package, you laid it down for about three months, but that it could be extended beyond the three months, given how Australia is travelling at the moment with talk of easing restrictions and so on, do you think that we will be in a position at the end of June to revert to the old childcare arrangements, or would the free childcare possibly be extended?

PRIME MINISTER: It's too early to speculate on that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Donald Trump said pretty clearly that the US has some evidence that the Coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan. How seriously do you take that comment and how seriously will you be pushing at that as an option in the review that you've flagged? And perhaps a separate question for Minister Colbeck. How concerned are you by the high infection rates and fatalities at the Newmarch house? And will the residents there who can't go to hospital still get access to ICU care and ventilators?

PRIME MINISTER: On the first one, what we have before us doesn't suggest that that is the likely source. There's nothing that we have that would indicate that was the likely source. Now you can't rule anything out in these environments. I mean, we know it started in China. We know it started in Wuhan. The most likely scenario that has been canvassed relates to wildlife wet markets, but that's a matter that would have to be thoroughly assessed. This is one of the reasons why it is important that we just have an objective, independent assessment of how this originated and learn the lessons from how that occurred. It's a, I think, an entirely sensible suggestion. It's one that has broad-based support. It's one that has been recommended by the European Union to the World Health Assembly. It's one that, a recommendation we will be supporting and speaking to. And we think that's really necessary. But in terms of what we understand, in terms of the origin of the virus, while that can't be ruled out, it's not something that we've seen any hard evidence of to suggest that is the position. But that's where it sits right now. But Richard, on the other mater?

SENATOR THE HON. RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIOR AUSTRALIANS: Thanks. And look, a question that's been of concern in the community from a number of perspectives and the PM and I certainly extend our sympathies to the 13 families that have lost their loved ones so far. All of the residents within the facility are getting very high-quality care. We're operating what's called hospital in the home, and that's being facilitated by the local public health unit PHU from Nepean health. All of the residents, I'm advised, have end of life plans that they're being cared in accordance with. And so they are getting the care that they have prescribed within those, within those plans. And we're effectively running a mini hospital within the facility there is, there are doctors there on-site all the time. There are a very large cohort of nurses there as well as the normal care workers. And so there has been no limit on the resources made available to Newmarch in managing this, particularly since we took the actions that we did last week. Can I say we're all very concerned at the number of people within the facility that have contracted the virus. But as Professor Murphy indicated to me last week when we talked about it, this is what happens when you have somebody with a very high viral load in contact with people who have other co-morbidities and are very frail for a considerable period of time. And that's not this is not a finger pointing or blame exercise. It's a very, very unfortunate circumstance where somebody who is asymptomatic but obviously had a very high viral load was in contact with people for six days, residents and staff. And this is the very, very tragic outcome of that. But we are doing everything we possibly can in accordance with the end of life care directives of all of the residents at the facility. There is one resident who is in hospital with, I think, a broken ankle. So not necessarily related specifically to COVID, but they all they are all getting by benefit of the work of both the Commonwealth and the New South Wales government who lead on public health, the very, very best care.

PRIME MINISTER: You had a phone hook-up last night with Mel and?

SENATOR THE HON. RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIOR AUSTRALIANS: Yeah, I did a webinar with a number of the families with Melissa McIntosh, the local member. There's been a couple of webinars that have been conducted with the residents and some of the public health professionals that are involved from particularly Nepean health and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner was on the call with me last night and discussions with the families and also on another webinar that was run by Newmarch itself, Friday of last week with some of the infectious disease health professionals that are assisting with the management of the outbreak within the facility.

PRIME MINISTER: Sam?

JOURNALIST: [inaudible] go back to the labs in Wuhan, even though you think on the balance of probability that this did not come from the lab. Did you receive any early advice that that was a possibility. And in relation to what the inquiry is going to actually look at. Do you have any concerns or does Brendan Murphy have any concerns that China was not sharing as much information as they should have early on, given that they did identify that this was a coronavirus, bat-borne virus back in very early January?

PRIME MINISTER: The reports that you are referring to, they were public. I mean, they were being reported at the time. So, of course, the government was aware of those suggestions. They were in open source at the time. And there hasn't been anything subsequent to that that would have borne out those initial reports. As far as our government's concerned, the inquiry or review, the investigation that needs to take place, really does need to understand what happened. Where did it start? What could have been done to, and so we can learn if something similar would happen in any part of the world. So the world would be able to respond quicker because clearly in cases like this, time is everything. And this is why, again, I keep coming back to it on the COVIDsafe app. Time is critical in keeping in control. And over the top of this virus, every second counts. And that's why, particularly in those early phases, the ability to know what's going on and how to respond to it and its severity and getting access to transparent information in those circumstances is very important. And so these are things that any review, I think I'm sure, would reasonably look at to assist all of the other nations that are represented through the WHO and more broadly, can get access to that knowledge as fast as they possibly can to put the responses in place that are necessary to protect their citizen’s health.

But Brendan, did you want to add anything to that?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Not really much to add, PM. I think, you know, we were obviously had a lot of information coming out of China in those early days. You know, it's really hard to look back. You know, obviously, the Chinese authorities may, in their own review, may have decided that they might have done something different. But we had a lot of information coming out. And as I think as I've said, the turning point was in, around about the 19th and 20th of January when we were told that there was sustained human to human transmission in the early days it was thought that the virus was only coming from animals to humans. And at that stage, there probably was quite a bit of human to human transmission. And as the PM said, it's hard to know whether things could have been done differently, better. Generally, when you look back on something like this, you can always find things you can improve. But we didn't, we weren't at that time of the view that information was being withheld from us.

PRIME MINISTER: That was not things we knew. But we know what's happened since and we know the devastation that this virus has had on the rest of the world. And so that's why it's just so important to understand what happened, to make sure that we can prevent such a broad-based global catastrophe from happening again. This has proved to be a once in a 100 year event. I hope it wouldn't have a greater frequency.

Thanks very much, everyone.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42805

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

29 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Thank you for gathering together here in the Blue Room this morning.

What does success look like in a COVID-19 world? It doesn't just look like having a low number of cases. That is welcome. But if we were to consider our success on COVID-19 as just having a low number of cases, that is not good enough. And that is not what our Government is seeking to achieve and I don't believe it is what the National Cabinet is seeking to achieve either. We have had great success in flattening our curve, that is obvious. But having a low number of cases, but having Australians out of work, having a low number of cases and children not receiving in-classroom education, having a low number of cases and businesses not being open, having a low number of cases and Australians not able to be going about their as normal lives as possible, that is not what success looks like.

This is the success we're seeking, to be able to have the protections in place, to enable Australians to go back to as normal a life and an economy as possible. And to be able to achieve that as soon as we possibly can and so it is important that we remain focused on the challenge ahead. We don't want to just win the battle against COVID-19 but lose a broader conflict when it comes to our economy and the functioning of our society. That is why we remain focused on the road ahead. The road back, the restoration of key elements of our economy and to ensure that the broader health needs of Australians are also being addressed. 

Christine Morgan is joining me here today and will provide you with a presentation on issues relating to mental health as we go through the COVID-19 crisis. As you know, this was a matter that we raised very early in the piece and provided additional support, and I particularly commend also the State and Territory Governments for the way they have responded to the mental health challenges here. But it is important to understand that there are so many elements of Australians' health that we need to continue to attend to. Looking after our COVID-19 health is only one of many parts of our health. Our mental wellbeing, ensuring that our screenings continue to take place for the very many different diseases and other things that we need to continue to screen for, that individuals, Australians, families stay in contact with their GPs, to address their broader health issues. Elective surgery has recommenced for that very purpose as well, for the many important surgeries that need to take place for Australians who have been suffering. Because of the restrictions that had previously been in place.

So we are looking at what the bigger picture success is when it comes to COVID-19 and we are working to all of that together as a National Cabinet, our own Cabinet here at a Commonwealth level will be meeting again today as we do every week, to ensure we're focused on all elements of the recovery and the road back. And it is important to understand that on the road back, when we get to that COVID safe environment, where we can ease those restrictions, which is not too far away, and you're already seeing that happen with many of the States and Territories - as I said they would over this interim period before we get together in the week beginning the 11th of May and consider the baseline restrictions. States are already moving back from where they were ahead of those baselines and you have seen those announcements, whether it is in New South Wales or Western Australia or other places. That is welcome and I think that demonstrates to Australians that there is a dividend for them, for the way that they have been conducting themselves. Sure, there has been some rather high profile examples of those who haven't done that. I think Australians have expressed their views on that pretty candidly. But in the main, I think Australians have been doing the right thing and that is why they are seeing some easing of those restrictions.

But when we move back into this more COVID safe economy and society, it is important to know that with the easing of those restrictions, of course there will continue to be additional cases. Of course there will be outbreaks. That is what living with the virus will be like. That is why the protections that we put in place for a COVID safe Australia are so important. 

Now, I can report that 2.8 million downloads and registrations that have taken place already for the app and I thank those Australians for doing just that. I would ask for millions and millions and millions more to do the same thing. This is an important protection for a COVID safe Australia. I would liken it to the fact that if you want to go outside when the sun is shining, you have got to put sunscreen on. This is the same thing. Australians want to return to community sport. If you want to return to a more liberated economy and society, it is important that we get increased numbers of downloads when it comes to the COVIDSafe app. This is the ticket to ensuring that we can have eased restrictions and Australians can go back to the lifestyle and the many things that they previously were able to do and this is important. So if you have downloaded the app, thank you very much. Convince two or three more people that haven't downloaded the app to do the same thing. We are unable to give you breakdowns of what ages of people have downloaded the app or what States they are from because all of that information is locked in the national data store. As you know, that is not information that is available to the Commonwealth Government or the state governments. That is the protection we have put in place. So we would encourage all Australians, if you want to see us return to the more eased restrictions that I know you're looking forward to and that I'm looking forward to, then it is important that you download the COVIDSafe app. That is your ticket, that is Australia's ticket to a COVIDSafe Australia where we can go about the things that we love doing once again.

I can also note that more than 800,000 JobSeeker claims have now been processed. That number will be well in advance of that by the end of today. It was just over 790,000 last night. And also earlier this week, the $550 JobSeeker supplement is now being paid and that is rolling out over the course of this week. 

I can also note that the Government has been working closely with the aged care sector and aged care consumer groups, including the Council On The Ageing, towards developing an industry code of conduct for supporting visitations to aged care facilities. You'll be aware of the strong views of the National Cabinet and I have expressed in ensuring that residents of aged care facilities are not shut away and that they do have access to their loved ones and their carers and others who provide support to them. There are, of course, legitimate reasons why there would be restrictions at aged care facilities, particularly and obviously in places where there have been outbreaks. That is sensible. That is safe. That is to be expected but the norm should be, as the National Cabinet has set out in the health advice that they adopted some weeks ago now and it is the intention for that to be incorporated into an industry code of conduct and we're making good progress on that. And I would hope we would be in a position to have that finalised hopefully by the end of the week. But I thank the aged care sector for their cooperation and their engagement in pursuing that together with the Aged Care Minister, Richard Colbeck and I thank them and all the aged care workers all across the country for the work that they are doing, caring for our most vulnerable Australians and we need to ensure that we keep them safe but we keep them connected because that is good for their health as well.

Now just finally, before I hand over to Christine to talk more specifically about the mental health challenges we have and the progress we're making and the progress we need to make. I note there was a $74 million package that was put in place at the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and those, that package of support has been rolling out across the country and has been getting very good results. 50% of mental health consultations are now being done through telehealth as a result of the telehealth changes that we have made. One million telehealth mental health consultations have taken place since mid-March and some $35 million specifically in mental health-related consultations have been conducted over that period of time, since telehealth was put in place. This is an important service that is available to Australians. It is clear, and I will ask Christine to go through this, but the isolation, the stay at home has been important but it does come with an increase in anxiety and an increase in pressure on individuals, their mental stress and that also takes a toll. That is why it is important that we get these COVIDSafe arrangements in place, so people won't be constrained, as they have been, they won't be under as much anxiety as they have been as a result of the isolation restrictions that have been necessary. It does impact on peoples' mental health and that is why the telehealth facilities are so important and for Australians who are feeling that way, for Australians who feel under stress, that is entirely normal and it is to be expected and there are a vast array of services that are available to you to support you at this time. Christine will go through those but they are well-known. There is Lifeline Australia, Kids Helpline, Beyond Blue, Suicide Call Back Service. Men's Line Australia, Headspace, all these services and many more are available online and available on phone but also particularly through your GP and the ability for you to engage in those consultations, psychologists, psychiatrists also can provide telehealth consultations. They are there to help you through this very stressful period and it only underscores again why it is so important that we get Australia back to a position where it can be COVIDSafe across the country, which means we can release the pressure, we can release some of the stress that is on families and individuals across the country from isolation and ensure they can get back to work, get back to school, get back to normal, get back to sport and if you want to see that happen, I want to see that happen, download the COVIDSafe app, please.

Thank you, Christine.

MS CHRISTINE MORGAN, NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION ADVISER: Thank you Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister has said, it was on the 29th of March that the Government announced a mental health support package, anticipating ahead I think of the curve of most countries the mental health impact that would be an inevitable consequence for many, many Australians. To recall that package, that package said, firstly, we must actually understand that the significance and the magnitude of the changes that we have been called upon to make as Australians, to respond and protect our safety, our physical safety and the safety of our country, will have an impact on us. We are being required to live differently, we are being required to live in different circumstances, quite constrained circumstances. So we established a specific support line, hosted by Beyond Blue. And I will take you through in a moment what we are seeing some statistics with respect to Beyond Blue. You may also remember we said we have to take a preventive approach, we have to identify those particular groups in Australia who may be more vulnerable and we need to try and make sure that we are putting in place supports for them. In that space, we did some support services for our older Australians, for our younger Australians who are particularly challenged with the breaks in their education, our Indigenous Australians, our emergency front line workers and we have seen, as we anticipated, that there has been an increase in services. We also, at that time, most importantly, as the Prime Minister has said, we made a shift which really was a 10-year shift done in 10 days. And I can't overestimate that, of moving our mental health services onto a telehealth platform. In recognition that people could not get to them, so what has actually been happening? So I have chosen here just three snap shots of services that are being provided in the digital online space. But they are indicative of the broader range of services we have. Beyond Blue, Beyond Blue has seen a 40% increase in contact being made to it over this time last year and what we are seeing with respect to those calls is an increase in the distress levels and an increase in the anxiety levels and in the complexity of what people are feeling. We are also hearing - and this is anecdotal but I think we’re hearing in something I will note later, that people aren't feeling as safe as they once did. So I think that is a concern. We look at our Head to Health. Now Head to Health was was one of the initiatives that we boosted back at the end of March because we said it is incredibly important that we have a single source of truth, where people can go to know the facts around this, what they need to do for their mental health and where they can go. You can see the enormous spike in visits to Head to Health. And our young people, our young people with Reach Out and I am really pleased to see and to be able to affirm what Reach Out has done in this last week in launching a specific online support package, for parents and young people as they transition back into school. We know that for our young people they are incredibly concerned, not just about their education and the drop in education and the linkages there, not just about the fact they aren't necessarily seeing and getting the supports that they did in the school environment, but our young people are concerned about the future. They understand the economic impacts of what we must go through for this and they are understandably worried. So, from the mental health perspective, it is incredibly important that we are actually there to support them, and again we see that usage. But there are a couple of interesting things that are happening, and I want to just pause there and say what we are really looking at at the moment is this current phase. And the current phase, and you will hear me say this frequently, I do not use the word social distancing, I have an anathema to it, I use the word physical distancing with social connection, because it is about being physically distant, but how incredibly important it is to stay connected, and that has manifested itself in what we have heard over the last month. People are finding it challenging living in confined spaces. The most confined would be quarantine or required isolation, but for those of us staying at home, and that is the majority, the vast, vast majority of Australians, it is a pressure cooker. We are living with our loved ones. That doesn't mean it is easy. So they are the issues we need to deal with. Another issue that has really emerged has been a sense of loneliness for many Australians. For those Australians who live on their own, who actually cannot have that tangible reality of a hug from a loved one, we cannot underestimate the mental health impact that that is having on our Australians. And, of course, there is the worry, that is being addressed, but it is a worry, about job security, housing security, employment security. Those issues. 

So what we would have hoped to have seen as a response to that is actually an increase in the use of mental health services. The reality is that, overall, there has actually been a decrease. Now, why is that happening? Why we think that is happening is that, for those who would normally be using mental health services to support their mental health and well-being, or their mental health challenges, are not actually going out and doing those visits. Now, we partially addressed that with the pivot to telehealth, and it is incredibly important that we look at the increased use of it, I can show you on this graph the increased percentage use of psychologists using telehealth. It is now over the 50 per cent mark. It is working. But what we do, and I do this as a call out to all Australians, we did come into this scenario, we did come into COVID-19, with mental health challenges, many of us. We did come in with mental illness. You do still need to contact your mental health services. You can do it now on, through telehealth, you can do it through the digital services, but part of getting through this whole crisis is that we actually address our mental health and our well-being, so reach out we will continue to do that. I think that is probably the most that I would want to say on that. The other thing we are noticing, just to support that last comment, of a slight decrease, is generally our presentations to our emergency departments are down as well. So as I say, a call out to all Australians. Your mental health is really important, your mental well-being is important. As I said before, it is actually foundational. It is foundational to our creative resilience and being able to get through this in the best way we can.

But also just some circumstantial things that we are hearing, which I think it is just important to put to our notice. If I can just go - thank you. I mentioned that in particular in talking to my colleague Georgie Harman at Beyond Blue, that they are hearing stories of people not feeling safe. And I think this is a reality that all Australians need to address. I have said before that it is incredibly difficult to go behind closed doors to see what is happening in confined spaces, but we can look at the increase in calls to 1800 RESPECT, we can look at the increased calls, not there, but which we have also recorded, to Men's Help Line. We know that this is happening, we know that people may be more challenged than normal to reach out for help, so I call on all Australians, keep your eyes alert for what may be needed.

So what are we doing? In conversations this morning with the Prime Minister and with our Federal Health Minister, and reflecting on a very, very strong meeting that we had with Australian Ministers responsible for mental health just at the end of last week, we are looking at significantly ramping up our ability to coordinate service delivery, to ensure that the accessibility that we have opened up with telehealth, the accessibility that we have opened up with increased digital and online services, is able to be accessed by Australians in a way that passes across our jurisdictional and Commonwealth systems. We need to make that work better. We need to ensure that anybody who actually needs a service is reached. We are looking at how can we reach those Australians who are not currently coming to us for help? We know when we look at those we lose to suicide that 50 per cent of those we lose have not come in touch with our mental health services. We are looking to what we can do by way of outreach. So the Commonwealth is working in conjunction with the states and the territories on a plan, on a mental health response plan, which will look at what are we doing in the current scenario? What are the current specific issues, challenges and services we need when we are in this state of physical distancing, and staying at home? Then we will look at what is the appropriate response as we ease those restrictions, and we must ease those restrictions. Now, as the Prime Minister has said, that is absolutely critical to us getting back to the life we all want to have. Will we be anxious during that time? Yes, that's inevitable. We can't stop the anxiety, but we can certainly support and address it. So the second phase that at will be looking at the reality of that, and how can we from a mental health perspective ensure that we are there to meet the needs of Australians? We will look at what are the particular issues? Should there be surges or hotspots, and we will look at what is needed for the longer term recovery. And that is a plan which I understand from the Prime Minister he has invited to be put before National Cabinet. And we are doing this in a very short turnaround time. We will have something to present for consideration by the end of next week.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Christine. As head of the Mental Health Commission, on the day National Cabinet was actually formed, there were three presentations that were actually made to the group that day, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the Head of Treasury, and Christine Morgan was also there on that day out in Parramatta, and so it’ll be important that Christine will be making a presentation to the National Cabinet this Friday, and then following that up with the plan that is already under way, working with the states and territories. The cooperation on mental health between the states and territories and the Commonwealth has been outstanding.

Happy to take questions. Why don't we start with you, Greg at the back, and then work our way around the room, if you’d like?

JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister. Just on this, data I guess is key to everything at the moment. You're talking, Christine, about trying to identify hotspots for surges. I’m just wondering if there are correlations between JobKeeper and JobSeeker, that is unemployment circumstances, whether that data might be helpful in you identifying pressure points geographically or in the community?

MS MORGAN: Thank you. If I could just perhaps clarify, when I talk about hotspots, that is not necessarily hotspots for mental health issues, it is hotspots for presentation of the illness, and what that may mean particularly if you need to go into more restrictive, lockdown type scenarios. That said, I don't think it is an easy thing to do any correlation between particular stresses, and we do certainly acknowledge the significance of the economic and employment stresses, and help seeking for mental health particularly at a time when we're opening it up to telehealth and when we are opening it up digital and online. We can certainly look at engagement rates, we can certainly look at those who are reaching out, and we can try and pick up some trend data. As I said to the Prime Minister this morning, one of the challenges, of course, with mental health data is that it is not as quantitative or as finite as what has been able to be used in terms of tracking physical reactions to COVID-19, so we are very much looking at trend lines. We are looking at keeping all of our senses open, to understand the reality of what's happening.

PRIME MINISTER: Moving across the back.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have today again indicated that you would like to see the states begin to lift restrictions back potentially to the baseline that was agreed by National Cabinet. All the states have begun to do that on some level, other than Victoria, who is standing strong on keeping all restrictions in place until 11 May at the very earliest. Have you had a discussion with Premier Daniel Andrews about this at all, and what’s come of that? And if I may also on the schools issue, if independent schools in Victoria take up this funding proposal put forward by the government last night, that potentially would see those students come back about six weeks earlier than the public school students. What would be the issues you would see then, what would you like to see done in Victorian schools?

PRIME MINISTER: First of all, Dan and I, the Premier and I, talk quite regularly, as you would expect I do with all the Premiers. We are working together. That doesn't mean we don't from time to time have a different view about particular issues. It would be extraordinary if we didn't. But the fact is, when we do work through these issues, we do it in a very cooperative and respectful way. And that is very much the relationship I have with not only with Dan, but with all the Premiers and Chief Ministers, as we work through these issues. So yes, we talk all the time about this, and the point about the states that have gone beyond the baseline levels of restrictions is, that is entirely a matter for those states, and for them to make that judgement, based on how they see the conditions in their own state. Now, the case numbers in Victoria and New South Wales, for that matter, and you could also argue Queensland, to a slightly lesser extent, is very different to the circumstances in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory in particular. And so it is not surprising that you would see those states with incredibly low case numbers and track records on those issues to be moving ahead of the states on the east coast. I'd been flagging that for months, that I would expect that to be the case. And indeed, the experience of those other states, in Western Australia and South Australia, I think will provide a good guide to those states, like New South Wales and Victoria, which have had a much higher incidence of the virus in their communities. So I think their experience actually helps each other. And we are all swapping notes, and our officials are all swapping notes, on how this is working, and I expect that to continue in the weeks ahead, before that key date, which the National Cabinet has flagged.

Now, in relation to schools, this is a position we have adopted nationally. It is something I flagged with the Premiers back in mid-April. It is true that the states run the state school systems, and they will make calls in their states, and the Commonwealth is the predominant funder of Independent and Catholic schools, and we will make decisions based on the evidence, that evidence both on a health basis and as well as from educationalists as you’ve seen, is classroom teaching is where we need to get to, and that is what we will be supporting Independent and Catholic schools to do. That is a national policy, and it is one that we are pursuing nationally, and it is one that we have already had very positive response to, and will continue to go down that path for those schools. And in terms of any different practices at state schools, by states, I am sure that will be not proved to be too much of a hurdle for people to get over.

JOURNALIST: In regards to the road ahead, some researchers from the Group of Eight universities have argued that pursuing elimination through continued strict lockdowns could lead to greater community confidence which would flow on to greater participation in the economy and deliver ultimately a far higher, in their words, economic outcome, a quicker economic recovery. Has that factored into your thinking from an economic point of view and from a mental health point of view?

PRIME MINISTER: To be fair, they have put two views and which sort of argued both sides of the argument, so that is not surprising in what we are dealing with, there are a lot of uncertainties in this area. But the government, our government has pursued that suppression approach. We haven't gone to the eradication approach. The eradication approach, which, whether you would characterise the New Zealand approach as that or not, I know there is some debate about that, but they obviously went into much more extreme economic measures, and basically getting the same health results as Australia, and some would argue Australia has had stronger results. The idea is pretty simple, and that is to get the virus under control, and I think by any measure, Australia compared to other nations has done extraordinarily well on that front. But then you have to put in place, as we are doing right now, the protections for a COVID safe Australia, and those protections are the key to that economic unlocking in the future. Because otherwise you simply, as I think the New South Wales Premier was suggesting this morning, and as I have warned against as well, you get into this stop-go approach going forward, and you don't want that. What you want is a confident moving forward, and continuing to make gains, and continuing to ease restrictions, and continuing to be in a position where your economic activity is lifted. Now, that doesn't mean there won't be setbacks and it doesn't mean there won't be outbreaks, and it doesn't mean there won’t be extra cases. I suspect there will. The question is more about what you can do about those outbreaks. Now, if you go back over a month ago, there was no concept of, I'll use Christine's term, physical distancing with social connection. There was no concept of that in the community. There was no app to protect. There was not widespread testing. There had not been the ramp up in our ICU capability, at that time. All of those things were not in place six weeks ago. They are now, more or less. There is still more work to do on the app. Download the app, COVIDSafe, please, please, and get about that task because that will enable us to go further down that path. So that is how we are pursuing it. Putting the protections in place for a COVID safe Australia, which means we can get an economic growth occurring again, and for Australians to move back to all the things Australians like doing again. It won't be exactly like it was before. I can't see international travel occurring anytime soon. I can't see that. The risks there are obvious. The only exception to that, as I have flagged, is potentially with New Zealand, and we have had some good discussions about that. But outside of that, that is unlikely. But I look forward to the time when Australians can travel again within Australia. I look forward to the time where they can sit down to a meal at a restaurant or a cafe or in a pub again. I look forward to the time where they can see, whether it is the AFL, the netball, or the NRL, or whatever code it is they support, and being able to watch that again. But I can't see them going along to a game for a while, those larger mass gatherings. I can see, I suppose, the opportunity for those seeking private prayer in a place of worship, I can see that happening. I can't necessarily, though, see large services occurring again. But anyway, these are the issues we have to work through.

Brett?

JOURNALIST: Just on the virus more broadly, is Australia still going to push for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in Geneva at the world health assembly? And just on the reaction from China, it is getting very messy. Some comments today in Chinese media about this being an all-out Crusade, accusing you and your government of panda-bashing. Is this a fight you need right now?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia will continue to of course pursue what is a very reasonable and sensible course of action. This is a virus that has taken more than 200,000 lives across the world. It has shut down the global economy. The implications and impacts of this are extraordinary. Now, it would seem entirely reasonable and sensible that the world would want to have an independent assessment of how this all occurred, so we can learn the lessons and prevent it from happening again. I don't think this is a remarkable suggestion. I think it is a fairly obvious and common sense suggestion, that I believe there will be support for at the right time, to ensure we do that. We are a supporter and a funder of the World Health Organization. We have supported particularly the work they do on the ground here, in our region, in Southeast Asia, and in the Southwest Pacific. But it is an organisation like any that can learn lessons from how this began, and the authorities had to understand what was happening, and the transparency around those issues. Nothing extraordinary about that. So what Australia is pursuing is not targeted. It is said independently, it is said out of common sense, and I think in Australia's national interests, and in the global interest. And so I find Australia's position to be not remarkable at all, but one that is entirely responsible, and I am sure is broadly seen in that light around the world.

JOURNALIST: In terms of China's response though, they don't see these as ordinary comments. They are angry about these comments.

PRIME MINISTER: That is a matter for them. Australia will do what is in our interest, in the global interest, and we will of course continue to support moves to ensure there is a proper independent assessment of what has occurred here. I mean, that is in the global health interest, it is in the global economic interest. It is not a remarkable position. It is a fairly common sense position, and one that we don't resile from. Greg.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have outlined your concern about your opposition about the reopening of wet markets in parts of China. What about - there are many, as we have seen today - wet markets in Indonesia, as well? Are you similarly concerned about health issues that could arise from those wet markets, and will you be asking the World Health Organization to look into that? And just secondly, you have just looked into the camera and asked Australians to download the app, please, please. Have you had that same conversation with Barnaby Joyce?

PRIME MINISTER: I haven't had the chance to talk with Barnaby, to be honest. I've been a little busy, but he has been part of backbench committee meetings and backbench and party room gatherings that we have had, and there has been the opportunity to raise those issues in the normal forum, and I have spoken to all of those forums as well. But it highlights the point, you know, this is not a mandatory exercise. We are seeking the goodwill and support and participation of Australians to deal with a national health crisis and the appeal is simply made on that basis. And as I said, downloading the app is like putting on sunscreen to go out into the sun. It gives us protection as a nation. It protects you, it protects your family, it protects your loved ones, it protects our health workers, and it protects your job, and the jobs of many others, because it enables us to move forward and to get the economy back on the track we want it to be on. The protections are in place in terms of people's privacy and other legal detections. The biosecurity act provisions are already in place, and we will have belts and braces when it comes to the legislation that comes before Parliament. On wildlife wet markets, my position has never been directed only to one country. It has been a broad position. These markets exist in many places, just as the next pandemic could come from any country, any country in the world. It could occur in any part of the globe, and it is important that we learn the lessons of how this pandemic started, so we can move on any future pandemic, wherever it starts. This is why it is an important initiative, and one that I believe has support to occur at the right time. In Europe at the moment, I was speaking to the President of the European Commission last night. We discussed this issue. The Europeans are bringing forward a motion on this matter at the World Health Assembly. I think it is a very good motion.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Newmarch House, can I ask for your response to the events of the last 36 hours there. And beyond the visitor code of conduct that you have already spoken about, does it suggest to you that we are failing in our management of aged care in this pandemic in this country, and how might your government address those failings?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, Tim, first of all, my first thoughts are with the families of the 12 residents who have passed away. Australians who have passed away during the COVID crisis, while those numbers are nowhere near as high as we have seen in many other countries, they are still very real here in Australia, and particularly for the families of those who have lost loved ones. And it is one of the sad truths of the COVID-19 virus that it particularly is fatal towards those who are vulnerable because of whether they are aged, or comorbidities, or other health challenges that they may have. And that's why aged care facilities have been a key area of focus for us. And we have had a number of outbreaks in a number of facilities, that is true. But by and large, across the country, when you think of the number of people who are in aged care facilities, and the number of facilities that are affected, the performance to date, at a national level, right across all states and territories, well, I think the numbers speak for themselves. It doesn't lessen the impact of those who we have lost in the facilities that are there, not for one second, and I understand the frustration of families, particularly when it relates to communications around these issues, and in relation to communication, a webinar was held last week with the families. The service NSW Health and the federal Aged Care Quality Commission, at our request to the older person's advocacy network, held a meeting with families last night towards improving the communication between residents and their families and, of course, the government has also asked OPAN, which is that Older Persons Advocacy Network, to put a worker on-site to assist families with up to the minute information on their loved ones. So communication is key but I suspect and know that one of the frustrations for families is being able to have access to the facility, and there is limited access to that facility at Newmarch. But that is an obvious case of where there has been an outbreak, that obviously there are going to have to be restrictions on people's access in that situation, and where there are outbreaks in other facilities, as we have seen in parts of Tasmania or New South Wales or other places, being able to move as quickly as you can to separate those who have the virus and in almost all cases, to the best of my knowledge, the virus has come in through a workforce, not through visitors, and that is unfortunate. But that is why our testing regime is moving to address particularly those in a lot of these vulnerable work areas, both for their protection but particularly for the protection of residents. So the aged care task here, I think, is very difficult and very challenging. But, to date, despite some outbreaks in particular facilities, the mainstream of aged care experience he has been much better than those. And there is a combination of responsibilities across the Commonwealth, funds these facilities, we run the quality oversight in relation to these facilities, and those things. The state health department has the public health response in that facility, and they do their job, we do our job. The aged care sector itself does its job. So everyone has responsibilities here, and we are all exercising them and working together.

JOURNALIST: As we look to coming out of this crisis, a lot of the debate is turning to our high level of dependency on China. Do you think that, in future, we should become less dependent, for example, in the university sector on Chinese students, and in terms of manufacturing, should we be more self-sufficient in certain products, rather than having to have this dependence on imports from China in certain sectors?

PRIME MINISTER: I think Australia should always act in its national interest. I think Australia should always seek to be having an economy that is as self-sufficient as possible, and to be that, it has to be competitive. There are things that have restrained the competitiveness of our manufacturing and other sectors in Australia, that if we want to have these sovereign capabilities, it isn't achieved through nationalisation or large public subsidies and protectionism. It's achieved by having competitive businesses that can operate in these sectors and be successful. That is what the road back looks like. It doesn't look like, you know, an industry run from Canberra. It looks like an industry made up of very successful, innovative businesses on the ground, finding markets, sustaining themselves, employing many Australians, engaging new technology, and using the best minds that we have. That is where sovereignty comes from, and that is the type of approach that we will be pursuing. Australians will find markets, as we have been now for a long time, all around the world, and for many years now our markets have been diversifying. I mean, the predominance of our trading relationship with China is obviously resources based, and I see no reason why that would alter in the future. I mean, the thing about our relationship with China is it is a mutually beneficial one. It is a comprehensive strategic partnership, and we will continue to pursue that partnership, respecting China's sovereignty, and their independence, and its success will continue to depend on that being returned. 

JOURNALIST: And the universities?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, the universities find themselves in a challenging situation at the moment, and they have received a lot of support from the government in this present crisis. But they will look to their future. They will make decisions about their commercial arrangements, and the markets that they will seek to focus on. It is not for the government to make those decisions for them. They will make those decisions themselves, and they will make them in the best interests in the future viability of their own operations.

JOURNALIST: Jacinda Ardern got a phone call from the Queen last night. Have you spoken to Her Majesty? And on China again, the state-backed media got a lot of rhetoric about Australia being a bully in the region and bits and pieces. Are you concerned…

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, can you just repeat the second part?

JOURNALIST: State-backed media having comments about Australia being a bully.

PRIME MINISTER: State-backed media?

JOURNALIST: Like, Chinese state-backed media being a bully in the region and so on. Is there concern that the wheels have really fallen off this relationship, that beyond COVID it is going to have remaining tensions in the Australia-China relationship?

PRIME MINISTER: No, no I don’t think so. Look, Australia, we hold a consistent position and we have on a range of issues. There is not going to be agreement on all of those issues all the time and I think the key to Australia’s relationship is just being consistent. And we are consistent on all of the measures on where there has been some potential tension and frustration, as there has been on these. We will just be consistent. We don't lightly form the views that we do on these things, and we hold the position that we have. We seek to explain it as best we can, as respectfully as we can, and understand that the comprehensive strategic partnership is built on that mutual benefit and I think that mutual benefit continues to be there now and into the future. But both countries will manage that relationship from the perspective of its own national interest. That is not extraordinary. That is what you would expect. And I can assure you, we will manage every relationship that we have in our national interest. We will put Australia first in all of these arrangements, wherever it may be. And no, I haven't heard from the Queen. I have heard from Prince Charles, though, and I am happy to take the call. Jenny and I had the great privilege of meeting Her Majesty last year, and I'm pleased that she is in great health, and I hope she recently enjoyed her birthday, and we celebrated that ourselves.

JOURNALIST: PM, the NRL aims to be back on May 28. Will that happen?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that still hasn't been determined. The Commonwealth has made no decision about the access by the Warriors into Australia. That hasn't happened. I think it is helpful for all of these issues that have to be resolved to hopefully achieve that timetable that they be done between agencies and the NRL and indeed with the AFL and the other sporting codes who are working to these ends and we will continue to work with them in good faith. And I think the best way for those things to be resolved and progressed is in that normal way. But there is still a bit of work to do. But as I said at the outset, I like the aspiration. Great to see it back on there. But it's got to satisfy all the health requirements. And there is the code that is being developed for elite sport, professional sport, community sport, as well as in individual recreation that's being done by the medical expert panel now, I received an update on that this morning from Professor Murphy, and we hope to make more progress on that for that to be able to be available for a first look by the National Cabinet later this week. But I stress again, if we want to get back to sport, then we need to download the app. It's not a mandatory requirement, but it's common sense, and Australians want to see that happen. Then when we sit down as a National Cabinet and make these decisions about easing restrictions, it's one of the many things we're going to be looking at. I'd love to see community sport get back, the evidence we're seeing about transmission in outdoor areas is encouraging. The medical evidence on that is encouraging. But for it to, us to have confidence of a COVID safe Australia, then we need the COVIDSafe app to be in place. Kieran.

JOURNALIST: PM, a 4 year old with COVID and went to day care for two days, a day care centre near Penrith in Sydney. Obviously, health officials have been looking at that very closely to see whether any kids or teachers contracted the virus. It's a reminder, I’m asking you, how do you react to that? I guess it's a reminder that young kids are still vulnerable to it, although less vulnerable than other elements of the population. And Ms. Morgan, I want to ask you have you got any advice to people who might be having experience with mental health issues for the first time, maybe not wanting to get assistance, but things like, you know, exercise. Simple tips, you can give people?

MS MORGAN: Yes absolutely.

PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, on the first one, and Professor Murphy, I think, is better placed to comment on the epidemiology of these. It has always been the case that there are cases amongst those who are very, who are younger but proportional to the rest of the population are very small incidents and also the incidence of those who are of younger age contracting the coronavirus as compared to a normal respiratory ailment of flu or something like that is much, much, much lower. So undoubtedly there will be individual cases. That's I don't think of itself a surprise, but it really goes to any sort of more widespread incidents. But I have no doubt that those individual cases are looked at by Professor Murphy and the rest of the medical expert panel.

MS MORGAN: Thank you. And thank you for your question. So what if I understand correctly, it's for those of us Australians who are feeling a stress on our mental health and our mental well-being. We may not feel at this point in time we need the formal counselling support, but what can we do? And that's a great question, because I think that just like with our physical health, there are very practical things we can do to look after our physical health. Likewise with our mental health, I mean, and it is being challenged. So you heard me say at the beginning, physical distancing with social connectedness. I think that social connectedness is probably the most fundamental thing. And social connectedness is not communicating. It's not just doing the texting and the typing. It is actually engaging on as human an interaction level as you can with other people within the confines of your own home or wherever you may be. So it's using Facetime, it's Skyping, it's, hearing a laugh is better than being told about a laugh. So it's actually that human connection and I can't emphasize that enough whether we're dealing with people who are in crisis for suicide ideation or feeling anxious and alone. All of us need that social connection. Secondly, I think many of us are feeling as though we have lost a bit of our own autonomy, our own ability to control our environment. And that kind of feels a bit deflating, it takes away from us and also makes us anxious because we don't know how long this is going for. So I sort of go, regain control. You can set a routine within your own home. You can choose to do this in your own unique way. You can actually have more freedom to do that than perhaps we can when we're going to work and doing other things. So I think that psychologically, that's really important. It's also really good for our health that we have a routine doing things like the right amount of exercise, sleeping, not too much alcohol, those kind of things I think are really important and reaching out to others. We heard from and I said this before, we heard from our fellow Aussies during the bushfires that when the chips were down, we really needed to rely on each other. We needed to build community. So how we can proactively build community, we are in a digital world. We do have people in our society who don't know how to do that online stuff. How can we reach out and help them? Random acts of kindness, I think are great. And I think the good old Aussie spirit. I don't know if you've seen it, but the bin night, dress up for bin night. Those kind of things where we're reclaiming some of that creativity, some of that energy, some of that hope that as we come out of this, we can actually come out of it differently. But okay.

PRIME MINISTER: Watching those Andrew-Katharine mash-ups too on TikTok can help.

JOURNALIST: Sorry two completely unrelated questions. The first one, do you realistically, in terms of getting the Budget back on track on the road out, do you realistically expect to be able to take the JobSeeker payment back to its original level? You've just said in your opening remarks 800,000 people signed up or would you be prepared to taper it or revert it to a higher than original level? And just the second question, we're anticipating as early as tomorrow, the resignation of Mike Kelly. What relevance would you ascribe in terms of a test or whatever the outcome of the subsequent byelection in current circumstances?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with the first question, JobSeeker supplement, COVID supplement, which has begun this week, and the JobKeeper arrangements were temporary measures that were put in place for the COVID period, which was set to the end of September. Our objective is to get those on JobSeeker and JobKeeper back into their jobs. That's what our objective is. That's what we're focussed on. That's what our road ahead is about, is to get those Australians off those income supports and back into employment and to do that, it means as I started this press conference by saying success looks like that. It looks like people getting back into their jobs, businesses reopening, Australians being able to move back into a COVID safe world where protections are in place and it maximises the amount of activity that they can undertake. Now, when you're in that situation, then obviously the income supports that have been put in place to get people through that period well won't be necessary on the other side, we made that clear at the outset. This was emergency response measures. This was not a change in the government's view about the broader role of the social safety net in Australia. I think we have a very strong social safety net. But in this particular point of time, and as the Treasury Secretary pointed out yesterday, when you're looking at unemployment going above 10 per cent, as I've said to you on a number of occasions, I fear worse statistics coming forward on the economy in the months ahead. And we need to prepare ourselves for that. That's why JobSeeker and JobKeeper were put in place to deal with the heavy blow that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to have on the Australian economy. But that's why we also need to move as quickly as we can, getting these protections in place to ensure that our economy can grow. Now, the Budget will be restored by our economy growing. And that's why as we move towards the Budget scheduled for October this year, then we'll be in a position to outline a range of measures that will support that growth into the future, which will support the budget. That's important because the Budget supports essential services. It's all about jobs. It's all about services going forward and ensuring that we can do that in a responsible and sustainable way with the Budget. And these emergency measures come at a great cost. And clearly that level of cost is not a sustainable level beyond what we've flagged.

In relation to Dr. Kelly. I wish him well if he indeed intends to make that announcement soon. He's served his country in uniform. He’s served his country in the Parliament. And if that indeed is the decision he makes, I wish him all the best and I thank him for his service in both of those respects. The Liberal Party will certainly contest the seat, as I'm sure the National Party will certainly contest the seat. But that doesn't change the history, which would mean that it would be a one in 100 year event for a government in those circumstances if they were to take a seat from the opposition, that would be a rather extraordinary outcome. But it's one we will put our best foot forward for, in this environment. But my expectations. Well, I think you can say are conditioned by history. And I think that would be the reasonable assessment. But that said, I mean, the government has a plan we're showing I think the leadership through this crisis that Australians are seeking from the Government and importantly, we are focussed on what success looks like for our country. And it's not just beating the virus. It's about ensuring that we can get Australia back to where we were and to make us even stronger beyond that. And that's what our government will always stand for and the policies that support that.

Now, just as we leave, I just want to give a reminder on those, Lifeline, number, Lifeline Australia, 13 11 14; kids help line is 1800 55 18 00; Beyond Blue is 1300 224 636. The Suicide Call Back Service is   1300 659 467. Men's Line Australia, doing a great job, 1300 78 99 78. So that's 1300 78 99 78. And Headspace, you can access them at www.headspace.org.au. And as always call your GP. Telehealth is available to you through your GP. And don't forget the COVID help line 1800 020 080. And don't forget, download the app. Download the app, put your sunscreen on equivalent. Download that app. And the sooner we can get Australia back to where we want it to be, we will achieve that together. Thank you all very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42802

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

24 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon.

National Cabinet today passed a motion of condolence for the four police officers who were killed in Melbourne and to pass on their sincere sympathies to their families and to their friends and their fellow serving officers. The motion also more broadly expressed the National Cabinet's sympathies and support for the broader police family, police officers serving all around the country, and, of course, their family members, for whom this is a devastating reminder of the risks that their serving police officers in their families take each and every day. And the National Cabinet has had to make many important decisions in recent weeks and we're very pleased to receive the recommendation of that motion from the Victorian Premier, and all Premiers, Chief Ministers and myself stand together with the Victorian Government as they seek to support those families and those officers, in particular their fellow serving officers, who continue to go through a time of terrible grief. 

At National Cabinet today, there are a number of quite practical issues, as always, that we were dealing with. And in today's presentation, we'll be providing you on the weekly update, on the nowcasting modelling, which is being done on the effective rate of transmission of the coronavirus here in Australia based on the Australian data. Importantly, at National Cabinet today, we were able to note the good progress that has been made. We are obviously familiar with the data itself, but to the good progress that has been made on those core requirements that we are working hard, as governments, across the country to put in place that will enable our road back, by enabling us to be in a position where we can have that confidence to continue to ease restrictions that are in place right across the country. Those areas, in particular, where it's good to receive the reports are the expansion of the testing regimes that are being employed in all states and territories. You would have heard from New South Wales earlier today, and what they're achieving there, but this is occurring right around the country - Tasmania, right around the country. And this is a very important pillar of how we will be dealing with this virus going forward into the future. We already have one of the most, if not most, comprehensive testing regimes in the world, and this is a key, a key tool for us going forward. 

Secondly, we're making great progress on the industrialising, automating our contact tracing capability. The app will soon be released. There are still some issues we're working through late in the piece, which is to be expected. We're not too far away now. Earlier this week, as I indicated to you, it received the in-principle support of the National Cabinet and we have been taking that through its final stages in recent days. That will also be an important tool for the country as we seek to manage how we live in a COVID-safe economy and community into the future and the rapid response to individual outbreaks. We should be aware, as a community right across the country, that when we take further steps to ease restrictions, of course, we will continue to see outbreaks. That is to be expected. What matters is being able to move on them quickly, to identify them through both of the measures that I've just mentioned, but also, as we've seen in a very difficult outbreak in north-west Tasmania, and for the resources to come quickly for the further restrictions in those areas to be applied promptly, and so we can get on top of those outbreaks as quickly as we possibly can. Dealing with those outbreaks will be one of the things we will have to live with when we're in a position of having further eased restrictions across the country. 

On a couple of quite specific issues, on the wearing of masks, and Brendan Murphy, the Professor, will talk a little bit more about this. But on the wearing of masks, the medical expert panel, we accepted their advice that it is not recommended by the expert panel that they are necessary to be worn, and importantly, it's important to note that the wearing of such a mask does not protect you from an infection, but if you are displaying respiratory symptoms then it is, at best, a measure that prevents you transferring it to others. It's not about protecting you from infection, but that's why, when people are leaving airports and things of that nature, they were wearing it to prevent the transmission. 

On schools, confirmation - and this is in the medical expert advice, AHPPC's document being released further today - confirmation that the four square metre rule, and the 1.5m distancing between students during classroom activities is not appropriate and not required. I can't be more clear than that. The advice cannot be more clear than that. The 1.5m in classrooms and the four square metre rule is not a requirement of the expert medical advice in classrooms. 

We agreed also to develop national principles for sport and recreation. Those principles would address these issues at three levels. The first, at the elite and professional level. So, the major sporting codes, our Olympic sports, training arrangements that sit around support for those activities by elite sportspeople. Secondly, at the community competitive sport level. That is such an important part of our way of life here in Australia, and the principles that can help guide decisions by states and territories in the future. And, thirdly, at the individual passive level of sport and recreation. Activities from everything from whether it's in the Shire, if you're going surfing, or if you're walking in the local national park, or whatever it might happen to be, those set of principles that states and territories can draw on in terms of getting some consistency across the country as we move into this next phase. 

Today, we also agreed National COVID-19 Safe Workplace principles which will be released. This is all about getting Australians back to work, and ensuring that when they go back to work that they and their families can feel safe in going back to work, and to ensure that there are important principles in place, there are protocols and procedures that, should a COVID case present in a workplace, then the rules that people need to follow. The Minister for Industrial Relations has been working closely with the COVID Commission, union representatives and others to ensure we can get very helpful tools in place. That's what we are doing at a federal level and that will draw on these national principles that we have agreed today as part of the National Cabinet. 

On aged care, there is a meeting this evening, a webinar, which the Chief Medical Officer and the Minister for Aged Care will be participating in, and National Cabinet has continued to stress its concern about restrictions that are being put in place in aged care facilities, as I noted earlier this week, beyond the baseline requirements of what National Cabinet has agreed, based on the expert medical advice. So, we are flagging, I am flagging very clearly at a federal level, that should we not see an improvement in this area, under the voluntary arrangements that we currently have in place, that the Commonwealth would be moving to require aged care facilities that wish to have an exemption to those national principles, those national arrangements, then they would need to seek authority to do that from the Commonwealth, and we would make such a decision in consultation with the relevant state and territory jurisdiction. Now, there are quite valid reasons why you would have exemptions, particularly as we've seen in north-west Tasmania at the moment, or what we've seen in western Sydney or in other places. That is entirely sensible as to why you would have restrictions that are greater than the national baseline in those circumstances. Totally reasonable. But more broadly, having people stuck in their rooms, not being able to be visited by their loved ones and carers and other support people, that's not Ok. And so let's see how the industry goes with that. We would very much like to keep these things on a basis where aged care facilities are exercising their proper discretion. But we are not going to have these as secret places, where people can't access them. They must. As you know, I initiated the Royal Commission into aged care, and we want to make sure that these facilities are open to their loved ones to be able to go and visit and to continue to go and engage with them, unless there is a very real and serious medical reason why that would not be necessary. So, let's hope that can be worked out, consultatively and cooperatively and that is my hope and expectation. 

Finally, there is the nowcasting modelling which the Chief Medical Officer will take you through. And in understanding that modelling, some important points were raised. We've moved through many phases of this virus. The first phase is what I'd call the ‘export phase’. That's when the virus was first exported, transmitted out of China into many countries around the world. And in that first phase, Australia moved very quickly to put in place the restrictions of travel into Australia, and then the excellent work done by, particularly, the Chinese Australian community here meant that Australia was substantively protected from that first export wave of the virus across the world. The second, where Australia was more significantly impacted is what I'd call the ‘repatriation phase’, the repatriation of Australian residents and citizens to Australia, as they returned from many parts of the world where that initial export of the virus into many of those parts of the world, they became exposed to that and they brought it home to Australia. And we saw many, many internationally acquired cases, and more than two-thirds at certain times of the total number of cases in Australia. And that's why we put in place the quarantine arrangements. That's why we put the restrictions in place. We responded to that as a National Cabinet. And you've seen the evidence of those measures, as we've seen the curve flatten and the number of cases additional each day reduced to the levels you're now seeing. We are now in that third phase which we have to protect against. That's the ‘community phase’, that’s where the virus actually moves from within our own community. That requires particularly different tools, building on the ones that we already have in place. And that is the testing, that is the tracing, and that is the rapid response. And in today's modelling, what you'll see is the difference, as you've moved through those different phases. The last set of modelling you saw included all of the impact of the international cases in our data, and both the Chief Medical Officer and I had flagged on earlier occasions that we can't become complacent because of the fall in the number of internationally acquired cases, which has been the predominant drop in the number of cases we've had in Australia. We now have to be wary against community transmission, and so we are dealing with that third wave of the virus. 

We will also be then working towards decisions that we have to make over the next few weeks, getting the key data metrics in place as to how we'll make decisions on further easing of restrictions. We are, though, I confirm, seeing states and territories individually waiving various parts of the restrictions they have put in place above the baselines. They're making those announcements almost on a daily basis. We welcome that, whether it's in schools or in other areas, and we can expect to see that happen over the next few weeks. The National Cabinet will meet next Friday again. 

And before I hand over to the Chief Medical Officer, I would note, of course, that tomorrow is ANZAC Day. Now, ANZAC Day this year is going to be like none any of us have ever experienced. A time when our normal traditions around Anzac Day will, of course, be interrupted. But in another way, it will be a very special time, because we will have the opportunity to reflect on ANZAC Day perhaps in ways that we haven't before. The Light Up The Dawn initiative tomorrow morning at 6:00am, which follows the national commemorative service at 5:30am from the War Memorial, which will be telecast from around the country, is an opportunity for all of us to gather as our nation remembers its fallen and its heroes and reflects on the great values that sustain them at other times. It was a hundred years ago when Australians returned from the First World War, and on their first Anzac Day in Australia, it was in the middle of the Spanish Flu. And so something very similar to what we will face tomorrow, as we gather together without the parades, but we do so quietly and commemoratively,, and I do think it will be a very special time. And we would ask also, because there isn't the opportunity for so many veterans to get together like they normally would, and it’s a very special time in so many ways for them to catch up with mates, which they do often, but ANZAC Day is special. Let's remember them tomorrow. Make a post. Thank them for their service. Let them know they're all appreciated, much admired, greatly respected. And join in the national effort, I think, for an ANZAC Day which will be one to remember for a very long time. Thank you, Brendan.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So, currently the case tally in Australia is 6,673 cases. 78 people have, unfortunately, died from coronavirus-related disease. Fortunately, the number of people in intensive care units is dropping, only 43 at the moment. Only 29 people on ventilators. So, progressively those numbers have fallen. We know that over 5,000 of the cases have now recovered. As I'll show you later, we're still continuing the same sort of pattern we've seen for the last week, with small numbers of cases every day. The Prime Minister pointed out the risk always of new clusters appearing, and Victoria has reported a small new cluster this morning. So, these will happen and these we have to be incredibly vigilant about as we focus our efforts on suppression, containment over the next few months. 

As the PM already also said, we presented to the National Cabinet today advanced versions of what we're calling our ‘pandemic intelligence plan’ and our surveillance plan, our plan to test extensively and make sure that we can detect any of these clusters that might appear over the coming weeks. In particular, National Cabinet was informed today that every single jurisdiction has now - every state and territory - has now broadened their testing criteria from today. Some did it earlier. So that anybody with acute respiratory symptoms - cough, sore throat, runny nose, cold symptoms, flu-like symptoms - can get tested. This will significantly expand the population of people tested. We're pretty confident that most of them will be negative, but this will give us a really broad reach of what we call passive surveillance. But we're also looking at a range of active surveillance mechanisms to test even people without symptoms in a range of front-line occupations and a range of what we call sentinel situations, where we sample the population. National Cabinet is very clear that they want to be absolutely confident before relaxing any measures that we are in a position in this country to detect any community transmission of any significance. 

The PM also mentioned the discussion on what we're calling non-medical face masks, the lower-quality masks that a lot of people feel the need to wear in the community. We're saying again that they are not recommended. We have very low case numbers in Australia, and these masks often aren't of particularly good quality, and they often provide a false sense of security and make people not practice the social distancing measures that we want. So, we are not recommending the general community wear masks. We have been saying that consistently through the pandemic. 

So, I'll now take you through the modelling presentation. And so this is the usual first slide, showing, as you can see, a pretty steady low number of cases, and that very, very satisfying flattening of the curve. As of 6:00am this morning, only 13 cases reported in the previous 24 hours. The next slide, please. This is the effective reproduction number. Using the modelling that we showed last week. So, it's exactly the same methodology, just extended out another week. And as you can see, ACT and the Northern Territory aren't here because their case numbers are so low that there's no statistical purpose in showing them. So, it should be a mark of pride to not be on this graph for those states. But you can see, interestingly - and I'll show this more on the later slide - there's a broadening of the error margins for each of these things, particularly in states where there are very low case numbers. That's to be expected. When you have very, very few cases, the error margins extend. So, that broadening is exactly what you would expect. But the effective reproduction is the middle of that dark blue line. And you can see that, using the modelling of last week, everyone is below 1, even Tasmania, which had this little outbreak in north-west Tasmania, the middle of the dark blue line is just below 1. But I'll show you later that we are now advancing that modelling to look primarily at those cases that have been transmitted in Australia, and trying to exclude the impact of those repatriated cases that the Prime Minister referred to earlier. 

So, that's the modelling on last week's methodology. We'll just show the next slide. This is - before we come to the current modelling on the new method - this is some early work from our modelling team, showing what they would forecast on the data that they've got of the case numbers we would get in Australia. This is new science. This is not very reliable science. They're just developing this, and they're very keen for me to say that this methodology is still being developed and advanced in their hands. But you can see they predicted this sort of pattern, and you can see from the solid bars that, actually, our case numbers are right at the lower end of what they might have predicted in this model. I'll have the next slide. The updated modelling that I'm going to show you now really is changed to account for the new measures we've put in place for returned travellers. Because we are now quarantining formally every return traveller, the opportunity for a return traveller to infect locals is essentially zero. And I have to say again we are so grateful to the states and territories for organising this quarantine, and grateful for those Australian citizens who have put up with two weeks of quarantine to protect their fellow members of the community, and most of them have done so very graciously. They're just pleased to be home in the safest place in the world to be. But up to... So what we've done is now changed this modelling by removing progressively the impact of those return travellers and I'll show it to you on the next slide. And because we have taken out that impact, we see a slightly different pattern. So, I'll show the next slide now. Here you can see, because the case number... We've taken out the impact of return travellers, the error margins are even broader, so it's quite a broad error, with small case numbers at this most recent time point. Again, ACT and the Northern Territory have no cases, or haven't had enough cases to show any data on this slide. And you can see that, as you take out the impact progressively of those return travellers, the lines are a bit more bumpy and they are getting a bit closer to the 1, which is what you'd expect when you're talking about just those cases that have been transmitted in Australia. Now, I'm not saying that they're transmitted from unknown community sources. Many of those cases - and I think all of them in Tasmania - have actually been transmitted from known contacts. But they are still transmitted in Australia. And taking out the return travellers, you can see that the numbers are a little bit closer to 1. Tasmania is slightly over 1, but continuing its very good trend as it gets control of the outbreak in north-west Tasmania. And you can see that, again, with very few cases in some states, you've got a very large error margin. But the middle of the dark blue line in all cases, except Tassie, where it's just over 1, is still below 1. 

So, this sort of modelling now, which is dealing only with Australian-acquired cases from now on, is going to be a more reliable and more sensitive way to show our modelling. But what it does tell us is that we are close to 1. We've got to keep it below 1 if we want to… and we have to not be complacent, a message that we have been making time and time again. But we are still in a good place and need to keep a very, very strong vigilance over what we're doing. I think the next slide, I think that's the last one. So, I'll leave it there, thanks, PM.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Brendan. We might, David, why don’t we start with you, if that's alright. Or we can start from Michelle? Work from the front and work to the back, and then start at the back and we'll work to the front.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the question of the app, can you tell us something about the storage of the information? And we know who accesses it, but where it's going to be stored? And if I could be permitted a second question, on the nursing homes, what is the problem here of getting cooperation? Because you sent a very strong message. And is the Government still doing spot checks? Because a lot of families would be worried - not so much about the virus - but whatever else goes on in nursing homes when they're not visiting so much?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, those checks are continuing, and all of those regulatory arrangements, they're continuing. I want to assure Australians about that, that the qualifications work and the inspections and so on, they, of course, would continue. But it is important that family members, support people, have the opportunity to visit these facilities as well. The reasons why there's some reluctance, I think, is something to work through with the sector. And so if there is a factor here, we'd be keen to understand what it is. But the very clear medical advice that we have is that these visits are quite safe when they're done in the right circumstances, and it's very important for the health of the residents that they maintain contact with their loved ones and other support people. This is very good for them. And so that's why that's necessary. So, look, my hope is that those matters can be resolved and we can get that cooperation and get it soon, and I'm sure in the webinar this evening there will be opportunities to explore some of those issues. It's not my inclination to prefer that sort of regulatory approach, but if it's necessary, then we'll do it. The server is in Australia and it's using AWS, who work with Australia on many, many sensitive issues in terms of Australia's data management. It's a nationally encrypted data store. It is illegal - it will be illegal - for information to go out of that data store to any other person other than that for whom the whole thing is designed, and that is to support the health worker in the state to be able to undertake the contact tracing, with the data that they access being released by the individual for whom is the subject of the contact tracing.

JOURNALIST: Are you going to download it yourself?

PRIME MINISTER: Of course I am. Absolutely, I am. Are you?

JOURNALIST: Why not.

PRIME MINISTER: Great. Good on you, Michelle.

JOURNALIST: PM, we've still got unions out there, teachers unions, that are, I guess, pushing back against the idea of kids going back into classrooms. What's your message to them, if they're suggesting that the entirety of the next term parents should keep their children at home? When do you think those children should be back in the classroom? And do you have any concerns about the number of children in a classroom?

PRIME MINISTER: Brendan, do you want to speak to that?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So our advice has been consistent that we don't have evidence of significant infection in children, and, more importantly, we are not seeing evidence of significant transmission amongst children in schools. And the data is increasing in this space. New South Wales Health have just done a very large study looking at some infections that have occurred in the school setting and have tested a lot of children, have not found evidence that children are transmitting this virus in schools. This is quite different from influenza, where we know they are sometimes super spreaders and can spread the virus. So, we think the community risk of having children together in a classroom is low. Most children who have contracted the virus in Australia have contracted it in the family home. They have not contracted it in the school environment. Clearly, school can be a risk for adult-to-adult transmission, from parent to teacher, teacher to teacher, and we have made a range of recommendations of keeping vulnerable teachers out of the school environment, practising good distancing in the staff room, practising good practices when parents bring their children to school. And obviously, some children may carry the virus from time to time, and practising very good hygiene methods across the school. But if we were seeing significant transmission, there have now been a dozen or so school-related cases in New South Wales, some in South Australia, and we have not seen evidence of widespread transmission in schoolchildren, particularly younger schoolchildren, where the risk is perceived by teachers to be even greater. And the international evidence is the same and many countries around the world with much worse epidemiology than we have at the moment that did close their schools are now reopening. And we feel... clearly, we understand the concern, clearly we understand that in some states there's a gradual return, but look, AHPPC advice has not at any stage been that we should close schools.

PRIME MINISTER: Rosie?

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, I just wanted to clarify, in terms of small gatherings, do you see there being a national guideline on how those gatherings can be eased? I think most states and territories you can have one or two people outside your household over. Would you see something like five people allowed first and then moving to 10 and 20, a very gradual easing of small gatherings? And on 14-day quarantine in hotels for international return travellers, will that need to be in place in Australia for as long as there's no vaccine?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: Well, on the latter point, potentially. I mean, there may be a situation where a country has effectively eliminated or got very low cases. For example, New Zealand, we might have a situation where it could be relaxed. But if you're coming from a country where there is significant community transmission, I think that the impact... you've seen the graphs. The impact of our quarantine measures on what's happened in Australia has been huge. Clearly, the National Cabinet has asked us to come back with a range of potential recommendations for gently, carefully, cautiously relaxing distancing measures. And, of course, the size of gatherings will be in that mix. But I don't want to pre-empt the decisions of National Cabinet. But we will be making recommendations, similar to those that you're talking about and they'll be coming to National Cabinet. It will be their decision.

PRIME MINISTER: I'd just add to that National Cabinet, as indeed the medical expert panel, have always been very conscious that there are different experiences in different states and territories. In the Northern Territory at the moment, the schools are back 100 per cent. And there is no evidence of any community transmission, as best as we can determine, in the Northern Territory. But that said, I mean, other states, the experience is different. So, there would understandably be some differences. And you're already seeing that. In South Australia, they have never regulated down to two. They have always kept it at 10. And that regulation at two is beyond the baselines, and there are good reasons, have been good reasons for that in places like New South Wales and Victoria. But states and territories will make their own calls over the next few weeks.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the review into the role of the World Health Organization in the pandemic, how do you ultimately see that being conducted? And is there a role for the G20?

PRIME MINISTER: Look, potentially. I think absolutely. And many of the international groups of which Australia forms a part, I mean, we have the opportunity to discuss this on many occasions. I think it's important for us, though, to be aware that here in Australia, with a bit over 6,500 cases, we are in a very different head space to where they are in France or Germany, for that matter, or certainly the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe, where they are in the middle of a devastating crisis well beyond what I think most Australians can even imagine at the moment. And so we need to be mindful about what their priority focus is right now, and, if anything, their need to look at these sorts of reviews is something not immediately, but down the track a bit, is more a reflection of what their more pressing urgency is here and now. Now, I think that does leave it open for Australia and countries like New Zealand and others who are a bit more advanced in where we are in managing the virus, to be able to, I think, think through these issues a bit more, and engage with like-mindeds there, and there are many in the G20 that fall into that category. So these types of changes do take some time. I have been around public life for some period, and certainly in the international sphere things can move very slowly. So, you've got to be patient about this. But I think getting your arguments and particularly getting your proposals fine-tuned is very important, and the G20 provides a good platform for that.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, your Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, has tweeted an attack on Annastacia Palaszczuk, accusing her of being, "running scared of the militant Teachers' Union" in her state, and that's the only reason why schooling hasn't returned to normal. How are those sort of comments helpful at a time when you're trying to have a unified approach?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, I'd simply say that Peter, of course, is a Minister in my Government, but he's also a Queenslander. And these are issues that are being debated and addressed in Queensland. And whether you're a local member, a Minister or just any old Queenslander, then you do get to have the right to have a view as a local. And I'm sure that's the context in which Peter's expressed those views. 

John?

JOURNALIST: Thank you, Prime Minister. Dr Murphy, are you able to give us a precise, or the latest estimate on the reproduction rate. You say it's below 1. I can't actually see the decimal figure in here. And I do note that it was below 1, according to this data, in mid-March, before the widespread and harsh, economic and business shutdowns came in in late March. Are there some specific individual circumstances unique to Australia, beyond policy, that have enabled us to contain the virus better than most other countries?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So, I think that we did, there was certainly a significant impact of the border measures that we took in March. So, as I've said on many occasions, we were unusual in Australia in that, you know, as the Prime Minister said, two-thirds of our cases at that stage were imported - from imported cases from returning travellers. So, the border measures did have a very significant impact on the reproductive rate in early March. But there was rising, what we call community transmission with no epidemiological link, particularly in Sydney - those cases that weren't related to any known contact. And you can see, and I could go back and show you the graph if necessary, that there was further flattening after those distancing measures were introduced, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria. But it was below 1. But we were starting to see community transmission. And as we know, and as you saw in the graph in Tasmania, that can take off very quickly. So, those, if we hadn't put those distancing measures, we may have seen it rapidly go above 1 fairly quickly. So, why Australia is in a better position than just about any other country is that, as the Prime Minister was talking about, the exporting phase from China, we uniquely got on top of those cases. We got testing going early. We identified all of those cases. We tested widely, one of the widest testers. And we managed to capture, contain, isolate, quarantine contacts for all of those exported cases. In those countries that have significant problems, they didn't. And they had widespread community transmission before they actually realised they had a problem.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there will be many businesses who are eligible for the JobKeeper payment because of their collapsed revenues. But unfortunately a lot of the staff in those businesses are paid by a services entity, where that services entity, the revenues haven't dropped, so aren't eligible for JobKeeper. Therefore meaning the original business won't be able to get JobKeeper. Are you aware of that problem? And are you planning any changes to fix that problem?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're working closely, as the Treasurer is, in particular, as is the Tax Commissioner, on the implementation issues around JobKeeper. And let's also remember that where JobKeeper doesn't apply, JobSeeker does kick in. So, these two work together, and that's always been important. JobKeeper was never intended to be a catch-all for every Australian worker, or a worker who had their hours significantly reduced or, indeed, was stood down. It was intended to be there as an important element of the income support that we put in place, and the lifeline to businesses and to keep people connected to businesses. But where that can't be in place because of arrangements that we've set to ensure that we manage these issues well, not just administratively but fiscally, then JobSeeker is available. And as I said, we're approaching now almost 600,000 claims for JobSeeker over these last 5 or so weeks, which has been quite an effort on their part. And, again, I thank those who have made claims, and those who are still awaiting for their claims to be processed for their patience. 

Yep? Was there someone else at the back? Sorry, I missed Jen! Sorry, Jen.

JOURNALIST: Apart from the outbreaks and the clusters that you are foreshadowing, based on these numbers and the advice from medical experts, are we ever going to see levels akin to the United States or parts of Europe? What's the likelihood of such a big second wave? Or can you safely say now that the worst is now behind us? And same question for Professor Murphy, if I can as well?

PRIME MINISTER: I think Professor Murphy is in a much better place to advise on that.

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So, we will do everything we can to avoid having a situation like that. And that's why we're putting in place the world's best testing and public health and surveillance regime before we relax any measures. No Australian wants to see hundreds of people dying a day from coronavirus. We are not prepared to see that, and that's why we are being so cautious and we are putting in these extraordinary surveillance measures. We want to be testing 40,000, 50,000 Australians a day if necessary, so that we can be absolutely sure. Because what's happened in those countries - I've said this on many occasions - is that they had, because this virus is quite mild, particularly in young adults, they can get it and it happened in those countries often, it was in the winter, people thought they had the flu or a cold, and tens of thousands of people probably had it, and then suddenly, unfortunately, some elderly people died of pneumonia or presented to hospital with pneumonia. They realised it, they test broadly and they find it's widespread. We have never been in that situation and we have no intention of being in that situation. I can't be 100% sure. We don't know everything about this virus. But I can tell you we're going to be as prepared as we can to 
prevent that happening.

JOURNALIST: Just on your previous comments about negative globalism and the pending review into Australia's involvement with global bodies, has the pandemic impacted that review? And where does this leave the World Health Organization, given your criticisms of its handling?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've just said a few times I think - and my criticisms, I think bear out the warnings that I provided in that speech to the Lowy Institute. I would say, if anything, events have only reaffirmed my view that I articulated to the Lowy Institute last year, I think it was back in September. I've said that we value very much the work that is done on the ground by the WHO. And we work closely with them, particularly here in the South-West Pacific. But I mean if it wasn't for the WHO in places like Indonesia at the moment, then, while I have obviously great concerns about the health and wellbeing of people in Indonesia, and we send our best wishes and as much support as we can to President Widodo, and the great challenge that he has there, the WHO is an important partner on the ground. And that's understood by Australia. And I've made those comments and reflected those comments to other international leaders. That said, what happens at the upper echelons of these organisations, and how they operate, I think is in need of change. And Australia will continue to advocate for that change with like-minded countries who share our concerns. What ultimate decision the United States ultimately takes on funding will be a matter for them. We will certainly want to see an improved set of arrangements at the WHO, and we'll continue to push for that through the forums as a participant, as a member, as someone who understands and publicly states the value of the work that it does on the ground. So, I think that's a constructive but not uncritical partner.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned the National Cabinet agreed on some principles around sport and recreation,

PRIME MINISTER: That we would develop them. And that's the work that's under way now.

JOURNALIST: You will. Okay. Can you give us a sense of the inclination, perhaps, of the National Cabinet as to if there is a preference to see, say, elite sport return before community-level support? Or vice versa? And, secondly, on a separate matter, now that the Pell case has been finalised, will the Federal Government release the redacted parts of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse?

PRIME MINISTER: Well that is being worked through by the Attorney-General and I will leave that matter to him. I know they have been engaging with the relevant agencies on that in a positive way. So I'll leave that for him to address directly with you. On the broader issue of well, individual recreation, through to community competitive sport, and elite and professional sport, that is an important body of work that now has to be done and I don't want to pre-empt any of that. Obviously we're doing it from the point of view of being able, being in a position to be able to enable it again, and what is a safe way to be able to do that, and to get as much consistency as we possibly can across all the states and territories. And that was strongly supported today by all the states and territories, having something along those lines they would find very helpful, as I'm sure their residents would find helpful as well. I know that the elite sports bodies are raising issues with us and we will look at those very carefully, their funding issues, but also then how they train and so on. And that’s important. I mean, the Olympics have been put off for a year, but that gives them another year and we want to make sure they can put their best foot forward. In terms of the big codes, AFL, NRL, things like that, they're both working through states and territories presently. They're in different phases of where they're up to on that. And what we'll be doing, and particularly what the medical expert panel will be doing, will be drawing their proposals together. My understanding is that they have already had quite a lot of expert advice going into their plans, and that will probably present a lot of the homework that needs to be done to support the expert panel in setting out what some of those principles are. So, there's a bit of harvesting again that I think would occur from that process, which will be good. I think people would welcome seeing these things happening again, and not just at the elite and professional level. Everything around from going for a surf to, you know, having a game of football or whatever it happens to be, netball. So, we want to get back to a place where that can happen and we can have the confidence to do it safely. And we want to do that as soon as we can. 

Mal?

JOURNALIST: Professor, today at a briefing, Donald Trump said that quote, "a tremendous hit", unquote, of ultraviolet light could see off the virus. He also referenced the effectiveness of disinfectant and wondered whether injections of disinfectant might also be effective. Given that this is coming from the President of the United States, an influential person, is there any scientific basis to either of these propositions?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: I would not, I would caution against the injection of disinfection. There is, they could be quite toxic to people. I’m not, I wasn't privy to his comments, so I want to be very careful about commenting on something that I didn't hear myself. Certainly, and ultraviolet light, look, I don't know the context in which he said it, so I really would need to study it before I could comment, thank you.

JOURNALIST: I actually have a similar question, so I'm good, thank you.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how is the Government going to balance wanting to boost growth with a desire to pay down the debt when it comes to company tax? And could I ask about your comments about looking at industrial relations with fresh eyes - does that mean that the Government is not going to push ahead with the Ensuring Integrity Bill?

PRIME MINISTER: No, it doesn't mean that at all. What it means is exactly what I said yesterday, and that is that we're encouraging all to take a fresh look and have fresh eyes on these challenges and problems, and policies and reports and recommendations that have been made in the past. I mean, I don't think I could be more up-front about that. I'm not drawing into any conclusions on any particular measures at this time. And I don't think it's fair to draw those conclusions at this time. I think we need to do that work, and we need to do that with an open mind. And we will. When it comes to the issue of revenue, the best way to increase your revenues is to grow your economy, not to increase taxes. We've demonstrated that as a Government, time and again, as has predecessor governments of the Liberal and National Party governments. If you think the way to increase revenues is to increase taxes, that has the effect of slowing your economy, then you'll neither raise your revenues or pay down your debt. That's been our experience. And we hold those views quite deeply.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the workplace principles, workplaces that are potentially best placed to have social distancing, like an office, are also those that can more easily work from home. Is there sufficient economic benefit in getting those workers, you know, back on public transport, crowding our cities, moving around, when they could easily be working at home? Or would you prefer that the workplaces that started to look at returning were those that are services, operators, retail, that can't actually operate from home?

PRIME MINISTER: I would love to see a return to normal right across the board. Of course we want to see that. And that includes people going to work in offices. And that's an important part of how our economy functions. I mean, there are some people who can work from home, and for whom this period of time has been less of an inconvenience to them than it has to many others. But I'm sure you'd know that if you're a parent at home, trying to work from home and you've also got the kids at home, and they're trying to learn, it's not working too well for you. And your productivity isn't doing too well either. And so when we can get back to the point where we can have kids back at school, and we can get people back at work, then I think we're gonna see that also lift our economy in ways that we very much need. Because we want our economy to support businesses and jobs, not Government through subsidies and income support payments and things of that nature. I mean, our social security net will always be there for those who need it. But our preference and priority is always to ensure that our economy is what supports people's livelihoods. And that's what we need again. Now, how long it's gonna take us to get back to that point, well, we'll see. But I think we're making a lot of progress. Where we are right now is much more in advance of where we thought we would be and that's good news. And that means we are able to take steps that we're already taking right now that is getting us closer back to that point.

JOURNALIST: PM, thanks for that. You mentioned in your opening remarks about, as we sort of ease restrictions, the risk of clusters of infections breaking out. If those sort of scenarios do happen, do you envisage the sort of restrictions that would have to be reimposed in those particular pockets or communities will be akin to what we have now? Or would we have to go harder even in terms of locking down things and stuff like that, to avoid the situation that Professor Murphy was talking about, the overseas sort of thing, where you have widespread community transmission?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's going to depend very much on the case. We have a version of that at the moment out in western Sydney, around the nursing home, as we've had in north-west Tasmania. It's really going to depend on, I think, what is occurring and where it's occurring, and even the physical geography of these sorts of places. I mean, some places can be quite easily isolated. Others, in the middle of suburbs or neighbourhoods in major cities, it's very different. What we also want to be careful of, and this is why we're doing it in a very sort of incremental, iterative way as a National Cabinet, is what we don't want to see is a stop-start approach to our road back. This is why getting in place the sentinel testing, the comprehensive testing regime, the automated industrial-level contact tracing, which is very much helped by this app, this health app, a public health app that helps health workers help you. We need this so we can have the protections in place for you, your family, so you can get back to work, so you can get your kids back to school, so you can get back into community sport. That is what this app helps you do. That's what it's designed to do. That's why we've been so direct about it and so careful about its construction and the protections that are there. And to have this, as you say in your question, this rapid response that can deal with the condition on the ground, of course there will be outbreaks. I think we can anticipate that. But where you have the response capability and the AUSMAT teams and other quite well-trained and highly qualified people to go and seal off those outbreaks, then you can keep the rest of the country moving at the same time. That is our much preferred position. You  don't want to go on a stop-start basis, and that's why you've got to be careful when you come to relax some of these restrictions. As you saw from Professor Murphy's modelling, moving into this sort of community phase off the repatriation phase, the risks are different. And with community transmission and protecting against that, there aren't the same level of certainties that you have of this person got off a plane, put them in a hotel, isolate, mission accomplished. But when it comes to community transmission, that surveillance testing, that sentinel testing that's in place, the app and the other contact tracing tools that we have are effectively doing the same thing. Giving us that same level of certainty, and with the rapid response, that you have by just getting someone off a plane and putting them in a hotel. We want to be able to replicate those defences when we're in this next phase and that's why we're doing exactly that. We're making a lot of progress every day. Australians are making a lot of progress every day. There's very few countries in the world that would not want to be in our position right now. And not just from a public health point of view but from the point of view of actually planning the economic recovery out as well. And that's very much where the government's focus is. That's where the National Cabinet's focus is as well. We spoke today also about infrastructure projects and things of that nature, regulation agendas, and that's going to become more and more part of the National Cabinet's agenda going forward, as we move to that getting things back to a COVID-safe economy and a COVID-safe community. So, that rapid response capability, Andrew, is a very important part of the tool kit that we need to ensure we can move back to that. But, sorry, David?

JOURNALIST: A follow-up question on testing. To you, Professor Murphy, you mentioned you would like to get 40,000 to 50,000 tests every day. When do you think that's achievable? Do we have enough test kits to achieve it? And further to the spread of, or the infection rate among children, one of the bits of feedback I get is we're not testing enough children and therefore the figures about low infection among children must be wrong. What's your comment on that?

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So on the latter, again, the New South Wales Health report they did test a lot of asymptomatic children in those school environments and found negative. They didn't find a lot of positives. That report, I think New South Wales Health will make that public fairly soon. I said if necessary, up to 40,000, 50,000. We're still doing the surveillance plan. We have done some really exciting work in the supply line of test kits. I'm sure Minister Hunt is going to be talking more about that in the coming weeks. But I think we are much more confident that we have diversified the supply line of testing. We feel that we will be able to secure enough tests to meet our whatever surveillance plan we put in place.

PRIME MINISTER: Just before we leave, I just want to confirm that Parliament is coming back on 12th, 13th and 14th of May. I met with the Opposition last night at our regular weekly get-together. On the Wednesday of that week, there will also be the Federation Chamber operating in the House of Representatives. The arrangements that we've had in place for the other days of sittings will be pursued when we return in more or less the same form, ensuring that the Chamber operates with the appropriate social distancing. But I anticipate we'll see a lot more members back in Parliament House, but obviously they can't all be in the Chamber at the one time or, indeed, in the Federation Chamber at the one time. The business of the Parliament in that week, it will be the ordinary business of the Parliament. I anticipate there will be a couple of COVID-related bills. And those COVID-related bills we would seek to work through with the Opposition in advance before we come back to the Parliament that week. Of course, once they have gone through the Government's party room processes and backbench committees, but otherwise, it is a return to the Parliament, a return back to that legislative program and the Government will be taking that forward. There are many bills already on the docket. There will be a lot more bills that will be introduced over the course of that week. So, 12, 13, 14 May. And it is our intention that going well, then we would expect to see further weeks of sittings between now and the end of the financial year.

Other than that, I will see everyone tomorrow morning at 5:30am. I will be at the War Memorial. Everyone else will be at home. At 6:00am I look forward to the entire nation, standing on their driveways, lighting up the dawn, remembering our fallen heroes and drawing great inspiration from them for the task and challenge that we currently face. 

Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42794

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

23 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. Before I make some remarks on an economic update and progress report, I just want to commence, and I am sure the Treasurer will join me, in extending our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and the friends and the fellow serving officers of the four police who were tragically killed. This is a terrible time, more broadly, but for these families and for the Victorian Police family and for police officers all over the country, and I know their families will be feeling the same way, this is just an awful tragedy. A terribly dark day for that police force and our thoughts, our prayers, our sympathies are there for all of them, but also our thanks to police officers serving all over the country. It is a dreadful and terrible reminder of the dangers that you face every single day. You step up every day, you stand between us and that danger every single day and we are deeply grateful for your service, deeply grateful for your sacrifice and to those families who are knowing nothing other than terrible grief today, we stand with you as much as we possibly can and we hope that provides at least some comfort to you and we extend also to the Victorian Government our appreciation for the work they are doing to support those families. It is a very, very sad day.

More broadly, today is an opportunity for the Treasurer and I to give you an economic update and progress report on some of the important programs that we have been putting in place over recent weeks. We have always been fighting this battle on two fronts. We always have been fighting it on the health front and on the health front and on the economic front. Both of those issues have been considered equally, as we have dealt with this issue from very early on and that continues to be our focus and will be into the future. We are getting, obviously, good news on the health front. Yesterday with just four cases, a rate of growth of 0.22 per cent. Those sort of figures were unimaginable weeks ago and they are being achieved now because of the patience and discipline and efforts of the Australian people right across the country. We thank you again for your patience and the way that you are going about your lives each and every day as Australians. It is a credit to you and a credit to our country in this difficult time.

Tomorrow I will be providing you an update with the Chief Medical Officer on the effective rate of transmission figures that I first raised with you with the Chief Medical Officer a week ago. This modelling work, which is being updated on a weekly basis, will give you a further indication of how we are travelling this first week down into that four week process that National Cabinet flagged as being the period of time in which we will be assessing our performance and looking at how we can start to ease restrictions in that four week period. As I say, we are one week down almost and we are making good progress and we can report further to you on that tomorrow. That also involves making good progress on things like testing kits, personal protective equipment, respirator supplies, the status of those and the supply lines are in place and they are strong and that is enabling us, I think, to make a lot of progress.

We are on the road back and that is demonstrated by the measures that we already have taken and we are on the way back to a COVID-safe economy as well, which is what we have to achieve. We are building the protections for this COVID-safe economy in the areas that I have mentioned. Importantly, in the areas of surveillance, or I should say sentinel testing, in the area of industrialising our contact tracing capabilities and our immediate response capability to outbreaks, wherever they may present themselves. We have moved on elective surgery. States are moving on schools and I welcome that very much. The schools changes are a very important step in how we reopen our economy going forward and, most importantly, to ensure that children are getting the best possible education. We are in three weeks as I said, we will be moving on the baseline restrictions after considering this further information from the health advisers and states also are already moving where they have gone beyond the baseline restrictions in scaling that back already and we expect to see more of that in the weeks ahead.

But let's not get complacent. While our numbers are good, one number that is never good is the fact that 75 Australians have passed away. As sad as that is for those families, let's not forget that in countries that are smaller than Australia, like Belgium - 6,262 people have died. In the Netherlands, 4,068 have died, in Sweden 1,937 people have died. If you look at the fatality rates as a proportion of population, in the United States it is almost 50 times higher than Australia. In France it is over 100 times higher than Australia. In the United Kingdom also, just under 100 times higher. In Germany it is over 20 times higher. In Switzerland it is over 60 times higher, Denmark over 20, Norway 12. These are all sophisticated, developed economies with good health systems. This can happen in Australia if we are not careful and that is why Australians and our governments have been so careful to balance the needs to get our economy back to a COVID-safe level so it can support people's incomes and we can return to higher rates of growth into the future.

Now, in terms of getting our programs in place to support our economies, we are making good progress. The Treasurer will update you on those key support measures on accessing super, on JobKeeper enrolments and cash flow supports to businesses. There has also been an unprecedented ramp-up in public service in responding to these programs. Some 3,000 extra staff have been surged into the Australian Taxation Office and they soon will be approaching some 50,000 enrolments a day processing, which is a great achievement. At Service Australia they are getting close to those levels of 50,000 claims processing a day also, they are currently around 40,000 a day. Some additional 5,000 additional staff have been surged into Services Australia and, on top of that, another 3,000 have been redeployed both within Services Australia and across the Australian Public Service to be part of that effort which has today, just before this press conference, has now processed some 587,686 JobSeeker and related applications. That is more than we do in a year. That has been an extraordinary effort from those services and I also want to thank the patience of Australians for the way they have been engaging with Government Services Australia. The outstanding claims that we have now, 80 per cent of those have only been there for around two weeks. We will get through those, I think, over the next week or so. But I want to thank Australians for their patience for engaging, whether it has been with the Australian Taxation Office, the businesses or others, as well as those dealing with Services Australia at Centrelink and their patience. They understand these claims are at historic, unprecedented levels and their patience is helping those staff get through those claims and achieve these highly ramped-up levels of claim processing, which means we can get that support to Australians quicker and in the days ahead.

The Australian Office of Financial Management now has succeeded in raising over $40 billion. The AOFM issued since last week was $19 billion, it has a planned issuance of $11 billion this week and they already have done $5 billion this week so far. So we will be over $40 billion. Two-thirds of that in bonds and the third in notes. The AOFM has indicated the trading volumes and pricing out to around 12-year bonds are returning to more normal levels. Now, our ability to raise this sort of finance in these sorts of markets, I think, says a lot about the standing of Australia in these financial markets and the credit worthiness of Australia and this will be critical to ensure that we can continue to provide this economic lifeline Australians. We are fast approaching the date in May when the first JobKeeper payments will be made to those businesses and so I commend the AOFM on the work they are doing to ensure that we meet those targets.

For these arrangements to work, though, it can't just be the public service agencies who are stepping up to the mark in processing these claims and these arrangements. For these arrangements to work, we obviously need continued strong cooperation from the banking sector over and from the superannuation sector. Now, the Treasurer has been working closely with the banks, meeting with them last night again and also again today and I am aware that there has been some frustration amongst businesses, in particular, in accessing bridging finance with banks. We are aware of that. I have no doubt the banks are aware of that as well and we need to be addressing that. Early on in this crisis, the bank's decision to pass on the cash rate reductions and provide deferments and waivers of various arrangements for businesses and individuals is very much welcome. But that needs to be continued. It is important that the banks stay up to the mark here. I am concerned at the increasing number of stories we are getting and those issues I am sure are being raised directly with the banks, but we need those turn around times to improve. These banks know their customers. They know these businesses. They work with these businesses, they are there to stand by these businesses in their time of greatest need and that is now. So they know their history. They know their trading performance. They know what they are capable of doing. When it comes to the JobKeeper arrangements, they are very straightforward when it comes to businesses impacted on their turnover and there is a further instrument today which the Treasurer is pursuing which will make that even more clear when it comes to the delivery of the JobKeeper program.

Finally, while there remains important immediate challenges for us to address the COVID-safe working environment work that has been done through the COVID Commission and together with the Minister for Industrial Relations, the rollout of all of these programs, the adaptation that businesses themselves are doing which has been extraordinary. We also must look to the recovery, as we are. We are looking afresh at all of the work that has been done over the past decade, but we are looking at all of those important reform documents that have been prepared by groups like the Productivity Commision, the Shifting the Dial Report which went well beyond issues that relate at a Commonwealth level and significantly to reforms that can be achieved at a state and territory level.

All of these areas need to be looked at with fresh eyes. We need to go through this process at the moment of harvesting all of these important policy options and how they can be utilised to have an effective and sustainable and strong recovery on the other side of the coronavirus. We will take the opportunity in the months ahead to work through all of those arrangements. The COVID Commission is engaged in that process, Treasury of course and the Government more broadly, but also engaging with the many partners we're working with at the moment as part of the broader COVID response. The states and territories through the National Cabinet, the excellent working relationship we’ve been establishing with the ACTU. These are all important relationships being forged during this crisis which we believe we can put to work for the broader economic recovery piece that will be there. But it is not a matter of just dusting off old reports or old submissions that have been made to the Government and bowling them up again. That's not what we are doing. We are looking with all of these things with fresh eyes, with very fresh eyes, with a view to what the post-COVID economy is going to look like globally and domestically and see how these can best help Australians get back on their feet, support their income, grow the businesses and have a business-led recovery that will put Australia in a even stronger position in the future. Treasurer?

THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thank you Prime Minister, and can I join with you in expressing our deepest sadness at the loss of four police officers' lives yesterday. A tragic accident occured in my electorate, in Kew, and  our thoughts as a Government and, indeed, people right across this nation, are with the families of those police officers and with their colleagues and with the first responders and a very, very sad day for Victorians and, indeed, for the country.

Two weeks ago, the largest economic lifeline that this country has ever seen passed the Parliament. The $130 billion JobKeeper package providing a wage subsidy of $1,500 a fortnight will support the jobs of millions of Australians. And it was part of a broader sweep of economic measures totalling $320 billion, or 16.4 per cent of GDP, which the Government and the Reserve Bank rolled out to support our economy at this very difficult time. Cash payments to households, cashflow boost to businesses, support for the financial system, early access to super, accelerated depreciation, instant asset write-off and a range of other economic measures. Well, we're now firmly in the implementation phase and providing that support to millions of Australians.

In terms of the early access to super, the ATO - the Australian Tax Office - has approved 456,000 applications, totalling $3.8 billion. Those applications are now with the superannuation funds for their payment over the next five days. The average withdrawal is around $8,000. And just to remind you that you can access up to $10,000 from your super this financial year and up to another $10,000 next financial year. The ATO has also paid out $3 billion to 177,000 businesses employing 2.1 million Australians as part of our cashflow boost measure, which was a measure designed to support businesses, keep people employed, meet their fixed costs, by linking those payments - up to $100,000 and a minimum of $20,000 - to those payrolls. Importantly, the ATO have done an outstanding job. As the Prime Minister has said, they've brought extra resource to this challenge, done an outstanding job in processing so many claims so quickly, have paid out support to businesses, ahead of what they thought would be the start date on 28 April, so they're ahead of schedule.

In terms of the $750 cash payments, which are going to pensioners, to carers, to people on the disability support pension, on family tax benefits - those payments have now gone to 6.8 million people totalling $5.1 billion. In terms of the JobKeeper payments, as you know, more than 900,000 Australian businesses have registered their interest in accessing the JobKeeper payment. The formal applications have been open for three days. Already, 275,000 businesses have filled in those formal applications for the JobKeeper payment. Around half of those are sole traders. The others are obviously incorporated businesses, partnerships, trusts, not for profit organisations. They cover a whole range of sectors - technical, scientific, financial services, construction, retail, accommodation and the like.

As the Prime Minister said, we're very conscious, very conscious of the fact that the banks are playing a vitally important role in bridging the finance that these businesses need to pay their staff ahead of receiving the first payment in the first week of May. Now, it was an integrity measure as part of the system that businesses had to pay their staff before receiving their first payment. Today, I held a telephone hook-up with the four bank CEOs and the Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordan. It was a very productive discussion and we emphasised the need for the banks to provide the support to those businesses. They have agreed to set up, each of these four major banks, a dedicated hotline for their customers to call to receive the bridging finance necessary to pay their staff ahead of receiving that money under the JobKeeper program. Importantly, they have also agreed to expedite the processing of all those applications to the front of the queue. So our message today is if you are a business or a not for profit operation that is eligible for the JobKeeper payment, as required, you need to pay your staff ahead of receiving the money from the Tax Office. Go to your bank, ring their hotline, ask for that support, and that support will be forthcoming. As the Prime Minister said, the businesses, the banks, they know their customers and they want to work with their customers as we want to work with the Australian businesses to ensure that they get their payments under the JobKeeper program.

Finally, we are living, still, in a very difficult time with the coronavirus and the pandemic playing out across the world. Many other economies are doing it even tougher than we are doing it here in Australia. But the success of our health measures, the cooperation of all Australians, has helped us flatten the curve and, as the Prime Minister did at this podium just a few days ago, announce the early relaxation of some of those health restrictions on elective surgery. It is a start, because our focus is on keeping as many Australians in a job and as many Australian businesses in business.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. We'll start on this side today and we’ll move around.

JOURNALIST: The New South Wales Premier appears to be blaming the Federal Government over the virus outbreak at the Newmarch aged care facility, because it's a federal government jurisdiction. What's your response to that?

PRIME MINISTER: We've been working very closely with the New South Wales Government on those outbreaks, as we have in other places. The aged care facilities are areas that have always been of great concern. Yes, the Federal Government does provide funding support to aged care facilities but equally there are regulatory responsibilities that are held at a state level and we will work closely together. One of the important things we did early on in the COVID response was to ensure that we were providing additional funding to support the efforts of surging additional medical staff and others into aged care areas. Because in aged care as well, state governments also provide direct clinical support into those facilities as well. So it's a team effort.

JOURNALIST: You've spoken about the need for fresh eyes to get to a COVID-safe economy. Does a COVID-safe economy involve breaking election promises?

PRIME MINISTER: It involves ensuring that Australia is put in the safest and most prosperous place that we possibly can.

JOURNALIST: Is there an updated timeline for when the contact tracing app will be released, Prime Minister? And what's the strategy for marketing it and promoting it to ensure enough Australians take it up?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a very important part of the broader plan that the Government's pursuing. It's not a silver bullet. It goes along with many other initiatives that the Government is pursuing. I want to be clear about, again, what this is. This is a tool, a public health tool, to assist health officers and state and territory governments, when someone who has contracted the coronavirus, to assist them in that work and to contact others who may have been put at risk. That's what we're trying to do here. That protects every Australian. Every Australian will be safer if those health officers are able to contact you more quickly if you have been exposed to the coronavirus and, importantly, that means that you will be less at risk of infecting others if they can get to you fast. And so we want to help those public health officers. There's been a lot of - quite rightly - praise and commendation for our health officers, our nurses, our doctors. You want the health system, you want to help nurses, you want to help paramedics, you want to help doctors and say thank you for the great job they're doing, then you can help them, by supporting and downloading the app which will be released soon. Now, that app, the information, that is collected from that app, goes into a national data store that is fully encrypted and the Commonwealth Government has no access whatsoever to the information into that data store. None. Zero. Zip. Nothing. That information can only be unlocked by the health officer at the state and territory level in direct communication with the person from whom, who has contracted the coronavirus in releasing that information into the data store. Now, that's how it works. It's got one job. Just one job. We're not having it do other jobs. It will never do other jobs. It's for a time-limited period. It has the specific job of helping public health officials help you. Help them help you. That's the simple message, I think, of this, and there will be a strong communications campaign to get across this very simple information, but also to assure people about the very significant protections that will be put in place. We've been listening carefully to the debate that has followed since I first indicated that we were going down this path, and we've been responding to that and we've been ensuring that the protections are built in, so this just does focus on this one job. We have no interest in it doing any other job. There is no geolocation. There is no tracking of people's movements. None of that is true. It is one simple job - to help that public health official - and as I said the other day, following the National Cabinet meeting, the states and territories have given their in-principle endorsement to this. They strongly support the measure and they'll be backing that up and have requested to back that up with their own communications campaigns as well.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you just detail what sort of inquiry you'd like to see in the genesis of this pandemic and the sort of lessons the world can learn? And what's your message to China about its responsibility to comply with such an inquiry?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, my message on the latter is the same for all nations. What I'm simply seeking and advocating for is two things - and the Foreign Minister set this out in her opinion piece this week - we will need an independent inquiry, that looks at what has occurred here so we can learn the lessons. Now, there will be debates about the timing of that. We are in the middle of dealing with the pandemic right now and I understand some of the hesitations that have been expressed about the timing of that particular inquiry. But Australia would have cooperated with such an inquiry. Any member of the World Health Organization, I think that should be something that should be understood and that's part, I think, of your responsibility - or should be anyway - in participating in such an organisation. The other thing that can happen - and you can do two things at once - and that is to look at things that can be done to improve the safety of the world more readily. Now people are aware of my view about having the sort of authorities that would enable independent public health inspectors to be able to go into areas where a virus of potential pandemic implications can be understood quickly, because that information, undoubtedly, can save lives. Now, you'll know that with weapons inspectors, that people access that because those who sign up to the weapons inspectors' arrangements, sign up to - if they're in that situation, then those inspectors would come in. Now I expect the same arrangements in terms of what I’m suggesting about how that could be done. They don't have a roving commission to go anywhere they want in the world. If you're going to be a member of a club like the World Health Organization, there should be obligations and responsibilities attached to that. That is how, that is why you would collectively band together in a global organisation like that, to protect the world's health, and I would think that the ability to understand what's happening in a particularly dangerous virus that has the potential to do what this virus has done to the world, people would want to know that information sooner rather than later. So, look, we will, I mean advocating anything and pushing anything globally is ambitious at the best of times, but that doesn't mean Australia shouldn't stand up for these sorts of things, for independence, for transparency, for public health, for taking action early, for sharing this sort of information. These are important principles and Australia will stand up for them.

Phil? Sorry, and then I’ll go to Phil.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned before how dangerous this virus is. How important is it, though, that people continue to adhere to the quarantine measures in place? And are there any circumstances under which anybody should seek to make themselves exempt from those quarantine measures, irrespective of their status in society?

PRIME MINISTER: We're all in this together. All of us. And I think that's the expectation of all of Australians.

JOURNALIST: PM on the reform agenda ahead that you’re flagging for the October Budget, just two parts - A, when you said you're going to cast fresh eyes on everything that's been done in the last decade, would that include the Henry tax review? And separately, you're sort of talking about this - for want of a better term - a modern-day sort of accord with unions and businesses and so forth to make this work. Would a gesture towards the unions be to drop the ensuring-integrity bill, given you're forged this new relationship with them, you want to maintain that and they clearly don't like this bill that’s before the Parliament?

PRIME MINISTER: Look, Phil, I'm not about to start articulating a public reading list on the topic, nor am I about to engage in horsetrading from this podium about this process. What I'm honestly saying to Australians is we're looking at all options with fresh eyes. In a good-faith way and I would be encouraging everyone else who has a stake in this - and that includes the union movement, I mean it's about jobs - to engage in a similar good-faith manner.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister and Treasurer, we know there's a good reason why you've deferred the Budget, the full Budget to October. Would you consider some sort of economic statement or mini Budget update in the next month or two before then? And if the economic shackles are lifted earlier for some parts of the economy and we can return to some sort of normality in some areas, would you consider, perhaps, unwinding or not fully using the full 6 months' worth of stimulus measures?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll allow the Treasurer to address those issues.

TREASURER: Thanks, Prime Minister. And thanks, John. There's never been more contemporaneous data available. You've got the labour force numbers coming out on a monthly basis, and as you saw, unemployment for the month of March was at 5.2 per cent. You've got the ABS now providing some preliminary data in areas like retail and international trade that they haven't done previously. The Finance Minister will be doing what he normally does, which is put out a monthly financial statement with revenues and expenditures in the coming days. And also, you've got national accounts. As you're familiar, the March quarter will be out on June the 3rd and that's got everything from wages to profits to GDP to the savings ratio. So there is a lot of data that's out there. And we'll continue to take the best possible advice from Treasury.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just back on your advocacy of this international investigation. I'm not sure you directly responded to the China question in particular. So what steps, if any, have you taken, or will you take, to engage President Xi or the senior leadership in Beijing? And do you agree that this public spat, I suppose it could be described as, between Minister Dutton and the Ambassador, the Chinese Ambassador here in Canberra, in which he's described, the Ambassador's comments as regrettable and he hopes that he reflects on his public interventions here - do you think that augers badly for China's engagement with this process?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't. I think the Minister for Home Affairs has set out the situation well. Australia is perfectly entitled to set out positions that are totally consistent with the principles and values that we have as a country. We are a transparent, open nation, and when it comes to issues of public health, we would only seek the good faith participation of any country that would find itself in that situation. We had a virus originate out of Wuhan in China, and we were very fortunate here in Australia that we moved very quickly to close off the travel of Chinese nationals to Australia early in that piece, as I said yesterday, it was one of the matters that President Trump and I discussed. I think we were in about 24 hours before the United States, but we made the decision about the same time and it was the extraordinary discipline of our Chinese Australian community, that meant that we resisted that first wave of cases, the wave of cases that impacted Australia came from predominantly returning Australians from other parts of the world, where the virus had transmitted to, out of China. What's important is that we work together in a transparent way. The World Health Assembly is coming up in May. There are opportunities to pursue that matter there. And that's our first port of call. I've obviously shared my views, as has the Foreign Minister, with other like-minded countries, about the need for a transparent process here and for a fair dinkum look at how these rules are working. Our purpose here is just pretty simple - we'd like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses. It seems like a pretty honest ambition that I'm sure most people in the world would agree with. So it would be great if we could achieve that and that's the spirit in which we're pursuing this and I would certinaly hope that any other nation, be it China or anyone else, would share that objective.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on JobKeeper, you’ve flagged that construction is an industry that you see as low-risk and high-value that we would keep going in a COVID-safe economy. But because construction companies are often state-wide, we've seen instances where workers are laid off in one particular area, where work has slowed down, they don't qualify for jobkeeper, because there might be projects and revenue elsewhere across the company. Is the Government looking at ways to keep those tradespeople connected to those businesses? Obviously they can get JobSeeker, but that doesn't have the same, I guess, commitment between the employer and the employee out the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.

PRIME MINISTER: Well I'll let the Treasurer comment on the issues about group companies and things like that and how that's been progressed. But the best way to get Australians back in jobs and back working, is to get our economy opening up as quickly as it can, subject to the health constraints - whether that's in the construction industry or anywhere else. I am pleased that working with the states and territories that the many significant projects that we have that we co-fund at state and territory level, well, we're keeping up the pace on those. And we're looking to, you know, put the pedal down on those. It's an important part of the economic recovery. So the best way to get people off JobKeeper and off JobSeeker is to ensure that those businesses are busy again and that's why opening up the elective surgery is important. That's why opening up our schools again is important. That's why moving on the baseline restrictions once we get these health protections for a COVID-safe economy in place - that's why it's all important. The more businesses you open up, the more people are going to have jobs, support themselves and not have to rely - as they don't wish to - on the public taxpayer.

Josh?

TREASURER: Well, thanks, Prime Minister. Well, as I was walking into Parliament House this morning, just a torpedo punt from here, I saw plenty of construction workers out there with their fluoro vests and their hard hats getting to work and I've seen that in my home state of Melbourne as well so it is good news that many of those construction workers are back at work. Obviously, those particular arrangements for the, for businesses that may have some projects working and others, will be matters for that business and we say to them to look after their staff, to make the necessary arrangements, and obviously, if there are issues that fall within the discretion of the ATO, to speak directly to them.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Over here?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've said a number of times here that you'll look with fresh eyes at all options. Does that include negative gearing and franking credits reforms? And also, will you bring forward the review into the petroleum resources rent tax in order for that to be one of the options on the table?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Treasurer can talk about where things are up to with the PRRT. But as I said to Neil Mitchell the other day, I don't understand how increasing taxes on people in that way - particularly the ones you're referring to, actually helps grow the economy. I've never understood that argument. I mean there are some things that remain truisms.

Michelle? Oh Josh - did you want to...?

TREASURER: Just to say, in relation to the petroleum industry, we made some changes in terms of the integrity of measures based on the best advice that we received from the Tax Office. There's been appropriate consultation. There hasn't been a change to that stated timetable.

PRIME MINISTER: Michelle?

JOURNALIST: Two things. A point of clarification - you gave several figures about new public servants and transfers. What is the net figure of new people brought on staff?

PRIME MINISTER: 5,000.

JOURNALIST: Is it 8,000 or 5,000?

PRIME MINISTER: 5,000 is how many additional people have been brought into the task and that includes with service providers. As you know, early on, one of the first things they did with the service providers was to lift some of the call centre staff out of, I think it was out of one of the airlines actually, and have them move in and they started processing JobSeeker claims, which has worked very well.

JOURNALIST: And on the question of substance, do you intend to make the October Budget an overarching reform Budget? Or will your harvesting yield its seed in several stages?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's early days on that work, Michelle. And it's, we're in that process, as I said, of harvesting. The Budget will be a significant contribution in that respect. I mean it always is. And the scale of the task that we have on the economic front is bigger than anything we've known for a very, very long time, arguably since the Great Depression. And so you can expect the Budget to be very significant in that context.

JOURNALIST: The Chief Medical Officer said this morning that among the first restrictions to be eased in three weeks will be around community sport. How can that be done safely? Will it extend to all sport like the NRL, which says it has government approval to resume on May 28?

PRIME MINISTER: Let me just deal with the NRL issue first. Look, the NRL is not community sport. The NRL is a fairly large commercial activity. Many people employed and has far-reaching commercial implications for many other sectors. And so I don't necessarily make that connection. I mean community sport, I think, is something very different. And what the National Cabinet does in several weeks' time and what recommendations the medical expert panel - which Professor Murphy is a part of - wish to recommend at that time, well, I don't want to get ahead of that and they will make their own arguments as to what is doable and how that can be achieved at that time. So until we have that advice before us, I wouldn't be offering a view on that. What we are seeking to do is focus on those activities that are more low-health-risk and more high-economic-value. My priorities are to get kids back to school, to get people back to work. That's what my priority is. And in terms of the broader social restrictions that are overseen by the states, I think there is a reasonable expectation from the public - based on the tremendous patience and discipline that they've shown - that they will get some relief on those fronts as well. I welcome, for example, the decision taken by the Queensland Government overnight in regarding to funerals. I mean, you know, people probably could see my strong views on that last night. And I really do welcome that. That is, would have to be one of the hardest measures, and one of the most difficult. I remember when I announced it some weeks ago, it was a very difficult thing for National Cabinet to make that decision. And I am pleased that we're getting to a point now where Queensland and others feel that those measures can be wound back.

Now, in terms of the NRL, I mean it's principally a matter for the New South Wales Government, because they are, as I understand the proposal, that's where the matches are being played. And so they have the health authority over what occurs with that. And so if you're looking for what the health agreements or approvals that have been provided, that's entirely really a matter for the New South Wales Government, or any other state governments who may be involved in where games may be played or how training is being conducted. The Commonwealth Government doesn't have any direct role in any of that. The only matters that we've been directly engaged in - and they're being handled by the Minister for Home Affairs - is in relation to the New Zealand involvement. Now, I had a, I mean I speak weekly to Prime Minister Ardern and there are many issues we discussed. There was the issue that came up recently about our borders. Now, if there is any country in the world with whom we can reconnect with first, undoubtedly that's New Zealand. And we have similar trajectories. Their restrictions have been far greater. Our case response has, you know, been the same, if not better than New Zealand. So if there's any country where we can look to achieve that, then I would have thought New Zealand would be the obvious candidate and that's the nature of the discussions we've had. So there already are exemptions that the Border Force Commissioner has to enable individuals to come. That is an area that I think we can look potentially favourably on provided all the other arrangements are in place regarding public safety. That's something we'll just work through patiently.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you talked about the extraordinary demand for JobSeeker…

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I just didn't hear?

JOURNALIST: Demand for Jobseeker, the extraordinary demand for JobSeeker. Given that we know people will be out of work and struggling to find work for quite a period of time, are you open to having an increased level of JobSeeker longer than the six months? And specifically do you accept that we can never return to just $40 a day for people on the old Newstart payment?

PRIME MINISTER: We’ve put a COVID supplement in place for the period of the pandemic and that's what we've budgeted for and that's what our policy is. Mal?

JOURNALIST: PM, you've got a blank page, you’ve got a lot of stakeholders and a lot of advice coming your way. There's precedent in such circumstances for what is called a national summit on these big issues. Have you - assuming domestic travel gets back somewhere near normal - have you considered a national summit? Or do you see any value in one before the Budget?

PRIME MINISTER: I must admit, Mal, I feel like we're in a rolling national summit at the moment with the amount of engagement that is taking place with ministers, with states and territories. I mean, the Treasurer has been with the four major banks twice in the last 24 hours. The actual pace in this COVID environment where people aren’t physically moving around to connect with each other, even including at international level, is like nothing I've seen before. The level of cooperation that is occurring between the COVID Commission, industry, business, unions, others - this is quite an interesting period. And I think it is positive in the sense that it is drawing so many different views and feedbacks far more quickly than it normally does and I welcome that. So while not being drawn on any specific events, Mal, and of course we're trying to harness what I think is a very strong institutional ambition here, among the many different strands of our economy and our society, whether it's in the not for profit sector, whether it's in the industrial sector, mining, resources, manufacturing, the educational sector, our universities, our research institutions, the CSIRO, our states and territories, our independent schools. There has never been, I can't recall a time in my public life or in public policy where there has been so much of this occurring and I think that's creating some good habits, good habits that I would hope we would be able to continue in a non-COVID crisis environment. Whether that will be done, we'll see, but I'll remain forever optimistic. Shane?

JOURNALIST: If you're going to look at major reforms, reforms over time have cost money to the Budget, either in compensation. The Shifting The Dial report has some very contentious and expensive proposals in the short-term to deliver long-term benefits. Would you consider running the Budget in deficit a little longer so you can afford to put in place those reforms if you're going to see a pay-off longer term?

PRIME MINISTER: The Treasurer might want to comment on this. I'll simply say this. The way we have sought, as a Government, to manage and handle and respond to the coronavirus crisis is we've got some very clear principles that have guided us and I, in particular, outlined those some weeks, if not months ago, in Sydney at the AFR conference. And we have been guided constantly by the evidence - not the opinions, but the evidence. And we've been guided by some outstanding expert advice, whether that's the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the Secretary of Treasury, whether it’s the Chief Medical Officer, whether it's Alan Finkel or any number of people, Nev Power, the team of people working with Nev, David Thodey and Catherine Tanner and a whole range of others, Jane Holton, there are so many people that have been guiding us with good expert advice, and this is a model that I think has always underlined how our Government has operated and we'll continue to do that. We'll continue to be driven by the principles that we hold very dearly, the data and the evidence to inform our views and the solid and respected expert advice that can input into that process. And what's our goal? Save lives. Save livelihoods. See Australia stronger again.

THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Prime Minister, as you've said before, and Shane, as you know well, the pathway to paying back that higher debt that has been incurred by this necessary spending at this difficult time, is by growing the Australian economy. It's not through higher taxes. It's actually by growing the Australian economy with productivity-enhancing reforms. That's what we're committed to. And because National Cabinet has led so strongly, we've now got at ministerial level regular meetings between the federal and state counterparts. So the treasurers will be meeting later today and among the issues that we'll be discussing relate exactly to what the Prime Minister has been talking about with Shifting The Dial, in terms of health reforms, talking about how we can work more closely together in a whole range of areas to enhance the productivity of the nation. The Governor of the Reserve Bank gave an important speech just a few days ago. Not only did he point to our responsible fiscal position that allowed us to use our balance sheet to support the economy at a time of a significant income shock, but he also pointed to the need for productivity-enhancing reforms into the future. It's not business as usual. It's about the Federal Government and the state governments working together in a whole field of areas from tax to industrial relations to infrastructure to skills and, of course, to cutting red tape and deregulation.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. Look on that note, particularly on cutting red tape, can I... the Education (sic) Minister will be standing up later today but a positive report on the progress being made on environmental approvals. In the December quarter, 19 per cent of projects were being approved on time. In the March quarter, that rose to 87 per cent. And we're looking to be at 100 per cent by the end of June. I'll let the Environment Minister speak to that later today. But ensuring that we're moving quickly through approval processes and providing that certainty for business investment and the regulatory arrangements that are in place, that will be a key part, a key part of the economic recovery strategy. Tomorrow, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know, we'll be upstairs. It's a little warmer up there. But Professor Murphy will be taking you through that next round of now-casting, as they call it - we're all getting used to a lot of new terms these days - on the effective rate of reproduction of that virus and where that's sitting a week down in that process. Of course, National Cabinet is meeting tomorrow. But let us finish where we began, in remembering those four brave police officers in Melbourne, and their families, and all their, all the police family all around the country. Let us remember all of them and just say thank you for what you do every day. And for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for protecting their community, we are forever in your debt.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42793

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

21 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Well good afternoon everyone. Some encouraging news, the growth in the number of cases continues to be at very welcome low levels and we want to thank all Australians again for the great efforts that they are putting in. It is testing their patience, we understand that, and their patience is proving up to the mark. We are still very much in the middle of combatting this terrible virus, as we're seeing all around the world. But here in Australia, we're doing better than most, better than many, and we need to keep doing that, and so we thank Australians for the great support and the efforts that they are putting in as we go through these very difficult times. About two-thirds of the cases in Australia have - they have now been able to overcome and recover from those cases. So, we have active cases of less than about 2,500 now. Overseas experience, even the most cautious and careful of nations, such as Singapore, demonstrates that none of us can be complacent about these issues and we need to maintain the efforts that we're putting in place. Singapore now has, sadly, more cases than Australia after some very strong early successes. It is a reminder that even a country as diligent and as careful as Singapore has been that none of us can be complacent about this virus. As I've said on many occasions, it writes its own rules. We need to ensure that we are continually up to the mark in our response. 
 
It means we need to stick to our plan and that was very much the view of National Cabinet today. We have got to stick to our plan. Our plan is working. Our plan is saving lives and it is saving livelihoods. So we need to stick to that plan. We need to stick together in ensuring we maintain the implementation of that plan right across the country. For those who are asking when can we ease? Well, we were clear about that last week. We laid down some clear markers as to what the requirements would be. We said there needed to be an effective rate of transmission less than the score of 1. And we said we need to get in place over these four weeks that we're now in - almost one week down in that timetable - of testing, tracing and a response capability on the ground. National Cabinet will continue to look at those areas that may be able to be eased at the end of that period when we look at those issues. But they are the clear markers. They are the clear prerequisites. There is no uncertainty about that. I think that's very clear. An effective rate of transmission consistently under 1 and putting in place the testing and tracing and response capabilities that are necessary for us to stay on top of any outbreak or any risks that could emerge when we moved into a period where we may be able to ease those restrictions. And states and territories in the meantime, where they have taken actions on restrictions that go beyond the national baselines, as we have already seen Western Australia do, then they will take decisions over the next few weeks that may see them ease back on some of those restrictions where they are above the national baselines in terms of the issues. 
 
Today we considered a number of measures and areas, and the first of those was in relation to elective surgery, which I flagged at the last media conference. Today we agreed to lift restrictions on elective surgery after Anzac Day, after the long weekend. This will not mean an immediate return to normal with elective surgery, but a gradual restart, subject to, of course, capacity and other constraints that may exist in each jurisdiction, and the Minister for Health will outline one of the reasons why we have been able to do that is the increase in the amount of personal protective equipment that we have been able to secure. And the Chief Medical Officer will also make commentary on that. But we will be easing the restrictions on the following areas and that is all Category 2 or equivalent procedures in the private sector, and selected Category 3 and other procedures, which includes all IVF, all screening programs, where they have ceased. I want to stress that the National Cabinet and indeed the AHPPC has never recommended any easing of screening tests or procedures, but where they have been eased, then they can be restarted. Post-cancer restriction procedures, such as breast reconstruction, dental and level 2 restrictions, so such as fitting dentures, braces, non-high-speed drilling and basic fillings. All procedures for children under the age of 18, all joint replacements, including knees, hips, and shoulders, all cataracts and eye procedures, and endoscopy and colonoscopy and all of these measures will be further subject to review on 11 May to determine if all surgeries and procedures can then recommence more broadly. We estimate that this will lead to a reopening of around 25 per cent of activity in elective surgery in our private and public hospitals, of the capacity that had been closed because of the earlier restrictions. Priority will be given, with this reopening, on the basis of clinical determinations by the relevant health professionals and that will occur in both the public and private system. 
 
This is an important decision because it marks another step on the way back. There is a road back. There is a road ahead and the decisions that the National Cabinet has taken today is evidence of that. This would not be possible if we were unable to secure the additional PPE and it also wouldn’t be possible if we were not able to have confidence about the level of contacts, sorry, of cases that had been identified in Australia and the slowing that rate of growth down to very minimal levels. So this is an indication to Australians that when we do keep staying ahead of this, then we can make these changes and we can start heading back to where we would all like to be. 
 
On aged care, we reviewed recent events in a number of aged care facilities and took the lessons from those cases and an important one is the finding was that we are very concerned about the impact of restrictions that had been put in place in aged care facilities over and above what was recommended by the National Cabinet on the residents in those facilities. There is great concern that the isolation of elderly people in residential care facilities where they have been prevented from having any visits, from loved ones and support people, is not good for their well-being, is not good for their health and so the National Cabinet agreed that there needs to be a strong reminder that the National Cabinet decision was to not shut people off or to lock them away in their rooms. That was never the recommendation or the advice of the National Cabinet. The advice I think was very clear about ensuring that there could be visits of two a day, close relatives and support people, this would be undertaken in the resident's rooms but otherwise residents would be able to be in other parts of the facility, they could sit in common rooms, they could sit in outdoor areas of these facilities and we would like as many freedoms to be extended to residents in aged care facilities as is possible and there is no recommendation from the medical expert panel that they should be confined in that way. Where further restrictions should be put in place in aged care facilities is where you may have an outbreak in that facility or indeed an outbreak in the area in which the facility is located. So there are exceptional circumstances where further restrictions might be placed on people living in residential aged care facilities in terms of access to visitors. But those additional restrictions are the exception, they are not the rule and we think it is a good thing for people to have those visits in accordance with those screening procedures and other things that are necessary to protect elderly residents in those situations. It shouldn’t be done out of the convenience of isolation in terms of how these facilities are run, it should always be done always only in the interests of the care of those who are living in those facilities. 
 
I also stress that the same applies, as we confirmed today around the states and territories, that for older people who are self isolating, that that does not mean that for care and compassionate reasons that they can’t receive visits from those who would normally provide that care. That may be a relative, that might be a carer, it might be a friendly neighbour who regularly looks in on someone. Jen just went and visited someone the other day for that purpose and the visit was well received and this is important, I think, for the mental health and well-being of particularly elderly residents in our community. I know Australians that are doing a great job, they’re ringing them up and they’re sending them notes, and they’re making them meals and things like this and that is wonderful. There should be the obvious constraints on that, we’re not saying that there should be 50 people going through an elderly residents home on a daily basis, of course not, those visits should be limited just to those who would normally be looking in on people and taking good care of them. So I just want to remind people that that is still an interaction that we think is positive and that we also believe is safe.
 
On schools, National Cabinet was keen to reinforce the point as was made last week that the health advice is not, is not, in relation to schools that a four square metre per person rule be enforced in classrooms. That is not the advice of the medical expert panel and any suggestion that this is a requirement for schools is not the case. The recommendation was smaller class sizes, not smaller classrooms, smaller class sizes, and that those smaller class sizes is something that can be practically addressed at the school level but there is no requirement from the medical expert panel that there be a four square metre per person rule enforced in those classrooms. 
 
Finally, we also today had the opportunity to brief the National Cabinet on the app which many of you are aware that we have been working on for some time. It was good to provide that update and we have been working closely with states and territories on that app and I was pleased that it received in principle support from the National Cabinet. There are a few more hurdles for this to clear as we address the many issues that are associated with this but it was absolutely seen as an important tool, of many, to help health workers in states and territories in the important work of determining contacts of those who may have been in close proximity to people who have contracted the coronavirus. This does three things. It firstly protects Australians in their own health and those of their own family by participating in this process. Secondly, it helps other Australians to keep them safe and, thirdly, it ensures that we can more effectively get back to a more normal setting where we have widespread take-up of this app and we will be saying more about that when we are in a position to launch that app in the not-too-distant future. 
 
Just finally before I throw to the Minister for Health and then of course Professor Murphy, I updated the National Cabinet today that we have now processed, since the 16th of March, 517,000 JobSeeker claims. And by the end of this week we will have processed as many JobSeeker claims in 6 weeks than we would normally do in the entirety of the year. And I think that is an extraordinary effort by those working in the Department of Government Services, and Centrelink, as I said some 6,000 people in addition have been put into that program, to ensure that we are able to move through that work. There is still a fair bit of work to go there but having now eclipsed more than half a million people, that is obviously of great concern, and that is half a million people who are needing that payment and needing that support. But what it does is it reinforces that both the JobSeeker and the JobKeeper payments work together to provide the necessary income support for Australians who find themselves out of work or those who are on reduced hours or who are being stood down through the course of the coronavirus crisis. Additionally stimulus payments of some $4.5 billion in the $750 payments, has been paid as of yesterday to just under 6 million Australian and the rest will flow in coming days. 
 
And so with that I will pass over to the Minister for Health and then Professor Murphy.
 
THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thanks very much to the Prime Minister and to Professor Murphy. 
 
Today is an important day on the road back. There is progress on all three fronts. On containment, capacity and recovery. And it is the progress on those first two fronts of containment and capacity which allow us to take these steps on the road to recovery through greater freedoms and opportunities for elective surgery, which will mean such an enormous amount to Australians in need of health assistance. 
 
In terms of containment, with regards to our first pillar, our border measures, we reviewed and extended the current prohibitions on travel into and out of Australia yesterday. Secondly, with regards to our testing, we have, as of early this morning, 434,000 tests completed in Australia and as was noted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine last week, it remains at the global forefront in terms of the accuracy of our testing which is just a tribute to all of our pathologists and our state systems and territory systems and the cooperation with the Commonwealth around the country. In terms of tracing, we continue to follow up all of the cases that we possibly can and the goal of the app of course is to assist with the protection of ourselves, our families, our health workers and to assist that process of tracing which has been going on since the very first case was found in Australia back on the 25th of January. 
 
And then in terms of distancing, what Australians have been doing in a very consistent way across the country, has led to a real flattening of the curve. I would say now, building on what I said on the weekend, that we now have a sustained and consolidated flattening of the curve. Less than 1 per cent growth in cases for 9 consecutive days and over the last 3 days, we have averaged less than half a per cent of growth in new cases. This is a collective national achievement, it’s our doctors and our nurses, our pathology workers, but it’s every Australian that has been contributing and I want to say thank you for what people have done. You are the ones that have made this happen. You are the ones that have helped Australia lead the world as well as with those other containment measures. Those containment measures though are still important as the Prime Minister mentioned, even a country as cautious, successful and sophisticated, as Singapore is seeing an outbreak on a very large scale and so we have to keep doing what we are doing because these measures save lives and protect lives but they also allow us to achieve the road back at an earlier time. If we can hold, practice, continue our distancing measures, it will put us in a stronger position to be on the road back earlier. 
 
In terms of the capacity that the Prime Minister mentioned, with regards to our primary care, we have been very successful with over 4.7 million telehealth consultations. In particular, though, what we have been able to do is secure the masks and the PPE that are critical for the protection of our health workers which, in turn, means that we can take steps such as the recovery on elective surgery. We have secured and delivered into Australia 60 million masks, that has allowed for 22 million distributions with another 11.5 million masks to be distributed over the coming week and we have secured a further 100 million masks over the coming 6 weeks. That means that we are in a position now to support elective surgery. 
 
Equally, what the Prime Minister has mentioned with regards to aged care, making sure that there is support for the residents with helping to decrease their isolation whilst there’s support for our aged care workers by increasing the testing capacity and focus on our aged care workers to give them that protection, to protect their residents that they care and work so hard for and this is an extremely important combination. And in terms of our hospitals, we have now had delivered 3,260 ventilators in the last week and a half from a great Australian company, ResMed, that’s 3,000 non-invasive and 260 invasive ventilators. We have now achieved our national goal of full capacity of 7,500 ventilators. That is an extraordinary achievement across our hospitals, across the country. 
 
All of this means we are in a position to start the recovery and today's announcement, the decision of the National Cabinet and the announcement of the Prime Minister that not only can all of Category 1 elective surgery continue but that Category 2 and urgent Category 3 can proceed on a 1 in 4 basis, approximately will mean an immense difference for families, whether it is in terms of IVF, whether it’s in terms of dental pain, whether it’s in terms of orthopaedic procedures or other procedures, it’s going to mean a real difference to their quality of life. It is a result of what Australians have done with containment, it’s a result of what we have been able to do in assisting Australians with capacity, and it is a very important day on the road back.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Greg. Professor Murphy?
 
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks PM and Minister, I will be brief. 
 
Just on elective surgery, one of the things that has concerned the health profession generally during this pandemic has been the lack of attention to non-COVID related related medical conditions. We have said previously we are really keen for people to not stop seeing their doctors for their chronic medical conditions, continue to get that clinical advice whether it’s by tele-medicine or if necessary face-to-face. And the same applies to elective surgery. Some people think elective surgery sounds like it’s something that’s not important, it is incredibly important, some elective surgery is life saving. It really means all surgery that’s not urgent. So some people are seriously disabled with hip and knee problems. Some people can't see because of their cataracts, some people need surgery and have been waiting for it and this is an opportunity in a safe and controlled manner to slowly restart, cognisant of making the process safe, cognisant of getting the facilities up and running again, cognisant of the need to preserve our PPE, this is a gentle, careful start of normalising what is so important, the general healthcare needs of the community. 
 
In the aged care space, just a couple of comments. We are all concerned about the terrible tragedies that happen when you have a big aged care outbreak and of course we understand the need to protect the residents. And that protection is best achieved by ensuring that nobody, nobody, enters an aged care facility if they are in any way unwell. No staff member, no visitor, no-one coming in for any other reason. You do not go into to an aged care facility if you have the slightest respiratory symptom, a sore throat or a tickle, you stay away. And anyone who works at an aged care facility is eligible for a COVID-19 test and can get them. That's the most important thing. 
 
We've also really expanded our response in aged care outbreaks so that every resident and every staff member can be tested. But as the Prime Minister has said, it is not reasonable in a situation as we are now across pretty much the whole country, where the community outbreaks are not in existence, to lock poor residents away from their family. We’ve made a series of recommendations at AHPPC previously, that could make visits safe. We don't want lots of visitors, we want limited visitors, no more than two a day and not for a long period of time and with appropriate health screening and visits to occur in a safe part of the facility. But it's not reasonable or fair to people who may have been used to getting their family coming every day, who may even have dementia in some cases, to be denied access to their families. So we are encouraging all providers to be proportionate. Of course protect the residents, of course screen everybody who comes into the facility, but don't lock residents away from their families. Thank you Prime Minister.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Brendan. I am going to start here and then I’m going to move around. So, 
thank you.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister today we’ve seen the easing restrictions in terms of elective surgery, South Australia yesterday recorded its third day with no new cases, which has prompted calls for considerations in regards to community sport and when bans on that could be eased. Where do you see community sport fitting in, in terms of easing restrictions such as health requirements and things that are going to boost the economy? And just a question for Brendan Murphy, is it unreasonable for a sporting code to think that they will be able to start up their community sports again in winter, given the additional risk that that poses?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me just deal with your question first and then I'll go to Professor Murphy. The baseline restrictions remain in place. That's the view of the National Cabinet, we are monitoring those key metrics that we said we would over the next four weeks. If we felt we were in a position to do something earlier than that then we would so decide. But the decision of the National Cabinet remains that we will keep the restrictions in place at a baseline level. It is true, South Australia is getting a great result, so is the Northern Territory, Western Australia has had some great numbers, this is fantastic, it's great. But you've got to keep them going and you’ve got to stick to the plan. And there is a strong resolution amongst the National Cabinet to stick to the plan because the plan is saving lives and it is saving livelihoods. But what we have announced today shows that we are on the road back, thanks to Australians we are on the road back and we want to stay on the road back. And to do that you have got to move carefully and that’s what we're doing. 
 
Brendan?
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: So thanks, PM. So I think as we’ve pointed out, a new outbreak can occur very quickly as we have seen in north-west Tasmania, brilliantly controlled by Tasmanian Health, one person can infect 40 people. So we have to have those systems in place such as widespread sentinel surveillance, such as really good public health response, such as the app that we have been talking about. So that if an outbreak occurs we can get on top of it before we do more widespread relaxation. That’s one of, we have only started elective surgery in a gentle way because we want to do it in a controlled way. Of course things like community sport and those sorts of things will be considered, and the National Cabinet will be given a range of potential options that can be looked at once we feel that the situation is safe. We are obviously concerned about exercise in the community and small-scale community sport is one thing that could be considered. But we don't want to pre-empt any of the decisions of National Cabinet, they have asked for a long list of the risks and benefits of a range of things that can be considered at the end of this 4 week period.
 
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to keep going around, I won’t see everyone today, there are quite a few of you here today. But, yep?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you have seen the best of Australians, arguably, during this crisis, but also at times the worst of Australians, for example, Asian Australians being spat on and bus drivers attacked. Is it time for a new anti-racism campaign? And what is your message to people doing that sort of thing?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Stop it. That's my message. It’s, and I think that is the message of every Australian. Now is a time to support each other and I would remind everyone that it was Chinese Australians in particular that provided one of the greatest defences we had in those early weeks. They were the ones who first went into self-isolation, they were the ones who were returning from family visits up into China and they were coming home, and it was through their care, it was through their commitment, their patience that actually Australia was protected in their first wave. I mean within a week of our first case, we’d shut off travel from those from China except for Australians returning home. And so absolutely I deplore that sort of behaviour against any Australian regardless of their ethnicity or their religion or whatever it happens to be. And I think that is the view of all Australians. So we have to call that sort of thing out. It's not on.
 
Yep?
 
JOURNALIST: PM, PM, thank you, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has rejected Marise Payne's for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, saying things like we are dancing to the tune of another country, no surprises for who that would be, um what is your reaction to that? And what sort of steps will you take in your talks with other leaders, perhaps, about trying to establish such an inquiry?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well I think such an inquiry is important and we can respectfully have a difference of view from that that has been put by China. The virus began in China, in Wuhan, that’s, I think that is well understood. And it's important the WHO acts, and all parties that are part of the WHO, act with great transparency. I think this is important regardless of where a virus may break out, if it happened in Australia, if it happened in China, if it happened in parts of Africa or the Pacific or the Middle East or wherever it would happen to be, it's important for public health globally that there is a transparency in the way that you can get access to this important information early. So it's not pursued as an issue of criticism, it's pursued as an issue of importance for public health. And I think it's important that all countries cooperate with that regardless of who they are, and we would be certainly pursuing something along those lines. It’s, I know it's a view that the Foreign Affairs Minister has articulated with my very, very strong support and I think there is great support for that type of initiative more broadly. 
 
Yep, no just hang on, behind you?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister some reports this afternoon that North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un is in a serious condition in hospital. Are you seeking clarification on that and would his deteriorating condition concern you?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well I can't really offer any comment on that because I can't provide any confirmation of it. So until these facts are more clearly determined, there is not really much I can offer.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned May 11 as a date when elective surgeries would be reviewed, and that is also a date when Victoria's state of emergency is due to end, Solomon Lew says his retail stores will reopen, NSW children will start going back to school on a rostered basis, so is that date May 11 potentially a turning point with how Australians can live while dealing with this crisis? And would you be hopeful that May 11 would be the date where we can see a further easing of the social distancing restrictions?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No look I wouldn't read too much into that. We are already on the road back and I think we have already reached a turning point on these issues provided we can keep the controls in place that keep the virus under management, it will continue to write its own rules, and it is provided, I think, that we continue to stay on top of it. Then I think we will continue to see further easing of restrictions. I mean today’s decision, the decision that other governments have made whether it be in Western Australia or elsewhere regarding schools, these are all turning points and they are all turning points in the right direction, and I look forward to more of them.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, does the provision that allows for compassionate visits to the elderly, extend to any friend or relative that might be struggling mentally during the isolation process? If not, why? And did states give assurances that these kinds of visits to a grandparent at home, for example, wouldn't result in an on the spot fine?
 
PRIME MINISTER: They simply reinforce what the original restriction was and that always enabled those sorts of care or compassionate visits. That has always been the case. And if that is what the nature of what the visit is, they just restated their commitment and support to that.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on IVF, there have been a lot of commentary from people going through that process who have obviously been quite upset. Do you hope that this will bring some relief to families that are going through that very personal struggle at the moment?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well I have some familiarity with how they would feel about these sort of things and I certainly hope that it would provide them with some of that comfort and I hope that more broadly, it is a message, as Greg was saying, to Australians more broadly that we are on the road back and these are the steps that we are taking. They are not all great leaps and bounds. This one is a pretty significant one I have got to say, though. And each step is important and I think is an encouragement to everyone else for the good work they have been doing and so why, we are always just thanking Australians every day and I look forward to continuing to thank them.
 
Yep?
 
JOURNALIST: Yeah just on those jobs numbers, that extraordinary jobless claim numbers. Are you confident that the rate of jobless claims is now slowing? The ABS put out some figures today showing that the last week was actually the biggest in jobless claims over the last three weeks?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We have seen a slowing in the rate of claim and that's welcome. But the levels of claims are still very high and they are obviously deeply concerning to me because every one of those half a million Australians who we have processed for JobSeeker claims is an Australian that has lost their livelihood. And that is deeply distressing to me. Terribly distressing. That's why we have doubled the JobSeeker payment effectively through the addition of the COVID supplement. And we still have a lot more claims to get through.
 
Yep?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the COVID tracing app, obviously Australians are a bit wary about giving the Commonwealth that kind of data, so what kind of assurances can you give people, we understand it could be released as early as this week, that the Commonwealth won't stuff it up and you will be able to protect people's privacy?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well there will be the privacy statement which is being developed up with the Privacy Commissioner. There are also the technical assurances that we have been working very carefully through. We have not been rushing to this solution. We have been listening carefully since we first indicated that we would be moving to use this app to the various concerns that have been raised and ensure that they’re being addressed. And we were able to work through quite a few of those today with the National Cabinet. 
 
I want to be clear about a couple of things. The app only collects data and puts it into an encrypted national store which can only be accessed by the states and territories. The Commonwealth can’t access the data, no government agency at the commonwealth level, not the Tax Office, not government services, not CentreLink, not Home Affairs, not the Department of Education, not child care, nothing. The Commonwealth will have no access to that data. It will be locked in the data store, an encrypted data store that can only be accessed by the state health detectives, if you like, the health tracers. Those who are actually making contact with the individual whose phone they would then seeking for them to unlock the data for it to be released to them, so they could begin the contact tracing process. So that’s what it’s for.
 
It's for a process that is currently being undertaken manually and this would speed it up. Now I noticed in New Zealand they are looking to ask people to keep diaries of these things. We think this is a more comprehensive and a more foolproof system of ensuring that we are picking up as many of those contacts as possible, but it will keep people safe, it will keep them and their families safe. It will keep others they are coming in contact with more safe and it will of course help Australia get back into an economy which will be supporting more and more jobs. 
 
John?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that China has reached out to about a dozen countries in our region to canvass the possibility of reinitiating very important business travel and diplomatic travel. Has Australia had any reach out from China or been in discussions about that? Would you be open to it?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We have just rolled over again the travel restrictions that we currently have in place with both outbound and inbound and we have no plans to change any of those. There are some exemptions that sit around diplomatic travel and a few other very limited cases and they will remain. Sorry, Sam, you can be next.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when Bret Walker led the South Australian Murray-Darling Royal Commission, the Commonwealth went to the High Court to block him compelling evidence from Commonwealth public servants. He is now leading a Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess, including the decisions and actions of Commonwealth agencies. Will you guarantee that the Commonwealth will provide full cooperation and won't take those efforts to stymie him getting evidence from Commonwealth agencies?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We always cooperate with Royal Commissions.
 
JOURNALIST: Not the Murray Darling one. So you are ruling out going to the High Court or trying to stop this?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We are always cooperating with Royal Commissions. Sam?
 
JOURNALIST: Just in relation to JobKeeper, are you concerned about these emerging reports of workers being exploited or even sacked when they request JobKeeper? I’ve had many, many emails just in the last 24 hours. A woman saying that when she asked to be put on JobKeeper as a casual and she was eligible, her boss said he did not like the tone and he said she was then sacked. Another worker was told she would now have to work up to $750 worth of hours to get the money and she was sent a text message saying you work when I tell you and if you don't like that you are sacked. What protection do these workers have? It seems to be very much at the goodwill of the employer?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you are raising two separate cases. I would be concerned about any behaviour by employers that was coercive and be very keen for that to be relayed to Fair Work and the Ombudsman and others to ensure that we can take action on those cases where they are presented. I think that is important. On the second issue, in terms of if you are doing, if you are getting paid $750, then the employer can obviously ask you to do $750 at your rate of pay or work. That’s what the Act provides for. That is not an unreasonable request that someone would work the hours that they are being paid for, that is being paid by the employer but obviously that is being met by the Commonwealth through the JobKeeper program. But coercive behaviour by employers in this situation is no more tolerable than it is at any other time and I would expect those sorts of complaints to be raised formally and would be keen to know the incidents, the level of that and it is something I would be happy to raise and have followed through on.
 
JOURNALIST: Did you catch Malcolm Turnbull's interview last night and what do you think about his criticism of the government?
 
PRIME MINISTER: On this issue, I am just going to remain focused on the actual bigger picture and that is dealing with the coronavirus response. I have answered the question.
 
JOURNALIST: Back to the National Cabinet, given we are in a better position than we thought we would be a month ago, touch wood, and we are thinking about lifting restrictions and getting people back to work in about a month. Is there a possibility that the money you have set aside for JobKeeper and JobSeeker that you may not spend as much as you anticipated on those rescue packages and that might just take an edge of the cost of this in terms of budgeting? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: We will follow the estimates and if there are estimates variations then obviously we will note those at the time. When we costed this measure, it was based on 6 million Australians being picked up by JobKeeper. But similarly, we need to understand that the automatic stabilisers, as they are known, the supports that already exist within the welfare system that get called upon at a time like this, they are also covered by estimates variations. So what does that mean? So you would have directly budgeted for JobKeeper to be at $130 billion over that period of time and we had some budgeting about the additional cost of the COVID-19 supplement on the JobSeeker arrangements. But there will be many more who will be drawing on the original JobSeeker payment and that would have been accepted and absorbed by the Budget. So we're still a long way, I think, from knowing the full extent of all these costs. What we have always been prepared to do, though, is meet them and the combination of the JobKeeper and the JobSeeker payments means that we have put in a safety net for Australians both through their employer and directly through the social security system that Australia has never known before. And this is the platform that enables businesses and individuals to be able to get through better than they otherwise would and it is a very uniquely Australian program, the combination of these two things together and it is what is going to help us all get through together. I mean, Virgin is very topical today for very understandable reasons and we are obviously concerned for those employees in Virgin. But those employees themselves are getting support of some $15 million a fortnight through the JobKeeper program and then there is  the other supports that have been provided and we look forward through the voluntary administration process, which as the Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister made very clear today, that process is a road out. It is a road out and forward into the future to ensure that the airline can emerge on the other side and we can have the strong commercial viable competition between two carriers in Australia, which the government believes is very important. It is very important in usual times but it will be even more important as we emerge from the coronavirus economic crisis, ensuring that we have those carriers in place. It is important for the jobs which we have always been very concerned about and it is important that the competition regulator also, particularly as we are coming out and as the administrator works with the airline to ensure that it can go forward in a viable way, that it is also not crushed by any anti-competitive actions that might be put in place by any other player in the market. So we are very keen to see that remain in place, we’re very keen to have policies which are supporting jobs, which is going to support the resurgence of the economy we’d obviously like that to be as quick as possible but I believe it will be a challenging road ahead and I think we all understand that and I wish the administrator all the best. As you know, Nicholas Moore will be doing that work on behalf of the Government to engage with the administrator. I am encouraged by the fact that there are already 10 parties that have expressed interest in working with the administrator regarding Virgin's future, I think if we had not taken the actions that we have and not demonstrated the patience that we have had then all we may have ended up doing is sending $1 billion to foreign shareholders and that was never part of my plan. Our plan was always about seeing two viable airlines on the other side, two viable airlines that would be there not just one year from now but five years and 10 years from now. Thank you all very much. 
 
JOURNALIST: Is that 10 potential investors that you said have expressed interest? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry? 10 parties have shown interest, is my understanding, and I welcome that announcement.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42790

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

16 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Thanks for joining us everyone. Of course I’m joined by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy.
 
Today has been another successful meeting of the National Cabinet. Again I want to thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers for the incredibly good faith way they continue to engage in the National Cabinet. The issues that we deal with are not simple. There are difficult considerations, there are a lot of trade-offs that have to be made, a lot of issues that have to be considered on the ground. Every state and territory has very different scenarios that they're facing at the moment and I do want to thank them again, very much, for the spirit in which they remain so committed to the National Cabinet process. 
 
Having made some real progress over the past month in getting the virus under control, as reflected in the data that you have been seeing, and Professor Murphy will be taking you through some more of that data today, and also getting the key economic supports through programs like JobKeeper and Jobseeker out there and being implemented, our attention as a National Cabinet has now been turning to the road out, having worked through the road in, and that road to recovery on the other side. And importantly today at National Cabinet, we received quite extensive briefings from Dr Lowe the Governor of the Reserve Bank and Dr Kennedy, the Secretary of Treasury. At those briefings it was reinforced again to the National Cabinet, on a point that we strongly concur with, the need to synchronise our health and economic responses to the virus. We must consider these responses conjointly and understand the impacts of each, whether that's in the modelling work that we're doing, with the responses and measures we're putting in place, this has to be considered together and understood together. There was also very welcome support from the Governor for the fiscal policy responses that have been put in place by the Commonwealth and the states and territories, and you may have seen, I think it was the Grattan Institute work that was done, which outlined as a percentage of the economy, the scale of Australia's fiscal response to this crisis, which sits pretty much on top of the leaderboard around the world. They also highlighted, though, the need to ensure that on the other side of the virus, as we make our road out, that any sense of business-as-usual when it comes to the policy frameworks that we had prior to the election will need to be reconsidered on the other side to ensure that we can achieve the growth that will be necessary in our economy to get people back into work, to get our economy back on track. 
 
It will be a different world on the other side of the virus and there'll be many challenges. And the National Cabinet has a very good appreciation of this and there has been some talk about its role on the other side of the virus and that is a discussion for another day. But between now and as we continue to work through the impact of the virus, the National Cabinet will also have on its agenda the types of things and policy measures that we can take together, working at federal and state level, to ensure we can give our economy every support and, importantly, every freedom to be able to get on and see businesses grow on the other side. And that cooperation at a federal and a state level will be very important, and there'll be a sense of urgency and, I think, of shared purpose on that front across the National Cabinet. And again, I thank them for collectively understanding that opportunity we have together. 
 
Also, we've noted, of course, that today's unemployment rate showed only a modest change from the figures in February but we, as we all know those figures were largely based on the middle of March and that was, in particular, before we put in place the restrictions across the economy towards the back-end of March. While that figure is welcome, we know that is the best figure we're going to see for some time. We know what the expected impacts are going to be on employment and from the figures you've already seen released from Treasury and the RBA have similar views, as we've also seen in some of the IMF reporting as well. And so that is a figure which we can note but is not one that we can expect to be held going forward. And in saying that, we really do need to prepare ourselves as a country for some very sobering news on the economic front in the months ahead. I think Australians understand that, I think Australians are ready for that, but it is always difficult to receive that news. That's why it's so important that as a National Cabinet that the Australian public understand that we are working on that road out, and that we are working on that road ahead and that recovery piece that will see people getting back into work and Australia getting through this and to the other side. 
 
The G20 met last night, the Finance Ministers and central bankers. This was an initiative that, actually, Australia recommended some weeks ago. That the finance ministers and central bankers should meet regularly. And I thank the G20 for continuing on with that practice and the Treasurer joined them last night. There is some $8 trillion so far that has been put into government fiscal responses and other responses around the world and as I said, Australia features prominently in that. Importantly, they agreed that G20 nations would be moving to provide relief from, and deferral of payments to loans to developing countries. We have only one such loan and that is with Papua New Guinea. Most of our support, in fact pretty much all of the support that we provide in the Pacific is done through the form of grants. I spoke to Prime Minister Marape just before this press conference and let him know we'd be certainly honouring that agreement last night. We have one facility with them at the moment, some $300 million US, that is an interest-only loan, and those payments will be deferred until the end of the year and they were obviously pleased with that decision. 
 
Also on finance, we are advised today that markets are finding a new normal in this COVID-19 world. But that new normal and that relative stability, and everything is relative now, will depend very much on continuing to achieve a stable health outcome and Australia is well placed on that front as well as being able to set out the forward economic plans and the implementation of the measures that we're already putting in place. On bond markets, $13 billion was raised yesterday on a syndicated offer which had some 25.8 billion of bids and that follows up the 5 billion raising just the previous week which had a coverage of over four times. And since the 20 March, some $28 billion has been raised by the Australian Office of Financial Management. This should give Australians a sense of assurance and confidence that the significant financial commitments that we have made, we are being successful in raising those funds, on markets, some 68% on this latest syndicated offer was from domestic investors and that was dominated by banks. But we are finding ourselves in a situation where Australia’s bond issuances have been well received. That is because of the relative strength and the relative positive impression that markets have in relation to Australia. 
 
Turning to the health issues considered today, we remain in, formally, after receiving advice to the, again from the AHPPC, in what we describe as the suppression phase. We are not in an eradication mode. Nor are we in the other mode which would just see some sort of herd immunity approach. These are not the approaches that we are following in Australia. We are not in the Sweden end, nor are we at the New Zealand end, when it comes to how we are approaching things. And our data and our experience shows that, in that phase, we are doing relatively very well. Particularly over countries that are using even more extreme forms of lockdown. But we can't overstate this success. There is a high number of internationally-acquired cases and that means that we need to look at the numbers in that context. But it is pleasing to know that it is estimated more than half of those who've contracted the coronavirus in Australia have actually overcome it, and that is also good news in terms of the actual number of people currently suffering from the coronavirus. On the road out, there are important metrics, important benchmarks that we were advised today by the AHPPC that will inform the National Cabinet's decisions about the easing of restrictions when that is deemed possible. And the most important of those is what’s called the effective reproduction rate. Now I’m not going to give you a lecture on that, I will let Professor Murphy do that and take you through what that means and how that works. But there is some encouraging signs on that front. And we need to hold our performance in relation to the effective reproduction rate and we’re looking at that by state. That is the most important way to look at how we're tracking in relation to those statistics. So in order to understand how and when we can move, then those metrics are important to give us a guide. 
 
But we agreed today, on the basis of the advice and it's something I've been talking about for a few days, there are three things we need to get in place. The first of those is a more extensive surveillance, or sentinel as it's called, testing regime. So beyond just those who are symptomatic. If we are to move to a different phase when it comes to the restrictions we need an even broader testing regime than we have at this point. Now we have one of, if not the most, extensive testing regimes in the world today but we need to do even better than that to ensure that we can have greater confidence that when we move to a lesser restriction environment, then we can have confidence that we'll be able to identify any outbreaks very, very quickly and respond to them. The second part of that is ensuring that we have an even greater tracing capability than we have now. Now, I want to commend the state governments. This has been the real heavy lifting they have been doing over the last several weeks in really boosting their capability to trace cases. They are a team of Sherlock Holmes' out there at the moment and they are doing a fantastic job of tracking down these cases. But we need to lift that to an industrial capability and we need to do that using technology and we need to do that as soon as we possibly can and we will be needing the support of Australians. If we can get that in place, if we can get our tracing capability up from where it is, then that is going to give us more options and Australians more freedoms. The third area is that we need a local response capability. We're seeing this in part now in north-western Tasmania where we have an outbreak, the Australian Defence Forces, the AUSMAT teams, working together with state authorities have been moving very quickly to contain that outbreak. And there will be other outbreaks in other parts of the country and in all states and territories, we need that ability to move very fast to be able to lock down an outbreak where it occurs and to ensure that it does not transmit more broadly within the community. If we are going to move to an environment where there are fewer restrictions then you need these three things in place. 
 
The National Cabinet agreed today that we will use the next four weeks to ensure that we can get these in place. And the baseline restrictions that have been set some weeks ago will remain in place until we're able to achieve those three goals. We'll be reviewing that in the next four weeks. A positive thing to say is that we've often found ourselves, as we have now, in a better place, ahead of time. If we're able to achieve that, well and good. But we want to be very clear with Australians that the baseline restrictions that we have in place at the moment, there are no plans to change those for the next four weeks. In terms of states that have gone beyond the baseline restrictions, and that includes how they may be enforcing measures, or there are some restrictions that are put in place in some states and not in others, those states will take the advantage over the next few weeks and they will make their own decisions whether they want to change any of those arrangements on their own circumstances. So I would refer you to the individual states and territories where they may choose to do that over the next few weeks. One of those areas which we will be considering again on Tuesday is the issue of elective surgery. There is a bit more work to do on that but we'll be considering elective surgery next Tuesday. 
 
And finally on the health issues, on six months. We've often talked about what is the six months, when does it start, when does it end. This is the June and September quarter. I've always considered the six months the period in which we've been operating and will be operating these lifeline measures in the economy, which is JobSeeker with the JobSeeker supplement, and JobKeeper. They run for those six month periods. We have bought that time to find the road out. Now, whether we do or not, no other country has at this point. But this is our goal. To ensure that we can get the economy at a level which will not require those extreme levels of income support and the economy will be able to support people on those incomes in a self-sustaining way. We have bought that time for six months and we intend to use it wisely. We would expect that there will be restrictions in some form or another running over that entire six month period but the degree of those and how much they can be relaxed or changed over that period, well, that will very much depend on the circumstances, the health and the economic advice at the time. 
 
On schools, you will have - you should have - a list of seven principles that have been agreed today in relation to schools and the advice that was adopted from the medical expert panel on protections and practices that can be employed in schools to support those environments. This is a state and territory issue. I want to make this really clear. The Commonwealth does not run public schools, state schools. They are run by state governments. They set the policy, they set the rules. All states and territories are operating within the principles that we’ve set out here in these seven statements, and rather than go through them with you because I know you want to get to questions, they’re there before you. They’ll be posted and secondly, there is a lot of very helpful, I think, instructions and advice from the medical expert panel for schools that deal principally with the safety of teachers and other staff. The health advice has always been consistent, that this virus behaves very different with children than it does with adults and for children, the health advice has been very clear, that schools are a safe place for students to be. I think where the confusion arises is that for teachers they are more likely, teachers are more at risk in the staffroom than they are in the classroom, when it comes to how the health advice plays out and the impact of this virus on children as opposed to teachers. That means that we need to have proper arrangements in place for teachers and other staff in schools, obviously, to protect their work environment. But at the same time, that doesn't lead to the same rules applying for students because they have a different level of risk. So that is the advice of the medical expert panel and that is contained in the principles and in the advice that is tabled today. 
 
The National Cabinet also agreed the COVID-19 operational plan for people with disability, and that builds on the $1 billion in financial assistance for NDIS providers to support increased costs and to maintain business viability, particularly over this period. I also note that as we are seeking over the next four weeks and beyond to move to a different phase, after that period that we will be seeking and I will be raising this with the Opposition at our regular meeting with the leaderships of both the Opposition and the Government this evening, that we will be looking to have a trial week of Parliament in May and that would be returning to the normal business of Parliament. That would not be the Parliament coming together to consider necessarily COVID-19 related measures but if there are such measures that need to be considered, then of course they can be. But we want to send a very clear message that we are well ahead of where we thought we might be at this point and that would mean that we might be able to - I would say will be able to - move to having the Parliament meet again on a regular basis. But obviously we just need to trial how that is going to work. We will have to work, obviously, within the new arrangements that we were able to establish a few weeks ago. There are a lot of logistical issues we have to overcome, there are not many flights running now which will make it difficult, but there are also some border closure issues for a number of states which also have to be resolved and I am sure we will be able to deal with that through the National Cabinet as well. But it is important that Parliament goes about that work and where we are in a position to do so, and I definitely think we will be, then I look forward to Parliament being able to resume and continue to do the legislative work that it does. But I would stress this to people at home - just because the Parliament isn't meeting does not mean your members of Parliament are not working very hard every single day. You would have seen them, the support they are providing in the community on COVID-19. Of course, the Ministers and the Government have been extremely busy on the COVID-19 response and so politicians and members of Parliament are working very hard for their communities. Another part of their work is, obviously, the legislative work that is done here in Parliament and we would envisage coming back in the trial week sometime in May and it is my hope that we might then be able to establish a pattern beyond that which is workable. 
 
So, just before I handed over to Professor Murphy, the more we do the right thing now, the easier it will be in the long-term for everybody. We still have a difficult road ahead of us at this point, despite the successes that Australians have achieved in the weeks that we have just gone through. The more we keep it under control, the more we all enlist in the sorts of things we need to do to help those who are tracing the virus and identifying it and reacting to it. If there are outbreaks, well, the more we might be able to at some point turn to easing those restrictions. We have stayed ahead of it, we've got to keep ahead of it, we can't allow our patience to wear off. I know it's a very anxious thing for Australians and when they see the really good results, they go well can't we all just go back to how it was? None of us would like that more than any of us here. But let's look to the experience of what has happened overseas. If you ease off too quickly too early, then you end up making the situation even worse and I don't just mean in the health terms. If you move too early and the health response gets out of control, then the economic consequences will be even worse. And so we need to keep it finely balanced, that is what we are seeking to do, and I will ask Professor Murphy now to take you through his report and the numbers, which again I find very encouraging. Thank you. Professor Murphy.
 
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, PM. So today we have 6,457 cases. Unfortunately, 63 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19. We've got 42 people still on ventilators across the country. So we've got to remember that there are some people who suffered gravely with this disease. 
 
As the PM said, our numbers are looking very encouraging at the moment. We've had less than 50 cases a day over the last few days. Many of those cases are returned travellers or contacts, but, as before, there are small numbers of community-acquired cases where a source is not known. As I have said on many occasions, this disease can spread rapidly undetected for, very easily and we've seen that in other countries of the world. In fact we have seen a small outbreak in north-west Tasmania recently - where very rapidly - a large number of cases appeared over the course of a few days. It has been expertly handled by the Tasmanian health authorities, in an exemplar way of bringing an episode under control. But as the PM has said, if we relax the distancing measures that are stopping or reducing that community transmission, that will inevitably lead to some more outbreaks of community transmission. Unless we are prepared as a nation to detect those outbreaks really early, and get on top of them, and control them, and isolate the cases, and quarantine the contacts, we could end up with large community outbreaks that could lead to situations like we've all seen every night on the nightly news in high income countries with good health systems, like the USA and the UK. We cannot afford to do relaxation until we have a public health system which is so finely tuned that it can detect and respond to any outbreak. That is the message that we gave to the National Cabinet today. Like anybody, AHPPC is very keen to see some of these distancing restrictions removed, but we are not confident just yet that we have a public health system that is so completely prepared that we can guarantee to government that we will be able to deal with any outbreak. Our public health system is one of the best in the world. And I will show you some data on that in a minute. But we just have to hold the course while we get ourselves completely ready so that we can live through these next difficult months together. What I'm going to do now is show you some of the modelling, as we've agreed. We are going to be showing all of the modelling that the University of Melbourne modelling team working for AHPPC and the Commonwealth Department are doing and they’re going to release a paper this afternoon using some early Australian data and I think you've all got a handout showing these slides. So we will just go through it. 
 
So what we are showing you now is some modelling that is based on real Australian data and this is the sort of information we are going to use to understand this epidemic as it progresses over the next months. We are going to start using a concept of ‘nowcasting’ instead of forecasting which is able to use current data to identify what’s happening at the moment and what's likely to be projected to happen in the next fortnight. We will be able to review the effectiveness of our current measures and be prepared to respond to future changes. Can we have the next slide? 
 
So you have all seen these graphs and you can see the flattening of the curve and you can see the progressive drop in numbers of new cases. A very gratifying outcome but, again, one about which we cannot be complacent. Next slide.
 
So, two measures we are looking at today. One is a model that was developed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to assess countries on the effectiveness of symptomatic case detection, this uses a model which you can get in the paper when it's published this afternoon to show how likely it is that a given country is actually detecting its cases. And as you will see as we come to this, we are doing very well and that's probably one of the major reasons we have done so well in controlling the early phases of this pandemic. The other bit of data we are going to show is the Prime Minister referred to the effective reproduction numbers - you are all now familiar with the R0, the basic reproduction number of the virus and we think it is about two and a half for the coronavirus, but the effective reproduction number is the number of people each case infects after we have mitigate and control it. Obviously if we get that below one we can control and reduce the outbreak. So it's a very good measure of our mitigation and control strategies. Next slide.
 
So this is showing across Australia the symptomatic case detection rate and according to this model, which will be published today, we are detecting in a model sense only - we could be detecting 100% of all cases - but they’re estimate is we’re detecting, within the margins of error of this model, about 92% of all symptomatic cases. And you will see that there are different predictions for each state. These are showing four states here but they are all very high. Next slide.
 
These are the other states. All of our states and territories have a very high symptomatic case detection rate. What that tells you is that our testing regiment, our surveillance regiment, is highly effective. And to show you that more starkly we will look at the next slide - you see it’s very hard to read, people on TV probably can't see it, but right down at the bottom of the slide is Australia which is ranked highest in this model of all of those countries in its symptomatic case detection rate. The estimates are showing that we are the most likely country in the world in this modelling - of the countries shown here - to be detecting  our symptomatic cases. And they’re estimates showing that Australia has an estimate of 84% on this model. So that was very reassuring about our public health surveillance. Next slide.
 
And this is the effective reproduction number that I talked about before. And we are showing it here for all states. You can see there that South Australia and Tasmania, the other states have dropped off the bottom there, but you can see Tasmania, down the bottom there is showing a little kick up and we expected to see that because of that little outbreak in Burnie. That shows how sensitive this measure is. That will drop away very quickly as that outbreak is brought under control. You can see in the other three states there, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, that the effective reproduction rate is well below one, showing that the epidemic is reducing. Next slide.
 
And this is showing Victoria and Western Australia again below 1. So what we are showing here is the measures that are being used to monitor the outbreak on our real Australian data, the measures that we've got to reassure us that our public health surveillance is good and our response measures are good. But as I said earlier, our public health response has to get even stronger if we are going to be able to relax distancing and take us through this pandemic with the least amount of social disruption but the best possible public-health control. Thanks PM.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Brendan, we’ll start on this side this time, Mal did you want to go first? Or? I was just going to move across so?
 
JOURNALIST: Thanks PM. Could you elaborate on what you are saying that we won't be able to return to the old days in terms of I think you were saying in terms of fiscal policy? That there were going to have to be changes there? Or have I misinterpreted that?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No I was talking about general policy settings at both a state and federal level. On the other side of this virus and leading on the way out we are going to have to have economic policy measures that are going to have to be very pro-growth, that is going to enable businesses to employ people, that is going to enable businesses to invest and businesses to move forward. Our government sees business at the centre of the economy. We do not see government at the centre of the economy. In the middle of an emergency crisis such as this of course government to protect Australia’s sovereignty must step in with these emergency measures, but going forward we need to see a revitalisation of the private sector economy and that means we need policy settings at both the state and federal levels that’ll encourage that growth and that’ll encourage that employment and encourage that investment and there will be an opportunity I think for federal and state governments to work together and, initially and potentially beyond as part of a National Cabinet process to do that. Now, Commonwealth Government, Federal Government will be doing it’s thing there’ll be a Budget in October, and equally the states will be doing what they need to do, but there was a very clear message from the economic advisors this morning, particularly Dr Lowe, and that is, that if we thought that we can just grow the economy under the old settings then we need to think again.
 
JOURNALIST: You say in your principles that with the teachers and schools, that you want to ensure the health and safety of teachers, at a practical level how is that actually going to work particularly when maybe a lot of students might actually go back to school in term two?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Particularly given? I missed the last part?
 
JOURNALIST:  When students actually go back to school in term two, if we do see a lot of students go back?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Look I’m going to ask Dr, Professor Murphy to talk about the advice, that the medical expert panel had given to schools they are releasing today, I think we need to appreciate that because of the term structure that is so different for different states, that there is going to be some variation, and that's understandable. But effectively what you’re seeing in Victoria this week, is what you are seeing in New South Wales just a week ago, as they are coming into the term break. And Queensland is coming back I think next week, and states will move at different times. I think what you see in these principles is an understanding that of course, face-to-face learning in a classroom on campus that is the best way to deliver education, that is an obvious statement, but at times like this then alternative models are being used, principally to protect the safety of teachers, in this environment, and so these models will be used for a time, but, ultimately, at some point we’d obviously like to get back to that other arrangement, that’s certainly what the Federal Government’s view is and we will continue to work with everybody to that end but states will have to set their own rules around that, but we need to be very clear as states and territories have, this is not a health issue for kids, this is a health issue for those who are working at schools, and as I said they are more likely to be at risk in the staff room then they are in the classroom. Brendan?
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: So as the PM said, the most important thing is to protect teachers, so we have recommended that older teachers and teachers with chronic disease not be working in the classroom but we are also recommending that there is a range of measures that teachers can take to reduce the risk, so clearly right across the school environment reducing the size of groups, teachers can practice social distancing with each other, we know that children don't seem to be transmitting this virus to any great extent in schools, but clearly some children have picked up this virus, a small number, mostly in the family, so we are recommending that teachers practice good distancing particularly with other adults but also some distancing in the classroom, that children practice very good hygiene, and there’s a whole range of measures that will be released this evening in how to make a school safer.
 
PRIME MINISTER: It’s practising good hygiene, it’s all of these issues. And as I said, they set out their first aid arrangements, it is a pretty exhaustive list so you’ll have that very very shortly. 
 
Just hang on, I’m working around the room, everyone will get a go. Yep?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Winston Peters flagged a more relaxed border arrangement between New Zealand and Australia on television this morning, he called it a trans-Tasman bubble, how far have those arrangements gone, and is that how you imagine border control as well being loosened over time, New Zealand first and then staggered by a country to country basis?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s, we are aware of their interest in that, it has not got much beyond that, I mean New Zealand at the moment has been in a state of even more extreme lockdown, there in New Zealand, that has been their process. So we are aware of that but we are not at present contemplating any border changes at the moment, we will obviously work closely with New Zealand, we have all along, and our measures have largely mirrored each other, New Zealand decided to go a lot further but I’d note that the outcomes we are getting are actually on a per capita basis actually better than what is happening in New Zealand, that is not a criticism that is just to say that while following different practices, where we’ve pitched it has managed to get as good if not a better outcome.
 
Yep here, I’m sorry we’ll go to the back and then, no no, you’re next- go ahead?
 
JOURNALIST: Will the government bail out Virgin?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I will give the same answer I have given to this question each and every time, and that is, we as a government, appreciate the value of two competitive, viable airlines in the Australian economy, we are in a very unusual period at the moment but that is a good outcome to have in the Australian economy, that any responses that the Commonwealth government is going to have will be done on a sector wide basis, and that's the way we will continue to pursue those issues, I'm aware that there are many market-based options that are currently being pursued, and I would wish those discussions every success.
 
JOURNALIST: PM, Professor Murphy, the actuaries Institute has done some modelling, they estimate that there might be 20,000 cases in Australia, and if broader testing was used including random samples those numbers might be found, would you have a response to that?
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: My, our sense is that is unlikely, we can't be absolutely sure, one of the challenges is that it's pretty clear now there are some asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 that don't present  for testing. But we have done some pretty broad scale testing in a lot of states now, South Australia is testing everybody with respiratory illness, New South Wales has broadened it’s testing, Victoria’s broadened its testing, we have existing, what we call Sentinel surveillance which has been going for weeks, a range of general practices which test every single person with respiratory illness, we are testing every unusual pneumonia in every hospital, if we had that level of undetected cases I think we would have found it by now, but we were definitely going to broaden our testing and surveillance and that is the reason we want to put broader surveillance in before we relax our measures but I think that estimate is likely to be too high.
 
PRIME MINISTER: I’d refer you to two numbers, when you look at Australia's positive test rate on those tests which is one of the most comprehensive in the world, is a positive test rate of 1.7%, you compare that to Sweden at 14%, or even Japan at 8.5%, I think that gives you an idea of the level of precision we are currently getting, the other one I refer you to is the rather morbid statistic of the fatality rate which is at just under 1% at the moment. Now when you look at the mortality rates you are seeing elsewhere in the world, I mean the UK you are seeing that rate up at almost 13%. And in other countries like Spain it’s over 10%, France, over 13%, in the Netherlands it’s 11%, they have a population of 17 million. One thing I think we can be very sure of in Australia and this is why I think Professor Murphy said in the courtyard the other day, the one set of numbers we do believe is Australia's. And that is because we, I think we are pretty confident, particularly, sadly where there have been fatalities, when they have been COVID related, sadly overseas I don't think they can have that same level of confidence. 
 
Phil?
 
JOURNALIST: PM, just back to your comments on business as usual on economic policy on the other side of this and the need to drive business productivity and the investment, does that mean we can expect from the Federal perspective at least to see changes, the lowering of taxes that are seen as impediments like corporate taxes and changes to IR laws and things like that? Is that what, would we be looking in that sphere?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I think it would be premature to speculate on that at this point Phil, I think the advice from the governor and the advice from Treasury, is very much that we couldn't expect the high levels of growth if we were to continue with similar sort of policy settings, so that is something we are going to be examining very very closely and I want to do it very closely with the states and territories because they have a big role to play in all of this as well. I mean one of the things that the transport and infrastructure ministers are working on right now, I think they’re meeting now, led by the Deputy Prime Minister is how we can get some of these projects going again, I mean one of the areas of the economy which hasn't been restricted is our construction sector, I mean in New Zealand they have shut the construction sector down. And the construction sector, I want to see more roads built, I want to see more bridges built, I want to see more roads fixed, I want to see those things happening now. Because that will be good for the economy, it will be good for employment, and it can be done in a COVID economy, that is one of the things that the Transport Ministers in particular are working on at this very moment.
 
Okay I’ll start at the front and go to the back?
 
JOURNALIST: Just on schools, you’ve said it’s very jurisdictional, are there just differing views from state to state on what should be done in this sector in their own jurisdictions and on childcare, is anything changing in this, you said we are ahead of where we thought we would be, parliament will resume sooner rather than later, is childcare going to resume sooner rather than later and what does that mean for the funding the government has put in place, that’s meant to last for six months?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll start with the second one first. Childcare, the arrangements we put in place for childcare, or universities, or private hospitals, JobSeeker, JobKeeper, these are all on this  six month timeframe I mentioned before, and that’s over the June and September quarters and you can anticipate they will stay in place for that period of time. In terms of schools and the views of individual jurisdictions, well I think the principles we have released today and agreed summarise the general position that all the schools should be following in each jurisdiction, but of course there will be differences, take the Northern Territory for example, in the Northern Territory they will be back next week and back exactly according to normal, there have been virtually no cases, I think there have been actually no cases for some time now in the Northern Territory. So they are doing that from next week I understand, more broadly and in Victoria, you know the arrangements there, I know in New South Wales they are working on a range of different options about how they might come back and Western Australia the same, in South Australia as they went into the break they had attendances of 50 per cent and at one point up to 80 per cent, so I think you are seeing differences between states about how parents are engaging, how schools are acting, and I would expect to continue to see that. Because schools are delivered at a state and territory level, but these principles I think set out quite clearly what the priorities are and where we would like to ultimately be.
 
Sam? 
 
JOURNALIST: The principles you outlined here, I think we all accept the fact that your position on schools is really clear, the principles are clear as mud, they are full of the sort of poly waffle language we have come to know and love from COAG,
 
PRIME MINISTER: Sam that’s unlike you.
 
JOURNALIST: They do accept that the states are are in charge so what are parents to make of this? Do you accept as Victoria has proposed that it is a risk to have parents doing drop off and moving around the state, how soon will your own children be going back to school, and what is your response to Malcolm Turnbull's book where he claims that you are a Machiavellian plotter and that the finance Minister Mathias Cormann didn’t think you were not up to the job?
 
PRIME MINISTER: On the last point, I am not interested in any distractions, I’m focused on the safety and health of Australians, and I think that’s what you’d expect me to say and it’s certainly my position.
 
I don't share your rather cynical view about the principles Sam, I really don't. In terms of these principles what we are setting out is that of course, you want in the best of arrangements for children to be able to be taught at school by professional teachers. That's the clear objective we would all want, sorry?
 
JOURNALIST: That’s not in the principles though?
 
PRIME MINISTER: It is. It’s principle 1. It says, our schools are critical to the delivery of high quality education for students and to give our children the best possible start in life. Our education systems are based on the recognition that education is best delivered by professional teachers to students in the classroom on a school campus. Principle 1.
 
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] say that flexible and distance learning?
 
PRIME MINISTER:  well it says, that it is accepted that during the Covid-19 crisis, alternative flexible remote delivery of education services may be needed. Now that’s not going to be happening in the Northern Territory, as I just said. So I think this does provide a very clear objective of where you’re seeking to get to, now in relation to drop-offs and pickups, we actually, I agree with the Victorian Premier I think we do have to be very careful about the interaction between parent on drop-offs and pickups because that's where the potential infection occurs, but those things can be accommodated they can addressed, I don't think that's not something beyond the wits of most parents and schools, I mean at the drop-off at my own children’s school you are not allowed to get out of the car, you are not allowed to see the principal who is there, the kids get out, I can't even go around to the boot and get their bags out, they have to do that themselves, so there is no contact between any adult and that was before Covid-19. In relation to my own kids that you ask about Sam, I want my own kids to go back to school and to be taught in a classroom by a teacher. That's what I want to see happen, and when a school in New South Wales that they go to can deliver that for them then I will happily have them back there in a heartbeat, that's what I want them to do, I don't want them to just go and sit at a school hall and look at the Internet, I want them to go to school and learn and be taught by a teacher in accordance with principle 1 of these principles, and when that's on offer I will certainly have them there in a heartbeat, whether they are sitting in a school hall or sitting at home at the moment, the outcome is going to be the same, I would prefer obviously for my own children, as I was having them attend school up until the last week before school break because the Internet arrangements they put in place meant there was no difference between them learning at school and learning in the classroom. Regretfully, they were no longer getting classroom teaching at that school. That's what I'd like to see happen again.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned the road out, no decision for another four weeks as to when those restrictions might be eased, you set a 6-month timeline until the end of the September quarter for the economic material. Can you elaborate on what you think the road out looks like? What your strategy might be for easing what and when? And can you switch that economic lifeline support off after six months if you haven't achieved what you set out to achieve?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I think the six month timeframe gives us a ticking clock basically on this lifeline and it gives us a clear goal to work towards to ensure that we find that road out with restrictions eased ideally, and for the economy to lift to a level of activity where people's wages and incomes can be supported again, where they can get the hours, where they can get the days, where they can be back working again and be in a position to support themselves and not relying on JobKeeper or JobSeeker or things of that nature. That is the timeframe that we have bought through those economic supports, so you have got to work backwards from there. There will be I imagine baseline levels of restrictions that will be changed over that period of time, just like we are saying in about a month from now there will be some changes to the baseline restrictions that we put in place a few weeks ago. That is what I was just about to get to. So when we hit a trigger basically on this RF (reff) provision, that statistic, when we get to that and when we have got in place the broader testing regime for surveillance, the automated contract regime in place, and we have scaled up our capacity to respond to outbreaks, that is what we are looking to do in the next four weeks - build that up and then what the states and territories and ourselves are working on, on what you would call high-value, low risk economic activities that we will be able to start to open up more of.
 
JOURNALIST: Is that going out of the road the same way you came in effectively? Is it working backwards?
 
PRIME MINISTER: In broad terms I don't think that is an unfair assumption but the specifics of it are being worked through. I think it will be some time. I think social distancing, the washing of the hands, the doing of those things, that is something we should do until we find a vaccine. Those sorts of things, the 1.5m, being conscious of your distancing with each other, that is something we will live with this for the foreseeable future, but when it comes to the specific economic restrictions that have been put in place, well after the next month then there will be the opportunity to review that and potentially make some changes if we meet those other benchmarks. But within the next four weeks, states and territories that went further than those baselines both in enforcement and with some additional measures of their own, they have indicated today that they will be reviewing those in the meantime. As I said, next week on Tuesday we will consider the issue of elective surgery, which could see some immediate return in that area which would be very positive and I have already talked about schools.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, aren't you effectively describing aggressive test, trace, isolate and when you're happy that that is working, we're on the road out?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. 
 
JOURNALIST: That’s it?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I think that is a good summary Tim. That is exactly what the advice has been and what our own sort of policy view I think has been as my Cabinet here federally as well as the Chief Ministers and Premiers, you have got to have the assurance that you can deal with outbreaks because they will happen and that could be a bumpy road on occasion. You can't rule out increasing, potentially restrictions at some point if things got a bit out of control because the virus writes its own rules. It doesn't work to our rules. But getting those protections in place - and I want to stress this about the automated contract tracing - you have heard about the fact that we are working on a tracing app that people can be involved in and there are still some issues that we have to work through on that, the privacy issues on that are being worked through very thoroughly, but the more people we have that ultimately take that up, when we are in a position to launch it, the better the tool we have, and the more able we are to be able to get down that road back.
 
Michelle?
 
JOURNALIST: Can I take you to the issue of debt and deficit, which particularly worries some of your own supporters. Would you anticipate being able to set out before the next election a roadmap to deal with those issues into the future?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well there will be a Budget in October and that Budget in October I think will begin that very process that you are referring to. Debt and deficit concerns me greatly and my concern about debt and deficit is based on the fact that I have been part of a government for six years that has worked incredibly hard to get the Budget back into balance and a growth in debt reduced from 30 per cent to 0 in the space of that six years, so when you go through that process you are particularly sensitive to the issues of increased debt and deficit.
 
JOURNALIST: So tackling it early rather than later?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We will have a plan to deal with it, just like we have had a plan to deal with it for the last six years, and I think Australians can take some comfort and confidence from that, that as a government we have already demonstrated our ability to deal with debt and deficit in the past, but you will recall that for almost all of that period of time, this is a time when we went to record levels of health and education spending. This was a time when we went to engage in the biggest recapitalisation of our defence forces and growing us to 2 per cent of GDP in defence spending that is the highest level we have seen, and turns it around from pre- Second World War levels when we came to government, so what we will do is ensure that we will be growing that economy to support our Budget and to ensure we have the right settings in place around living within our means as a Budget to deliver the right outcome to get the debt and deficit under control.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, regarding that mobile phone app you are developing, can you confirm that for those who have downloaded it it will require the phone to capture the numbers of anyone who they spend more than 15 minutes with over a rolling period? It will require those to be collected, and will you consider less privacy intrusive options such as the model advanced by Google and Apple?
 
PRIME MINISTER: well I would contend that that model that you suggested would be less invasive I would suggest that your thesis is incorrect. I would.
 
JOURNALIST: Well the Google and Apple one uses beacons.
 
PRIME MINISTER: And I think the permissive option around a trace app that enables people to elect to do exactly the same thing that you are proposing, the Google and the Apple proposal does exactly the same thing, it is just that it is not a consent based model. The trace app which has been put in place in Singapore is a consent based model and the reason we are not quite ready yet is we are still working through ensuring that it meets the privacy protections, robust and up to a standard that we believe is necessary for the Australian context and that is what the Attorney General in particular is working on right now. It is a complex area, but it is a tool that Australia will need if we are to pursue the road out of this that we would like to pursue.
 
We’ll go right up the back and then we’ll come to you.
 
JOURNALIST: PM in addition to the elective surgery that you are going to be reviewing, might you also include IVF procedures? That has been a concern for parents who have been told, well prospective parents who have been told they can't do that and, if I may, a technical question for Professor Murphy. About a week ago you started publishing recovery data. Do we actually have a nationally standardised way to determine when a person is considered recovered? Is that being applied by every state and territory?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I will let Brendan deal with both of them actually because that was the intention.
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: Yes, I think IVF is definitely something that would be considered an elective procedure and something that was paused during the elective surgery cessation and it is something that the state and territory health departments will be considering along with the other range of elective activities. It is very important if we do restart elective activity that we only do it through the confines of our available PPE supplies so it would have be fairly gentle because we have to ensure we have enough protective equipment. So that modelling is being done at the moment. At the moment recovery, we have stopped doing clearance testing after people have recovered, so a recovery - people are allowed out of isolation, two weeks after diagnosis if they have been completely symptom-free for 72 hours and we are making an assumption in our modelling that people who are released from isolation are now recovered. There is no longer - unless you are a healthcare worker - in some states we are doing tests to make sure that you're not still carrying the virus. So we are working towards a nationally consistent algorithm to determine recovery at the moment.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on, I’ll go to Brett and then,
 
JOURNALIST: PM just to, you sort of opened today by saying that the states and territories agreed that there’s a need to synchronise the health and economic response. There will still be be a lot of parents tonight who won't know whether they should send their children to school. Are you frustrated that there isn't that synchronisation in terms of education? And to both of you the big announcement today in terms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities testing and care, can you perhaps elaborate on how important it is in those communities where you have said you have been most worried about Covid-19 taking hold?
 
PRIME MINISTER: I will let Brendan deal with the second part of that. Look on the first part of it. I wouldn't agree with your assessment of how I would feel about it. The principles I think do set out very clearly what we all agree and what we are all sort of working towards. Parents should follow the instructions that are being provided by state premiers and their state education ministers. And for the arrangements put in place - see if you are going to school in Victoria there is only one person you need to listen to, and that is the Premier of Victoria. As to what you are doing in Victoria, likewise in New South Wales you should listen to what, the Premier of New South Wales. You don't get the choice to go to Victoria one day and New South Wales another, even if you live in Albury-Wodonga, but if you are living in the Northern Territory it is what the Chief Minister is saying and they have different arrangements again. We are a big enough country with very different geographic and different case scenarios that are occurring in the states and territories for there to be some differences, but those differences I think all accord with the principles that we have set out today. So I think it is very clear that the medical expert advice is - children are safe to go to school, but there are issues within each state about the delivery of education, which they have had to take into account, which means that they will be operating on slightly different bases, but consistent with these principles. 
 
Oh sorry, on the Indigenous issue.
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: So we have from the outset of this pandemic, we have been very concerned about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, they are a high risk group, if, particularly in remote communities if this virus got in it could do significant damage. So we’ve had from the outset a community owned and informed strategy, which is unlike other communities, perhaps with the exception of aged care, it is focused around keeping out the virus out at all costs, which is why many of those communities have set up very strict isolation and prevention of people coming in, but also programs to health screen and check people who might have to come in and work in those communities. Clearly there is now a broadened testing program. We will be using what we call remote testing kits that can go into communities and we have used them in sexually transmitted infection diagnosis in the past. We are getting the test kits to be able to have mobile testing, but the key issue is to prevent the virus getting into those communities at all costs.
 
JOURNALIST: Why has Australia not trying to eradicate the virus given our progress has been so strong and if we are not at the New Zealand end of the scale yet, is it possible we will get there at some point in future?
 
PRIME MINISTER: As we observed today and Professor Murphy will touch on this, as well, a by product of the approach we are taking may well be what you say, that could well happen. But the eradication pathway involves an approach which would see even more economic restrictions than are currently in place and that is not seen to be, a wise, in our view, trade-off in how we are managing the two crises that we are facing, the economic one and of course the health one. Now we are doing well on the health one and I want to do better on the economic one. So the suppression strategy which we have been following, that’s basically what we have been following for about a month, I think that has sat well within the groove of Australia's ethos and how we live and what we would hope. I think it is rubbing at the edges a bit in parts of the country, and that is understandable. We like our freedoms, we like to be able to do what we want to do. We like having a barbecue, we like going out, we are very social beings Australians and we really miss it and we miss our kids being able to get together and go to school and be with their friends, and we miss all of that. But the suppression path is the best Australian path. As I have said throughout this, the solutions we are putting in place are the right solutions for Australia. We are not looking to copy anyone. We have the right plan for Australia.
 
Brendan?
 
PROFESSOR MURPHY: Yeah so it's quite possible we could eradicate the virus in some parts of the country. We’ve had some states have had no cases for some days and small numbers of cases all imported. We are on the same trajectory as New Zealand which is aiming for eradication and if we achieve complete lack of transmission and no cases that would be great. But we don't know then whether there are asymptomatic cases circulating. You cannot relax your surveillance and control mechanisms because you have for a period of time not detected new cases for a period of time. Essentially there is not a lot of difference between an aggressive suppression strategy and an eradication strategy, with the exception that we don't feel the need to hold the country very seriously in lockdown until we have no cases. But if that happens, with the measures we are doing now, that would be fantastic.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yep, last question.
 
JOURNALIST: Am I allowed two because I waited until the end?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Been so patient, like all Australians.
 
JOURNALIST: Just following on from Brett's question, if things progress as anticipated by National Cabinet, when would it be business as normal, do you think, in terms of going back to school for families in every state? And just one question on JobKeeper as well, we are hearing reports of employers asking workers to give back some of their JobKeeper payment. Is there a penalty for employers that rip their workers off?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yep, I’m going to follow, I can't tell you the precise penalty of the top of my head, and I’m happy to get that to you, but that sort of behaviour where that’s occurring by employers that is disgraceful and it's illegal, and they should be reported to the police and the ATO, to ensure that can be followed up, it's not on, it is really appalling behaviour. We will move quickly on that, and so we will seek the cooperation on that as we do on any other law  and order issue when it comes to those matters, I would expect over the next month or so and into May and I know each of the states are looking into different arrangements, I mean, Victoria has only just come back, they have set the arrangements for going back now and that is fair enough, Queensland will go back next week and New South Wales after that, and New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia have a bit more time to how they will conceive what they might do in a few weeks’ time, ACT the same. As I said, Northern Territory has already made its decision for when they go back, but the principles we have set out today I think, not just what they agree to but there is an aspiration attached to them which I think is important, I don't think anyone wants to see us not have schools operating like they used to of course you want to get back to that, I believe all states and territories will be taking the right decisions they believe are appropriate to get them back to that point, how long that will take, well we may see better things on that front by, in May some time, the same time we might see the Parliament come back, I think that is an indicator of us trying to get back on to at least to some form of new normal when it comes to this it won't be like it was before but our experience over the next few months will be very much that iterative step-by-step, there won’t be just one day when it goes back to how it was before, that’s just not how this is going to work. It's going to be step by step, there is going to be some trial and error, this is completely uncharted territory, no country in the world has worked this out yet, I know Germany today they’ve outlined their schools will be coming back for May, there are changes and we will see how they are planning that, I know France is looking at different issues, so we will all work together and we will all find a way through. 
 
Just before we finish I know there has been some commentary about the World Health Organization, now of course Australia is always going to consider where we put our funds and we always want value for money and those things are always under review, and indeed what I announced at the Lowy Institute, that we were reviewing how we are engaging with all these organisations that included the WHO, I should stress, and that’s a process that’s been going on for these many months since then, and there is a report coming back very soon. And while I have had my criticisms of the WHO as have many other leaders, and i think they are very valid criticisms, we have got to remember also, while they may have had a few poor outings lately there are also some very important work they have been doing and I do want to make reference to it. The WHO has responded in our Pacific family here to over 300 requests from the Pacific, 68 shipments of PPE to 20 countries and territories, over 35 deployments to countries assisting Fiji in particular with their testing capability, establishing Covid-19 isolation facilities in Timor-Leste, this is the same WHO that was there in the Samoa measles outbreak of last year, the polio outbreak in PNG in 2018 and they do work in the Western Pacific on eliminating measles, rubella and tetanus, maintaining high levels of polio vaccination, the safety of essential medicines and vaccines, eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV and hepatitis and preventing diabetes and hypertension. So look I know they have had their criticism and frankly I think it has been quite deserved and of course we are frustrated but they do important work, they do do important work, and they do important work here in the Pacific and we will keep working with them but it won't be uncritical. 

Thanks very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42785

Prime Minister’s Easter Message

9 April 2020

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Easter in Australia will be different this year, as it will be all around the world. 

It's still true that we'll be able to gather together in our immediate family, but there won't be the opportunity for that extended family gathering, special times I know, as well as going off to church and our religious services where we can remember the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The coronavirus means this Easter will be different and we will be staying at home. 

And it's important because we cannot undo the tremendous progress we have made together in recent times. 

So this Easter we are staying at home. Don't travel. Don't go away. 

For Christians, not being able to gather does not diminish the hope that we have through this important Easter period. 

This year, we will live out our faith by doing the right thing. 

That means staying at home, making sure we're checking on our neighbours and supporting our communities and families, our friends. 

That's what living our faith is all about. 

So as we go into this Easter long weekend, whatever your religious views might be, I do wish you a Happy Easter, Australia. 

I hope it is a time as you come together in your homes, together with your immediate family, that it will be a strong reminder about what's most important. 

Happy Easter, Australia.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42777

Ministerial Statement, COVID-19

8 April 2020

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Thank you, Mr Speaker.

We gather again today in unusual circumstances, during extreme times, to consider extraordinary responses to the twin crises our nation faces—to our nation's health and to our economy. What we do today is what governments have always done in such circumstances, where our nation is under threat, and it is what previous generations have done before us.

Today we act to protect Australia's sovereignty. When Australian lives and livelihoods are threatened, when they are under attack, our nation's sovereignty is put at risk and we must respond—as a government, as a parliament and as a nation together: nurses, teachers, drivers, cleaners, doctors, police and paramedics; factory workers, engineers and bankers; grocers, miners, farmers, pastors, priests and imams; politicians, union officials and even lawyers; and mums, dads, grandparents, kids and families—all of us. Our sovereignty is measured in our capacity and freedom to live our lives as we choose in a free, open and democratic society.

We are not a coerced society. We act through our agreement and our wilful support of the national interest and through our many institutions, including this parliament and the many other parliaments around this country. We will not surrender this. Our sovereignty is enabled by having a vibrant market economy that underpins our standard of living, that gives all Australians the opportunity to fulfil their potential—to have a go and to get ago. We will not surrender this. Our sovereignty is demonstrated by the quality of life we afford Australians, with world-class health, education and disability and aged care and a social safety net that guarantees the essentials that Australians rely on. We will not surrender this. Above all, our sovereignty is sustained by what we believe as Australians, what we value and hold most dear: our principles, our way of life and our way of doing things. We will never surrender this.

So make no mistake: today is not about ideologies. We checked those in at the door. Today is about defending and protecting Australia's national sovereignty. It will be a fight; it will be a fight we will win. But it won't be a fight without cost or without loss. Protecting our sovereignty has always come at great cost, regardless of what form that threat takes, and today will be no different. So today we will agree to pay that price through the important measures we will legislate. But today, as a government, I want to commit to all Australians, as Prime Minister, that once we have overcome these threats—and we will—we will rebuild and we will restore whatever the battle ahead takes from us.

As a nation we are working together nationally, especially through the national cabinet. I wish to again place on record my thanks to all our premiers and chief ministers. We have come together to lead together in a new way through these crises. I thank all of my ministers, who I lead together with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Treasurer. We are, all together as ministers, ably advised by our experts and officials in the Australian Public Service. I particularly want to acknowledge Professor Brendan Murphy and his team.

I thank all of my colleagues on the government benches for their input and leadership in their communities, as I do all members of this House and the other place. I thank the opposition leader and his parliamentary team and all of our staffs.

I extend my thanks to the many businesses, large and small; to the unions; to the banks; to the media; to the not-for-profit organisations and welfare and charitable groups; to Indigenous leaders; to the churches and other faith groups for their prayers, for their support and the many efforts that they are making. Together we have now established the key baseline supports and protections that have bought us much-needed time in these crises, to get us through—and I will speak of those actions today—but there is a long way to go in this fight. This has been our road in. We will now lead the country on the road through and then the road out and beyond.

It has been 16 days since this House last met. As of this morning, 5,956 Australians have contracted the coronavirus. Thankfully, 2,547 have recovered, while 294 are hospitalised, 92 are in intensive care and 36 are on respirators. Sadly, there have been almost 50 deaths in Australia. Tens of thousands more have died across the world. One of those was the member for Cooper's father-in-law. On behalf of the government and the parliament, I extend our deepest sympathies to the member for Cooper and her family.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr Morrison: They are with all who have lost loved ones in recent times, here and overseas, and are fearful of that event occurring in the future. And, as a nation, we especially send our best wishes to our good friend the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson. Get well soon, Boris. We need you.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr Morrison: When the House last met, new cases were growing at more than 20 per cent a day. In recent days, it has averaged two per cent a day. This is very encouraging. We are flattening the curve. We are buying ourselves precious time in this fight. I want to thank the overwhelming majority of Australians for doing the right thing. You are saving lives; you are saving livelihoods. But we have to keep up our efforts. Progress can be easily undone, as we have seen in other places around the world. We are only a few days away from Easter, a time that should give us great hope. The message is clear, though: stay home, don't travel, don't go away. We can't let up now.

I've said many times we are facing twin crises: the health crisis and an economic one. We must deal with them simultaneously and in real time, and so often they work against each other. But that is the balance we must achieve. Since the parliament last met, we have taken many actions on many fronts. People coming back from overseas now have to self-isolate for 14 days in a designated facility. The national cabinet has further tightened restrictions on public gatherings, and these are taking some time to get used to. We've expanded the coronavirus testing criteria to include people with fever or acute respiratory infection and under key categories. Australians should be very proud that we have one of the most comprehensive testing regimes in the world. We have one of the highest rates of testing in the world. Today some 313,000 tests for the virus have been conducted across Australia. This is more than double the number since we last met. I commend the Minister for Health on his efforts in this respect.

Since the parliament last met, we have strengthened the preparedness of our hospitals and are working with the states to triple our ICU capacity. We've changed medical indemnity rules to encourage retired health workers to return to practice. We're supporting up to 20,000 registered nurses to get online training to better prepare them to deliver care in high-dependency and intensive care units. We have finalised a historic partnership with private hospitals, ensuring that over 30,000 hospital beds and 105,000 skilled workers are mobilised to work in conjunction with the public hospital sector. The government will guarantee the viability of all 657 private and not-for-profit hospitals across Australia through these challenging times, because we need them.

To preserve critical resources, we've acted to suspend all non-urgent elective surgery. Of course, we know many Australians still need to see their doctor during this time—and they should—and need to get the medicines they depend on for their health. So we've expanded Medicare subsidised telehealth services and we've given extra incentives for GPs and other health practitioners so that their practices can stay open for face-to-face services where needed. We know Indigenous Australians are at great risk from COVID-19, and we are making $123 million available for targeted measures to assist Indigenous communities and businesses. We're supporting those Australians with a disability through the efforts of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

We've taken action against those who would seek to profiteer from the health crisis by buying goods like face masks, hand sanitisers and medicines and reselling them at big mark-ups or exporting them in bulk overseas. It's not on. These products should be for Australians first and foremost. We've invested an initial $74 million for mental health support. And, to counter the great risk from domestic violence, we have committed an additional $150 million to support Australians experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. While we have continued to build our national medical stockpile all this time, over 30 million masks have arrived in just recent days, with great help from groups like the Minderoo Foundation, with more than 500 million masks on order and domestic production also underway.

Our government has moved decisively to address the economic storm that also confronts us. This is the greatest economic crisis to afflict the world in many generations. We have responded with the biggest economic lifeline in Australia's history, which we will consider today. I want to thank the Treasurer for his leadership as these measures have been brought together—working together, I should say also, with the treasurers of the states and territories around the country on so many other measures. So far, more than 200,000 additional jobseeker claims have been finalised over the past few weeks, with the COVID-19 supplement doubling our safety net support. Thousands of extra workers have been recruited into the public cause to ensure we can move through the claims still outstanding as quickly as possible.

Today, we will put before the parliament our JobKeeper package. JobKeeper will keep Australians in jobs and it will keep the businesses that employ those Australians in business, both now and into the future. The $130 billion economic lifeline will provide payments of $1,500 per fortnight to an estimated six million eligible workers through their employer. As of yesterday afternoon, over 700,000 businesses have registered for this support, and this number continues to grow. This payment is the equivalent of around 70 per cent of the national median wage. For workers in accommodation, hospitality and retail services—some of the most affected by this economic crisis—it equates to a full median replacement wage. We also have extended the partner pay income test for those on jobseeker; the partner test has been changed from around $48,000 to just over $79,000.

As well, we want those working with children, and particularly our essential workers, to have confidence in their childcare arrangements. The government is providing business continuity payments to support childcare services to stay open. This means around one million Australian families will be able to receive free child care. The investment complements the more than $1 billion the government expects the sector to receive through the JobKeeper payment.

Managing our workforce is a critical part of keeping the economy going. We have announced changes to temporary visa holders, including for international students, temporary skilled visa holders and working holiday-makers. We are also relaxing the visa conditions for our Seasonal Worker Program and the Pacific Labour Scheme so that participants can stay for up to one more year. This is essential for our agriculture sector, which, for the first time in a long time, is seeing rain. These extensions are subject, of course, to labour market testing, allowing local jobseekers, Australians, the opportunity for work.

The government knows many Australian businesses are under pressure, and we won't allow a fire sale of Australian businesses to foreign interests. The Treasurer has announced temporary changes to the foreign investment review framework to protect Australia's national interest. This means all proposed foreign investments will now require approval, regardless of the value or nature of the foreign investor.

With businesses and families under stress, the national cabinet has agreed to a moratorium on evictions over the next six months for commercial and residential tenancies in financial distress. Yesterday, the national cabinet agreed that states and territories would implement, legislate and regulate a mandatory code of conduct for commercial tenancies, which includes retail, office and industrial properties. The code sets out the good faith leasing principles for these tenancies. It means that businesses will be able to emerge on the other side and start trading again, not weighed down by disabling debts that would otherwise keep their doors closed forever.

We are all in this together. I know that some families, coming into this health and economic crisis, were already doing it incredibly tough. That's why we are providing an additional $200 million to help vulnerable Australians pay bills and pay for food, clothing and petrol. Additionally, we are providing almost $60 million to assist older Australians with food and other essential items. To mobilise the full resources and talent of the private sector behind our national mission, we have established the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission under the leadership of Nev Power. I thank all of those commissioners for their service. This is about government and the private sector working together to solve problems for our nation. All the measures I have detailed today are measures that we have announced in recent weeks, since we last met.

We have a long way to go. Through the actions we have taken to date, we have bought Australia valuable time to chart a way out over the next six months. But there are no guarantees, and it could well take far longer. Our country will look different on the other side, but Australians will always be Australians. We have navigated the road in, and we can now see some encouraging signs. We do stand in a place today far better than most nations around the world because of the efforts of all Australians. We've been flattening the curve, buying more time—time other countries haven't had; and we have seen the devastating effects on those nations and their people—preparing our health system for the challenges to come, putting in place the big economic lifeline and the buffers for Australians in what, for so many, will be their toughest ever year, 2020. We are charting the road through. We are all in. Our institutions are strong. Our people are strong. Australia is strong and will continue to be strong. We will respond to this challenge. We are up for the fight. We will pay the price needed to protect our sovereignty, and we will chart our way out. We will get through this together, Australia.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42888

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

7 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined by Professor Murphy, as usual. 

Together we are making significant progress. Around 6,000 cases across Australia, less than 10 per cent of those coming through community transmission at this point. We have so far avoided the many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of cases that may have otherwise occurred by this point across the Australian community, and indeed the many more fatalities that could have also have occurred by this point. The daily growth rate in cases has now fallen to just a few percentage points per day. This has occurred quite rapidly. In fact, it has occurred well beyond our expectations, in the way that we have been able to bring that daily growth rate down together, and certainly ahead of what all the theoretical models would have suggested. But we must hold the course. We must lock in these gains. It is providing us with much-needed time. We have so far avoided the horror scenarios that we have seen overseas, whether it be initially in China in Wuhan, or in New York in the United States, or Italy, or Spain, or even the United Kingdom. And just on the United Kingdom, we extend our deepest concerns and expressions of support for Prime Minister Johnson at this very difficult time for him and his family. They do not have the opportunity in all of these places that we're seeing from here, that we have right here and right now. The combination of our health and economic responses is giving us the opportunity, as a National Cabinet, individual governments across Australia and, of course, at the federal level, to plan our way through and out of these crises. We have bought valuable time, but we cannot be complacent. We must keep the tension in the cord. This Easter weekend will be incredibly important. Stay at home. Failure to do so this weekend would completely undo everything we have achieved so far together, and potentially worse. So, all the things we have been asking you to do, day in, day out, they apply especially so this long weekend of the Easter weekend. When you normally may have gone out together as family and been out in public places and parks, or gone away, or wherever you might have been, that is not something you can do this Easter long weekend. We have already seen in other countries where major festivals or events or holiday periods have been the spark for significant outbreaks elsewhere in the world. I was only speaking to Prime Minister Modi yesterday, and he was recounting a similar event that occurred in India recently. And so it is very important all Australians this weekend, that you must follow these very helpful and straightforward requests that we make of you in terms of your movements this weekend. 

Today, the National Cabinet met to consider a series of issues, including further reports from the expert medical panel, and Professor Murphy will take you through some of those matters shortly, as also work on the commercial tenancies code. After reviewing the data on progress, Professor Murphy stepped the National Cabinet through the academic modelling work that has been undertaken by the Doherty Institute that they will be releasing later today. Professor Murphy will take you through that modelling work very, very shortly. But I want to be clear about a couple of things first. You will have what we have. This is the modelling work that is available to the Government. It is the full complement of what we have available to us. The modelling work is theoretical. It is not based on Australian case data and does not model Australian responses. The modelling does not predict what will happen in Australia. It does not tell you how many Australians will contract the virus or how many may succumb to that virus, or how long it will last in Australia. The modelling work is based on international data. The early work that we had that I shared with Professor Kelly earlier was based mainly on data that had been extracted from the Chinese experience. This modelling data draws on a broader international data set that has been made available since that time. And what it does is it proves up the theory of flattening the curve. It confirms, based on that international data, that by taking the measures we are taking, you can make a difference. And, indeed, that is what we are experiencing here in Australia. We are on the right track. Controlling the spread, boosting the capacity of our health system, and buying time, giving us the opportunity for more choices. 

National Cabinet, of course, will be seeking further modelling work to be done, that it does incorporate Australian case data and modelling of the Australian responses. But part of our modest success to date means that the number of cases, particularly those through community transmission, is still quite low, which does not present a very big case base to do a lot of that work at this stage. But we are keen to see that work broken down to state level jurisdictions because, of course, the experience in different states and the capacities of their health systems are different in each jurisdiction. So, the National Cabinet fully understands the limitations of this work. And so for those who might have thought today they were going to have predictions on these things, that is not what is being presented today. And I would urge those who are reporting on it not to present it in that light. It would be misleading. But it will help us work through into the future this type of work, particularly when we get more of the Australian case data incorporated into this modelling. It will help us plan the way out. 

For now, and certainly over the weeks ahead, though, the lesson is simple, and that is that we must continue to do what we are doing. That is how we get through this. But there is still quite a journey ahead. So, we need to just continue to adjust and adapt. Today the AHPPC considered and put forward a number of recommendations to National Cabinet, and again I will ask Professor Murphy to take you through those. But I do want to run you through very briefly the decision today on the commercial tenancies code. Now, as you know, a key part of our Government's strategy at a federal level, working with the states and territories, is what has been called the hibernation strategy. And what that means is being able to preserve as much of the foundations and pillars of our economy through this time to enable the economy to rebuild and grow on the other side. That means keeping the jobs, it means keeping the businesses, it means keeping the tenancies in place, it means keeping the loans in place, keeping the credit lines open, to ensure that the liabilities that are established, or protecting against insolvencies and bankruptcies, so on the other side of these crises the economy will be able to rebuild and rebound again. And the commercial tenancies actions are very important.

Now, I want to thank very much the states and territories, in particular the treasurers of the states and territories who have been working keenly on this issue over these past 10 days or so. I also want to thank the many industry players who fed into the work of this code, both tenants and landlords alike. And it is agreed by National Cabinet today that a mandatory code will be legislated and regulated as is appropriate in each state and territory jurisdiction. That mandatory code will apply to tenancies where the tenant or landlord is eligible for the JobKeeper Program, so that defines a tenant or a landlord who would be in a position of distress, where they have a turnover of $50 million or less. So, the code is designed to support those small and medium-sized enterprises, be they a tenant or indeed a landlord. The code brings together a set of good-faith leasing principles. Landlords must not terminate the lease or draw on a tenant's security. Likewise, tenants must honour the lease. Landlords will be required to reduce rent proportionate to the trading reduction in the tenant's business, through a combination - over the course of the pandemic period - through a combination of waivers of rent and deferrals of rent. Waivers of rent must account for 50 per cent at least, of the reduction in the rental provided to the tenant during that period and deferrals must be covered over the balance of the lease term and in no less period than 12 months (sic: 24 months). So, if the lease term goes for three years, you can amortize the cost of lease of the rental deferral over that three year period, after the end of the pandemic period. But if the lease only has another six months to run, the tenant would have a minimum of 12 months (sic: 24 months). after the pandemic period in order to cover up on the deferrals of the rental payments. The arrangements will be overseen through a binding mediation process. All of this will be run by the states and the territories.

The point here is simple - it's the same request we made of landlords and tenants about 10 days or so ago when I stood up on this issue, and that is that they sit down and they work it out. This must be shared. Banks also must come to the table here and provide the support to the landlords and I would particularly send that message to international banks operating in Australia, who are, in many cases, providing that support, particularly to many larger landlords. We will expect those banks to be providing the same levels of support and cooperation as we are seeing from the Australian banks who are aware of these arrangements. What this does is it preserves the lease, it preserves the relationship, it keeps the tenant in their property and it keeps a tenant on the lease, which is also good for the landlord, and it preserves the lease that is in place that underpins the value of those assets. And so this is seen as a proactive, a constructive and cooperative mechanism for landlords and tenants to see this through together.

We also had a very brief discussion of schools today. That will be considered in greater detail on Thursday. Education ministers are meeting now, actually, to consider the issues around education and to report back to the National Cabinet on Thursday. Of course, Premier Andrews made his announcement this morning. Not unexpected. Schools are going back after the Easter break and the arrangements that he's announced are not dissimilar to those that are currently running in schools in New South Wales and many other states as they run into the term break. But it is important that we're looking at the educational impacts of what is occurring, with how the rest of the school year will be managed. From the Commonwealth's point of view, we are leaving those issues specifically to the states and territories to apply to each of their jurisdictions as they see appropriately. But from the Commonwealth's point of view, and particularly from a national economy point of view, then we obviously want to ensure that parents who are unable to provide a proper learning environment at home because of their work commitments, that they don't have to choose between their children's education and having a job that can feed their children, and that is not a situation we would consider tolerable. And so we thank everybody for working to that end. But, of course, the educationalists need to provide that advice about the structure of the balance of the year, and to ensure that our kids do not lose a year of their education.

So, I thank you, again, for your patience, after these National Cabinet meetings to run through all of those issues. Now I will pass over to Professor Murphy and he will also take you through the presentation.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So, just an update, this morning's data, we had 5,844 cases, and, unfortunately, some more deaths, tragically, with 44 deaths. We still have less than a hundred people in ICU, and less than 40 people on ventilators, which is quite a low rate of serious disease. As the Prime Minister said, the thing that worries us most of all is the more than 500 people who have acquired this virus from someone in the community that doesn't know they've had it. That means that there are people walking around in our communities who could be transmitting this virus without knowing they've had it. That is why we cannot relax what we've been doing.

We have, as the Prime Minister said, seen some very impressive reductions in growth in transmission of COVID-19. But if we, in any way, lose that rigour that the Australian community has embraced, particularly over Easter, it could all come undone. We've seen what this virus can do in a cruise ship, at a wedding. It can spread to 30, 50, several hundred people very quickly. We've got to be maintaining that vigilance and all of those practices that we've all embraced in recent weeks.

As the Prime Minister said, we discussed at the National Cabinet some other AHPPC advice statements which, will be published later today. They are advice around those experimental drugs that people are thinking about, but are still not proven to be of benefit. Advice around the use of masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers - a very sensitive issue at the moment. And we are getting more and more masks into the country as we speak. Advice around when it's appropriate for someone who tests positive to be looked after and stay in their own home under close scrutiny. Advice about organ transplantation. We've stopped doing renal transplants for the time being in Australia because of the virus risk. But we would hope to be able to resume that as soon as it's safe to do so. Also advice around those point-of-care serology tests that many of you have been reading about that have come on the market recently, and expressing some caution until we understand their role. They're not a replacement for the standard diagnostic PCR test.

So, the other thing I want to say before I go to the modelling is that a lot of people with chronic diseases, conditions other than COVID, are not currently getting medical check-ups. Our doctors are very quiet. They don't mind being quiet, but they're very worried that people are so frightened that they're not seeking medical attention. This is a really concerning issue. There are lots of people with medical conditions in the community who need regular check-ups, regular review. As you know, we've set up telehealth facilities, so you can have a telephone or a video conference with your doctor. Or you can go and see your doctor. The risk is fine as long as you ring beforehand and make arrangements, and maybe seek a telehealth consultation and go to the doctor if necessary. Please don't neglect general health conditions at the moment. That is a really important message.

So, now I’ll just go through the slides and the modelling, if we can have the, flip the next slide, please. So, basically, this modelling - two papers are ready for release, they're ready for publication. The Doherty Institute modelling team, who we have been funding for some years, actually, to do modelling as part of our pandemic preparedness. They are experts. They work on pandemic influenza. And they are publishing some stuff that they did for us early in the course of this outbreak, to help us better prepare. So, the two papers that they're publishing, one is one where they looked at some very theoretical models of a worst-case theoretical scenario to see whether we have the right tools to manage our health system capacity within potentially worst-case demand situations. The other paper is one we did looking at the risk of people travelling to Australia from other countries, based on that early China export data, so that we used that to guide us in some of the recommendations we made to government around border measures. So, the Doherty Institute will be publishing those highly technical papers later this afternoon. And those of you with scientific brains will be able to read through them. But it's very important to understand that these models are highly theoretical and they are not actual predictions, as the Prime Minister said. They're not based in any way on Australian data. In fact, they're based on data derived from countries that have had a significantly worse experience than Australia.

Can we have the next slide? So, as the Prime Minister said, we are flattening the curve. And you can see the Australian curve, which is bending, and that is a very positive sign. And you can also see the case numbers, and all of the measures that we've put in place to interrupt the transmission of this virus over recent weeks. But complacency is our biggest risk. We cannot be complacent. But this is the Australian data. This is the sort of data that we will now take, particularly the community transmission, and we will get, feed this - our modellers have got this data, and they're now doing real predictions on what might happen in different scenarios in different states, as the Prime Minister said. So, this is what the real data is.

Now we'll go and look at some of the theoretical modelling. Can we have the next slide? So, in a, when we started, before we even had many cases in Australia, the modellers looked at what would happen in this highly artificial situation if right across Australia we had diffuse seeding of this virus so that nearly 90% of the population, 23 million people, were infected at the same time. That's an incredibly unlikely scenario, that the whole country gets infected at the same time. But that, in microcosm, has been seen in some cities in the world, where we've had these huge outbreaks that have overwhelmed the system. But if that happened in Australia, you would see a very, very big peak. And you can see the most important thing we've been looking at in this health system capacity modelling was "what is our intensive care unit bed capacity?" And what is the intensive care unit bed demand? We have already planned to triple our intensive care bed capacity, and we want to make sure that we have the tools to manage the growth of serious disease with COVID-19 to within that capacity. So, in this scenario, which is what we call the unmitigated scenario, this is where you just let the virus spread, you do nothing, and treat people as they seek medical attention. And as you can see, and as has been seen in some countries, this is an horrendous scenario. It's not real, it doesn't reflect the current state in Australia, but you would see an ICU daily demand for new intensive care beds, you know, of 35,000-plus, completely beyond the realm of any country like Australia to create. So, very important message. If you had this highly artificial, very unlikely diffuse outbreak, you couldn't meet demand.

Can we have the next slide, please. So what we then did, what the modellers then did, and you can see this in the paper when you download it from their website this afternoon, is looked at, in this highly artificial, unreal scenario, what do their mathematical models tell you about the tools that we have, and that we have already used to mitigate an outbreak? So, what they've shown, firstly, in the second blip, is what happens when you do what we have been doing in every state and territory, is quarantine and isolation. Detect a case, isolate them, either in their home, in a hospital, make sure they don't spread, and quarantine all contact. That has a huge reduction in the spread of a virus, which I will show later on. But it still shows that if that's all you do, and you have this huge artificial country-wide outbreak - which, again, is unlikely, but we have to model for the worst-case scenario - you would still materially exceed ICU daily bed demand. So, then what the modellers have done is looked at a range of social distancing measures. Because we know that these social distancing measures reduce the transmissibility of the virus. We've already seen that. In fact, the modellers are already looking at early data on what's happened with social distancing in Australia. And you can see that you very significantly drop the peak. Obviously, you extend this theoretical outbreak. And I make it very clear - this is not any way a prediction of what might happen in Australia or the length of an outbreak. It's just showing what would happen in this highly theoretical Australia-wide outbreak, and how effective these measures are. That's the purpose of this graph, is to show that the measures that we have put in place successively, quarantine and isolation, and then social distancing, which we can dial up and down, have a major downward effect. So that if you do have an outbreak that is not properly controlled, you can apply these measures and we know we'll get control.

Next slide, please. So, just a couple of scenarios that you'll see in the paper when you read it. In the unmitigated scenario, you would only get about 15 percent of people who need ICU beds could access it in a conservatively increased ICU bed capacity situation. With quarantine and isolation, you get a much lower infection rate and lower hospitalisation rate. But still most people who need ICU don't get it. Once you start to introduce social distancing, and with a little bit, and then more, you can see that we very significantly reduce the infection rate, we very significantly reduce the hospitalisation rate, and we know that we could meet the ICU bed capacity. So, again, we know that, in theory, we have the tools that we can dial up to suppress an outbreak, to manage it within our resources. This is, again, not predicting what we are doing now or what's happening now. In fact, the measures we put in place now have already reduced our infectivity rate much lower than the model impact of even this most significant implementation. So, it's not a prediction, it's just showing that these tools work. Next slide. So, this is what the modelling has been, this theoretical modelling. This is what's published and you can pore all over that when it's released on the website.

But our future modelling is probably what you're more interested in and this is going to be based on real-world Australian data. So, in the real world in Australia, we don't have a diffuse outbreak across the whole country, we have focal outbreaks. The one that worries us most of all is the community transmission in Sydney. I've been saying that for a while. That's the one we're focusing on, that's why New South Wales Health has been so proactive and forward-leaning in doing a range of broadened testing in a whole lot of suburbs where they're concerned. And the early indications, as we've said, are positive, but we cannot be complacent. We must not be complacent. We must hold our line. Our current case rate is very, very low. Every death is a tragedy, but our death rate is one of the lowest in the world so far. We don't know what it will be as the disease progresses, but we are reassured to some extent about that. It's a tragedy that every one of those deaths has occurred. The community transmission is what we're going to focus our modelling on, working out what the infectivity rate, what's likely to happen, where those transmission events are occurring.

We also have to factor into our modelling other things, like we're still seeing cases in returned travellers. Our quarantine measures have been effective, but we have seen positives in people in the quarantined hotels. We have to be sure we've got enough tests to be able to test broadly, and we have to have public health mechanisms to make sure we can quarantine and isolate cases. And we're now starting to see, in the modelling data, the true impact of the wonderful uptake by the Australian community of social distancing and general hygiene measures. Some of those measures, I think, will stay with us all forever, even when this is over. I think the new approach to hand hygiene, personal hygiene, has probably changed the way a lot of us think. And that's fantastic. But we're seeing the impact of these measures in the disease now, and we will start to be able to produce and share with the public the models of what future potential scenarios in Australia are. As the Prime Minister said, we're not in any way out of trouble at the moment, but we are in a relatively strong position to keep the pressure on, make sure we're well-prepared, and plan our next approach in dealing with this virus. But the most important message from this model is we know that the tools we are using do work, and we can scale them up and down as necessary, and the data we have so far suggests that they are working. So, I'll stop there. Thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Brendan. Just before I go to questions, and I'll just start here and move across the room, if that's alright. I also want to draw people's attention to the simple procedures that Safe Work Australia have set out. You can access this at swa.gov.au/coronavirus. This deals with where there may be a suspected case of COVID-19 at work. There are seven simple steps - isolate the person from others. Secondly, ring the national COVID-19 hotline. Three, ensure the person has transport to their home or to a medical facility. Four, clean the area where the person was working. Five, identify others who had close contact with that person in the previous 24 hours and before that infected person started showing symptoms. And, six, clean the area where those others also were working. And, seven, to review the risk management controls relating to COVID-19. Now, there are more details. But I understand there has been some need for further information on that. And we were getting feedback that people weren't quite sure what to do, and may have been getting conflicting advice. If you go to swa.gov.au/coronavirus, that will give you instructions. So we’ll start right over here on the side and then go to you, Michelle.

JOURNALIST: A question for the Chief Medical Officer, in the modelling that you do have, is there any kind of indication of when you would actually start relaxing some of those social distancing measures? Or will that be when you actually get the Australian modelling?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think the latter. I think that modelling was really just to look at whether we've got the tools and the capacity. What we do next in Australia will very much depend on our real-time Australian data. And that's too early to say yet.

JOURNALIST: As you have a relatively limited number of cases, what are the advantages of trying to eliminate the virus altogether?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, that's a good question. There was a strategy that was undertaken in Wuhan to completely stop transmission, and that is one of the options available. The issue, though, is that then you don't have any immunity in the population and you really have to control your borders in a very aggressive way and that might be for a long time. So, that is one option.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: No, the National Cabinet... What is clear about the way countries are responding to this virus is that there is no clear right answer. There are lots of potential paths. National Cabinet has asked the AHPPC to come back with a range of alternative scenarios. But the good thing is that we can do that now in a position of relative calm. So, at the moment, our strategy is very much to identify, completely control and isolate every case. That may be the long-term strategy. But we have to look at all of those potential options. There is no clear path. Unlike pandemic influenza, where the strategy was to control and contain until the vaccine came, because we knew the vaccine would come, we don't know if and when a vaccine will come with this virus. If it does, that's a beautiful way out. So, we have to look at a range of different potential scenarios and we will be presenting them to the National Cabinet for their discussion. But there is no single right answer.

PRIME MINISTER: If I can add to that, the National Cabinet has to also consider the ability to actually continue to run the country under such a scenario. And as you know, the economic lifeline that is being provided through the many things that are being done, particularly at the federal level, but also at the state level, they have a finite life. And so obviously if those scenarios were to come forward and it would involve a duration that went well beyond all of the Government's capacity to support that, then that would render such an option not workable.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, now that the commercial tenancy response is in place, will the same apply to residential tenancies? Will they get mediation to defer payment? Will they get at least three months of rent reductions supported by land tax reductions?

PRIME MINISTER: Residential tenancies will now be dealt with directly by each of the state and territory jurisdictions. The issues that we've worked on as a National Cabinet have been to deal with the commercial issues, because they have that broader national economic impact, and the residential tenancies are a matter for state and territory governments, and they'll be addressing that specifically in each jurisdiction.

JOURNALIST: No baselines?

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?

JOURNALIST: No baselines? No guarantees that tenants, Australia wide, will get…

PRIME MINISTER: We have a moratorium on evictions, and then individual measures beyond that they believe are best addressed within each individual jurisdiction.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if the aim of a JobKeeper Payment is to keep people employed and tied to a business, why do you have a different system or a different threshold for the larger companies and those employees who are stood down, as opposed to the medium-sized and smaller companies, those who are stood down? The 30 and 50 per cent thresholds?

PRIME MINISTER: They have different financial capabilities and different sized balance sheets and access to financial markets.

JOURNALIST: But, I mean, why, why? Are you saying the big businesses should just suck it up?

PRIME MINISTER: Because larger businesses, in many cases, have a much greater capacity to deal with these issues, just like banks do. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying smaller businesses have a different level of capability and a higher level of vulnerability in dealing with the significant cash flow issues. I mean, it's like comparing Qantas to a corner shop. They're very different operations.

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, given that there are over 500 people who have contracted this disease without knowing where it came from, a logical extension of that is at least 500 people have been walking around, not knowing they have it. And it's been modelled earlier that one person walking around within a month could infect up to 400 people. When might we expect to see that potentially dormant amount of people reach a critical mass? And on that, do you think it's therefore likely that, of the hundreds of people let off the Ruby Princess who had the disease, that only about 11 cases have come from that in community transmission, as has been said by New South Wales Health?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, on the first question, those people that don't know they have the virus are the reason why, particularly New South Wales Health, is now broadening testing to every suburb where one of those people has been found. So, they're now testing everyone with acute respiratory illness. And they have found already some of those people who probably gave the virus to someone else. So, other states are doing sentinel surveillance as well. People are testing more broadly than the case definition at the moment. One of the interesting things to note is that people turning up to the testing centres, the numbers have dropped, mainly because people are getting less flu. Because of social distancing, our coughs and colds and flu are actually spreading less than we would have expected at this time. So, we are now testing a lot more broadly. That's a way we will find these other people. And at the moment we're not seeing a huge upswing in those cases. But that is what worries us and that's why we're broadening the testing in all of those areas where community transmission has been found. In terms of the Ruby Princess, whilst those people did leave the ship, within 12 hours of them leaving the ship, New South Wales Health had contacted every state and territory health department where they had gone to, and ensured that they were all contacted and asked to quarantine. So, we believe that most of the passengers who left the Ruby Princess were well aware that there was a risk once they found the positive cases, and we've seen the cases from the Ruby Princess that have popped up in every state have generally been in people that the health department in that state knew about, they were already quarantined, they were already watching them. So, it's too early to say how many will have been transmitted, but New South Wales Health, I believe what they're saying, they wouldn't tell me something that wasn't true.

JOURNALIST: Dr Murphy, does the modelling indicate anything about the relative effectiveness of different measures, such as whether to close schools, or whether to stop large gatherings? And if that modelling work…

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It doesn't, unfortunately.

JOURNALIST: It does not?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It doesn't. And so we're looking now at international experience. What it does, we use international experience to say what the impact of social distancing generally has achieved in Europe, and we've applied that to this model. It doesn't look at the specific impact of each of those models. They hope to get some more granularity on that, because there are other countries that have been doing social distancing for longer, and they will try and get that. But we don't have it. This is a general impact.

JOURNALIST: Can I follow that with…?

PRIME MINISTER: [Inaudible] Professor Murphy, and that is the incidence of the virus amongst younger populations, based on the international data, confirmed the advice that we have been receiving from the AHPPC that it is very low relative to the rest of the population. But Dr Murphy can probably…

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yes, so symptomatic disease in young people is still extraordinarily low. And, again, I've said on many occasions, we don't know whether children might be asymptomatic transmitters, but we have not found any evidence internationally of significant school-related outbreaks. We don't know. 

JOURNALIST: And so can I ask you to restate at the moment your advice on whether parents should be sending children to school in the light of the modelling and your latest information?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: We see no reason why. The AHPPC advice is that there is no reason to withhold children from school. We do think schools need to be made safe, and the National Cabinet has asked us to come back later this week with some detailed advice on how to make schools safe, in terms of hygiene measures, reducing gatherings, practising where possible social distancing, cleaning playground equipment, all of those things. But we believe that there is not an evidence base to say that keeping children from home is a strong public health measure on the current evidence that we have.

PRIME MINISTER: The National Cabinet and the individual premiers, when they have been making changes to schools, that has been on the basis of the workplace health and safety issues relating to the staff, to the teachers and others who are present at the school. It has not been done on the basis of the health advice, at least from the AHPPC, regarding any health risk to the children.

JOURNALIST: You've talked us through theoretical modelling using international data. There are a lot of Australians who would like to see some actual modelling, using Australian data. Is that something that you're able to provide at some point? And why isn't that useful at this point? And, PM, just to follow up, a lot of your messaging in the last few weeks has been rightly directed at adults and grown-ups, but there are a lot of children who are at home probably watching this right now. They're not at school. This is a pretty overwhelming thing to be living through. What's your message to the children of Australia who are quite anxious about the weeks and months ahead?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Ok. So, yes, there is. We now have data on nearly 6,000 Australians. That data is currently in the hands of our modellers and they are doing just as you say. It's still very early data yet. Once we have something that is scientifically valid and useful, the National Cabinet has asked us to share it with them and they will share it with you.

JOURNALIST: Does it show, though, the actual data that we're heading to best-case, worst-case, most likely? Do you have an idea on where we're trending?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It's too early to tell on the trend data we’ve got at the moment. But in the next week or 10 days, we'll have much better trend data. The data is still confounded by the noise from returning travellers. Once we’ve got that noise out of the system, we'll be able to get a much better picture.

PRIME MINISTER: My message to the children of Australia is the same message I give to my own children. I know this can be frightening and it can be scary. And they're hearing a lot of things, much of which they won't understand. I think some of the most heartening and cheering videos I think we've seen was where you see little kids in their bedrooms, with their own little lightsaber, attacking the virus. And you know, that's sort of what it feels like somedays in these roles. But I think the key message is, we will get there, we will be Ok, but we have a look after each other. They have to look after their brothers and sisters, they’ve got to look after mum and dad too and try to be as patient with them as they can. When mum and dad, mum or whoever is asking you to do something, I think it is important to do what mum says, and help them as much as they possibly can, because they are trying to do the best thing for those children. We will seek to teach them as much as we can about what's going on. The thing to know is that in Australia they are one of the most safest places in the world and their parents love them very much and their parents will do everything they can to keep them safe through all of these difficult times.

We’ll keep going across the left, yep?

JOURNALIST: Doctor Murphy, can you give us an idea of when - I know you talk about this modelling and it’s early days - when it might become available, and Prime Minister is it fair to say you will require this modelling before you can make any decisions about dialling down social isolation?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I would think in coming weeks the National Cabinet, twice a week, I am presenting to them on the data and the trends and they are very keen on what's on what’s happening. But in terms of having some meaningful data, I would say it's a matter of weeks before that would be in a useful form.

PRIME MINISTER: You can get any data at any time, but to get the right data you have to get it at the right time and that when it's ready and that's when it’s had the proper integrity and rigour applied to it. You don't want to make decisions based on poor process and poor data, and when we say we trust the science here and the research, we have got to allow them to do that work properly and not meet arbitrary timeframes. To be honest, the modelling is one of just many tools that we are using. There is no map for this. We are in uncharted territory, and Australia is in a position that  many countries would wish to be in. What we have got right now is important time, that's what Australians have given us through their cooperation and work they are doing, that is giving our researchers, our scientists, our doctors, our healthcare sector, all of us more time to be able to chart and plot the way out of this, and that is the full attention of the Government now as go forward, having got all of these larger measures in place. And so there won't be one issue that determines that, and what I think you will expect to see is the National Cabinet look at all the information coming through, and you will have some jurisdictions, some states and territories that might be in a position to move when others are not, then we will learn from the experience of those states that may have trialled things. And we may see a number of trial type of relief of restrictions at some point in the future and that would mean that in states like New South Wales or Victoria or even south-east Queensland that are more impacted that they be able to take this easing of restrictions with a bit more confidence. So the National Cabinet is working together very much on this and discussing the options that are available to them and really trying to help each other with the decisions that they need to make in each and every case. So there is no one point of data, no one point of experience, it's the combination of all and sharing the learning together and making decisions as much as we can together. Up the back.

JOURNALIST: Yep PM, so you were just mentioning how the modelling helps you with your economic response plan, can you give us information about how that's helping you with your economic response plan and also just separately, have you had any employers push harder on getting you to freeze that increase in the superannuation guarantee as a mechanism for helping them get through this period of time as well?

PRIME MINISTER: No, is the short answer to the second question, it's not a matter being raised with me, I can't say it hasn't been raised with anyone else, but that's not a matter the Government is currently considering or considering, I should say. The second point is, there are two parts to those charts, one is the peak and the other is the breadth, and states and territories and I are very conscious that the path out of this is not just about avoiding the peak, but about being able to get back to some sense of normality that will enable the economy to support Australians, without the need for the unprecedented JobKeeper and JobSeeker supplement type supports that are in place because that is finite, that cannot go on forever, that will revert, that will go back to where it was before, and so we will be working to address both of those issues, to ensure the health system can cope, but also to ensure that the duration of where we have to put limitations in place, can be minimised. And that is very difficult. That's why I have talked from the outset that there is a twin crisis we are fighting here. We are fighting on the health front, on the virus and on the economic front, to protect people 's livelihoods, saving lives, saving livelihoods that's our plan.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you spoke about how you hope the modelling will give you an idea of the path out of this, Professor Murphy said that better hand hygiene will be with us to stay how do you think Australia will look as a society on the other side of this crisis?

PRIME MINISTER: Well it's a question I think we are all asking ourselves about how we can best put in place the policy environment that gets the best outcome on the other side. And I think, as Australians go through these many months ahead, it will change many of us and our behaviours for a long time to come and in some cases not in a necessarily bad way, there will be things we learn from this experience which I think will be very important, but the other side of what we are in currently at the moment I think highlights the need for us, of course to be an open trading nation, that has been a core part, a core part of our prosperity over centuries. But equally we need to look carefully at our domestic economic sovereignty as well, and these are issues that the government and particularly the Federal Government is spending a lot of time focusing on at present.

Up the back?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this morning Gladys Berejiklian said that if a vaccine, that social distancing wouldn't be lifted until a vaccine was realised and we are hearing that could be for potentially a year or even longer, what's the AHPPC’s advice to National Cabinet on that and just further on the same issue, in terms of testing we are seeing that the guidelines are being lifted to some degree and you are testing a bit broader, is there a point at which you could be testing asymptomatic people that aren't necessarily in a risk category to see if this virus is lying dominant and any other populations?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let Professor Murphy speak to the testing other than to make this point, that the testing resource is also globally, largely, finite and so testing resources need to be applied where they are of greatest use and I know that’s the strategy being followed by the medical profession. In relation to the comments you referred to from Premier Berejiklian I know having spoken to her that her position is not as hard and fast as you may have represented. I think there is a very practical and pragmatic approach being followed by all states and territories, and that the restrictions are one of the many levers that we have to pull in both terms of getting this under control, but also at a point where we can actually move forward again and start to ease them, that's no time soon I should stress, that's why I say this Easter, make sure you follow all the rules in staying home and enjoying Easter with your own household, and spending that time there because that is what is going to save lives and save livelihoods. So it is important that we deal with this on a week by week, month by month process, and where we are in a position to make changes in the future then of course we will. Because that will be in the national interest to do that ultimately so long as we don't compromise the other battle we face which is on the health front.

PROFESSOR MURPHY: So on testing of asymptomatic people there isn't a lot of evidence about it, the one place we will likely do that, is in aged care facilities if we find a case in and aged care facility, we’ll, because we have seen some asymptomatic cases and because this virus wreaks havoc in aged care, that is a strategy that we will be undertaking, at the moment, we think the yield is more in testing people with acute respiratory symptoms in areas of community transmission, that is where we are broadening the testing at the moment, we will look at the data on asymptomatic carriage, it's not clear yet how significant that is or what people might test positive when they are well how infectious they are, that data is still emerging.

JOURNALIST: Just on cruise ships, at least 17 of our 45 or so deaths now are related to cruisers, are linked to cruisers and the cruise industry do you think the industry needs to take a fair portion of the responsibility to do with this and do you see that industry changing, long-term beyond the pandemic and its practices and so on?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm sure every single sector in the country, whether it’s cruise ships or anyone else, will be reflecting on these very difficult experiences that they have had, both negative and otherwise. They have largely been negative in terms of how they would deal with these sorts of issues again in the future. In terms of the cruise shipping industry, like many other sectors, they have got caught up in these early phases because people were out on cruise ships and that was always going to present some very difficult transitional issues in these early weeks. And there was no simple way through all of that, what I think is important to understand is what the virus has done has pushed pause on the global economy, that has never happened before. It’s never happened before, at this scale and when you think about the global economy and everything connects all around the world, people on planes, people travelling people on business, supply lines, resources on ships, all of this and then all of a sudden, it gets paused. Then that's going to cause the obvious complications that we have seen and so that’s been difficult and there have been issues, no doubt, that I think everybody would hope would have gone differently but I think, on occasion we just have to step back a bit and just reflect on how significant the impact has been here, and everybody even if they have made mistakes, I think have been trying to get this right. Journalists have been trying to get it right, you haven't always got it right too, others working in government, people working in industry they have been trying to get it right, I think we have got to give people a bit more of a break in those circumstances. Sure there are things they should have learned and sure there’s things that should have been done better and sure there’s  things that need to be done differently in the future, but you know right now? I have got to deal with today's problems and I have got to deal with next week's problems and next month 's problems and that road back and so I can't allow us to get too held back in things that have already occurred. We have got to learn from them sure, but the intray is pretty full on a lot of other things.

Phil? No I’m sorry we’ve had one question, Phil?

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, you said in response to Michelle's question about the eradication theory that one of the downsides of that may be that you do not build up sufficient community, sorry immunity in the community, do you have a benchmark in mind for what percentage of the population needs to have developed an immunity over time before we can start sort of returning to normal?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: The short answer is no, some people believe you need over 50 per cent immunity, to up to 60 per cent, and to be clear, we are not pursuing a path of herd immunity, we are pursuing a path of control and suppression, but, if you did want to get that sort of level of immunity to prevent transmission it's probably at that level but we don't know yet, that's modelled on other viruses, there’s no community in the world that has very high immunity as yet.

JOURNALIST: Just wondering about the six month timeframe we are being told about. Does it come from this highly theoretical modelling and if so how much when can we trust it and in a few weeks when we have the Australian data will we possibly have a different timeframe?

PRIME MINISTER: The six months was based on some early work that was done but also, I should stress, it has had factored into it the scale response we can provide in terms of supports. So all of these things come together and we will have to keep this under constant review, but it was important that we, I think, had a realistic initial timeframe to work to, to be able to construct things like JobKeeper. I mean, we could have done what other nations have done and said ‘Oh, we'll put this in place for a month or two months or perhaps three months.’ We said no, if we're going to do something we have got to be able to do this for the foreseeable period that we can currently about the extent of this pandemic. And so we took six months and to the best of knowledge we are the only country that have been thinking about it and those sort of longer terms and that's important because $130 billion on JobKeeper is significant. Absolutely significant, unprecedented. And if I had said to you that this was only going to cost $65 billion and it was over three months, I think I would not have been upfront with the Australian people. I would have had to have said, as we have done, we think that’s at least what we need to do. And that is going to draw heavily on our capability. But at least we know - and Australians can know - and this will be in the Parliament tomorrow, it will pass the Parliament tomorrow. It will pass the Parliament because it must pass the Parliament, because Australians need the certainty of that lifeline for that next six months. This buys us this next six months, as we work the medical professionals to chart our way through and out of this. This is an absolutely essential lifeline for Australia. That is unprecedented in its scale and its scope and its coverage. This will provide Australia with what we need to get through the next six months, and hopefully that gives us the time we need to chart our way through and out.

JOURNALIST: PM, thank you. In terms of commercial tenancies, what happens if a landlord doesn't want to engage with their tenant in this process? Even though it is a mandatory code, is there a way around people who may not do it, may not engage and negotiate in good faith?

PRIME MINISTER: They are legally required to do it. So in not following the legal requirement, they would be forfeiting their rights under the lease.

JOURNALIST: So there is no way out for a landlord is what you’re saying? And at risk of being cheeky, can I just get your reaction to the George Pell decision today?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm staying focused on the coronavirus today, thank you very much. The High Court has made its decision. I know for many Australians the memories of things that are completely unrelated to that case, which has been addressed in the High Court, just the mere discussion of these topics brings back great hurt and when these things are raised my thoughts are always with them. But the High Court has - the highest court in the land - has made its decision and that must be respected.

JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, back to the modelling. We saw some really horrific levels of infection just a few weeks ago, in the mid-teens, and higher. When it comes to the modelling, what rate of growth - because you are talking about managed rates of infection in, effect with the push and pull of levers - what rate of infection can we tolerate without pushing the ICU availability? And just one to you, a second question, you talked about a pandemic period. What is the definition of a "pandemic period"? Is it simply a declaration of the National Cabinet or is there some other metric?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So, the answer is we don't know, Andrew. That's what the modelling is going to look at at the moment with our Australian data. So, certainly we're very confident with the growth trajectory at the moment. But that can change. Particularly that community transmission is what we have to look at. We will be doing Australian modelling on that. So I can't give you an answer to that today. But we will in coming weeks if that's the course we pursue, because the National Cabinet has asked for a range of options of how we come from… some people have created the analogy, we’ve got ourselves on a life raft, unlike the US and other countries that are still in the water. We are on a life raft. We now have to chart the course of where we take that life raft. The National Cabinet wants considered advice on all the directions. We don't have those answers yet.

PRIME MINISTER: Pandemic period - when you talk about the commercial tenancies code - is mapped to the JobSeeker program, which as you know began last Monday - last Monday week, technically. That runs out for a period of over six months, around six months. That can obviously be extended or retracted, based on the assessments made by the government at any point in time, considering all the issues we have been discussing with you today. The JobKeeper programme has become, if you like, a key building block, not just for the Federal Government, but also states as well who are tagging a lot of their supports and assistance to those businesses who find themselves in those situations. So, it's not a scientifically defined space at the moment, but it is certainly assisted and being defined by the scientific and medical advice that we are receiving. So that is what we refer to when we say the "pandemic period". We’re going to leave it there. Sorry, you didn't have a question.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask very quickly, this forthcoming modelling exercise involving the Australian context, Prime Minister, will you guarantee that you will be able to release the underlying assumptions when that modelling comes out as well?

PRIME MINISTER: As demonstrated today, you're getting everything we have got. And I think that's the approach we have been taking all along. We have been very up-front with the Australian people. And the National Cabinet equally wants to be very up-front with Australians about this. That's why we have spent quite a bit of time today going into some detail, explaining the qualifications around the information that we have provided to the public today, but in, particularly to the media, and we would hope that it is appropriately reported, in terms of what it is, and also what it isn't. We will continue to be up-front with Australians, but as we close off today, there are 301 Australians based on the information I received this morning at 6:30, who are in hospital. Some 93 of those are in ICUs. Some 36 are on ventilators. And it's a reminder with the 42 fatalities that we've had there are many Australians out there at the moment who are just going through such a horrible time beyond the isolation, beyond the inconveniences of the restrictions, and also the terrible economic loss. There are those who are dealing with lost loved ones. There are those who are dealing with family members who are in ICUs, and there are those who are fearful that others might fall into that situation. And this is a heavy burden for those Australians to carry. And we need to assist them in carrying that burden as well, in the way we deal with these issues, And to Boris, we are with you, mate, and we hope you get well soon.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42775

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

3 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. The National Cabinet has met again this morning. 

The National Cabinet now is moving into a new phase, having established the many baseline supports and measures that we've put in place to suppress the spread of the virus, and we're now moving into a new phase where in our regular meetings we'll be able to review the data and in particular review measures on a regular basis and make such adjustments as is necessary as we move through this next phase. 

But I can say this, that had the virus kept growing at the same rate it was 12 days ago, we would now have more than 10,500 cases in this country. There'd be over 5,000 more cases. And in fact, some commentators who were doing the maths were suggesting that we would have had 8,000 cases just as recently as last weekend. That is a tribute to the work that has been done by Australians in getting around and supporting the very sensible measures that are being put in place all around the country by the state and territory governments. But we must continue to do this. It doesn't matter what the temperature is. If it's a warm day, don't go in masses down to the beach. That's a simple instruction that all Australians expect other Australians to abide by. It isn't just the government asking you to do this. It's your fellow Australians asking you to do this, because by complying with those arrangements and supporting those arrangements, you're supporting your fellow Australians. 

We need to continue to keep the pressure on. We need to continue to suppress the virus. We are now at single digit rates of growth, but we need to do more. The changes that you are making Australia are working and we need to keep making those changes and making sure we can make those changes on a sustainable basis in our daily lives. 

We also must continue to get the balance right. And that's why, as I said, the National Cabinet will be regularly reviewing the data and all the baseline supports and the baseline restrictions that are in place to ensure that we're only doing what is necessary to protect the health of Australians and at the same time ensure that we continue to keep our economy running and the income that is available to people through their work will be available to them, and not unreasonably taken from them. This is the road ahead. This is the road that we're making into this virus, but the National Cabinet is also very focused on the road out as well. We've talked about six month periods and that is true. They're not a guarantee, it could be longer. We pray it’s shorter, but a six month period should give people a good indication of what they have to ready themselves in terms of the changes they're making in their daily lives. 

So we are in what we describe today, as a National Cabinet, as the suppression phase. We are now in a place where we're seeking to put the pressure down on constraining this virus in Australia. We then need to look at the recovery phase, which is beyond. And I want to assure Australians that the National Cabinet is very focused on those issues as well. But in these early phases, the work has had to necessarily focus on establishing all the rules, establishing the restrictions, putting the economic supports in place, particularly through arrangements like JobKeeper and JobSeeker to ensure we were getting the additional resources into our health system, supporting initiatives in areas of community supports, domestic violence, mental health, all of these things putting in place the supply lines to ensure that we can get access to the medical tests, to the PPE equipment, the personal protection equipment, and all of the upgrading of things like ICU’s. And that work has been going at a great pace to ensure we have the contact tracing. And one of the most pleasing figures that the Chief Medical Officer and I have been observing each day is that great job the states and territories are doing. And they have employed an army of people to do this in their ranks, to be going out and tracing the contacts of those who have picked up the coronavirus. Those figures of untraced cases has fallen dramatically over the course of the last couple of weeks. And that is a great effort from the states. And I want to thank them for the tremendous work that each of them are doing on the end of that phone, ringing people up, tracking down where they've been. It's painstaking and frustrating work, but they're doing it and it's saving lives and it's saving livelihoods. 

The National Cabinet having put those controls in place, and will now continue to assess these measures on an ongoing basis. Today, we had a further report on modelling work that had been done, that modelling work is not yet complete. That modelling work looks at different scenarios. So we can be confident to an acceptable level that the potential course of the virus in Australia will run at a pace in which our health systems will be able to support the Australian population. The early news on some of this early modelling is that at the current rate, if we keep doing what we're doing and we keep doing the work to upgrade our ICU capacity and secure the extra ventilators and all of the things we're doing right now, then right now that trajectory is promising. It's encouraging, but there are no guarantees I want to stress, this virus writes its own rules and we have to seek to try and understand them as best we can and respond as best we can to the pressures that we face. Now, that modelling will have further work done over the course of the next few days. It will be reviewed again by the National Cabinet when it next meets next Tuesday morning. And then following that, the Chief Medical Officer and I will be conducting a briefing on that information and sharing that with the nation. The good news, though, is that on the scenario planning we have at the moment, we are tracking well, but we can take none of that for granted. 

Also agreed today was a range of very practical issues that we believe that are necessary at the margin and to address issues that have arisen in the community. We have from this afternoon we'll be releasing a daily dashboard on all the key statistics with a very straightforward and simple summary by the Chief Medical Officer about the key features of that data that will be done on a daily basis. Of course, that will be of great use to the media. Much of the data you'll already be familiar with in the media, but that information will be available on health.gov.au and people can look that up on a daily basis. It will be published in the afternoon because that is the period of time in which all the information has come through from the states and territories. You will note many of the Premiers are updating their information again the following morning, but that afternoon report is a daily baseline on where things are at on each and every day. 

We also agreed today, that for Easter and religious services, given all of these religious services now where they are continuing are being done in a streaming or broadcast mode. That the places where the broadcasts and the streaming is taking place from, most usually in a place of worship, they will be considered as workplaces. Now, what does that mean? It means that the same rules that apply to a workplace for those who are participating in presenting the service, conducting the service, will apply as they do in other places of work. That means particularly for orthodox religions, where particularly when it comes up around Easter, there are additional canters and there are additional other religious ecclesiastical roles that are played in those services. That means there can be additional people that are taking part in the celebration of those services, not people going to church. It's the priests and the others formerly involved in the conducting of the ceremonies. That way they can be faithfully relayed to the faith communities around the country. So it doesn't mean, churches are not open, places of worship are not open. I want to be very clear about that. But we've had a lot of feedback from religious communities that there are ways that these services are conducted and they'll be able to do that respecting absolutely the four square meters per person rule that applies in those workplaces and that and that should be followed.

Also on working holiday maker visa holders. Now, there are many of them still in Australia. Many have returned to their home countries. There are particular places that in the agricultural sector that rely on those workers each year as you go into the seasons, either for planning or for harvesting or for fruit picking and so on. And it's important that those businesses and those producers are able to continue to conduct their business. Now, of course, Australians who want to do that work, then please do, get out there and do that work. And there'll be opportunities there. For working holiday makers who are looking to engage in those occupations as they regularly do. They will be required to self isolate and to go on to Australia.gov.au and register for self-isolation and do that where they are now for a period of 14 days before they transfer to another part of the country out in a rural or regional area. At that time, their employer will be looking to see that they have conducted that self-isolation before they would be employed in that work. Now this is important to ensure that we don't get a lift up of the virus that might be in many metropolitan areas and it gets transferred to more vulnerable areas in rural and regional communities, which as yet are not experiencing the same level of the virus being transmitted in those communities. So this is being done to ensure that those producers can get the work done, but also to ensure that the communities are protected. At the same time working through the states and territories and local governments. We will be working to ensure that the workers accommodation that would be in those places is also respecting strict health requirements. You can't have 6 backpackers in a caravan up out in rural parts of the country. That's not on. Not gonna happen. You need to have more strict rules around that and local governments and shires will be observing those health rules and working with their states and territories to put those conditions in place.

On the economy. We are continuing to do everything we can to limit the impacts wherever possible and to provide all the necessary supports. And JobKeeper and JobSeeker are critical to those plans. In relation to JobKeeper, in discussion with the states and territories today, local governments and their support will be provided by the state government so that local government employees are no different to state government employees in these arrangements. Local governments are not eligible for JobKeeper from the Commonwealth government where there is support necessary, if there is support necessary for local governments that will be provided by the state and territory governments, not the Commonwealth government.

On commercial leases. As you know, we've been working on this issue for some time and I have, had hoped we'd be in a position to have finalised this today and we are very close to doing that. And the National Cabinet considered the proposals that came forward. An industry code of practice for commercial tenancies, including retail tenancies, has been worked on by the various stakeholder groups representing tenants and landlords over the course of the next few days, that industry code as the the National Cabinet reviewed that today, has not got to the point that we believe it needs to get to to ensure a sufficient security for tenants and landlords that are affected by these arrangements. What we are seeking to have happen is for the industry to complete their code and that code will be made a mandatory code, incorporated into state and territory legislation where appropriate. Where it will be mandatory for tenancies. That is the tenant and the landlord, where they have a turnover of less than 50 million and they are a participant in the JobKeeper program. As you know, the JobKeeper program has a threshold which has a 30 per cent loss of revenue. If you're in that situation and you're a tenant, then we will be working to implement a mandatory code of practice regarding the negotiations, the discussions that you will now have with your landlord to ensure that both of you, the landlord and the tenant, can get through this next period and on the other side be able to go back to business as usual and enable those businesses to succeed. And the landlord also to succeed in the future. What is important as part of this code is that both parties negotiate in good faith, that there is a proportionality principle that needs to be in this code. And that proportionality principle is simply this, that the turnover reduction of the tenant needs to be reflected in the rental waiver of the landlord. Now, how that is done inside the lease is up to the landlord and the tenant. There are many different ways you can achieve this. If, for example, there was a 3 or 6 month rental waiver because a lessee, a tenant would have had to close their doors and there's just simply no money coming in. Then one way to achieve that is to extend the overall lease by 6 months on the other side, if they're going to give a rental waiver. Similarly, they could agree to a different level of rent over the entire term of the lease. And that was shared over a longer period of time. These are things that we do not wish to be prescriptive about. What we want to do is have landlords and tenants in the room to ensure that they can work these issues out between them, so they can have an arrangement which enables them to get through this period and to get to the other side. The banks will need to come to the party as well. The banks are not parties to those arrangements. And so that makes it legally a little more difficult. But banks are already moving to providing all sorts of new facilities and arrangements to their customers. And we would expect banks to be very supportive of the agreements reached by landlords and tenants who would be working under this mandatory code. But I stress, again, I, we would like as a national cabinet for this to be done by industry and for them to finalize a code with this proportionality principle as quickly as possible so we can move to have that adopted into state and territory regulation as a matter of a mandatory arrangement. Now, if you're in that arrangement, which you would be required to enter into, if you're in the terms that I said, then you would be, have that protection of of issues around evictions. You would have the protections around claims on penalties or acting on guarantees of interest protection on rent, on all of these matters, you would be protected. Also, the landlord will be protected in that the lease would not be able to be terminated on those grounds. So there's give and take on this, give and take, those tenants and landlords are being encouraged to sit around that table and get that done now. The mandatory code would require it. And if you sit outside the mandatory code, then you are leaving yourselves out in the cold. So with those measures, we are looking forward to make further progress. States would also, under those arrangements, be looking to provide various exemptions and and waivers and reductions to some of their fees and rates. But we're looking to see that industry code come in place to ensure we can make progress more quickly. And that was the arrangement we came to today. And National Cabinet will consider this again at the latest on Tuesday morning. And if we're able to come to an arrangement before then, then we would convene to make that possible.

With those rather lengthy, but again, I thank you for your patience, remarks. I'll pass over to the Chief Medical Officer. 

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. 

So worldwide, we've now passed 1 million reported cases of COVID-19. We believe that the true number is probably five or 10 times as much as that, because we know that judging by the death rate, the testing rate, in many countries, they're not detecting all the cases. There are some countries that don't have the capacity to test. In Australia, we're now reporting 5,274 cases. But in Australia, we're pretty confident that our testing has been probably the best in the world and that we are very confident that whilst there will certainly be some undetected cases, we have a pretty good idea of the size of our outbreak. 

As the Prime Minister has said, the growth rate has been falling. It's about 5 per cent a day at the moment. The border measures have had good effect. We're still detecting return travellers. We're still detecting contacts of return travellers. But those numbers are reducing. We still have cruise ship people to come home. We still have a lot of issues with people that have contracted the virus from overseas, but we are in control of those issues. The issue that worries all of us, and I've said this on many occasions, are those community transmission, those cases which have been passed from person to person in the community without a clear epidemiology link. We know there are over 300 of those in Sydney, about 60 in Melbourne, 30 in Brisbane, and smaller numbers in some other states. That means that there are people who have COVID-19 or incubating it who don't know it. And that is why we introduced these social distancing measures that we've all been taking to heart really well. And I, like the Prime Minister, I'm truly delighted at the way the Australian public has embraced these measures, which are all about stopping, slowing that community transmission so that when cases are identified, they can be tested, they can be dealt with by the public health units and we can continue to suppress this virus. So we are quietly pleased with the direction we're going, but we can not stop because those community transmissions have been growing and they are still growing slowly. And we have to keep doing these measures to bring them under control. Thanks Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. We’ll start this side and we’ll come around. Greg?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, [inaudible] relatively low. People are going to be wondering you know, is it all worth it? So Donald Trump has told Americans that social distancing could potentially save 2 million lives, if Australians were just getting about their lives as normal, you know, how many lives are we saving through social distancing? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I said at the outset, had we not taken the measures we'd already taken just twelve days ago, there'd be 5,000 more people with the virus right now. Now we'll be sharing more information on our modelling next week. And I think that will go more to the issues that you're raising. But I can absolutely assure you that social distancing, combined with the many other measures we've put in place, is saving lives and it is saving livelihoods. Now, one of the things the National Cabinet is very keen to do now we've got through and I'm sure you would agree, there has been a massive amount of work that has had to be done to put in all the measures and arrangements we have done over the last several weeks. $200 billion worth of economic supports, investments in our health system, our childcare system, our mental health system, our emergency relief. All of these things, don't happen by themselves. There's been an enormous amount of work. The restrictions, the regulations, the state and territory governments have been putting in place as the National Cabinet has come together, has been to get us to this first stage of establishment to get the baseline of the protections and supports. Now, what we are looking to do is let Australians know what our next target is and what we're hoping to achieve in the weeks ahead so we can work together to achieve those goals. So you can expect me to be saying more about what our goals are, whether it be in what we're trying to do on the spread of the virus or what we're doing on our targets on ICU beds and things like this so we can share with Australians how we're getting there along the way. And I think that's an important point. Australians are making big sacrifices. They want to know what it's achieving. I can tell you what it's achieving right now. You're saving lives. You're saving livelihoods. And if you want to know how much, you only have to look overseas and see what is happening in other developed countries around the world. That is not our experience in this country. And we're doing everything we can to ensure it does not become our experience. No, just just one each I think.

JOURNALIST: If churches are workplaces that can safely be attended by those conducting a service, why can't the Australian Parliament sit if parliamentarians observe the four-square metre rule? And what do you say to calls for a joint committee to scrutinise the Government's response on Covid-19?

PRIME MINISTER: Parliament will resume this week and Parliament will be called and will do the work it needs to during the course of this crisis. And that will be done promptly, as you will see next week, and will be done on the modified rules that respect the social distancing and other practices that are needed. In terms of other arrangements regarding oversight, the Government doesn't have any issues with that. The Senate provides, I think, very good mechanisms for doing that and we discussed that with the Opposition last night. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the JobKeeper program, it is set up so that employers could, with confidence, pay their employees $1,500 a week - a fortnight - this month knowing the Government would reimburse them in May. Many employees have been stood down or are being reportedly told that their business, their company just doesn't have the cash flow to provide that money now. What should those people do for the next month if they're not being… if they're not going to go onto JobSeeker but they aren't able to get that $1,500 a fortnight from their employer before May 1?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the employers need to talk to their banks straight away, because what we're providing under the JobKeeper program is an absolute guarantee you can take to the bank. Because those payments will be made for each of those employees and that should enable them to put a facility in place with their bank so they can make those payments to their employees. Now, where a business chooses to not go into the JobKeeper arrangements, I mean, it's not a mandatory program. It's there to provide support. Then those employees will be able to go and make applications through the safety net process of the JobSeeker program. 

JOURNALIST: Just on international students, they’re not covered by any of the support measures that have been announced so far, is that something that the Government's looking at? We're hearing that a lot of students are struggling to keep their accommodation. If they're kicked out, that obviously causes a lot of other social issues and could more be being done by the Government to communicate to people who speak languages other than English? A lot of the feedback from communities is that these measures they're trying to keep on top of them, they want to do the right thing, but it's very difficult for them to understand in their own language.  Is that something that the Government can look at as part of his daily dashboard?

PRIME MINISTER: The communications program that has been running on people's screens now for us for some time, that also has a languages component to it, which has been rolled out around the country as well. And even in my own communications, whether it's WeChat or other arrangements, we've been pretty focused on communicating through the various language media to achieve that end. In terms of students, the Immigration Minister, well, Acting Immigration Minister i should say, will have more to say about other visa holders and the arrangements the Government is coming to for those. And I'll leave that to him to make those announcements in coming days. People should know, though, in particular for students, all students who come to Australia in their first year have to give a warranty that they are able to support themselves for the first 12 months of their study. That is a requirement of their visa when they come to that first year. And so that is not an unreasonable expectation of the Government that students would be able to fulfil the commitment that they gave. Now, these visas and those who are in Australia under various visa arrangements, they're obviously not held here compulsorily. If they're not in a position to be able to support themselves, then there is the alternative for them to return to their home countries. We still have quite a number of people who are here on visitor visas. My simple, as much as it's lovely to have visitors to Australia in good times, at times like this if you're a visitor in this country, it is time, as it has been now for some while and I know many visitors have, to make your way home and to ensure that you can receive the supports that are available where they are in your home countries. At this time, Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximise the economic supports that we have. But there are many students who are in Australia. That's why we lifted the hour restrictions on student nurses, for example, some 20,000 additional student nurses then became available into our health system. That's very important. For those backpackers in Australia who are nurses or doctors or have other critical skills that can really help us during this crisis, then there'll be opportunities for them as well. But our focus and our priority is on supporting Australians and Australian residents with the economic supports that are available.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said the National Cabinet has moved from the containment phase to the suppression phase. Can you give us an insight into what the benchmarks were for making the decision to move to the phases and what the benchmarks are for moving to the subsequent prescribers like that? 

PRIME MINISTER: I wouldn’t describe it like that and if that's how it came across, then I apologise. What I'm simply saying is in our first few weeks, we've been establishing getting all these measures in place. That is also part of the act of putting the pressure down on the virus and having those restrictions and those limitations and those controls and then the economic supports that are necessary to cushion the impact of those across the community. That's what the suppression phase is and we'll be in this for some time. We'll be in this for some time. There will be a recovery phase and we are working at the same time on the road out, not just the road in. And Nev Power, as you know, heads up the Coordination Commission. There is important work being done as part of that body's work, particularly by people like Andrew Liveris and others who are thinking about the next phase and what will have to do to get the economy back up and running again on the other side of that. And then there'll be a phase after that which will be a return, hopefully, to some form of business as usual in Australia as we once may have known it. But that is quite a way away at the moment. And so right now, we are focused on keeping that pressure down on this virus and ensuring that the measures, the restrictions, the supports that we have are sustainable. I can't stress how important this is. You can't do that forever. The Budget is only so big and the restrictions that people live under can only be lived under for so long. And so that's why it's important that we continue to look at it all the time as a National Cabinet and that we calibrate these things to how the country is moving, how they're responding, and that's why we are so grateful for their support. Mal.

JOURNALIST: PM, can we take from your comments that the National Cabinet has deployed or at least identified the major measures of the response and that subsequent meetings are going to be more progress reports than the deploying of something significant. 

PRIME MINISTER: I think as a general rule, Mal, that's a pretty reasonable summary. That doesn't exclude us from considering additional measures. The Commonwealth Government, through our Cabinet, will continue to consider those. But over these last few weeks, I think we've put the big rocks in the jar in terms of our response and that's important. That doesn't mean there won't be others, though. I mean, yesterday's announcement on child care, I think was incredibly important. The work we've done on domestic violence. And while I've said it on a number of interviews in the last 24 hours, people should go to esafety.gov.au. Your children will be online more than they ever have been and that means they are at risk more often than they ever have been online. And I encourage all parents to go to esafety.gov.au and check out the very helpful hints that will help keep your children online safe as so many of them now are engaged in distance learning. So that, I think, is a pretty good summary of where we're at, Mal. We will be looking very carefully at the data and ensuring we're being driven by what that's telling us, what the medical experts are telling us, but also in the area of education. We had a good discussion about education again today. The work is already underway about what schools should look like on the other side of the school holidays. And while I'm on that, people should not be going away for Easter holidays. This is Easter at home. We put the Easter decorations up in the house yesterday with Jenny and the kids. It might actually keep them occupied for at least an hour or so if they're painting Easter eggs or whatever. But this Easter will be at home. People should not be getting in their cars and going to other places. But beyond that, on the other side of school holidays, the education ministers around the country will be working with the medical experts to further inform how the rest of the school year can be conducted. We do not want our children to lose a year of their education. John. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what do you say to a minority of noisy critics out there who believe or don’t understand why the Government may be unnecessarily causing economic destruction to save the lives of predominantly older Australians?

PRIME MINISTER: Every Australian matters. It doesn’t matter whether they’ve just been born or they are approaching the end of their life. Every Australian matters. They matter to me, they matter to my Government and all of the members of Parliament in this place, every state and territory premier and chief minister. Every Australian matters. That's my response. 

JOURNALIST: PM, you've given us an update on the commercial tendencies. There’s a lot of confusion out there from residential landlords, is it a situation that their deals with their tenants are being dealt with on a state by state basis and not the National Cabinet and what can you tell us?

PRIME MINISTER: The priority has been on the commercial tenancies, given the business issues involved and the many business closures. And so that's where the National Cabinet has put its first attention and all of the state and territory treasurers. On residential tenancies, you'll recall that we already announced that there was a moratorium on evictions. That doesn't mean there's a moratorium on rents. It means that people are responsible for their rents, but there is a moratorium on evictions. We won't have anyone thrown out of their homes. That's very important. And there'll be further work that is being done by the treasurers on residential tenancies. But the commercial tenancies are what is very important at this point. And I should have stated before to add what I indicated earlier, the intention is there would be mediation available in the event that landlords and their retail commercial tenants were unable to reach an agreement. And I should also point out that if you are not a JobSeeker tenant, if you're just a tenant that hasn't had a reduction in their business turnover, then your leasing arrangements stand. You should be still paying your rent to the landlord. Those things haven't been suspended. These arrangements are designed to address particularly the small and medium sized tenancies. The larger retailers and the big landlords, they'll sort it out. They'll get together, they'll sort it out and they'll have arrangements because they know how much they both need each other to make both of their businesses work. But we want to make sure that smaller tenants have the protections they need to be able to sit down with their landlords. Many landlords are doing the right thing, talking to their tenants, understanding that they both need each other and coming to sensible arrangements that help them both get through. But there's unreasonableness that is happening from both landlords and tenants alike, landlords not taking the tenants calls and continuing to take the rent, tenants who are just threatening to throw the keys in their door and walk away from their leases. That's not the way we need to behave in this. What we need to do is have a code of behaviour which will be mandatory under state and territory laws that will get people into a room and get them to sort it out. And if people don't want to do that, well, they won't have those protections. Yep, Jen.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, not everyone is considerate or patient. Six months is a long time, six weeks is a long time. Are you worried people are going to start getting frustrated with these social distancing rules and start intentionally breaking them, particularly around Easter when they just want to go see their families? Apart from telling people to be patient and the state laws that are in place, what can be done? And one for Dr Murphy, if I can as well, do you believe the numbers that are coming out of China at the moment? 

PRIME MINISTER: I might let you go.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Look, I think we... the only numbers I have total faith in are the Australian numbers, frankly, because we have the highest testing rate in the world. I think China is in a really difficult position. They did clamp down incredibly hard and they stopped transmission, but their population is not immune. They still have a lot of people in their population and they are obviously trying very hard to prevent second waves. I think they have been pretty transparent. But as I said, I'm only confident about our numbers. I'm certainly not confident that the numbers even out of the US are probably much higher than are being reported because nobody else in the world has been doing testing like we have. Nobody else in the world got on to all of those original cases out of Wuhan in January and contained them. That's why we are now dealing with what we know rather than a huge community transmission that happened all through February in countries like Italy and the US. We are on top of our cases but we still have a long way to go. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Brendan. Patience must become the virtue of Australians over the next six months, at the very least. It is something we need to get very familiar with. It's something we've got to encourage each other in and it also is something the National Cabinet, all the states and territories I know are very conscious of, to ensure that we can keep these arrangements sustainably in place over the many months ahead. Where we think they can be eased, where we think they can be modified in their enforcement and how that's done, I know the state and territory premiers and chief ministers are listening very carefully to their communities. I have no doubt the police commissioners in each of the states or those who are responsible for the enforcement are listening carefully and exercising the appropriate discretion. I think we have to sort of give each other a bit of a break on ensuring how we're adjusting to this new normal. It’ll take a little while. But patience must become our virtue in Australia. That will save lives, it will save livelihoods. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what is the Federal Government doing in terms of buildings that the Commonwealth owns? Will you be offering rent relief as well and setting an example as the Federal Government?

PRIME MINISTER: We intend to. The Commonwealth doesn't have too many retail tenancies that would fall into this category. They are predominantly held by state governments and it would be our expectation that we'd be acting as a model landlord in those arrangements. Yes, I think we should absolutely do that and I know the Treasurer and the Finance Minister will be ensuring that those arrangements are in place. I’m going to keep coming around. 

JOURNALIST: PM, two quick questions. One, would you consider any option of people using financial hardship rules to take any of their superannuation to help pay rent? And secondly, overnight the US recorded its biggest historical jump in unemployment in a week. They’re a bit of a lead indicator. Do you have any concerns that that might happen in Australia? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, on the issue of access to super, we've already set out our rules about accessing super, and that applies to those on JobSeeker and they can access $10,000 of their super before the end of this year and $10,000 next year. We haven't made any additional announcements on those issues and so obviously someone who was on JobSeeker, they are clearly in a position of financial distress and there are other broader rules that apply and the Commissioner will continue to exercise his discretion, as he always does on those issues. And on the second issue, on the level of unemployment, well, this is why we put JobKeeper in place. This is why this program is such an important program. This is why we've put $130 billion into supporting the jobs of potentially 6 million Australians so they can stay connected to their employer. This is going to save tens and tens and tens of thousands of jobs immediately, and hopefully millions more, as we go through the many difficult months ahead. Now, our scheme was designed for Australia. It is Australian made, for Australian circumstances. It's built for Australia, JobKeeper, and I think it'll work for Australia as well.

JOURNALIST: Just on you've got reports of people in Queensland…

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.

JOURNALIST: You’ve got reports of people in Queensland having to go to the state administration tribunal on rental claims, that their landlords are saying the eviction moratorium you guys have introduced is not law. Do you have any comments on that? 

PRIME MINISTER: My comment to the landlords is do the right thing. Do the right thing. We're all in this together. Sit down with your tenant, the tenant that's been paying you rent, working in their business, week after week after week, respect each other's livelihoods and support each other's livelihoods wherever you can. This is going to be a tough time, whether you're a tenant, and I know there will be landlords that will feel it as well. Of course they will, and that's why the banks have got to do the right thing by them. This isn't about picking sides. It's about ensuring that Australians work together to solve a problem that they share together. It's not the tenant’s problem. It's not the landlord's problem. It's not the bank's problem. It's all of their problem. And so we need them all to work together to solve it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you aggrieved by the way Ruby Princess was handled? And also, you mentioned Chinese wet markets this morning. What do you think needs to be done about those?

PRIME MINISTER: The matters in relation to that vessel, I think, have been addressed by the New South Wales Premier, and we've just focused on meeting the next challenge and learning from the past ones and we will continue to do that. In relation to wet markets, I was asked about this this morning. It's not a matter that I've sought to raise. You asked me a question, I'll seek to give you an answer, and Alan Jones asked me about that this morning. Look, no doubt, and perhaps the Chief Medical Officer might want to comment as well, but these markets it is not the first time we've seen these types of viruses come out of these sorts of places. We don't have them here and there's good reason and I think this is a big challenge for the world into the future, the World Health Organisation and other international organisations. I think this is an area they can spend a bit of time and attention on because we can clearly see the great risks to the health and wellbeing of the rest of the world as a result of these types of places and facilities. Now, I'm not making any criticisms of anyone. I'm not making any cultural references or anything like that. I mean, there are all sorts of different countries and we all live different ways. But it is important that when you're handling these types of food supplies and how they are provided to the public and how they're treated, these things can be very dangerous, as we've seen. Did you want to say anything about that, Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Zoonotic viruses, so viruses that spread from animals to humans, are our biggest risk and that's what we've seen with Covid-19. And clearly that risk is much greater when you have close contact between a lot of live animals and human beings. So it is a risk. It's been well identified. You know, other other viruses like SARS and MERS crossed from animal to human in the same way. So it's a very important issue and I think it's something, obviously, that the Chinese authorities have been very concerned about.

PRIME MINISTER: But for now, we'll be focusing on what we need to do in Australia. We'll let other countries focus on what they need to focus on in their country. I'm speaking regularly to leaders around the world and trying to learn from their experiences and share our experiences with them. This is a very difficult challenge, as we all know, and we're fighting this war on two fronts. We're fighting the virus, put the pressure down on the virus to stop it or slow it's spread, to save lives and to ensure that we keep our economies running to support the livelihoods that Australians depend on. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42773

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

2 April 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, I'm joined by the Minister for Education and the Attorney-General as well. He'll be making some announcements on some critical areas as a result of some of the decisions we've been taking and the work that is being done. But before I do that, I’d just like to run through a few things. 10 weeks ago, this week, ahead of the rest of the world, Australia listed the coronavirus as a disease with pandemic potential under our Biosecurity Act, following the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China. We stood up our incident response centre at that time and I visited on the 22nd of January. Some of you joined me there on that day. We set up quarantine facilities soon after that, on Christmas Island and ultimately, later in the Northern Territory and we repatriated families and individuals from Wuhan, China, who had been affected by that initial outbreak area. The expert medical panel was stood up and has met every day since the 31st of January. On the 1st of February, we started closing the borders to visitors coming from mainland China. And we were one of the first countries in the world, indeed, to do so. The Chinese-Australian community did an amazing job in those early days of the spread of the coronavirus. They have been an early example to the rest of the country as the broader implications are now being experienced and the measures that have been taken. They showed all Australians back then how to do this. And I want to thank them very, very much for the example that they set in those early phases, containing and limiting the spread of the virus that had come from China in those early days was incredibly important and has put Australia in the position that we have been in now for these many weeks, where we have been able to get ahead of this, more so than many other countries around the world.

Five weeks ago - a fortnight before the World Health organisation - we called out the coronavirus as a pandemic and we activated the emergency response plan on that basis, further border closures and measures were announced and implemented. Three weeks ago our first economic package was released and that has now been scaled up, as you know, just in terms of fiscal measures of the Commonwealth to some $200 billion, with the Reserve Bank and the Australian Office of Financial Management adding a further $105 billion to that total through their support of liquidity in financial markets. The National Cabinet was formed soon after that and started to put in place the many social distancing and other restrictions and they've been upgraded ever since.

Today, emergency powers are in place across all the states and territories and at a Commonwealth level with a very clear message when it comes to the measures we need to have in place, to continue to save lives and to save livelihoods. Stay at home unless you're out there exercising, getting medical care, you are going to work or education, these are important, or getting things that you need at the shops. These measures are being implemented as was agreed by the National Cabinet, by the states and territories with the enforcement arrangements that they believe are necessary to ensure that those social distancing and other restrictions are effectively implemented in their states and territories, according to the circumstances in their states and territories. And as we know over these last couple of weeks, and particularly in this last week, this is getting very, very real for Australians as they continue to adapt and change their daily lives to what it is going to be like for us, for many months ahead.

We are one of the few, if only, countries that have been talking about the coronavirus pandemic as being one that we are going to have to live with for at least the next six months. I've been very clear about that for a very simple reason. I really want Australians to understand that we need to be in this for that haul. It will be months. We need to make changes that we can live with and that we can implement day after day, week after week, month after month. And so making your changes to your daily lives and how you do things and the other changes that have been put in place, we have sought at all times to make them sustainable, to make them scalable, because this gives us the opportunity as this happens to prepare more and more and to strengthen the position we're in so we can get more ICU beds in place, so we can get more PPE, that personal protection equipment, that we can get more ventilators and then we can even better prepare our community for the changes and impacts that will come.

We are slowing the spread, that is happening and that is saving lives and it is saving livelihoods. And again, I thank Australians for their support. The rate of growth, as we've seen, particularly over the course of this week, has fallen to; on a daily basis, single digit numbers, and that's welcome, but it's still not enough. And in particular, we're watching those community transmission numbers very carefully as are the states and territories most affected.

Over these many weeks, there have been announcements on aged care, health systems, domestic violence support, emergency relief, private hospitals. Many responses, unprecedented responses. It's creating a new normal in Australia during this virus. A new baseline as we fight the virus and we fight the economic threats that it poses.

Today, we are making further announcements. Childcare and early childhood education is critical, particularly for those Australians who rely on it so they can go to work every day, particularly those who are working in such critical areas. And as I said, critical areas aren’t just the obvious ones. It's not just the doctors or the nurses who are at the hospitals. It's the cleaners at the hospitals as well. It's the people driving trucks to get food out to supermarkets and ensure the supplies continue to run. If you have a job in this economy, then that's an essential job, in my view, in terms of the running of the economy, and it's important that all those parents who have children, that they get access to childcare and that those facilities will be there for them in the many months ahead.

The Education Minister will take you through the specifics, but what we will be doing is we'll be ensuring for those parents who are still in that position where they're needing that childcare, it will be free and we'll be putting in place support arrangements to the childcare facilities, some 13,000 of them, to ensure that they'll be able to remain open and be there for those parents to ensure that they can do what they need to do each day, just like it's essential that those schools that are out there, that they can take the children they need to take each day from those same parents so we can continue running Australia each and every day.

In addition to the issues that we've been addressing in the childcare area, which are the Education Minister will go into in more detail. Now, the Attorney-General has been working closely with the union movement. I spoke to Sally McManus again this morning and I want to thank her for her engagement in what is a very difficult time. They understand that, and I thank them for the way they've engaged in that discussion. There are, there are no blues teams or red teams or, there are no more unions or bosses. There are just Australians now, that's all that matters. An Australian national interest and all Australians working together. And I thank all of those that are coming together in that spirit. And that will be very important as we move to put in place the arrangements we are for this JobKeeper program and the many things that relate to that. And so the Attorney-General has also been working with Fair Work and others to ensure some very constructive and flexible arrangements have been put in place to help us get through this.

Parliament will return next week on Wednesday to pass the measures that we've recently announced. I'm meeting with my senior leadership tonight with the opposition, there has already been briefings that have taken place with the opposition. They've been putting forward their views and we're working through that. The drafting is taking place each and every day until very late in the evening.

But we now need to make the changes that have been made, work. That is so important. There is a new normal here in Australia and it is one that we now need to get used to and settle into for that haul over the next 6 months. That is something that will go against the grain for so many, but we adapt. We can change the way we live, but it doesn't change who we are and what I have seen from Australians in so many cases is exactly that sort of attitude. While we have to be isolated, we can still remain connected and Australians are finding innovative ways to achieve that and I think that is tremendous. Because through all of this, we must always maintain who we are as a people, our character, our principles, our values - and to live them out. We are a strong society. We are a Liberal Democratic society and, as I said in the House, we will demonstrate to the world here in Australia how such societies can deal with these sorts of challenges our way, the Australian way.

So stay positive, Australia. Stay connected, stay strong. We will get through this together.

Dan.

THE HON. DAN TEHAN MP, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Thanks. PM And as you have said, we want all parents who have to work through the coronavirus pandemic to be able to make sure that their children are getting the care that they expect and they want their children to be getting. So that's why we'll be moving to a different childcare system as of Sunday night.

It will be a system which will mean parents will get their children cared for for free. What we will be doing is turning off the old system and going to a new system which will provide that relief to parents. And can I say to all those parents, what we want to do by doing this is ensure that your childcare centre will remain open so that you know where you normally take your child to get cared, that that will be there for you so that you're not looking to have to go to a new centre, that you're not, you do you do not have the worry and the concern about trying to look for new care for your children.

The way it will work is that we will look at what 50 per cent of the fees, up to the rate cap, were in the fortnight before the 2nd of March. And we will pay you that amount on a fortnightly basis. We will also make sure that it is calibrated with JobKeeper. Now, 60 per cent of the wages, 60 per cent of the costs of a child care centre are the wages. So with JobKeeper, we are helping support the sector to the tune of over a billion dollars. With this payment, we will be helping the sector to the tune of $1.6 billion dollars. And this will enable the sector to make sure that they remain open and are providing this care for parents for free.

Now, there are some conditions that we're asking, if the sector are to receive these payments. The centre must remain open. It must provide care for those parents who need their children cared for. They must also seek to re-enroll those parents who might have dropped off. So if they need care, they can get that care as well. And to help and assist with that we're backdating to the 23rd of March the requirement that the sector must pursue from parents a fee. So we're waiving the gap fee for parents going back to the 23rd of March.

So the hope is that now all parents who need, will get the care they want. And those who have sought to disengage from from the child care sector will re-engage with the sector. I want to thank the childcare sector for the cooperative way they've worked with me and worked with the government as we have devised this new way of payment. Obviously, we've had to calibrate this after we knew the settings of the JobKeeper payments so we could ensure that we got the balance absolutely right to keep the sector functioning and viable through the next six months.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Dan. I’m going to ask the Attorney now to update on the issues relating to industrial relations.

THE HON. CHRISTIAN PORTER MP, ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Thank you, Prime Minister, and thanks to everyone present. So the Prime Minister's asked me to give you a summary of some of the changes in industrial relations and workplace relations that have occurred over the last 3 weeks and to highlight some possible next steps in that regard.

So behind the scenes, in a quiet and cooperative way, there have been a series of reforms to modern awards and the IR system that's been done cooperatively and quietly but it has been utterly critical to saving what I believe to be tens of thousands of jobs. And it’s probably fair to say that there's been the type of change in 3 weeks inside the award system that you might otherwise wait 30 years to see. The reform has been temporary, it's meant to last for as long as this crisis lasts. It's critical and ultimately it's been incredibly cooperative.

So there are 121 modern awards. There have been very significant changes to 3, restaurants, hospitality, and what's known as the clerks award. Now, whilst that's only 3 of 121, they cover about 2 million workers. These have been applications by agreement between the employers and the unions in each of those sectors, and they've been approved in record time by the Fair Work Commission. And the changes to those 3 awards have meant things like this, that an individual worker who was performing one type of duty in one type of classification can go and move and perform another type of duty in another type of classification. They have facilitated working from home arrangements. So remarkably, some of the awards were so inflexible that it was actually unlawful to work from home, of which, of course there is a great amount occurring in Australia at the moment. They've also allowed for, by agreement, things such as taking longer durations of annual leave at reduced rates. Those types of changes are absolutely critical. They would have saved tens of, tens of thousands of jobs. It's not a matter of the government claiming credit for those changes, we are here to thank the parties that have facilitated those changes. That is the ACTU, ACCI, the Australian Industry Group, individual employer associations like the AHA, individual unions like the SDA have changed the terms and conditions for 2 million workers to ensure that tens of thousands of jobs have been saved. And as I say, that's been done quietly and cooperatively but represents a massive reform to our employment relations system.

So next steps that are to be undertaken, and I should congratulate the President of the Fair Work Commission, Iain Ross, for his remarkable work in facilitating those changes that I've just described and using his own motion power in the Fair Work Commission. It's proposed that all, 103 of the 121 modern awards will be changed to allow for 2 changes across 103 awards. The first is for 2 weeks of unpaid pandemic leave for all employees. And the second across those 103 awards is the allowing of the taking of double the duration of leave, at half the pay. Now you can see how those commonsense changes would allow the flexibility in a number of businesses, which flexibility could well make the difference between survival of the business and preservation of the jobs, or the failure of the business and the loss of the jobs.

So these are incredibly important changes, they would have saved tens of thousands of jobs. And I might also add they have been critical to ensuring and protecting the supply lines of the goods and services that Australians rely on. I'm now deep in drafting with the Treasurer and Treasury to ensure that our $1,500 dollar JobKeeper payment is going to be facilitated in the simplest way legislatively. That is quite a task, but that is also a task that is going to involve changes to a number of acts. So thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Christian. And now we're going to go to questions, another figure I should have been relaying to you, is Australia has now reached a testing rate of more than a 1,000 tests per 100,000 population. That's 1 percent of the population. We're the first country to the best of our knowledge that has been able to exceed that mark. Our testing resources, and I'll ask both of you guys to join me, the testing resources that we are putting in place have been absolutely fundamental to our tracing and other measures that we're taking at a state level to ensure that we can contain the growth and spread of the virus. Those testing figures are the result of some incredible work that has been done by the Health Ministers, the securing of the testing materials themselves and their application right across the country. It has been an extraordinary, mammoth testing effort and that has put Australia on top when it comes to ensuring we have the best information on tracking this virus.

Happy to go to questions, we’ll go here, and as I’ll, try and make sure everyone gets a go. Yep?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why has it taken so long for relief for this particular sector? Hundreds of centres have already closed, parents keeping kids at home have still been paying fees to keep their place and also the centre Goodstart won't qualify for that JobKeeper payment because it's over, has a turnover of over a billion. Will an exemption be made for that major centre argument given it employs over 3,000 casual educators?

PRIME MINISTER: I'll let the Minister speak to the issues around Goodstart and those other measures, but this week we announced a $130 billion package to support JobKeeper all around the country. We, in just the last few weeks have put $200 billion worth of support into the Australian economy for the next six months. We have mobilised a testing regime better than any in the world. We have put additional resources at record levels our hospitals, into our private hospitals, into our aged care facilities. And we've been working through these issues each and every day. No government in our history has moved more quickly to deal with the resourcing needs of the Australian people than the one that is leading Australia through this crisis. Dan.

MINISTER TEHAN: Thanks PM. And we had put measures in place, we'd lift the rate of absence days from 40 to 62. We'd also asked all those centres who were suffering as a result of parents withdrawing to put into, submissions to the child care fund. And we're looking to see what additional financial assistance will be provided as well of that, as well with that fund. But the key thing was we needed to put in place a new system to deal with what was occurring. Now, the old system is quite a complex system. It was drafted for a pre-pandemic time. What we needed to be able to do with reductions in attendances is look at how we could put in place a new, new system which would adjust for that. And that required looking at ways to do that outside the current legislative framework. And this is incredibly complex piece of work to be able to do. And can I just say to all officials in the education system who have worked tirelessly on this for the last week for the sector who have liaised with the government on this. Thank you for your support because they have fully understood the complexity of what we have done. In turning a system upside down and putting in place a new arrangement which we are able to announce today. And our hope is the payment will flow before Christmas. Now when it comes to Goodstart, they have over a billion dollars in revenue, they make a profit of $100 million roughly annually. Now I continue to liaise with Goodstart. We have to see, they are just over the $1 billion revenue mark. So we continue to discuss with them. Obviously, they will benefit from what we have announced today, which puts a baseline into their funding. Now we will continue discussions with them. And I was on the phone to them this morning and I have said that I will continue to discuss with them because there is some sort of debate or discussion as to whether that $1 billion revenue mark for how long that will hold for and what then adjustments could be made.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

MINISTER TEHAN: No, I'm not, I'm not saying that exemptions will be made. I'm saying we will continue to liaise and discuss these issues through with them. But they would not have been aware, even when I was discussing with them this morning about what we have announced this morning.

PRIME MINISTER: Under the JobKeeper package also, the tax commissioner, JobKeeper applies to not for profits as well as profit, profit making companies. And the Australian Tax Office commissioner will have an authorised discretion to deal with unique cases. So that just doesn't apply in any one sector. It applies across the board.

Michelle?

JOURNALIST: A point of clarification to the Minister. Will these centres be open to all who were using them before, or the Prime Minister emphasized the importance for essential workers of varying sorts. But what about people who are not working or who are working from home? Is it open slather to them all?

MINISTER TEHAN: So what we're going to ask the centres is to prioritise and they should prioritise Obviously, those who need their children cared for because they are working, and working where they can't care for their children safely at home for them then to prioritise as well vulnerable children who need that continuity of care as well, and then to re-engage with those parents who have taken their children out of care, to see whether they can be accommodated as necessary as well. But there is a clear priority list that we want centres to take into account, and the most important of those are those essential workers and the vulnerable children.

PRIME MINISTER: So Michelle, in this new normal that we're living in, it's no longer about entitlement. It's about need. And we're calling on all Australians to think about what they need, and to think about the needs of their fellow Australians who may have a greater need when it comes to calling on the many things that are being provided.

I'll go to Greg and over the back. Then I'll come over this way.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you talk about a 6 months or more, shutdown effectively.

PRIME MINISTER: That's not, that's not the phrase I've used and that's not the phrase that I've counselled people to use.

JOURNALIST: Okay, well, you've mentioned this is something we'll be dealing with for 6 months. Would you be able to provide a threshold as to when the shut downs can start winding back to avoid a second stage pandemic? Is it, is it something like that there's no known cases or no new cases? And more importantly, will there be a ban on travel- will the borders be closed until there is a vaccine?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they’re important questions, but again, what the National Cabinet has done and the National Cabinet is meeting again tomorrow and they'll also be considering issues around childcare regulation and things of that nature. They have imposed a range of restrictions on people. I wouldn't use the phrase that you are, and again, I'd encourage people not to not to use that phrase, because that can only, I think, encourage people to think that there is a, there aren't food in the shops and things of that nature. So that's the basis of why I encourage media not to use that word. So I'd ask you to co-operate by doing that. The thresholds about when you can ease restrictions, whether they be, whether they be the social restrictions, the closures that have been put in place or indeed the travel arrangements, these are not things that are known at this point and can't be known at this point. And that's what the government working together with all the state and territory governments, our medical advisers and others are constantly looking at. But this is why I've been fairly upfront with Australians to say you're looking at least six months for this, and that's why we have to adapt. And I can assure you that if any of these restrictions were not necessary from a health point of view and if there was the ability to ease them without compromising the nation's health and indeed risk what you've noted as being a taking off of the virus again. Well, we'd have to be very careful about that. That's why I counselled that going into this, that the restrictions we put in place have got to be restrictions that we can live with each day. There were many others who advocated much stronger measures. And I did say you need to be careful what you wish for because we have to live with it for 6 months. And it's important that as a country and the governments of the country working with the states and territories, the way we implement these and we work together means that people can live with them each day because we want Australians to be able to keep doing it. And we don't want that frustration to become so much that they might otherwise walk away from the measures that we already have. So this is a partnership between governments and the public. It's a partnership to do things that are sustainable and to make the changes in a manageable way. And as I said, we are fighting a war on two fronts, we are fighting this virus and we are fighting the economic threats that it carries for us. And to do that, we have to get the balance right between all of these measures. We are watching the data very, very closely and we will see cases obviously continue to rise. No one is saying that that won't occur, but it's the pace and rate of that growth that is important. And one of the key focuses of all countries around the world and the G20 leaders, G20 leaders meeting we had the other day, was we're all investing everything we can to find that vaccine, but not just the vaccine, but to improve the treatments that are available, the anti-viral treatments. And there are some promising signs in a number of these, and we'll continue to work with other countries along those lines.

Now, over here,  yep, up the back?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when you say child care will be free, is this free for all parents or is the existing means testing arrangements still in place?

PRIME MINISTER: Dan?

MINISTER TEHAN: Yeah no, the existing means testing arrangements are no longer in place. So what this means is that we want everyone to be able to access care who is working during this 6 month pandemic.

JOURNALIST: The cruise industry in Australia is worth $5 billion dollars a year. The cruise ship industry, we've had New South Wales Police Commissioner in the last few days threaten to send the Navy out to kick out cruise ships off the coast. We've had him say that they shouldn't get treatment because the companies don't pay tax in Australia. Overnight, Trump actually said that people on cruise ships deserve to be treated humanely. Where are you sitting on this issue? And is that damaging rhetoric from the New South Wales Police Commissioner hurting our ability to get Australians who are stranded off the coast of the US home as well?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the cruise ships that are off the coast are being managed by the New South Wales government and they have the authorities that they have to deal with that. And I understand some of them were visited for the purposes of health checks very, very recently. The principles that we've had in place haven't changed, and they've been applied consistently. If there are people who are sick and need health care, then whether it's a foreign national off our shores, who is in need of that or an Australian somewhere else who is in need of that, then countries have been respecting that. And that is the position of the Australian government and that has been respected and that has been honoured as recently as we've seen in Western Australia with the cases that are there that we are provisioning those ships so they'll be able to move on their way. And that's what we would be encouraging them to do. And the states will continue to manage those issues with the authorities that they have.

JOURNALIST: The messaging here might be confusing for some parents, they were told to keep their kids at home. Now they're told to send them to childcare. What's the actual preference?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I don't, well, I disagree. What we've always said and the health advice has been very clear and it has not changed. There is no health risk to children going to school or going to childcare. So that hasn't changed. Absolutely no change. That has been the clear and consistent advice that the government has received and that I've relayed on these issues, as have the Premiers. They've all said that the health advice is clear, children can go to childcare and children can go to school. What schools have moved to largely now and will continue to, is a dual model of providing education of both distance learning for those children who can have an appropriate environment provided at home for them to do that. And where there are parents who can't do that either because they are working and they're in, if you've got a job that's an essential job, then they need the ability for their children to go to that school. And we've had great cooperation from the teachers unions, from the schools, ensuring that no child is being turned away or on that basis. Now, what we're doing here is ensuring the same arrangements exist for childcare centres. So people who have those jobs won't have their livelihoods put at risk. I don't want a parent to have to choose between feeding their kids and having their kids looked after. Or having their education being provided. This virus is going to take enough from Australians without putting Australian parents in that position of having to choose between the economic wellbeing of their family and the care and support and education of their children. I won't cop a situation where a parent is put in that place with their kids.

Now we're gonna come over here, Phil?

JOURNALIST: Regarding the airlines? The government has said it doesn't want,

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I couldn't hear you over all the shutters?

JOURNALIST: Regarding the airline industry. The government has said it doesn't want to accede to that request by Virgin for a loan. It doesn't be seen to be bailing out a specific business. Is that a principle that will be applied across the business sector as this crisis unfolds, that distressed businesses need systemic sector wide support programs rather than individual bailouts? Is that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well Phil you know I haven't made any comment on this matter. What I can only point to is the decisions that the government has made and those decisions have been made on a sector wide basis.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you’ve, you may have heard the call from the opposition today saying that backpackers that are qualified nurses maybe from the UK or whatever, that their qualifications should be fast tracked, in other words, they should be absorbed into the system as soon as possible. Do you agree with that? And one other question. What keeps you awake at night with this crisis? We see these images from New York, from London, really distressing images. And what sort of discussions do you have with your family about it?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, on the first, just remind me the first part of that again?

JOURNALIST: Nurses?

PRIME MINISTER: Yes, as you know, we moved several weeks ago to ensure that student nurses could have their hours relaxed. And I think from memory there was about 20,000 in that category to ensure that they could be made available into the health system and that's been important. And equally, there are backpackers who have a whole range of skills in both the health sector, but another critical sectors and I know in the ag sector with, you know, the great, I suppose irony of what we're seeing at the moment is those parts of our community have been suffering for so long with drought in particular have now seen some rain and they are looking to get a crop in. And there's a bit of work going on out there and they need people and we have to be careful in how they access workers that we don't basically pick up the virus from the cities and transfer it to the regional parts of our country, which are for now, less affected. And we're working on that issue right now. I got to say, with the NFF and a few others to ensure we can deal with some of those labour needs out in the agricultural sectors. But those who are here as backpackers, they also work in areas of not just healthcare, but in disability care and aged care and a range of different care settings. And they're an important part of that service. So we are looking at how we can ensure that they are better utilised during the course of this current crisis and there's more work to be done there. The immigration, the acting Immigration Minister is working on those issues as we speak. 

Mal?

JOURNALIST: On the other issue?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh I'm sorry, on the other issue. Look, to be honest, I'm pleased that my family is with me. They've joined me in Canberra, and that's a great comfort to me. And I hope it's a comfort to them but they sustain me. And we're just like any other family, I suppose, in many other respects. You talk to your kids about what this means, and I suppose the really difficult issue for all of us is trying to imagine the world on the other side of this. And to give your family some positive and encouraging news about how amazing Australia is and how we’ll all come out of this. And I think back to my grandmother and how she lived through the Depression and I remember as a kid being told stories by my grandmother about what they used to do as a family to get through, and we're doing the same thing in our house. We're keeping each other entertained, as I said the other day, we’re doing lots of jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaw sales are soaring I understand. But, you know, you've just got to keep your family positive and stay connected and together. For us, our faith is very important to us. And that helps us get through each day. But every family's different. Stay together, Australia. 

Yep Mal?

JOURNALIST: PM will Parliament have a role between now and October apart from the bipartisan endorsement of the legislation that you're proposing?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I hope it's, the Parliament will continue to do its job, as it's called on to do in terms of passing legislation and whether that's given bipartisan support ultimately, we'll find out next week. But the initial responses from the opposition have been very positive, and I thank them very much for that. And we'll have further discussions about that, we’ve already had discussions with the opposition through our, what will now be our weekly meeting for them to raise issues. And we've already got arrangements with them in terms of expenditure. And how particular the Finance Minister's advances are being utilised and things of that nature. The difficulty in calling the Parliament together is a practical one, frankly. Predominantly we've got people coming to Canberra, and we're moving to other parts of the country as we need to call the Parliament together, we will and it will continue to do its job. But equally, our parliamentarians, while they may not be meeting here, they're working incredibly hard in their communities. The phones are running hot every day, connecting people up in their communities to care and support the many programs, frankly they've got a bigger job to do out there in their communities at the moment than they would have here, because their community needs them in their community, because they are local leaders who can help lead their communities through what will be the very difficult months ahead. 

Andrew?

JOURNALIST: Just a question for the Minister, just on a few of the mechanics, mechanics of the childcare, the free childcare. Will the system revert back to, I guess, the current system at the end of the pandemic crisis? If a family wants to increase the number of days it accesses childcare? Will that be covered free as well? I'm thinking like if a nurse who's working part time, that has to go back to full time. And does it apply to everyone who has got a child in the system as of like, I guess a couple of weeks ago, or is it only those essential workers?

MINISTER TEHAN: So the way it will work is we were going to have it for 6 months. So there'll be a one month review, there’s an additional 12 weeks up until June 30 with a second 12 weeks. And then obviously there'll be an assessment made of the situation, where we're at in terms of flattening the curve with the pandemic, what the requirements are, and then we can look to see whether we would then obviously look to evolve back to the existing system. So that’s, that's the arrangement that we've currently got. But we will continue to assess and review as we go on. Obviously, all those people who are connected currently to a childcare centre, we want them to be able to get access to that centre. And for those who need to up their hours, or up their days, obviously that's a discussion that they're going to have to have with their centre themselves. But what we do want and as the PM has said, we want everyone to use common sense in this area. We want people to understand that the priority will be given to those who need to be working. The priority will be given to those who can’t care for their children.

PRIME MINISTER: Yep Shane and just behind you, and then to you. Yep?

JOURNALIST: So will parents get their fees covered if their kids are absent. And the other question being, just how will payments be made? Is it through Centrelink, through the centres?

MINISTER TEHAN: No, the payments will be made to the child care centre. So what we're doing is we're changing the way the system works. So as of Sunday night, we're going to be asking all childcare facilities to be finalising all their existing fees and getting them into the system. Currently this week and as of Sunday night, we'll be turning that off and then we'll be making fortnightly payment to centres directly because they're the ones that we have to, they're the ones we have to underpin the viability of.

JOURNALIST: Parents, if their kids are absent will they still be getting their fees covered?

MINISTER TEHAN: So what we've said, for those parents who have who have removed their children from childcare going back to the 23rd of March, centres have the ability to be able to waive the gap fee dating back to the 23rd of March.

JOURNALIST: PM you mentioned you've spent, or planning to spend at least $200 billion. I think you've announced an extra $1.6 billion today. Have you and the Treasurer started putting your mind to how you're going to pay for that? Does that include revisiting policies such as franking credits? And has it come to your mind that the senior public service and yourselves and Cabinet have to consider a pay cut? Given what's going on amongst many other businesses, including here?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, we've given great consideration to the capacity of the Commonwealth to support the announcements that we've made. And that has been done on the advice of our Treasury officials and working closely with the Australian Office of Financial Management. And this is going to put a great strain on the country, clearly, but it is one that is absolutely necessary given the circumstances that we face. But we have still been even in these unprecedented announcements, we have exercised a discipline and a measure in this. We are very conscious of the size of these commitments and what can be done, that’s why I said the other day, There'll be some who will think it's too much and some who thinks it's too little. And what we have done is sought to calibrate these commitments consistent with what the country will be able to withstand. And no, we're not reconsidering franking credits and these sorts of things.

I mean, ultimately, when we come out the other side of this, then obviously we're going to have to address the many challenges that we've taken on. One of the important principles, though, Shane, that we've put in place is to ensure that the measures are temporary and they do not provide long tails of expenditure. Now, as we know and it's, look, it's an observation, it's not intended as a criticism. It's just learning from history. When we went through this last time, there were long tails on expenditure and there were structural changes to expenditure. There are not structural changes here, whether it's what the Minister for Education, Dan has just outlined to you, or what the Attorney General was outlining in terms of industrial relations. There is a snap back there, a snap back to the previous existing arrangements on the other side of this. And so there is an intensity of of expenditure during this period. And then we have to get back to what it was like before. And then we have to deal with the burden that will be carried out of this period of time. And on the last matter, well we put the freezes in place.

Here and then we've got one, two. And I think there was one up the back and then we'll have to call it quits.

JOURNALIST: PM Do you think it's time the banks cut their dividends now as they've been forced to do in New Zealand this morning? And also secondly, is there anything the federal government can do to incentivize state governments to pass on land tax waivers to landlords to help them with their negotiations with tenants?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the first one, that's that's a matter that's being considered by the Council of Financial Regulators, and that's not a move that has been decided at this point or has been considered necessary at this point. And I'm aware of the decision of New Zealand agencies at this point, the Australian government and in particular through our financial regulators, we have not received that advice to move to that level. When it comes to dealing with the tenancy issues, this has been a key focus of the work of the National Cabinet over the last week or so. And I want to thank you, whether it's the retailers groups, the landlord groups or the banks and others, they've all been engaging very constructively in how we can deal with this very difficult issue of a, particularly a retail tenant in the majority of cases, who has had either shut their doors or have had a significant reduction in their revenue. Now, they are obviously greatly assisted by the two measures we've most recently put in place, both the JobKeeper arrangements, but also the cash flow arrangements we put in place prior to that, which could provide up to $100,000 to these businesses. But there will be quite a significant disruption to that normal tenancy arrangement. And what we are seeking to do, working with the states, is to ensure that there are the appropriate incentives in place for landlords and tenants to get together, particularly those who are under great stress. Anyone who's part of the JobKeeper program is already defined as that. And I would urge landlords and tenants to work this out. They're going to need each other on the other side. They're going to need each other to be, they're going to need the premises and the landlord is going to need the tenant. And so they need to. I tell you what the great incentive for a landlord is, if that tenant goes bust and can't pay rent. Then they've got no one paying rent and they'll be looking for a tenant in a very bad market 6 months from now. So my advice to landlords is sit down with your tenants and work it out. 

Yep, right up the back?

JOURNALIST: A question for the Education Minister. How will these measures announced today affect after school services, a lot of providers have already closed, given learning going online?

MINISTER TEHAN: So, well those after school services will be able to look at these new measures that we've put in place. And if they can start up, then we would encourage them to start up. Can I also say there is also measures as part of this, for those offering vacational care. So that will, the way that arrangement will work is that we will go back to the term three holidays of last year and look at what payments were made there over those vacational periods. And then we'll be able to offer assistance to those who are offering vacational care.

And can I just say one other thing, and it goes to what the PM was talking about, what he's talking about with his family. There are a lot of parents out there at the moment, especially those that have Year 12 students who are contemplating what their VCE is going to look like this year and what that will mean for pathways into work, into vocational education, into university next year. All the Education Ministers have these at the top of the next priority list. We wanted to deal with child care. We want to deal with child care regulation, which the states and territories have been very cooperative on. Our next thing is to look at what it means for VCE students. And can I say to all those VCE students out there and their parents, this is the next on our list of priorities. Obviously there are numerous issues that families are facing, but this is one I'm getting a lot of feedback, which is of concern and we will be addressing this in the coming weeks.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I understand that you say there is no health risk in sending kids to school, but there is some conflicting advice from the states. Gladys Berejiklian said for practical purposes, keep your kids at home. So in that case, who should parents listen to, should they send their kids to school?

PRIME MINISTER: Gladys Berejiklian in the same press conference said that there was, there was no, that the health advice said it was safe for children to go to school. So my simple point was, is the health advice has been very clear and the New South Wales Premier has made that point. Now, since that time, I mean, this is a rapidly evolving situation. And Dan just made the point that the groups of Ministers around the country are dealing with these issues, like a production line of issues that they need to address day in, day out, and where we are at now at schools is many of them are already moving to distance education. But no child is going to be turned away at a public school or at a private school if that's what their parents need for them to be there. And so parents can make commonsense choices based on their own arrangements. Schools will be doing the same. And I think that's the best way to approach the situation.

Now we’ve got one more up the back and then we'll have to call it a day.

JOURNALIST: On childcare, Minister I just want to ask about that 50 per cent, pegging it at 50 per cent of the pre coronavirus daily peak cap. By doing that, even when you take into account the jobKeeper payment on top of that, there's gonna be a reduction in revenue to these child centres from before the coronavirus crisis struck. So do you accept that there is still going to be staff losses from within the sector? And what can be done for those people?

MINISTER TEHAN: Now, what we're doing, is we're completely recalibrating the way the childcare sector will operate. And what you can't do is compare apples with oranges. And if you look at the data and when you put JobKeeper in there. Our view is that we are providing additional support to the sector and that being in providing that additional support to the sector. What we're saying to them is we want you to remain open and we want you to prioritise those essential workers. And as the PM has said, that’s anyone who's out there working, those vulnerable children and then to look at re-engaging with those who have taken their children out of the sector.

PRIME MINISTER: Alright, well I want to thank everybody, the National Cabinet will meet again tomorrow. We'll be considering a range of matters if there are issues to report on following that meeting, then then we'll do that under the normal arrangements.

Thank you all very much. 

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42769

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

30 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Now is the time to dig deep. We are living in unprecedented times with the twin battles that we face and that we fight against the virus and against the economic ruin that it can threaten. This calls for unprecedented action, governments making decisions like they never have before. And today our government has made a decision today and that I announce today - that no government has made before in Australia in response to crises such as these. And I hope and pray they never have to again. In the past, on so many occasions, they couldn't. But today we can. Today we must. And today we will. We are working now to a whole new set of rules. But it's our principles and values as Australians that will guide us through this uncharted territory and will get us to the other side together. 
 
Our actions must be well considered. They must be well tempered and targeted. They must be effective. They must be clear in their purpose and they must be efficient in their execution. It is never the time for rash and ill-conceived decisions. That is why we have applied ourselves to delivering this plan that will provide Australians with the economic lifeline that they will need in the many months ahead to make it through and to get on this bridge we're building together to the other side. 
 
Some will say it's too little. Others will say that it's too much. 
 
What I say is, we must work together to make this work, and to make it go as far as possible. We still do not know the many other challenges we will face in the months ahead and our decisions have been calibrated to that end. Our goal is to protect the lives and livelihoods of Australians, to protect and preserve the very economy that we will depend on so significantly in the months ahead and on the other side as well, for the generations that will follow us out of this. Many countries in the months ahead and perhaps beyond, that may well see their economies collapse. Some may see them hollow out in the very worst of circumstances, we could see countries themselves fall into chaos. This will not be Australia. We will get Australians through this with uniquely Australian solutions to deal with the unique Australian challenges we face here. Using our Australian systems to address these challenges, but built, most importantly of all, on our values and principles as Australians. To date, we have announced two packages of support - of economic packages worth almost $70 billion dollars. 
 
You may have thought that was a lot. And it certainly seems so at the time. 
 
This has been subsequently supported by some $15 billion dollars in additional measures by our states and territories working to the same purpose. Together with the Reserve Bank we've put together a $105 billion into our financial markets to keep our credit lines open and to support our financial system through this crisis. It's been about keeping Australians in jobs. It's about been about keeping Australian businesses in business, and it's been about cushioning the blow for those who most significantly will be impacted by strengthening our social safety net, of which we can be very proud of in this country. 
 
Today, I announce that we are committing $130 billion over the next six months to support the jobs and livelihoods of what we anticipate are being almost six million Australians, who will need that lifeline in the months ahead. We have already boosted the job seeker payment for those who have lost their jobs. Today, we are introducing a $1,500 per fortnight JobKeeper payment to keep Australians in their jobs, even when the work may dry up. We will pay employers to pay their employees and make sure they do. To keep them in the businesses that employ them and to ensure they can get ready together to bounce back on the other side. 
 
These businesses and their owners will tell you, are their employees - they are their most important asset. And this plan is about keeping those businesses together, by keeping these employees in these businesses. We want to keep the engine of our economy running through this crisis. It may run on idle for a time, but it must continue to run. 
 
Our plan will see our businesses large and small, right across our entire economy share the load with our welfare system, deliver these important income support. Our JobKeeper plan sees every Australian worker the same way, no matter what you earn. There is not more support for some than there is for others. That is not the Australian way. If one person falls on a hard time, if anyone falls on a hard time, it's the same hard time. We're all in this together. That's what's fair. That's what's Australian. So with this plan now, it is time to draw together again. It is time to chart our way through together these businesses with their employees staying together, looking ahead, seeing what it will be like on the other side and working and building towards that on the other side so they can take that opportunity and create a new future together on the other side of this. 
So they emerge together and we all emerge together as Australians as one. 
 
I'm going to ask the Treasurer to go through the details of those announcements. I would also note, in addition to the JobKeeper package, we are also extending arrangements for the JobSeeker arrangements to those who are receiving payments or seeking to receive payments where they have a partner pay income test. That partner pay income test will be changed with the taper rate and that'll extend out to what would be an annual income for the partner of $79,762 per annum, which will broaden the access to that payment for people in that situation whose partners previously were earning around about $48,000. That was the threshold. And I would note, though, that many of those partners who were seeking those payments will obviously now in very many cases be covered by this JobKeeper payment by remaining attached to their employers. I want to thank the Treasurer for the work that he has done together with the Treasury Secretary and the Treasury Department. The Finance Department, of course, the Finance Minister. This is a very big challenge. And I appreciate the work you've done, Josh, but from. All of us. It's about the support that's needed, Josh.
 
JOSH FRYDENBERG: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. Australia is facing a war on two fronts. As the Prime Minister said, we are facing a health crisis and an economic crisis at the same time. The past weeks have been tough, but the weeks ahead will be tougher. And Australians know that no matter how great the challenge is, their government has their back. 
 
Our priority all along has been to properly resource and prepare our health system for the challenges that we face in the period ahead. But we have also never lost sight of what the need is to cushion the harsh economic impact for Australians from the coronavirus as we build a bridge to the recovery. This is what the hibernation strategy has been all about. We are partnering with banks to support lending to their customers and the banks are providing a six month reprieve from having to make repayments. We are ensuring that tenants facing significant hardship as a result of the coronavirus, will have the security of a six-month moratorium on evictions. We're working with the utility and the insurance companies who have a responsibility in this Team Australia moment to help their customers get to the other side. 
 
But most importantly of all, we have been focussed on keeping Australians in jobs and Australian businesses in business. This has seen the government join with the banks to provide loans of up to $250,000. And as the prime minister referred to earlier packages, we are providing cash payments of up to $100,000 to small and medium sized enterprises. Where people have tragically lost their job, we've effectively doubled the safety net with the new JobSeeker coronavirus supplement. 
 
But today we go further, we go much further at a cost of $130 billion over the next six months. We are providing support to the Australian worker like never before. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. And this new $1,500 a fortnight JobKeeper payment will provide job security at a time when it's needed most. This payment will give working Australians their best chance of keeping their job and keeping them connected to their employers so that they can bounce back in the recovery phase. This $1,500 payment is a flat payment. As the Prime Minister said, it is the equivalent of around 70-percent of the median wage and represents about 100-percent of the median wage in those sectors, most heavily impacted by the coronavirus like retail, like hospitality and tourism. 
 
It will be available to full and part time workers, sole traders, and in the case of casuals, to those who have been with their employer for 12 months or more. From today, employers and sole traders will be able to apply to the Australian Tax Office for workers that are on their books as of 1 March. The payments will flow from the first week of May and be backdated to today. If employees have been stood down by their employer since March 1, they are still eligible for these payments. To be eligible the turnover of the business will need to have fallen by 30-percent or more, or in the case of a business with an annual turnover of more than $1 billion by 50-percent or more. Our wage subsidy scheme for Australia is unlike those announced by other nations. It's more generous than New Zealand's scheme, it's broader than the United Kingdom scheme as it applies to all employees, not just those that have been stood down, and it's available to all eligible firms, not just small businesses, as is the case with the Canadian scheme. 
 
Our scheme is  as the prime minister has said is uniquely Australian, with every eligible employee receiving the same wage subsidy. Today's announcement, together with our previous two packages, including the $105 billion injected into the financial system with the Reserve Bank of Australia, sees total support from the federal government during the coronavirus reach more than $320 billion dollars or 16.4-percent of GDP. This unprecedented level of support reflects the unprecedented moment that we are in, and the announcement today is the means by which Australians can get to the other side of this coronavirus. 
 
PRIME MINISTER: I'm going to start over here and then I'm going to move across and make sure everyone gets a go. Okay. So might start with you, David. 
 
JOURNALIST: Is this going to be enough to shield workers and businesses already affected by this?
 
PRIME MINISTER: With $130 billion of support on top of the almost $70 billion already put in and the support to financial markets, this is an extraordinary level of support in extraordinary times. But we are in unchartered waters, David. And the government will continue to do all within our power and all within our capacity. And with a measure, a plan of this scale and this size, it is certainly our intention that we hope that is the case today. 
I'm just going to move around so they will get an opportunity. 
 
JOURNALIST: PM, there are renters in the big cities who'll be struggling to pay the rent if they lose work. Fifteen hundred a fortnight while welcome may not be enough to cover their rent. Is there anything further that can be done? Is that mainly a state responsibility or is there something else that you can do to help people pay their rent? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're currently looking at rental assistance payments at the moment. We're also working with the states and territories when it comes to residential tenancy issues. That continues to be a matter that's a subject of work within the national cabinet right now, as you heard me say last night, there is a moratorium on evictions that would apply and be put in place by the states and territories to both commercial and residential leases. The follow on effects of that in terms of guarantees around rents and things of that nature for landlords and vice versa is a matter that's still being worked through. 
 
JOURNALIST: What happens, if after six months if this is still going? And also, what guarantee is there that businesses will pass this money on to staff? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: I should stress this measure is being delivered through the ATO. As I've said to all of you, on many occasions, we've been about finding existing delivery mechanisms to ensure that these supports get out. When you design new systems, then you can find yourselves in all sorts of difficulties. And even with these systems, as you can see, there of course, will be a lot of work to do, I mean, these payments are always done in arrears for things of this nature. So that will not be news. And those arrangements businesses can put in place to ensure that they can keep going and working with their banks and so on, because this is an absolute guarantee of a payment they will receive when it comes to supporting their payrolls. But the systems that will deliver this program are systems that we have assurances from in terms of the Australian Taxation Office, and that provides the mechanisms for them to follow through on the employers. This is a payment per employee that will be able to be followed through on what is known as the single touch payroll system, which is now being broadly implemented right across Australia. And that puts the checks and balances in place for the tax office to be able to ping those who are not doing the right thing. 
 
But Josh did you want to add to that?
 
TREASURER: Well thanks Prime Minister, there's a legal obligation on the part of employers in this case. And importantly, there's an alignment of interests between the employers and the employees. They want to keep this connection because they know there's going to be a time after the coronavirus and they want to bounce back stronger than ever. So we have been motivated by two key issues here. Firstly, to reduce the cost of doing business for those employers so that they can continue to keep their people employed. And secondly, to maintain that formal connection between the employer and the employee, which will give great confidence to the employee. This is a psychological and tangible material boost to employees around the country.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Lanai, and then Katherine.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this money, it will start hitting people's accounts by, in May. So what do people who lose their jobs today or tomorrow do to make ends meet between now and May? And am I right in that, you expect 6 million Australians to lose their jobs?
 
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, that's not what this means. And first of all, people will be getting paid from now. The reimbursement in arrears happens with the companies on that date, but it applies back to now, from today. 
 
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] in their accounts?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what will happen is the businesses are using their payroll systems through their normal pay arrangements and those pay arrangements will be supported from today. So what this means is, is these employees won't be going to Centrelink. They won't be engaging with the Social Security system. They'll be engaging directly with their employer. And their employer will be making the payments. And then we will be reimbursing the employer. Josh made a very important, the Treasurer made a very important point in terms of how this is different to the UK system for example, the UK system pays employers for employees that are stood down that are no longer doing any work. What we are doing is providing this support to employers when their businesses are still functioning, when their employees are actually still at work. Our scheme is designed to actually keep people not just in pay, but in actual work, wherever that's possible. And so that's why the the mechanisms kick in, the threshold kicks in when they have a downturn in revenue of 30 per cent. Now, I've been taking some soundings from people in my own electorate and they've seen their businesses fall by 50 per cent, 70 per cent. But they're still keeping people on and they're still running businesses. And this is actually an incentive for businesses to adapt to these new circumstances to keep people on doing actual work. And for those businesses that have had to close their doors because of the decisions to close down certain businesses. That means they can still have them on the books, on the payroll and still looking at how they can work together to resuscitate and revive the business on the other side. So this isn't, this isn't money for people just to go away and do nothing. This is about people remaining connected to their business and looking to the future. So we anticipate the number of employees in businesses that will be affected in this way can be as much as that 6 million figure, but they wouldn't be people who would normally be finding themselves in the unemployment statistics, even in these circumstances or even necessarily being able to go to Centrelink and get access to the job seeker support. That's why it's called a job keeper payment. It's about keeping people in jobs. 
 
Katherine.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are there any exclusions in terms of this wage subsidy, for example, if you are in Australia on a temporary work visa, will you, will you be eligible for the subsidy? also you've been talking about businesses, eligible businesses. Does this also apply to charities, 
 
TREASURER: Yes it does.
 
JOURNALIST: Not for profits, visas, arts companies? You know, the sort of people that have been absolutely slammed over the last couple of weeks. 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. I'll let the Treasurer add to this, but it does apply to not for profits as the Treasurer has said. it applies to New Zealanders who are here on 444 visas. I've had that conversation with Prime Minister Ardern. We had a discussion earlier today about those issues. That is a departure from the arrangements we've put in place when it relates to the social welfare system. New Zealanders under, on 444 visas don't don't get access to the welfare system, but they are getting access to this job keeper payment. The reason for that is we have New Zealanders who've been making a life here, have been part of work here. They're connected to businesses here. They have commitments here. And they own properties and they rent properties. And they're part of an ongoing economy in Australia. And so we're about keeping them part of that economy because they're part of what happens on the other side. The Prime Minister herself has told me that for those disconnected, if you like, from the Australian economy, they know the rules when it comes to the welfare system in the economy. And many of them are finding their way back to New Zealand. 
 
But Josh? 
 
TREASURER: Yes, Katherine, it does apply to not for profits, just like our cash payments to small and medium sized businesses also apply to to not for profits. The other point I just want to make about the UK and New Zealand schemes are they were 3 months schemes and this scheme's been announced and costed for 6 months.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah Tom?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister  could you just clarify whether any workers who have already been stood down will qualify for this latest job keeper payment?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Do you want to?
 
TREASURER: Yes they will. It goes back to March the 1st. And so if you have employees who are on the books as of March the 1st and you're the employer, you are eligible to receive this job keeper payment.
 
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] reach out to those employees [inaudible]?
 
TREASURER: Yes, the employers and employees, in many cases, when you've stood them down, you've still got them obviously, on the books. And no doubt the employers will do that. 
 
PRIME MINISTER: The ATO has a button on their, on their site, which employers can hit I understand from today that will register them as being, going into this program and that system. And so it would be a matter of the employee making contact with their employer if they fit into the categories if, the Treasurer's outlined, full time, part time and casual for more than 12 months. And then they can enter into those arrangements.
 
Coming across, ok yep?
 
JOURNALIST: So just clarifying on from what Lanai asked, are you saying that businesses could with confidence give their employees $1,500 dollars a fortnight from now and get that amount reimbursed to them in mid-May or what? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. 
 
JOURNALIST: And another one, 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Assuming on their self declaration that they are eligible, that their turn out, that their business has fallen by 30 percent. 
 
JOURNALIST: And just another point of clarification for people-
 
PRIME MINISTER: And they register with the ATO. Yes?
 
JOURNALIST: For people who might have already put in or in the process of trying to get the jobseeker payment. What exactly should they do? There are going to be a lot of confused Australians at the moment. 
 
PRIME MINISTER: They should ring their employer, find out whether they're registering to be part of the job keeper program, and they'll be able to take up that arrangement with job keeper. You obviously can't get job keeper and job seeker, and that will be one of the conditions that the employers will be working through to ensure that they're not double counting on those measures. So if you have applied to job seeker through Centrelink, then you can get in touch with your employer and translate across to the other program. That will mean it will take a lot of pressure off Centrelink and the government services system, and that will hopefully mean that we'll be able to even move more quickly through those arrangements. 
 
Andrew?
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, correct me if I'm wrong, maths, it’s about $39,000 dollars a year. You’re calling it a wage subsidy? Is it your expectation that employers if they can, would have a contribution? Secondly, it's a gobsmacking amount of money. This is clearly going to require some legislation. When is parliament going to resume?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Okay I’m going to deal with those in turn. I've already spoken to the leader of the opposition today, from this week we are having a a weekly telepresence meeting between the senior leaders of the opposition and of the government to just run through issues that are being managed by the government and to provide the opportunity to engage with the opposition with those on those items from tonight and tomorrow our key ministers, obviously the Treasurer, and others, will be engaging with their shadow ministerial, your counterparts, to provide further information and briefings from our officials to the opposition so they can understand these measures. We will be having to recall parliament. I discussed that with the leader of the opposition today, and he understands that. And we put in place the measures, the mechanisms last Monday to enable that to be done in a much smaller arrangement, and that would be done in person. Here in the parliament in Canberra to enable these, this legislation to be progressed through the parliament to give effect to it. On top of that, it would be important to ensure that if there was agreement reached on the legislation even before the parliament were able to sit, that would create greater certainty and clarity. This, some of this legislation could be a bit complicated. And so we need to ensure that that that we get that legislation right when it comes into the parliament. So it'll be convened at a time when officials can appropriately draft that legislation and we can share that with the opposition and we can have it progress through the parliament as quickly as possible, as we saw last Monday when we did that exact process for around $70, almost $70 billion worth of measures. 
 
Now, you'd have to remind me of the second question. 
 
JOURNALIST: Wage subsidies?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, yeah. Good point. And Josh will add to this, I'm sure. Yes. Is the short answer to that question. I mean, there will be businesses that will particularly those who continue in operations, who will have their employees operating and they will have the first $1,500 dollars of their wages each fortnight met by this payment. And that will give employers a bit more room to be able to keep employees in jobs and on the job for longer. 
 
But Josh?
 
TREASURER: Well Prime Minister-
 
PRIME MINISTER: And it doesn't include the superannuation. There is no superannuation guarantee levy on this payment. I should stress.
 
TREASURER: That is correct. Employees who are eligible will be receiving a minimum of $1,500 dollars because in some cases the employer will be paying them more than than that amount. And as I said in my opening comments, you will have many workers in the retail space, in the hospitality space, in the tourism space who may have been on minimum wage, this effectively is a 100 per cent of that wage. So this will this is why it's it's a very fair system with a flat payment of $1,500 dollars, that will be a minimum payment to those many people.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Over the back? 
 
JOURNALIST: Is this, so you’re saying it’s the same amount of money for everyone. Would that include, so, it's full time workers, casual workers, part time workers all receive the exact same amount? And say there was a casual worker who was on the books but was potentially earning less than this amount on a general fortnight, are they still earning the same amount it’s just across the board?
 
PRIME MINISTER: it’s a flat, it’s a flat wage payment for every single worker that feels it fits into that category. 
 
Phil?
 
JOURNALIST: A lot of workers have been stood down, have been retrenched. Are they, first question are they ineligible for this payment if they’re effectively sacked? And of the 6 million estimated recipients, how many do you estimate will be completely dependent on this $1,500? They won't have any other income for the next 6 months?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the second part of that question is difficult to answer Phil because we're in very uncertain times and that'll depend very much on the circumstances of each and every business. But in our answer to Andrew, we're obviously saying that those who are actually performing work functions during their hours of work. Then there are arrangements that are there for them that will continue to be honoured. And so that that is hopefully the case from, for many. But how many? It wouldn't be possible to make a, I think, a determination on that. And Phil, you just might remind me the second part of the question?
 
JOURNALIST: If someone’s been retrenched? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let Josh do that.
 
JOURNALIST: Could an employer who may have sacked someone in the last couple of weeks maybe have a rethink and put them back on the books now and they know this wages [inaudible]?
 
TREASURER: Well exactly right Phil. Because this, this changes the financial equation for those employers. If they were on the books on the 1st of March for an employer, they will then be employees who were eligible for this particular payment through their employer. So if you're an employer who's been forced as a result of a downturn following the coronavirus to retrench workers, you'll put them back on your books and you'll receive this $1,500 dollar payment. 
 
PRIME MINISTER: There would be, though, the issue if they've paid out any entitlements under that arrangement. And that would have to be sorted out, obviously, with the with the employer. For those who continue on with the business, then they obviously keep all their entitlements, but they're not paid out those entitlements, because they're actually still employed by the business. 
 
JOURNALIST: PM a lot of these businesses, are exporters, they sell goods internationally a functioning international trading system will be necessary to to kickstart the global economy again. You've made some comments at the G20 about this the other day. What more would you like to see in the way of global leaders working together to resuscitate that global trading system? What forums should be used and what role will Australia play? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well those challenges are the same, the same challenges we were confronted with before this crisis regarding global trading systems and the WTO and many of the dysfunctions that were occurring there and frustrating export trade, they remain, and they they still remain issues that need to be progressed. Right now, my supply chain and trade issues are very focussed on ensuring the delivery and clear supply lines for medical supplies at present. And that was a key focus of the discussion that was had the other night. Many countries all over the world have contractual arrangements in place for medical supplies and we would expect those to be honoured and not disrupted politically by any sovereigns. So that is something obviously we would expect and we would be calling out that behaviour were it to be practised. More broadly, though, I think all governments are very focussed right now on the needs of their domestic economies and the supports that are needed for people here and now. So those issues, it would be wonderful to see them progress. But right now the priority is ensuring that we can keep our economies running. And and that remains such an important issue for Australia. And we must have a running economy to ensure that we can come through this together. 
 
Josh, did you offer any further comment on that? No? Now Brett, Brett, can have the last one and then,
 
JOURNALIST: PM just two quick qualifications, the recalling of parliament, how quickly would that happen given people are relying on these payment almost immediately. Do you expect that that will happen this week? And you've mentioned New Zealanders on the triple 4 visa. Are there any other exemptions for other nationalities that are here on temporary work visas, people from the Pacific and those types of programs? 
 
PRIME MINISTER: Short answer, no on the second issue, such matters are under consideration. But for now, the short answer to that is no. In terms of recalling parliament, well, we will draft the legislation. We will engage with the opposition as from now and to work with them over the course of this week like we did on the last package. And I'm sure we'll be able to move to the early recall of parliament, which was envisaged when we put these mechanisms in place. It won't be this week. The legislation will take at least this week to draft and to ensure that we can properly brief the opposition on the meaning and on the measures that will be contained in that legislation. But I hope to move through that in a co-operative way as quickly as possible. And I've had productive discussions with the leader opposition so far on those issues to date, I obviously haven't gone into the details of the measures they've been announced here today, but that will enable us now to to enter into those discussions and move through that as quickly as possible. 
 
Thank you all very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42767

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

29 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good evening, everyone. It's been a hard week in Australia. I said earlier this week when the Parliament met that 2020 was going to be one of the most difficult in the lives of all Australians and this week has demonstrated that. A tough week. Hundreds of thousands of people have left the labour force, left the workforce, thousands upon thousands of businesses have had to shut their doors. Sixteen people in total now have lost their lives, including two today. This is a very difficult time. It is also true, though, as the National Cabinet has met tonight, the National Cabinet that brings together all the premiers and chief ministers of all the states and territories, the heads of all of our Australian governments, together with myself, to make the decisions that are needed to save lives and to save livelihoods and we've gathered together again this evening to do just that. 

Earlier today, I reminded you in our earlier media conference that the rate of increase has been falling. Towards this time last week, the rate of daily increase was up around 25 to 30 per cent. Today's rate of increase it actually has fallen to 9 per cent. But there are no guarantees about how that goes forward. We need to continue to do the things that we've committed ourselves to do to save lives and save livelihoods and I want to thank Australians for their strong support and growing support for the measures that are necessary to do just that. 

Earlier today, I noted that we are working and we'll be working again through the night this evening to pull together the next tranche in our economic supports that they can be there to support Australians in jobs and to keep them in jobs and to keep them connected to the companies that will be there on the other side so they can stand up again and ensure that Australia bounces back strongly, so we can return to life as we knew it at some point in the future once we get to the other side of the virus. I also outlined today, announced today, over a billion dollars in additional support on top of the $3 billion we've already committed to the arrangements for health around the country. So from tomorrow, telehealth, that means you can get a consultation over the phone with your doctor. That starts tomorrow, the Health Minister announced that and went through the details today. Some $200 million in emergency relief going to important not for profit and charitable sector organisations like Foodbank and many others that are going to be helping people in great need as this economic crisis hits and hits hard. $150 million to support domestic violence. That includes the work of 1800 Respect and MensLine, as we're very aware of the greater stresses that are going on Australian families and households and that for most, we hope, home where people will be for a lot of time this year. It'll be a safe place, but for many we know it's not and we need to work to counter that threat to those individuals as well. And $74 million dollars to support mental health and we're all going to need that help in the months ahead and that's to support organisations like Lifeline and Kids Help Line and many others. 

Earlier throughout the day, some 1,600 people went into quarantine as a result of the decisions taken by the National Cabinet on Friday and I particularly want to congratulate New South Wales, who have done all the heavy lifting on that today, working together with the Australian Border Force and the Australian Defence Forces. That was an extraordinary effort to put that in place from midnight last night and I congratulate Premier Berejiklian and everyone who has been involved, Commissioner Mick Fuller, the whole team in New South Wales working so well with us today to ensure we can put those arrangements in place. And to those who may be even watching this now from inside those hotels where you are self isolating, I know this is a terrible inconvenience for you but it is necessary to save lives. And we thank you for your cooperation this evening.

New technology we've put in place today is going to help us as a country get the messages and information we need to do the right thing to save lives and save livelihoods. The WhatsApp message service I referred to earlier today has now had 291,000 people go onto that arrangement and you can get on there by entering into your internet browser aus.gov.au/WhatsApp. Some 1.25 million messages have been sent over the course of today. The coronavirus app, which I mentioned earlier today, is up on the app platform and for the Apple app platform and Android and a new registration feature is now in place on that app. There have been some 482,000 downloads on the coronavirus app today and I want to encourage every Australian - you've got a phone, you need the app. Go on there and make sure you download that app and go on the internet browser and get access to that WhatsApp service so you can get the messages you need to support your decisions for you and your family. That coronavirus app also has that new registration feature about self-isolation, that helps us get information to you and supports the work that we're doing in managing the virus and I'd encourage you to look at that this evening and register, if you please could, and I’m asking media to support us by publicising both the coronavirus app and the WhatsApp message service. 

Tonight, the National Cabinet met to consider a series of issues and they related principally firstly to the issue of public gatherings. Now, you'll be aware of the arrangements that are already in place, that gatherings are currently restricted to 10 persons, except for members of your household. And for the purposes of employment and education, we should also comply with the requirements for working and learning from home and social distancing principles. So up until now, that has been a restriction of 10 people in a gathering in an outdoor area or in a shopping centre or anything like this. The advice now is that, and I should stress that that 10 person limit that is enforceable now in most states and territories and can carry very significant on the spot fines. 

That advice has now been strengthened to say that it should be reduced to two persons in public spaces and other areas of gathering. States and territories will determine whether they proceed to make this an enforceable limit in the same way that the 10 person limit is already being enforced, but agreed that in all cases this is the strong advice of all states and territories, that unless it's your household, the family, those who are living at your residence, that being with only one other person as a gathering outside is what is required. That provides, importantly, for those who may be getting daily exercise, particularly for women, that they wouldn't be required to walk on their own and they'd be able to walk with another person. 

In addition, in public areas, public playgrounds, outside gyms and skate parks will be closed as from tomorrow. And bootcamps, obviously, will be reduced to two, which doesn't really make it a bootcamp, that makes it a private session with your trainer for those who are accessing those services. For individuals, the strong advice that we are endorsing again today as a National Cabinet, and this follows the advice we have been providing but we felt it was essential to reinforce this tonight. This is the public health advice. You must stay at home except for the following reasons: A, shopping for what you need, food and other essential supplies that enable you to remain at home and to do that shopping as infrequently as possible. B, for medical care or compassionate needs. C, to exercise in compliance with the public gathering rules that I've already outlined. And D, for work and education if you cannot work or learn remotely. 

Also, we are going further this evening on the basis of the advice that there is strong advice - this is not a compulsion, this is strong advice - that people aged 70 and over should stay at home and self isolate for their own protection to the maximum extent practicable. They are not self isolating for the purpose that people can that our health advice is that they consider they carry or are carriers, but this is for their own protection to limit their interaction with others in the community. This does not mean that they cannot go outside. They can go outside and be accompanied by a support person for the purposes of getting some fresh air, some recreation. But they should limit contact with others as much as possible. These arrangements should also apply to those with chronic illness over 60 and Indigenous persons over the age of 50. 

Now, the National Cabinet also considered this evening issues relating to commercial tenancies as well as residential tenancies and they agreed to a series of principles which are released through the statement. But the most significant of those is that states and territories will be moving to put a moratorium on evictions of persons as a result of financial distress if they are unable to meet their commitments. And so there will be a moratorium on evictions for the next six months under those rental arrangements. Now, there is a lot more work to be done here and my message to tenants, particularly commercial tenants and commercial landlords, is a very straightforward one. We need you to sit down, talk to each other and work this out about looking at the businesses which have been closed, businesses that may have had a significant reduction in their revenues and we need landlords and tenants to sit down and come up with arrangements that enable them to get through this crisis so on the other side, the landlord has a tenant, which is a business that can pay rent and the business is a business that can re-emerge on the other side of this and be able to go on and employ people on the other side of these arrangements. And we want the banks to help them achieve this outcome. We want people to sit down and work this out. We will be working on measures that will be encouraging you to do just that and to support you to do just that, but also to ensure that if you aren't going to engage in that sort of cooperative activity between banks, between tenants and between landlords, then the sort of support that you might otherwise expect to receive, you will not receive. This is part of the hibernation approach where we want people bespoke, customised to their own circumstances to sit down and work these things out. There is no rulebook for this. We are in uncharted territory, but the goal should be shared. And that is a business that can reopen on the other side, not weighed down by excessive debts because of rental arrears. A landlord that has a tenant so they can continue into the future to be able to support the investments that they have made and banks that have clients, both the landlords and the businesses. The three of them working together to ensure those businesses can get through and be there on the other side.

Our message to businesses also, and so many have been doing this and I congratulate them for their innovation, and that is to rethink your business model. We now have restaurants who are acting through takeaway. Good for them. We have retail businesses that are doing more through their online platforms. We have phone ahead and pick up type services that are being established that remove the direct contact in retail circumstances. And people need to exercise their discretion when they are going into shopping centres and retail supermarkets and things of that nature to be observing the strict rules around social distancing. 

We're asking businesses to adapt to what is not a usual set of circumstances. They must be sustainable because they will run for, we believe, at least six months and we want to be able to get everybody through. So we are seeking their support. We will have more to say about commercial tenancies in the days ahead. The treasurers of all the states and territories, led by Josh Frydenberg as the federal Treasurer, have been working very hard on this. We'll be engaging with business and landlords and banks over the next couple of days to seek to get even stronger provisions in place so they can all sit down and get this sorted. But there's nothing stopping anyone sitting down tomorrow and working out a good deal that sees everybody through. It means everyone's going to have to carry a bit. The government also will be doing that as we move to our next phase of our economic supports so we can all get through. I'm going to pass you over to Professor Kelly- Murphy, sorry. We gave him a day off yesterday which he thoroughly deserved. And so thank you very much. Brendan. 

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So I'm going to start tonight just by putting a little bit of perspective on the outbreak of coronavirus in Australia and give you a sense of some early hopeful signs. We've got an outbreak of 3,978 cases at the moment, much less than perhaps some people might have predicted some time ago without mitigation. So there is evidence that the public health measures that we're putting in place and the social distancing measures are likely having some early effect. I should say at the outset that we are not Italy, we are not the United States, we are not Spain. We have one of the highest rates of testing per head of population in the world and one of the lowest positive test rates. So we think, unlike countries like, unfortunately, like Italy, Iran and even the US, that when they detected significant outbreaks, they probably had much, much larger outbreaks in the community that were undetected. We feel reasonably confident that we are detecting a significant majority of the cases in Australia. That means that we can get on top of cases when they're detected. There are 5,000 or more public health workers in our state and territory public health units. I would like to give them a huge shout out tonight. They're the people who are contact tracing within hours, every contact of a positive case, asking them to isolate and protecting the community. If we can keep our numbers at a level where we can continue to contact trace, where people behave and isolate when they're asked to, we can really bring about good suppression. 

As the Prime Minister has said, we have had a somewhat slowing of the growth in the epidemiology curve, but it's not enough. We have to slow it further. We have to slow it further. And we have to stop the thing that's worrying us most, which is community transmission, that's transmission without known links to a known case. And that is of concern, particularly in Sydney and to a lesser extent in Melbourne and south east Queensland. There are tiny pockets of it in other states. Those things do worry us because if you have outbreaks in the community, they can be much harder to detect. And so we've broadened the testing criteria in those areas to make sure that we can detect and bring under control. But because we are not sure that these measures that we put in place will take sufficient effect to bring the slope of the curve right down, that's why these additional measures are recommended by the National Cabinet tonight. 

Essentially, all is being talked about is what we've been saying all week. We have to change the way we as people interact with each other. It's very simple. We need to all stay home unless we're going out to shop, to do personal exercise, to go to medical appointments or to go to work or study if you cannot work from home. So anyone who doesn't need to be out of their home should be in the home. This is radical and the vast majority of Australians have done the right thing in the last week. We've seen huge evidence of that. We've also seen some very silly behaviour of people who haven't complied with that, particularly outdoors and sometimes indoors. And that's why we feel that it's really important that every Australian does the right thing. Because for these interventions to take effect, the science shows that you need more than 90 per cent of the population to be doing it all the time. So please continue to do what you're doing. Continue to follow these rules. And hopefully these early signs of flattening will mean that we can keep going in getting a reduction in the rate of increase every day. Thanks, Prime Minister.

JOURNALIST: Just to clarify on having a group of two people, I assume that parents can still take their children to the park. Does the two person rule now apply to weddings or funerals? Or do the old numbers apply? And yesterday we saw the Victorian Chief Medical Officer say that the public behaviour in some cases was, to use his word, “crap” and that if it didn't change we're on track to have 100,000 Covid-19 cases within three weeks. Do you agree with that prediction?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll deal with the first issues first. It's your household, so your household can be together inside your home, outside your home, outside of your household. If you were out, Sam, just on the street today, you could be there with everyone who's in your household. But if you weren't with the members of your household, you could be there with one other person maximum. Ok? So that's what the rule is. In terms of the weddings and funerals, we believe the arrangements we have for those under those circumstances can remain as they have been. For funerals and for weddings, that was funerals at 10 and weddings at five. And of course, state and territories, as I said the other night, can exercise discretion on those matters on compassionate grounds as they see fit. In relation to the other matter, well, I'll refer to Dr Murphy.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I think Dr Sutton was commenting on some of the very isolated examples of pretty poor behaviour that he observed and I absolutely agree with him that it is totally irresponsible that people should behave like that. Now, 100,000 modelling would mean that we lost all mitigation control. We're not doing that. But I think what he's saying is if we have a big community outbreak and we lost control, then you would get very rapid doubling. Now, we have no intention of getting in that situation, which is why we're enforcing these measures. But at the moment, it is still a precarious position. If people don't take this seriously and we get big community outbreaks, they will be very hard to control. I'm not going to go into any particular number modelling. I think that's all speculative but I think his point is absolutely right that every single Australian needs to take this seriously or community transmission could get out of control and we could have a situation which is as terrible as we're seeing in the US even at the moment.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if people over 70 should stay home, what's your advice on how they should get groceries, medicines, anything else they need?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's why we've been upping our investment and have states and territories as well in a lot of those home-based services for elderly residents. And also tonight, as I said, there is a registration feature, which I'm sure and I would hope that friends and family of those who are in that situation would be able to register and that also gives us that ability to know where people are. What this means is we've got to help each other, at the end of the day. I mean, they can still, it is not a strict rule. It is there for their own protection. And so what we're encouraging elderly residents to do is to stay home as much as is practicable and should they need support that I'm sure they can get support through their community or others. And I'm sure they could even ring their local MP and I'm sure their local MP and would want to help them in any way they could at either a state or federal level, because I've seen that already happening through many of our electorate offices. But I'm sure they could get support through other local community organisations, volunteer groups, that those services and those numbers are available. And so it is an advice that we're putting in place for their protection. It is not the medical advice that older Australians would be communicating the virus to others. It would be about their protection and that's why we'd be moving to do that. Yep, Michelle.

JOURNALIST: The two person rule applies presumably inside as well as outside, right?

PRIME MINISTER: Correct, like in a shopping centre as opposed to in a park.

JOURNALIST: So what is the rationale in that case for keeping shopping centres, apart from food shops, open?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we've said today is you should be only going out to shop for things that you actually need and you should be doing it on an irregular basis. I'll give you an example. Our kids are at home now, as are most kids, and Jenny went out yesterday and bought them a whole bunch of jigsaw puzzles. I can assure you over the next few months, we're going to consider those jigsaw puzzles absolutely essential. It's important that parents and families and households can get the things that they need to completely change the way they're going to live for the next six months at least. And so what we've done is sought to be practical about these issues. I mean, people are buying sporting equipment at the moment, gym mats and things like that so they can exercise at home. These are things they're going to need. Now, I don't think it's practical when we say for essentials and things that you really need that high-end fashion and these types of things. And that's why you've already seen a lot of those types of retail businesses already closed because people aren't doing that. And so, Michelle, what we've said is that for the purposes of work, where you can't work from home and you need to go to your workplace and there are many public servants who are in that situation, particularly in this town and many others, because of the important work they're doing, including tonight on the economic package, for example, then they can't do that from home and they will need to be at work. But when they are at work, as we are doing here in this very room, observing those social distancing and other important principles about four square metres per person, and that would apply in a learning environment as much as it would in a work environment. So these rules are intended to be instructive, to be a guide but on this two person rule and particularly on the 10, I mean, already from memory in South Australia an on the spot fine of $1,000 if you violate that rule in South Australia. So they're not mucking around. They're very, very serious. And states like New South Wales and Victoria will move further down onto those two person rules, is my understanding. But states and territories will make their own announcements about those issues. What you're now seeing with the National Cabinet is what I've flagged now for several weeks. You will see some states and territories, depending on the extremity of the situation in their states, moving to other measures before other states and territories. That is completely understandable and is consistent with the way the National Cabinet is operating and it's being done with the full knowledge and discussion of the National Cabinet. They are all moving to the strong advice on two, some states and territories will move to an enforcement capability around that, two. Others will remain at the other level. But there's the rule, the guidance, the strong advice is don't gather together in groups. That's the simple way of putting it. Just don't do it. It's not helpful. It actually creates the risk. And when you're going out for shopping, you should be going for just stuff you need and do it and get home. It's not a time for browsing. It's not a time for catching up with friends or bumping into people and having a long conversation and maybe drawing a few other friends across to catch up on how it's all going. No, you can't do that anymore. That's what we have to stop doing. And that's why we're trying to keep as much of these sorts of things open for people as possible so they can get what they need. But as time goes on, the National Cabinet will continue to look at a lot of these businesses and may have to make further decisions in these areas. And in some cases, that may not be too far from now. Tom?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just wanted to ask about this cluster of cases in 30 or so in the Barossa Valley, there’s three or four towns there. I think there's a bit of localised restrictions going on put in by the state government. But you mentioned a week or so ago that there might be a sort of a localised shutdown action plan that you were coming up with. Is there a case to do that yet? Have you gone any further on that plan?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, where there's localised actions, and Dr Murphy may want to speak on this as well, they will be handled by the state jurisdictions themselves and they can take whatever further actions they think are necessary. And where you have those more localised outbreaks and then understanding what they are and the measures you can put in place around those villages, I mean, many of us may have visited them and you can set up cordons around those sorts of places and stop people coming in and out. In fact, we're already doing that with large numbers of remote communities around the country right now. And so there is, I think, there's enough guidance and instruction to the states and territories to handle those matters when they present. But Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I think the important thing is to be able to contact trace and isolate everybody. And if you have a situation where there is a largish community outbreak and you're not sure that you've got on top of everything and that you haven't got all the contacts, then you might put in some localised restrictions. I’m not briefed on the details of those cases in the Barossa but that is something that is a weapon we always hold in reserve. That if you have a very localised but growing community outbreaks, one of the mechanisms to stop that spreading is to put localised restrictions of movement.

PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to go to Brett and then I’m going to have to call it because I have another meeting to go to on the very package which we're working on this evening with the Treasurer.

JOURNALIST: One of the big anxieties of people is just getting the basics. People still aren’t able to buy toilet paper, hand sanitizer. We've been promised that those supply chains will normalise. That hasn't happened. When will that happen? That's one of the reasons people are leaving their houses quite a lot is to try to get the basics that they can’t. And just secondly on Australians who are overseas, Labor says that the Government should have acted more quickly to get charter flights in place, it's now too late. I don't believe the Foreign Minister has had a press conference since March 6. Where is Marise Payne and could she be doing more to help those Australians?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I mentioned some weeks ago, it was less than two weeks ago, that Marise Payne went into self isolation after she returned from an overseas visit. So that would explain why you're not seeing her at press conferences. I think that's entirely reasonable. Look, I'm not going to get drawn into the commentary on what the Labor Party is saying. Honestly, I'm too focused on doing what the Government needs to do, what the National Cabinet needs to do. We're engaging with the opposition on these matters, but I don't intend to get into a political commentary about these issues. I'm just not interested in the politics. Thank you very much. I have to go, I'm sorry. 

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42765

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

29 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I am joined today by the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, as well as Christine Morgan, the Head of the Mental Health Commission, and Professor Kidd, who is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, focusing particularly on GPs. As each day unfolds, there are more challenges to address. The National Cabinet will meet later today to consider further measures. What I want to say to Australians though today, as we have assessed the information this morning, this time last week the rate of increase on cases was up around 25 to 30 per cent a day. That rate now over the last few days has fallen to about 13 to 15 per cent. Now, they are still strong rates of increase, there’s no doubt about that. But as we take the measures we have been taking and put them in place and we have the cooperation from the Australian people, then that obviously in turn has an impact on how we are managing the spread of the virus. But also how that impacts on our health system, on the population, and people's jobs and livelihoods. 

Today, what I am here to do, together with those who are joining me, is to announce more support for the care of Australians. There are many things we have to address, whether it is income support or whether it is direct health support through our public hospital system, and it was only a week or so ago that the Health Minister and I stood here and announced $2.4 billion in additional support for the health sector, followed up by a further $600 million in support for the aged care sector. So there is already $3 billion of additional funding support going into these critical areas. Today we are here to announce further support going into our health sector but also into our welfare supports for those in the community who can be most vulnerable as a result of the changes that are taking place in daily life here in Australia as a result of the decisions that are being taken and the impact they have in the community.

But before we come to that I also want to announce something very important for how we are getting information to Australians. Today, with the great assistance, and I want to thank them from Atlassian and Facebook, we have been able to put in place the WhatsApp feature and if you simply go into WhatsApp and type in ‘aus.gov.au/whatsapp’ you will get access to a new messaging service which enables us to talk to more and more Australians to provide direct information on a whole range of features in terms of basic health advice, updates on the measures that are being put in place by state and federal governments, and that can assist you to get to get the accurate and timely information about what is being done by governments around the country to support you as you and your family and your household and your community work through the difficult months ahead because of the coronavirus. I can also say that on the Apple app store, the coronavirus app, you can now download. I did that this morning and that is available and that is doing exactly the same thing, providing further information, more resources, a trusted place of advice and information that you and your family and your business can use to understand the decisions and the information that is available to everybody about what is occurring with the coronavirus. That is an official source of information and I would ask for the support of media in promoting those channels where people can get access to that information. So, aus.gov.au/whatsapp, and the coronavirus app, you can simply do that by going to the app store. I did up this morning, I just typed in on search ‘coronavirus’ and the Australian government app came right up and I downloaded it and the information is there for people to get access to it.

But today we are also announcing support of $1.1 billion, which has been foreshadowed today. That is being done in four tranches. There is the Medicare subsidised telehealth services, so people can continue to get access to quality healthcare when they are at home. We are asking Australians to stay home, particularly older Australians, even more so. And we want to ensure that they can continue to get access to healthcare and health advice and support from GPs, which is why this measure is being put in place. That is some $669 million. Getting health services into your home. Secondly, we are also announcing $74 million for mental health support. The Health Minister will take you through the specifics of that when he speaks. We are putting $150 million into support for domestic violence initiatives. I have flagged with you in recent days my concerns and the National Cabinet's concerns about these issues. Google has shown a 75 per cent increase in searches when it comes to issues around domestic violence in recent days. We need to put more resources into supporting people who will be vulnerable and may be vulnerable, and we are putting that support in. And that will ensure that those services, whether it is MensLine or whether it is the 1800 RESPECT line, or any of these other types of support and others, they will get the funding they need to provide services that are so essential. We are also putting $200 million into emergency relief support. That will be provided to support charities and other community organisations which provide emergency food relief as demand surges as a result of the coronavirus. These services are demand driven, but we anticipate the funding boost, which is more than four times annual funding, will help hundreds of thousands of Australians in most urgent need. The funding will be shared among existing providers, including FoodBank, SecondBite, OzHarvest, the Salvation Army, St Vincent De Paul, Anglicare and many other local community organisations. To find your closest emergency relief provider you can go to the DSS government website and that information will be available to you, but many who already access the services will know where they are and what they do.

We will also be moving to provide further income support. The Treasurer and I have been working together with Treasury and other officials night and day over recent days to ensure we can provide further boosted income support across the Australian economy. We are being very careful to ensure that income support can be delivered in a way that gets it to people as quickly as possible using the existing systems that we have. When we do these things it is not a matter of just cutting and pasting ideas from other places. We need to have solutions that will work in Australia. And so our approach has been to apply the discipline to the design of measures to deal with unprecedented levels of demand. We have even seen, where we have moved as part of our second stimulus, and it was not a stimulus, it was a safety net package, our second safety net package, that even with the significant ramping up of capacity through Centrelink and other government services, that was fairly quickly overwhelmed. And so we are learning from that and ensuring the measures we seek to put in place next will be able to be distributed even more effectively. So it isn't a matter of whether more income support for workers and employees is needed, it is a factor of the design of the delivery of that support. You cannot just cut and paste somebody else's system, because we have seen in many other jurisdictions that are putting these in place, they are having to rapidly redesign and change them. You have got to have more detail from the outset to ensure you have the most effective implementation. So I would say to employers, who I know are going through very difficult times, these changes will be announced soon and I would ask that before you make any further decisions that you take the opportunity to see the further measures that the government will be announcing, and we will be seeking to enlist you in that process. And we will be ensuring also that those who have already gone into this very devastating situation where they have had to stand down workers, that any measures we are announcing will be taking them on as well and we will be working with them to that end.

Finally, I would say that overnight, when the midnight ban came in - I should say the midnight quarantine arrangements came in place for returning travellers, those arrangements have worked relatively smoothly, that is the advice from the Chief of Border Force. I spoke to him this morning. The number of passengers was actually down on what might have been expected, and I want to thank all of those state and territory authorities. I want to particularly thank those of New South Wales, which had to shoulder half the burden this morning. On the numbers through to this morning, New South Wales has been dealing with half the number of cases of people who have been coming in. They have got great support from the ADF, great support from the Australian Federal Police. The New South Wales agencies have done a tremendous job, and there have also been very difficult challenges in Western Australia, dealing with those cruise ships. And again, I want to thank the Western Australian government, the Western Australian health system, the Border Force, the ADF, everybody else, the private hospitals that have come to the aid to support us. Everyone is working together and everybody is working incredibly hard to deal with the unprecedented level of demand and changes that are necessary. Right now, it is about getting more support to people in the community that needed most, and that is their healthcare, that is their mental health, that is the protection for vulnerable Australians and that emergency relief, and that is what this $1.1 billion package I have announced today will be addressing. Greg?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. Today is about taking care of our vulnerable Australians, all Australians and, in particular, our GPs and our nurses. It is about support for health and mental health, at a time of the most profound and understandable stress. Whether it is because of concerns relating to income, whether it is concerns about a job or whether it is the direct fear or contact people may have in relation to the coronavirus or other issues and is the ability to get the support, anxiety, the possibility of depression, loneliness, isolation, the need for access to services, all of these are real. So these are the things we are seeking to support with changes that would otherwise have taken 10 years being done in 10 days and I want to thank both Michael and Christine for their support on that.

Just before addressing the specific mental health and telehealth measures, I do want to provide a brief update on some of the national progress. The most important development is the one that the Prime Minister has outlined in terms of the positive, early signs of flattening of the curve. This is the work that Australians together, both governments, but above all else, the people have been taking. As the Prime Minister said, from daily rates of increase a week ago in the 25 and 30 per cent rate, to now on our latest advice from the National Incident Centre this morning to being in the low teens. That is an early positive sign. We have so much more work to do but by people isolating, by people doing social distance and they are really doing this, Australians are rising magnificently to this challenge and we want to say thank you. And to those small few who are not, you have to take these measures because they are about saving lives. They are not about convenience and inconvenience, they are about saving lives. Part of this has been the testing regime. As of this morning, our latest advice is there are 209,000 tests that have been completed in Australia. More than 98 per cent negative rate and what that really means is that with the 3,898 cases reported to us, we have one of the broadest and most reflective testing regimes and this is borne up by the secondary evidence that, at this point in time, our loss of life, as terrible as it is, is well below 1 per cent, it’s below 0.5 per cent of those confirmed. That will change, but we know that, but it continues to be a recognition that the evidence we have is at the global forefront. At the same time, 750,000 telehealth services have already been delivered in only a very brief period of time.

So that brings me to the measures the Prime Minister has outlined. Firstly, let me deal with mental health. In particular, it’s $74 million directly but we believe about $300 million when you take into account the telehealth services. There are two parts to this. There’s the preventive work, and I want to thank Christine for her work, Michael Gardner from my team, and all of the mental health professionals who have helped pull this together. Counselling and support services, $10 million for Beyond Blue, $14.5 million for Lifeline and kids health and other groups. Our vulnerable Australians will receive a very, very significant package of $45 million and that includes $10 million to support older Australians, $3 million specifically for our health workers because the pressures they are under are real. These are our heroes at this point in time, these are the people who are putting themselves out there to protect Australians. $7 million for young Australians through headspace and then an additional $28 million to support and provide psychosocial support going forward. Those that have trouble accessing services, who are on the margins sometimes, we will be supporting them. All of that going together, the counselling, the vulnerable and information campaign which begins this evening to assist with that.

But that brings me to telehealth. Telehealth is vital for mental health and for physical health. What we are doing now is a radical transformation in the way we deliver our health services. As of tomorrow, we will have universal telehealth available in Australia. It is not the money, it is a $669 million program, as the Prime Minister said. It does two things. One, for everybody who is self isolating or is under formal isolation or formal quarantine, that means you can ring your doctor, whether it is your GP, your specialist, your mental health psychiatrist or psychologist, your allied health practitioner or your nurse practitioner, all of these are available. It is a decade's worth of work in a matter of days and I want to thank Professor Michael Kidd and his team for pulling this together. He has had the support of the AMA, the College of GPs, the Council of Medical Presidents from all of the colleges, rural doctors, Indigenous groups, they’ve all pitched in magnificently. What these services will mean is that every Australian anywhere can get the help they need. We are also doubling the bulk billing incentive and making that available both for face-to-face and telehealth consultations and we are providing a doubling of the practice incentive payments for those general practices that continue face-to-face consultations. That is very important because so many health services still need to be face-to-face, involve examination, involve physical consultation and I want to thank our general practitioners for participating in this. So these services, very simply, are about saving lives and protecting lives, about supporting our doctors, supporting our patients and protecting Australians with their mental health and their health and their well-being. I might invite Christine and then Michael.

CHRISTINE MORGAN, HEAD OF THE MENTAL HEALTH COMMISSION: Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Prime Minister, and I would like to reflect the thanks expressed to every Australian who is really embracing our concept of physical distancing but with social connection. As we have said so often, mental health is as integral to who we are as our physical health and what we are seeing today is the Australian system, as our Prime Minister has referred to it, being opened up, being flexed up to ensure that the mental health and well-being of every Australian, whether we come into this mentally well, whether we come to it mentally ill, whether we come to it mentally challenged, and at that point I would like to stop and just remember so many Australians who have recently been through the scourges of our drought and bushfires who are already suffering and to remember that their mental health and well-being is important. Today's package reflects the importance of trying to prevent mental unwellness, but also to ensure we provide treatment for any who need it. It covers our vulnerable Australians, frontline workers as our Minister has said, and all Australians. And I commend the work that so many have done for it.

But I would also like to stop and reflect on the fact that as we must practice physical distance and as we all embrace the concept of loneliness that can go with that, for too many Australians today that also encompasses a sense of fear. As our Prime Minister has said, home is not always safe. If only it could be. That is certainly something we would all embrace but the reality is that for too many, it is not safe and for those who are at fear or facing the reality of any form of violence in their environment, it is incredibly important that being physically distant, we nevertheless remain very connected and we provide all opportunities for anyone in those circumstances to find a way to reach help. It is impossible to be going through that degree of fear, that degree of what is happening to me, without being mentally affected. Now, our mental health services are yet another avenue of support. Today's package, as the Prime Minister has said, provides support for those known services to any Australian who needs them. 1800 respect, MensLine Australia, the counselling support services, they are there for you. But also know this, that any mental health service that Australia provides is there for you also. Do not hesitate, use any avenue you can. We are there to help, we are there to support, whether you are living with the fear of it as a potential victim, whether you are living with that as the horror of a potential perpetrator, we are there for all Australians. Our mental health and mental well-being is a foundational piece for us to be able to get through this pandemic. There are so many positive signs. We have heard it in the bringing down of those increases. There is hope, there is a future, we need to do it together and we need to be there for all vulnerable Australians. So I encourage all of us to remember and look after our mental health and well-being, to access our mental health services and, for those who may be afraid, we are there for you. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Christine. Professor Kidd?

PROFESSOR MICHAEL KIDD, PRINCIPAL MEDICAL ADVISER: Thank you and good morning. I am a general practitioner and, in my working lifetime over the last 35 years, I have never seen such a dramatic change to the way that we deliver care to our patients as we have over the last two weeks with the movement towards whole of population telehealth. From tomorrow morning, if you are a patient, you will be able to reach out to your general practitioner, your specialist, the other healthcare providers you may see who are able to access the NBS and Medicare and seek advice using the telephone or using video consultations. If you are a GP or another healthcare provider, you will be able to reach out to your patients and make sure that they are Ok, make sure that they are adhering to their plans for the management of chronic diseases or their acute concerns where this is appropriate. It is very important, as the Minister has said, that we continue to have face-to-face healthcare services available when they are needed. We know that in a pandemic, one of the greatest risks to the population is if we see a collapse of healthcare services, with people with acute conditions and chronic conditions, with mental health conditions, not getting access to the services they need. The measures which are being put in place will ensure that the people of Australia continue to have access to high-quality general practice and other healthcare services available from their chosen providers. Services, as the Minister has said, for people who are on concession cards and for children under the age of 16 and for people who meet the vulnerable categories, will continue to be bulked billed using telehealth. This ensures access to people at this time of great challenge in our nation 's history. At the same time, the support being provided by the government to general practices ensures that our general practices will remain open and will be there to provide services to you. May I just finish by saying my thanks to the peak medical and health organisations across Australia who have worked at an extraordinary level to make this happen and may I say thank you to all my peers and colleagues, the healthcare workers across this country, who are doing extraordinary things protecting the health of our population. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Professor Kidd, and I also offer the government’s thanks to all of those who are working, particularly in our healthcare sector at the moment, whether it is nurses, whether it’s doctors, whether it’s paramedics, whether it’s cleaners working in hospitals as well, those other services that support the functioning of all of those places. As they have been telling you, they can’t stay at home but they need you to so they can keep going and doing what they need to do and I think that that messaging that has been coming out of particularly the health workers and nurses is the most effective plea, I think, anyone can make. So happy to take some questions. John and then Michelle.

JOURNALIST: Thanks, Prime Minister. On the significantly enhanced support for businesses to help pay employees that both you and the Finance Minister have confirmed this morning through the existing tax and transfer system. You are asking employers to hold off making lay off decisions until they see that package in the coming days. Would you envisage it to still only apply to SMEs or to have a broader application to potentially bigger, publicly listed companies such as Qantas or Premier Investments, for example, or just SMEs?

PRIME MINISTER: We are looking at a broader application, John. I mean, the waves of economic support that we put in place have had the feature of being scalable and the feature of actually working through existing channels wherever possible. And those packages are focused on the most immediate needs. The last package that we announced with the Treasurer was about broadening and strengthening the safety net for those who are going to be immediately impacted by the shock of losing their jobs. The next stage, which will be even bigger than anything you have so far seen, will go broader than that and ensure that we are working together with companies to keep people connected to companies. This is part of the hibernation strategy of ensuring that we keep people connected with businesses and with their jobs so that on the other side of this, Australia can bounce back stronger. This is going to be incredibly tough economically as well as from a health point of view. But where Australia can ensure we can bounce back better on the other side and more strongly is by following these strategies which enable businesses to re-emerge very, very quickly, with their employers, with their capital, with their equipment, with their shops, with all of the things which they can switch on again and get moving again. That is in the long-term interests of Australia. Certainly, this health crisis and economic crisis is a battle on two fronts and it is going to be waged in an unimaginable and unprecedented way over the next at least six months and potentially beyond that. But the battle we need to win is for the long-term as well and that is that the businesses are able to resurge and we can get Australia back to life as we know it again - as we have known it, I should say - as soon as possible once the virus passes. Michelle?

JOURNALIST: Minister Hunt, for some time we were hearing that the official medical advice from your top committee was unanimous. Now, the other day, Dr Kelly acknowledged the Victorian principal health officer had a different view. Could you explain the differences please?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Sure. Look, very briefly, and I am not inside the medical expert panel, we very specifically want them to meet. I think like every group, they discuss, they take the best advice from the communicable disease network experts, virologists, epidemiologists, contagious disease, communicable disease experts. They bring their views and they have been magnificent, they have been magnificent and everybody will come with different ideas and different views. But my understanding is that ultimately, their decisions have been consensus decisions, as in every group when you make decisions, there are multiple inputs some people have different views but I have to say, one of the things that the Prime Minister did when COAG met before it became the National Cabinet a few weeks ago, was achieve two fundamental things. One, the primacy of a single, national unified voice, the medical expert panel and all the states and territories agreed that at the Prime Minister 's request and they have operated as a single national unified voice. Secondly, out of that came the concept of a single national unified government, the national unity cabinet and those two elements are essential. So different views will come in but one voice comes out and that is the national medical voice and I want to say our chief health and medical officers, they have been working 18 hours a day and to thank them for their extraordinary guidance.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. And then over to Phil?

JOURNALIST: Can we get clarification on the telehealth services with mental health, does that mean a GP can to provide a mental health plan over the phone or does it extend to a psychologist extending help over the phone and is it entirely covered?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Yes, what we have here is general practice, specialist consultation services, obviously where physical examinations are required such as surgical or other physical procedures, they still have to occur face-to-face but everything which can be done by telehealth will be done by telehealth, and that includes general practice mental health consultations, psychological services, psychiatric services. That is an important question and thank you for asking that.

PRIME MINISTER: Phil?

JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify on this wage, you’re working on at the moment, one you confirmed this morning, it would only apply to workers who have been stood down and not retrenched as such and just for people out there watching who may not have heard, it will apply retrospectively so if someone was stood down by their employer two weeks ago, with the prospect of the business starting up again, they will receive this new wage as well?

PRIME MINISTER: Well Phil, I can give some responses to that, but let me be clear, the package of measures has not yet been finalised and so I am not in the habit of going into details of things that have not been finalised. I don't think that is fair on Australians, I think it's important that we continue to work through that detail. Treasury is meeting as we speak, they met all yesterday and all the day before that and the day before that. These are not simple things to do when you're talking about rolling out programs of income of support to millions of people. Anyone can have an idea about that but converting that into an actual deliverable program that can reach millions of people is a very complicated exercise and that is the work we are engaged in doing. But the principles, I can say, is that the package would support those who have more recently been the victims of these closures that have taken place and we will be seeking to support people involved in those closures but we will advise further details of the starting point about that, but yes, I can confirm that is understood to pick that up because you want them to stay connected to their businesses as well. What I can also say is what has enhanced this need is from the measures that were announced last Sunday, the package of the $66 billion we had in place prior to that, that was put in place before the more enhanced measures that were agreed by the National Cabinet. They are obviously taking an even greater toll. I said at that time, we would be back. There would be more. There will be more, and the Treasurer and I will be looking to making an announcement on that as soon as we can, it is not that far away but we want to be sure that when we do it, we have covered the majority of the ground that needs to be covered to enable the program to be successfully implemented in partnership with those businesses, which will extend beyond what has been the level of coverage we have had to date. Let's just recap what we have already done. We have already provided over $30 billion worth of support to these small and medium-sized businesses to support them in the, over the next six months. This will be in addition to that. 

Yep, over to one here, then we’ll do this side and then I’m happy to move over to that side.

JOURNALIST: Thanks PM, we’re seeing still a lot of complacency out in the community about how to respond to the virus but at the same time, the head of the NHS in the UK Steven Power said this morning that in the UK they have been doing very well to have fewer than 20,000 deaths. Are we looking at the same scenario in Australia? Can you release the modelling on that because is releasing the modelling and releasing these kinds of forecasts a way to make sure people are not complacent?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me just say a few things about numbers. It is very hard to make comparisons between countries for a range of reasons, the way they are collecting data is different but one of the things in Australia which sets Australia's numbers out in terms of their accuracy is the very high level of testing. I mean, the figures I have in my morning brief today is that we have a testing rate per 100,000 population of 815.9. Now that compares to 753.7 in South Korea, 177.9 in the United Kingdom, 486.1 in Canada and 484.6 in Austria. Just, these are some indicative examples. Now our percentage COVID-19 positive testing rate is 1.8%, in South Korea it is 2.4%. In Canada, it is 2.6%. What you can see is where you have very high levels of testing, then your positive rates are actually very, very low. Where you have testing regimes which are not where Australia’s are, then you have higher positive testing coming out, it’s 14.1% in the UK and so the overall case numbers that you are seeing in many of these other countries, they are not really directly comparable to Australia. I mean you would have to use them for the purposes of getting some idea but I think it is very dangerous to make ironclad comparisons between countries. The fatality rate is the one which is the most clear and on that score, then obviously while the fatalities in Australia have been heartbreaking and devastating, particularly for families of those, they have been confined particularly to those who are of a more advanced age and with quite significant comorbidities. We have not yet seen in Australia the sort of fatality statistics that have occurred in other countries more broadly throughout the population. But to go to your second point, That’s why this is so important, Australia right now, and this is why was I thankful on Friday that we had seen what was an 80% fall in people 's movements around our major capital cities as a result of the measures we put in place over the last fortnight. That is great. But you are right, there are still people, whether it is on St Kilda beach or people still congregating in shopping centres, congregating outside, that does not help. We have said very clearly as a National Cabinet that people should not be doing that. You should be going to work, where you have to, and if you cannot work from home, you should be ensuring that when you go outside to shop, you are going to get what you need and that there is a reasonable understanding that people should continue to exercise and where they can do that, in their own home, fine. If they are doing it on their own or with appropriate social distancing outside for a limited period, fine. But the idea of people gathering still in groups, this is not helping. People really should not be doing it. And that’s what we’ve been saying now for some time. At least over the course of this last week. And you will see the states and territories increasingly enforcing this but it would be much better if they did not have to do and we're seeing it amongst younger people, particularly in their 20s and in their 30s, early 30’s, and there seems to be a view that because they are healthier that they are not transmitters of the virus. They are transmitters of the virus. And while they themselves may only have a mild case but that is no guarantee, what they are doing by having that view, is that they are putting other people’s lives at risk. So the measures we have in place I think are having the impact that we hope they would have but there are no guarantees. We are going to rates of daily increase of 20% down to the low teens at the moment and we’re watching those figures very, very closely and I would stress on our numbers it is still overwhelmingly the case that the cases are imported cases. The figures I have at my briefing this morning, that’s at 6.30 this morning, that the Commonwealth has, there were 3,809 cases. That number is moving through the course of the day as you know, but 2,562 of those cases were imported from overseas. SO that remains the predominant driver of case numbers in Australia and as our testing numbers increase, obviously that is going to capture more cases as well.

So here, and then we’ll move around, yep?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you looking at relaxing restrictions around Centrelink benefits for people who lose their jobs, who’s partners earn over $48,000 a year? 

PRIME MINISTER: Yes.

JOURNALIST: Do you need Parliament to bring those measures in or when to expect that people will start to benefit from that?

PRIME MINISTER: No, we don't need Parliament and we have ensured we have flexibility working with the Opposition early this week and this will be part of a much more comprehensive set of measures which in many cases will overwhelm, by that I mean in a positive way, that requirement itself. There is an even more effective way beyond the changes in social services that we can address that and we will be announcing that in the not-too-distant future.

JOURNALIST: Are you considering at all the calls of the AMA to use private hospitals for other urgent medical care to free up the public hospital capacity, which is already stressed, to deal with COVID-19 admissions?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: We are working with the private hospitals and over the weekend the states have all been working directly with private hospitals. Our view is that they are a critical part of the system and part of our capacity. Just before coming here, I had a call from one of the major private health providers, in terms of hospitals, and they are close to an agreement with at least two of the states. They will be reporting back, the states will be reporting back to the National Cabinet today, as was agreed on Friday so I want to thank them, they have made extraordinary progress with what is an indispensable and critical part of our system.

JOURNALIST: Do you expect New South Wales and Victoria to break away from the National Cabinet process and move to shut down retail and schools today or in the coming days?

PRIME MINISTER: Again, I want to be clear about how the National Cabinet works. The National Cabinet has been very clear that some states may have to take further measures sooner than other states. That is not a break away from the National Cabinet. That is actually the National Cabinet working. I would caution people against running a commentary that there being any potentially different actions by states because of the more extreme conditions they are facing as being any malfunctioning of the National Cabinet. Quite the reverse. All the states and territories are working together to arrive at actions which can be as far as possible, nationally consistent but where states and territories need to take additional actions because of their case numbers, then that is entirely understandable. There is no breakdown in that process. That is an enshrining and building up of the process. That is a demonstration of the way the states can work together and so as much as some states may find themselves in a position to do a few more things, it should not be the view that the states who are not doing those things are not doing enough. That would be the wrong analysis. And the states are looking at making these decisions together. That is what they have done from day one of the National Cabinet. So we will meet again this afternoon and we will, I will be able to further update on where we up to on the economic package and it is important that any further restrictions that may be considered are also considered in the context of ensuring that essential supports are in place for people who might be affected by that and that is why our Treasury is working so valiantly along with the Treasurer and the Finance Minister to make sure we can finalise these measures as soon as we practically can. So it has always been the understanding that there can be further responses from individual states based on their medical advice, which is also collectively received, and that is understood by the other members of the National Cabinet.

JOURNALIST: Over the weekend the UK government was granted permission to access foreign data anonymously, so they can track if the community is following the lockdown laws. Is that something Australia would consider, and what are the other potential implications of that mass of contact and movement data that you would potentially have access to which could help us limit the spread?

PRIME MINISTER: Well the Australian government isn't doing that. What I want to be clear about is the policies and measures that we will put in place for Australia will be right for Australia. They will understand how Australia works and how Australia thinks and what our rules are and what our society understands and accepts. Our values. That is what we will do in Australia. We're not going to go and cut paste measures from other places, which have completely different societies. I mean, in China they were welding people's doors shut. That might be okay with them, but what I'm saying... And the UK is a different society to Australia, I would also stress. We have different health systems. We have a federation in Australia. We have different ways of doing things in Australia. Now, what I'm saying is if Australians can continue to work together and to comply with the very clear instructions that are being provided for people to self isolate and to do the right thing, and that is how we get through this and we get through it as Australians, remaining true to the principles and values that we hold most dear. So the government will seek to be continuing to do that, and we also want to ensure that we have enforcement of the arrangements that are put in place, and those sorts of issues are not matters that are directly before the National Cabinet, but as we go forward, we just want to ensure that people are doing the right thing and people are cooperating with the very reasonable, but the very urgent instructions, that we are providing to them.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, as you were saying on cruise ships, in WA we of course had to of course dock that cruise ship on Friday because in Mark McGowan's words, they had reached crisis point regarding the number of people on that ship- 

PRIME MINISTER: The Arcadia?

JOURNALIST: That’s right yeah. What is the Commonwealth government going to do to support WA as it’s got over 40 or 50 cases of foreigners who need now to be treated for the virus, and for you, Mr Hunt, as well, some women's health groups have raised concerns about what some of the suspensions to elective surgeries are going to mean for different women's health procedures. Will new IVF be suspended? Will that not happen for the foreseeable future? And can you confirm that abortion care will not be jeopardised during this time?

PRIME MINISTER: Well I will throw to the Health Minister, but firstly, on the Arcadia, this is important. Because this was a German cruise ship, these are German passengers who will be flying home courtesy of the German government to get them out of Australia and to get them home. Right now we have many Australians who are overseas as well, and I am concerned about their welfare, and so when I am dealing, and with other foreign governments, about the welfare of Australians who may become ill and may need hospital care and may not be able to be returned to Australia, then it is important that Australia does the right thing about those who have fallen into our care to ensure that I can say with great moral authority that Australians are doing the right thing, and we would ask you to do the right thing. And the Japanese government certainly did that in the case of the Diamond Princess at Yokohama. So there are some, if you like, moral rules here, about if there are people who need our healthcare in Australia, through no fault of their own, then of course we would extend that to them, and yesterday I had numerous discussions, and the day before, with the Western Australian Premier and the Health Minister had numerous discussions with his counterpart to put in place a very sensible facility program for those who are going off the ship and home, for those who will require hospitalisation treatment, and those who would have to be isolated because they wouldn't be able to board that plane. And so the Western Australian government has received great support to do that, and it was a very cooperative arrangement and I want to thank Premier McGowan, and his ministers and WA health for their assistance. But Greg can supplement that.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thank you to the Prime Minister, on the German cruise ship we have all been working very closely with WA and I think what we have done, actually, is implement the Diamond Princess rules of where Japan took care of those Australians who were sick, and we brought them home, Germany is bringing home their citizens, and we are taking care of those other citizens that are ill. And I think that is the right thing to do. More broadly, on individual services, let's be clear that there is, and in the letter that I gave to private health providers and hospitals on Friday night, we have said that there is grounds for compassionate discretion and that means that, you know, items that continue to be urgent, continue to be what are called Category One, and then compassionate cases of Category Two can continue. And that is a relationship between the doctor and the patient. So one of the things we have been very keen to do is not to try to interfere in that relationship between the doctor and the patient, so we have allowed discretion.

JOURNALIST: So then doctors could say no to certain procedures like different planned parenting procedures or even abortion care? That is their discretion, is that what you're saying?

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: It has always been the case that the relationship between a doctor and a patient is paramount, and one of the things that Michael and Jo Tester and others from my office and have been very keen to do, and all of the heads of the medical profession, is to preserve and protect that fundamental relationship. So it is not the government that is making those decisions.

PRIME MINISTER: So, one more.

JOURNALIST: Just one more question. There was a particularly bad example in Sydney over the weekend where a group of doctors who flew in from Chile, who were supposed to go and isolate in hotels, then got out of those hotels and have moved across the country on domestic flights. Have we tracked those doctors down? Where have they gone, and what is your message about that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they did the wrong thing. That is my primary message. And law enforcement authorities will be following up those matters across jurisdictions. Now later today the National Cabinet will be meeting, as we flagged. If there is a need for me to provide further information following that National Cabinet tonight we will do that in the Blue Room later this evening, we are meeting this afternoon, not in the evening, so you can expect any press conference to be held a little earlier in the evening than we did last Sunday. And we will consider those further matters before us and if that requires me to come back to you again today then I will be doing so. 

Thank you very much.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42764

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

27 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Thank you for the way over the course of this week you have been responding to the very significant changes that we've been asking you to make to your lives and to your livelihoods. Over the course of the past week, people moving around places like Melbourne and Sydney have fallen by two-thirds. In the last two weeks, it's fallen by around 80 per cent. There has been a significant change in the way that people are taking on these messages and supporting each other all around the country. On behalf of all the Premiers and Chief Ministers and myself, the members of the National Cabinet, we simply want to say to you, Australia - thank you. Keep doing it. You're saving lives and you're saving livelihoods. This has been a significant shift. We need to see it keep taking place, all around the country. But you have encouraged us greatly. You have encouraged us by the way in which you have taken this on. We've called on you as Australians to combine together in this effort and your response over the past week has been simply magnificent. We always knew Australians are up to this test. And you're proving it, each and every day. Let's keep doing it, Australia. And we will continue to get through this together. Washing your hands, staying 1.5m away from each other, only going out when you have to, to do the necessities, and returning. And just doing simple things. This afternoon, people won't be going to the pub. But they will be at home, just with their family, on their own, and they will be FaceTiming and other things with their friends. They will have those conversations through that method. It's a big change to our way of life. But we're staying connected to each other. We might have to keep our distance, but it doesn't mean we have to disconnect from each other. This is also a very important message about supporting each other, supporting each other's mental health, and ensuring that no Australian, even though we have to be isolated, no Australian should have to go through this alone.

Last night, I joined the G20 leaders all around the world and I was very proud of my country. I was very proud of the response that I'm getting from the Australian people. I was very proud of the fact that together we have ensured that we have the highest testing rate, it would seem, in the world today. And the efforts that have been done by our health and medical professionals at the Commonwealth and state level to implement those arrangements. Whether it's been the travel bans, or the other restrictions we’ve put on Australian life, all of these things are making a difference. I can assure you I would rather be in Australia now with the way we are dealing with this together than in any other country in the world today. I was filled with great concern for in so many countries, what they are facing at the moment. But here in Australia it is a vital time. But we're getting on top of this and we can keep on top of this and we need to keep doing what we have been doing.

This weekend, the challenge will be there again. Let's keep doing the right thing. Let's keep saving lives. Let's keep saving livelihoods. And, you know, businesses are adapting as well. Distilleries are making hand sanitiser. Large companies, like Woolworths, are completely changing how they do things and employing more Australians. Cafes are changing how they do things. Businesses are being agile and they are adapting, even under significant strain and stress. But for many others, it has been devastating. There have been long queues, there have been frustrating delays as people are getting access to the strongest support from our safety net. You know, our social security system, our safety net in this country, our health system in this country is something I was reminded of again last night that we can be very proud of. In many countries where they are moving, they are simply getting their standard of social support to the same standard that Australians have in normal circumstances through our social security system. And so by extending the support of our social security system, by providing greater financial support and greater eligibility then we are able to help more people. So, in particular, the 10 percent of GDP measures that we already have in place more than matches up to those that are being done around the world. But I promise you - we will be doing more and I will say more about that shortly.

I want to assure you that we're in two fights. We are battling this thing on two fronts and they are both important. We're battling this virus with all the measures that we're putting in place and we're battling the economic crisis that has been caused as a result of the coronavirus. Both will take lives. Both will take livelihoods. And it's incredibly important that we continue to focus on battling both of these enemies to Australia's way of life. I'm watching closely and am deeply concerned, as are all Premiers and Chief Ministers, by the devastating impacts on our economy and we will all be doing more to provide whatever support and assistance we can to help Australians and the businesses that employ them through this very, very difficult time. No decision that we're taking on the health front that has these terrible economic impacts is being taken lightly. Every day someone is in a job, for just another day, is worth fighting for. Where the health advice enables that, every day I can keep an Australian in work, every day I can get that little bit more of support by keeping those things running. The more we can do that, every day matters, because it matters to the person whose job it is, it matters to the business that has been built by someone over many years, it matters to their families, and that means it matters to me and it matters to all the Premiers and Chief Ministers. So, we will not take these decisions lightly. We will not take them for a matter of convenience because every decision we are taking we understand has very real personal impacts for individuals and for families, and individuals and for families, and the stresses that it can place upon them at the most difficult times.

Today, we have decided to take further actions targeting what is our greatest area of concern and Dr  Murphy will speak more to that. What we're announcing today enables us to deal with the increasing pressure we have from Australians coming home. The reason we can focus on that is because of the great work Australians have done, particularly over the course of the past week, on getting on top of their own movements and their own behaviours. It means we can focus even more on these critical areas that are our greatest risk at this point in time. Two-thirds of the cases that we currently have are from an Australian who has come home: two-thirds. That is very different to what we're seeing in other parts of the world. Our biggest issue, the biggest number of cases, relate to this. And as time has gone on, the risk of those who are returning from other parts of the world actually increases because more countries have the virus. Where Australians have been, they have been there for longer and they have been more exposed. And so we are going to take further measures today to strengthen the enforcement of the self-isolation that is put in place for people returning through our airports in particular. 

This is the isolation declaration card for coronavirus. Everyone who has been coming into Australia now for some time has had to fill this out. On this, they make a declaration. They say who they are, they say where they are going to self-isolate, they tell us what their phone number is, their passport numbers, and they sign up to self-isolation. This is enforceable by law. If you have come back into Australia, you need to live up to this pledge. And the state and territory governments are going to make sure you do. And there are strong penalties for those who don't comply with this and those states and territories are already moving in their enforcement measures. 

But today we believe we need to go even further. In addition to the arrival declaration and the support of legislation that is put behind that. So, by no later than midnight tomorrow, that is 11:59pm Saturday states and territories will be quarantining all arrivals through our airports, in hotels and other accommodation facilities for the two weeks of their mandatory self-isolation before they are able to return to their home. If their home is in South Australia or in Perth or in Tasmania and they have arrived in Melbourne, they will be quarantining in Melbourne. If it's in Sydney, it will be in Sydney, if it's Brisbane, and so on. This same situation we put in place, particularly for the case that you will be aware of in Western Australia in relation to the Vasco da Gama and the returning vessel there in terms of these arrangements. And the Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan will be having more to say about that.

But each state will be doing the heavy lifting themselves to support their other states. And I thank them for the reciprocal nature in the way they are putting these arrangements in place. It is a great team to be part of with the Premiers and the Chief Ministers. They understand they need to share each other’s burdens to ensure that we can manage this issue together as a nation. This will be enforced by the state and territory governments. The Commonwealth will be supporting them with all manner of assistance, which will relate to the work done by the Border Force, logisticians, and other supports that will be necessary, but those arrangements will be run by the state and territory governments in each state.

We will be supporting them also by providing members of the Australian Defence Force to assist in the compliance with these arrangements. Now, I want to stress that members of the Australian Defence Force are not authorised as enforcement officers regarding prosecution in states and territories. That is the responsibility of law enforcement officers so sworn in those jurisdictions. The ADF will be there to support those enforcement authorities. And so we will be turning out the defence forces to support compliance with these new arrangements. It will require that cooperative and facilitative support and I have no doubt the defence forces will do that in the most sensitive way they can, but it is necessary.

The other thing we are doing is we will be supporting the states and territories in the important work they have of enforcing the existing isolation arrangements for people who are already here. The ADF will be supporting those states and territories with compliance checks to ensure that people are at their residences, that they have so sworn that they would be at. To ensure we get compliance with the self-isolation. Again, if there is a situation where people are non-compliant, of course the enforcement authority is the state jurisdiction and the relevant law enforcement agency in that state. But the ADF will be there to put boots on the ground, to support them in their enforcement efforts, and I thank the ADF for their great support in turning up to this task. We believe these important actions are the most important we can take right now because of what you've done, Australia. By you getting onboard with the changes that you have needed to make, this means we can target our efforts even more into these areas, where we believe the most critical concern is right now.

Now, also today on the economy, we were briefed by the Treasury Secretary, Dr Kennedy, and states and territories were given a very extensive understanding of the impacts that we're potentially dealing with. The Treasurer and I will have more to say about that in the next few days, as we are preparing to put in place the third tranche of the measures that will be there to support Australians further as we go through the many difficult months that are ahead. The thing about an economy is your society does depend on it and so do governments. You can't run a country without an economy. And we are doing everything we can to ensure we maintain as much of that economy as we can through this crisis, to support all of the essential services that are so necessary at a time like this.

Part of that plan that we will be announcing will be to seek to hibernate Australian businesses. This will be a very innovative approach in the circumstances we find ourselves in. We will have more to say about this, but I discussed it with the Premiers and Chief Ministers today. The idea is pretty simple, there are businesses which will have to close their doors. They will have to keep them closed either because we have made it necessary for them to do so, or simply there is just not the business to keep their doors open. We want those businesses to start again. And we do not want over the course of the next six months or as long as it takes, for those businesses to be so saddled by debt, so saddled by rental payments, so saddled by other liabilities that they will not be able to start again on the other side. We want these businesses to effectively go into a hibernation, which means on the other side, the employees come back, the opportunities come back, the economy comes back. This will underpin our strategy as we go to the third tranche of our economic plan, and that will include support by states and territories of managing the very difficult issue of commercial tenancies and also dealing ultimately with residential tenancies as well.

So, in conclusion, I thank you for your patience. But I thank you most of all for the great job you have done this week, Australia. We have got to keep doing it. We have got to keep sticking together. We have got to keep supporting each other. We've got to keep sharing the right information with each other. And we have got to stick together and support each other through what I know is becoming day by day, a much tougher job for all of us. We can do it. I'm so encouraged by your reaction this week, as are all the Premiers and Chief Ministers. The next few weeks will be particularly vital and so we're getting this together at a time when it is most necessary and your response this week has been simply awesome.

Thank you. I’m going to pass you on to Dr Murphy.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So, we have just over 3,000 cases in Australia and we are worried. We are worried about the growth. But as the Prime Minister said we're in an almost unique situation in this country in that even now, a substantial part of our new cases are returned travellers. Our numbers have not been helped by a recent cruise ship, which has given lots of cases in Sydney. And we are still seeing significant numbers of returned travellers with the virus developing an infection and in many cases passing it on to their families. More than two-thirds are returned travellers, and a significant proportion of the other cases have been transmitted from returned travellers.

So, the Health Protection Principal Committee yesterday recommended to governments that the single most important thing we can do, is completely stop the capacity for any returning traveller transmitting the virus. Obviously we would look after them when they get the virus, as some will do, as they continue to come home. Coming from countries now that have very large outbreaks, so the risk is getting higher and higher, as the number of flights reduce, but the risk in those countries increase. This is a really important thing.

But we are also worried about community transmission. That is the single most important concern for the health experts. There is small amounts of community transmission in some pockets in Sydney, which is probably the most significant in the country, but tiny pockets in other states. We think that we are pretty confident with our testing regime, which is one of the highest rates of testing per population in the world, with one of the lowest positivity rates. But we're not kidding ourselves - if community transmission becomes significant, that is the real serious concern. That's why these social distancing measures are just so important. That's why they have to be for the long haul. For several months. So we have to have sustainable measures that every single citizen complies with every minute of the day, working from home where possible, going out only for the necessities, not mingling with your friends in a shopping centre or in a park. Practise social distancing, hand hygiene, cough etiquette. Every minute of the day. And as the Prime Minister said, we have seen dramatic improvements in the practises of everyday Australians. But we are watching really closely. And very, very - daily attention is being paid to, any growth in community transmission so that we can make any further recommendations to the government as necessary.

But at the moment, we are doing a very good job. But we have to have really good compliance with this social distancing to make it work. We can't have anyone breaking the rules, being stupid, being cavalier, and not taking this seriously. You have seen what's happened in countries over the world, where big community outbreaks have taken off. We are getting on top of our outbreaks, our state and territory public health officials are doing a fantastic job. But we have to very closely watch this community transmission. That's our biggest concern at the moment.

Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Brendan, Katherine?

JOURNALIST: Today, National Cabinet was I believe, was to discuss trigger points for moving to stage 3 lock downs or imposing the next phase of restrictions. Were any trigger points resolved or agreed upon, and also is it reasonable to interpret that from what you have just said about the proximity of the next tranche of measures that you want to sequence any further lockdowns with the next phase of the hibernation package, for want of a better term, do you want to sequence those two things - so you go into lockdown once the hibernation package is in full view?

PRIME MINISTER: The National Cabinet, as I said, is very aware that the restrictions we've placed on people - families, households, businesses, everyone - have been very significant. We want to ensure that as far as practicable that we continue to pursue this both from the health point of view and ensuring we minimise the impact on people, particularly economically, and we do understand the need to try and keep these things as close together as we possibly can. But the great point about today was, is the progress that has been able to be made in the last week means that is giving us more time to consider these other critical issues. The states and territories do have different experiences with the outbreaks in their various locations and we will continue to work on what other possible restrictions might be necessary and we will continue to work on the circumstances in which they might be introduced. But what we are saying right now is the thing that we need to take action on right now, after the good response - great response - we've had from Australians to what we announced, particularly last Sunday. This gives us the opportunity to do that and to continue to work on the economic supports as well that will be there to help people should those other restrictions become necessary.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, in the announcement you have just made about the new quarantine measures for Australians returning home, can you give us a sense of the scale of what you're anticipating in terms of the number of people who will need to go through this new quarantine restriction?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, to give you an idea, yesterday there were 7,120 arrivals at our airports around the country. To give you an idea of what that was this same time last year, it was 48,725. That gives you an idea of what has happened over the course of these past few weeks and months. The number of arrivals now are at a level which the states and territories believe means they are able to practically implement these types of arrangements. And that coincides with the risk that is increasingly presented by arrivals at this stage, as the virus has spread more broadly around the world, that obviously has increased the risk to those who have been overseas for longer. For those who are seeking to make their way back, know these arrangements will be in place and they are mandatory. They should also know that it won't be before too long where it will be very difficult to get back to Australia. The coronavirus has not been a secret for the last several months and for those Australians who were able to get back over the last several months, they have been able to come back under much more convenient arrangements. Now, it is getting a lot tougher and it is getting a lot stricter and so I am sure Australians will consider that depending on where they are in the world today.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how much do you expect that this is going to cost? Is the taxpayer going to have to foot that bill regarding these quarantine arrangements? And in terms of the concern regarding community transmission and not going unless absolutely necessary, can you say something about schools? Is anything going to change there given there is transmission going on in schools?

PRIME MINISTER: First of all, in terms of the cost, the cost of the accommodation and all those arrangements are being managed by states and territories. They are putting this in place. What we are doing is providing that support through all the other measures through the Australian Defence Force or the Australian Border Force and there are transport arrangements. But that is being worked on together right now between the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, directly with each of those state and territory jurisdictions to ensure they can get the measures in place. The greatest stress and strain will be in New South Wales because they have the highest number of arrivals of any of the states and territories. For some, for example, Tasmania, there are no international arrivals to Tasmania because they don't have an international airport. So, it will be disproportionate on those states and territories. That is why I do thank them. Those states that get the biggest share of arrivals are really having to step up in the national interest and I think that is a tremendous effort. But equally in Western Australia, with that cruise ship, they are stepping up there too and I want to thank them for that. The arrangements, how that will apply to the individuals, they are being determined by the states and territories. The Commonwealth is not involved in that decision.

On the issue of education, I'm glad you asked me. We met again yesterday with the Australian Education Union. I will be issuing a statement on behalf of the National Cabinet that we agreed this morning. In each of the states and territories, they will be pursuing their own arrangements directly with those schools between now and the end of term. Term finishes at the end of next week for Queensland, at the end of the following week for other states and territories. We've had, I think, very constructive discussions with the union movement this week. But at the end of the day, it needs to be sorted out in each state and territory. Each state and territory will be doing that in response to the requests that have been made of them. We have a variance in attendance levels across the country. The Premier of New South Wales tells me that attendance in New South Wales is down below 20 per cent, but in South Australia it is many times higher, as it is in Tasmania. This will actually impact on how we're rolling out the influenza vaccinations as well. We have put arrangements in place for those states and territories - they will be sorting that out on the ground but some may have to work more through GPs and pharmacists, because the children won't be at school. In other places, like South Australia, they will be in a better position to do that. But the point is, as we have now entered into a transition phase with schools, where education needs to continue to be delivered, but over the next few weeks, the schools themselves will be preparing, together with - on a national basis, seeking to get some consistency on this - about when schools reopen on the other side of the school holidays. It won't look like it has looked up until now. But what is important is that vulnerable families, the parents who have jobs - as I have said to you, what's an essential job? A job that someone has. If they are in a position where they cannot provide the suitable arrangements for their children to learn at home, then I'm assured that no child will be turned away under those circumstances. So, I thank the unions for their support and the constructive way they are approaching it. But you will see some different arrangements between states and territories as we go into the term break.

JOURNALIST: PM, can you walk us through a bit more of the hibernation plan, is it your idea that a business that rolls down the shutter on its business at one point, six months later is allowed to reopen without $1 more debt accruing? And who is going to have to take a hit? The banks think they might be able to capitalise on someone's mortgage. Are you hoping they won't do that? There are local councils, state governments.

PRIME MINISTER: Sure.

JOURNALIST: So can you walk us through how that will work?

PRIME MINISTER: We will make announcements on the details on this. I simply today wanted to set out what the objective was. There will be a burden for everyone to share. And that will include the business as well. There will be landlords who will suffer. There will be the banks who will be having to make arrangements with them. Whether councils are involved in providing waivers on rates and things of that nature, that will be something states work through. Whether land tax will be relieved for those who have tenants in a distressed situation, all of these things are what we are having to work through. It isn't a simple process. But the intent is, as far as possible, to achieve what you have said, Chris, and that is to ensure that a business that through no fault of its own, just like if there's any Australian who has lost a job through no fault of their own, we are simply trying to preserve and support them in the best way we possibly can for the simple reason that A; they are Australian, and that is what we should do, and B; that on the other side we want them to surge again. We want Australia to rise again on the other side of this and to go forward strongly. Sorry, Sam?

JOURNALIST: Childcare is obviously very important to that. You have a situation at the moment where parents are paying for childcare where they are being urged not to attend or in some cases they have lost their job and they can no longer afford it. Centres want you to guarantee a slice of that $9 billion in the childcare subsidy so they can not only pay their staff but allow these parents not to pay for care that they are not getting. What is going to happen with that? Because at the moment they are saying that centres are going to have to close.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is one of the very sensitive areas that we're working through, Sam. We're working on a plan to deal with that with those many premises around the country. They are an essential part of keeping the economy running for those who are still part of it and for those who are still going to work and we understand that. We are working through these issues, through a list of priorities, and that is one that is certainly very high to the top of the list, about how we're supporting people who remain in work to be able to stay in work and their child care support is a key part of that. But we haven't finalised those arrangements yet. In terms of the health issues around child-care centres, well, they are the same for schools. The health advice on those issues has not changed. And so we would continue to see child care, for particularly for those who are at work, especially I should say, exclusively I should say - for those who are at work as being a fundamental service that is required to help us get through. Jen?

JOURNALIST: We've heard clips from the Chinese President this morning saying that this is a global emergency and it's, we're all fighting a common enemy. Yes, that's true. But is that enough? Should China take more of a responsibility here? And were you given any assurances last night from the Chinese President?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, all leaders last night set out what they were doing to address the twin crises and this was acknowledged and the point that I made last night, was about the fact that we're confronting a twin crisis here. And that was accepted, and I think broadly understood and supported as we all put in place measures. We were talking about what we were doing to confront the virus and there is a massive commonality. Testing - so important. And the fact that Australia has, based on the data we have, one of if not the highest testing regime in the world, at some 700 per 100,000 - I mean, Korea comes closest to that, but as I said the other day, other places have testing regimes - and we are 25 times higher than that, and we're about 5 times higher than the UK on my last reading of the data. So, testing, contact tracing; incredibly important. And that's why we have surged in support from Defence Forces, as have the states in recruiting large numbers of people to do the contact tracing to get on top of this. Self-isolation and its enforcement, which is what we have been talking about today. We're all very committed around the world to putting in whatever resources we need to do to get the antivirals in place and to find the vaccine. All of one mind on all those issues. Other matters around border arrangements, keeping the supply lines open for essential medical supplies. That's very important. And there was broad commitment to those sorts of things. On the economy side, we discussed all the various stimulus and support and social security mechanisms we are putting in place, and, as I said, Australia on all of those marks, I think fares very, very, very well.

In terms of where it started and how it started - not a time for that. It's a time for saving lives. It's a time for saving livelihoods. And that is what everyone has a common purpose to do. The last point that was also discussed - and I noted particularly in relationship to our Pacific family - is we're a developed economy. We have one of the best health systems in the world and we come into this with a very strong balance sheet and a strong economy. But there are many countries around the world, for whom that is not true. And we should brace ourselves, I think, for some very devastating images around the world and we are all going to have to do our part as a global community to support those who are not in as strong a position as the G20 nations. And here, that means our Pacific family. I noted that we would be taking particular responsibility, with our cousins across the ditch in New Zealand, to ensure that we do everything we can to support our Pacific family. Tom?

JOURNALIST: Two questions. First of all, will the government consider at any stage repatriating the 10 or 20,000 Australians still stranded overseas? And, secondly, have you had a conversation with Gladys Berejiklian about the Ruby Princess situation? Can we expect any kind of an investigation into that?

PRIME MINISTER: We've had a number of conversations about that. We are learning the lessons from that episode. And a lot of what you have seen here today is as a result of that. So, we will continue to do that. I mean Gladys and I and the Premiers - we are talking all the time, every day. We are working closely together to ensure that we can stay on top of this for the interests of saving lives and saving livelihoods. That is the only agenda, that is the only issue, that is the only focus that we have. In relation to those Australians who are overseas, yes, we have got an arrangement currently in place for those who are stranded in South America, in Peru. And we've also had an arrangement where we have already just brought back a group from the United States and Hawaii. And they have come back. And they are currently in the Swiss Hotel. There will be some Australians who are in places where they have found themselves through no fault of their own, isolated, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working on all of those cases. But for those Australians who have had an opportunity and - even more amazingly, those who continued to leave the country, even after a ‘do not travel’ advice was given, then I don't think they could expect their follow Australians to think that the Australian Government would be having them high on the list of the people we need to go and support. But it is the job of the government. Australian citizens, wherever they are through our consular services, get that support. We will be doing our best to support them in whichever way we can.

Now, are we going to go to Tom, and then we'll go right over the back there. I will try and make sure everyone gets a go.

JOURNALIST: You have spoken before about making sure people get the right information, not - you know, information that is incorrect on social media. Given that, and a lot of older Australians get traditional newspapers and are at risk, would newsagents be considered an essential service through whatever stages of lockdown we're going to talk about?

PRIME MINISTER: First of all, no Premier or Chief Minister is speaking about the term that you have. Shopping centres, well more specifically I should say supermarkets, food, all the things that Australians are going to need - well, they are going to continue to be able to access those in the normal way. So, I would caution against the way people talk about this word "lockdown", and the reason I'd say it is this. And I know it’s, you meant it innocently. I don't want to give people - and none of the Premiers do - that that is going to be someplace we might get to, where people can't go out and get essential supplies, that they can't get the things that they need to actually live life for the next 6 months. So, when we talk about potential other restrictions, there is no need for people to rush out and cram supermarkets and do things like that, because of other restrictions that may become necessary. So, I would actually caution the media against using the word "lockdown", because I think it does create unnecessary anxiety because that is not an arrangement that is actually being considered in the way that term might suggest.

But in terms of news information, well, what we have been doing is identifying activities that are undertaken at premises that we would be restricting. And so we have been nominating things that should cease. We haven't been going down the path of saying, "Well, this is all in. And everything else is out." It is actually focused on the things that we would restrict. Now, the reason we're doing that is because that's much easier to understand. Even barre classes, the other night, I now know what they are, by the way you will be pleased to know! All the memes that people have put together- it’s barre is it? I will get the pronunciation, thank you, Sam Maiden!

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

PRIME MINISTER: That’s one press conference I will remember, Sam! But barre, or whatever it is, by being specific about what is being restricted, that is a much more helpful way because then people know and they don't have to ask questions, "Well, is this in? Is that in? Is this in?" We are trying to be as clear as we can about what is being restricted. And we are looking to keep, as I said before, every service open that we possibly can. And they of course are important services, Tom. They are important services.

Now I promised I think to go over the back, right up, yep?

JOURNALIST: You thanked Australians for their cooperation with this and you’ve cited the progress of the last week, you obviously don't want to use the term lockdown, but New South Wales and Victoria are suggesting stricter measures, are you confident with the trajectory that we are seeing now in terms of people adhering to these measures, that that is enough to ensure that we won't have to enforce stricter measures?

PRIME MINISTER: No I don't think we can say that absolutely. I think where further restrictions are necessary, further restrictions will be applied. That is the approach we are taking. Today as we have met, we believe what we are doing today to target in on this most particular area of risk is what is necessary for today, but what I would flag is going forward, is that states and territories are getting in different phases of where the virus is at, and that you may see in the future, greater variation in how far restrictions go in some parts of the country, versus others, and I would encourage those where greater restrictions are not imposed, that is not in any way a suggestion that those jurisdictions are taking this any less seriously, it is just saying that where they are at, the restrictions are relevant for where they are, and other jurisdictions may be in a different situation. And so we are looking to build in that flexibility going forward because as Doctor Murphy keeps saying, you start this with this restriction, and then you have got to be able to do it for 6 months, and even, frankly, if we were to go to further restrictions, and say that they might be done for two or four weeks and reviewed after that time, you had better be ready to do it for 6 months, because at what point do you pull it back? And I think with what we're learning about the virus, that would present very challenging. Let's hope that that would not be required, but the reality is I think if we are being really brutally honest, is that once these restrictions come into place, they stay in place, and they will be in place for some time, and we will all have to keep adapting, and as I said this week, the way people adapted gives me great encouragement. John?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned as part of this business hibernation that both banks and also things like energy companies and landlords will have to spread and share some of the pain, what about employee benefits such as accumulated leave, long service leave, that might have accrued over many years, to perhaps get a business back on its  feet, not to have its debts on those balance sheets? Could they be on the table as part of the discussion?

PRIME MINISTER: What the Treasurer and I are seeking to do is keep people connected to their business through this time and what we are seeking to do is ensure that in these businesses, everybody is part of it, everybody is a team member in this, it is and everybody's interest that that business resuscitates and rises again on the other side. That means your job is there again, your income is there again, life can return to some form of normality on the other side. So what I am saying is, we are all in it together. We are all in it, whether you are the landlord, whether you’re the lessee, the employee, whether you are the bank, you are all in it. The energy companies, they have already moved, I think, I know they have, Angus Taylor has told me, they’re looking to provide more support, whether you’re the local government, all of these things. I mean, it’s time for Australians in these commercial arrangements to sort of get it, that they have to sit down and come to an arrangement with one another. I mean, for example, if a tenant, a shop in a local high street somewhere in the country cannot keep their shop open and they have to put the lock on the door, they can't pay the rent, if the landlord wanted to enforce that on them and kick them out and rip their fitout out and do all that sort of thing, who do they think is going to move into the shop and pay the rent? I mean, what is sensible here is to understand the economic environment we are in and to see that on the other side, it is in everybody's interest that everybody gets through. So that is what working together, I think, in our economy really means. So we want landlords to talk to their tenants, we want employees to talk to their employers, we want banks to talk to their customers and vice-versa, and we want them to sort out arrangements that help them or get through.

JOURNALIST: On the issue of residential rents, was there any conversation or was there any appetite to nationalise some of those restrictions or rules given that some states have already come out in front and given amnesties to some of the renters that we see? Was there any mood to make those rules nationalised?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, they can’t be nationalised under a federal jurisdiction, these things will always remain the province of the states under the Constitution, but there is a lot of work being done together to try and get a consistent approach when it comes to residential tenancies. Residential tenancies are a bit different to commercial tenancies, there are different landlords, there are different issues in place. We are looking, the Commonwealth provides rental assistance and more and more people are coming onto rental assistance, for the simple fact that they have lost employment, they are coming onto the jobseeker payment which gives them entitlement to rental assistance, and so there will be a lot of supports that come into that. But it is an issue that is a high priority, just like childcare and they’re complicated issues in many respects and we have to work through them to get the right answers, but it is high up on the list of. The Treasurers of all the states and territories, working under our Treasurer leading the process, is looking at exactly what you are talking about right now. Yep? I can do one more over here.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the AMA today has raised concerns about protecting Australia's supply of PPE and other medical equipment, and with these reports that they are being exported or taken out of the country. Are you aware of this being an ongoing issue and you flagged it earlier in the week that there might be measures being put in place? How far away are those and, if I may, Professor Murphy, in April when all of the elective surgery nurses in private hospitals are no longer going to be doing that role, is there capacity to shift them potentially into ICU, or what is potentially happening with that workforce?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: We have advanced plans with the states and territories, working with the private hospitals to absolutely keep those incredibly valuable clinicians. 35 percent of our intensive care is in our private hospital sector. They provide huge capacity, so they will have a key role in our outbreak, and we understand there are financial issues with elective surgery being reduced because of the PPE issue but we are absolutely omitted, state and territory and Commonwealth government, to make sure that we keep the private hospital sector viable to help in this response and to be there at the other end.

PRIME MINISTER: On the other issue, those regulations are coming into place literally as we speak. My hope is that will ensure through the ABF and all those authorities that they’re able to crack down on this. It is very disappointing, to say the least, and there will be some people who just don't get it and do these sorts of things, and we have toughened up the laws to make sure that they will get it.

JOURNALIST: On intensive care, where are we up to with increasing capacity? The Journal of Australia says we may be 10 days away from hitting capacity around the country?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think that prediction is not necessarily shared but we obviously have done very advanced work in increasing our intensive care capacity. So we have strategies to at least triple our intensive care capacity and even go further if we need to. We are working very closely with the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, they are preparing a national heat map of where the beds are, where the usage of those beds are, and we are working very hard to increase our supply of ventilators and consumables. We are, compared to many countries, our baseline ICU capacity is very good, much better per head of population and many other high income countries, but we have a very, very committed and enthusiastic intensive care community who are planning on very significant surges which we hope will not have to happen.

JOURNALIST: Many have suggested that more comprehensive restrictions would result in a shorter disruption and fewer deaths. Now, we know you don't agree with that, but are you willing to release the modelling that explains what the government, what the government thinks would happen under each scenario?

PRIME MINISTER: The decisions that I communicate from this podium are the decisions of all Premiers, Chief Ministers, and myself. This is not some personal view of mine, these are the decisions of the National Cabinet based on the medical expert advice that we receive in terms of the restrictions that are necessary to deal with the management of the outbreak of the virus in Australia. I sometimes note that those who often are pushing for greater restrictions, they will keep their job. I am not going to be so cavalier about it. I am going to make sure I fight for every job I can because I know that that job means something very important to that person, and that family. And I would not compromise that principle, save only that there would be a compelling health reason to do so.

So, Australia, thank you again. Thank you for what you have done. We will continue to do everything within our power to support you. This weekend, I hope you have a good one, it is going to be quite different to the ones you have had in the past, I know, but I also know that you will support one another and you will continue doing the things that you have been doing this week to save lives and to save livelihoods. Thank you.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42762

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

25 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. Last night, I had to announce on behalf of the National Cabinet some very difficult changes that we have asked Australians to make and in many cases in relation to the operation of businesses, some very difficult changes which means that they will need to close their doors. And that also means that their staff will no longer be able to turn up to work and have employment. These are very difficult changes that we're asking Australians to make. I want to assure all Australians again that these decisions are not being made by Premiers and Chief Ministers and myself lightly. We are very mindful of the impact. We are also very mindful that you are receiving a lot of information and we are moving as quickly as we can, but also seeking to be understanding of the need for Australians to be able to absorb this information and make the changes in their daily lives and to talk to their family and friends and their employers and others about that. So this is a time of significant change and I want to thank all Australians for the spirit in which they're receiving this information and working hard to ensure that they can adapt that to their daily routines and their daily lives. I've said all throughout this that there'll be many months ahead of this and we are seeking to do things that are in, that are sustainable so we can keep doing them, not just now, not just for a week or two, but that we keep doing them month after month after month to ensure that we can all get through this together.

So again, I want to thank the Premiers and Chief Ministers who have all been out this morning and been providing further explanation to the points and announcements that I made last night. We are very conscious of the great cost of these measures and the impact on the daily lives of Australians and we are there with you and we will continue to be to explain these as best as we can and the states and territories will be seeking to do everything they can to ensure they're followed, because when we do these things, we save lives, we do these things, we can save more livelihoods, we do these things and it sets us up even better to get on this bridge to the other side of the recovery and to be able to make sure that that's as strong as it possibly can be.

Now National Cabinet is meeting again this evening. It is meeting to pick up on the items that we were unable to get to last night. I am not planning at this point to be holding any media conference this evening after that meeting, as it is largely dealing with matters that are in process, are in train. And so tonight, it is not our intention to be making any further announcements about those types of issues that we addressed last night. It was a very lengthy discussion, as you can imagine, and we thought it was important that we break the meeting to ensure that I could convey the decisions on those important behavioural changes and particularly the issues of closure of premises in all of the categories that I announced.

There are many challenges we are facing now, which we've already discussed. But there are going to be many more and some of them yet haven't even revealed themselves as to what the nature of those challenges are going to be. What as a government we've been seeking to do is put in place the right advice, the right structures, the right disciplines, the right processes, to ensure that we can make the best possible decisions that can stick and will ensure that we can best manage this crisis. As I described it last night, a twin crisis, a crisis on a health front, which is also causing a crisis in the economy as well. And both of them can be equally as deadly, both in terms of the lives of Australians and their livelihoods. The purpose is to have these structures enable us to save lives and livelihoods, to cushion the impact, to build a bridge to the other side and get everyone across that bridge together. The National Security Committee task force on Covid-19, which meets very regularly to make decisions about what the federal government needs to do. For example, the ban on people travelling overseas, which will be in place as I understand by midday today. The National Cabinet, Premiers, Chief Ministers, doing all they can to work together like I have never, ever seen before with states and territories. And sure, there may be the odd time where there might be a bit of difference at the edge. But I can tell you in my entire working life, in public life, I have never seen the states and territories work together like they are working together right now and I thank them for that. The National Cabinet is an essential gathering and it is all of our preference to keep that consistency and common action together as much as is possible. But we also need to recognise that in some places, states and territories are in different situations to other parts of the country. A very good example of that is the Northern Territory. It is a very unique set of circumstances in the Northern Territory, particularly as it relates to remote communities, indigenous communities. So while we seek to get consistency across the country, there will always be exceptions or differences based on those circumstances in those states and territories.

We also have the economic advice that comes through to us from the Reserve Bank and from Treasury and other members of the Council of Financial Regulators, ASIC and APRA. Those bodies which are feeding up information, and advice to us in all of these bodies. The National Cabinet, the Expenditure Review Committee, our Cabinet and the and the National Security Taskforce. That work has been important to define the economic responses. And of course, there is the medical expert panel, you keep hearing it referred to as the AHPPC. It is the panel of medical experts, doctors who work in public health in all the states and territories and the Commonwealth, who are providing the expert medical advice together to the national cabinet and to our respective governments.

But there is another area and I'm joined by Neville Power here today, Nev Power, as we know him, that we believe needs greater coordination. And that's why today I'm announcing the establishment of a national COVID-19 Coordination Commission. That Commission's job, put simply, is to solve problems. Problems that require the private sector working together with the private sector, CEOs, to talk to CEOs and to be engaged with by CEOs to ensure that the private to private effort is there solving problems in the national interest and it's being mobilised. It's about the private sector working together with the public sector. It's about better coordinating the efforts that are happening within the public sector and to do that we have been operating with what has been called the national coordinating mechanism, but that is essentially being done by governments between governments at a state and federal level. Whether it's repurposing manufacturing lines, whether it's re-tasking workforces, that one day were taking calls for travel companies, now taking calls at Centrelink and ensuring that we're repurposing the workforce effort. There will be many other problems that need to be solved. And Nev Power I have appointed as executive chairman of that Commission to help us solve those problems and work through them with all arms of government right across government, working with states and territories, some of whom have also put in place similar arrangements to ensure we can get these problems sorted. Whether it's ensuring we get food to supermarkets and we ensure the supply lines remain open there and the trucks can roll out when they need to roll out and we have enough of them to do that job at all the right times. These are the many challenges that we need to face.

Now, Nev Power was the former head of the Fortescue Metals Group. He has a great experience in doing just this task. You work in the mining sector, you need to know how to solve problems and big ones. There are only big issues in the mineral sector. And it's great that Neville, when I rang him the other day, I simply said, Nev, I need you to serve your country. And he quickly responded, in the same way that the Commissioner of our Bushfire Recovery Agency, AJ Colvin, I asked him the same question. I need you to serve your country, and he stepped up and that's what Nev’s agreed to do in leading this new Commission. There will be a board that will be appointed and we already have sitting on that board a number of eminent Australians who'll be working with Nev to help guide this problem-solving task and there'll be others who'll be added to this board. The other members of this board are Greg Combet, Jane Halton, who formerly... Greg Combet, who everyone will know, I think, quite well. Jane Halton, I'm sure many of you know but she now sits on a number of boards outside. She has previously served extensively within the Australian public service and in her last role as the head of the Finance Department. Mr Paul Little who used to head up Toll and has a great understanding of how to deal with the many logistical issues that will be present as we go forward. Katherine Tanner, who heads up Energy Australia, Kath also sits on the Reserve Bank of Australia board and is very experienced in the energy sector, but also has a very good handle on what's happening in the financial sector as well. And the deputy chair of the organisation will be Mr David Thodey. David also heads up as chair of the CSIRO. But of course, as former head of Telstra and a deep corporate experience means that together they will be able to reach out and into corporate Australia to solve problems on behalf of the nation, working together with the states and territories. Now, the board will be joined by Phil Gaetjens as the Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Secretary of the Home Affairs Department, Mike Pezullo, who is currently running the national coordinating mechanism. That will continue to function and it will plug straight into this new Commission to ensure we're getting the advice. They will come to us and say, Prime Minister, we need to do this. We need you to authorise this. We recommend that you take this action to get these problems sorted. And so I want to give Australians confidence that we've got the best people in this country working to solve the problems and the challenges that are going to confront us so we all get through to the other side. And I want to thank you, Nev, for taking on this role and all of the other members of the Commission's board and all of those who are going to be working with them and we'll be making further appointments, particularly in the not for profit sector, to see how we can mobilise that effort as well.

Before I throw to Nev I want to make a number of comments and we can take a few questions today. We had a lot of questions last night and we have a fairly busy agenda today. I also need to note another decision that we confirmed this morning amongst the Premiers and Chief Ministers, and that is that the national cabinet endorsed the advice of the medical expert panel, the AHPPC that from today midnight the 25th of March until further notice all elective surgery other than category 1 and urgent - I stress very urgent Category 2 cases - will be suspended. This will apply in both the public and the private hospital systems. Cancellation of elective surgery will allow the preservation of resources, including personal protective equipment, and allow health services, private and public, to prepare for their role in the Covid-19 outbreak. Now this had already largely been implemented for category 1 and category 2 and what this means is a further scaling back of those of those elective surgeries in Category 2. So with that, I'm going to hand you over to Nev and then we can take some further questions.

NEVILLE POWER, CHAIR OF COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION: Thank you very much, Prime Minister, and thanks, everyone. As the Prime Minister mentioned, I've stepped up to this role when he asked me to do it, because I think Australia right now, more than anything, needs to focus on minimising and mitigating the impact of the coronavirus on our businesses, on our communities, on our people. And that’s through the preservation of jobs, as much as we possibly can, given the constraints that we have around the restrictions from the coronavirus. So my role is going to be looking for those problems and looking for opportunities where we can join businesses together to solve two problems, where there is a workforce that has no longer gainfully employed and where there's a workforce that it is needed, where there's equipment that can be redeployed, where we need to intervene to protect our critical supply chains and our utilities. And also very importantly, looking to the future, because we know that this virus will come and go and we want to be well positioned to make sure that we restore people's jobs and livelihood as quickly as we possibly can afterwards. So our priority is to identify those areas and ask people for their help and look for coordination across all of those areas to minimise the impact of this virus.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Nev. Just before we come to that, also there is some important information I wanted to relay on testing. My morning brief this morning has Australia at 162,747 tests for Covid-19. Now, to put this in perspective, the tests by 100,000 population for Australia is five times, almost five times, 4.7 in fact, what it is in the United Kingdom, it is 25 times what it is in the United States. It is even higher now than in the Republic of Korea and puts Australia right at the top of that leaders board in terms of the amount of testing that we're undertaking in Australia. This is a very important statistic because it shows that those testing resources we are securing and we are continuing to deploy. The testing and the contact tracing is the most important jobs we have as governments to ensure that we can best manage this virus and to, supported by all the other measures, ensure we can reduce the peak impacts that we are so determined to do in managing the virus in the community. Andrew?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you keep using the word scalable to talk about economic measures, surely now you can see the scale of the economic and societal problem from the lines outside Centrelink. Will you consider a scheme like Boris Johnson's where he provides money to distressed businesses so they can keep their workers on the bridge until we get to the other side?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, two things. We are already providing money to businesses through the BAS arrangements and one of the weaknesses of the system that you're advocating for is that it has to build an entirely new payment system for that to be achieved, which is never done quickly and is never done well. And that can put at great risk the sort of resources we're trying to get to people. The best way to get help to people is through the existing payment channels, through the existing tax system arrangements. That was the lesson from the GFC. Of all the money that went out in the GFC - and I'm not making a partisan point here - the key lesson was you must use existing channels for getting money to people because that is the most effective way for that to occur. To dream up other schemes can be very dangerous.

JOURNALIST: Even if that means more job losses, Prime Minister?

PRIME MINISTER: No, no, I don't accept that at all and that is not the advice of Treasury either. That is completely inconsistent with the advice of Treasury. See, what we're doing is keeping as many businesses as we possibly can open. And then what we're doing for those businesses that closed because of the many measures, in fact, that we're putting in place, we are ensuring a stronger safety net for all of those who are impacted by that. Businesses will close because of the restrictions we have put in place. There will be no jobs in those businesses. And so what we want to ensure is the Australians who are affected by that and the businesses indeed that are affected by that, that they can get a lifeline and a safety net that will help them through. Because if you lose your job and you earn $150,000, or if you lose your job and you earn $50,000 or your job is at risk on those two different levels, then I'm ensuring that both of those people get the same support.

This isn’t a one on one interview, Andrew.

JOURNALIST: Will you waive mutual obligations?

PRIME MINISTER: I addressed that last night.

JOURNALIST: Communications, logistics, transport will all be important. The Department of Defence does that very well. So what role do you envisage for the Department of Defence?

PRIME MINISTER: They’re already playing a role. They're already involved, particularly in logistics issues and the repurposing of supply chains on PPE masks and things of that nature. And I want to commend Minister Andrews, Karen Andrews, for the amazing job she's been doing around that effort, working together with the Minister for Defence. Defence personnel are already involved in contract tracing and surging workforce support into state governments to help them with those tasks. Logistic support from the military will also be available and the many other tasks that they can be involved in, which were on great display during the bushfire crisis. And all of those resources will be at the disposal of the National Coordination Commission for coronavirus, and they'll be plugging in heavily with this work with Nev.

JOURNALIST: You said in your opening remarks last night and again today that the situation is slightly different in some of the states. Is it conceivable that New South Wales and Victoria could move ahead to further restrictions at a faster pace than other states?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the preference of all states and territories is to ensure as much consistency as possible, because it is absolutely true that the situation in New South Wales is different to that in Victoria and to that of Western Australia and in particular the Northern Territory and Tasmania. And where possible, they are seeking to ensure a consistent approach. But the issue of hitting higher thresholds and other measures is a matter that is being discussed by the National Cabinet. But be assured that if additional measures are required for different parts of the country, there would be no resistance to that occurring. It would be hard, I think, for some Australians to get their heads around is why a particular measure might be introduced in Melbourne, but not in Adelaide and that could cause some confusion for people living in Adelaide. It could also mean that if some states were to go ahead and other states were forced to follow, then that could cause needless economic loss in those states as well. See we're managing two crises, an economic one and a health one, and they are impacting on our country in different ways across the country.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, last night you told Australians to stay home except for essential school work, grocery shopping, health or exercise. This morning the government texted people who are sick to stay home. While obviously it's more urgent that sick people get that message, don't you think that lack of detail this morning undermines the very clear advice you gave us last night?

PRIME MINISTER: No, it doesn't, because it was consistent with the advice. The most urgent message that we're getting for people to stay home is to stay home if you're sick. That is the most important, urgent message. It is also important that people should stay home when they're in self isolation. And as I said last night, our preference and our instruction is more generally stay home unless you're going out for essentials. But the most dangerous thing you can do and we know of people who are sick and have sought to go to pharmacies and that is very dangerous. And so the most important part of the message that we're seeking to get out is that message. There will be more messages. I mean, just last night, you were criticising the government for not having a text messaging service. And here it is first thing this morning, and I knew that was taking place. So I'd ask the media to be patient. We're obviously getting to these issues. And I appreciate there'll be criticism from time to time. But that message is very clear. The message we gave last night was very clear. There will be more messages that come out using those sorts of mechanisms and we are further upgrading that capability.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there are still some people today who are a little bit confused, parents saying do I send my kid to school do I know, some small businesses who don't fall very specifically into some of those categories?

PRIME MINISTER: Which categories are you referring to?

JOURNALIST: The categories in terms of I should close? So many, a small jeweller, or a nursery for plants. Some people are still confused about what to do. Would a, just a lockdown for a time be a good idea so that unequivocally it's clear we need to just all lock down, we need to control this now?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, you're suggesting I should close down businesses where there's no medical advice that they should. I don't understand why we would cause that harm to a business and all their workers and their livelihoods for the sake of some sort of message convenience. I think that would be quite reckless. What we're seeking to do is put in place measures on a scalable basis. Now, last night, I gave a very clear list of those businesses that were unable to continue in their premises because of the risk of the spread of coronavirus. Now, our advice is not to extend that more broadly within the retail sector. People can still go to car yards. They can still do those things, where It's necessary for them to do that. And those businesses are expected to put in place the arrangements I talked about last night, which is the four square meters per person. How many people can be in that premise. And what I was trying to stress last night is the government is taking these decisions together with the states and territories very seriously. We are not going to do things to a business or someone's job and livelihood where, at this stage, that may and is not necessary. And so when we do make those decisions and if we do make those decisions, you can have the confidence that it's not being done in some sort of cavalier way to just suit the convenience of messaging. That's not my priority. My priority is to protect Australian lives and protect their livelihoods and to make this information as clear as I can. Kath, last question.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just picking up from Phil’s question, the Victorian Premier this morning in his press conference said there would be stage three lockdowns, not today, but that they're coming. And he said that it was basically understood now in the National Cabinet that there were differences between the states. And his clear inference was that Victoria and New South Wales would move ahead of other states to implement stage 3 lockdowns. Is that your expectation and would, I think you said a minute ago, there wouldn't be resistance. But I'm just wanting to be clear. Is it your expectation that New South Wales and Victoria will move ahead of other states?

PRIME MINISTER: Ultimately, the National Cabinet is not a compulsory mechanism. That's not how our Federation is built. That's not what our constitution provides for. It is, I think, the preference of all the National Cabinet that wherever possible, they can move together and they can move together in a consistent way. But there is also an important discussion about where other states are under more extreme circumstances, that measures that may be required there more urgently may be less urgent in other parts of the country. So there is a real discussion about how those issues can be addressed. But I can assure everyone that no measure has been restrained from in any state or territory, if any state or territory felt they needed to take those more urgent actions than I know they would do it through the National Cabinet. And they would not seek to do it unilaterally, but they'd seek to do it in partnership, in cooperation with other states and territories. Now, on the issue of schools, I could say that this morning I had a very positive discussion with the National Education Union. We're working through those issues. And the points I'd make briefly about that to you is simply this - that we recognise absolutely just how important teachers are in dealing with this crisis. When I think about teachers, I'm thinking about them in the same way that I'm thinking about paramedics, about nurses, about doctors, about, frankly, those who are trying to upgrade the capabilities of Centrelink and things of that nature. These are critical people in our community at this time and it's very important that we work with teachers to ensure that their workplace health and safety is being addressed as we manage this very difficult issue. School is not as usual anymore. That's clear. We all accept that and school won't be as usual going into the future. That's important. But we must have an orderly transition that ensures that workers, and as I said last night, an essential worker is a worker with a job because I don't want any parent to have to choose between putting food on the table for their kids and for their kids getting an education. That is not a choice I want any parent in this country to have to make. And so we are working with the National Education Union. We will be having further discussions with them to work through these issues. I thank them for their cooperation today and the very good spirit that they and and many other unions around the country are working together with us. And I have no doubt, particularly working with Greg Combet and Nev as part of that process, they will be critical going forward as well.

Thank you very much for your time.

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42757

Press Conference - Canberra, ACT

24 March 2020

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PRIME MINISTER: Good evening, everyone. I said in the Parliament that 2020, for most Australians, was going to be their toughest year and what we have seen unfold just this week has been demonstrating just that. Australians who have lost their jobs, lost hours of work. Businesses that have been forced to close their businesses. These are heartbreaking events in our nation's history and story. And I want to assure all Australians that the National Cabinet has been meeting, as the federal cabinet has been meeting, state governments also and we've considered the many, many difficult issues we are having to address. We are not unconscious of the real impacts that these measures are having on the daily lives of Australians and so we will continue to do everything we can, both as a federal government and as state and territory governments around the country to do all we can to support our people through what is going to be an incredibly difficult time. The queues that we saw outside Centrelink, the challenges and frustrations people have had in gaining access is a sheer function of the extraordinary and overwhelming demand and we will work night and day to ensure that we can get more capacity into these systems. What this reflects is the size of the need and the size of that need is demonstrated by the impacts of what the coronavirus and the many things that governments are having to do to limit its health impacts across the country and to ensure that we can protect the lives of Australians.

But our goal is to get through this together and by following commonsense rules and doing the right thing, that’s how we slow the spread of this virus, and that's how we save lives. It also means that not all states, I want to stress, are in the same position. Some states, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, are far more advanced on the progression of this virus than other states and territories. But tonight, despite the variations that do exist, there is a strong will for states and territories to seek to move together, wherever they possibly can, to ensure a consistency of application of the various rules and arrangements that we're putting in place across the country. 

Tonight, we agreed to extend the restrictions that were announced on Sunday night, but to do so in a manner that was consistent with the types of measures that we announced on Sunday night. What I mean by that is there was an initial list of activities that largely went to the issues of social gatherings, particularly in enclosed spaces, that was being done to restrict the amount of contact between people outside activities such as going to work and things of that nature. And so tonight we worked to complete that list of those types of activities that we believe were appropriate at this time to slow the spread of the virus, to ensure that we are covering all the necessary activities and business functions inside premises that should be considered at this time. And so from midnight tomorrow night all of these following activities, and they include some that I've already announced from earlier, will no longer be taking place. 

Cafes I’ve already said but that but the takeaway that will continue. So no change to the issues around cafes. Food courts in shopping centres will not be allowed to continue. But getting takeaway from those food outlets in those shopping centres, that can continue because takeaway is able to be done. In the retail space, auction houses, gatherings together in auction rooms, that can no longer continue. Real estate auctions and open house inspections - in particular, open house inspections - that cannot continue. Outdoor and indoor markets, excluding food markets like Flemington and things like that, because that is essential to ensuring the food supply right across the country, they will be addressed specifically by states and territories in each of their jurisdictions. States and territories have very different arrangements in terms of the types of markets they have, and they'll be making those decisions specific to their states and territories. 

But the point and the principle is very clear - large gatherings brought together by particular organised events are things that we are seeking to avoid and that's the principle the states and territories will be seeking to follow. 

In terms of personal services where there is a lot of contact, obviously, between those providing that service in a premise and the patrons, the following now won't be able to continue: beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons and tattoo parlours and the same for spa and massage parlours. That excludes health-related services in those areas, physiotherapists, things of that nature, health-related and allied health services. Hairdressers and barber shops will continue to be able to provide those services but it is very important that they strictly manage the social distancing and limitations of the number of people in their premise. So that's four square meters per person. And on top of that, to restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premises to no more than 30 minutes and preferably less. Cinemas, nightclubs, casinos, gaming or gambling venues, all of these were included in the announcement on Sunday, as were adult entertainment venues, concert venues, theatres, arenas, auditoriums, stadiums. They were all included in what we said on Sunday evening. Amusement parks and arcades are now included. Play centres and both indoor and outdoor are also now included. Community and recreation centres, health clubs, fitness centres, yoga, barre - I hope I've pronounced that correctly, I might need some help with that. I'm not quite sure what that is, to be honest, but B-A-R-R-E for those who are looking for the specific definition. And spin facilities, saunas, bathhouses, wellness centres. Boot camps and personal training is limited to a maximum of 10 people and the social distancing arrangements must be strictly enforced. Social sporting based activities, swimming pools. Now, I'll come back to the social and sporting based activities in a second to explain what we mean by that. That's large groups of people gathering together to play soccer in a community oval and things of that nature. 

You can see what we're trying to do. We're trying to limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmitting of the virus through those social interactions which are not considered necessary. 

Galleries, museums, national institutions, historic sites, libraries, community centres, youth centres, local government, non-essential facilities, libraries and swimming pools, community facilities such as community halls, clubs, RSLs, PCYCs, I mean, many of those are already included in what I announced on Sunday night and of course places of worship. On places of worship and other similar type venues, there has been a very difficult decision we've had to make tonight in relation to weddings and in relation to funerals. Now, weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple, the celebrant and the witnesses. That's no more than five people. And the four square metre rule has to be observed within the venue in which that's taking place. But large gatherings for weddings, sadly, won't be possible under these new arrangements. And sadly also - and I know this will be very difficult - funerals to no more than 10 persons observing the rules around the four square metre rule and social distancing practices. Particularly on these types of activities, this is not an easy decision. Where we've already found, and Dr Murphy can speak to this, some of the events that have been some of the major transmitting events, it has been exactly these types of events, particularly weddings. And that is why, regretfully, we have to be able to put these arrangements in place.

Now, these are the rules and arrangements that are applied when it comes to the strict enforcement of these arrangements and that will come in from midnight tomorrow night and states and territories will be moving tomorrow to put those arrangements in place. Now, there are some also very important further rules that we want people to follow, just like the 1.5 metre rule, just like washing your hands and coughing into your elbow and doing those straightforward things. And that is to stay at home unless it's absolutely necessary that you go out. Going out for the basics, going out for exercise, perhaps with your partner or family members, provided it's a small group. That's fine, but going outside and going out and participating more broadly in the community, unless you're shopping for basics or there are medical needs or you're providing care or support to another individual in another place, going to work and where you cannot work from home. So that is encouraged, strongly encouraged, to work from home where you can do that. Visits to your premises, to your house, to your residence, should be kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests. We don't want to be overly specific about that. We want Australians to exercise their common sense. So that means barbecues of lots of friends or even family, extended family coming together to celebrate one year old birthday parties and all these sorts of things, we can't do those things now. 

These will be significant sacrifices, I know. We've all been to those events as extended families and gatherings and gathering together in that way, even around the large family table in the family home when all the siblings get together and bring the kids, these are not things we can do, now. All of these things present risks and they obviously present them to the elderly members of our families as well, who we need to protect. 

House parties where someone wants to now have the social events, not at clubs and venues like that, but to organise a party at someone's home, it’s, the states and territories will particularly be looking at that one and be considering whether they will put specific measures in place that could lead to that being an offence for those who've organised those types of events. 

Outdoors, do not congregate together in groups. Now, the medical experts panel have made suggestions about how that can be managed. It's very difficult to put a number on it. But the point about it is this - if you're gathering together in a group, say, 10 people together outside in a group, that's not Ok. We've got to move people on. It's not a hard and fast rule. I say it only for illustrative purposes. The point is that you should only be going outside of your home to go to those essential things that I've talked about, not to go out and congregate together in groups. We need you to stop doing that. That is not going to help. If we do all of these things then we are going to be able to put greater pressure on slowing the rate of the spread of this virus, which particularly in New South Wales and Victoria has been growing at a much more rapid rate than other places and the numbers in Queensland have been similarly affected. 

Now, on schools, we had another important discussion, the medical expert advice on schools has not changed. It is safe to send your children to school. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting - and there have been discussions today between the Education Minister, Dan Tehan, and the education national unions- and I'll be meeting with them tomorrow to discuss a set of arrangements that we would like to proceed with that, importantly, keep schools open. That also will protect those teachers and other staff who are working in schools and to work through those issues to ensure we can put acceptable arrangements in place to ensure that children get taught. I said this the other day. This is incredibly important. It's going to be a tough year in 2020 and one of the things I don't want to have yielded up is a year of a child's education, which is so important. We need to work so hard together to try and ensure that those kids get that education and that is not lost to this virus. And so I look forward to meeting with the Australian Education Union tomorrow and to have that conversation and to see how we can come together and agree how we can continue to deliver that while doing that safely for those who work in schools. And of course, for the kids themselves, as we know, the medical advice is that kids can safely go to schools. Under the arrangements we've already put in place we've seen the number of students attending schools reduce significantly, and that actually assists in observing the other issues around social distancing that are applying more broadly across the community. So we can do this. We can work this out. And so that would mean ensuring that schools in those states that haven't already ended the term, which is only in Victoria, that we would be able to continue to keep those schools open up to the end of the term. But I would anticipate that for several days prior to the end of the term, there will need to be some pupil free days while the teachers and the school staff work on the projects they've already been pursuing on extending distance learning. And so that will be an important job for those educators to be doing as we go into the term break. Schools, we agree, across the country would need to reopen on the other side of the term break because it won't be a holiday. It won't be a school holiday, given the arrangements I've just outlined to you. They will reconvene after the term break and there will be a mixture of both distance learning and where parents choose to keep their children at home, then there will be the learning that is there for them to undertake, and the parents would be needing to take responsibility for ensuring that their children are engaged in that. For all those workers who need to send their children to school, that's why the school needs to remain open. 

Now, if you ask me who is an essential worker? Someone who has a job. Everyone who has a job in this economy is an essential worker. Every single job that is being done in our economy with these severe restrictions that is taking place is essential. It can be essential in a service, whether it's a nurse or a doctor or a school teacher or a public servant who is working tonight to ensure that we can get even greater capacity in our Centrelink offices, working till 8 o'clock under the new arrangements, in the call centres, these are all essential jobs. People who are stacking shelves, that's essential. People earning money in their family when another member of their family may have lost their job and can no longer earn, that's an essential job. Jobs are essential and every one who has one needs to be able to keep doing their job. And that means they will need to continue to be able to send their children to school for an education, for an education at that school. So I look forward to having those discussions tomorrow and I'm sure there will be a common sense of purpose in ensuring that we can meet these objectives and keep the nation functioning and providing the necessary education for children, the protection that is necessary for staff and to keep Australia running. 

Now, before I go to Professor Murphy, there are one or two other things I have to mention. The National Security Committee Taskforce that works on the coronavirus also met this afternoon, this evening. And we have previously had a ‘do not travel’ warning on Smart Traveller in terms of all overseas travel. That will turn into a ban using the biosecurity powers that were afforded to us by the Governor-General through the Minister for Health. Now, the numbers of Australians going overseas has reduced dramatically and there will be exceptions to these rules which will be set out in the directive that will be provided. But this would include people involved in aid work in the Pacific and the support that we're providing. It may involve compassionate travel and essential travel for employment, things of that nature, but the number of people and the number who are coming, sorry, who are leaving Australia now is very, very low. But still, it strikes me on those numbers that there are people defying that advice and still looking to go overseas on leisure travel. They can't do it because when they come home, that's when they put Australians at risk. I had hoped that would have been fully complied with and I've got to say, Australians have been pretty good about it. But we need to put that arrangement in place. 

Also, we're putting in place arrangements that will make it an offence and we'll be able to seize at the border those who've engaged in profiteering by bringing together and making large purposes of various supplies in Australia and seeking to export them overseas. Now, it doesn't relate to normal commercial legal activities, but we have been able to seize at the border - and the Minister for Home Affairs can speak more to this - quantities of materials that were seeking to be sent overseas and that is not helping Australia. That is not consistent with doing the right thing. And there'll be penalties in enforcement and we'll be able to seize those, that equipment and that can include medical supplies and include personal protective equipment and that will be seized and redeployed to it's best use here in Australia. 

So with those changes, there was still a lot more that we needed to deal with tonight, but we knew we needed to report tonight and the National Cabinet will meet again tomorrow evening at the same time to work through a series of other issues, which includes a further consider of possible measures down the track. So we're well-prepared should we have to move to that stage, and the thresholds that would be necessary to move to those other arrangements. We'll also consider the issue of leases that I've flagged earlier, that will be considered and there'll be other matters that have been raised by Premiers and Chief Ministers that we’ll address as we go forward as well. So I apologise for the length. It's been a busy night and hopefully that's been very clear. But Dr. Murphy?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. I'll be brief. We are very worried about the rate of rise in the number of cases of coronavirus in Australia, particularly over the last few days. It is a very, very steep growth and it's very concerning. Still, a significant proportion of those new cases are returned travellers or contacts of returned travellers and before I talk a bit about social distancing, I want to emphasise again that we are really serious now about a return traveller. You leave the airport, you go home and stay there for 14 days and the states and territories will be checking on you. We will not tolerate anybody putting the community at risk as a return traveller. People coming back from some countries, and you know which ones they are, have a high risk now of carrying the coronavirus and they are the people who've largely led to the spread of the virus in our community over recent weeks. So return travellers, please stay at home. Don't go anywhere on the way from the airport or the cruise ship or wherever you're from. We've been materially hit by people from a cruise ship in the last few days as well. So that is so important. And the other important thing is that if you're identified as a contact of a case and you're told that by the state and territory public health official and you're told to isolate for 14 days, you must isolate. You must not go to the chemist when you've been told you've got the disease. Some people have been doing things like being told they're a positive case and going into the chemist or the supermarket on the way home. If you're isolating because you're a positive case or you're isolating because you're a contact, you go home and you isolate and you obey those rules. That is a really, really important part of the control. 

Now, the other part of the control is this social distancing. And that relates to the fact that we do have some community transmission cases that aren't clearly contacts that have appeared in small pockets, particularly in New South Wales, in Sydney, but tiny pockets in other states. That's why we introduced those very restrictive measures from yesterday that were announced on Sunday night. But because of the great rise in cases, we felt it was very important to recommend that those restrictive measures be well articulated and made clear and to some extent tightened, because we have to get people to take this seriously. We have to change the way we interact as human beings in our society for quite a long time. This virus will be with us for some time. We have to all think about avoiding any unnecessary interactions where you are close to someone and could place them at risk. These measures are really draconian. We know that. But if we are going to control community transmission, we have to stop the capacity of this virus from spreading from person to person. And I have said many times, it is a long haul and that's why we are keen to keep society functioning but keep society safe. Thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. I just want to be very clear about something I said before - shopping centres remain open. I was referring to the food courts in the shopping centres. Shopping centres, retail premises in shopping centres, they will remain open unless they're the ones that I've mentioned about beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, etc. Those premises, because they’re personal services premises, they will obviously not be able to remain open. So I want to be very clear. The shopping centres remain open. In each of the retail premises, there will need to be displayed, to assist patrons, how many people can be inside that enclosed area in that shop at any one time. That's just observing the four square metre rule, I would hope many retail premises were already doing that. I want to be very clear - shopping centres remain open. There's no need to rush out to shopping centres or the food stores or any of these. They will continue to remain open and you should go and get things as you need them. Thank you. Phil?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, my question, you are now strongly advising people to stay in their homes unless, you know, the need for exercise or going out for essential reasons. At the same time, the shopping centres are open. Is now just inevitable we're going to move to closing down retail as well?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, hopefully this is not necessary, Phil. Hopefully that putting in place the unnecessary gatherings of people and also within our own homes and our residences by not having those gatherings in our homes of lots of people, dinner parties with 10 friends and all these sorts of things. No, we can't do them any longer. If we do all the things that Dr. Murphy has outlined and these other quite strict measures we've put in place about other areas of social gathering and not having that community game of football down on the lawn on a Sunday afternoon in the park and things like this, stopping all those things we believe will have a really significant impact, we would hope, on the spread of the virus. But it is important for people to go to the shop. It is important to go to the shopping centre. It is important that they get access to these normal services. It's important for them because they need it. It's also important for our economy that it continues to operate and function as much as possible. So I don't leap to that conclusion, Phil. What we will do is put these measures in place and should the information change and the advice change, then we should contemplate at that time. But I do note in a lot of the commentary in both in the public and others, that there seems to be a great wish to go to that point. Well, be careful what you wish for on something like that. Be very careful because that will need to be sustained for a very long time. And that could have a very significant and even more onerous impact on life in Australia and we should seek to try and avoid that where it is possible. But if it is necessary for health reasons, ultimately, well those decisions will be taken the time. Andrew?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there does seem to be something really incongruous about the fact that life as we know it should stop, that we should not be going out in groups, not be playing football in the parks, not be going to the shops unless absolutely vital. And yet you're encouraging kids to go to school. My question to you, Professor Murphy, aren’t schools now human petri dishes for a virus? What would you do if there is an outbreak at a school? Does it close down or just keep going to get through the children's population? And Prime Minister, separately, are you encouraging schools that have closed their doors to students to reopen after the break, after the holiday break?

PRIME MINISTER: I’ll make two points and I’ll ask Dr. Murphy to speak on the other matter. I think it's very important, Andrew, that media don't use that sort of alarmist language. I don't think it helps. I would encourage more modest language on these sorts of issues, particularly based on the medical advice that you've heard from us day after day on this issue. So I would encourage a more measured way of talking about these issues, because I think that can cause unnecessary alarm amongst parents. Secondly, you'd have to remind me of the question now, of the second question. 

JOURNALIST: Will you be encouraging…

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, on individual schools, yes. I believe, and the position of the National Cabinet, is that schools should remain open and they can provide distance learning for those parents that wish their children to remain at home. But importantly, for those parents who have jobs who need to send their children to school for their learning because they can't stay at home with them because they need to be at work. These are nurses. They're doctors, they're people who are working at Centrelink, people doing very important jobs. I mean, even just in the last few days, we have had impacts on our workforce in some of those areas in the public service, which is compromising our ability to do those things. Now, we're responding to it. But what we don't need is arrangements that we put in place which compromised the society's ability to function and to deliver important services, whether that's aged care, whether it's education, whether it's driving a tram or providing public transport. We need to keep Australia running, consistent with the health advice that's been provided. And on the health advice, I’d provide you to Dr. Murphy.

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister. So I think, as I said on Sunday night, Andrew, there is no evidence that we have major transmission amongst school children. We don't know whether that might occur. We do know that children do not, in general, get symptomatic disease. So I think that analogy is inappropriate. Of course, if there were an outbreak in a school, you would close the school until you'd sorted out who are the direct contacts and you would quarantine all of those contacts. And of course, we need to do measures to protect vulnerable teachers, because older teachers with chronic disease shouldn't be in schools. And that's part of the discussion the Prime Minister's going to have with the education unions. We've got to protect any vulnerable people in our community. We do not see children, fit, healthy children, as vulnerable people with this virus and schools can do a lot of things to make them a safe place to be with good hygiene, they are already adapting in many ways with reduced classrooms because some parents are choosing to keep their children at home. And we think a well-supervised, well-structured classroom is probably a safer place than many children roaming the community, which they would probably do if they weren't at school.

JOURNALIST: In terms of the offences that you were mentioning for those gatherings, what could they... are the states that they indicate a real willingness to go ahead? And do we have the Police resources for something like that to be really adequately policed and monitored and executed?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are two parts to the enforcement, which is a matter for the states and territories, and there'll be opportunities, I'm sure, for media to put those questions to the States and Territories and the Premiers as they'll be marshalling those resources and deploying them as part of their responsibilities. There is the actual legal position itself, which means that if something has happened, there'll be the opportunity to follow that up. But in terms of house parties and gatherings like that, well, it is not uncommon for police to be turning up at noisy parties in the suburbs. That's a fairly common Saturday night. Hopefully there'll be far less reason for them to do that, given the strong message that we've sent about those types of gatherings and they can - it's not just at night either, by the way. It's during the course of the day, just to be really clear about that. And so in taking these decisions, states and territories are very aware of their responsibilities of how they need to take actions to enforce these measures. So I'll refer you to them about how they will achieve that. But they haven't taken these decisions - and I want to stress, these are decisions that are being taken by the State and Territory Premiers and Chief Ministers with myself as the Prime Minister who convenes the National Cabinet, these are not decisions being made by the Federal Cabinet and instructed to the States and Territories. That's not how the National Cabinet works. These are decisions being taken together, heads of governments, to form these views. And in these areas in particular, it is the states and territories that have the lead and the primacy and so they are coming together and setting these in place. Brett and then over the back.

JOURNALIST: Just to clarify when the travel ban kicks in, is that immediate or is it midnight tomorrow?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, people shouldn't be doing it right now. That's the advice. So no one should be getting on a plane and going overseas. We've been making that point for some time. The direction is being worked on overnight and as soon as that direction is signed off by the Health Minister, it will come into force then and that will happen tomorrow. 

JOURNALIST: Just a second question, to be frank, some of the most distressing interviews I've done in a while today with people at Centrelink who were trying all night with children who aren't in school. They've lost their jobs. They don't know how they're going to pay the rent, in tears in the gutter, trying to use the website, the phone system crashed. They feel as though when they needed the Government most, the Government wasn't there for them. Are you sorry about that and what is the Government going to do to make sure that that capacity is there for those Australians?

PRIME MINISTER: We are deeply sorry about this. I mean, we've gone from 6,000 to 50,000 to 150,000 all in the space of, a matter of, day. And tonight, they're working to boost it again. I would say to Australians, yes, we are terribly sorry, but at the same time, we are asking Australians, even in these most difficult of circumstances, to be patient. Everyone is doing their best. What we're dealing with is is unprecedented. No system is built to deal with the circumstances and events that we are now facing as a nation. And I would urge people as difficult as it is, work with us. We are working to get this up as high and as far as we can. But we have had a multiple, many, many, many times over what is normally expected from this system. And it was already upgraded and it's been upgraded again and it will be upgraded again. Opening hours for the call centres have been extended, no resource is being spared to ensure that we can get these systems in place. But the support is there. It will get to you. And it is dated from when you've expressed that intent. And that's all registered and that's taken care of. So even if it takes a few more days to get the arrangements sorted out, it will go back to the time from when you needed it. And we'll work those, through those issues together and it deeply distresses me as I know it does the Ministers and the Secretary of the Department and all the people who are working there trying to get this as good as they possibly can because they want to get that support to Australians. I want to get that support to Australians. And we’re going to do our very best to get there.

JOURNALIST: PM on Sunday the National Cabinet received advice from 22 health experts, and lawyers, a bunch of other, across the Group of Eight universities. The Chief Medical Officer had commissioned. That advice was to launch an immediate and hard line lockdown that would be very costly, but would flatten the curve immediately and then get Australia out of an economic recession in a quicker fashion. Why was that advice dismissed, and what was the discussion of that advice?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that was not recommended.

DR MURPHY: That, there was a group of university academics who convened and provided a diverse range of opinions. It certainly wasn’t a unanimous view. There were-

JOURNALIST: It was a majority.

DR MURPHY: Yes- And that was not necessarily- they were selected on the basis of their interests in this area. And that that opinion, like the opinion of many external experts, was considered by the very large and complex process that we undertook with the Communicable Disease Network of Australia, which is the primary expert advisory group, and the AHPPC with another half a dozen academic experts in that, and that that position was very seriously considered. But as I said then, and I have said tonight, any measures we place, we believe need to be for the long haul. The idea that you can put measures in place for four weeks and suddenly stop them and the virus will be gone is not credible. So we are very keen to put as restrictive measures in place without completely destroying life as we know it. If Australians all do the right thing with these measures and do exactly what the Prime Minister has said and behave completely differently and practise distancing at every point that will achieve the outcomes that we want and we haven't even seen yet what the early implementation of our measures will be. But make no mistake that if there is widespread community transmission, we may have to introduce some harder measures.

PRIME MINISTER: And the National Cabinet acts and receives the advice of the medical expert panel, which is not the group you're referring to. That is the medical expert panel, which Dr Murphy convenes. And their collective consensus view is what is put to the National Cabinet.

Now I promised here earlier, then we're over there, and then we’re up the back and then Michelle. Yep. And then we'll go around for one, maybe one more.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, many Australians watching at home would think that there is an inherent mixed message that 10 people can go to a boot camp, but you’re saying only 5 people can go to a wedding. How do you explain that contradiction? And there are calls from Tony Abbott, amongst many others, saying that it is inevitable that we have to go to a shut down, is it not better to do it now, it is very conflicting rules. It’s very complicated rules for Australians to get across?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, no I don't think it's that complicated to understand that only the direct participants in a wedding, in an enclosed venue, that would be a necessary restriction. I think that's fairly straightforward. I think people can follow that quite, quite plainly. 

What we're saying is people shouldn't group together when they're outdoors. Now, what we're talking about of people up to 10 for a training, that is a business, that is someone's livelihood. And you're saying that I should turn their livelihood off and I'm not going to do that lightly. And if it's not believed to be necessary based on the medical expert advice, I'm not going to be cavalier about people's jobs and their businesses. Where possible the National Cabinet together is going to try and keep Australia functioning in a way that continues to support jobs and activity in our economy, which is not going to compromise the health advice that we're receiving. And so, no, I don't think we should rush to that sort of scenario. I think you could rush to failure in that sort of scenario. You could rush to causing great and unnecessary harm because understand this, this country is not dealing with one crisis. We're dealing with two crises. We're dealing with a health crisis that has caused an economic crisis. And I am very concerned about the economic crisis that could also take a great toll on people's lives, not just their livelihoods, the stresses that that will put on families. The things that can happen when families are under stress. I'm as concerned about those outcomes as I am about the health outcomes of managing the outbreak of the coronavirus. And it is a delicate task for the National Cabinet to balance those two. Lives are at risk in both cases. And so the National Cabinet won't just rush on the sense of an opinion of inevitability. We will calmly consider the medical advice that is put to us and weigh those things up and make sensible decisions as leaders. I will not be cavalier about it, and neither will other Premiers and Chief Ministers.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Michaelia Cash has announced mutual obligations for welfare will be suspended for just one week while the website gets back up. You've outlined a very wide range of businesses that are going to be shut down. Can you explain how that’s sustainable to still require mutual obligation after that week? And how will it work with jobseekers being required to make job applications with so much of the economy off line?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, if those arrangements needed to be extended, then they will. I mean, we are working in a very flexible environment and we're in a position to take further decisions. What we also want to encourage people to do, is right now, I'm looking to hire 5,000 people, 5,000 people to ensure that we can get the support into our social services system so people can get the benefits and we can upgrade the systems and we can roll that out. There are other places in retail shops, in supermarkets and places like this. There's logistics arrangements that need to be done. In manufacturing, we're producing masks and sanitizer and things like this, important services. We need people to go and work in those jobs and we're going to encourage people to do just that. But we will be very sensitive on the mutual obligation issue. It's a matter that is regularly discussed by Cabinet Ministers and we will seek to ensure that it is has worked in a compassionate way for people in those circumstances. 

Yes, sorry, thank you, a question up the back?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on house parties...

PRIME MINISTER: Yep.

JOURNALIST: The social distancing measures have been in place for a while now. As sad as it probably is to everyone in this room, it is pretty clear that not every Australian is watching or reading the news. What are you going to do so that all of these changes that are happening almost day by day now is actually explained to Australians in a way that they will understand and receive it? Minister Hunt mentioned today that text messaging would start, is that happening? When is that happening? How are you going to ensure that even though individually these things might be easy to explain, en masse this is a lot for the public to take in and they are clearly not getting it?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we all have a job to do in that, you included, the media included. And our public information campaign continues to grade up every single day. It's on bus shelters. People are still catching buses and walking down the street. It's on social media. The official messages that are being put out need to be shared amongst your friends and that will continue, the public advertising, whether it's on television or radio or the many other means of communication, it is all being deployed and it is all being increased. The text messaging, yes, that will be coming very, very soon. Very soon. And we'll be using all of those devices to get that message out. But I think it's pretty clear that most people, if not every person in this country, would know that the coronavirus is having an impact on our country and on the lives of Australians. I mean, it's hard to avoid when you look at the Centrelink queues and not understand that something very serious is going on. So I would encourage Australians to seek out that information from the trusted sources. We’ve got time, I think, for one more. Phil? Oh, sorry, Michelle hasn’t had one, then we’ll finish with Phil.

JOURNALIST: Could I take you to the question of border. There's a lot of credible...

PRIME MINISTER: Did you say border or order?

JOURNALIST: Border, people coming in. There’s quite a lot of credible anecdotal evidence that the checks there, although people are being given material, are not very stringent in some cases. Are you putting any more resources and effort into that, given that the people coming in now must be very high risk?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I wouldn't make the second assumption about high risk. That's not the advice we've had. In some cases there are high risk groups that are coming through and they are identified by the Australian Border Force in terms of how they manage those arrivals. All those who are arriving, and the numbers arriving are falling each day, all of them are required to go into self isolation by public health order at a state level. They're required to do it. It's the law and that's where they need to go and that's where they need to transfer to immediately, not to go via the shops, not to pop in and see a friend on the way home and not to go and go for a wander around the park. You go straight home and you self isolate for 14 days. That is the law and that is the major protection that we have and that applies to everybody, every Australian returning citizen or resident. And , yes, more resources are being put in, Michelle. Phil?

JOURNALIST: PM, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and small business operators who don't know how they're going to pay rent. What progress, if any, has been made tonight on trying to ease people's rent bill? Waive them, lift land taxes and whatever?

PRIME MINISTER: Sure. A lot of progress has been made over the course of today and over the course of this week, we'll be looking to hopefully finalise some measures. This is obviously a complicated issue because you've got a tenant, you've got a landlord, you've got creditors and all of those issues and you need to solve for the entire chain that's there. The states, working together with the Treasurer, have done some excellent work today and there's more work to be done on that. It will be considered tomorrow night at the National Cabinet. And as a first pass, talk to work through that issue and it will be considered again. But it does involve both the Commonwealth and the States working together. The States have the legislative authority when it comes to tenancies, both commercial and residential and the Commonwealth has other incentives and levers that it can pull to support and enable that chain of businesses and individuals who are caught up in that process where people are under rental stress. Of course, rental assistance also goes to those who have found themselves out of work and on the jobseeker payment. That's one of the many other payments they can get access to, like family tax benefits and other payments that can help them in those circumstances. But rent payments, how much people are paying on their energy bills, is another area that we're working with the energy companies and we've already seen some concessions on that, which we welcome. On top of that, it's mortgage relief, which you've seen the banks already move on and I think that's another important area. And the work that has been done by the Treasurer with the banks and in that area in particular, both whether it's for small businesses or others, I think is really good work to try and reduce the pressures that otherwise are falling on people at this incredibly difficult time. We spend every minute of every day seeking to identify every possible burden or harm that is falling to people in these difficult circumstances and to ensure that we can do something, working with the states, to provide some remedy to that. But equally, the same time is being spent on ensuring that we get respirators and that we get personal protective equipment manufactured, that we have enough hand sanitizer. I mean, we currently have I - and I'll end on this - we have one of the highest testing rates in the world. One of the highest testing rates in the world now. The last number I had before coming in here and going to the National Cabinet early this evening was 147,000 tests and we've been able to secure supply of hundreds of thousands of more tests into Australia. Testing is critical to how we manage the coronavirus and its impact, as is the contact tracing. And we're doing a lot of effective work there about how digital methods can be also used to assist in identifying contacts and to be able to shut those issues down as was practised in Singapore. And so those delivery methods are also being looked at by the Commonwealth and we're making a lot of progress there. But to fight this fight, there are so many tools that we have to use. But the people we need most are Australians listening, being patient, carefully understanding the things we're asking of them. We know it is a massive change to our lives, but if we do it and we do it consistently and we do it patiently and understandingly, then we will get through this. Thank you very much. 

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https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-42753