Speeches
Press Conference - Macquarie Park, NSW
19 August 2020
JOHN ALEXANDER MP, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: ...And so, without further ado, I'd like to, I don’t why you’d introduce the Prime Minister, everybody knows who he is, welcome Scott.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, JA. It's good to be here in North Ryde. It’s good to be here at AstraZeneca. Liz, and to Bill, some $200 million invested announced earlier this year in these facilities, which I think further goes to demonstrate the wonderful precinct we have up here JA. Medical technology, it's one of the key sectors for Australia going forward and we have great expertise, great skill, great reputation and an ability to venture into markets from this platform here in the Indo-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific and it's tremendous to be here partnering with AstraZeneca today.
We're here today to announce that we've signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca, which will enable Australia to access - should it be successful - the vaccine for COVID-19 here in Australia, manufactured here in Australia, distributed free to 25 million Australians, in the event that those trials prove successful. There are around 160 different vaccine projects around the world today, some of those are well advanced like the AstraZeneca proposal and they're teaming up with the University of Oxford. Others are still on their way and looking good too like in the University of Queensland. There are many others, Professor Brendan Murphy is heading up an expert panel, which is advising the government on the other programs and the other projects that we can take positions on to ensure that Australia is incredibly well placed to ensure that Australians can emerge quickly in the event that a vaccine is developed. This would have to be - as I'm sure Paul Kelly will tell you, who will speak after me - this would have to be one of the biggest worldwide efforts to find a vaccine that we've ever seen in a concentrated period of time. And that concentrated effort fills me with greater hope and what we've been able to reach today to put Australia in the leading pack when it comes to vaccines being made available to our citizens, also gives me hope.
In Victoria and Melbourne at the moment, they're doing it the toughest of all, businesses and people who have been laid off and having their livelihoods disrupted and those who have lost loved ones - over 430 Australians, also hoping that others won't fall victim to this terrible virus, and so the search for the vaccine is one thing but its rapid deployment, should one be found, has also been a key focus of the government and will continue to be. At the same time, we'll continue to do everything in every area of activity, working with our state and territory partners to ensure that we are combatting this virus each and every day and keeping Australians as safe as we possibly can to save lives and to save livelihoods, has always been our approach. The next step in these arrangements is to see how those trials go, to complete the manufacturing agreements, and they're well advanced and I feel positive about those and then to identify as I said, other potential vaccine prospects that Australia can partner with. I also want to note that of all the issues I've discussed with Prime Ministers and Presidents around the world, the vaccine has been the most constant of those discussions. Of course, we talk about how we're dealing with the virus in our own country - our testing, our tracing, our outbreak containment, swapping notes, sharing experiences - but the other discussion that happens in parallel is finding this vaccine and ensuring we can mobilise to produce the vaccine and so while what we're announcing today is important for Australia. Australia will also play an important role in supporting our Pacific family. We've had those discussions with the Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea and Fiji most recently, but also when I last spoke to President Widodo, this was also an important topic of discussion. We have a regional role to play here as well as a domestic role to play here and we will be living up to all of those responsibilities as we progress this day.
But today is a day of hope, and Australia needs hope, the world needs hope, when it comes to this coronavirus. And should we be in a position for the trials to be successful, we would hope that this would be made available early next year. If it can be done sooner than that, great. But we are very much in the hands of people wearing white coats, and there's plenty around here today, and they've been doing tremendous work, not just here but all around the world and we're putting our hope in their science, in their work, and to ensure that they can bring these trials to a conclusion.
The vaccine will need to satisfy all the same standards that all vaccines are expected to live up to here in Australia before they're made available to the public. There won't be any cutting corners, there won't be undue haste here. There will be the appropriate controls and protections that are put in place. I'm advised that we'll need about a 95% vaccination rate across the country, that is the normal target range for when you're having a vaccination program and we'll be seeking to ensure that that is widely implemented with our partners around the country to ensure that should the vaccine be available then we will be able to move quickly, get it out across Australia and that we can get Australia back to normal as quickly as we possibly can. But there's a lot of work to do yet and the people who are doing that work are with me here today.
I'll hand you over to Professor Kelly the Acting Chief Medical Officer and then Liz will have a few words to say. And then we'll come and take questions then. Let's keep those questions first to the announcements today and then of course very happy to cover other issues, as I'm sure you would like to.
Paul?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM. It certainly is a fantastic day and great news that we are now partnering with AstraZeneca for the Oxford vaccine. It's one of the several vaccines that are in development. As the PM said, over 160 different types, different vaccine candidates are currently in development and in trials and almost 30 of those in trials in humans now.
So this particular vaccine it is an unproven technology so far, but the initial results are very positive in terms of both efficacy, so the effectiveness of the vaccine will be trialled in larger groups of human trials over the coming months, but the efficacy in terms of developing antibodies against coronavirus has been shown to be true, as well as the safety in the phase 1 and phase 2 trials. So they've been published in peer review journals. They've been checked by other scientists and they have been found to be valid. So, that amongst a number of other vaccines that are being developed by other companies and research groups around the world are showing great promise.
So this is an important step. It's the first step in terms of this particular company and this particular vaccine but there will be others in the coming weeks and months. We have a strategy to work through this. These so-called pre-purchase agreements, as well as looking at funding our own research and development here in Australia, particularly in the University of Queensland vaccine candidate, but also others, partnering with other vaccine potential throughout the world. That's part of our strategy. Other components of course is being prepared for the vaccine rollout and the work that has been guided by our expert committee as the PM has mentioned, chaired by Professor Murphy. I'm the deputy chair of that committee. The Australian Health Protection Committee are also having regular discussions about this particular issue of vaccines and our other advisory groups we have on vaccines. We're used to rolling out large vaccine programs here in Australia. This will be an extremely important one and will be, I'm sure, welcomed by all Australians when that is available.
I'll leave it there, PM.
LIZ CHATWIN, COUNTRY PRESIDENT OF ASTRAZENECA: Hello everybody. I'm Liz Chatwin, a formal welcome to AstraZeneca manufacturing facility. On behalf of all our team, welcome, Prime Minister, welcome, Professor Kelly. A couple of words about our site, this is our, this is the largest manufacturing facility in Australia, but we don't make vaccines here. We make a product called Pulmicort Respules which is exported to Asia-Pacific and predominantly to China, $1.2 billion of exports last year. As a company, we've been partnering with Oxford University, one of the leading vaccine candidates and our ambition is to provide broad and equitable access to this vaccine around the globe at no profit during the pandemic. We're delighted that we've signed this letter of intent with the Australian Government. It's the first step, as the Prime Minister and Professor Kelly have said, to secure the Australian people with a vaccine. The next steps, of course, are getting down into the details of contractual agreements, the numbers, the timelines, the doses, the pricing, and securing an agreement with our selected Australian manufacturers so we can manufacture the vaccine here locally, should it prove successful. There's no guarantee that this vaccine will protect against COVID-19. We don't even know whether, how long that protection may last or at what dosage. So the science and the data is the priority, is the priority for us over the next few months.
So I'll hand back to the PM for any questions.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Let's deal with the vaccine announcement today and then we can deal with the other matters. So on the vaccine?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how will you go about making this mandatory? How exactly will that work?
PRIME MINISTER: I'll ask Paul to comment on this as well. This is like any vaccine and, as you know, I have a pretty strong view on vaccines, being the Social Services Minister that introduced ‘no jab, no play’. What is important to understand with any of these vaccines is it does protect you, it does protect your family, but it also protects the community and, as is the case with any vaccine, there will be some individuals who, for quite precise medical reasons, there can be issues with a particular vaccine. They and their safety and their health depends on the vaccine's take-up more broadly in the community. That's how they get protected. And this is an important part of our vaccine strategy, not just on COVID-19, but more broadly. So we will be seeking its most widespread application, as we do with all important vaccines. But Paul you may want to talk about how those practices are followed and we'll be doing that of course in partnership with states and territories.
PROFESSOR KELLY: Thank you PM. So of course, the first will be a voluntary call for people and I'm sure there will be long queues - socially distanced, of course - for this vaccine. It will be incredibly welcomed by many. It will be the absolute ticket to get back to some sort of normal society and the things we all love and enjoy. So I think there will be a very strong take-up of this vaccine. Of course there will be some who, for medical reasons, as the PM said, may not be able to take the vaccine, but there will be very strong campaigns to encourage people and we've had experience before of linking vaccination with other programs and all of those things will be looked at over time. The first thing we have to have is a vaccine that works, that is safe, and can be rolled out in large numbers. That's the key point.
JOURNALIST: Obviously ‘no jab, no pay’ was about childhood vaccines and you had a very specific incentive there. What will you do with adults?
PRIME MINISTER: We are going to take this one step at a time, I don't think offering jelly beans is going to be the way you do that as you do with kids. But we'll take those issues as they present and consider what steps are necessary at that time. But I would, in the first instance I’d be encouraging people to take it on. I'll certainly be taking it on, my family will be taking it on. And I’d be encouraging all others to do the responsible thing, for the sake of not only their own health but the community’s health. Particularly for the most vulnerable. Now the rollout of this will depend on the clinical advice as well. We have to wait for the clinical trials to identify whether there are any potential side effects, but particularly vulnerable communities. That is not known yet. But the obvious priority is around health workers and people like that. I think is fairly apparent. But we'll be guided, of course, by Professor Kelly and our other specialists to roll out that program. But I'm, I'm open to all options. I want to be very clear about that, I’m open to all options to ensure we get the strongest possible take-up. Paul?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister is this the silver bullet the country needs?
PRIME MINISTER: I would like to say there is a silver bullet when it comes to the pandemic and a vaccine is about as close as you can get to one. I think that’s recognised around the world. But it isn’t something that takes immediate effect. I mean you have to get up to those levels of vaccination. You also have to consider how far the vaccine is spread around the world and what that means for other countries, particularly I talked about Indonesia and the South Pacific, but also other countries in our region. And how quickly a vaccine might spread into those countries will depend how much interaction we have. So I wouldn't want to suggest that it's an overnight silver bullet, no I would not want suggest that at all. It will need a concerted rollout not just in Australia, in our own region, but globally to have its full effect.
JOURNALIST: What was the reason that we’re stockpiling the Oxford vaccine first rather than for example the UQ one?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are different stages and I might let Paul speak further to that. And we are taking advice on what should be at the front of the queue for us and certainly UQ, we’re very involved in that, we provide funds to that. And the strategy, which is being pursued by the expert panel, which Professor Murphy is leading, Professor Kelly sits on that as well, will be identifying the others of the 160 that are out there and the positions we'll take on others as well. We're certainly not putting all our eggs in one basket here. It's part of a more diversified approach. But this one is well advanced. And as Professor Kelly said its early progress is very encouraging and we want to be here on the ground floor. But Paul did you want to add to that?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Thanks PM. So this is one of a range of vaccines that we're looking at, the Oxford vaccine and they've partnered with AstraZeneca, is one of the ones that published their early results. And as I said, they're looking very positive. But this is at an early stage. I think we should recognise that we're doing many things in parallel here. We're looking at a range of different products, different types of vaccine. There are at least four very hopeful, completely different ways of creating the immune response. A vaccine is in development right now right around the world, and almost 100, over 160 different candidates. So we're looking at all of those. We're looking at the ones that are most most positive, where we're talking to our international partners and seeing who, what what they're finding, we have our regulators talking as well to make sure that there's no barriers to that. But we're also not rushing the process. So that this is absolutely safe and effective. And we're doing that all in parallel. It's normally a one after the other. And so we're looking at all of these things.
JOURNALIST: We’ve never manufactured this type of [inaudible] virus vaccine before, is it an easy manufacturing process and what does it actually involve in the manufacture, do you have to use different types of technologies?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Ah yes, there will be different technology, so the adenovirus vaccines, also the mRNA and the DNA vaccines they are our first in human vaccines. So this is really sort of groundbreaking stuff that we're involved with here. Some of the other vaccine candidates are much more traditional in their processes. And we're familiar with those things. Wholesale vaccines, for example, and protein vaccines like the UQ candidate. So there are some we're very familiar with. Others are new types of vaccine technology. And so, again, when we think about these things that we usually do in series, we're doing it all in parallel. We're doing the first test to see whether it's safe and effective. We're doing the large clinical trials to look at what that looks like on a population basis. We're looking at manufacturing facilities. We're making these types of pre-purchase agreements all at the same time as, whilst looking at those regulatory hurdles and making sure that that's all lined up. Plus, also pre-purchasing the syringes, needles and so forth that we would need to roll out such a large new vaccine programme.
JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, a couple of weeks ago after a National Cabinet meeting you were saying there's been no vaccine ever to treat Coronavirus. Isn’t it the case, or are you, have you become more optimistic in two weeks that there might not be a vaccine?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Well, two weeks ago, I said I was cautiously optimistic and I remain cautiously optimistic. There are so many candidates, so many of the best minds in this type of science involved with this and going so quickly that every day, at least every week, is a new component to this. So I'm cautiously optimistic. You're quite right that as of now, we've not had a successful vaccine against the coronavirus, but there are, the Oxford AstraZeneca is one is one that's showing great promise, in that two week period there've been other papers in very high ranking journals, In Nature, and so forth, looking at trials in non-human primates. Again, very positive. So things are developing every day.
JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, is there a particular number of vaccine programmes the government will support, and how many are we supporting currently, besides AstraZeneca?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So this is the first. But we’ve of course, as the PM has said, given funding to the UQ vaccine directly for their development, $5 million dollars. And that's been matched by the U- the Queensland government as well as philanthropy. And so we're looking at a range, this is really about diversifying the portfolio, I think would be the way to look at it if we were thinking of it as a, as a future investment, which in fact, this is, it's an investment in our future, not only of our health, but also in the recovery of the economy and going back to a normal society. So we're taking best advice on that, but we're certainly picking the best candidates first. And the Oxford AstraZeneca one is the, is the first of others that we'll be announcing.
JOURNALIST: This is probably more of a question for the Prime Minister, is the pre-purchase agreement, iron clad? There's no way for anyone to kind of wriggle out of it?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, at this stage, we are at a letter of intent with AstraZeneca and that will proceed to an agreement that also goes to supply and pricing all the things as Liz has said, and Minister Hunt is progressing those discussions very well. And I particularly want to acknowledge the tremendous work that Greg Hunt has been playing in preparing for this day and getting us to this day. And indeed, we'll be driving the process to get us to the next day, which goes to the issues you're talking about. These would be, you know, contracts that we will be entering into. And so they'll have the effect of contracts.
JOURNALIST: Other countries have several agreements, they're further than the letter of intent stage aren’t they?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, that's right.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask on another issue?
PRIME MINISTER: I just want to be sure before, Liz and Bill here with us and so while there still with us, happy to go to those other issues, but,
JOURNALIST: How much does this deal cost us?
PRIME MINISTER: At this stage that's something that's commercial in confidence.
JOURNALIST: Has money changed hands at this point?
PRIME MINISTER: Again, these are commercial in confidence issues.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is there a risk that we pay more because we’re kind of coming out publicly now before it’s all completely finalised and saying we’re all in so the company that we are doing business with has us where they want us?
PRIME MINISTER: These are good faith discussions, and I'm not concerned about that. As you heard from AstraZeneca themselves, they're not not looking to profiteer here. And this has been a point that I've made at many international fora. History will judge those who find the cure here, find the vaccine here very, very poorly if they don't take the approach which we’ve seen from AstraZeneca here. And we've seen from the UK and Sweden and other countries that have been involved in all of this. And this is, this is certainly an issue that I raise regularly on those international calls. And I've only had anything but support for that proposition. Certainly if UQ cracks it, then what a wonderful day that would be. And the whole world would rejoice. See this isn't about, frankly, who wins the prize of getting there first. We just need to get there. And whoever is going to get there, we need to help them to get to that point and to make it as widely available as possible, not just in developed countries like Australia, but importantly in the developing nations of the world. And that is also a key item of discussion that is held amongst international leaders.
Sorry? I can't quite hear you?
JOURNALIST: What commitment have we given to those Pacific nations that you’ve been discussing like Indonesia?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, as I indicated in my statement today that we would be looking through our development assistance agreements to be able to roll these, this sort of support out certainly to our Pacific neighbours, and we would, should they wish, we'd be engaging also with countries like Indonesia. I have had discussions with both President Widodo and a number of prime ministers in the region about this. And look, to be honest, in the Pacific that's expected. It’s a vuvale, our partnership with our family in the Pacific and we and the rest of the world really does look on Australia as providing that support to those developing countries in our own region. And that is specifically in relation to the Pacific countries. I had a very good interaction with the Prime Minister of Norway the other day, and she was very interested to know how the Pacific nations were doing and they had some involvement as well as many European countries do. But they recognised that Australia, together with New Zealand, has the primary role in managing that support and those relationships.
JOURNALIST: In terms of access to syringes and needles, where are we getting those supplies from?
PRIME MINISTER: Becton Dickinson is the company we’ve engaged with on those, and that is a public arrangement, that's about 25 million.
JOURNALIST: Is that an Australian company?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven’t heard, Becton Dickinson, is it? No.
JOURNALIST: Is it possible to ask you Liz a question please?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, sure.
JOURNALIST: Just about the manufacturing of this vaccine, I know with protein-based vaccines, they are kind of grown in eggs. Can you talk us through the nitty gritty of the manufacturing? Are you going to do that and is a vaccine that is easy to scale up?
LIZ CHATWIN, PRESIDENT ASTRAZENECA: So thanks for the question. And I'm probably not the expert here to talk to you about it. But as the PM and Professor Kelly said, this is an adenovirus vector vaccine, so it hasn't ever been produced in Australia. We're talking to selected a Australian manufacturing partner on the feasibility and technical details of that right now. We have a technical team globally that are talking them through the process steps. And as we've said before, this is a massive scale-up activity. We haven't done it before. We're entering into a number of parallel supply agreements around the world with vaccine manufacturers and we're doing this at no profit during the pandemic. As you can imagine, this is a huge effort from us as a global company.
PRIME MINISTER: I think we might have covered, unless there are other questions of people. Yeah.
JOURNALIST: With the Pacific stuff, do you see our supply of that through the development being free to those Pacific nations?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, everything we provide through development assistance, that that's how it's done. And so I would see that. I mean, what we've done with our development assistance in the Pacific and in Southeast Asia, because COVID has largely disrupted many of the other programmes that we've running, for months now we've repurposed those development budgets throughout those countries we most directly assist to support the COVID effort in each of those countries and this would be part of that process. And it is pleasing, although the situation in Papua New Guinea is getting more challenging. But to have come this far, I think in the Pacific, I think the Pacific family nations have done incredibly well to protect their citizens and their populations to date. But the risk continues. And I had a great chat with my friend, Frank Bainimarama the other day, and they're very appreciative of the support they get. But they're doing their best. Their tourism industry is struggling like ours is. And so there's a lot of hardship there. But their health situation is doing a lot better than many other developed countries around the world today.
JOURNALIST: PM, just one more if I can.
PRIME MINISTER: Yep.
JOURNALIST: There’s been some reporting that there might be an expectation for the need for a yearly top-up of it. Would you anticipate that being likely to be free as well? I know that’s a fair way off, but.
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, we'll do what needs to be done. I mean, we all know the cost of this, frankly, is not my primary consideration. It's the cost of it not being present now, that is devastating our economy and jobs across the country. And so I think what Australians rightly would expect is that we just do what is necessary to get this done and to get it available and that is definitely what we have been doing. And Minister Hunt has been doing a tremendous job leading that effort, and there's still a long way to go.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said this morning, we regulate aged care, but when there is a public health…
PRIME MINISTER: Liz and others, if you want to stay, or…
JOURNALIST: When there is a public health pandemic, if it gets into aged care, then they are things that are for Victoria. Just excuse my confusion on this one. We've got a national Royal Commission into aged care. It's viewed as a federal responsibility. Daniel Andrews keeps saying it's a federal responsibility. Is there an element here of you being happy to own the successes when it comes to dealing with the pandemic, but not the failures?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that's an unkind assessment, Andrew, and doesn't bear out the facts. There is a combination of challenges we have with the pandemic. There is a public health issue and there is a specific aged care issue and that's where responsibilities merge. And when you have a community outbreak like we've had in Victoria, that's where those responsibilities do overlap. Certainly, we have had to lead the response and in responding to the community outbreak in Victoria. But I think the best demonstration that this as a shared responsibility is the formation of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre. It is a combined effort of both Victorian and Commonwealth officials. We understand what our responsibilities are and we will be responsible for those. But when you have a community pandemic, then the virus will find its way into many places. It can find its way into shopping centres. It can find its way into workplaces. It can find its way, potentially, into schools. But thankfully, that hasn't been a significant issue here in Australia and many other places. And so it's the overlapping of public health responsibilities, which would sit with states, and federal aged care regulation responsibilities which sit with the federal government. So, yes, it is a complex set of responsibilities and they are shared and that's why we're working together. I've kept stressing - working together, not against each other, is the way we manage these impacts. And so all I said this morning, I think, to take a very binary approach to this I think is overly simplistic and really doesn't let Australians know the complexity of responsibilities that are here.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you believe, in terms of Victoria’s second wave, do you think that could have been prevented if Daniel Andrews had taken up the offer of ADF personnel back in March?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm focused on what needs to happen now, what needs to happen tomorrow. There will be plenty, including the media appropriately and Parliamentary enquiries and others that will go into those issues of causation, issues around quarantine and tracing are well known. And there's no profit in me going over those and raking over those issues. My job, the Premier's job today, is just to keep working together to deal with what is in front of us, what the needs are right now, and to keep focusing on that task. That's what National Cabinet will focus again on this Friday. The Premier and I are in regular contact. We are not getting caught up in those issues. We're just focused on; what do we need to agree today? What do we need to do today to mitigate the risk and the impact, particularly on Victorians and Melburnians? But I would say with the numbers that we're seeing out of Melbourne and Victoria, that I am encouraged. I think the sacrifice that has had to be made by Melburnians and Victorians and more broadly is paying off. And we are seeing, we have seen, I think, that corner turn and that I hope is of some great encouragement to Victorians. There is still a way to go yet, and there is still some difficult news as we continue to see the most vulnerable in our community fall victim to that virus and there will still be more of that needs to come, as we've warned. But I am encouraged by the progress that's being made and the partnership efforts that are in place, whether it's the ADF, whether it's Emergency Management Australia, whether it's nurses from Townsville and Western Australia and South Australia, contact tracers and testing equipment in Tasmania. The national resources, state and federal, have been turned to support Victoria and that's our approach.
JOURNALIST: Do you feel like Victoria has let down the rest of the country?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm just focused on what we need to do to ensure that we get on top of this thing every day.
JOURNALIST: Just back on the topic of aged care, so would you say now that you’re confident that the aged care centres are in the best possible position should they be exposed to COVID-19?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are two things that are happening here. The first one is what's happening in Victoria and in Victoria, particularly in Melbourne, which are the most exposed facilities. There are over 340 in Melbourne. We've got less than half a dozen that are on our acute watch list. There's around 20 or so that sit on the next Category Two list and these change regularly. We review them each and every day and the response that's needed. Through the ADF and the training that has been provided there we expect to be, by the end of this month, having visited every single one of the non-COVID affected aged care facilities to ensure that they've had further reinforcement of their PPE training and in the state of readiness and preparedness. A lot of those 61 facilities have already had ADF and AUSMAT visits to shore up what's occurring in those places. It's a challenging environment and there's a mixture of issues in each and every facility and they have to be treated on a case-by-case basis. The situation that has been explained to me each and every day for weeks now is increasingly stabilised, but still fragile in particular a handful of facilities. And that remains the case. So we continue to work through those practical issues every day from how waste is managed and stored and removed from facilities and ensuring we had another incinerator come up online recently in Victoria. That's helping dispose of what you can understand is a large volume of PPE material that's being used in Victoria. Staffing issues continue to be a daily challenge for the centre and Joe Buffone and the great work he's doing there. The leadership and management facilities often needs reinforcement, and that's when you see Defence and AUSMAT teams providing that specialist support. In many cases, that has meant a complete takeover of the management of those facilities based on the advice of the aged care regulator. The transfers that are taking place have been an important part of the response. I think about 750, I think that number was this morning, Paul, of transfers there has been from residential aged care facilities predominantly over, in the majority case to private hospitals, using the private hospital agreement that Minister Hunt was able to put in place many months ago. That has been important. I mean, every case is different. The answer is just not to line up a team of ambulances out of an aged care, aged care facility. That's not always the answer. In fact, in that way, it isn't the answer. It is a case-by-case response and to work together with the Victorian health officials because as I said in my answer to Andrew, there is a shared responsibility between managing public health and the specifics in those facilities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on another topic,
PRIME MINISTER: Sure.
JOURNALIST: Can you give us a bit of an explainer on the reasoning behind the aged pension and other pension being frozen in September?
PRIME MINISTER: That goes to how they're indexed. And this is one of those issues that comes in a pandemic, you don't expect those indexes to go negative. And as a result, budgets and others haven't been prepared on the basis of them going negative. This is new information that has come through yesterday. You'll know that some $1,500 dollars in additional payments have been made to pensioners this year on top of their base pension as part of the pandemic response. And that was done in July and in April. So already pensioners have received two bonus payments so far this year. But the Treasurer and I will work through those issues. But that wasn't, it was not intended and nor will it be the case that you'd see those payments reduced. And we'll work out the exact response to the circumstances and will announce that when a decision has been made.
JOURNALIST: Given your statements rejecting the assertion of the counsel assisting the Royal Commission. Do you still have faith in that Royal Commission? And after this answer, can I just ask a quick one on the Northern Territory election?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. Look, I do have faith in the Aged Care Royal Commission. I called it. I called it, and I called it because I wasn't happy with what was happening in aged care. And I wasn't getting the answers that I needed to get as a Prime Minister so I could look Australians in the eye about what was happening in aged care facilities, and the Aged Care Royal Commission is a key element of how we're responding. Now, it's not the only thing that is occurring and we won't wait to the final report with the actions that we're taking. Already we’ve announced significant funding, particularly for in-home aged care support places. We've been doing that for many years now. The budget will do that again, on top of that issues about how medications are administered in aged care facilities, there's been responses that have been provided to that. And equally, that has become very relevant in the management of the pandemic response as well. And so actions will continue to be taken to address issues. But the broader structural issues, I would hope the Aged Care Royal Commission will be able to give us some important insight into that. And that Aged Care Royal Commission will be handed down before next year's budget, which will give us the opportunity, I think, to provide a comprehensive response at that time. So, yes, I do. But, you know, the royal commission, people will appear before it, people will make assertions before it, before people will tell stories, their own stories. And those stories will be heartbreaking. And they'll be hard for Australians to accept and hard for Prime Ministers to accept as well. Both current and former.
JOURNALIST: But that was the Royal Commissioner though who said that about there not being a plan, not a witness or someone like that?
PRIME MINISTER: It was the counsel assisting, and what we will continue to is provide the facts to the royal commission about these issues. Of course there was a plan, a plan that had been refreshed and there is no complacency on the government's part. And I think the fact that we increase funding for aged care every year by a billion dollars and in fact more now every single year goes to our acknowledgement of the real needs here. Solving the issues in aged care is a very difficult problem, because as I've said to you many times, the challenges have changed, when people are going into aged care facilities now, I know this from personal experience. Families are making a decision about pre-palliative care. That wasn't the case really 10 years ago. There was a much longer period of time that people would be in those facilities before they suffered acute needs. And so the clinical support that is provided in aged care facilities has changed quite a lot. And that goes to the, the sort of staffing that's required and it goes to the models that are put in place for how facilities can operate, both in the not for profit sector, the public sector, the private sector. But I'd make this point, public, private, non-profit they have all had their very significant problems in aged care. All of them have. And that's why I think it's not the time to be getting into some sort of ideological debate about aged care. It's about what the residents need and how government can better support the needs of our elderly residents, residents and to ensure they are treated with a culture of respect. They need our respect and that respect needs to be shown in the way that we care for them in those facilities.
Now, the Northern Territory?
JOURNALIST: Yes, the Chief Minister he says in a Sky News debate that will air this afternoon,
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, a debate he’s in this afternoon?
JOURNALIST: Well, it was on this morning, a pre-recorded,
PRIME MINISTER: You have many talents Andrew but I didn’t know prophecy was one of them.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, if you open borders, so he’s saying it to his counterpart right, he’s saying if you open borders on June 22, like Canberra wanted you to. You would have brought the virus in the Top End. How do you react to that statement and the fact that in a number of state and territory elections now, what the leaders are promising seems to indicate the longer the state border closures?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look, on borders, of course, there's the international borders and the position there is uncontroversial, the position on the border between New South Wales and Victoria and indeed South Australia and Victoria is fairly obvious. I mean, the approach the Commonwealth has always taken is you contain where the outbreaks are. What Premiers want to do with their borders, which are further removed from that, they've made unilateral decisions on those issues. What I continue to ask is when they do that, that they seek to work with their neighbouring states, that they work with the Commonwealth and the communities that are impacted to ensure that; a) the medical advice they're basing on that is transparent, and secondly, the practical issues are in place to ensure that people who are living along borders and that can be as much as 100 kilometres away, in areas that are substantially almost virus - if not completely virus free - are able to get agricultural machinery serviced or that kids can get medical treatment, or that parents can go with their kids when they're receiving medical treatment. I've been raising a number of these issues. We will be raising more today.
I'm finding dealing directly with states, because their border arrangements are different, is proving to be a more practical way to get outcomes. I acknowledge particularly Premiers Marshall and Berejiklian, who just most recently I've been working with on those issues. The New South Wales government has issued a new public health directive on agricultural workers, which is far more practical than the one that was in place before. We welcome that. But when you put a border in place, it's going to raise a lot of issues. It's going to impose a lot of costs. It's going to impose a lot of disruption. And as Premiers put those things in place, obviously those things need to be thought through and arrangements need to be put in place to mitigate the damage that is done by that. Clearly, we understand why people are doing it and getting the balance right on that is, is the explanation I think that Premiers obviously need to provide.
JOURNALIST: In the context of the election though, weaponising you, in a sense, against the CLP on that. What do you think of that?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not interested in the politics of the pandemic. I'll leave that for others. We're here to get people vaccinated and to get people through this pandemic,
Yep? Yeah, okay.
JOURNALIST: Just on China, they’ve taken action against barley, beef, now wine. Why is this happening and do you think it’s politically motivated?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, Australia has not changed its position towards China on all of the issues that are so important to our sovereignty, whether it's our national security issues, whether it's the integrity of our telecommunications networks, the sovereignty of our foreign investment arrangements. These have been all clear and consistent positions that the Australian government has taken, and there's been no change to that. And indeed, the relationship we have with China is a mutually beneficial one. It's not a one-way street. It's not Australia benefits only, China benefits from the high quality products and services that we provide. And equally, Australia benefits in return. And we have the best wine in the world. In fact, it's the second highest priced wine in China and it's the best quality in our view. And we totally don't accept any suggestion that there's been any dumping of Australian wine in China, whatsoever. And we don't believe there's any evidence to support that. So we will engage that process, that will take we’re advised and the public statements have been, about 18 months. So there's no initial impact that flows from that. I do acknowledge that there was some activity on the share market yesterday with Treasury [Wine Estates]. But that said, that is a process that’ll work through. I applaud the Australian wine industry for the diversification that they've put in place. And you can't put all your eggs in one basket, but you've always got to provide a top quality product and look after your customers. And that's what our wine industry does. And that's why I believe they have every right to be confident that there's absolutely no basis to the claims that are being made against the Australian wine industry, with regard to subsidies or anything of that nature. So, you know, we will never trade away our sovereignty in Australia on any issue. We will be consistent. We will be clear. We will be respectful and we will get on with the business. Thank you all very much.
Commemorative Address - Australian War Memorial, ACT
15 August 2020
Today, in suburbs and towns across this land, the last of a great generation are remembering a different time.
A time when the joy of their youth was denied and forced to give way to the responsibility of nation, of adulthood.
A time of sacrifice and struggle.
Of ration books, blackouts, heartfelt farewells on shipping docks.
Penciled notes from battlefields, tear soaked telegrams.
And of a great victory that changed the course of human history.
During the Second World War, one million Australians wore our uniform and made the silent promise to give their lives for their country, if need be. Their tomorrows for our today.
The names of almost 40,000 Australians upon whom that sacrifice was called are inscribed here in their home at the Australian War Memorial. They are among 102,000 Australians who have given their lives for Australia in so many theatres.
This memorial, located on Ngunnawal land and in direct line of sight of the Parliament, is Australia’s most sacred place.
Here I am joined by three incredible Australians - themselves once part of a generation of young men and women who pledged their service to our country.
To defeat Hitler and the evils of Nazism.
To stop the aggression and conquest of militaristic Japan.
To defend our sovereignty, freedom and our way of life.
And to defend an attack on Australia.
Derek Holyoake, Lance Cooke, Les Cook thank you. Thank you. And thank you for joining us today. We were also going to be joined today by Terri Lessels but she is unwell and is watching from home.
Terri was part of the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service, we just heard of. She nursed men in traction, cared for emaciated Prisoners of War and tended to burn victims. Difficult work.
Derek was 16 when he joined the Navy. He pretended to be 17. He was on the HMAS Hobart when it was hit by a torpedo.
Lance was a flight mechanic. He kept our Beaufighters in the air. He checked every spark plug to keep our pilots and navigators safe. And as he said “They were my mates”.
And Les, like Derek, tried to enlist at 16 - except the enlisting officer told him to “try the scouts!”
Les wasn't perturbed. He returned at 17 and his Dad signed up too.
Why did Les join up? He put it simply…”it was the thing to do… you didn't give it a second thought”
There was another reason too, he said: “to stop the bully”.
No truer words have been spoken.
For that’s what happened. That’s what they did.
A country of seven million Australians united and became one in a mighty national effort to defend human civilisation from the bullies who sought to destroy it.
Derek, Lance and Les - there you were.
Boys who helped free a world. And be great men.
You marched. You sailed. You flew in planes like the KittyHawk ‘’Polly’ behind me.
You peered through binoculars and pored over maps.
You washed the mud off your rifles in rivers and swotted mosquitos in jungles.
You said prayers on ships as the bodies of dead friends were committed to the deep.
You battled sun storms, snow-storms and torrential rain, while carrying the heavy load of your packs.
This generation, you did all this with your nation behind you and always in your mind.
Everyone played their part.
Living up to the call of the then Prime Minister Curtin who said ‘no one else can do your share’. True then. True today.
Australia wasn’t alone. We stood with our allies and our friends.
This was a global fight - all understood that if tyranny was not confronted together, eventually it would be confronted alone.
True then, true today.
Today we remember those we stood with.
The airmen of Bomber Command, Fighter Command and Coastal Command - the Brits, the Canadians, the South Africans, the Poles, the Czechs, the Kiwis, the French and our many other allies.
The Russians who withstood and turned back the Nazi war machine.
The Indians who stood alongside us in Tobruk, in Singapore and elsewhere.
The villagers and local people in Thailand, in Burma, in Borneo, and even Japan who defied the authorities and smuggled food to our PoWs.
The local Chinese communities in Singapore, Malaya and elsewhere who showed their own kindnesses.
And how can we ever forget, as I constantly relay to Prime Minister Marape of Papua New Guinea, the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels of New Guinea, the wonderful Solomon Islanders, and all of our Pacific Island family and friends.
The Dutch, the Kiwis, and the ally who led the fight to free the Pacific, our great friend the United States of America.
Today we call to mind all who stood with us - and all we stand with.
The names, the places, the battles are part of our national story.
The Rats of Tobruk.
The HMAS Sydney.
Sir Roden Cutler, the campaign for Syria where Gunner Leslie Smith was also, my Grandfather.
Vivian Bullwinkel and the nurses of Banka Island.
Weary Dunlop and the Thai-Burma Railway.
Teddy Sheean and the HMAS Armidale.
The Aussie Rules flying ace Bluey Truscott and the defence of Milne Bay.
The stretcher bearer ‘Bull’ Allen and the wounded he carried to safety up Mount Tambu.
Nancy Wake, ‘the White Mouse’ who outwitted the Gestapo.
Mebai Warusam, Awati Mau and the Torres Strait Islander Light Infantry Battalion.
The sailors of the Coral Sea, Midway, the Bismarck Sea and Guadalcanal.
The battles and campaigns: mainland Greece and Crete, El Alamein, Rabaul, Timor, Ambon, and Singapore - and so many more places where Australian blood was shed.
All of which was part of one great national effort.
So Ben Chifley declared 75 years ago; Fellow citizens, the War is over.
On that day Australians spilled into the streets.
Laughter, dancing, and thanksgiving.
Joy overflowed our nation.
Derek was in Adelaide that day. He said everyone went mad with joy. Everyone was kissed: the police were kissed, the horses were kissed. He said everyone got kissed but him.
And from that victory, the most remarkable thing happened.
From the ruins of war, sworn enemies became our devoted friends.
As I think of the peace that emerged - I think of Darwin today.
The walk from war to peace to friendship has taken many steps.
Small and big they have all mattered.
About fifteen years after the end of the war, a Japanese salvage company was given the contract to salvage the wreckages that lay in Darwin Harbour.
Amongst the metal salvaged was bronze from the Australian merchant vessel Zealandia.
The Zealandia had been sunk in February 1942.
After the salvage crew returned to Japan, they melted the bronze and made it into 77 Christian crosses.
The crosses were then given to a church in Darwin as a gift, that had been built on what was the site of a United States military headquarters.
That headquarters had suffered a direct hit during a wartime bombing raid.
The crosses reflected the answer to a question asked in the gospels. How many times must I forgive? The answer: seventy seven times.
From war came peace.
From peace came rebuilding.
From rebuilding came reflection.
From reflection, forgiveness.
And eventually friendship.
One of the most moving experiences I’ve had as Prime Minister was to lay a wreath with my friend, and Australia’s friend, Prime Minister Abe of Japan at the Cenotaph in Darwin. A complete journey.
The Prime Minister of Australia and the Prime Minister of Japan standing side by side honouring Australia’s fallen in Darwin. Now true partners.
So Derek, Lance, and Les - and the veterans like Terri who are watching elsewhere that is the world you fought for, that is the world you created.
Now in your sunset we honour you.
We honour your generation, in my view Australia’s greatest, and we say: thank you.
You won a war, you secured the peace, and along with so many more, saved civilisation.
Your deeds will never be forgotten.
And we pledge this day to always be a country as good and always to be as courageous as you.
Courage, mateship, endurance, sacrifice.
May God bless you and may God bless Australia.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
14 August 2020
Prime Minister: I’m joined by Professor Kelly, today obviously there has not been a meeting of the National Cabinet. But I thought it would be a good opportunity, I said to my team this morning, that as the week rounds out it’s been an incredibly busy week, but it has also been, further very difficult news for the nation over the course of this week. I was here on Monday and we addressed a number of those issues, and I thought it would be an important opportunity to deal with any further matters, but also to update you on a lot of the actions that have taken place over the course of this past week.
Before I do that, I think its important to note a couple of things. There are thousands upon thousands of people around the country right now, each and every day, doing the very best they can to look after Australians. There are millions of Australians at home every day trying to get through, particularly in Victoria and in Melbourne, looking after their kids, looking after loved ones, trying to keep businesses open and trying to keep people employed. But for those directly dealing with the health challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly in Melbourne and Victoria, there is an army of people, and there is literally an army in Victoria, with the support of the ADF. And each and every day, whether it’s myself here or Paul and his team, Minister Hunt, Minister Colbeck, as we gather around every single morning and work through the issues that need to be addressed each day, right through to the Aged Care worker who gets to work and goes through the very difficult task, often in a facility they may not have worked in before because of the disruptions to the workforce in those places, those attending at emergency wards, those working on contact tracing, those sitting behind desks working on logistics and support, Joe Buffone, who's doing just an incredible job heading up the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
Each and every day, they are all just doing their best to ensure that Australians are not let down during this period. And the sad truth is, some days, we fall short. And other days, we don't. On some days, the pandemic gets the better of us, and on other days, it doesn't. And I think we've got to have a reality check about this. There are no absolute guarantees in a global pandemic. There are no absolute assurances that can be provided. I think it’s great that Australians have high expectations of the services and standards and facilities, whether it's in a school or a hospital, an aged care facility - anywhere. That's what Australia should aspire to. And that's what everybody seeks to do each and every single day, just as you do, as members of the gallery here, and others seek to do exactly the same thing. But it's tough. And the challenges are complex. And no-one has had to ever deal with this before, in this way. The combination of a global recession, a global pandemic, and how that impacts particularly on the most vulnerable in our community. It's tough. And it's going to continue to be tough. I said that back in March of this year and even earlier, 2020 was going to be the hardest year of our lives. And so it is proving to be. But Australians, I said would be tested, and we measure up. Some days, we wish better than has occurred. But I tell you what we do the next day - where there are lessons, where there are things to be acknowledged, you do that, and you set about the task the next morning and you get about what you need to do over the course of that next 24 hours, until the next time - you're back in the same place, working the same issues. That is the attitude that my government is taking and I believe that is the attitude that is being taken right across the country as people honestly seek to deal with the incredibly complex and often life-threatening challenges that are being faced around the country.
So I want to thank all of them for that work. And I want to thank them for the attitude in which they're engaging in their work and their dedication to it. We are, indeed, all in this together. Over the course of this past week, we've got the news that there are now 188 aged care recipients who have passed away this week [since the pandemic began]. A further 12 today in actual aged care facilities. There's been active cases of over 1,000 residents and over 1,000 staff. But in response, the work that is being done in Victoria - over 400 residents in aged care facilities have been transferred to hospitals now, with the Aged Care Response Centre playing an active role in more than 300 of those cases. And this includes the transfer of a further 14 residents this week. The response centre has facilitated communications support for 7 aged care facilities, with 859 outbound calls conducted to families of residents, including 682 inbound calls received since the 23rd of July. AUSMAT has deployed 24 members into Victoria who have made 61 visits across 41 aged care facilities to date. They have been assessing existing procedures and boosting infection prevention and control measures, including the use of PPE. 61 facilities have been clinically screened by the Australian Defence Force and Westin Health, with an additional 10 being visited today, making 71 COVID-free facilities that had their infection control bolstered. In addition to two existing teams already assisting Victoria from South Australia, a further two teams of six personnel from Queensland - I understand from Townsville, thank you, Townsville, and Western Australia were deployed this week to support the workforce in aged care facilities. These teams of nurses, personal care workers, hotel services. 30 staff from allied Health Services were trained yesterday at Monash University, as residential aged care safety officers to support staff in higher risk facilities in safety, facility operations, and PPE compliance. 20 Australian Defence Force staff are today being trained in PPE usage and compliance, and will be deployed to facilities next week. More training sessions will continue in the coming weeks with the support of the ADF. Overall now, we have more than 1,700 Australian Defence Force personnel on the ground in Victoria supporting testing, supporting police control points, supporting contact tracing and community engagement and doorknocking, supporting planning logistics and supporting aged care response. And a team from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is on the ground making daily visits and delivering unannounced on-the-spot checks on appropriate PPE usage and infection-control procedures. There'll be more. This will continue. New things will be added. There'll be additional activities, no doubt.
And I fear that we will still see things that will occur that we will find absolutely unacceptable, and they are unacceptable. They don't meet those standards. And they're not tolerated by anybody. But the struggles we face and the complexity that is there means that those things have occurred, and we're doing everything we can to prevent them from occurring wherever we can. There'll be no lack of commitment or effort. But guarantees in a global pandemic, if someone's offering them to you, then they're not being straight with you. So I'm going to be straight with you. That's where we're at. We're moving heaven and earth, as a country, at the moment, to ensure that we can deal with this. And we're in the fight. And we're going to win it. It's just going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort.
Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: Thank you, PM. So, the latest numbers, I'll just share with you today. So we're up to 22,739 cases of COVID-19 now in Australia since the beginning of this pandemic, those first cases in January. And really sadly, 375 deaths. As I always do at every press conference, I just give my condolences to those people that have lost loved ones. These are just numbers to some, but they're not to me, and they're not to the PM, and all of the people working on this understand what that means, losing a loved one. We've all been there. So, 375 deaths to date. 680 in hospital. Many of those, most of those are in Victoria, and many of those are related to exactly the response that the PM has outlined there in terms of what we're doing with our aged care residents. There's 47 in ICU. 31 ventilated.
I just really want to stress today, as the PM has done, that we are learning as we go through this process. It doesn't mean we haven't got a plan, we do have plans. We have very detailed plans for aged care, in particular. And since the very beginning of this issue - even before it started in Australia, we've been meeting virtually daily and we've had over 170 meetings now of the AHPPC on almost every occasion, we've talked about aged care and the particular issues of vulnerable people, and particularly in the case of our aged members of our community. There have been plans in place, specific plans, very detailed, specific operational plans for dealing with aged-care outbreaks and preparing for those and ways to prevent them since the middle of March and those plans are working in many ways. And I would just like to point out the huge challenges that are in Victoria are related to the scale of this problem. The PM has said the numbers - I won't repeat them. But there are a large number of outbreaks, there are a large number of staff that have been affected and that has made it difficult throughout. Let's look at the example of Queensland. For example, recently when they had those small number of cases last week or the week before, there was the link to an aged care worker that was recognised immediately and immediately that aged care resident followed... residential aged-care facility followed the plan as been outlined and has prevented any further spread. That is the majority of our experience so far in relation to aged care. Mostly we have seen very small outbreaks either with a single or couple of staff, a single or a couple of residents, and that has been it. There have, however, with the situation we are facing in Melbourne with large community outbreaks, that has been a very different situation, and we are learning to work through that, including the setting up of very early in that outbreak of the Victorian aged-care response centre, which is working incredibly well in relation to that in collaboration with all the partners and specifically with the Victorian authorities. So I might leave it there, PM.
Prime Minister: Thanks Paul. Happy to go to questions.
Journalist: Prime Minister, when you established this Royal Commission, you said that it would uncover some uncomfortable truths. It has now found that there was no plan for the aged care sector in this pandemic, that none of the challenges were unforeseeable, and yesterday it said the sector is still not prepared to handle the pandemic. Isn't this a gross failure of governance on behalf of your Government?
Prime Minister: Well, Mark, I would make a couple of points in response. First, I would reflect what I said in my opening statement and that is every day, every effort is being made and on those days that we fall short, we're sorry, and the next day we get up and we seek to make it right the next day. The Royal Commission has not found what you've just said. That is not a Royal Commission finding. That is a statement that has been made by the Counsel Assisting. So that is not a finding of the Royal Commission. That is a position that has been asserted. People can make those assertions. I think that's fair enough. I called the Royal Commission because I want all these issues and I remember some time ago in this very courtyard when we were dealing with very difficult issues around aged care that related to the pandemic and I said it was important for the aged care Royal Commission to deal with this. So I welcome that. But assertions will be tested. The Government has provided its response to those assertions and the Government maintains very strongly that the plan was in place. The plan was in place from March, and indeed, going back to January, preparations had been made and the plan had been updated twice. That's all on the record. I won't delay the press conference by going into the Government's very strong refuting of the points that you have made. Assertions can be made, Mark, but that doesn't make them right.
Journalist: But I mean, say you won't take up the time, but it is a very important point, isn't it? That the Royal Commission says that plan...
Prime Minister: There has been a plan, Mark, and it has been updated and so we completely reject the assertion that there was not a plan because there was a plan. So I think we have addressed that issue, Mark. There was a plan. That has been given in evidence to the Royal Commission and we will continue to provide the facts to the Royal Commission. But what we need to do every day is to ensure that we put that plan into action. I will tell you one of the things we have learnt during this pandemic; you can have a plan, you can do the training, you can provide the funding - all of this has been done. Then you've got to go back and reinforce the plan and you've got to reinforce the learnings, and you've got to reinforce the training, and that's what is happening, and that has been our process the entire time. So, my focus is what I need to do now and going forward, to learn from where there have been things, where on days the system has fallen short, and to ensure that we provide against that in the future. But there are no guarantees and anyone seeking them in a pandemic, I think, that will be not something they will be able to find. It is something that we would all dearly like to provide. But I think you've got to be realistic in a pandemic and you've got to deal with the situations as you find them, not as you would like them to be. That has always been our approach. But I want to be very clear here: the Government has made it absolutely crystal clear, the plan was in place, the plan was not only in place, but it was refreshed. The plan was funded. The training modules were delivered and they are now all being reinforced again. People will make these claims and assertions and they can, but they must also be subject to the facts and we will point out the fathers.
Michelle?
Journalist: While the Royal Commission didn't make any recommendations, something that the Royal Commissioner said he thought should be done and should be done now was to set up this expert unit which you will be familiar with the details and components of what has been proposed. Are you willing to do that now?
Prime Minister: Well, what has been proposed effectively is what the Government has been doing, and Paul may wish to speak to that. The matters that were raised that needed to be addressed very much mirrored the actions that the Government has indeed been taking. I know that there are proponents of particular methods and particular ways of doing things, or particular groups that should be established. What matters to me is simply the action, and the action that has been taken is very consistent, I believe, with what was set out yesterday as a proposal.
Paul, did you want to add to that?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: Yes, I haven't seen the details of what was discussed in the Royal Commission, but...
Journalist: You haven't seen those?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: The recent ones that you are referring to. Yesterday's evidence. I've seen some of it, yes, but not the details. The issue is that what we have set up, in fact, in Melbourne is this Victorian Aged Care Response Centre in fact goes to that exact point. What are the issues?
Journalist: Talking about a national unit with emergency response with aged-care specialty and other components.
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: So, let's look at the facts though, about what is happening. Where are the aged care outbreaks? They are in Melbourne, and so we have put together a team along those similar lines, as I understand, has been called for with expertise in aged care and emergency response, in infection control, in epidemiology, in nursing care, in geriatric care, communications, etcetera, to exactly look at the issues that we are facing right now in Melbourne. And the PM has asked and it was discussed at National Cabinet last week, that we look at how we would develop that if it was to occur elsewhere. So at the moment, rather than looking at a national one well away from the action, we are going straight to where the action is required and dealing with those matters.
Prime Minister: There has been no shortage of experts in this area. Geriatricians have been central to the role played by the AHPPC, central to the decisions the Government has been taking, central to the decisions that the Victorian Government has been taking in relation to public health, infection control experts. They are the ones who have been deploying and advising on the implementation of the measures that have been put in place in aged care facilities. Even now, as we prepare for next week's National Cabinet, the mirroring of those arrangements in Victoria being able to be applied in all other states and territories. I expect we will have that plan in place by next Friday to report to the National Cabinet. I think it’s very important that we remain focused on what the outcome that we are seeking here and that is to get the best of quality support and services into a system that is very fragile. Why is it fragile? Because there is a community outbreak of the coronavirus in Melbourne. That is why we have the challenges in that system and indeed more broadly throughout the public health system in Victoria, where that has impacted workforces and impacted the way that services can be delivered. In the rest of the country, thankfully, seven states and territories, we are not seeing what's happening in Victoria because there is not a community outbreak in all of those other states and territories. That is the cause.
Journalist: Prime Minister, you said a minute ago that you intended to be straight. You said that some days the pandemic gets the better of us. So just for perfect clarity, are you saying that the pandemic got the better of the Commonwealth's response in aged care facilities? And if the answer to that is yes, then do the residents in those facilities and their families, are they owed an apology by the Commonwealth?
Prime Minister: Well, I've already made such a statement from this very podium once, I'm happy to do it again. On the days that the system falls short, on the days that expectations are not met, I'm deeply sorry about that, of course I am. And I know that everyone who is involved in the process who is trying to meet those expectations is equally sorry. On days where workforces are completely stripped from facilities and there is nobody there and you scramble for a workforce to try to put them in place and you have ADF officers who go there at 11:00pm at night to try to clean up the mess, that's not good enough. But they are the actions we had to take to stabilise those facilities in those situations. So, each and every day there are going to be challenges and on many days, the success in how they are able to deal with these challenges has been significant. And so they are the good days, but other days are not as good, and that's the simple honesty that I'm offering to the Australian people on that. Of course we're sorry about that. Of course we're devastated by it. Of course it is something that motivates to try to ensure that those issues don't arise again. In so many cases, these are unforeseen consequences and unforeseen issues and people do the best they can in the circumstances they find themselves.
Journalist: On the lessons then from Newmarch and Dorothy Henderson Lodge, what were the failings that allowed what has happened in Melbourne to take place?
Prime Minister: I’d make a couple of points on this and I've answered this question on another occasion but I think it's important to answer it again today. The key takeouts for Newmarch, I think, that we were seeking to apply as we were dealing with the crisis in Victoria, which arose from a very different context. We had broad-based community transmission occurring in Victoria. In New South Wales, that's not what was occurring at that time. The infection was able to get into those facilities and that was dealt with. There are a couple of points. The first one is that the way of handling the workforce was really important, and that was that you didn't completely denude the workforce, so you could keep a continuity of care. Now, that broke down with the way that this issue began in Victoria, and I'm pleased that that has been remedied between the state and the Commonwealth Government about when there are public health officers going and telling people to stand down that there is a coordination that takes place with the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre so that they can manage as best they can within a limited workforce and a strained workforce, because a lot of people have COVID who work in this, there and many other parts of the health sector, that you have to manage the transition of your workforce when you have a facility.
The other point that had to be learnt from that is how you transfer people out of aged care into public or private hospital facilities. Now, that was an issue that came up as part of the discussion at the Aged Care Royal Commission and there were challenges and issues and a bit of lack of clarity around those matters and they have been openly discussed. And it was important, that's why we were saying when this was really escalating, it was vital that elective surgery be cancelled. It was vital that we were able to conduct transfers and transfer people out of those facilities so we could bring them back to a manageable level so a quality of care could be maintained. That was another important lesson out of Newmarch. The other important one, and there are many more, was communications and right from the outset, Minister Colbeck was tasked with ensuring that we got those communications into families as best we could. Now, we had some facilities there who it wasn't just the nurses and the nurses' assistants and others who got sent home, it was the receptionist, it was the manager, the book keeper, the back office staff - all gone. And families are ringing to phones that don't answer. And so we used Services Australia in those facilities that suffered that, to ensure that we were getting outgoing calls to families, to ensure there was contact being made and we bolstered the call receiving in those particular facilities that were most acute so people could get a response. Communications in those situations is incredibly important. I think that is, while it has been a very challenging task in a lot of these cases, that has been a priority that we put into our response. So they were some of the very important lessons out of that process.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Prime Minister: In Melbourne?
Journalist: You said 188 aged care deaths over the last week.
Prime Minister: Yeah, there is a community outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Melbourne. That's where the system received the greatest challenge. We can't ignore that fact. I mean, COVID-19 broke out in Melbourne. It has got into meat packing plants, it has got into pharmacies, it has got into distribution centres, it has got into hospitals, it has got into aged care facilities. That's what happens with a pandemic. There is not some special force field around aged care facilities that can ultimately protect in that environment, and that's what occurred, and that has caused an enormous disruption in the continuity of care in those aged care facilities. So the Aged Care Response Centre has been vital and it has been, as each day has gone on, the partnership between - and I should stress this - this is an emergency services-led initiative. It is important for this reason: You have to pull together the health response, the ADF response, the logistical responses and all of that and deal with the acute crises in specific facilities. There are more than 350 aged care facilities in Melbourne. We have been dealing with acute responses in about half a dozen. There are many more facilities that actually have COVID cases but the overwhelming majority, almost entirely, of those cases, of those facilities, are managing. They are managing. It is difficult, but they're managing. So we keep, every day, I have a list of the acute facilities and the actions at every single one of those facilities. Then there is a broader watch list of those which are on a watching brief. Then there are others that are managing well and then there are those with no COVID and that's where we've been sending people to check on PPE compliance to make sure we are not getting a spread across those other facilities. But I've got to tell you, it is a battle every day. So lessons applied, but this is a very complex and challenging situation.
Journalist: Prime Minister, last night in WA, emergency legislation was passed to block arbitration by Clive Palmer, that was pretty unprecedented. Given some of the concerns about the constitution and legality of some of WA’s actions in the past, what's your response to that? Do you take issue with it?
Prime Minister: No.
Journalist: You don't take issue with it? Was it necessary given $30 billion?
Prime Minister: I wish them well in dealing with it and as I said, I believe Mr Palmer should drop his other case.
Journalist: Thanks Prime Minister, a question for you, and separately for Professor Kelly, the RBA Governor today said that increasing superannuation to 12 per cent will lower wages, cut spending and possibly cost jobs. Now you are sitting on a retirement income review at the moment, do you agree with his assessment, and when will you release that report and your response to it?
And Professor Kelly, if I could ask you, cancer diagnosis has dropped about 30% during the lockdowns and I'm hearing similar stories from heart disease specialists, stroke specialists as well. Healthscope's Chief Medical Officer says that people are being terrified into believing that the only safe place to lie is in their homes, so they are not going out for other medical treatments. Medical professionals are saying this could cost hundreds, possibly thousands of other lives in the future. So my question is: is our singular, narrow, at times hysterical focus on the virus costing many other unintended consequences, many other lives? Why aren't our health professionals at the federal and state level talking more publicly about this? And could you in the future, when you do your briefings on the coronavirus cases and deaths, which are very sad, but could you provide a more holistic view of the other consequences of our policy responses as well - the suicides, the mental health issues, the family violence, the cancer deaths, the heart disease deaths, the job losses as well, to give people a full picture of our policy responses to the coronavirus?
Prime Minister: Do you want to start with that one, Paul?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: It is a rather comprehensive question, thank you. Firstly, we, of course, and have many times, and in fact my colleague, Professor Kidd has had - I think his 50th webinar with GPs, primary care and other health professionals this week, and at each of those, he has stressed the need to not ignore those other things. You are quite correct. So, to our colleagues in the professions, absolutely make sure that people who do have chronic disease, who are at risk of cancer, who are due for immunisations or for cancer screening or whatever it is, that routine care must continue. And we have put out those communications before as well to the wider public. Maybe we need to reinforce that, about that importance of not neglecting those other things. It is absolutely important. In terms of the consequences of our actions, there have been some actually quite positive consequences outside of COVID. We've talked before about the fact that we haven't had a flu season. Normally this time of year our hospitals are full of flu, our aged-care facilities often having flu outbreaks at this point. We've had virtually no flu at all since April, so there is a positive side there. Some of the other infectious diseases have also decreased from their normal levels. But you're right, those other consequences and particularly in Melbourne, it is very difficult, the situation that people are in now in lockdown. That does take a toll - the things you mentioned - mental health, domestic violence, all of those things are of concern, absolutely, and we need to have a balance there, as well as with the economic disruption. That’s why we've always gone for our suppression strategy, rather than an elimination one, and we can see what's happened in New Zealand. Sorry to hear their cases, but no-one is immune to this. We need to take that balance of what we need to do, but including the economic and social disruption that can occur.
Prime Minister: Thank you, look I’d add to that by noting that the advice consistently through that the government has received previously by Professor Murphy, now Professor Kelly. I remember early on when there were issues around the reagents involved in the testing material and how that might impact on doing things like bowel screening tests and those types of tests, I remember Brendan being very adamant with strong support, I can assure you from his Prime Minister that we needed to make sure we continue to do those screenings. That there were many other health challenges that just couldn’t be set to one side so I don’t accept the hypothesis which says that this has been pursued in the narrow way that is suggested. The Chief Medical Officer is the Chief Medical Officer, not the chief COVID-19 officer, and both Paul and Brendan have undertaken their tasks looking to the health of the entire population and the many other challenges that are faced. But we can’t pretend that COVID-19 is not there and go on our own merry way on other matters. Of course we have to manage all of this together, there are so many moving parts in all of this. And on mental health, I’ve just come from a zoom call that I was doing with a number of young people who, working with Headspace and with Pat McGorry who was on the call and discussing the challenge being faced by a young school captain from Melbourne and what he’s doing in his school. And the message is the same, the services are there, the services are there if you need help that’s why we’ve surged that support, whether it’s in tele-health. I welcome the announcement by the Victorian government last weekend following the announcements we made last Friday, suring mental health support, it’s so incredibly difficult. And on the call they were talking about not just the young people themselves dealing with the anxieties of what does next year bring when they may be completing university or completing school, or just getting to the end of school as I’m sure Mark understands in his household? It’s tough. But they also talk about the pressures on their parents and as parents, we’ll be going through our own issues as we are trying to manage this pandemic and you’re kids are worried about you too. And they’re worried about your worries and they’re worried about your anxieties, they love you, you love them. And families are really doing it tough to come through this and that’s why we put those supports in place.
On the issue of the superannuation guarantee we’re very aware of those issues and, you’d also be aware of the statements that I and the Finance Minister and the Treasurer have made during the course of the election campaign as well, there’s been a rather significant event since then, but nevertheless, they are matters we are aware of, and they have to be considered in the balance of all the other things the government is doing in this space.
Andrew, you’ve been very patient.
Journalist: Thank you, Prime Minister. You have talked today about federal shortcomings. Let me ask you about the Ruby Princess. Putting aside the mistakes that were made by border force officers, by a department of agriculture biosecurity officer, one thing that has emerged is that there was an inability or a refusal of Border Force and the Federal Health Department in sharing the passenger manifest to allow the airlines to stop passengers who were potentially infected passengers, travelling Australia and travelling the world. Can you pledge here that you will ensure at least a protocol is established so that cruise ship manifests are shared with those who need it, including airlines?
Prime Minister: Well, Andrew, I will put the assertions in the start of your question to one side, because I don't share those assertions.
Journalist: The Commonwealth concedes it?
Prime Minister: No, I'm talking about the earlier points you made. In terms of the issue you’ve raised about the sharing of manifests, you would be aware of the privacy restrictions that apply to the sharing of those details. And so, it is appropriate, I'm advised, for the ABF to have alerted and shared information with the relevant state health authorities who provide that interface. Paul may want to add more to this because I know he has had some briefings on this as well. So the handling of people's personal information in other circumstances, I'm sure you would be asking me questions about if that sort of personal information was shared contrary to the restrictions that are placed on that by governments, you would rightly take me to task over that. So the ABF has to operate within those guidelines, like any other government agency and any other government department. In this case, it worked through that channel, as I'm told, and if there are improvements as to how that can be done more swiftly, then certainly I would expect the ABF and any agency of government to do things as efficiently as possible, but they, as I'm advised, they were following the protocol that was there. Paul, anything to add to that?
Professor Paul Kelly, Acting Chief Medical Officer: Not really, PM. The Ruby Princess inquiry decision will be handed down I believe this afternoon, we’ll look at those matters very carefully. Only just to reiterate the PM's comments about privacy and the importance of that. We have very good and well-oiled and many times practised procedures for sharing data with our state and Territory colleagues and that was done at the appropriate time and we work very closely with Virgin and Qantas in other ways, but not in this one.
Prime Minister: Okay, yep thank you, welcome back!
Journalist: Prime Minister you spoke to Indonesian President Joko Widodo last night,
Prime Minister: I did.
Journalist: About the coronavirus pandemic, some of that country's most eminent epidemiologists have said there may be up to a million cases in the country which is 10 times the official figure of around 128,000. Does the Australian Government share those concerns that the infection rates could be higher and that low testing isn't picking up really what is going on there? Secondly did the Australian Government offer any additional assistance above and beyond what we've already offered?
Prime Minister: Well, last night's call was an opportunity to catch up, as we often do, as close neighbours and friends, around a whole range of issues. We obviously discussed in some detail how both countries were travelling in relation to COVID-19, not just the health impacts but also the economic impacts on both countries and those impacts in Indonesia are very serious, as well, as you would know. We will continue to support Indonesia in every way we can. There were no additional measures that I advised the President of last night, but this is an ongoing conversation, and we have already provided a range of supports in the tens of millions to Indonesia, and we've also been reframing, not just with Indonesia, but many other countries, our existing development support aid packages to be very focused on their COVID response. In many countries that don't have the same health systems as ours, then obviously the ability to have as close a read on the extent of the infection and the spread, there is a clear gap. Now, that is not a criticism, that is just a reality, and so one has to take that into account when you're considering what the scale of the pandemic is in any of those countries. Now, that is as true as when I was having the same discussion while very different countries at very different scale and nature, with Prime Minister Marape who neighbours Indonesia, and James was very, I think, aware of the limitations of how their data might be able to reflect what is occurring. But the responses are the same. You assume that it is having a devastating impact, and it clearly is, and that means how we can support them with their health response and otherwise is very important and we will continue to do that.
Phil?
Journalist: Just on the pandemic response, yourself and your ministers have been urging the states to borrow more and help pick up the cost of the response. Phil Lowe said this morning said they should not be worried about their credit ratings, just borrow what they should and spend. Is that a sentiment you would share? And just separately, back to aged care, for years there has been controversies to do with federal managed aged care facilities, I can remember the kerosene baths I’m that old- but it there a cause, or is it too simplistic to consider a tighter restructure where you just remove the Commonwealth from the aged case sector altogether and give it to the states who by and large have done a better job of administering that sector?
Prime Minister: Of the aged-care sector?
Journalist: Yes.
Prime Minister: Well let me come to that point second, in terms of, I mean the Reserve Bank Governor today did issue a call to the states. He also acknowledged that the Commonwealth Government, the Federal Government had done some very serious heavy lifting when it came to fiscal support for the economy which I remember back in the meeting we held in mid-March out in Western Sydney where Phil Lowe joined the last meeting of COAG and the first meeting, effectively of what became National CabinetZ And he made this exact point when the pandemic at that stage had not moved to anywhere near what we've seen since then. And that advice hasn’t changed and the Commonwealth certainly has responded to that in a way that no federal government in this country ever has ever before. And the states have equally, I think it’s around about $45 billion in both balance sheet and direct fiscal support. The Commonwealth is well over it’s about $316 billion, and about 15, just over 15 per cent of GDP. So where the states are in a position to go and provide further fiscal support into their economies, then that is clearly what the Reserve Bank Governor has advised and it is certainly what the Treasury Secretary has advised our government. But it is not a blank cheque. It is not a licence to make whoopee with taxpayer’s funds. That is not what that is. The projects have got to be good projects. The spending must always be good spending. Spending always must adhere to the principles of fiscal responsibility. For example, we would love to do more water infrastructure projects in Queensland. That would be a very good thing to work together on, and that would be a very good way to apply state debt to those projects. I mean, in Queensland there is a view about asset recycling and I respect and understand that. It is actually a bipartisan view in Queensland going into this election, so were they to be applying those sorts of debt funds to those types of projects which had an enduring value. Equally, I acknowledge what the Queensland Government have done in terms of their loan support for Dreamworld. That is an entirely an operation sitting within Queensland and it was for the Queensland Government, I think, to respond there and they have and good for them. Equally in Victoria, they moved on short-term visa holders and we've supported payments to those in that type of work who are Australian citizens and residents. So that is a good balancing, I think, of the government at a federal and state level, doing the bits that they are responsible for. But spending should always be done carefully because it is not their money, it is the taxpayers' money, and it needs to be well purposed and have a clear objective and it needs to be delivered in a way which achieves that objective. There is no doubt that the Commonwealth Government cannot do all the fiscal heavy lifting on its own. Even with our much greater revenue-raising capacities, even when you take that into account, we are a long way out in front. But I know the Treasurer is having similar discussions with his counterparts today.
The Aged Care Royal Commission I called for the reasons I think you've set out, Phil, that this has been a long-running complicated issue for governments. And I remember those days, too, as well, that you referred to. There is a generation of problems that each government has sought to try and deal with, and for much of that time, I remember when we were in opposition we were very supportive of changes that the then Labor government made. We saw it as a problem that we had to deal with on a bipartisan basis and there were some very unpopular things that they did and we supported them because we thought they were making a good, genuine effort to fix this problem, and I have the same approach now and welcome any support we would get to pursue what we would be important changes. But I want to see the Royal Commission do its job. I'm looking forward to receiving their recommendations. That doesn't mean we will be standing still in the meantime. We continue to deliver more than a billion dollars extra every single year into aged care. We will continue to increase the number of in-home aged care places that we can provide. We will continue to look at the resourcing necessary for the compliance work that needs to be done. The pandemic exposes weaknesses and that is in some ways, in many ways unforeseen, and in other ways is very disappointing, but we are dealing with a system that is now dealing with a very different demand than it had even in the times you are talking about. People, when going into aged care now, it's hard because we make the decisions when we make decisions about loved ones going into aged care these days. It is very much at a stage of pre-palliative care, and that is a very different proposition in terms of the facilities, the workforce, the clinical needs to what it was 10 years ago, five years ago, 20 years ago. And the system needs to be adjusted to be able to meet that at a clinical level. And where delivery models need to be changed to ensure that it can do that, that's what we want to do.
Journalist: Prime Minister, on March 15, just before the Ruby Princess docked, you said that you wanted the Australian Border Force to be in command of the arrangements for cruise ships. Since then we've seen a long debate about responsibilities. We’ve even seen the Australia Border Force put out a statement that I will read to you. ‘Human health is not the responsibility of the ABF.' Was that your understanding when you put them in command and it is true that the ABF is not responsible for human health?
Prime Minister: Well, if you are looking for a doctor at the ABF, you won't find one. That's not their job. In the same way that I have someone down at the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre who comes out of Emergency Management Australia, they are not a geriatrician. There is a mixture of leadership responsibilities and capacities that exist. That doesn't change the fundamental responsibilities of the agency and their tasking. So, I think...
Journalist: They have a Surgeon General.
Prime Minister: Sorry?
Journalist: They have a Surgeon General.
Prime Minister: Well, if you go down to the Border Force office at the airport, you’re not going to find someone doing medical checks. That's not their job. That's not their job.
Journalist: They’re responsible for human health.
Prime Minister: That's not their job. Health, public health, is a responsibility of the state jurisdictions. That is very clearly set out. That’s who is responsible for delivering public health in those state and territory jurisdictions.
Journalist: So no responsibility when those passengers were getting off the Ruby Princess to consider human health in that situation?
Prime Minister: As the Home Affairs Minister has made very clear and as the Border Force Commissioner has made very clear, that exactly sets out what their responsibilities are. Now, the special commission will hand down its report later today and we will deal with that and take the opportunity to review that and see what they have to say. I'm sure they will touch on all of those issues.
Journalist: On state border closures, Australians living in regional areas have been disproportionately impacted by these. They can't get to medical care, they can’t get to work. There was a woman I spoke to in Canberra today, she can’t get down to see her daughter who she needs to look after after having a caesarean section. Do we need some more compassion and common sense about the way these border closures are being managed?
Prime Minister: Look, I know this is causing a lot of difficulty, particularly in the border towns along the Victorian and New South Wales border and the New South Wales-South Australian border and the New South Wales-Queensland border. Now, the circumstances of how those border places were put in place are all different. In the case of New South Wales and Victoria, that was done in agreement between both of those states and the Commonwealth was involved as well. I had a discussion with the New South Wales Premier earlier today about this, and a very positive discussion, and I know that the Premier is very aware of the sorts of issues that you are talking about, particularly in border towns as they relate to accessing medical services from those areas, as well as agricultural workforce issues, shearers needing to get in. The Premier is very aware of this and I'm very confident that we will be able to get a practical resolution to those issues. We had a good work-through on those. I will be looking forward, when next I can speak to the Queensland Premier. There are some real issues about people in northern New South Wales being able to access medical services. Now, that circumstance is a bit different because the Queensland Government placed that border and so it was a very different way of doing that. What I'm keen to do - I mean, these are matters for the states but where I can assist and the Federal Government can assist in trying to resolve some of those issues for people in those areas, then we will seek to do that. And I think it is important that there is a practical approach. I mean, the risks are very different, too. When you are looking at what is occurring in Victoria, then obviously the outbreak there is far more severe than any other part of the country. And I'm sure those living in border towns would completely agree that if someone had gone from one of those towns and gone to Melbourne and come back, well, they shouldn't be going into New South Wales or something like that. But those who have been in an area that is largely COVID-free, and the testing regime in a lot of those areas has not been as extensive because the risk has been a lot lower, you would expect it to be higher in areas where there has been bigger outbreaks. Now, in those areas which are largely COVID-free, obviously the risk is less, but if measures can be taken together with the New South Wales and Victorian governments that can give a greater degree of confidence of people moving through in accessing medical services and work, then I think commonsense would prevail, and I would hope that commonsense can prevail whether it is on the South Australian border or the Queensland border. But I stress, the only border that the Commonwealth has been involved in, in setting, has been with the New South Wales and Victorian government. Where other governments have put arrangements in, I understand that, not taking any issue with that but it's important when they do so, they work through the practical issues that it can mean for people who need to move across borders. Now, one area that we are going to have to address, given the way the pandemic continues to, who knows where we will be in November or December of this year. But you know that during bushfire season, we have to move bushfire fighters between jurisdictions. There are ADF movements that occur across jurisdictions. There are a range of quite complicated issues that could be experienced if those issues aren’t resolved. Look, I’m sure we can resolve them, I'm very mindful of them and I will seek to ensure that the states work together to resolve some of these problems that have come about as a result of those borders.
Journalist: Following up on aged care, the Counsel Assisting also suggested there was a degree of self congratulation and possibly complacency that crept into the Commonwealth response on aged care a couple of months ago when it looked like the virus was under control. Do you accept that, and take responsibility for that complacency in dealing with aged care that was suggested may have crept in a couple of months ago? And second, last week at the National Cabinet there was the audit flagged for state and territory preparedness for aged care all around the country. A lot of people probably would have been confused that that hadn't been done sooner. Why is this only being done now?
Prime Minister: Well, firstly, no, I don't accept that assertion that was made. Where there have been failings, where things have fallen short, I can assure you it wasn't as a result of complacency. Those who are doing a professional job each and every day are doing the best job they possibly can, and so, no, I don't accept that reflection that was made against all of those hard-working people. That has not been the attitude of our Government and will not be when it comes to the very serious issue of protecting the lives of elder Australians in the places where they receive care. That is someone else's opinion. It is not a finding and it is not an opinion that I share. Quite the contrary. On the broader issue, the plan was put in place back in March. The plan was updated. In the well over 100 meetings of the AHPPC and many meetings of the National Cabinet, the aged care issues have been regularly, regularly gone over, and sometimes in great detail and improvements have been made and there has been discussions about the prepared of other states and territories and we saw a very good example of that recently in Queensland, and I commend the Queensland Government with the way they dealt with the recent prospect of an outbreak there and how they dealt with the aged care response in Queensland. And so there has been a higher level of confidence in those jurisdictions and that has been evidenced when they have been tested. Similarly, it has been the case in New South Wales, despite the many outbreaks they've had to face in recent times, we've been able to contain that situation there in New South Wales and they've done a great job to date on that. But, you know, you can't be complacent about it, you never can, and we never are and we never will be.
Journalist: A very brief question. The RBA Governor this morning said that he didn't...
Prime Minister: Who was it?
Journalist: The RBA Governor. He said he didn't have a problem with the very profitable companies using JobKeeper and then passing on dividends to shareholders. Do you care about that?
Prime Minister: Well, we obviously want the income support that we have been providing through companies to be there for the benefit of those workers. It is called JobKeeper for a reason, to keep people in jobs. That's what its primary purpose was and we believe that's what its primary purpose should be both for the recipient and those who have worked with us to achieve that. I don't really have any further comment to make on that more broadly. Our purpose about it was very clear and I think that should be the shared purpose.
Journalist: Prime Minister, just on the border closures, industry has been crying out for some clarity as to when a border should close and when a border should open, especially when there is no community transmission. Would you consider taking the leadership on this and setting up some sort of national agreement or principle so that we know when borders will open and close? And just on aged care, are there any learnings on what has happened in Victoria so far to warrant it being the case that any aged care patient or resident who contracts COVID-19 should automatically be transferred to hospital, not on a case-by-case basis?
Prime Minister: Well, there is a clinical decision that involves the transfer of any person from aged care to a public or private hospital and clinicians do make these decisions and it is based on the circumstances in those facilities. There is a broader principle that would say that when facilities come under great stress, then you would seek to make a number of transfers. But which residents are transferred and in what circumstances and their degree of frailty and the wishes of the family and what arrangements can be put in place in the aged care facility, I think it is very difficult to have a one size fits all approach to that. I will allow Paul to make a further comment on that. Now, just remind me on the other matter.
Journalist: On borders...
Prime Minister: On borders. Look, I have to raise this with premiers and chief ministers and, indeed, if you look at the letter I wrote to Mark McGowan, I set out some very clear principles about what I believe would be a way of ensuring there was a way of ensuring there was greater certainty about how that could be done in the future and I appreciate what I believe was a positive response from Premier McGowan about how that could be done, and I think it's quite reasonable that people would expect that there is some certainty or at least some process about how premiers are making decisions about when they close and open borders. Now, personally, I think the way that New South Wales and Victoria went about that process provided the best model. I’ve made it very clear to Premiers and Chief Ministers that what we should be focusing on is the containment of the virus and where there are hotspots - and I have been saying this since early March - the three areas you had to foe cause on: the testing, tracing, containment of outbreaks, defining those outbreaks, where they are and ringing them off and it is just as important to stop someone from moving out of an outbreak area within a state to go to another part of the state as it is for them to go to any other state. So focusing on the containment of where the outbreak has always been, we think, the priority. States and territories, I can assure you, though, have been very adamant about their sovereignty when it comes to who sets their borders and that is a very strong view held by all. I would say pretty much all Premiers and Chief Ministers. So I can only tell you that there is some resistance to that idea, but constructive suggestions have been made in the spirit of partnership. Thank you all very much.
Journalist: Did you make the offer to Daniel Andrews...
Prime Minister: I’ve already covered that off. That's all been covered off. Thanks.
Remarks, Launch of IBM & Soldier On's 'Skills Build Program'
14 August 2020
Can I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, elders past, present and future. As I always do, and there are quite a number here today. We thank the many veterans who are here today, thank them for their service and serving members of our defence forces, particularly, as we come to mark the 75th anniversary. And looking forward to the special ceremony will be at the War Memorial tomorrow. I think that will be a very important mark and event. It might be a little different to what we had anticipated in other times and as it was on that rather eerie day on ANZAC Day. But a very special day this year, one that I'm sure will be remembered for many reasons. But I think even though people had to keep distance, there was a sense of connection which probably surpassed many other occasions prior to that. And so we'll do that tomorrow.
So to Lieutenant General Professor Peter Leahy, it's great to be here with you again. We’ve partnered on many projects with Soldier On and Soldier On does such a tremendous job. And to Ivan, congratulations on the role you’re taking on. It's an incredibly important partner in so many areas, not just in supporting veterans as they move through that transition and their many challenges of life, but also an important partner for the Government on really exciting projects like this. The key message that I know Darren Chester and I always try to stress is while, of course, we must stand with our veterans, as they deal with so many challenges, we also must stress just how amazing veterans are and what an asset veterans are to Australia in their own right, but particularly when it comes to the contributions they can make in businesses all around the country, running businesses, recruiting others. And every time I talk to employers, I haven't heard a bad story about their experience in employing veterans. The values that are brought to that organisation and the focus and direction of the teamwork they are able to instil and, of course, the very skills that they have as well. To Jeff, Christopher, Jody, Tonia and Ben, it's great to meet you and thank you for joining us here today. And all the family members who make the service possible with so many of our veterans and serving members today. And to Katrina, thank you for your initiative and in pulling this all together.
A small secret of this building - from my office to this little Cabinet anteroom and through the Cabinet Room and to the marble expanse, which is just on the other side there of the Great Hall and the vestibule. You open all the doors up from here all the way through, you can look straight to the War Memorial. And it was designed that way because as we sit in that Cabinet Office and I take decisions that we need to take there, is a constant reminder and memory looking through the Great Hall of the sacrifice that made all of that possible for us to do that today. And that's as it should be. A line of sight to the 102,000 names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and we've already mentioned that tomorrow is the 75th Anniversary of VP Day. One million wore the uniform. Almost 40,000 of them did not return. Fortunately, my grandfather was one who did and I hope that was the case of your family as well. But tens of thousands with injuries, seen and unseen. And I recall when, I was only a young boy, but I remember when my grandfather was alive, he wouldn't talk about these things. He talked to his mates about them. But many of them suffered as well in silence. And today, many do still suffer. But I'm pleased to say at least the services and supports that are available to veterans, and particularly through organisations like Soldier On themselves and the corporate support that is provided today, is so different to what all those returning vets went through. Not only in the Second World War but as we know, in particular, returning from Vietnam, especially. Every area of conflict, field of conflict, that our servicemen and women have been engaged in have had to face different trials and struggles as they've come back.
The challenges of supporting veterans that have returned from Afghanistan and the Middle East, most recently, are different to those who have been in Vietnam, Korea or Malaysia or places like that. And then, of course, back to the Second and First World Wars. Every generation that has passed through that period of service has presented new challenges for them. And one of the most interesting challenges, which is a positive one, is what we're here to talk about today, and that is as part of the Veterans Employment Programme, the programme that I believe we're seen to be really connecting veterans to workplaces, to jobs, and that requires the skills and the skills investment that has been made here by IBM to ensure that we can equip today's veterans to be successful in a digital economy. It's great for them. It’s great for IBM. It's great for the Australian economy. It's great for jobs. COVID or no COVID, the challenge is the same of equipping our veterans with skills. The challenge is the same for our workforce more broadly. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting particularly on young people in a way that is devastating for them. And we hope that when we can particularly deal with issues that we're currently confronting in Victoria that we'll be able to get ourselves back on that path and we'll see those jobs come back and we'll see those jobs come back for young people. But at the same time, we need to be equipping people for those jobs. And digital skills are absolutely central that for all of us to be successful in the decade that is ahead.
So to see those who are joining us today taking up those opportunities, we're very pleased about that. Christopher, a commissioned naval officer. You've had experience in leadership adapting to change and demonstrating that that leadership. And we celebrate that with you, the values that you live. Ben, you've had several senior positions, including as CEO of Outward Bound Australia. And along the way, you won gold at the last Invictus Games, we celebrate it and that's tremendous. Jeff’s picked up a trade in his case as an electronic technician. Like many of our servicemen and women do right now, what you offer is exactly what we need. And Jody, you've made a decision to move away, as we were just discussing, from the Air Force after 25 years of service back in June. And, Tonia, you've had it tough lately, particularly being in Virgin, and we understand that. And that's a real difficulty. And you've been living through that and I want to extend to all of your former work colleagues and those who are still there, please, with that in mind being able to go forward. But you've been able to, you’ve had the opportunity to work through those skills changes. And that's what this is all about. The Skills Build programme is about jobs. And we're about jobs. And anyone who wants to create jobs is a partner of mine. That's who I'm working with, people who want to create jobs and soldier on and IBM are certainly doing that. A programme available to more than 3000 Australian veterans and their families focussing on areas like, well, development, cyber security of course, and this is a big focus for us as well. So Christopher, Jody, Jeff and Tonia, working in a digital world course which covers AI, the cloud, the Internet of Things and so much more. So they'll be very interesting. And best of all, the programme will connect participants with employers through internships and project assignments with non-government organisations. So thanks to Soldier On and to IBM who've made this happen. We appreciate that, our veterans and their families, that they have so much to offer. Tomorrow, we will give thanks to those who offered everything and the peace that we enjoy today, 75 years on, is as precious today as it was when it was first realised 75 years ago today. And I want to thank all those veterans who’ve ensured that that peace continues to be our experience today.
Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
10 August 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, everyone. I'm joined by the Honourable Brendan Nelson to make an important announcement about the expert panel that Brendan has taken on over this recent six week period, reported to me at the end of July.
I will come to those matters shortly, but I just wanted to start by expressing my sincere condolences to the families of the 19 Australians in Victoria who have passed away because of their COVID infection. More than 300 Australians now have fallen victim to the coronavirus. This news is devastating no matter what age, COVID affects people and we just want to reaffirm our support through every channel we can provide it. Sadly, when it comes to the fatalities that result from COVID, that reflects a situation of several weeks ago now as the virus has taken its course with these particular individuals. The work continues. We look for better news when it comes to the stabilising of cases in Victoria. I'm more hopeful of that today than I was in the course of the past week over the briefings I've received over the course of the weekend and again this morning. And of course, the Premier will be on his feet again shortly in Victoria and will be updating on the situation there.
There are a number of other important matters which I'm happy to address. But in the first case, if you’d allow me to address this matter that Brendan has been working on and Dr Nelson's been working on and, and then we can make comment on those matters and take any questions on that, and then I'll thank Brendan for his time and allow him to get out of the cold. And then I would like to address a couple of other issues that are out there today.
The Victoria Cross is the highest award that can be provided to any Australian serviceman or woman for their valour. It is a very serious award. And as Prime Minister and as a government, we have a very special responsibility to ensure that the integrity of the Victoria Cross is upheld for all of those who've been honoured by being bestowed, having bestowed upon them that award and all the others that will. And so it is not done lightly that a recommendation would be made for a Victoria Cross contemporaneously. Which of the hundred VC’s that have been awarded to Australians, that has been the case in all of those circumstances. The service, the actions undertaken by that individual has been the subject of recommendations that have come from those who were there at the time and those commanders who made the relevant recommendations and this was done contemporaneously.
Our system, though, does provide in exceptional circumstances where there have been instances of maladministration or where new evidence has been brought forward for higher awards to be considered in those circumstances. And it has certainly been the case in relation to Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean, that this has been a case that issues have arisen now over some time. And it is also the case that these, this case has been the subject of a series of reviews and panels. And the challenge that the government was faced with was that we had two findings of equal standing from two reviews, neither related to each other, that had concluded different results. And so the government was presented with conflicting evidence. Now, you don't go around handing out VCs on the basis of popularity or sentiment, certainly in cases that involve events of many, many years ago and in this case, the 1st of December 1942, we must be careful to guard against arrogance that we today, can stand in the shoes of those of all those years ago and pretend to know that we know those events better than those who were dealing with acts of bravery that today's generation, except for those who've served, could not imagine.
That said, the opportunity we have, is the process we have, to uphold the integrity and ensure that justice is done to these incredibly brave actions. So when presented with the findings of the tribunal review, we had to address this matter of conflict between that review and the one, the comprehensive one done in 2013 that had come to a different conclusion. And the responsibility of making a recommendation to Her Majesty in order for that to be successful would need to be able to demonstrate the highest bar being set for such a recognition in the case of Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean. And so I asked Dr Nelson, given his extensive experience, not just most recently as the most outstanding head of the War Memorial that we've seen since its founder, but also because of his role as a former Defence Minister, a longstanding member of Cabinet, to draw together an expert panel comprising Mr Bennett, who, as a former Solicitor General of the Commonwealth, together with the former head of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Shergold. And Brad Minera, an outstanding historian from New South Wales, military historian. I tasked them to tell us to reconcile the conflicts in these two positions that had come forward and in particular to determine the issue of whether new evidence had been established that would enable a recommendation to be made to that end.
And I received that report at the end of July, and the report found as follows, that there is compelling new evidence in support of higher recognition for Sheean, that Sheean was done a substantial injustice in consideration of his actions in the original decision making period in 1942 to 1943. And Sheean's courageous sacrifice of his life to save his shipmates makes him eligible for the Victoria Cross for Australia, and the highest level of recognition should be accorded in this exceptional case.
I have accepted these findings and I have so written to the Governor-General on the basis of the recommendation received to me from the Minister for Defence on the basis of this review. And these matters are now before Her Majesty, and we would be hopeful of what would come back as a contented response from Her Majesty. It is incredibly important we hold this to the highest bar. I am very pleased that the process that we have followed removes any doubt, certainly in my mind, and any doubt I believe in terms of our knowledge of these events and what should be done. Any ambiguity that existed before, if that had been allowed to prevail by acting hastily, that could have undermined the recommendation that we had made. So I can now make this recommendation confidently on the basis of the process that we have followed.
I wanted to thank two people in particular. Apart from, of course, Dr Nelson and the members of his expert panel. I want to thank Gavin Pearce, who as the member for Braddon and also an ex-serviceman, provided important advice about getting the balance right of protecting the integrity of the VC, but also to ensure that these issues were dealt with by a proper process and that there could be no doubt either on any potential recommendation of an award of the VC for Teddy Sheean or indeed anyone else who had been awarded with the VC. He provided important advice as particularly an ex-servicemen. I also want to thank the many others who have been involved in this important process over a long period of time. I want to thank the family of Teddy Sheean for their patience and their forbearance, and I'm sure they'll be very pleased about this result today. I also want to thank a good friend and a former colleague here in the federal parliament Guy Barnett, for the way that he engaged with this process. Guy has never pursued this issue as a matter of popular sentiment. He has pursued it as a matter of justice. And I want to thank him for the way he engaged with me to ensure that we could properly address the outstanding issues that needed to be addressed in order to make this recommendation possible. But I'm very thankful to Dr Nelson, and his full panel, and I'd asked him to make some comments on these matters.
THE HON. DR BRENDAN NELSON AO, HISTORIC VICTORIA CROSS EXPERT PANEL CHAIR: Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister. It has been a privilege to oversee the examination of the Teddy Sheean issue. And I certainly came to it with an open mind, but with a disposition not to support retrospective awards, particularly a Victoria Cross. As the Prime Minister said, awarding a Victoria Cross eight decades after the events is something that should not be entered into lightly and only when the evidence is compelling and the case for doing so is exceptional. And that is precisely the case here. This young man, this young Tasmanian Ordinary seaman, Edward or Teddy Sheean, was the youngest, lowest-ranked sailor on HMAS Armidale. The ship was attacked just after 3:00pm on the 1st of December 1942. The report of proceedings from the commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander David Richards, was written only the day after he arrived in Darwin, six days after the sinking of the ship. And in relation to Sheean, he said that Ordinary Seaman Teddy Edward Sheehan remained at his post at the aft Oerlikon and through his actions, downed one enemy bomber and remained at his gun until he was killed. The board of enquiry was held the following day and then the report of proceedings, which included that reference to Sheean, went forward to the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board and subsequently on to the Lords of Admiralty.
It is an uncontested fact that Lieutenant Commander David Richards' report was both incomplete and inaccurate in relation to the description of Sheean's actions. It's also the case the Australian station of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board did not use the Royal Navy form 57 used everywhere else in the world, as was its practise. Nor did it use the Australian equivalent form 58. It also did not fully comply with its own instructions in CNO order 43/42 to precisely, in detail, explain whatever action was being awarded. In 1945 one of the survivors, Russell Caro, wrote a lengthy report about what had happened during the sinking, which accords largely with the facts as they are known today.
The evidence emerged in the decades following the end of the war. The 2013 inquiry, to which the Prime Minister refers, of unresolved recognition of naval and military acts of courage and valour from the past, examined in detail all 14 cases referred to it, including the Sheean case. But in the case of looking at these, examined these cases under a different part of the Defence Act, where it was required to be mindful of government policy not to retrospectively award such awards, and also to uphold the integrity of both the Australian and the Imperial honours system. Its very comprehensive collection of evidence, however, was, in our opinion, flawed in its analysis. And then in 2019, under a different section of the Act, considering an appeal by Veterans Minister from Tasmania, Guy Barnett, against the decision of the Department of Defence not to award the Victoria Cross to Sheean, it then examined all of the evidence available, had two pieces of new evidence, including from the chief of Navy and recommended the Victoria Cross be given.
I can also advise you that the expert panel has found new evidence. And that is for the first time we actually went and had a look at the Japanese aviation military records and the National Institute for Defence Studies in Tokyo. And we are very thankful to the Australian War Memorial and Dr Steven Bullard for the assistance he gave us in this regard. And what the Japanese records show in meticulous detail is that the ship was attacked at the precise location, the precise time by seven so-called Betty bombers, Japanese bombers and three Japanese Zeros. The Japanese records accord with the Royal Australian Navy official history in terms of the torpedo and then the bomb landing on the ship. It records the six minutes from the first attack to the sinking of the ship, which gave Sheean to do what he did. And also further to that, that as the ship sank, the aircraft took enemy fire from the ship and two aircraft were damaged. It's also the case that the Japanese Zeros expended 15 per cent of the machine gun ammunition in the only contact they had that day, which was against Armidale, consistent with the strafing of men in the water.
The uncontested facts are that Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean, when the ship was listing 50 degrees to the port side, obeyed the order to abandon ship. He went to the port side of the doomed and listing ship and then alongside Able Seaman Ted Pellet, who was chopping the ropes from the motorboat, Pellet got into the boat but Sheean was seen to move as if to get into the boat, and then, instead of doing so, turned unwounded and made his way up to the back of the ship with the stern rising. He was wounded on the way to the gun. He was not the gunner, at the aft Oerlikon, he was the loader. But he strapped himself into that gun, into the harness and then he began firing at the attacking Japanese aircraft that was strafing his shipmates and killing them in the water. He was wounded again while firing the gun and then was killed at the gun. Whether he was killed as a consequence of wounds or drowned attached to the gun as the ship sank, remains unclear.
So, in summary, this man deserves the Victoria Cross for Australia. The decision is made on the basis of maladministration, by omission and also by testing his conspicuous gallantry and pre-eminent valour against the eligibility criteria in the letters patent for the Victoria Cross and the regulations. And I would say to all Australians, as we live through the most significant adversity in our lifetimes, approaching the 75th anniversary of the Second World War, let Teddy Sheean inspire us to be a people that are selfless, caring and brave. And I thank the Prime Minister for having the foresight to put together a group of people that were able to consider all of the evidence that is available and give us the opportunity to find more. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll take some questions on this matter, yep?
JOURNALIST: Now the position’s been resolved, would it be a good idea to try and resolve the issue too about John Monash, whether he should get a Field Marshal? Maybe have a look at that in a similar process?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, there are, there are many other cases that have come before us. This one was very pressing, given the more recent review that I received from the tribunal. I think the circumstances around these two things are very different. That is about a commissioning, not the, a valour award. And they are two very different exercises. So I'm not proposing to go any further on that matter. But on this issue, Teddy Sheean's valour has never been in question, I want to stress that, it's never been in question. What has been important is to ensure that the process has been of the highest standard and there can be no ambiguity about it. So a fulsome recommendation can be confidently made and that is now the case. It wasn't the case for me some time ago. It is now that case.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister is this something that’s supported by all military top brass, and is it somewhat embarrassing that we've had to wait 80 years for this?
PRIME MINISTER: This is an exceptional case and it has taken, it took many years for this case to first emerge after the Second World War in terms of whether the award that was provided was sufficient for the gallantry on that day. And sometimes justice takes a long time, but I'm pleased that it is now being addressed. And I have had no recommendation from Defence that is inconsistent now with the recommendations I have from the panel. I welcome that. And I thank the Minister for Defence for her recommendation.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I’ve got a Defence related question I'd like Dr Nelson to answer as well,
PRIME MINISTER: I've invited Dr Nelson to be here today on the basis of his, of his role on this expert panel. I'm happy to deal with matters of Defence, which I'll come to, and I expect I'm aware of the matter you want to raise and I'll be happy to address that. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you expect this case to create a flood of new cases with revisions of other military awards?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'll ask Dr Nelson to speak to this as well. I think that's unlikely. I mean, the Sheean case was quite exceptional. And it does stand out from the many others that have been considered in the past. And I think that's why it's been able to get past what has been a very high threshold that we've established. And so that may be the case. I think it's unlikely to be the case in any significant number. But if it were to be the case, then it would be pursued in the same way and it would have to meet the very high standard that I've insisted upon. But Brendan?
DR NELSON: Prime Minister, yes, those cases that are likely to be brought forward have already been brought forward, in my opinion, and been considered. Mark Sullivan, who's the incumbent chair of the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal, said to me in the enquiry, he said, I personally have been involved in consideration of 11 applications for retrospective Victoria Crosses. He said, I have not supported any of them except this one. My view also is, as a person whose natural disposition, as I said, is not to support retrospectivity, is that if there are other cases like Sheean to which we are currently not yet introduced, then if injustices have been done, then let us consider them. Personally, I think it is most unlikely that there will be any case like Sheean that will come forward. And I should have said, it's in our report, but I should have said Lieutenant Commander David Richards, his ship is sunk on the 1st of December 1942, the day after he gets back to Darwin, having been at sea with 22 survivors for 6 days, he writes his report, not all of the survivors or witnesses have even returned to Darwin. And those that did were told not to speak about anything in relation to the sinking. He describes Sheean as having remained at his post. His post was not the gunner. He was the loader. And then he went on to describe him shooting down one plane. We now know that Sheean actually damaged two planes, but survivors in the water could be forgiven with their short horizon for thinking that a plane trailing smoke had gone down into the water. Importantly, Lieutenant Commander Richards did not describe Sheean as having left the gun, gone to the side of the ship and then, looking into a boat into which if he'd got, he'd almost certainly have survived and certainly had a much greater chance. Instead of that, he turns away from the opportunity to save his life, to literally give his life up, to do what he could to save men in the water by going back to the gun and shooting it. So this is, an injustice has been done to Sheean by a series of missteps, missed opportunities, and at times some mistakes that have been made in examination of the facts in relation to his actions. He, as the Prime Minister said, he's a man of whom we've always been proud. But now, if you like, we put him amongst those other 100 Victoria Cross recipients as literally the bravest of the brave.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if I may ask you about Lebanon, what were the biggest-
PRIME MINISTER: I’m happy to move to other issues now, so I might thank Dr. Nelson, for his service and appreciate your being here with us today Brendan, thanks very much.
DR NELSON: Thanks very much.
JOURNALIST: You were part of that virtual conference last night with some 30 other world leaders. What were your biggest takeaways? And could you maybe expand a little bit as to how that $3 million in additional funding will be distributed between NGOs?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure. We've upped our commitment to $5 million now, and it will be distributed through the same channels that we've talked of before. The World Food Programme and the Red Cross are the agencies through which we'll be providing that support. And that's to support the most urgent of humanitarian supplies that are needed in these circumstances. Australia will use its agency through those vehicles to lend that support.
We also made the comment last night that it was important that these global organisations work well together to deliver the assistance that's needed on the ground. We stressed there was a need for there to be a creditable and independent investigation as to the causes of this horrific explosion, which my advice is, was just a horrific accident, nothing other than that. But importantly, there needs to be a credible investigation into that. And we're also all very aware - on the call last night - of the many challenges that Lebanon currently faces and the need to have stability there and the importance of, I noted, of them re-engaging with the IMF and putting in place the necessary economic reforms that can help Lebanon.
There are 230,000 Australians of Lebanese descent at any one time. I made the point last night, there are around 5,000 Australians in Beirut is our normal estimate. And so, of course, we've had the one terrible death of a two-year old young boy, which I spoke of last night. But with the number of casualties and the amount of uncertainty there, we obviously can't rule out anything further. And if there is any further information than we have, then will obviously disclose that.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: I'll come to that.
JOURNALIST: The world leaders have made that pledge of the $420 million on the basis that protesters get the reforms that they’re after. For you, what does that look like? Because the government there is pledging an early election, but protesters want systemic change.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, Australia is not going to pretend to have a role in this issue that we don't have. I mean, of course, we want to see Lebanon as a functional, prosperous state. I think all Australians of Lebanese heritage would certainly want that. And I know that there is a keen level of interest in those issues. But at the same time, I don't want to suggest that Australia is playing some sort of direct interventionist role in terms of seeking those types of outcomes. We've made our comments known and been very supportive of economic reforms that are necessary, I think, to advance the wellbeing of people in Lebanon and will continue to do that as part of a global community. I got in touch, I reached out to President Macron on Saturday when I became aware that he was moving in a number of areas. And I got a very swift response. And he was very pleased to hear that Australia was so concerned about what was happening in Beirut in particular, but Lebanon more broadly and we’ll continue to support President Macron in his efforts there.
I'm just going to move across, so I promise you we'll get to your question.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Dr Nelson has remade the case for the expansion of the War Memorial, $500 million. Are you at all concerned about the risk to the heritage of that institution, you know, one of the great places of Australia? Are you aware of community concern about the size and scope of the work that you support?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it's a tremendous project and I think it honours all of those who've served Australia and will serve Australia. And particularly those who have served Australia in more recent conflicts, which was the passion of the project that was brought to me by the War Memorial Board at the time that Dr Nelson was its director.
We do need to tell all the stories of Australia's service. And there needs to be room and space and appropriate facilities there to recognise and reflect that. And I think the designs and the project that has been put together achieves that. And that's why the government supports it. We’ll continue to work through if there are any other issues there as we consult, as you always do with a project of great sensitivity. But this will be the most significant improvement to the War Memorial since it was first built.
And that is not at the expense of resources being available for veterans, I hasten to add. Not one cent will be spent on that memorial that would otherwise be spent on support for veterans. The best memorial we can provide to our veterans is to ensure they're well supported with their daily struggles. And that's certainly what we're seeking to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Royal Commission into Aged Care has heard that 68 per cent of COVID deaths have been in nursing homes. That's 213 deaths. It makes us one of the worst performers in the world in this sector. So what do you have to say to the families who have lost loved ones, given aged care is ultimately a responsibility of your government?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'd make two points. The first one is to stress again our condolences to the families of those who've lost loved ones. We've always known that the most vulnerable in our community are the elderly, as well as others who have other comorbidities and health issues, receiving treatment for cancer and so on, those in indigenous communities. And so it is sadly not surprising that we would see the highest proportion of those who've been fatally affected by the COVID-19 virus to be those in aged care facilities, because they are the most vulnerable in our community. And I think it says something about the fact that there has been greater success more broadly in the community about preventing fatalities more widely, as we saw in other places, and that the fatalities have been more restricted to those who have been the most vulnerable in aged care facilities.
So I don't think either I'd agree with the assessment or the implications of the figures that you've referred to. It is a terrible tragedy that we've seen over 300 people pass away as a result of their infection with COVID-19. And I've been keen to stress right from the outset, there've been some suggestions, I've read it in pieces that have been written in the outlets that you represent, that somehow our elderly should in some way have been offered up in relation to this virus. That is just a hideous thought. An absolutely amoral, hideous thought, one that I have had no countenance with from the very first time it was suggested.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what can you tell us about the negotiations which are currently underway in Afghanistan that might see Hekmatullah freed, a man who murdered three Australian soldiers, and how would you feel if that happened?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I suspect this is the same point you wanted to raise, Greg. Did you want to add to that so I can deal with it?
JOURNALIST: I wanted to ask if you made a personal request to Donald Trump?
PRIME MINISTER: The answer to that is yes.
And this has been a matter of very regular and persistent petitioning on our behalf. And it was also raised at the recent AUSMIN talks between our Foreign Minister and Defence Minister. It is a matter that I've written to the President about. It is a matter of keen interest to Australia, and we've reminded them of that.
Hekmatullah was responsible for murdering three Australians, and our position is that he should never be released. We do not believe that his release adds to peace in this region. And that is the position that we will continue to maintain and we’ll maintain it strongly. I can't promise you the outcome we all want here, but it's certainly the outcome that we will continue to press for as hard as we can.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's a situation unfolding at the New South Wales/Victoria border at the moment where 100 Canberrans are stranded because they are no longer permitted to pass through the site.
PRIME MINISTER: I just can't quite hear you.
JOURNALIST: That’s alright. There's 100 Canberrans stranded at the New South Wales/Victorian border at the moment because New South Wales made a last-minute decision late at night to revoke their permission to drive through the state to get to the ACT. Should New South Wales reverse this decision? Is it fair that they're stuck there after a last-minute decision was made?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, these are one of the challenges of when borders are put in place between state jurisdictions. At least in the case of New South Wales and Victoria, there's been quite a lot of cooperation, certainly between New South Wales and Victoria. And I think it's important for the ACT administration to be engaging with New South Wales to try and resolve those issues. When it has come to my responsibilities in this, particularly in relation to those members of Parliament have been journeying through New South Wales to the ACT, I've been able to get a favourable outcome on those issues. They're quite unique circumstances, the convening of the Parliament, but more broadly, I mean, I understand that the New South Wales Premier will be anxious in these circumstances. We certainly don't want to see people stranded. But I would hope between the ACT Chief Minister and the New South Wales Premier, they might be able to resolve those matters.
JOURNALIST: Mark McGowan on the weekend said the border might be closed to the end of this year, middle of next year. Now, what is your response to that? Do you have any concerns about what something like that might mean for Australia as a whole?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have no quarrel with Mr McGowan on these matters. I mean, we think any of these border arrangements, as I've written to him, should be done collaboratively. We should work together on these things. We should continue to assess what the medical situation is and make very transparent decisions about those matters and I think that aids its constitutionality. And we're working with the McGowan government to that end. But I've been very careful not to get too far ahead on what might happen in December or March. Of course, we've extended out JobKeeper out to the end of March, but I think we have to take these issues one step at a time. And if circumstances change and certainly if they change in the way we hoped they would, well, I would welcome it if by Christmas, if it were possible. But I think it's unlikely that we were able to move back to a restriction-free society. But I doubt that is going to happen. I doubt the medical position will enable that. And so you've just got to follow the medical evidence on all of these, whether it's borders or whether it's the restrictions on trade or of local businesses or whatever it happens to be. It's important that we just, you know, look and test, interrogate the medical evidence and make decisions based on that and nothing else and be transparent about it.
Katharine?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, over the weekend, Josh Frydenberg, some of your other Victorian ministers, are becoming much more pointed in their criticisms against Daniel Andrews and the Victorian government's record in managing COVID. Also over the weekend. Mike Baird, another Liberal, former Liberal premier of New South Wales, went out of his way to praise Dan Andrews, saying that we're all in this together, we all need to rally. So which is it? Are we all in this together or are we criticising Victoria for their record on…
PRIME MINISTER: I don't know, Katharine, if I share your binary analysis of that. I think that's a little simplistic, with great respect. What my colleagues have done has simply said that there must be accountability for decisions that are made and a transparency in explaining what has occurred. I don't find that an extraordinary position to take. Equally, it is important that as the Treasurer also said, that there is nothing to be gained in slanging matches between levels of government and I don't believe he is engaged in that at all. And so we will continue to work constructively and positively with the Victorian government. But that does not provide me or the Victorian Premier or any other Premier or Chief Minister with a leave pass to scrutiny. That's entirely appropriate. You'll do your job. We'll do ours. And I think the country's stronger for that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on accountability, the Ruby Princess enquiry is still going on and it has not heard directly from two federal officials who were there that morning when the passengers disembarked. You promised full cooperation with that enquiry. Shouldn't you want those two federal officials to actually speak directly to the enquiry, not just in emails being released or documents being released and submissions made, but in actually answering questions either online or face to face about what happened that morning? Why don’t you encourage them to come forward and actually testify?
PRIME MINISTER: I said we would cooperate with the enquiry as we have with other enquiries, and that's exactly what we've done. And so that's what we continue to do.
JOURNALIST: They have not answered direct questions?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this morning Aged Care and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson revealed that she'd found out that her, sorry that the commission had been made aware of the outbreak at St Basil’s 4 days earlier than she'd previously said. Given how deadly this virus is and we know how bad that outbreak’s been and given that that bungle caused a massive delay in the federal government response, can we be confident that the federal government is now dealing with outbreaks properly? When did you become aware of this bungle?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that was brought to my attention in the last, today, over the last little while, yesterday- late yesterday, I think it was. And you must, you will know that the Aged Care Commissioner is an independent statutory office and operates separate formally from the Australian government. And I am concerned about that breakdown in the communications. My understanding is that the survey had been conducted and those conducting the survey had formed the view that given the facility was aware of the processes that were required to advise the public health unit in Victoria, that they had indeed done that. It turns out that that had not been done. And so there'd been a breakdown in that communication. And that's not good. I understand the processes that led to that have been changed, and I'm undertaking further enquiries into this. And as I know that the Minister for Aged Care is also. The operation of an independent statutory officer and the government obviously means that the government can't instruct that officer as to what they do, and nor are we privy to the information that they have. That's the purpose of having an independent statutory office. But that said, I welcome the role of the enquiry that has been undertaken in the Senate that has drawn attention to this issue. I want to be really clear, where there are breakdowns, where there are issues, I want to know about them and I want to fix them. And so we'll be very open about that when that is occurring. And that's what we're seeking to do here on this matter. So there was still, you know, the delays that occurred back through the system in terms of the advice back to, our federal direct government authorities that could take action on this. But I can tell you one of the most important things that's been done through the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre is bringing all of this into the one room. They're all in there in that one room and now we are actually getting advance notice that we actually know in aged care centres when people are even doing tests, not when we find out whether they get a positive or not. Even at the stage for both staff and for residents, because of the integration of those activities, we're finding out now even before the test results come back, which enables us to move to ensure we can plan for workforce disruptions, should they occur, or the appropriate cohorting of people in the aged care facilities. So to the question of confidence, then, there have been issues here that have been identified and should be and there have been very significant changes to the procedures we've put in place to guard against what could otherwise occur. But in the case you referred to, we will be following that through with the Commissioner. And at the end of the day, they're an independent statutory office and they know their responsibilities and they need to live up to them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, today Palaszczuk threatened to end the Tweed travel bubble if Sydney continued to have coronavirus cases. You've consistently said that Premiers need to explain the medical reasons for their border closures. Is the government satisfied with Queensland’s excuse of Sydney for shutting off New South Wales, ACT and now possibly even that border community as well? Or would you like to see further explanation, given the economic impact it will have?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm just simply saying that premiers need to explain the decisions that they make and they need to explain the advice upon which they're acting. And it's for others to judge whether they're doing that sufficiently or not. I'm not the arbiter of that. These are things that states are conducting and I just encourage them to do it on that basis. If there are issues to be sorted out between states and territories when it comes to borders, well, they need to sort them out. And if they need our assistance to do that, I assure you they will ask them for us. The New South Wales and Victorian government have sought our assistance when it comes to the management of border towns and things of that nature and we have provided significant assistance. So where they require our intervention, then we will certainly provide it. At the moment, we're not being invited to comment on those things or play a role. But if we were, then we would seek to do so very constructively.
Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
7 August 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. We have completed what has been the 25th meeting of National Cabinet, earlier today. That's an indication of just how often and how regularly Premiers and Chief Ministers and I have been working together now over these many months to just to deal with the many practical issues in responding to this pandemic. In a normal case, that would take over a dozen years for Premiers and Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister to meet together. And I can assure you that the familiarity of meeting together is really helping the way we deal with these challenges at a very practical level, not just just between leaders. But I must say, between the officials of our governments, our Ministers, it is producing the type of environment that I think Australians should expect of us all in how we work together. Sure, there's disagreements on this and that from time to time, I can assure you those working relationships under, often great stress, are working very productively.
I also want to start today by acknowledging our aged care workforce, its aged care employee day today, and I want to thank all of them for the amazing job that they're doing. Many of us across the country know from personal experience just how amazing people are who look after our elderly in our community. They are a true inspiration. And at a time like this, and particularly where they're working under particularly extreme pressures, as we've been seeing in Victoria recently, they've showed that what is a tough job, is a tough job that they do with great care, great love and great compassion. And I want to thank them for the tremendous job they do, whether they're doing it incredibly hard in Victoria today or or other parts of the country where it is the job they do every day under more routine circumstances, a terribly important job. And we acknowledge the great contribution they make to our country and to the care of our elderly.
Earlier today, the Treasurer made the announcement regarding the extension of JobKeeper arrangements, the changes in the eligibility rules. I was able to brief the National Cabinet on that today. That additional investment of some $15 billion dollars, which brings the total investment in JobKeeper now to over $100 billion dollars on the part of the Commonwealth. This is the largest program of this nature the country has ever undertaken. It is at a scale, which is unprecedented and it stands well in comparison when we look around the world at the various forms of support that have been provided during this crisis, JobKeeper has been a lifeline to people's livelihoods. It's been a lifeline to businesses. It's been a lifeline for the certainty and assurance that it's provided Australians that I know they've been relying upon on these very difficult months and as we've seen at the outbreak of the Victorian wave and the impact that that's had specifically on Victoria. Knowing that JobKeeper is there, knowing that JobKeeper is supporting them, their families, their businesses, their communities I think comes of great assurance.
This has been a week where there have been many, many challenges to deal with. Victorians more than anyone know that. As a Government we’ve responded to the changes that have taken place in Victoria, we've moved to provide the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment, that is progressing extremely well. And those payments are being processed and they're being progressed through Services Australia, who've stood up those services very quickly. The changes that we've moved to put in place for childcare and the changes that we've made to JobKeeper as we've considered and looked at the evidence and the likely impacts on the ground and making sure that JobKeeper can do that job that people are looking for it to do. This is a national program. This is not an arrangement that has been put in place specifically for Victoria. It's a national program. And I was able to remark to the other leaders today at the meeting there'll be many people in their states and territories who will also benefit from the changes that have been made for eligibility to make sure that JobKeeper reaches to those parts of the country where they're also continuing to do it tough. Quite understandably and rightly, we're all very focussed on the hardships being experienced in Melbourne and across Victoria. But let's not forget, in the rest of the country, there are many businesses that are still doing it tough. There are many households that are also doing it tough. The pandemic is still there. Many restrictions still in place. I look forward to standing behind this podium again in hopefully not the too distant future where we can plan out another road map out. And I believe we will be able to do that. And we're making great progress towards that. But for now, there are very serious challenges we need to address.
The overall commitment of the Commonwealth now in the various measures, both on balance sheet, particularly in direct fiscal measures is well over $300 billion now at a state level and territory level combined, that that investment is just over $40 billion dollars. We spoke today about the importance of continuing to work together to provide the necessary supports to the economy. We noted the measures the Western Australian government has released just this past week. Measures also that have been put in place in other states and territories. And we're going to continue to work together to ensure that we're providing that support into the economy, that businesses, employees that the country needs and at the next meeting we will be welcoming Dr Lowe from the Reserve Bank, together with Dr Kennedy, who will meet with the National Cabinet again.
More broadly, while it has been a week for solving problems, putting solutions in place quickly but in a considered way at a Federal level, it is also a time to remember that there is the strong plan to ensure that the economy comes out of this strongly. The measures that we've already put in place, whether it's been in the homebuilding sector, the entertainment sector, the many other specific parts of the economy, but also the need to address critical issues in our economy, whether it be on skills, we had a very long discussion today about skills, and I'll come back to that. But whether it's that on a workplace in industrial relations, work in the energy sector, the work that is needed in the manufacturing sector, to see that there is both an enablement of scale in that sector, but as well as having a security of of sovereign supply within Australia. All of these issues are part of our plan. And I want Australians to have that assurance that while we are in these, again, very dark times, places we're not unfamiliar with through this pandemic, that the governments are working together. And I can assure you the Federal Government has a very clear and strong plan for the road out to ensure that Australia will emerge strongly from this. And I believe we will emerge strongly, than many and most, if not all, developing- developed nations in the world. And that is because of the resilience and spirit of the Australian people and the capacity of our economy as it's been demonstrated on so many occasions.
Specifically today, there was quite a discussion from the Victorian Premier updating his colleagues about the nature of things in Victoria, and there was an appreciation to the strong support provided by the Commonwealth and the other states and territories to assist in Victoria. We've got nurses coming from WA, from South Australia, we've got support out of the Northern Territory, more coming from Queensland, testing and tracing being supported in New South Wales, and Tasmania. This is a truly national effort to support what is occurring in Victoria. And I know the premier was very grateful for that. And the support continued to flow from Premiers and Chief Ministers to assist those efforts. And I'm also appreciative of that support. There was also a very strong focus today on stress testing our our national preparedness more broadly, specifically in the area of quarantine, as well as in aged care preparedness. And Professor Kelly will speak more to those issues when he follows me in a few minutes’ time. There was a report from Jane Halton who's been undertaking that quarantine, a review. She's been in two states now in New South Wales and up in Queensland. And there were some very good lessons and experience that she was able to pass on the need to ensure we conduct quality and assurance testings at the state level over these quarantine arrangements. The training arrangements are there and in place. But she was particularly complimentary of the hospitality workers and the hospitality teams at the facilities that were providing the accommodation as part of the quarantine program, and that the way that the hospitality and hotel sector in Australia have gone out of their way to ensure that people who are in quarantine are treated as guests, guests that like to see the meals menu rotate every couple of days. So they're not the same choices every night. The attention to detail from our hospitality professionals, she particularly pointed out, and I think that's worth acknowledging here today, those, those facilities have been under a lot of pressure and they've been going to a lot of effort to make that quarantine experience as as positive as it possibly can be, we have a world class hospitality sector. And I was very pleased to hear that report, right down to making sure that an 8 year old had a birthday cake as they departed quarantine one day. They didn’t know that the hotel knew it was their birthday. Little things like that make a big difference in a pandemic like this. And those sorts of stories greatly encourage me. There will be an ongoing auditing of aged care preparedness around the country, learning from what has occurred in other jurisdictions. A key part of that is how workforce is managed, how the integration of public health units and broader aged care response is delivered, and also being in a position to put in place quite quickly an aged care response unit similar to that which we've been able to stand up in Victoria, which has aided greatly in our ability to stabilise that situation.
We also agreed that international travel constraints on inbound arrivals to Australia should be continued in their current form. We look forward to, at some point, that that might be able to be altered. But at this point, we are not going to put any further strain on the quarantine arrangements around the country and they will remain in place now for some months. We also agreed the freight code. I mentioned that to you a fortnight ago. That was a protocol a fortnight ago. It's a code today and it will now be implemented with enforceability by the states and territories through their channels and it's important that we get as much consistency for transport operators on things like that. And finally, there was a very good discussion with the Skills Commissioner, Adam Boyton, joining us to talk about the skill's task that we have and working particularly through the JobTrainer agreement that we've been able to bring together, which, as you know, is a billion dollars of investments between the states and the Commonwealth that will see 340,000 training places made available this year, this year. We also agreed the tasking of the National Cabinet Sub-committee on Skills and their program of work, which will go over the next month or two as they're finalising those arrangements around the JobTrainer initiative.
So with that, I'll pass it over to Professor Kelly to speak to a number of items. In particular, we updated on the vaccine progress today to National Cabinet. Look, I want to encourage people. We can't, we won't know when a vaccine will come. But as Professor Kelly will tell you, there's never been a global effort like this and there are some positive signs there that we can be hopeful about. Australia is positioning itself well to take advantage and be in a position to be able to manufacture and supply vaccines should they be developed. There are many projects that are underway around the world and we have a process for identifying those that we believe we can take an early position on. But the other thing Australia has been saying and supported strongly by the Premiers and Chief Ministers, and I made this point earlier in the week at the Aspen Forum, and that is whoever finds this vaccine must share it. Any country that were to find this vaccine and not make it available around the world without restraint, I think would be judged terribly by history. And that's certainly Australia's view and we'll continue to advocate that view in every conversation we have as I certainly have.
Professor Kelly?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, PM. So my role today was to update on the epidemiology of the COVID-19 issue and particularly the Victorian wave that's dominating the numbers that we're seeing each day and the trends that have happened since our last time we met as National Cabinet. Of course, Victoria is not alone in this. There are small numbers of cases, many of them related to Victoria, in neighbouring states, in South Australia and Queensland, and particularly in New South Wales. There are only two jurisdictions without active cases at the moment, ACT and Tasmania. So those increasing numbers, what can we see from those? I shared that with the Premiers and Chief Ministers in our hook up. We can see an increase in the elderly, particularly those over the age of 80 and 90, and that reflects what we are seeing in aged care outbreaks in Melbourne in particular. But still, the vast majority of cases are in that young age group and this is really an important issue for us to consider in our community engagement strategies right across Australia. What are we doing to engage with our youth to make sure that they know that this is not just a disease for elderly people? That might be where we're seeing the deaths and that that's very tragic. But young people are getting infected, young people are transmitting the virus and young people sometimes are also experiencing the severe end of the spectrum of the disease. We talked a little about the Victorian measures and our confidence that we have that what is happening in Victoria, particularly in relation to movement and mixing restrictions. So the lockdown measures will be effective. We saw that that was effective during the first wave. And now with even stronger measures that have been introduced over the last week, they will also be effective, but not immediately. There is always a lag time of one or two weeks for any of these things to show what is happening. That's the nature of this virus.
As the PM mentioned, we talked at some length about aged care, and I was very happy to see the commitment from all of the first ministers to work very strongly and closely with the Commonwealth in relation to aged care, particularly in preparation and prevention in states outside of Victoria. So as the PM has mentioned, there's a lot of assistance going to Victoria right now. That's a major issue for them and we have this new concept of the Aged Care Response Centre that has been set up so that literally we have people in a large room, but together, from all of the agencies that are working on that issue right now. From the Commonwealth, the emergency management area of the Commonwealth, as well as health officials, the ADF, our AUSMAT teams, nurses and other workforce surge capacity that's come from other states, crucially and very importantly and very good engagement from the Department of Health and Human Services in Melbourne, as well as their emergency management Victoria. So the sector itself and concentrating on communications, on workforce and particularly the surging workforce and on infection control. And so we talked through that at National Cabinet. What would it be like if that was to happen in each of the states? And a really strong commitment to audit where we are now everywhere through the aged care sector so that we can be preparing for that, look at preventive activities, further training that may need to be required, for example, and particularly that response, that acute response phase, so that that would be ready to go if this happened. Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.
In terms of vaccines, I think as the PM has said, there is really strong optimism here. We can't promise that there will be a vaccine or when that may occur. We've never had a vaccine for a coronavirus in the world before. But the very best minds in the world are concentrating on this. Many companies, well over 100 different types of vaccine that are in development, and many of those are already in clinical trials in what has been described by some as warp speed. So these things normally take years. This is taking months, even weeks to get through this. In Australia, we're very prepared. And as the PM has mentioned, those prongs, the things that we're looking at very specifically in relation to research and development and support, they're not only for researchers here in Australia, but also through international, bilateral and multilateral relationships. We're looking very, very clearly and carefully about purchasing, advanced purchasing options as well as local manufacturing options. We're looking, of course, at the regulatory aspects to make sure that whatever does become available it works, as well as being of high quality and, of course, being safe. And all of these things are very important in the coming months. But I'm very optimistic that we are well-placed here in Australia not only to contribute to that worldwide effort, but also to benefit from it.
And it just strikes me, too, that whilst we are concerned, of course, about what's happening in Victoria right now and in other parts of the country in relation to COVID-19, I think it's worthwhile remembering where we've come from in these few months. So in January, this was a new virus. We didn't know anything about how we might develop a vaccine. Now we have vaccines in clinical trials and developing well, showing that they work and that they're safe. We've had rapid development of testing capability in our laboratories here in Australia and around the world. Our public health capacity has been increased and improved and we've seen, particularly, a very well-developed plan to know when things are needing to be further developed or responded to. Huge amounts of stock coming into our national medical stockpile, not only personal protective equipment, but also lifesaving drugs that we now know can work against this virus. We've had an increase in our hospital capacity through the private health hospitals in particular, but also through training and purchase of ventilators, for example, in intensive care. We've got telehealth that's available right throughout Australia. And so there is a lot that we can be confident about that we are prepared and indeed using those capabilities right now in Victoria and, particularly, in aged care in a very coordinated and supportive and responsive way.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Professor Kelly. Happy to have questions. Michelle?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's been an increasing feeling within some sections of the Liberal Party that measures are going too far, particularly in Victoria. David Kemp, a former Howard government minister and party elder, wrote about this this week. He said the federal government should call out the situation in Victoria. What is your message to those Liberals who think that the health response is putting the economy too much at risk?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've said from the outset that we're managing two crises here. We're managing a health crisis with the pandemic and we're managing the economic recession that has flowed from that and I've always addressed them as twin crises and it has always been a very difficult task to balance out those two issues. We see quite clearly that if the virus and the pandemic moves into community transmission, the havoc that it causes. We can't just pretend that that's not the case. It is the case. It is a serious pandemic. It has a death rate in Australia more than five times the flu. We've got hundreds of Australians who passed away. So it's a very serious health issue. And so that's important to recognise. But we support health measures and we support restrictions that meet health objectives. And it has always been the Commonwealth's position to follow the medical advice in these areas. That advice is interrogated. That advice is worked through. That advice, we seek to understand it and what's behind it. We understand that medical experts are not experts when it comes to the economy and in industrial practises and things of that nature. And they're not the ones we look to on those matters. At the end of the day, the system we have in this country is a federation and states have complete and total control over those types of restrictions. Now, as a Commonwealth, we seek to influence that and we provided significant input over the course of the last week and particularly recent days. And I'm pleased that there have been some changes to the implementation of those measures and where further changes are needed, people can be assured that the Commonwealth would be pushing those issues quite strongly. But the way we're doing that is by working in to the government in Victoria and seeking to do it that way. I don't see a great advantage of engaging in that process in some sort of public spectacle. I don't think that would be good for public confidence. I don't think that would be good for public assurance. I think what, regardless of which way you vote, it doesn't matter whether you're a Liberal supporter or a Labor supporter, that the virus certainly doesn't discriminate and it is seeking to cause its havoc wherever it can. And so we need to continue to have a balanced response that looks at the economic and health issues. But the health issues in Victoria, I have to stress, are very, very serious. Our own both Professor Kelly and Professor Murphy were involved at my request in a very high level dialogue with the Chief Health Officer in Victoria last Friday night, it was. I wanted to be assured that the health advice that was going to the Premier was understood by our health officials and they could advise me and our Cabinet and our Health Minister about where Victoria was heading and their advice concurred. Now, when it comes down to the precise description of those measures, that's a job for the Victorian government. They are their restrictions. They will have to be accountable for them. They will have to explain them. They will have to manage them. But it's my job to try and make them work. It's the job of the media, it's the job of oppositions, it's the job of others to do what their job is. My job is to make this work as best as it possibly can and that's what people elected me to do.
Phil? I’ll come over the other side.
JOURNALIST: PM, on the JobKeeper extension, the Treasurer said this morning that if JobKeeper 2.0, if that is to go, if anyone wants to keep the original rate of $1,500, then the states should contribute. He said the Commonwealth is not going to change those two tier payments. Did any of the states today raise the level of the payment in the National Cabinet post-September 28? Is there any push now?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, there was, I think, well, there was an appreciation of the steps that the Commonwealth has taken. I don't know if I'd describe it as 2.0. I think it's still very much 1.0. JobKeeper is JobKeeper. And what we've done all along is, as we've worked through the pandemic, is seek to adjust it as we need it to deal with the circumstances on the ground. Now, for seven states and territories around the country, the circumstances are largely as they were when we announced the changes for post-September arrangements not that long ago. Obviously, in Victoria, it's changed quite dramatically. And I've said consistently that JobKeeper needs to be a national programme. It will find the need wherever it happens to be, whether that's in Bunbury or Brunswick, it will find it. And that's how it's designed to be delivered. And that's what it is doing and I'm pleased about that. With the scale of the Victorian wave, then that necessitated us to look at a more recent experience to ensure people qualified. And, look, we take a very open mind to these things. We're not lodged in particular positions from any ideological viewpoint at all. Quite the contrary. I think the Government has demonstrated, month after month. Practical problem, practical solution, practical problem, practical solution. Don't get involved in the politics. Don't get involved in all the other nonsense that can go on and the noise and various things. Just sort it and work with people and get on with it.
Katharine? Katharine, then Andrew for a change.
JOURNALIST: I'm not clear. Just on the aged care staff. I'm not. There's obviously been a discussion at the National Cabinet today about the desirability of rolling out the rapid response capability that you've established in Victoria. Has the National Cabinet agreed to do that nationally or have you just had a conversation about it? And also, if I may, just on the vaccines. You said a number of times, Prime Minister, that any country that successfully develops a vaccine or brings it to the stage of development must not sit on it, must not hoard it or whatever adjective you want to use.
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah.
JOURNALIST: Who are you talking about?
PRIME MINISTER: Anyone who develops it. I mean, Australia, we pledge that if we find the vaccine, we'll share it. I think every country's leaders should say that.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] somebody will not do that?
PRIME MINISTER: That's not what I’ve said.
JOURNALIST: No, no, no, I know, that's that's why I’m asking you the question?
PRIME MINISTER: That's not what I've said. So I think that's the answer to the question. On aged care, we are moving forward with preparedness plans in all of the states and territories. They move to an agreement to do that, not just a discussion and I think that's very important as as Professor Kelly said, quite an enthusiastic agreement across all the jurisdictions, very keen to get in place and to do the stress testing of their own systems. And that's already underway by the Aged Care and Quality Commissioner now, at one level and I think this will take it to another level. But already we saw, I think, what was a very good response in Queensland with their preparedness plan up in Queensland recently. They're working through at the moment. That was a good outcome. We've seen it in other jurisdictions. So I think states and territories are very mindful of this and keen to adapt and apply the lessons that have been picked up in Victoria. But I'd stress the Aged Care Response Centre is critical to that because it brings, it's actually emergency management led, through the pandemic I think a key lesson that we've all learnt is it's not just about health. There is a health response, but there is a broader response. And when you have emergency management, you're thinking about communications with the local community. You're talking about supplies and logistics. You're talking about a whole range of other needs that might pop up, whether it's a community in Colac or or anywhere else. And so it's not just about a nurse or a doctor. It is about many of these other supports that are necessary. And the hardest task, I've got to say, of the last couple of days, the previous week’s hard task was stabilising aged care.
The hard task this week following the Victorian government's announcement of restrictions, which I understand there are many criticisms of, and there's confusion, so, but I understand that, has been how to work drawing together the industry feedback, which I particularly acknowledge the Treasurer, Josh, has done a tremendous job just drawing that industry feedback in and the national coordinating mechanism through the Department of Home Affairs, drawing that in and getting that to the Victorian government. And I think that's had some some good success this week and a good example of what the partnership is. But ultimately, they'll make the restrictions. They'll enforce them. And they're their calls.
Yeah, Andrew.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, Prime Minister. Professor Kelly, something like 1,100 health care workers have got COVID-19. What's the discussion inside the AHPPC and elsewhere, maybe national cabinet about the appropriateness of of mask use and whether P2 and N-95 masks need to be deployed to stop this happening elsewhere? And secondly, every death is tragic, but the death of a 30 year old being somewhat of an outlier, what can you tell us about the circumstances there, whether they were co-morbidities or the like?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So firstly, masks, this is an ongoing discussion. And like everything that we've done in this pandemic in terms of our health advice to government, it's based on the best data and the emerging evidence as we see it. So in terms of the health care workers, any health care worker that gets sick whilst they're at work is, you know, that's we need to deal with that and work through how to prevent that. I'm absolutely committed to it. We need, though, to be led by the data that we have and the information we have. What we do know about many of the health care worker cases in Victoria that's come from the community rather than at work, it appears. And we're seeking more information from our Victorian colleagues on that aspect. But in terms of the specific question about P2 or N-95 masks, those so-called respirators, there's a live discussion in AHPPC at the moment, they're meeting now and they're looking to finalise some, an update to that to that advice. In terms of the individual, of course, I'm not going to talk about an individual case, but only to say that, as you say, all deaths are tragic and a death of a young person, a young male in this case is also tragic. There were some comorbidities, but it does actually stress what I said before, this is not only an old person's disease. This is a disease for all of us. And whilst most people only have asymptomatic or mild cases, occasionally they are severe and occasionally it can lead to death.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask about pandemic leave, first in residential aged care. Has the Commonwealth decided to tip more money in to fund paid pandemic leave outside hotspots as ordered by the Fair Work Commission? And second, more generally. Have any states other than Victoria signalled that they want to take part in the pandemic disaster payment or for that programme to be expanded?
PRIME MINISTER: On the second question, no. And I've written to all the states and territories making that offer, and none have indicated that they'd like to take that up. And the Commonwealth will support the decisions of the Fair Work Commission, as they've made those orders.
Brett?
JOURNALIST: Thanks PM, Professor Kelly, this week the World Health Organisation has said that we can't bank on there being a silver bullet to combating COVID-19. Is it more a question of if there's a vaccine? Not when? And if there isn't. What does that mean for the virus? How long will it linger? And Prime Minister, what does that mean for the economy and Australia's response to suring up businesses if there isn't a vaccine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I might start and hand to Paul, whether there's a vaccine or whether there's not a vaccine, time will tell. And I'm also encouraged by the reports that Paul has provided to us today and provided to federal cabinet with the health minister earlier this week. So we look forward to that. But you can't count on that. That's why the economic plan that we're putting in place and have been now for many months is so important. You have to address the health issues and perhaps it will be a treatment first as opposed to a vaccine that will mitigate the impact and enable broader restrictions to be eased. But it is the income supports, it is the aggregate demand supports that are put in place into the economy. And so whether that's HomeBuilder or the various other things we've put in place, I mean, the announcements we've made on JobKeeper, I mean, the Commonwealth has come to the rescue when it comes to JobKeeper. That's what it's been doing now for some time. And in relation to the Victorian wave. The Commonwealth has come to the rescue with JobKeeper for those who will be most significantly impacted. But beyond dealing with the immediate aggregate demand issues and income support issues, there is the changes, as I've said many times, for the economy to make, whether it's in industrial relations, whether it's in skills training. And that's why today, again, another great step forward in agreement amongst the states and territories to progress that skills agenda with already a billion dollars into that programme, the supports we've put into apprentices, of $1.5 billion dollars to keep 180,000 apprentice's in jobs. Looking beyond that, there's the energy challenges. I've talked a lot of times about what we need to do in the gas sector, and I'll have a lot more to say about that in the months ahead. What we're doing in our manufacturing sector, what we're doing to get infrastructure, almost $10 billion dollars brought forward. That's the plan that that can give the confidence and the assurance because that plan goes in place, vaccine or no vaccine and operating in a COVIDSafe economy is then the challenge. And that has training elements, that has workplace practise elements, and it has how we adjust supply chains and how we change how we do business.
The digital economy gives us great opportunities to move. In any crisis, there are always opportunities for businesses. And making sure Australian businesses are in a position to achieve that I think is very important. So there is a broader plan when it comes to the economy and that continues to be rolled out vaccine or no vaccine. But we're also putting the effort into the vaccine because obviously our economic plans are accelerated significantly by that being in place. We can't allow our economy to atrophy during this period. JobKeeper has been, and the cash flow supports, have been so important to that end, ensuring that we can keep our economy ticking over even at very low levels. And in this last week in particular, the discussions the Premier and I have had have been about trying to keep the economy, even in Victoria, at a level of operation, which will mean on the other side, when we come out the other side, we're not making it harder on ourselves to see it re-emerge.
But, Paul?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So silver bullets and crystal balls, I don't have either. So what's going to happen into the future? Will be the future. What we have got in front of us and a very detailed plan about how we can get in the game, if you like, in terms of vaccines and making sure that we are, well, ready to have one if it comes. So that's that's on vaccines. And as I said, I'm much more hopeful than I was even a few weeks ago in relation to that, in the last couple of weeks there have been published papers, so not just speculation or or announcements by certain companies or universities, but actual published papers demonstrating that there are there are several different types of vaccine that are now absolutely developed and appear to be effective, at least in terms of making antibodies against this virus. And and they remain for at least a few months. We don't know about the long term yet, and that will be something we'll find out as time goes by. We know that those initial trials at least show that there is a good safety signal. So there's much more work to do. But that's, that is a it will be part of a plan going forward. But just as the PM has said about the economy, we don't have all of our eggs in the basket of a vaccine. We have, we have our suppression strategy it has served us well until recently in one state and enforced, in four jurisdictions, we still have no community transmission, which is our aim of that suppression strategy and and in the other ones other than Victoria, the control is remaining very strong. So we have all of those things, not just a silver bullet.
PRIME MINISTER: Sam?
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] that you were concerned about the speed with which Victoria was handing over data in recent weeks, the speed of contact tracing and reports that some federal authorities thought that it was bordering on obstruction, that they got much more information when Alan Cheng came on board. Is there any truth to that? And how important is it that all states share that data in a transparent manner?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's a lot of speculation in that report, and I'm not about to comment on things that people speculate about, we established the the national dashboard to ensure that we were getting the data that was necessary to look at this issue from a national perspective. And that process was worked up by the medical expert panel. And I'm pleased that that dashboard has been fully populated by all states and territories, including Victoria, as the Premier was able to advise us this morning. So that's welcome. Data management is a key part of the process of combating this virus. And there are key indicators that are necessary to manage that process. I know that the Defence Force is one of the things the Defence Forces have been doing. They are a new type of keyboard warrior. Not the, not the one that most of us don't take any satisfaction from out there on Twitter and Facebook. These are good, these are good keyboard warriors. They're in there, data entering in command centres down there in Melbourne to ensure that the data that it's feeding up to those making decisions are much more tighter, and much more reliable than it would have been happening before.
So when you have a scale of, and a volume of things that are happening in Victoria, the data systems have to keep up. Now, you know, it's not that hard to enter that data when you've got no cases, zero, type it in. But when you've got a lot of cases, your data management systems have to grow and build to cope with that. And that's a key thing that Commodore Hill has been involved in in Victoria, is helping the Victorian government build up their data management capabilities.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on that and then a question on aged care. You mentioned the data coming into the dashboard. Can that dashboard be publicly available so Australians can see what's happening across the state and have transparency about that data? And on aged care, I just want to drill down a little bit on what's happening and what happens next? Are you confident that you've got commitments from states to learn the lessons from Victoria? We saw that in Victoria, St Basils didn't notify federal regulators for five days. We saw that there was they were too slow to act on elective surgery to free up a workforce. Have you actually got commitments from states that they will notify immediately of any cases in aged care and make a workforce available if there are outbreaks?
PRIME MINISTER: I’d give two responses. One is there's certainly today, was an acknowledgement of all of those factors. And we were able to report that to National Cabinet today these key learnings. And there was certainly an acknowledgement, Paul wasn't there? Of those factors. And what we agreed to do today is over the next fortnight, translate that into a codified national preparedness plan that sort of brings all that to a head and ensures that those commitments are in place. But I've got to say, I'm not doubting that those commitments will be there at all. The keenness to move to that from premiers and chief ministers today didn't need any, it didn't need any encouragement. I can assure you. And that's that's very welcome.
JOURNALIST: And the data?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, that's a matter that I'll raise with the other premiers and chief ministers. I mean, much of what's in there is you already do get, there is already quite a lot of data that's published in relation to this. In fact, premiers and chief ministers stand up almost every day going through that information. I think there's been a wealth of information that is being provided and I've got to say transparency, particularly from the work done by the chief health officers and indeed our great CMO team federally, who have been very open and very accessible to respond to those sorts of things. But that's a matter I'm happy to take up with the other premiers and chief ministers.
Lanai?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've mentioned that you had a good working relationship with state and territory leaders, notwithstanding a few points of contention. One of those has been the WA border closure. The West Australian government wants the Commonwealth to ask the court to strike out evidence that has been put before it in the Palmer case. Will you do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have an outstanding relationship with the Western Australian government and we’ve pulled out of the case as they asked us to pull out. And so one quarrel I don't have is with Mark McGowan. Mark McGowan's quarrel is with Mr Palmer. And I believe Mr Palmer, and I'd be very encouraged because this is the only way out, I think is for Mr Palmer not to proceed with the case. He's the only one who can prevent that case from going forward and I think that would be a good decision. And Senator Cormann has made similar comments today, and I support those comments.
I've written to the Premier in exactly the terms I said I would yesterday. And we do and have provided support for the outcomes that the Western Australian government is seeking to achieve and I noted there was some reporting that was different to that this morning and that reporting wasn't correct. But anyway, we're going to keep working with the Western Australian government. That's the commitment we've made. We've set out important constitutional principles that I think will assist with that process and I look forward to that being supported. So that's why. It's all set out in my letter, Lanai.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, business leaders have been critical of Victoria's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Are you disappointed in how the Victorian government handled the hotel quarantine process and should they be more upfront about what happened? And Professor Kelly, if I may, are you concerned that COVID might leave young sufferers with permanent health conditions, whether that be heart and lung? And is this being discussed by senior health officials?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, firstly, let me say our government wasn't elected to be disappointed, frustrated, angry, upset or any of these things. We were elected to get things done and to work with others to get things done. There are appropriate accountabilities that all leaders, including myself and my government, state and territory governments, there are appropriate accountabilities. And they'll have to face those accountabilities and they'll have to answer those questions, indeed, as you put them to me. And they need to be transparent about that and they'll need to be able to talk of the consequences of the decisions that they've made and that's all entirely appropriate and how they've gone about that. That is a job for, indeed, the media and the other channels of our democracy to be able to do that and I fully support that. My job, though, is to actually make things work and to provide whatever support I can as Prime Minister in my government to make things work on the ground because people are depending on me to do that when it comes to their job, their health, their business, indeed, their city and their town, their farm, their factory, their futures. And so that's why I've adopted the approach that I have and I think that's the approach Australians would expect of me.
I'll leave disappointment, frustration, anger, all entirely understandable in circumstances to others. But I don't think, as Prime Minister, I can indulge those feelings for myself. I totally understand and I don't consider it an indulgence on others that they may feel this way. These are tough times and they are really straining and testing people. So particularly in the area that you mentioned in terms of engagement with industry and business, this is why the Treasurer took action. He convened roundtables with industry and business leaders. He listened. He collected their input. We provided that through to the Victorian government. And we've made an impact. We've made a difference. And that's what we need to continue to do and that's how we'll continue to play it. That's what we’ll continue to do.
Was there anything Paul, did you want to add on that?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Just on there on the second question about young people and permanent damage to hearts and lungs and other parts of the body. Yes, it relates to my previous comment that this is not just a disease of old people, and whilst it's mostly mild illness, about 80 percent of people get through this quite well, there are about 20 percent of people that do have either more serious acute infection, or indeed, long-term effects. Things like chronic fatigue, as has been noted from this virus. Some, we don't know about permanent because it hasn't been around for too many months yet, but certainly long-term issues with lung damage and damage of the vessels, the blood vessels around the body in various parts, including the heart. So, yes, this can be a very severe illness and it's something to remember. Don't take it lightly. And when there are suggestions that people should take note of protecting themselves and those personal protective issues that we've talked about a lot, you should take that really seriously, whoever you are.
JOURNALIST: Questions for Professor Kelly. In the ACT, the Chief of Police has said that contact tracing is being threatened by people leaving fake names like Mickey Mouse on sheets at cafes and other venues. Should but at the same time, people are saying they have privacy concerns about leaving their name and their phone number where anyone who walks up to the counter can see it. Should venues be made to use something like QR codes to be a little bit more secure? And on the advice for MPs to isolate before they come to Canberra, some of the Victorian MPs are reportedly not happy about the idea about having to quarantine for two weeks. What was, why was the decision made that they couldn't, say, abide by the same rules that were in place for the Treasurer? And how many MPs have registered that they're going to quarantine before they come?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So several questions there. The first one about QR codes, there are places around Canberra. I know the swimming pool I go to has a QR code. And so people, if they want to use that, they can. I understand people's privacy concerns, but we're in a pandemic. And I can absolutely say that the quicker people can do that contact tracing, the better the outcome, not only for individuals, but for the society in general. So please think about putting down those false dresses and false numbers is not going to help you and it doesn't help anybody. The second question was…
JOURNALIST: Coming in to Canberra.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Ah, yes. So Parliament returning. The last time I stood up with the Prime Minister those questions came about whether it was safe. And we've done a lot of work with the Presiding Officers in how to make the Australian Parliament House safe. And the PM himself asked for my advice last week, I think it was, in relation to what should happen in terms of people coming from Victoria, in particular, and that was a two week quarantine period was what my medical advice was that that was necessary to absolutely protect people within Parliament House, people in the ACT and the whole of Australia. When you consider how the Parliament House works, everyone. People come from every state. We don't want to be seeding cases to other places.
PRIME MINISTER: And in relation to the point you make about the Treasurer, those arrangements were some weeks ago and a lot's changed since then and the Treasurer himself will be abiding by those two week arrangements, as will the Health Minister. And look, I understand that can be a frustration. I mean, for many of these members, that means they'll be away from their family for a month. As a father of two young children, I understand that. I don't see them that regularly either these days either. But I'm sure all Members of Parliament will understand their responsibilities here. I'm pleased that the advice has been that there's an option to do that quarantine in Victoria before heading up to Canberra. But that also has some strict arrangements around it. And I'm sure that that will be adhered to. The Parliament will meet. I said it was always my intention that it should meet on the 24th and it will and it won't look the same, but it will meet and going forward there are some very constructive ways that we continue to manage the meeting of the Parliament as we go through to the rest of the year.
Andrew?
JOURNALIST: You mentioned in your opening remarks about stress testing quarantining. Can I just clarify what you actually sort of meant by that, those comments? What that entails? And to Professor Kelly, you talked about your growing optimism of getting a vaccine. Do you think we'll have it by year's end? And how do you think, if we do get it, it will be rolled out? Will priority be given to the elderly and the most vulnerable? If you want to go overseas will you have to have a jab before you're allowed out of the country? Things like that?
PRIME MINISTER: Do you want to deal with that one first, Paul?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Yeah, so in terms of timing that goes near the crystal ball territory, which I don't have. But, look, there are now, right now, right today, several vaccines that are in clinical trials whilst they're also looking as how to scale up massive manufacturing. So that, you know, we'll know more about that in coming weeks and months about how fast that will be. In terms of the prioritisation piece, that's certainly a very key component of the vaccine strategy and will depend a lot about what type of vaccine comes, where it's going to be most effective, how much there is. All of these things will be taken into account as we go forward with that planning.
PRIME MINISTER: On the stress testing, I mean, Jane Halton is conducting that review and that's informing how that can be done. One of her observations today was the need for auditing and assurance of what is being done by states and territories with the management of their quarantine. And that will go to issues of the security, of the training, of the performance on PPE and all of those types of procedures. I mean, Jane has done some great work already and that will inform how states are able to follow through on those things. This week, in Western Australia, the ADF are now providing that support at the request of Premier McGowan to assist with the hotel quarantining in Western Australia. That has been available to all states and territories and we've been pleased to provide it wherever that offer has been taken up.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Queensland Premier ahead of National Cabinet today flagged that she'd be pushing for no exemptions to international travellers being able to not do the mandatory quarantine after that mix up that happened with the consular case. Is that something that was agreed to by the National Cabinet today? And Professor Kelly, is there a reason why Sydney MPs will not be forced to do quarantine if they've come from a hotspot, given what Canberra’s position is on Sydney visitors?
PRIME MINISTER: Do you want to deal with that one?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I'll take that first one first. So our definition of a hotspot is the definition used by the ACT Chief Health Officer. Sydney is not a hotspot according to that definition.
PRIME MINISTER: And on the other matter. No, I wouldn't say it was raised in that way or addressed in that way today and that actually wasn't a consular case. That was the movement of an individual who wasn't even travelling on a diplomatic passport and that individual had been given authorisation for travel by the Queensland Chief Health Officer. So I think those issues are quite separate. But in terms of how consular issues are managed, and I've made that point earlier in the week.
Time for one more.
JOURNALIST: Thanks, PM. Will you consider Labor's proposal for digital participation for Victorian MPs? And Professor Kelly, should Queensland MPs, federal MPs, self isolate when they return to Queensland after Parliament, given Queensland has declared Canberra as part of the hotspot?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: The second one is a matter for the Queensland Chief Health Officer.
PRIME MINISTER: There have been border arrangements in Western Australia and other places for parliamentarians when they've attended Parliament before and there have been arrangements put in place for those members. And that really is, though, a matter for the Queensland government. On the other issue, I spoke about this with the Leader of the Opposition the other day. The Government had very similar thoughts along these lines and I expressed to him the other day when we discussed it that we had no objection to that at all. One of the points that the Leader of the Opposition and I very much agree on, and that is that if you're voting in the Parliament, then you've got to be here. We can't have a situation where people are sort of phoning in votes into our Parliament. I mean, you can have no confidence that you haven't got, you know, 14 people standing next to them when they make those votes. That’s just not on. That's not how our democracy works. And the pairing arrangements can provide for the flexibility needed to enable those votes to be done in the normal and the appropriate way. We have no objection to moving to participation by those means, including, if it were necessary, if I had to be isolated for whatever reason I would hope to participate in Question Time and be able to do that if I had to do it remotely, fine. Equally, if others had to ask questions or if others wanted to participate in debates. I mean, these are not unique ideas. They are sensible ideas and they're ones that the Government had already been contemplating. So we welcome working together on that. Whether that is in a position where it's at a standard, technologically and otherwise, with procedures to be in place for when Parliament meets next, well, we'll see. But there is certainly no policy objective or objection, I should say, or any other resistance on the Government's part. But we'd obviously want it to work. I don't think you're going to fly blind on something like that. There has been some participation of members and other parliamentary procedures, committees in the Senate. Some of that has gone well. There have been some criticisms of that. I'm sure the Manager of Government Business would want to be confident that any procedures that were put into the House and any opportunity for people to participate in that way could actually be done. I don't think it would reflect well on the Parliament to the citizens if they saw that not working well. And so we would share that objective and I think that's a sensible contribution and I'm happy to agree with it and work together to see when we can achieve it. With that, thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
6 August 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I’m joined by the Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton today because we're making an announcement about the launch of Australia's cybersecurity strategy. But before we come to that I'm sure you'll understand there are a range of issues I'd like to address firstly regarding the situation in Victoria. I'd also like to touch on the issues in Beirut as well before making some comments on the cybersecurity strategy and handing over to Peter to address those issues in more detail with you.
I know there'll be many Victorians at home today and they will have joined us now, and I extend my greetings to you and my appreciation to all of you, what you're going through is tough. We're here to help you push through this in every single way that we possibly can. Over the course of this week we've been responding to the changes that have been put in place by the Victorian government to support them, to ensure that we can make this work as best as we possibly can. Changes have been announced to the pandemic leave disaster payments and there were over about 2,000 calls that were received yesterday and those payments are for Australian citizens and residents being made today and the balance of those to short-term residents will be made later this evening and into tomorrow morning. We've acted on the childcare changes and are pleased with the response we've had from the childcare sector. There are obviously still issues regarding those who can access childcare, that's obviously a decision for the Victorian Premier and we will continue to make our representations on those issues. But the viability of childcare, the guarantee to the parents for their places, for the jobs in those facilities and, of course, to ensure those facilities themselves continue in the services they provide, will continue to be supported.
Another very important area, though, is the mental health of Victorians as they're going through this very difficult period. Already the Health Minister, Greg Hunt, on the weekend announced that we'd be providing additional mental health support. As I often do, I have had the occasion to talk to Professor Pat McGorry as well, well-known to Peter Dutton during his time as Health Minister and have listened carefully to his views which I always find extremely helpful. Today, I have asked the National Mental Health Commissioner, Christine Morgan, working together with Dr Ruth Vine, who's the deputy chief medical officer for mental health, to work closely with our Victorian counterparts on additional measures that may be needed to support Australians particularly in Victoria as they are working through the stress, and anxiety and strain and the pressures that are upon them and their communities and in their households as they deal with these issues. I believe there'll be further announcements made by the Victorian government at some point regarding their support and we strongly encourage that and welcome that and appreciate the engagement we've already had with the Victorian government on those issues.
But today, mental health and suicide prevention is one of my government's highest priorities. For Victorians these last few weeks have been devastating and the loss of freedom that comes from the first lockdown now combined with the second one with the Victorian wave, not being able to connect with friends and loved ones, concerns about employment, all of this takes a toll. Young mums who won't be able to have access to childcare or have just gone through a long haul of homeschooling now having to face another long haul of it. This will put incredible pressure on families and particularly for families with children with disabilities, and it's important that we play our role to support each other. It's why I said the other day, anyone around the country who knows a Victorian, get on the phone and encourage them and support them during this time of their need.
I want to encourage people that help is available, and I encourage people to seek out that support through the many mechanisms that are there and I'll come to those in a second. But this morning I'm announcing a further $5 million to support Headspace, $2 million to support kids helpline, $2.5 million to support Lifeline, and $2.5 million to support BeyondBlue. Specifically in Headspace, that is to increase outreach services to young people in the community who are in severe distress. This will particularly focus on Year 11 and Year 12 students, young people who have lost their jobs, and tertiary students, the funding will be used to recruit and train additional outreach workers who will connect with young people in the community under supervision of the experienced Headspace staff. For those young people who are already connected to Headspace, the services have been there to support them but there are many more who are seeking that and the advice I have had is we need to build that capability to support more and more young people as they go through this time of stress. For BeyondBlue, that funding is to expand capacity, extend counsellor webchat hours to operate 24/7 and boost the ability to refer people with severe and complex needs for 5 additional sessions. At Lifeline the money will be used to deal with increased call volumes from Victoria, and for Kids Helpline, $2 million for Kids Helpline, to increase their call answer rate and service responsibilities and to deal with additional demand for services and links to further support.
If more is needed to be done more will be done, and the report that will come back to me I am expecting tomorrow from Christine Morgan and the deputy CMO will, I anticipate, identify further areas for us to do further work. Now, tomorrow the 10 additional individual psychological therapy sessions for Victorians that will commence tomorrow. That's under Medicare for people in areas impacted by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic who have used their 10 sessions already in a calendar year and this applies to all in Victoria.
Telehealth has been an important mechanism for health services delivery throughout the pandemic not just in Victoria but all around the country. And indeed for mental health, as Dr - sorry, I should say Christine Morgan has said from this very platform here before you, we've got about half of those mental health counselling services and the last data I saw a little while back was actually now being delivered through telehealth. So the overall total number of support services provided under those telehealth arrangements means that we were meeting the same level of service provision prior to the pandemic. And telehealth has been very important. So if you need help, your GP is the best place to start. Telehealth is available to you there. So you can have an appointment from home via telephone or video. Your GP can provide medicare subsidised mental health services or can refer you to other Medicare-supported services provided by psychologists, psychiatrists or other eligible allied health workers. So from tomorrow in Victoria I have mentioned those additional Medicare subsidised therapy sessions. On the web, beyond blue's coronavirus wellbeing support line which was originally established through the $10 million funding in our first mental health package is available at coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au and that service is available in 63 languages other than English. Head to health is another site, headtohealth.gov.au is a central repository of useful tools and resources for maintaining wellbeing and accessing a range of evidence-based free or low cost mental health services. Young people can log on to Headspace at Headspace.org.au and in addition to mental health support, including through E-Health space, Headspace has a digital work and study service which we supported through the $6.8 million investment we made in our first mental health package.
If you are a health worker there is a dedicated tailor made mental health and wellbeing program for front-line health workers led by the Black Dog institute. And we have provided $3 million to establish this earlier on, and that's available through the Apple store and Google Play Store and is online at the blackdoginstitute.org.au. The Beyond Blue on telephone, Coronavirus wellbeing support line is available to you at 1800 512 348. Anyone expressing distress can seek immediate advice support through lifeline on 131 114 and kids helpline 1800 551 800. These organisations are receiving additional support. Lastly, if you're concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the suicide call back service is available at 1300 659 467 or www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au.
Now they are sensitive issues for us to discuss in the middle of this pandemic, but important. If you need help, reach out. Help is there, support is there. Additional support is being provided. If you're aware of someone who may need help, talk to them about that. Show them the app. If you're in a position to do so, tell them about it, tell them about these numbers. Australians, we've got to talk about these issues openly in the middle of this pandemic crisis, and I encourage all Australians to have those open conversations. Be clear, if you're feeling vulnerable. Let people know. We're all there to help. They're there to help you also.
I also can confirm that families will be able to use their NDIS plans flexibly to support access workers in their homes, particularly in instances where children with a disability can no longer attend education or other day programs. Families should discuss their needs with their provider or contact the NDIA to seek assistance. What this means is if a family normally had a child attend a day program or special school and those facilities are not open, the family can use their existing plans flexibly to get disability support workers into their home to assist. Disability support workers are considered essential workers in Victoria.
Having addressed those issues, I want to turn to advise which if he were able to be here in Canberra the Treasurer would be joining me for this. We discussed it this morning and in the spirit of being very open and transparent with people we thought it important to share this information as soon as we had been advised. I'm sure the Treasurer will be available for further discussion with you later in the day. We received further advice from the Treasury on the impact on the economy of additional Victorian restrictions. The additional restrictions announced by the Victorian government on the 2nd and 3rd of August are tighter and extend for a longer period than assumed in the earlier estimates that were provided. Treasury has assessed the impact of these new restrictions and notes there is a high degree of uncertainty in relation to any of these estimates, and these estimates will be further updated in the October budget. The additional restrictions in Victoria in August and September is estimated to reduce the size of the real economy, real GDP in the September quarter by between $7 billion and $9 billion dollars. This is a heavy blow, a heavy blow. 80 per cent of this economic cost is expected to be in the affected areas of Victoria, of around $6 billion to $7 billion dollars in that state. The remainder represents a preliminary estimate, and I underline that, of the broader impact on confidence in other states and supply chain impacts from the shutdown of certain industries in Victoria. The combined effect on GDP of the stage 3 and 4 Victorian restrictions through the September quarter is expected to be in the order of $10 billion to $12 billion dollars detracting some 2.5 percentage points from quarterly real GDP growth. The national unemployment rate is now expected to exceed the forecast peak of 9.25 per cent and may instead peak closer to 10 per cent which I note is in line with what the governor of the Reserve Bank was also indicating. But of greater concern, as I have said to you before is the effective unemployment rate. We know the measured headline rate of unemployment rate does not tell the full story about what's happening with people's jobs and I have been very candid with people about that. And it is estimated the increase in effective unemployment to be between 250,000 and 400,000. Now, that isn't necessarily people who have lost their employment but it also includes those whose employment has been reduced to zero hours. But as I said, the effective unemployment rate is the one we're watching. This should see, we estimate, it is estimated, that we would see that effective rate of unemployment which had fallen in the most recent numbers down to just over 11 per cent head north again back to where it had come down from which is in the high 13’s. So, that is very concerning. That is very troubling but it is not unexpected in the circumstances these measures will have a very significant cost, and it will impact the recovery path, but the task doesn't change. We get on top of this issue in Victoria and we band together and we make this work. And we work together across the country to do the things we need to do, to boost that demand, to encourage that investment, to rebuild our economy, and to go forward. I know this news is upsetting and disappointing. But, Australians, we have to keep our heads up. Let's keep our heads up together. Let's look out for each other and let's get through this and I know we will.
The work of government though, continues, Peter, and importantly today there are many other issues as a government we must address. The digital economy is our economic future as it is for nations all around the world and it brings such extraordinary opportunities. We have seen the opportunities of that even in the matters I have just been talking about with how we're dealing with the delivery of mental health services and other important services not just the economic impacts. But those opportunities, while they have many positive outcomes, the crooks and those who may not always share our interests, they see opportunities, too. And that means to realise the success of the digital economy, and the prosperity that comes for all Australians, there are things we need to do.
And now, the first cybersecurity strategy was launched by my predecessor, I was there with him back in 2016, and now today's strategy builds on that approach. And there are three key things we're seeking to do here. We need to protect the essential infrastructure and services that makes Australia run. We need to protect our economy, working with all the businesses in our economy who share in that responsibility, and we need to protect you and your family from the dark web and the trolls and those who would seek to take advantage of the most vulnerable in our community, the elderly and others. And our secret weapon in this fight is you. By having the awareness, by having the understanding, the tools available to you to ensure that you can take the protections you need to take based on the support we're providing to assist you to do that. We'll ensure that we focus on those big issues of the infrastructure, the energy systems, the banking systems, all of that, and this strategy ensures that we have the tools to do that, to increase our intelligence and awareness of these issues, to support small business, to build our cybersecurity workforce and to make sure they've got the tools, but at the end of the day we need you. And what we've seen most recently when I alerted the country to the cybersecurity attacks in recent times, the response from business was fantastic. And that built our resilience. We've got to keep Australia strong, we’ve got to keep Australia safe and we've got to keep Australia together. That's what we're doing.
Peter.
THE HON. PETER DUTTON MP, MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Prime Minister, thank you very much. Look, I'm really pleased that we've been able to build on the 2016 strategy, and the government's really been dedicated to trying to keep our families and our communities safe everyday since we've been elected, and for a number of years obviously the Prime Minister and I have worked very closely together to keep our country safe, our borders secure, but the threat now online is as real as it's ever been. So if you're at home with your kids today, you're worried about who they're chatting to online, and if you are in a small business you're worried that the next email that you click on may have a link to some ransomware, or if you're in government if you're running an energy retailer, you're worried about the threat of a state-based actor or you're worried about somebody who may have malicious intent, and the reality is that all of us are spending more and more time online. So we need to have a strategy as a country to deal effectively with the threat. We wouldn't allow our kids to go down to the park knowing that they were talking to a paedophile in that local park. Why would we allow our kids to do that online? And we know now that the dark web is essentially the sewer of the internet, where paedophiles and other criminal syndicates hang out, exchange images of children, and we are going after those people and we want to make sure that people hear a very clear message that the government is determined to keep our kids safe, to keep small businesses safe, to make sure that if there is an attack on our telecommunications, or our banking or our energy sector that we have the ability to deal with that threat.
We have seen here and elsewhere attacks on all sorts of institutions, overseas attacks on democratic election processes and many more examples of the way in which criminal syndicates, particularly during the COVID period, have ramped up their activity to try and target online, kids, families, businesses, and so I want to thank very much Andy Penn for the work that he's done, his leadership in the industry body that we brought together to advise and inform this strategy. It was a collective of probably the smartest minds that we could bring together to assist us in putting the strategy together. There's obviously been an enormous amount of work done by the Department of Defence and I thank the Minister, Linda Reynolds very sincerely and similarly with Paul Fletcher, the Minister for Communications but across government we've really worked hard day and night to come up with this strategy. It's a $1.67 billion strategy over the course of the next decade that will help keep Australians safe online.
Importantly today, we're announcing we're going to have an extra hundred cyber detectives hunting these down these criminal syndicates that are targeting our children online. The stories that we hear from our investigators are quite overwhelming, and the attacks now that we're seeing on all sorts of businesses, but families as well, what should be a safe environment is not for many families. We want to make that safe through this investment strategy, through this cyber strategy and I'm very pleased that we're able to launch it today.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Peter. I want to come back to the issue of Lebanon as well but I just might ask one of my staff there, if you could just provide me with that briefing that is on my desk, that would be great. I have a lot of things going on today. I had that pack there with me. I can say though, there's $2 million support we're putting in to support the relief effort. That's an initial support that we're providing to Lebanon and the international assistances being in place. I particularly want to thank those other embassies that have assisted us and Australians in these circumstances, particularly the British, they've been tremendous and we thank them very much. I also want to thank our consular staff - sorry, our embassy staff and those working on consular issues in these last 24 hours. They always do an absolutely incredible job in these terrible circumstances. I want to thank Minister Hawke yesterday and Minister Payne. We reached out directly to members of the Australian Lebanese community yesterday and we had engagements with them and to both express our sincere sympathies for the terrible events in Beirut but also to let them know what we were doing to assist. We are considering a further round of other ways that we can support in this terrible incident in Beirut. But I also want to stress our advice is this is a terrible accident. An absolutely terrible accident. I'm sure there'll be inquiries into how that occurred and I note that there is, actions already are under way to that end in Lebanon now. This is a terrible accident. I know many in Australia, in the Lebanese-Australian community, will be feeling it very deeply and I was pleased to be able to talk to a number of those yesterday.
So why don't we go to questions?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, for Mr Dutton, can I please ask what powers are you seeking to direct the Australian Signals Directorate and for ASD to identify, conduct operations against Australians who can be a target of those? And what are the limits on those proposed powers?
MINISTER DUTTON: So if you're a paedophile, you should be worried about these powers. If you're a terrorist, you should be worried about these powers. If you are committing a serious offence in relation to trafficking of drugs, of ice, for example, that's being peddled to children, you should be worried about these powers as well. If you're part of the Australian community, the 99 per cent of people that aren't involved in those activities, then I don't think you have anything to concern yourself with. This is a power that enables the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to help stop paedophile networks online, for example, operating in the dark web on encrypted devices. And that's the reality of the modern world. We should have, as the Prime Minister has said regularly, the same laws applying in the real world as they do online. And we're asking for nothing more, nothing less than that. But the fact is at the moment that we have seen a massive spike in the number of paedophiles online during the COVID-19 period. They are targeting kids because they know kids are at home. And as the parent of a teenager, as a parent of teenage children, perhaps your girls are more well behaved online than mine Prime Minister, but whilst they're telling you that they're studying, if Fortnite is on in the background or TikTok, don't be surprised. And the reality is that people are trying their best to groom kids online and terrorists are swapping information, people are trading gun parts on the dark web and it cannot be a lawless space. And so this law applies to those people and those people only.
JOURNALIST: Minister, what’s your simple message then to parents with kids of that age to keep them safe? And Prime Minister on China and the cyber threat how much of this strategy is about China?
PRIME MINISTER: It's about Australia. It's about protecting Australia. And it's about protecting Australians from wherever potential threats come and whatever form those threats might take. And those threats emerge in all sorts of different circumstances and Peter Dutton I think has set out those very clearly. Some weeks ago when I outlined the defence capability plan and the defence strategic update on the strategy, indicated there were there were a range of threats there and state actors that we had to deal with and we'll continue to do that. But that, you know, wherever the threat comes from, we've got to be able to deal with it. And there are many state actors who are active in this space. And we have to be able to come to terms and deal with that. And are.
Peter?
MINISTER DUTTON: Look Kieran, as a parent, I’d say the best tool is to to educate your children to be realistic about the threat. There's no sense as a parent sticking your head in the sand, believing that you kids aren't going to be online, the devices are a big part of our lives as adults and they're a massive part of the lives of our children. And we just need to be very careful though, when you're using basic passwords, date of birth or your surname, whatever it might be in a password it's very easy for that to be exploited. If you’re, as I say, at a park you're not going to allow your child to go and sit on a park bench beside some known paedophile in your community. But online, for some reason, we're allowing kids to hang out in chat rooms, to be groomed, to be asked for pieces of information. And as parents, as leaders in the community, we want to make sure that we can help parents educate their kids. So I think protection is very important, so online and being realistic about the threat and getting the information from trusted sources, the e-safety commissioner. Have a look at that website to see what you can do to download the protections to protect not just families, but businesses as well.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you’ve spoken before about your concern about Facebook moving to end to end encryption. And it sounds like they're going to continue with that plan. Do these new capabilities for the AFP address that, to give law enforcement that kind of access at that initial stage, or do we potentially need more?
MINISTER DUTTON: No, they don't. And. I mean, Attorney-General Barr, the home affairs minister in- the Home Secretary in the United Kingdom, Priti Patel has spoken about this as well and many others. So we're worried about where police can't see information in an environment where a warrant issued by a court has no enforcement. So we wouldn't allow somebody to have information or evidence of a crime that they were about to commit, say a terrorist attack, and for a warrant to issue from a court yet the police weren't able to pick up that notebook or that phone with that information on. And yet somehow we allow end to end encryption where an exchange of this information can take place. But even with a warrant, the police can't recover that information or stop a terrorist attack from taking place. So that's what we're trying to do with Facebook and the other companies. And this gives the police an extra tool in the encrypted world, in the dark web to make sure that we can help try and keep families safe.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on June 20, you held a news conference here where you issued a nationwide warning about an extraordinary threat to- cyber threat in Australia. What's the status of that threat now, what's happened subsequent to your announcement, your warning, has the threat increased, has it decreased, what's the status?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, people still try it on. But what I've been pleased about is by bringing that to the attention of the public, we have had an extraordinary response from the corporate sector and we've engaged heavily with our state and territory partners as well. And what that has resulted in is a greatest position of resilience of Australia against these attempts. And so Australia is stronger today than we were then. And that is principally because of the tremendous response we've had from people engaging and understanding that cyber security isn't just about what the government does, it's about what you do. I think Peter just made a really good point. When I often talk about, you know, the laws of the real world having to apply in the digital world, that applies to us, too. The rules of common sense about where you let your kids go and how you operate your business and how you who you let in to your shop, and all of these things that- this is the rules apply in the digital world as they apply in the real world. And that is a message for each of us individually as business owners or as individuals, as parents, as grandparents or kids, as much it is for governments protecting key energy installations and things of that nature and banking systems. So the response to that, Mark, has, I've been very encouraged by the way Australians, corporate, really reacted and responded and took it really seriously. We have to take it seriously, but we can't let it hold us back.
Yeah, Chris?
JOURNALIST: PM can I first of all check, this $1.6 billion dollars, is that over and above the $1.3 billion that you announced when you were doing the defence update?
PRIME MINISTER: No it’s inclusive of that amount, I’ll let you finish.
JOURNALIST: Then Minister, if I could just go back to the powers of ASD, ASD is not allowed to operate inside Australia. So when you talk about the way they'll cooperate with the AFP, is that for looking at activity that's happening overseas on servers overseas?
PRIME MINISTER: It’s inclusive of the amount, but when I announced that amount, I said the details of how that was to be acquitted would be contained in the cyber security strategy, which is what we're doing today. But there are some additional measures that are contained in today's announcement and with new funding attached to that. And they range from one of the most practical, which was to ensure that there are additional AFP officers to actually then go and follow through on what this capability has provided us to identify people. I mean, that's a very practical thing. At the end of the day, someone has still got to slap the cuffs on, and that's what this does.
Peter?
MINISTER DUTTON: So Chris, ASD obviously has a very unique set of powers. They're the best in the business. And I think we should be very proud of the work that they do. They are involved in military operations where they stop terrorist attacks taking place. They prevent all sorts of crimes being committed against Australian citizens. And even recently in relation to COVID-19, the ASD was able to step in and block some of those scam attacks where Australians were being targeted financially and are being asked to give passwords, etc. So we could have built that capacity within the Australian Federal Police, that technical capacity, the decision that we took was that that would just be a duplication of that effort. It would take years to ramp up. And the threat from these cyber actors is here and now. So what we're proposing here is that the Australian Federal Police or the ACIC, with a warrant from a court knowing that somebody operating a server, whether it was in Seattle or Sydney, if they're targeting Australian citizens, that the Australian Federal Police or the ACIC, with that warrant from a court, would be able to target that paedophile network regardless of where they are in the world. Predominantly, though, as you're well aware, most of these servers and these syndicates operate offshore, but our desire is to protect Australians here and abroad, if that's appropriate. So that's the skill that we're tapping into, the power only applies to, as I say, the two agencies, the Australian Federal Police, the ACIC, not the ASD. And they can only be exercised in relation to those people who are alleged to be committing very serious offences. There's more detail that we will provide in time. But we are talking about terrorists. We are talking about people involved in very significant drug operations. We're worried about those paedophile networks in particular. And that's the target. And that's the logic behind what we're proposing today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, if I may ask a question about WA’s border trial, WA Premier Mark McGowan has requested that the Commonwealth support WA’s request for the border court trial brought on by Clive Palmer be vacated and a fresh trial be ordered. WA says this will be important as it means the evidence given by experts called by the Commonwealth last week will be struck out. What's your response to this? Our understanding is Mark McGowan spoke to you on this yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I haven't had any discussion with Premier McGowan on this. I have a letter from him and I received that yesterday. And I'll be writing back to him in a way that I believe will assist the WA government with what they're seeking to achieve. The WA government asked us to withdraw from the case with no other requests. We did that on Monday. We did it fulsomely and comprehensively. But I'll be writing back to him today. And our response, I believe, will assist what they're seeking to do. The WA Premier, he has a quarrel not with me on this at all. His quarrel is elsewhere.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the pandemic, back in April you stood there and then and you said that the Commonwealth would give cooperation for the Ruby Princess special commission. Why is it then that the Commonwealth has resisted a summons from Brett Walker for an official from the federal government to give evidence to that commission, especially when mistakes have been made by Border Force and also the Department of Agriculture staff? And Minister Dutton do you believe that the Border Force officer who misinterpreted this document as being negative for COVID-19 would have allowed 11 isolated passengers to leave the Ruby Princess if he had properly understood the documents?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I’ll let Peter, you go.
MINISTER DUTTON: I'm happy to deal with the whole thing. So we have cooperated. We've provided a submission to the inquiry and there's precedent in history in relation to Commonwealth and state inquiries, you're aware of all of that Andrew, so we have provided that information. The suggestion by you that there's been wrongdoing by the Australian Border Force is completely wrong. Now, the Australian Border Force does not have a role in relation to clearing people on health grounds. We do not employ doctors and nurses at airports or at sea ports. My- people within the Australian Border Force, who again have gone above and beyond in this response, have really worked day and night to keep Australians safe, I'm not going to have them besmirched on a regular basis by anybody. And well, it is actually-
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MINISTER DUTTON: Because, I'm sorry it is. Because in your question, you put that there was wrongdoing and there's not. Now, those officers have done their job in relation to this incident and others, but they do not provide clearances. They are not, they don't have the technical capacity to do that. They are, they are involved in customs and migration clearances of people.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Andrew. I'm going to go, to I'm gonna go over here to Phil.
JOURNALIST: Olivia firstly.
JOURNALIST: The list of businesses allowed to remain open under Victoria’s stage 4 restrictions. Sorry, the list of businesses allowed to remain open under Victoria’s stage four restrictions wasn't released until the middle of last night. So a lot of workers woke up this morning unsure whether they were going to be able to go into work or not. When were you advised of what businesses would be allowed to remain open?
PRIME MINISTER: I was, I received the final list personally a few moments before the Premier made the final announcement. Now, there had been consultations going on between Commonwealth officials and input I should probably better describe it as, from Commonwealth departments and agencies. And quite a lot of departments, of infrastructure, industry and others were providing input to the Victorian government over the course of those several days leading up to that announcement.
But the final list was circulated to me not long before the Premier made his announcement.
JOURNALIST: The list released last night about which workers can continue to go into work?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that wasn't a list that was provided to me.
Phil?
JOURNALIST: The Victorian situation has obviously deteriorated-
PRIME MINISTER: [Inaudible] the Commonwealth, by the way, it was just not a list that was directly provided to me.
JOURNALIST: The Vic situation has obviously put a spanner in the works, the three stage re-opening of the economy. But on top of that, we're now seeing Premiers like Annastacia Palaszczuk say, you know, new border closures. South Australia putting up restrictions, the business in WA that Annabel just referred to. How confident then are you that you can salvage that that plan to open a COVIDSafe economy to get all the states back on board and work towards a COVIDSafe economy? Do you still think that's realistic?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I do. But it will take some time. I mean, the setbacks in Victoria are serious and significant, and that is devastating for the Victorian economy. But as I indicated before, also for the national economy. And while the majority of those impacts are within Victoria, the supply chain impacts, the confidence impacts. These things are obviously impacting other states and territories. But let's remember, seven out of eight states and territories are in a fantastic position, an actually tremendous position. Zero cases in Queensland today, but still in New South Wales, only about a dozen cases. And they've been able to keep that down for several weeks now. Just a handful of cases, dozen or so cases, certainly under 20. And that's been an extraordinary effort under the pressures that that system has been under in New South Wales. See New South Wales’ result, the results in other states do fill me with confidence. I mean, yes, the virus has given us a terrible beating down there in Victoria, but in New South Wales and Queensland and many other states and territories, well, they've been serving it back. And that shows that I think we can come through it. But obviously, the ability to do that starts with ensuring that we have the health situation in a stronger position than certainly we have it now in Victoria. Now, you'll recall many months ago, I mean, interstate travel was one of the restrictions that was in place right across the country at the outset. So I'm not surprised that states will be hesitant, even where they have no cases about those, that potential movement of the virus, that doesn't surprise me. That's why I'm not offering any commentary or response to that. All I've simply said is that in these circumstances, let's work together, as Victoria and New South Wales did, together with the Commonwealth very constructively on the New South Wales border closure and with WA that's why I've recommended the way forward as to how we can work constructively on those border issues. And I look forward to the Premier of Western Australia accepting those key principles that I set out to guide that. So yes, Phil, I think we can get there again, but we've got to push through this first and we've got to push through it together.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister yesterday you flagged some issues in the Victorian supply chain, how confident are you that these issues have been dealt with? Have you heard from Daniel Andrews on that issue today? And are you concerned at all that Victorians are going to go without any important goods over this lockdown period?
PRIME MINISTER: The Premier, I understand will be making some further announcements on this today. He may well have already done so while we've been standing here and we have been, as I've indicated, very determined to ensure that they have been fully aware of the feedback we've been getting from industry. Now, there are, this occurs at a number of levels around critical supplies, and particularly when it comes to food and not just in Victoria, but the knock on effects of that for supply chains in other parts of the country. I can say that we've passed on that advice very frankly and very fully. And so I'll await to see what the announcements have been from the Premier. Ultimately, he has to make those calls and he has got to- and I'm sure and I know he is seeking to appreciate all the dimensions of this. That is certainly my view. But ultimately, he has to make judgements about weighing these things up. And he'll, he will make those calls. And then we will just have to do our best to make that work.
JOURNALIST: Minister, just one for you. Hylton King deported overnight, a part of another wave of New Zealanders. What do you make of his actions? But also, are you not worried that sending more Kiwis back to New Zealand could anger the New Zealand government?
MINISTER DUTTON: Well, I think this is a crime that really shocked Queenslanders. So this individual strangled a young policewoman and it was a vicious crime. It was a cowardly act. And my decision to cancel his visa and deport him from our country I think reflects the values of most Australians. 99 per cent of people who come to our country do the right thing. But in this case, clearly he's done the wrong thing. And we just don't want people of that very poor character in our country. So I think good riddance to him. I'm glad that he's gone. And I'm sorry that the young police officer will live for the rest of her life with, scarred with the memory of that incident, because it was a very, very cowardly attack and he deserved to be deported.
PRIME MINISTER: Back to Lebanon, just on the other points. I mean, most of them, I covered off before, but the aid we're providing is both to the World Food Programme and to the Red Cross for food, medical care and essential items. There were, as I indicated yesterday, staff who were injured in the explosions. But they are safe and accounted for and we wish them a speedy recovery. I also want to thank the US officials in their embassies in Beirut for their support. And just to remind people of the consular emergency centre line, +61 2 6261 3305.
I'll take one more and then I think we'll leave it there, John?
JOURNALIST: Thanks Prime Minister, just with an effective unemployment rate of 13 per cent and a significant hit from the Victorian situation. Will you be considering significant new discretionary aggregate demand stimulus to stop that jobless rate becoming entrenched? And can we afford to wait to the October 6 budget if you are prepared to do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the ERC is meeting constantly, and the Treasurer and I are considering some further issues around JobKeeper, as I said we would be and the Treasurer will make more announcements about that. We are making announcements constantly about this. The Budget will be in October and that will be another significant, arguably the most significant instalment in these announcements in addition to those that have already been made over these many months, I mean, right now, let's not forget, we've got a billion dollars going into skills which we've announced between the states and the Commonwealth. We've got $1.5 billion dollars going to support 180,000 apprentices. We've got a $600 million dollar plus HomeBuilder programme. We've got a $250 million dollar entertainment industry programme. We've got new incentives going into the film industry. There has been a significant amount of aggregate demand stimulus and support work. And that's on top of JobKeeper and JobSeeker and the $750 dollar support payments that have gone in twice now in both quarters to welfare beneficiaries. The cash flow assistance support. So there is a significant investment, unprecedented in this country that is continuing to be made and that will continue to roll out. And if there are measures that need to be brought forward, they will be brought forward. But the budget also provides the important platform to actually pursue even longer term reforms. And I've said, been talking about those now for some time. The skills issues, the industrial relations issues, the energy supply issues, the manufacturing industry strategies, all of this, critically important infrastructure, which has been such a huge part of our economic plan. The budget will address all of these things, but on top of that, there will continue to be supports, like the measures I announced just today to help with the mental health situation in Victoria. So the expenditure review committee of Cabinet is meeting again this afternoon, and we meet very regularly to deal with these issues. The news about the economic impact is devastating. But I can tell you in terms of Australia, even with these hits, even with these hits, we are doing better than many and most. I mean, you only have to look at the information we receive about what has happened in Spain, in France, what's happening in the United Kingdom. All these very large developed economies, Sweden as well, which had very few restrictions but has experienced a significant fall in their GDP in the June quarter. Australia is doing better and we will keep doing better if we keep sticking together.
Thanks very much.
Address, Aspen Security Forum - 'Tomorrow in the Indo-Pacific'
5 August 2020
Thank you, Margaret, and again, g’day from Australia to everyone who is joining us this morning. I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk to you this morning.
In my remarks before opening up to questions, there are three things I wanted to cover.
Firstly, Australia’s assessment of the strategic outlook in the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 environment.
Secondly, Australia’s response to this challenge.
And third, how our two countries, Australia and the United States, such wonderful friends and allies, can work together to advance our shared goals of free societies, open markets and sovereign independence, particularly in our part of the world.
In examining the international environment, I want to start from two first principles, from some first principles.
And to reference the work of an Australian thinker who saw the world more clearly than almost anyone in his era or since, I believe.
I am referring to Hedley Bull, whose 1977 work, The Anarchical Society, remains one of the most influential works on global politics of the last half century. I’ve got a copy on my bookshelf behind me.
Bull coined the notion of ‘a society of states’ or ‘international society’ – said to exist when sovereign nations consider themselves to be ‘bound by a common set of rules in their relations and share in the working of common institutions.’
So what is the state of today’s ‘international society’, particularly in our shared Indo-Pacific region?
Today, the Indo-Pacific is the epicentre of strategic competition.
Tensions over territorial claims are growing.
The pace of military modernisation is unprecedented.
Democratic nations face new threats from foreign interference.
Cyber-attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication.
Disinformation is being used to manipulate free societies.
The trade rules that have allowed us to prosper have not evolved to meet new challenges.
And economic coercion is increasingly employed as a tool of statecraft.
It’s fair to say that in 2020, our ‘international society’ is under strain.
The reaction of some has been to fret about the weakening of the rules-based international order. Fair enough.
We want to see international engagement framed by agreed rules and norms, not crude economic or political coercion.
But nor do we practically think longing for the past amounts to a strategy.
The configuration of power in global politics has changed.
We have to deal with the world as it is, not as we’d like it to be.
The liberal rules and norms of what has been known as the American Century are under assault.
‘The jungle is growing back’, as Robert Kagan has observed.
And we need to tend to the gardening.
A critical priority is to build a durable strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific.
For more like-minded nations to act more cohesively, more consistently, more often. To align.
I assure you that Australia is not being passive - we’re acting to shape that tomorrow right now.
Australia’s approach is summed up by a quote in the Aspen Institute publication, A Struggle for Power, launched earlier this year.
It was in the chapter contributed by Robert Blackwill, and the quote came from someone not usually cited in foreign policy analyses - Leonardo da Vinci, of all people. The quote reads:
I have been impressed by the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.
Now, we are doing in Australia.
Last month, I launched Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update.
That description doesn’t do the policy commitment justice. This is a major strengthening of our force posture. This has been a major development.
We are building the capability and potency of our defence force, sharpening our focus on our immediate region, and increasing our capabilities to deter actions against our interests.
We will increase our ability to respond to actions and operations in the ‘grey zone’ — falling below the threshold of traditional armed conflict.
Australia already spends more on our defence than most of the United States’ alliance partners.
2 per cent of our GDP is no longer a target, it is a floor for us and we will spend even more – a commitment of $270 billion over the next decade.
We pull our weight.
And we are continuing to invest in the relationships in the Indo-Pacific to pursue common interests in peace, stability, openness and prosperity.
Just last month, a landmark economic partnership agreement between Australia and Indonesia came into force.
In June, our close friend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I announced the elevation of our ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
In a virtual summit with my good friend Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month, we added to our Special Strategic Partnership through an agreement on space co-operation.
And we’re both taking concrete action to support our Pacific and Southeast Asian friends and family.
My visit to Vietnam last year was the first stand-alone bilateral visit by an Australian leader in 25 years.
We agreed to increase the depth and breadth of the security, economic and education components of our relationship.
And as its first Dialogue Partner, Australia is working more closely than ever with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN.
These new networks of co-operation are absolutely vital. They are crucial.
For trade.
For science and technology.
For defence and security.
For people-to-people exchange.
Again, to reinforce what Hedley Bull called the ‘international society’.
It’s the same for our family in the islands of the South West Pacific, where we have a special responsibility.
We all want a region that’s strategically secure, economically stable and politically sovereign.
That’s what Australia’s Pacific Step-Up, which we have initiated, is all about.
As we face the challenges of COVID-19, it’s never been more important.
We’ve provided PPE, testing equipment and medical expertise.
And we’re maintaining essential services and humanitarian corridor so overseas experts and critical supplies can get where they’re needed most.
This is happening despite the increasing uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
Australia is not being a bystander. We are not leaving it to others.
Not in our region. That is not in our interest. And not in the multilateral system either.
Not in the wake of the greatest health and economic twin crisis of our lifetimes.
We are using all elements of statecraft to shape the world we want to see.
I emphasise that we are not, though, uncritical participants in multilateral fora.
We will call it as we see it.
International institutions are most effective when they are driven by, and responsive to, the society of sovereign states that form them.
As Hedley Bull argued, they are symptoms of a well-functioning society of states, not the cause.
When global institutions and their bureaucracies become unaccountable, when they become vulnerable to manipulation or coercion, when they lose the confidence of their membership, they fail in their task to help the sovereign nations that establish them agree a common sets of rules to guide their relationships.
In my Lowy Institute speech nearly a year ago, I described that trend as negative globalism.
And my view hasn’t changed.
As I said and repeat now, we believe in a positive globalism, where nations like Australia engage directly with others, as equal, sovereign nations, in the pursuit of common objectives through these fora.
This is a cornerstone of our approach to the Indo-Pacific region, and to our engagement with nations, large and small.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have welcomed China’s rise as a major economic partner.
It has been great for our economy and the global economy and the Indo-Pacific region.
But with the economic rise does come economic and broader strategic responsibility.
China has a role to enhance regional and global stability, commensurate with its new status.
Such a role is about the broader global and regional interest, rather than a narrow national or aspirational interest.
Because global expectations of China are now higher, and they always have been so for the United States.
Together, China and the United States have a special responsibility to uphold what Bull described as ‘the common set of rules’ that build an international society.
Now, that means respecting international law and the peaceful resolution of disputes, including trade disputes.
It means a commitment to rules-based economic interaction.
Neither coercion nor abdication from the international system is the way forward.
Finally, I want to make this point to some of the lessons that we’ve learnt during COVID-19, and we’re all going through this as a global community.
COVID-19 has been an unmitigated calamity for the world.
I won’t dwell on these issues now because we’re living them and experiencing them.
But COVID-19 has also created new opportunities, including for new groupings of like-minded countries now working together like never before, sharing information, supporting each other.
Many new friendships have been made with foreign leaders, including from Australia, and we’re re-energising old ones.
This enhanced pathway we’re working down is making a more dynamic system.
This is a development that our nations must build on.
We must expand the scope and scale of co-operation by like-minded economies.
And we must do this thoughtfully as we build the network of like-minded economies, we need to build a greater sense of unity across all elements of our engagement.
Now, that means taking a more pragmatic, which is a very Australian way, and rounded approach to our global and regional relationships.
We’ve got to do what works.
The sense of unity necessary amongst like-minded partners can be undermined if positive political and security relationships are accompanied by abrasive or confrontational trade relationships.
We should avoid cases where we build closer strategic co-operation, only to see the cohesiveness of those relationships undermined by trade disputes. The two have got to go together.
I am not suggesting we should dull or seek to constrain the national instinct of our businesspeople and exporters to compete in global markets. God forbid.
And I do not argue that any of us should turn a blind eye to unfair trading measures imposed by our friends.
Security and trade policy approaches must be well integrated, they cannot work against each other and in isolation from each other.
A solely transactional approach to trading relationships can undo so many of the gains made in other parts of relationships amongst like-minded partners.
Australia’s foreign policy is not simply transactional.
As we work with new global partners, our alliances with fellow liberal democracies will endure and strengthen.
It’s important to have secure and trusted supply chains, particularly in these times.
Australia is resolutely committed to our Five-Eyes partnership, and our ever‑closer ties with our friends in Europe.
And we look to, and share a belief in, the values and institutions that the United States has championed and we share.
We respect each other as equal partners with the United States.
We do our fair share of the heavy lifting.
We’ve got each other’s back.
As I said on the South Lawn with the President last year: we look to the United States, as I said to President Trump, but we don’t leave it to the United States. That’s not who we are.
Providing the ballast that underpins an international society depends greatly on the leadership of the United States.
America has long been a major stabilising factor in the Indo-Pacific region, and its continued focus here and engagement is absolutely vital to the world.
So the Australian way is clear.
We will play our part in maintaining the strategic balance so necessary in the Indo-Pacific.
We will invest in regional relationships because we all have a stake in the future.
We will strengthen our ties with fellow liberal democracies and like-mindeds, working with all partners in the region as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, this month marks 75 years since Victory in the Pacific.
1945 was a defining year in human history.
The year the Second World War ended.
The year the United Nations was founded.
The year that a Chicago businessman visited Colorado and decided to found the Aspen Institute.
It was a year of ‘doing’.
Actions that built new friendships, including with old enemies.
Actions that laid the foundation for unprecedented peace and prosperity over recent generations.
Actions that sought to ensure a global strategic balance.
Today’s task is no different.
We must tend that garden and we must rebuild Bull’s ‘international society’ anew.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
3 August 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone, I am joined by Professor Kelly who will be speaking of the ongoing work that has been done by the medical expert panel, the AHPPC, on the scale and the terribly devastating situation in Victoria. This has been another heartbreaking day for Victorians, which means it’s a heartbreaking day for all Australians. I know that across Victoria, many today, frankly, would have reached breaking point trying to come to terms with what has happened in their state, what it means for them, what it means for their family, what it means for their businesses. They've worked so hard for their jobs, for their livelihoods, for the care of their children and their education. It's heartbreaking. This pandemic, this virus, is taking a heavy toll. And now is the time, as it has been throughout this pandemic, that we continue to provide support to one and other, that we look out for each other, we offer an elbow of support. I wish it was a hug, but we know that's not going to help. But that offer of support being there for each other at this time is incredibly important. If you've got friends in Victoria, call them. Cheer them up. Encourage them. Let them know you're there for them if you're in a state in a much better situation which, thankfully, all other states and territories are. Offer whatever support you can. We've asked so much of Australians over these many months and we've asked even more of Victorians. And now we're asking, through the Victorian Premier, even more. We know that we have to help them push through because Australia's future depends on these weeks and months ahead.
So today, I'm here to do nothing more than encourage people. You've heard what the announcements are from the Victorian Premier. You've heard what the additional restrictions are that the Victorian government has decided to put in place with the additional workforce measures that have been announced today. And I expect there will be some frustration and some further clarity that will be needed to be provided in the days ahead on the list that have been provided by the Victorian government today. And we will need to work through that together, the Commonwealth government, similarly, we'll have to do that on important issues like childcare and the like, and we're doing that right now. But, right now, here, today, it is a matter of just helping each other absorb what is another devastating blow.
As we work to come to terms with how we respond to the list which has been provided today, and I do want to thank Premier Andrews over the weekend, in particular, there's been a lot of consultation that's been going on as our agencies and departments, particularly the economic departments, the industry departments and so on, Prime Minister and Cabinet have been working with the Victorian government to provide our input as to where they went to from here. The Victorian government has considered all that and sent out the list that they have today. But we will need some further clarity on a number of matters and I'm sure that will be forthcoming. The Commonwealth Government has been providing considerable support to Victoria, as the Treasurer said this morning, some $14 billion of support already there. The additional mental health support advised by the Health Minister yesterday is particularly important at this time.
The JobKeeper program, the JobSeeker program, is all there and available now. Businesses affected by today's announcements that previously may not have been on JobKeeper can apply now, based on the prospective impact of these announcements on their business in the months ahead. They can apply for JobKeeper now. People can apply who are affected, potentially, by loss of employment, can apply for JobSeeker now. And those payments run at their current level, as you know, out until the end of September, which is beyond even the period of restrictions that the Premier has announced and that will continue. Mutual obligation arrangements for JobSeeker for Victoria have been suspended in the way that they have been done previously to ensure that people can continue to access those payments.
Now, last week, I indicated to you that we were working on a plan and consulting and discussing these issues of pandemic leave and we've been able to come to a conclusion on that today, which I was awaiting the Premier's press conference before announcing. And so, for that reason, that explains the lateness of the hour as to why we're here making those announcements this afternoon. What we will be doing is establishing a pandemic leave disaster payment. Earlier this year, when we were confronting the bushfires, we made a number of additional disaster payments, particularly for children and families affected by bushfires. What we're dealing with here is a disaster and we need to respond on the basis of the way we provide support in the midst of disasters. This pandemic is a disaster and we need a disaster payment when it comes for people who have to isolate for a period of 14 days through no fault of their own, regardless of what job they're in or employment they're in. They need that support. Those who are already receiving JobSeeker, they are already getting income support. Those who are already getting JobKeeper, they are already receiving income support if they're in those circumstances. So what we'll be putting in place is for those who have no more sick leave available to them, that they will be eligible for a $1,500 payment for the fortnight. That payment will be modelled on exactly the same set of criteria that the Victorian government has put in place, those payments will be principally made to those on short-term visas, so those who are not permanent residents or citizens of Australia who otherwise wouldn't have accessed Commonwealth payments, the Victorian government will continue to provide that support, we will make sure that everyone else who finds themselves in this situation and they don't have that leave available to them through their sick leave because it's been exhausted will get a $1,500 payment for that fortnight. That payment will be made in the same way that Disaster Recovery Payments are made. People would only need to ring the number 180-22-66, I'm advised from Wednesday, and will be able to update that between now and then if there are any changes to that time frame and they'll be able to make applications over the phone, which they can do for other disaster-type payments, and that should be turned around fairly quickly. That means that those who need to self-isolate as a result of an instruction by a public health officer, there is no economic reason for you to go to work. We are also encouraging the Victorian government to ensure that there are appropriate penalties in place for those who do break those public health notices and they're told to self-isolate and do go to work. They're putting their workmates at risk. They're putting their employer's business at risk. They're putting the broader health at risk.
But today is not the day for those types of instructions. Today is a day for letting Victorians know that we are there to support you. And we will be there to support you with a $1,500 payment in the same way that others receive JobKeeper that, if you're put in that situation, you can have that support for that two week period. So that has gone through the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet today after formulating this proposal over recent days and we're very pleased to be able to do that. The cost for this, obviously, will be shared on the basis that it is currently being done between payments by the Commonwealth and the state. The state will be proposing, and I've already discussed this with the Premier, will continue to pick up the costs for those who are short-term visa holders, and the Commonwealth will pick up the costs for Australian residents and citizens as a result of this payment. People can actually access the payment multiple times if, unfortunately, they're in a position where they have to self-isolate as a direct requirement on multiple times and hopefully, that won't be too often, and hopefully people will only have to go through that on the single occasion but we know that isn't always the case.
So that's where we got to today. Before I hand you over to Professor Kelly, I just want to assure Victorians, again, that I know it's a really tough day for you and I know you've had some really heartbreaking news. The idea that, in this country, we'd be living at a time where there would be a night curfew on an entire city of the size of Melbourne was unthinkable. But, frankly, as we've moved through this pandemic, we've had to deal with a lot of unthinkable things. But I'll tell you what - we will deal with it. Victorians, I know, are up to it. I know they will support each other. And I know that other Australians will support Victorians. I just want all Victorians to know that, here, your Australian Government will continue to stand with you with all the support we can provide because you will get through this and we will get through it together once again.
Thank you, Professor Kelly.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. This pandemic continues to reverberate around the world, not only here in Australia and not only in Victoria, but particularly today, our hearts are with our Victorian families, friends and colleagues. So globally, almost 18 million cases now, close to 700,000 deaths. This is a huge, huge thing in terms of a health disaster or health emergency. Here in Australia, 18,318 cases now, including, sadly, 221 deaths. So, 444 new cases since yesterday and 13 deaths, most of those related to aged care. We continue to have, therefore, almost 7,000 active cases, most of those, almost all of those, are in Melbourne, and other parts of Victoria - mostly in Melbourne - and a growing number of unlinked cases. So these ones that we can't make clear connections to known clusters or outbreaks. These are the reasons why these new restrictions have been announced today. I can say that I had a very good and fruitful conversation with my colleague, Professor Sutton, on Friday night, together with Professor Murphy and also Professor Alan Cheng from Victoria, the Deputy Chief Health Officer down there. In that conversation, they laid out exactly what they were seeing from the first three weeks of the lockdown in Melbourne and considering what we knew from the modelling, particularly that R effective number that we've talked about many times before. That’s hovering around about 1. It shows that Stage 3 lockdowns have been effective to a point but, if we were to continue in the way we're continuing in Melbourne at the moment, those large numbers we're seeing at the moment would continue. On average, every person that has the infection infecting one other person. Because that would mean that this would prolong those Stage 3 lockdowns, it would prolong the issues of large numbers of cases and what we're seeing there in terms of unacceptable illness and even deaths, as well as the seeding into other jurisdictions and the rural areas of Victoria, there was a need to do something else.
And so what was announced today was very proportionate and based on the general principle that the virus does not move by itself. It moves with people. So if you decrease the movement around a city like Melbourne, you will get on top of this virus spread. Decreasing that mixing of people and that close interaction, that is the way we stop the spread, we flatten that curve by decreasing that R effective number. And I'm really convinced that this will happen. It will take time. These things always take about two weeks or so, sometimes longer, to show that they are effective. But this will be effective. And so it has to be, of course, related to all those other things we've talked about in terms of personal issues of hygiene, cough etiquette, if you're sick, stay at home, everyone should be staying at home, particularly those who have tested positive. Seek a test if you are sick. Make sure that isolation is really taken into account. That, together with the ongoing engagement with the community, I'm sure that the Victorian authorities have done the right thing today, and the Australian Health Protection Committee is absolutely behind that.
I'll leave it there, PM.
JOURNALIST: On the pandemic leave payment, is this something you're prepared to make available to other states, even though they're not in crisis like Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: No, this is a disaster payment. So if another state were to be in a position and God forbid they were that there was a disaster of the scale that we're seeing in Victoria, then a disaster payment of this nature, of Pandemic leave, would be entered into, but that would be done on the same basis of what’s been, will be established with Victoria. So this is to deal with a disaster.
JOURNALIST: There wouldn't be a pre-emptive element to make it available to other states?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Wouldn't it be a pre-emptive element, you could head off outbreaks in other states by making this available?
PRIME MINISTER: The advice we have - and Paul can come in on this as well the number of cases in other states, and the way that's being handled and remember, there are other payments available under the JobSeeker program already to persons who find themselves in this situation. I should also note, this dates from the time of them getting the notification that they need to self-isolate. There is already a payment the Victorian Government makes in relation to the period, waiting between when you take your test and when you get your test results back. That's already in place. So what we're seeking to do is supplement and support. I'll be proposing to the Premier it's up to them whether they wish to take this up that we can consolidate what the Victorian Government is doing and what we propose to do into one single-payment process but the first step is to ensure that we roll this out as well and so those two systems will run in parallel at first, but I imagine that we can move fairly quickly to streamlining those as quickly as possible.
Lanai?
JOURNALIST: Will this payment only be available for six weeks of the Stage 4 lockdowns? And also given the devastating situation in Victoria, do you concede that it is correct for the WA border to remain closed given 96% of Western Australians want it to remain closed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I addressed it on the weekend Lanai so I've got nothing further to add to the letter that I've put in writing to the Premier. But in relation to the other matter, you'll just have to remind me of the first part of the question?
JOURNALIST: Will this be only be available for six weeks?
PRIME MINISTER: It'll be there for as long as the Government says it is there as a disaster - we've left it open-ended at this point. Once the pandemic disaster is, has we hope, returned to the sort of situation you're seeing in other states currently, then that's when disaster payments traditionally are no longer applied. But we anticipate that this payment will be needed for some time, and it will be made available until for as long as it's necessary.
Andrew?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there's been a steady rise in the unlinked cases. Have you got a stronger handle on what's gone wrong with the contact tracing in Victoria? Perhaps Professor Kelly could jump in there as well. Secondly, Prime Minister, I understand you intend to bring Parliament back for two weeks. How's that going to run, given that you're going to have potentially scores, if not hundreds of people, coming from a pandemic disaster zone into the ACT?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, in relation to your first question, we've been focusing on how we can help to make it right and to make it as effective as possible, and that's where we've been applying our efforts, particularly through the Australian Defence Forces and the work that Commodore Hill has been doing directly with the Public Health officers in Victoria, and that work, I know, has been improving the situation, particularly the work, also, that the ADF have been doing in the direct doorknocking, which, that presence has been expanded, and that's also been very effective. But it's also highlighting weaknesses of even where people have been tested, have been traced, that isolation is not necessarily being complied with. And so we're supporting. I mean, our job is to help them do it as effectively as possible with all the supports and resources we're providing them, and it's for the Victorian government to be responsible for the overall management of that program.
Paul, did you want to?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Yes so on contact tracing, the numbers are enormous. Any contact-tracing effort anywhere in the world would struggle with the sort of numbers we've seen in Victoria over the last little while to make that very detailed forward and back assessment about where people might have been before they got sick and the ones that may have been in contact afterwards. So it’s not, it doesn't surprise me that they're now finding ones that they can't make those links. In terms of parliament,
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah Parliament, an important one, I’ll offer comment on this as well, there has been a working group working with the Presiding Officers, and the Government has been contributing to that. I'll be providing further information, advice to them tomorrow. Parliament will come back. It will meet. I always said it would meet. And I meant that when I said it. We'll be putting in place arrangements that would comply with the advice that we receive both from the Chief Health Officer here in the ACT, and we've also sought further advice from the CMO. Ultimately, the Commonwealth Government will respond to the advice from the CMO, and they've been working closely together to ensure that the appropriate protections are put in place for any people who would be coming here from Victoria. There are two issues here. Most importantly, public health. If you bring together over 200 people plus staff into one place from all around the country, then obviously you've got to be very careful about the onward transmission from infected parts of the country and how that could then potentially operate going out into other states. So we will have some very strict protocols around that, and seeking the full compliance of all members with that process. But it is important that Parliament continues to meet. When we made the decision about Parliament not sitting when it was next scheduled to meet, there were a lot of uncertainties. We've got a clearer view now, and we know the situation has actually become even more serious, but we believe we can put arrangements in place.
Paul?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So the Prime Minister's correct, we've, I’ve had a lot of discussions with my colleague in the ACT, Dr Coleman, and others, and we'll have to work through those issues. But it is a risk for, within the building to ACT and also, as parliamentarians come from other parts of the country and back to their parts. But that risk can be mitigated and it will be mitigated.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just in relation to what we've seen in Victoria how is that impacting what you're planning on doing with JobKeeper beyond September? Does it make any changes to what you envisioned?
PRIME MINISTER: What's important is that those businesses and employees who have been impacted particularly by these decisions will continue to get the support of JobKeeper, and I believe they will. They'll qualify for JobKeeper now. And so I'd encourage them to make those applications if they're not already on JobKeeper. We have a large number of businesses that are on JobKeeper in Victoria already. And so they will continue to get that support, and those who haven't required it up until now and will need it will be able to apply immediately for it and get access to it. And the same goes for JobSeeker as well and those supports being in place. So if there are any issues around eligibility that need to be looked at more closely, the Treasurer's already doing that. I flagged that with you last week. And so that process will continue. But remember, that is at the end of September.
Sorry?
JOURNALIST: Do you delay reducing the rate, given what we're seeing in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look, we're talking about something 2 and a half months from now. 2 and a half months from now. We’re talking about, sorry, well, 2 months from now, we're into August, it's the end of September. So we're talking about something many weeks from now, and we'll be making further assessments of that. But the JobKeeper program is a national program. It applies in Cairns. It applies in Bunbury. It applies in Brunswick. So it will continue to run as a national program, and any specific issues that are relevant to Victoria, we would seek to meet together with the Victorian government.
JOURNALIST: On hydroxychloroquine, can I ask you both, if I might, first Professor
PRIME MINISTER: Not a subject I'm an expert in, so I'll have to leave it to the Chief Medical Officer.
JOURNALIST: Chief Medical Officer, if I could ask you, Professor, if you're happy with the current settings that prevent prescription of the drug in Australia. And Prime Minister, can I ask you if you're happy with your MP, Craig Kelly, promoting it to the point where he says Dan Andrews could be jailed because he bans the drug in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not going to get onto what people talk about on Facebook on a day like this but, on the medical issues, I'm happy for the Chief Medical Officer to speak to it.
PROFESSOR KELLY: So Hydroxychloroquine has been used for many, many years for various things, including for malaria prevention. I took it myself for many years when I worked in Africa, and very safe for that particular way of using that drug, and other things currently involved in terms of arthritis and other matters. But in terms of its use for this particular disease, the jury is pretty much out it doesn't work.
PRIME MINISTER: Last one.
JOURNALIST: Free childcare for essential workers in Victoria does there need to be a reintroduction of JobKeeper for childcare workers?
PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to the Education Minister this afternoon. It's still a little unclear what is meant by ‘permitted worker’ in the table that was released this afternoon and we're seeking some further clarity around that. It's very important that we keep these facilities open so they're available to people who will need them and there are a number of ways we can do that and that's what the Education Minister is working through right now. We're very committed to ensuring those facilities remain available. They'll be very important for especially those who are health workers or otherwise unable to provide arrangements for their children as they're earning income. Even if that means they're working at home. So there are a lot of questions that are still unanswered and we'll be seeking those answers from the Victorian Government so we can work with the sector to ensure that we can keep those facilities open, support the workers who are in those facilities, in the same way we'd be seeking to support workers in all facilities and all businesses that are impacted by the announcements today. It's obviously a change to the set of factors we're dealing with when we made those last set of announcements. I mean, the rest of the country, the situation is unchanged. But in Victoria, I suspect we'll need to make some changes, but I won't be announcing those until they've been properly worked through and we get some greater clarity from the Victorian Government about who permitted workers are and what that will mean for demand at facilities and then how that can be worked through with the sector to ensure that they remain open, their businesses remain viable and that their workers are supported.
JOURNALIST: Just on regional Victoria, some of your Nationals colleagues have today have expressed dismay that they're now under stage 3 restrictions when just a few weeks ago, or yesterday they weren't, but just a few weeks ago, they had almost no cases. They said that they're concerned that the Government was unable to stop Melburnians moving across the border of metropolitan Melbourne into the country and spreading the virus. As Paul Kelly said, the virus only spreads with people,
PRIME MINISTER: True.
JOURNALIST: Are you at all concerned that the Victorian Government wasn't able to stop that virus and do you still have confidence that they can stop it spreading further?
PRIME MINISTER: I understand people's frustration. I understand their anger. In some cases, I certainly understand their fury. But I also understand their tears and their deep disappointments. And I think that is the array of very difficult emotions people are going through. Whether they're in metropolitan inner Melbourne or they're out in regional Victoria where there are very few cases. The challenge of dealing with this pandemic is not fair to people. It's very unfair what's happening to people. It's the pandemic and the virus that is doing that, and it means that the Premier obviously has to make some difficult calls and not everybody is going to agree with every call he makes. And he will have to apply his best judgement to the decisions that he's made, and I have no doubt he understands that and understands the accountability for those decisions and I am absolutely sure that he hasn't taken any of them lightly in the many conversations that I've had with him. They're tough calls and he knows he has to make them. He sought to consult, he sought advice, including from the Commonwealth, and we've offered our views and I think the challenges in Victoria are going to be hard to cop. But they're going to be necessary.
There's been so much, in fact, everything that people have had to do is hard to cop over these many months. But it's what we have to do. It's what's necessary. And even if we find it hard to agree with on occasions, or can't understand it, or wish it wasn't happening, or say this didn't need to happen if X and Y were done, none of that really at the end of the day stacks up to what has to be done. And we know what we need to do now. And I know Victorians know what needs to be done now, and I know that many will find it really hard. But we're all counting on them to do it, and we're all in it with them as best as we possibly can. And what I've announced this evening on this disaster payment support with pandemic leave, the $14 billion that has already been put in, the many other measures that are there to support, it's all there to help them get through. I'm backing Melbourne. I'm backing Victoria and I know they will get through this. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
30 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. I’m joined today by the Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt and the convener, leader, chair of the Coalition of Indigenous Peak Groups, Pat Turner. And I want to come to the important reason that we're gathered together today, to speak about the finalisation of the Closing the Gap Agreements that have been historically reached between the group of Coalition Peaks, the Commonwealth and the states and territories. This is a very significant day, and I know one that both Ken and Pat have been working together on now for some time and I'm so pleased that we've come to this day. I think it's going to have a very meaningful impact on how we progress to ensure that young Indigenous boys and girls can grow up in this country with the same expectations as non-Indigenous boys and girls in this country. That's what we want to see. That's what it's all about. That, as Australians right across the country, we can have the same hopes, the same aspirations, the same goals, ultimately. It's not an easy road and there's still a long road ahead of us to achieve that. But what we're announcing today, I think, will make a very meaningful impact on achieving that journey together.
But before I do that and I know, with the indulgence of both Pat and Ken, I must start by saying that the numbers that we've seen today in Victoria are obviously very concerning and I share the Premier's concern about those. I also support the actions that he's taken on the advice that I've received also about the rate of transmission that is occurring in Victoria and we will be sharing with the Victorian Government any further advice that we have, drawing together the work of the expert medical panel, the AHPPC, who are meeting now, I understand, and any further advice that would come forward from that collective group as to what may assist in Victoria, we will certainly be sharing that with the Premier. And the instance of cases throughout the community, and particularly extending out on the Melbourne metro area into the Geelong region and surrounding areas, is of great concern. And we have now been in this lockdown now for some weeks and we are not getting the results we would hope for and as a result, the further measures that are taken are certainly necessary. They will come at an impact to the economy. We understand that. But, equally, not containing these outbreaks will have that effect also. And so it's important that we continue to work together to get on top of this and to take whatever actions are necessary. The decisions are being driven by the data and by the evidence, as the Premier said, and the actions that are being taken specifically to reduce mobility in the affected outbreak areas are very important and I would just continue to encourage people to comply and work cooperatively with the requests that are being made right across Victoria and elsewhere around the country. The most concerning part of the information released today was that there were a further 13 deaths. That brings to some 189 deaths now in Australia as a result of COVID-19 and some 105 that have occurred in Victoria. 10 out of those 13 deaths occurred in aged care and I will speak further after I have addressed the issues with Minister Wyatt and Pat Turner on the announcements that we're making today. But there's been a series of further measures that we've been taking there which have been making some progress. Aged care cases, including staff, account for just under about or around about 10 per cent of the total cases announced today. Specifically in aged care, there were 16 cases of residents. The balance, 74 in total, 58 were staff. And staff contracting the virus, my advice is predominantly from community transmission.
So, with that let me turn, with your agreement, to the important reason that we've gathered today, as serious as the pandemic is. The issue of achieving those aspirations for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together are of great significance to our country, not just now but into the future. It is a national aspiration, a national goal, a national task. The process that we began around about two years ago, when we came together, began with listening as to why we were being unsuccessful in closing the gap. Any good process starts with listening and that's what we did as a Government. We listened carefully. And there were many discussions and there were many very unprecedented discussions, including here, in this very Cabinet room, as I sat early this year in January together with Indigenous leaders from peak groups, with Ken, and that was quite an extraordinary discussion. And it charged us up to keep going with the work that was being done to form the Agreement which we've reached today.
As we have been dealing with the pandemic, there have been two phrases, two concepts, that have come up in almost all the briefings that I've had. They talk about lines of effort and they talk about unity of effort. And as I was reflecting on this Agreement last night, I believe that's what this does. It sets out very clear lines of effort, which has been important. But, more importantly, it sets out the process of having a unity of effort. And when we do those two things together, that's where we make progress. Whether it's attacking a pandemic or attacking the very serious issues of Indigenous disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in this country. And the other thing we did as we listened and we identified these things, and we looked at how we had not been making the progress all of us wanted on closing the gap, we reflected on the fact that Closing the Gap and the initiative taken by Kevin Rudd was an entirely worthy initiative and an initiative deserving of credit. But, innocently, there were elements of how that was done which was misguided. That's not a criticism, that is a learning. A learning of these many years that have passed since then, as we've sought to live up to those worthy aspirations at that time. And one of the mistakes that have been made is, as we've looked at this as a Federal Government, we've decided what the gap is. We didn't look at the gap through the eyes of Indigenous Australians. We told Indigenous Australians what the gap was that we were going to close and somehow thought they should be thankful for that. That was wrong-headed. That wasn't the way to do it. We needed to understand what the gap was, looking through the lens and the eyes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They needed to tell us what the gap was that needed to be closed and that's what this task has been about. It has also been about understanding that this is not the task or role or responsibility of any one organisation, level of government, or nation of peoples across the country. This is the task of us all. And for that to be successful, we need a partnership between all of these groups. Understanding what these lines of effort are to achieve this unity of effort.
And so we set about achieving a partnership and setting out these 16, as I understand, particular areas of activity. Underpinned by four key things we're seeking to do to make them possible. And the first of those is partnership - a partnership of states and territories who have significant roles to play in achieving the outcomes that are set out here in this Agreement. This is not something the Commonwealth can even pretend to think it can do alone. It must be done together with the service delivery and policy arms of state and territory governments. But also with the delivery agencies of Indigenous organisations, which are on the ground, making a difference. Secondly, it's about building the capabilities of those on-the-ground, community-based organisations in Indigenous communities to deliver those services as best as they possibly can. It is about transforming mainstream government agencies and institutions and how they conceive these challenges and how they go about engaging and delivering their services and broader policies that impact on Indigenous Australians, whether they're directed to them specifically or not. And it's about getting the right data, the right evidence, and the right reporting that creates the transparency to drive the actions we're seeking to get progress from. The data then, as it's set out in each of these 16 areas, is incredibly well-presented in terms of what we need. It sets out the goal and those goals haven't changed drastically. But what it has done is identified the things that make that goal achievable and the signs you need to look for along the way to know you're going to meet that goal and how we're progressing against those key data points. And it gets granular. It says, "We're not just going to look up here, we're going to go down the community level, we're going to go and break this up by different groupings to understand where the real challenges are and where our progress is doing well." As Ken has often said, this process has to acknowledge the gains to drive the confidence that other areas can see achievement. But it's also about separating out where the accountabilities lie to get the action. And then there is the further data that is needed to drive the whole process and there are some serious weaknesses when it comes to the intelligence and information that we need to inform plans to eliminate Indigenous disadvantage in this country as much as we possibly can.
And so I find it a very practical document, Pat and Ken. I commend you on the work that it's done. It's realistic, it's shared, it's evidence-based and led, it's transparent, it's practical, it's ambitious. And from this point, the real work starts. And the plans that are needed from the Federal Government, from the state governments, the plans that need to find their way into budgets. But I tell you where we start - we start with what we have to do, and then we apply the resources to achieve that. This isn't about buckets of money, this is about changing the way we do things and ensuring that we apply the resources most effectively to achieve that. And with that I'll pass you on to Ken, and then to Pat.
THE HON. KEN WYATT MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Prime Minister, thank you very much. I want to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, on whose land we are today, their elders past and present. The concept of Closing the Gap was an idea that arose from the Human Rights Commissioner of the day, Tom Calma. Tom put forward a series of propositions and the first signing of a Closing the Gap Agreement was done by a former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. The intentions were honourable. The outcomes were never achieved in the way that we had aspired to reach in the way of improving the lives of Indigenous Australians. And this particular Agreement is historic. Because it goes to the very thing that I said right at the beginning when I first came into this role - that we need to develop approaches to address the issues of inequality and inequity by having Indigenous Australians sitting and jointly designing, planning and developing a direction that is based on how we wrap around people, their life expectancy, their life expectations, and their aspirations from the community level through to the peak organisations. It's been an incredible privilege working with Pat and the 51 peak organisations. When we first started, it was 21. And then it grew. But the more people that were involved, the greater the depth of discussion around what do these targets mean? How will they change the lives of people? And how will we bring governments with us? And that was a critical part of the conversation, as to how do we then take it to the next stage? Because, primarily, it was the Prime Minister who tabled the Closing the Gap Report. There was no requirement for states and territories to do that.
This Agreement through the state and territory cabinet processes has endorsed a new approach. An approach that will involve Aboriginal people as partners in the design of the work of government agencies. It will involve transforming the way in which government agencies at every level, including local government, work with Indigenous Australians. It also commits, through the cabinet process, ministers in all portfolios to work towards achieving closure in the targets and the gap that is associated with the targets. But I think more importantly is the way in which the spirit of intent for the outcome we've achieved today in this Agreement was reached through the passion and commitment of so many people. I want to acknowledge Pat's leadership. If you work with Indigenous organisations, as she has done, she has certainly brought 51 significant leaders to the table, to agree on the targets that we have within the Agreement, including incarceration rates, including family safety and the safety of women, and expanding those targets to focus in key and critical areas. But I also want to acknowledge every state and territory Aboriginal Affairs Minister, because their officials and the officers from the National Indigenous Agency and the officers who worked with Pat in the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation worked paragraph by paragraph through the Agreement until all parties were satisfied. But the thing that is different this time is the enthusiasm of all to address these targets.
Prime Minister, I want to acknowledge you, because you've done something that no other Prime Minister has done, and that is to put faith in the Indigenous community to develop targets for us all to achieve. But for all of us to take responsibility for, and for all of us to be accountable for. And by all of us focusing on those three tranches, I am extremely optimistic that we will see closures in areas to a greater extent than what we've seen historically in the past. And the amount of goodwill means that the reforms that we seek to achieve will now be done in a way that is very different. It means a person living in Ampilatwatja or living in Balgo WA, or in Arrente country will have avenues in which to influence government policy and direction, and to have a say on those things that impact on them through our peaks, and through the other structures that exist within states and territories. So, I compliment all who are involved. And whilst I have been Minister, I've enjoyed the immense journey of the very meaty debates, but the way in which we have come together to produce a blueprint for improving the lives of our people across this nation, with flow-on effects for all Australians. It is part of the Morrison Government's commitment to having a change of direction that is going to make a difference on the ground with state and territory Premiers and Chief Ministers who, through National Cabinet, have signed up to this Agreement, along with the President of the Australian Local Government Association, so it means that local government equally will be involved in achieving the outcomes.
I'd now like to ask Pat to come forward and make her comments.
PAT TURNER AM: Thank you very much, Minister, and thank you, Prime Minister. Today truly is an historic occasion. This is the first time a National Agreement designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been developed and negotiated between Australian governments, local government, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives. We have come a long way as partners since the partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap came into effect in March last year and I want to thank each government for the spirit in which they have approached the partnership. I particularly want to thank you, Prime Minister, for your leadership in taking the first step in agreeing to establish a formal partnership between the Coalition of Peaks and governments on Closing the Gap. The Prime Minister probably didn't fully realise what he was committing to, and possibly no government did, but maybe that was a good thing at the time. Today we now have a comprehensive set of commitments from governments that places Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations at the centre of Closing the Gap. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people know what is best for our communities, not governments, and this National Agreement means that decisions of Government on Closing the Gap need to be negotiated and agreed with us.
But I have to say, the Prime Minister and Ken will know it hasn't always been easy, and some of our negotiations have been very hard-fought. For the Coalition of Peaks, the National Agreement is not just words. They represent actions that can make a real difference to the lives of our people, our families, and our communities. We have also had the voices of more than 4,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who participated in our engagements on what should be included in the new National Agreement, guiding us in our negotiations. The Coalition of Peaks is confident that the National Agreement, if fully implemented, has the potential to establish a strong policy foundation to give effect to what our people have been saying for a long time is needed to make a difference. The National Agreement may not include everything our people want or need to make lasting change to our lives, but this is a huge step forward. I also want to thank all the members of the Coalition of Peaks. This is the first time our community-controlled leadership have come together in this way to bring our collective experiences and expertise to the task of Closing the Gap, and it has been a real privilege to work with my colleagues in the Peaks.
It is important that we celebrate today's achievements. We are marking a turning point in Indigenous Affairs and the relationship between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives and we have all played our parts. But the real hard work starts tomorrow, as we begin the implementation of the National Agreement in full partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, organisations and representatives. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Pat. Let's take questions on this matter and then we can return to the pandemic issues afterwards.
JOURNALIST: We've heard many moving and passionate speeches by Prime Ministers and Ministers over the last 12 years about this subject and every year moving speeches by Prime Ministers and Ministers lamenting the fact that governments have fallen woefully short of meeting the targets. What commitment can you give that these new targets will actually be met?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it has the full backing of our entire Government. I said when Ken was appointed as the first Minister for Indigenous Australians, as an Indigenous Australian, that every Minister in my Cabinet is a Minister for Indigenous Australians. Because that's the change, that's the shift that needs to have effect to actually make more progress. I think you're right, Mark, there's never been any lack of passion or commitment or dedication from this podium, no matter who stood behind it. Every Prime Minister that I know has shared this passion and this dedication but also the frustration that goes along with the lack of progress in this area. What I think is different about this process is there has been some humble learnings that has led to its development and its execution. There has been a recognition that in sometimes we have been too ambitious without understanding the detail of what you actually have to do to get there. And what I particularly like about this Agreement is how, as I explained before, it gets very granular about how you get there, and how you know when you're not getting there, and that's very important. This evidence-led process which has an accountability to it, which I think is very important. Now, I'd love to give you a guarantee, like every one of my predecessors would have and endeavoured, tried to, as I am today. But I am tempered by that bitter experience of my predecessors and my own. And so I take comfort in the fact that we've got a partnership now that we haven't had before. It's not because others didn't want it. I think the partnership is the product of the learnings, the humble learnings that have been necessary. So, I do hope, Mark, that we can live up to this. We owe it to everybody Indigenous boy and girl in the country today, and every Indigenous person in the country today.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, and Minister Wyatt, there's been some criticism of the fact that the domestic violence target is not being announced today and it's going to continue to be worked on. Can you explain why, given what we know about the over-representation of First Nations women as victims of domestic violence, why that is still being worked on and is not being announced today?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure, I'm happy to, and I'll let Ken and Pat speak to that because they've been directly involved in those decisions.
THE HON. KEN WYATT MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: In dealing with this issue we want zero tolerance of any domestic violence, of violence against women. I know that when the working group was going through this, the focus on just physical violence against women was seen as not sufficient. That hasn't lowered our bar for absolute extinction of domestic violence against any woman, and this fits within the Fourth National Plan that our Government has in place as well. But our senior women have asked that we do more work on that and I respect the request that they have made, and we will come back with further work. But the target is still zero tolerance of domestic violence against our women.
Pat?
PAT TURNER AM: Yes, thank you. So we do have some more work to do in our negotiations with all of the governments. It is a national priority and one that we take very seriously, and we hope to have that nutted out as we go through in the next few months and we start our work on the implementation plans to get some real nutty figures in there. Let me say on the National Agreement, it's very important that you read it in detail and you understand it because there are funding provisions that are already committed to in the National Agreement and they will come on board as we progress the important work now on the implementation plans and the important work that we have to do to make sure that we have the right people at the right table, at the right time, in the right place.
PRIME MINISTER: I think fundamentally, I mean, what I drew from all of that, was that because that further work is required is a statement of how serious that goal is taken, and the other contributing causes to how we achieve that goal. Not just the physical violence, which is deplorable, whether it is in Indigenous communities or non-Indigenous communities, as we know, and there are separate plans to deal with that issue more broadly in the country. But the many other non-physical ways that abuse occurs and the link between that and physical abuse and to ensure that we're getting that right. So I think it’s a statement of just how seriously the Agreement does take it and the partners do take it.
Yes, Chris?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister through you to Pat, can you tell us because of all the plans we've had in the past, why you think, in simple terms, there is reason to hope this time that young Indigenous children can have the future the Prime Minister hopes?
PAT TURNER AM: Yes. I think it's because we've been at the table and we'll continue to stay at the negotiating table to make sure that governments do change the way they do business with us, that their program and policy responses are informed by our experience and expertise and, as much as possible, that our own organisations, community-controlled organisations, are resourced to do the service delivery. We get much better outcomes when we deliver the services to our people ourselves. We're just as happy, we've always been accountable for what we've done. And we are certainly accountable to our communities the way we work and we're more accountable in terms of the scrutiny placed on our organisations. I'd like that to be all of that red tape to be reduced, of course, to enable us to get on with the job. But I believe because we're involved in all of those decisions from now on, that we will actually get better results. Now, everyone has got to work in the true spirit of the partnership and, you know, the resources have to be available when they're needed to ensure that the right areas are being but you have to understand that in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, there's been a long history of under-investment by governments and we're dealing with that legacy and we will deal with that legacy. But the issues are so interrelated. Just take the social determinants of health which are impacted by where you're born, how you're born, how you grow and how you live your life. Sir Michael Marmot is the world expert on this and he has spoken many times about this needing to be addressed in Australia. The World Health Organization wants it addressed. We want it addressed. So that will take a coordinated across-government effort and inter-government efforts and we'll be making sure that they do their very best. Because you have to improve where people live, how they live, their opportunities for engagement in the workforce in a real way to have jobs. We create more jobs if our organisations do the service delivery and are funded properly. We employ more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our organisations and we want that to happen because we want our people off of welfare dependency.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is it fair to ask Indigenous organisations to close a gap that governments over the past 10 years have been unable to narrow in key areas, despite all the resources at their disposal? And how will these community-led organisations be funded to reach these important targets?
PRIME MINISTER: I think what Pat just outlined was a very good summary of the conclusions that have been drawn by this process. There have been significant resources directed to these tasks over many years but the way those resources have been applied have not always got the results. I've seen some of the most extraordinary responses and outcomes from some of the most modest elements of funding to community-based organisations and Clontarf is one that I often talked to you, I have a personal association with it, so I have a massive, declared bias, but how I've seen that change the lives of young Indigenous boys and men has just been extraordinary. That hasn't been the result of massive investments by governments. It's been the result of an extraordinary program and local community leadership and participation. So Pat's point is, and I agree with it, is that this process actually seeks to empower and better resource and support local-led delivery of services. This is where the Coalition of the Peaks comes into it. This is why we're talking to the Coalition of Peaks because they're the Indigenous organisations that deliver services in the communities. You don't get any more closer to the ground than that. Now that just, in the first instance, involves ensuring the balance of how funding is delivered and the channels through which funding is delivered is done properly and that's why Pat rightly says that the hard work starts tomorrow because that is one of the key areas that we're looking to adjust, and Ken and Pat will have a bit more to say about that in the near future. But you're right to note it as a key issue we've had to learn. That's why I hope this process then drives. And not just by the Commonwealth Government, by the way. What this process has recognised is it's fine for a Prime Minister to stand at a dispatch box once every year and talk about what the gaps are and how they're failing, but the Commonwealth is one part in a much bigger team of governments that actually deliver services to Indigenous people and fund those services.
JOURNALIST: Ms Turner, Just in achieving these goals, how important is it to make progress on tangential issues like remaining vigilant against things like institutionalised racism, and pursuing matters like constitutional recognition, Voices to Parliament, and so forth.
PAT TURNER AM: All those processes in relation to the Voice to Parliament, constitutional recognition, are complementary and should continue and will continue and the Minister, of course, is overseeing that. In relation to why we will get a tangible difference now is because our voices have been heard and will continue to be heard, but our influence, our expertise, our experience and our know-how, and the relationships that we have at the community level. So my day job is CEO of NACCHO, which is 143 Aboriginal community-controlled health services around Australia. We stepped in very early this year in our preparations for COVID-19. January we started and we worked in full partnership with every level of government, from the shires through to the state governments, and the Federal Government of course, and we were able to keep our communities pretty safe. Less than one per cent of our population, Australia wide, or out of the COVID numbers today, have tested positive. Overall, we had 59 cases confirmed. There's been a further 45 in Victoria as of 28th of July, and three, that I know of, in Western Sydney. Fortunately, we've had no deaths. Now, the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector has played a critical role in working in full partnership with governments to ensure that our people are protected and are safe and thank God we've had no deaths. And I want to say to all Victorians today, our hearts go out to you and we are with you every step of the way. To those who have lost family members in recent weeks to COVID, you know, please accept our deepest condolences. We don't want any more people in Australia to suffer the consequences of this dreadful virus, and every Australian must pull their weight to keep our people safe.
PRIME MINISTER: Well said, Pat. One of the most significant achievements Australia has had during the COVID pandemic is the extraordinary result in Indigenous communities, amongst Indigenous peoples. It was, I’ve got to say, around the National Cabinet table, together with our elderly, our highest concern as to how the pandemic might affect Australia, particularly in remote communities. Whether it is in the Northern Territory, Northern Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, it doesn't matter where it was and the way the services have worked together to get that outcome, Pat, I think is extraordinary. It's good working with people who know how to get things done.
Yes? Time for a couple more.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you speak about the implementation plans you're going to get from the states and territories and the historic work you're going to be doing with community-controlled organisations. If we fast-forward a year or two and you are seeing failures, what reassurance can you give that the onus of responsibility for that is still going to be with the Commonwealth?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it is going to be with everyone who signed up to this Agreement. That's the Commonwealth, that's the states and territories, that's the Coalition of Peaks. That's the whole point of this. That this is about accountability for what we each do and recognising the role we have to play. See, when we entered into this, I learnt and understood that if you want to make progress here, then you've got to get everybody to go together and this is the advice that Pat gave us, this is the learnings that Ken brought to the table. And so that's what we're doing. We're bringing people together, and applying ourselves in a unified effort to these lines of effort, defined by the voices of Indigenous people, coming back through the Coalition of Peaks. So, look, I hope in two years the story is better. But I can tell you what, if it is not, there'll be an accountability chain, there will be a set of data that will tell us why and there should be an ability that enables us to acknowledge that and make changes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given how entrenched some of these intergenerational issues are, specifically around incarceration rates, are you confident, given the over-representation of young people, in particular, in detention young Indigenous people, that these targets, these benefits, will reach to that generation now, or will this take almost a whole generation for them, for their children, say, to not to be facing those same rates?
PRIME MINISTER: There are gains to be made now, but Ken, you may want to comment on this as well. But there are gains that can be made now but there is an honesty in this Agreement which understands that other gains are generational. And I have been hearing that for generations too. That's a key issue of disappointment that generations have come and gone and the generational changes haven't been made. That's not to fail to acknowledge, though, the generational achievements that have been put in place. Of course, there have been some, and many, but our hope is higher.
THE HON. KEN WYATT MP, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Just adding to that, in the discussions I've had with states and territories, the understanding of the intergenerational impact is now very conscious in the minds of state and territory systems. WA, for example, has repealed its legislation in respect to being incarcerated for fine defaults. That's a major shift because you're releasing, and it's predominantly women, you’re releasing mothers back to their families. That example is important. I know a couple of other jurisdictions are looking at issues as well. But what we have to focus on is setting the foundation in the first 15 years of life so that children are successful and will not end up in the pathways that take them into conflict with systems that see them incarcerated. We also are looking at what are the programs we need to put in place for people coming out of imprisonment that will allow them to take opportunities. I want to acknowledge one of your organisations, Pat, in Kalgoorlie, the Aboriginal community-controlled Health Service now recruits people who've come out of jail. They look at the issue of recency of a crime but they also look at the way in which they can skill young people or people who've come out, and what they've said to me is that their workforce is completely loyal, they've been given a great opportunity and they're continuing to professionally develop into other leadership roles in the organisation. So we'll be looking at those elements as well as part of the implementation plans, but listening to Aboriginal families and communities on the ground as well. This is all part of the historic reform. It is now doing things with our people, not to them.
PRIME MINISTER: Just two more because then we have to move on. Here and here. You can ask the other the one later, Kath if you like.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, three weeks ago in Victoria when they went into lockdown, there was something like 680 cases, today there is more...
PRIME MINISTER: Hang on, we’re talking about Indigenous issues.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Pat mentioned that some of these negotiations had been pretty hard-fought. What were some of the sticking points, and Pat, can I ask of you, what are the areas you would like to see further action beyond what’s been announced today?
PAT TURNER AM: Well, there are the key priority areas that are identified in the Agreement. Let me say that this Agreement has, probably, the most transparency, the most monitoring and the most accountable mechanisms that have ever been included in an agreement, and this is the first time that there has been an agreement with the former COAG, now National Cabinet, and Local Government Association with an outside party. First time ever. And I'm glad it's First Nations people that have got that. But you will see, here, that every year, every level has to account for what it's done and we will be reviewing continuously and we have national targets. Even the priority reforms have targets that have to be reported upon. Targets are just a measure of how well they are doing, governments are doing, and the level of ambition that they've been prepared to commit to. The priority reforms, as I said, are the game changers here. They will change the way government works with our people and governments, you know, we've made it very clear, we want parity across the board and that's what we'll be aiming for.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll go here, then we’ll go to Kath. Then we have to draw that part of the press conference to a close. Then I'll move to the pandemic.
JOURNALIST: I have a question on Victoria as well.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it can wait. Katharine.
JOURNALIST: One on this and then the pandemic question, if I can, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll come back to the pandemic one.
JOURNALIST: No worries, just…
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll have to deal with those later.
JOURNALIST: A closing the gap question.
PRIME MINISTER: Please.
JOURNALIST: You've all during this press conference narrated a highly successful process of co-design in terms of policy. Obviously there's been bumps and difficulties and all that sort of stuff, but you've got there. That's the principle at the heart of the voice, that Indigenous people be involved in government decision-making. So, doesn't the success of this project that you've all embarked upon make the case to accelerate the voice?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's never been a view from the Government that has in any way sought to not engage, and not listen, and not have Indigenous voices as part of the way we're making decisions, and I think that's what we've demonstrated. You know me, Katharine, I'm a very practical person about these issues. And I think what we're practically demonstrating is that model is already working, it is already occurring, and I will continue to operate in that way. And that's the process that, you know, Ken is also tracking down on the other matters that you've referred to.
MINISTER WYATT: Katharine, just very quickly, the work is continuing. The three groups are reaching a point at which they are considering models for Government to consider. The Coalition of Peaks is a very distinct group that will lead in many fronts in the closing the gap, but this is about giving all Indigenous people across this nation a chance to exercise their views on issues that impact directly on them at the community level as well.
PRIME MINISTER: So Pat, if I could say thank you.
PAT TURNER AM: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. And thank you, Minister. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Ken, thank you. Thanks very much. And as they go, I particularly want to acknowledge Tony Abbott. He has had an enormous impact on my understanding and appreciation of these issues when I worked with Tony many years ago, when we were in opposition, actually, and then in Government as Prime Minister. And I just want to acknowledge the impact that he has had in how we've been approaching these issues here today.
Let me turn to the issues of Victoria. I've already made a statement in relation to supporting the initiatives that the Victorian Premier has announced today and what were a very alarming level of figures that were revealed today. There has been somewhat of a sore tooth in terms of what we've seen in those numbers but, certainly, while some days have been lower, at that, elevated levels, that is a real cause for concern. Within those numbers, when you look at the broader trend that is occurring since the lockdown, I'm advised that we're still seeing around about, give or take, about 50 cases per day with no known source and that is the primary cause for concern. I mean, in New South Wales there are no known cases, with no known source, cases with no known source I should say. So that is actually at the heart of the concern about where this goes from here. That's why that tracing, and testing, that why the door-knocking that has been expanded with what the ADF are doing, and it is a very good program. ADF has also been enabled to increase their ability to participate in the actual conduct of the testing and they've been given accreditation to do that. So that's boosted those testing capabilities in a lot of those large centres and that's very welcome.
So as it has moved into other communities, that is obviously of great concern and we can’t rule out further restrictions or limitations to stem this outbreak. We'll be sharing our views again, with the Victorian Government about that, based on what the AHPPC is considering today and the advice that we're receiving directly. But I want to make it very clear that we support the moves taken because they’ve been very evidence-based by the Victorian Premier today.
Specifically in relation to aged care, just a couple of quick updates there, the situation in Epping Gardens I wouldn't say at this point is fully stable but there's been significant progress from yesterday. There's been further transfers from those facilities. There has been a significant change in the management of those facilities. Working together with the local health authorities there to ensure the workforce needs are being met, and the ADF have continued to play a role. As I said yesterday, it was our goal yesterday, through Services Australia, and the other communications mechanisms, to reach out, proactively, to every single family contact of those who were involved in that facility. I was advised last night and this morning, again, by the Minister that that - that attempt to contact every single one of those contacts was done yesterday. The work that is being done on communications is a combination of the facilities, themselves, where they can stand up that ability to make those regular contacts with the family, contacts of residents, they are doing that. If they have a problem in the ability to achieve that, then Minister Colbeck is working with them to put Services Australia teams in to make those calls and to ensure families can be kept in contact. So that is welcome.
A focus of the Victorian aged care response centre now is not only getting that further PPE out across Victoria and the facilities, and they were again packing those last night and getting them distributed, but it is also to be enforcing the training and enforcing the use of that PPE equipment in aged care facilities. There's been far too much anecdotal evidence that we've been receiving of PPE, despite the training, despite the PPE being there, not being used the way it should. And in discussions with the Minister, again this morning, we agreed, and that will be communicated through to centres, that failure to comply with those requirements of using PPE will lead to marking down on people's accreditation. That will occur. And so they need to ensure they follow those practices. They need to do that to ensure the protection, obviously, of their residents, but also to protect the staff at these facilities. I want staff to feel very confident going to work each day in aged care facilities. The PPE is there. The training has been there. And we are confirming that again with visits by teams to bring and refresh that training, wherever it is needed, and we're focusing obviously on those facilities that are in the areas of highest outbreaks and at greater risk, and where there are already cases.
But I can confirm to you to again that it is only a small number of facilities that I would still say were in the acute stage of the critical list that we have of just over a dozen centres. Stabilisation in many of those other centres has been established. But we are keeping on them on a close watching brief. And so it is really is now about ensuring that even where we haven’t quite a number of facilities, where there are cases, our advice is that they are being managed well within those facilities. But the AUSMAT teams, the first of those arrived today. Teams of South Australian nurses arrived the night before last. There is also the opportunity potentially to bring in some nurses from Western Australia - that was identified last night. So the resourcing of the staff needs is being worked on very well by the Aged Care Response Centre, and the integration of the work being done by the local hospitals, the public health unit of Victoria, together with the aged care regulators has stood up quite strongly in the last few days. Their task is to make sure that we don't see any further repeat of some of the more critical scenes that we’ve seen in places like Epping Gardens or St Basil's or facilities that have been in that category.
Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: The Treasury Secretary this morning has indicated that the deteriorating virus situation in Victoria and also the tougher border restriction in Queensland are likely to weigh on the economic outcomes more than the Budget envisaged last week?
PRIME MINISTER: True.
JOURNALIST: Does that concern you? Is there anything more you need to do to counteract that economic downturn?
PRIME MINISTER: It doesn't surprise me, and we actually flagged that would be the case from these very podiums when we made that point. These economic numbers quickly outdate, based on the way that the pandemic impacts on the country. The Victorian wave is certainly having that impact. Decisions that are taken by other states can also impact that result as well. That's why we've been so cautious not rushing to longer-term scenarios. We'll put forward the four-year estimates in the normal way in the Budget, but as the Treasury Secretary, I think, demonstrated this morning, those estimates over a longer-term would have been quickly overtaken by the events that we’ve had. So it is a constant challenge and they are constantly re-working those numbers. But the supports we have, are designed to move with those circumstances. So if there, will certainly be more businesses in Victoria, as the Secretary, I think, indicated today, who will be relying on JobKeeper post-September than would have been anticipated otherwise. And you, it may well be the case. Decisions about borders in Queensland could lead to that outcome as well. I think that's a little too early to say at this point. Those changes could be made just as easily in a week or so, and that could be reversed, and that economic impact, hopefully, therefore would be avoided.
Yeah Phil, and then Katharine, and then I’ll come back over that way.
JOURNALIST: Premier Andrews mentioned again today one of the problems is sick people still going to work in Victoria. How serious are you about post pandemic leave? Are you thinking something economy-wide like the unions are asking for or is your focus more sector-specific where it's evidence-based?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm not going to be drawn on those questions at this point because we're still working those discussions through as part of the process that the Minister for Industrial Relations is engaged in. So I think it is best that those discussions are held there. We're conscious of the issues and we’re seriously pursuing them.
Katharine?
JOURNALIST: PM you flagged a second ago that there may be more restrictions after the AH... the acronym I always get wrong...
PRIME MINISTER: The medical expert panel, I think I find this is the, I find a little easier to say.
JOURNALIST: Thank you, sorry, there might be more restrictions, do you mean just in Victoria or do you mean more broadly? And also another if I may, Richard Colbeck yesterday afternoon sent a signal that the Commonwealth was looking at perhaps some additional support for people who want or need to withdraw their elderly residents from nursing homes in Victoria, there might be some support to bring them home. There wasn't a lot of detail. Can you expand on what might be?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I can't say any more than he said yesterday and I'd refer you to him as to how he's progressing with that. No, the AHPPC, which Professor Kelly is bringing it together today, is really focused on the Victorian situation. No, I don't anticipate there being a need based on the advice I have for other restrictions elsewhere in the country. I’m, while - I spoke to Premier Berejiklian this morning, to Gladys, and she is, rightly, constantly anxious but that's exactly where, I think, we should all be when it comes to those who are responsible for managing these situations. But the outbreaks are very well chronicled and the sources of those in New South Wales all defined. And so, I think that still gives us reason for, I think, encouragement in New South Wales. But not reason for complacency. I've never seen Gladys have a complacent day in her life. So I'm sure she's going to continue to apply that usual level of focus.
Just one at a time.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Ken Wyatt said this morning, that WA, the closed borders has meant we have had not had outbreaks of coronavirus which we have seen in other states like Victoria and New South Wales. Do you agree with that? Are there other WA Ministers who also do see the merit of this closed border or as that seemed to suggest this morning?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me be very clear what I would like to achieve in Western Australia. I would like to achieve a cooperative situation in Western Australia. My primary concern for Western Australians is the health and wellbeing of Australians living in Western Australia, and that's why we have put in place all the measures that we have. The constitution doesn't provide for unilateral decisions to close borders without there being a proper basis for those decisions. That is our understanding, that is my understanding of it. And so I am very keen to work with the Western Australian Premier to ensure that the, all the appropriate protections are in place for Western Australia. I mean I think the argument that was being had, is that there is a border between Western Australia and South Australia and the incidence of cases in South Australia is lower than it is in Western Australia and so I just think when these decisions are made, there needs to be the clear, transparent process of medical evidence to support those decisions and they should be done in concert. In the New South Wales - Victorian border, I engaged with the New South Wales Premier, the Victorian Premier, we agreed that was the right response and then we not only did that but then we worked together to ensure we were putting in place cooperatively, the arrangements of how the border was going to be managed and what the medical advice was that led us to that decision and then we supported those arrangements through the application of ADF resources, particularly in border towns, to work through any issues that followed. That is the process that I think should work in a Federation and I'm very happy and would love to engage with Premier McGowan along those lines and the Attorney General and the Minister for Finance, both very senior Western Australians in my Government, are seeking to do that even as we speak.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] the border with New South Wales and Victoria, that would be OK, it’s just this indiscriminate border closure, that is the main clincher here for the Federal Government?
PRIME MINISTER: There is a constitutional issue here that goes well beyond the current circumstances. And I believe we can get an arrangement in place for Western Australia which completely addresses all of the Premier's public health concerns. And that can involve restrictions, it can involve restrictions on movements between states and from particular places and outbreak areas and resources to support that. At the very same time, it is the Commonwealth government that in response to the request from the West Australian Premier, is providing ADF resources to bolster their hotel quarantine. The biggest risk to Western Australia is the hotel quarantine, as we have seen in Victoria, and we are working hand in glove with the Premier there and look I enjoy a very good relationship with Mark McGowan. I have no truck with the, what has led to this case in terms of that process. But the fact is, there is a case that's going on. I warned the Premiers that this was likely to occur. I fear that it will result, based on the advice I have from the Attorney General, that it could leave Western Australia in a weaker position, so I would like to work with the Premier to ensure we leave Western Australians in a stronger position. That is what I want for Western Australians.
Yep? Here, and then I’ll keep coming around, then I’ll come over here.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] coronavirus in Australia since this pandemic started, particularly in Victoria where the number of active cases have exploded by about around about 9,000 in 3 weeks since the lockdown. What's not going right there to suppress the virus?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I would suggest to you a different way to look at this. The reason that we're having problems is because there is a coronavirus and sometimes I think we lose sight of this. The coronavirus finds its way into the nooks and crannies of our community and once it gets there, it takes hold. I mean, this is not unique to Australia. I was on a call last night, again, with Bibi Netanyahu. They have 1,900 cases a day. And there’s around, and the number of cases in Austria has doubled to 100 a day and there are many countries now experiencing further waves, Australia is with this Victorian wave. I have highlighted, I think, on so many occasions now, that the way we get on top of it, is ensuring that our testing and our tracing and our outbreak containment works effectively. Now, on some days, the virus wins. On other days, we beat it. But I think we've got to be careful not to slip into some idea that there is some golden immunity that Australia has in relation to this virus. This virus will be around for some time and we will direct every effort and every resource we have to stop its impact across our community and where there are lessons that need to be learned, they are getting learned. Where there is information that needs to be shared, then it is being shared. And where there are responsibilities and accountabilities that are needed, they are being addressed. But I don't want to give Australians, and I would urge in the reporting, that we don't create some false impression that somehow Australia has got a golden ticket in this. We don't. And I can tell you, speaking to many of these other leaders, I was talking to the Irish Prime Minister this morning, every country is dealing with this the best they can. That is what we're doing in Australia and I can tell you, we're doing better than most and many.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on Queensland, you’ve been pretty strong in your praise about the way New South Wales has handled this. Do you think the Premier's decision to shut off millions of Sydneysiders from being able to enter is sensible or is it an overreaction?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I will leave others to commentate on this. All I say is the decisions, when it comes to these matters, should be based on the best possible medical advice and I note the decisions that were taken today by the Victorian Premier were on that basis and I'm aware of that advice and I'm aware of that evidence that supports those decisions and I think whatever decisions premiers are taking, they have to explain them and they have to outline to the public about what the medical evidence is to support those decisions. So I think that's the standard that all political leaders should be held to, I am happy to be, and I am sure other premiers are when you put those questions to them.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, overnight there was a very tense stand-off at Epping Gardens and you have just talked about some of the issues there. Health workers were allegedly blocked from separating residents who had tested positive to COVID-19 from others, and federal intervention was requested. How angry are you with that operator and why were families left in the dark? You say communication has improved but just this week a man was called 11 hours after his mother had died to be informed that she was dead by being told that her body was deteriorating unrefrigerated in her room.
PRIME MINISTER: These are the distressing situations that I was referring to earlier in the week and they are incredibly distressing. They are the product of a very severe crisis that occurred in a number of these centres and we have been fairly upfront about that and the reasons as to how that took place and why there has been the need to transfer many patients, as they become patients, into hospitals, both private and public, and we have had great cooperation in recent days to ensure that has been taking place so there have been some significant failings in those areas and that's what the team has been working to address and to ensure that we don't get a repeat of that, when there are outbreaks. Remembering that when you get an outbreak in the community, that does affect workforce, whether it is an aged care facility or in any other type of workplace. And one of the challenges, to go to one of the earlier questions, that we are facing in Victoria at the moment is we are still seeing too much transmission in workplaces. People, if you have got those symptoms, do not go to work. The Premier's been very clear about that in his impassioned pleas and I support them. But equally it is true, the restrictions that are put in place about going into people's homes and things like that more broadly, people can let their guard down in those environments and that is where the virus can find its way. So when it gets into a facility, it can have a significant impact. And that’s what the processes we have put in place over the course of the last week and even before that, but particularly over the last few days, are designed to ensure that the sort of very distressing things that have occurred don’t occur again.
Chris?
JOURNALIST: I am just wondering how you envisage that the economy recovers, given that the uncertainty of this virus means we’re making assumptions on a recovery which we just can't make. I mean, how can you ever really, as a state premier, open the border again, if you know that a virus case might get across?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the goal of the suppression strategy is zero community transmission. That is the goal. And in seven states and territories, we're pretty much at that goal, with a few notable but very small exceptions. I am quite confident that the measures that are in place in New South Wales and also in Queensland will address those cases that we have been reading about in these last 24-48 hours. In Victoria, the challenge is far greater. But all you can do, Chris, is do what we are doing and that is keep people in jobs, provide businesses with the support they need which either buys them time or buys them new opportunities. And I have referred to those on many occasions about the incredible innovation we have seen from businesses. The types of supports we put in place in Australia for businesses, employees, and welfare support is commensurate and in a very similar vein to pretty much all the other leaders I talk to. Many of them look at what we have done and they are replicating it. What we have done replicates some of the things they have done. There has been an enormous amount of collaboration and we are all dealing with the same problems and the uncertainty is one of those problems. So what you do is you just keep people in jobs, you look for every opportunity to build a COVID safe economy every opportunity you can to do that. And you put every other effort you can into finding a vaccine and making sure that when that vaccine is found, there is a global commitment that as soon as it is found it is shared and that is a critical issue I have been raising in many of my calls recently with other leaders and that has been well supported. Whoever finds it, wherever they are, I think there is a global responsibility to share that far and wide.
JOURNALIST: About $12 billion more has or is expected to be taken out of superannuation by the end of the year. Are you concerned that effectively that money is being taken for purposes that it is not intended for? That you will potentially have situations where people are less able to support themselves later on in life when they are in retirement? And what is the Government doing to step in and ensure that that money is not being inappropriately used?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's not my money. It’s not the Government's money. It is their money. The intent for which it is used is decided by the person whose money it is. The Government doesn't give people lectures about how they should spend their money, that is not the sort of Government we are. It is their money and if they believe they need it because they are facing hardship, because the rules are there to only be making this available in cases of that hardship, just as there has always been rules to support people to access their superannuation because of a particular hardship. That is not a new concept. It is a much bigger concept now given the hardship that people are facing. But the overwhelming majority of cases that my advice is that people are using it actually to restructure their own personal balance sheets. They are putting it against their debts and they are putting it against to support their mortgages and that strikes me as a very good opportunity for them to reduce their risk, to increase their financial resilience with their own resources and in many respects, you will find that by taking those decisions, they may be, I would argue, potentially much more financially advantageous decisions they are making by redeploying their own resources to those uses right now and put them even in a stronger position in the future. So no, I don't have those concerns, but I think it is very important to note, we are not a Government that tells people how they should spend their own money. Superannuation doesn't belong to the superannuation fund managers. It belongs to the superannuation fund members. It is their money and there are legitimate and I think very appropriate rules to enable people in this time of hardship to access their own money, to do with it what they believe is best for them. I will back them as to how they spend their money every day of the week. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
29 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good morning everyone. I’m joined by Professor Murphy this morning in his capacity as the Secretary of the Department of Health. The reason for that is as Secretary for the Department of Health that he is directly overseeing the operations of the Department and engaging with the Victorian Government in relation to the aged care issues currently that we are addressing in Victoria. Of course, Professor Kelly would normally join me on broader issues and will continue to do that in our normal updates and briefings, whether it be on National Cabinet or on broader reporting that we do on the pandemic. But given that Professor Murphy is the one directly responsible in his duties as Secretary for the Health Department, that's why he joins me here today. I just wanted to make that very clear. Everyone is doing a tremendous job amongst our CMO team, as they are in the Department of Health and as you know there are many challenges.
The situation that we have been facing, particularly in recent days and weeks in Victoria for aged care, has been very distressing. It is very distressing first and foremost to the families of those who have loved ones in aged care facilities. The most vulnerable in our community have always been our highest concern when it comes to managing the health issues associated with this pandemic. That has always been true for the elderly, but it has also been true for those who have many other comorbidities, those who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments, those in Indigenous communities and remote areas. We have always been aware of those who have been most vulnerable in our community and elderly persons, particularly those in facilities which these days, as we know, aged care has changed. It's one of the reasons why I called the Royal Commission into aged care because the nature and demands on our aged care services have changed. In many ways, aged care facilities in many instances have become a form of pre-palliative care in Australia. Many years ago it was quite different, but these days, particularly with the in-home aged care options that we are continuing to expand across the country, more Australians are choosing and it is a good choice to be able to make, to remain at home. But those who have moved into aged care facilities are often moved in at a much more advanced stage and all of us who have had to make those decisions in relation to loved ones understand that and so I think that attaches to it a particular sensitivity in the challenges we're now facing.
The challenges of dealing with aged care are not unique to Australia. Indeed, in every country in the world where there is sustained community transmission, it is inevitable that this will find its way into aged care facilities. When it rains, everyone gets wet. And that is what we're seeing with broad-based community transmission in Victoria. As the Premier rightly said, if you are ill, do not go to work. That is true if you work in a meat processing plant, it is true if you work in a chemist shop, it is true if you work in a restaurant, it is true if you're a journalist, a politician, whoever you may be, an aged care worker especially. We have, I think, over 750 healthcare workers in particular in Victoria who have been infected with COVID. This is the product of community transmission and whatever workplace it is, then workplaces are vulnerable and that's why the Victoria Government has rightly put in place the protections they have to try and protect against that workplace transmission.
Now, in relation to aged care facilities in Victoria, there are over 430 such facilities in Melbourne. It's a large number of facilities. We have seen some very distressing and concerning situations arise in a handful of those facilities. In facilities such as St Basil's, in facilities such as Epping Gardens where we have been working very consistently over recent days, in Kirkbrae. There are a range of other facilities where there have been COVID cases, around 13 that we are keeping a very close watch on. There are facilities outside of that list of 13 who are obviously in areas where there is community outbreak which we are also watching, but they are not what you'd call the critical list of facilities where we have a keen level of focus. So it's important to understand, because I can understand if people in Victoria or even elsewhere as they're seeing it unfold the very distressing stories out of St Basil's and the other facilities which have been affected most acutely, that they will have concerns about the facility where their family is. The good news is broadly across the aged care system in Victoria, we have been able together, working together with the Victorian Government, able to avoid those quite distressing scenes in the overwhelming majority of those facilities. But we will not be complacent about it and the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has been a key initiative to ensure that we continue to stay on top and hopefully ahead of any potential threats that may emerge in those facilities.
I'll ask Professor Murphy to speak to a number of those distressing cases. As I said yesterday when I was in Queensland before returning here yesterday, I want to be as up-front with you as we possibly can about what has occurred in these facilities. And I said the Royal Commission will have absolute ability to go into the intricacies of these issues, and I hope they do because all lessons always must be learnt. But in the meantime, happy for us to convey as much as we possibly can because I believe that can provide some assurance to the public that we are aware of the problems that have occurred and more importantly are taking actions to deal with those problems and to try to prevent them in the case of any outbreaks that may occur in the future in these facilities. But I do stress, the principal cause for transmission into aged care facilities has been through workforce transmission. It has principally come through the infection of staff, more broadly in the community, in many cases completely unaware of that infection and by the time they became aware of that infection, then obviously they'd been in those facilities. And that is true in many workplaces around Victoria. In the case of aged care, then obviously the consequences of that and implications are far more serious to those for whom they're providing care.
The actions that have been to principally address the disruption in workforce in these facilities. Where cases have been identified in facilities, there had been an immediate isolation of entire workforces in these places. Now, if you take out an entire workforce in a facility, that is going to have obvious impacts for the continuity of care and very distressing consequences have flown from that. They trouble me deeply, I know they would trouble the Premier equally deeply, our ministers for health, we are all very distressed by those events that took place in those few facilities that were affected in this way. And so it has been important in those cases to move as quickly as we can to get workforces into those places. Those workforces have been drawn from broader nursing staff but also, in particular, in the Epping Gardens centre, they were supported by the ADF and on one occasion arranged quite late in the evening. But going forward, the key actions that were necessary were to ensure the cessation of all unnecessary elective surgery and to free up the private and public nursing workforces to support those aged care facilities. The aged care facilities that are in the most distressed situation, you wouldn't describe as being in a normal aged care environment with residents. They have moved effectively into an in-patient care type facility, akin to what you would see in a hospital. And so that requires in many cases an even higher standard of nursing care in those places and so getting access to that private and public nursing workforce is a critical part of the solution to ensure we can move people quickly into those situations. So I welcome the decision of the Premier yesterday to make those decisions in relation to elective surgery. That is already making a very big impact and I want to thank, particularly, the hospitals that have been in the clusters of areas around where these facilities are in working so quickly with our team in the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre to be able to make those staffing available.
The second area of response was to transfer patients - because they had become patients, in most cases - out of aged care facilities into both public and private hospitals. That has been an essential action, both to ensure that those Australians were getting the support and care they needed, but also that the facilities themselves could be brought back to a level of operations where the workforce could support it and that those who remain in those facilities could get the standard of care that we would all expect. So I thank the Premier also for his agreement to that step, working together to solve the problem. And that has also had a very significant impact. Last night, Professor Murphy can update you on this, but we had significant further transfers out of Epping Gardens, I understand, but there was also, I think, Wyndham Lodge as well, we had some transfers yesterday and a number of other facilities. That is relieving the pressure on those places and that is welcomed.
A third part of the response has been the calling in of AUSMAT teams. The first of those I anticipate to arrive tomorrow. Those teams, we hope, to get up to five within a reasonable period of time. They're teams of seven. They act as a first responder, if you like, into places that are going through a critical response need and to stabilise the situation and to provide not just the medical and clinical support but the leadership, medical leadership, that is required in those critical situations. And that is something they can supplement very, very effectively. And we welcome that support as well and that has been arranged, of course, by Minister Hunt to go in as part of that response. There is also the broader work which is being done on infection control. Professor Murphy can go through those figures, but some 150,000 aged care workers have been trained with those training modules that have been provided through the earlier response provided by the Commonwealth. It is also important that that will now be refreshed and part of the task that has been undertaken through the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, led by Joe Buffone, has been to now coordinate teams to be going into facilities across Melbourne to ensure that we're getting compliance with infection control procedures. Part of the response team that has been going into places like St Basil's and others has also, in particular, in Epping Gardens today involves geriatricians as well as infection control specialists working together with senior nursing staff to ensure those facilities can be stabilised. St Basil's, I'm advised now, has been brought to a stable position and we're working very hard to ensure that Epping Gardens is in that position as quickly as possible.
The other critical part has been in communications and I want to commend Minister Colbeck for the work that he's been doing to ensure that we're getting as much communication to families as possible. As you know, there will be a principal point of contact for every resident with a family. And today, I'm advised that there will be outward calls to all of those family contacts in the Epping Gardens facility. That has already been done in relation to St Basil's and that is the practice that has been put in place. There is also a system that has been put in place where Services Australia is supporting the communication to families working with the nurses and others in the facilities who are providing those details to Services Australia so they can be communicated directly to families. It is our endeavour to contact families as often as possible to ensure they have the information of what is occurring with their loved ones.
I will leave it to Professor Murphy to go into more details of the response, but since returning yesterday, these are the things that have been put in place. I genuinely want to thank the Victorian Government for working with us to get these solutions in place. These are our shared responsibilities, as the Premier and I know. We have been in contact with each other this morning. We'll be speaking later today. We have been in regular contact over these issues and I want to assure Victorians, in particular, but Australians all around the country, premiers, chief ministers, myself, our officials, our teams are working together to just focus on the problem, to solve the problem, and to keep Australians safe. That's my sole objective.
Now, more broadly on the Victorian response, we continue to support that effort. The ADF obviously highly involved with that tasking and I can note today that the door knocking task that the ADF had been involved in will be expanded. That's proving to be very effective and so further resources are being directed towards that task. The testing regime in Victoria continues to run at a cracking pace and I commend them for the rollout of that program. Also I want to thank all states and territories. Last Friday, as I said to you, we agreed a national dashboard of key data that enables us to track even more closely the performance of all states and territories as they're going through their testing and their tracing regimes. Now, for many states and territories, we welcome the fact that they're entering zeros into those datasets and long may that be the case, but when those numbers move, it's important that we are able to identify those as early as possible. It is also pleasing to see that the outbreak in New South Wales has been contained. That has now been the case for many days and again I commend the New South Wales Government and the excellent tracing work they have been doing to stay on top of that. The response down in Batemans Bay has been particularly welcomed and I'm pleased to hear that the situation there has stabilised significantly and the broader cases that have been identified, they have moved on extremely fast to ensure that they can be contained.
Just finally, I just want to make a couple of points on the economic issues. It is clear that the Victorian wave that Australia is now experiencing, and that's how I honestly have to describe it. I mean, there's not a second wave that's going across the rest of the country, that is not occurring. There is a significant Victorian wave, but that Victorian wave is impacting the national economy more broadly. We're seeing that in the payroll data. That is the most, one of the most, timely datasets we see on employment. It is affecting other states. We're also seeing that on things like table bookings at restaurants and in states that aren't affected by COVID in the same way that Victoria has. So that's what I mean when I say Australia wins when Victoria wins. It's in the national interest, both from a health perspective and an economic perspective that we ensure that Victoria wins here and we're all backing Victoria to win and we're all putting everything we can behind Victoria to ensure they can do that and where we have shared responsibilities, we're working incredibly closely together.
I also welcome the announcement by APRA today, made before markets opened, which will ensure banks will have continued flexibility to be able to deal with the commitments that their clients have on their mortgages and business loans and things of that nature and I think that has shown a fleet-footedness by APRA in response to the crisis. Also, of interest, the Australian Office of Financial Management announced the syndication of a $15 billion, 50-year bond - sorry, 30-year bond. That is the second, I understand, of those 30-year bonds. One was done when I was Treasurer. They locked that in at some 1.9 percent. That means that we are changing the profile of our debt and ensuring that the interest costs on our debt, which have had to rise significantly, the amount of new issuances we have had have been at record levels, combined together with T-notes (Treasury notes), we’ve raised just some under $2 billion in recent months, $197.6 million to be exact, $132 million through bonds. These have been oversubscribed. That is an indication of the confidence that the world’s financial markets have in both how Australia is managing, I think, the COVID pandemic, but also the financial management of the country through this pandemic. And with that I'll pass you to Professor Murphy.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Thank you Prime Minister. So in this evolving global pandemic with nearly 17 million reported cases and multiples of that unreported almost certainly, one of the key lessons is that where you have sustained, significant community transmission, there are tragedies in aged care. Aged care cannot be completely protected from sustained community transmission as we have seen in Victoria over recent weeks. Despite all the preparation, the infection control planning, the deployment of PPE, the pandemic and infection control plans that every facility has created, the restriction of visitors, the staff screening, all of those cannot protect against what the Prime Minister said was the inadvertent bringing into the facility of this virus.
One of the things we have all learned about this virus in the last six months is this terrible combination of a virus that can spread so easily in fit, young people, sometimes without any symptoms, and yet when it gets into our frail elderly people, it wreaks havoc. And it has a very significant death rate, fortunately some do recover and, but it is a very, very nasty virus with the elderly. We have always said from the beginning of this pandemic that we cannot completely protect our elderly unless we control community transmission.
So we do have outbreaks in 77 of our residential aged care facilities in Victoria. That is around about 10% of the 770 or thereabouts residential aged care facilities in that state. And given that there are 465 facilities in the outbreak hot zones, that in some respects shows just how well the others have done given the widespread community transmission that has occurred across that hot zone of the Melbourne metropolitan area and Mitchell Shire. Many facilities have protected their residents with extreme attention to detail and focus. It's not the fault that those facilities have outbreaks, that they have had cases introduced. We know that people, residents have often, families have said that sometimes they have observed breaches and we will look into any issues in the retrospective analysis of these significant outbreaks. But these incursions of this virus into facilities are essentially unavoidable. For most of those 77 facilities, there have only been one or two small cases. The public health response has been swift and prompt. Isolation, quarantining of contacts has brought the facility under very good and early control. In others, there have been substantial and bigger outbreaks. We have 13 facilities that we are keeping a very close eye on at the moment. Many with more than 20 cases. We now have across all of aged care, including homecare, 456 residents who are now Covid positive. That is still a relatively small proportion of the cases in Victoria but it is probably the highest concern group of people that are infected with this virus. There are also 381 staff who have now contracted Covid virus across the aged care sector. On top of that, there are many hundreds of hospital and healthcare workers who have also contracted coronavirus and there are also many hundreds, sorry, there are many hospital staff who have contracted, not hundreds but there are many hundreds of hospital staff who are in quarantine and isolation.
So the loss of staff with the virus, the loss of staff who are in quarantine, both in the aged care and hospital sector has put a huge strain on the workforce supply. It is essentially one workforce across health and aged care. That has been one of the most significant factors. The most tragic part of this aged care outbreak is that there have been 49 deaths in aged care. That is a terrible tragedy and there will be more. There will be more deaths with the number of aged care recipients that are infected. We know that, it is a certainty. We will see deaths every day and that is a tragedy. This virus, once it gets into many frail elderly people has an inevitable, fatal outcome in some cases. There is no effective treatment as we know, there are some treatments that can help a bit in some people, but essentially it has an inevitable outcome. We, our hearts go out to the families of those people who have lost their lives and to those families who will lose their loved ones in coming days and weeks. This is the concern above all that hits us in the health sector in this Covid pandemic. And that is one of the reasons why you have heard the Victorian Premier and the Chief Health Officer there talk to those younger and fitter people who aren't sick, who are spreading this virus in the community. That is the consequence of not doing the right thing if that is happening.
I will talk a little bit about two significant outbreaks. The first one that occupied us over many days last week and on the weekend was the St Basil's home for the aged. That, as the Prime Minister said, we had an event that we have not experienced before in the outbreak such as in New South Wales we had before, and the other outbreaks in Victoria where the nature of the outbreak was that the public health officials in Victoria decided that the entire staff of that facility should go into quarantine, management, staff, everyone - the whole staff. So we had to find, in partnership with Victoria, a new staff. new leadership. And that staff had to be found in a context where there essentially were no spare staff in Victoria because of the number of staff and contacts that were in quarantine and isolation. So it was very very difficult. Staff were found from all sorts of sources but they were not staff that knew this community and there is no doubt that there were, a very challenging situation and there were clearly deficiencies in care. Once those deficiencies in care became widely known to us last weekend, we immediately moved to decant residents from that facility. 64 have now been moved to hospital settings. There are 32 remaining. There is new management on site and all the reports are that this facility is now well-managed and care is good and we have that independently verified from a number of sources. But there were clearly deficiencies in care last week and stories which you will have heard reported and which troubled all of us about that. And obviously, the Minister for Aged Care, Minister Colbeck has undertaken to the families that we will do a review of that outbreak as we did in the two big outbreaks in New South Wales.
Our biggest concern at the moment is a facility in Epping; Epping Gardens. Again a facility where the great majority of the workforce had to go into quarantine. And a workforce had to be found very quickly. And that has been done with the huge support of the public hospitals in Victoria who also don't have any spare workforce but they have closed beds and wards and closed operating theatres with the elective surgery cancellation, and freed up their workforce to go out and support this facility. There are still issues in that facility. I understand that there are still concerns from families and staff. We are in the process of decanting a substantial number of those residents, up to 45 out of that facility. We are putting in some very senior workforce to cope with the loss of the many senior staff from that facility who unfortunately had to quarantine. We are very confident that we will have that facility stable like St Basil's in the next 24 hours.
There are 11 other facilities with significant sized outbreaks as the Prime Minister has said. Many of those facilities have quite large numbers of cases. But they are managing extremely well. Some of them have, they have all co-horted those residents, lessons we learnt from Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge in New South Wales. So some of them have a floor of positive and some have a floor of negative. They are being supported by their local hospitals and they are being brought in to, with nursing staff, infectious diseases physicians, public health physicians and as the Prime Minister said, they are setting up a hospital in the home type environment in the residential aged care facilities. Many of those facilities have also decanted staff to private hospitals in significant numbers when they feel like the load on the facility, or that those residents need hospital care. On no occasion has there been a situation in Victoria where a doctor or a clinical staff member feels that someone would benefit from hospital care when that hasn’t been provided. But given that the events of the last few days, we have spent a lot of time with the Victorian Department of Health, working out ways to ensure that these sort of staffing shortages don't ever happen again. And we have now got a very strong agreement that priority will be given to meeting the staffing needs of every residential aged care facility with public hospital staff. They are the only staff at the moment we have left, we're looking at trying to bring in from interstate, additional nurses and trying to recruit new personal care workers from nursing students and other sources. But at the moment, the only staff that are available when there are mass quarantines of staff are the hospital workforce. And I can say with incredible gratitude to my colleagues who run the hospitals in Victoria, how much they have stood up and provided senior nurses, teams of nurses to go into facilities where there are staff shortages, where staff are in isolation or in quarantine, and step in and fill the gap and provide that leadership. We have seen that in several facilities over the last 24 hours and we have a guarantee now that this will happen and we will make sure that at no stage do we get a staffing situation which leads to those significant deficiencies in care.
We also have, with a very welcome announcement of the Victorian government, the cessation of non-urgent, elective surgery. We are freeing up significant private hospital capacity across Victoria and we will continue to transfer residents with Covid, or with high care needs from those facilities where it is seen necessary to make the care environment safe. You can make the care environment safe as we have seen in St Basil's at the moment. There are still some positive cases there, but things are stable and good by all accounts. So there are many other things we are doing. As the Prime Minister and Minister Hunt have said, we have set up a joint Victorian and Commonwealth government aged care response Centre where we now have a number of senior clinical staff, infection control, geriatrics, senior nursing staff, to respond to these issues, to rapidly deploy to a facility that has any issues. We have set up a workforce agency which will recruit staff from interstate, fly in some nurses from other states, create a new pool of nurses to help, and personal care workers to help support these facilities. We are also going to deploy a range of infection control enhancements. As the Prime Minister said, there was extensive training in infection control but when you're busy, things can slip and you need to have people coming in to supervise and ensure that you are doing the right thing. As Minister Hunt announced, we are also deploying face shields. Staff in residential aged care facilities are now wearing masks routinely but if we can put face shields on top, that provides additional protections, stops people touching their mask, and ensures that people are much more aware of infection control practices. We will be also making sure that every facility is visited by an infection control expert that can ensure that the training is up-to-date and that people are refreshed in that way. We are very, very keen to make sure that those facilities that don't have outbreaks continue their excellent protection and practice and we want to help bolster them. It has been very difficult for families because they have been generally prevented, except in limited circumstances, from visiting, but we have to keep anyone unnecessary out of these facilities to protect the residents.
Finally, I wouldn't be, it would be remiss of me not to say that the most important thing we can do to solve the residential aged care outbreak in Victoria is to control that community transmission. So to all of my fellow Victorians, and I am a Victorian at heart, please do what your Premier and Chief Health Officer is saying. Please keep that movement to an absolute minimum. Please do what you're being asked to do. Do it for your elderly, fellow Victorians because it is the community transmission that has caused this problem.
Thank you Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Brendan.
JOURNALIST: Dan Andrews said yesterday that he wouldn’t let his own mother into some of these aged care facilities, now given they’re regulated by the feds, how do you respond to his quite emotive criticisms of your government’s handling of these aged care facilities, and is there blame shifting going on?
PRIME MINISTER: I am not interested in any of that. What I'm interested in and I know what the Premier is interested in, is us working together to solve the problem. And the reports of, I think these things about how the Premier and I are working together are greatly exaggerated. The Premier and I enjoy a very good working relationship. We enjoy a high level of respect for each other and the responsibilities we each have. And we will continue to conduct those responsibilities as the public would expect us to do, and in fact as each of us would expect us to do. And I said earlier, that all of us, many of us I should say, have had to make decisions about our elderly loved ones who have gone into aged care. And it is an even harder decision these days because we know that, in many cases if not most, we are making decisions about placing our elderly loved ones into pre-palliative care. And that was certainly the case with my own father last year. And they are difficult decisions because you're coming to terms with what you know is the situation. And so I completely understand the emotion that is around this issue. We saw this with Minister Hunt yesterday, and I understand the emotion of whether it is the Premier or anyone else about these issues and that’s why I think we have to deal with them sensitively, which is what we are seeking to do. It’s why I’m so appreciative of some of the heroics of the nurses and nurses aides and assistants of some of those working in the most affected facilities is truly extraordinary. Whether it was the ADF nurses that went in at 11pm the other night into what was one of the most challenging circumstances they have certainly faced. Or whether it was those who just bravely got out of bed each day and said I'm going back to work today. I say thank you to them. They have concerns and we want to allay those concerns, particularly with the practices that Professor Murphy has outlined today. Whether that is in the provision of PPE equipment, and the additional support going into infection control, to assure the aged care workforce that they can get to work, they shouldn't go if they are not well, obviously. But those protections can be in place and that is what the Premier and I are keen to, I think, reinforce. The entire system depends on that operating effectively. The aged care system has challenges in it because of what I have said before. That is why I called a Royal Commission into Aged Care. I'm not naive to those challenges, and the significant demands that are going to be placed on the Commonwealth to respond to those. Already we have made some significant responses when it comes to in-home aged care places, and in the budget we will be making more. But what I am keen to stress today is the context and the context is that out of more than 430 aged care services and facilities in Melbourne, we have got some very serious and acute conditions in 3, arguably 4, and that includes previously Monash, which we had to completely transfer people out of. In the hundreds of other facilities around the state, particularly in the metropolitan area, then they have been managing extremely well. And so I would point to that experience to calm people's concerns and certainly to not add to the, any exaggeration of how that relationship is proceeding. The relationship is a very strong one. We have worked together for some period of time now and that working relationship undoubtedly will continue to serve both Victorians and Australians I think hopefully well.
David?
JOURNALIST: Why is it only today that some of this federal intervention is happening? Why wasn’t it not coming forward at the National Cabinet meeting on Friday? This crisis has been weeks in the making in aged care. Have you acted too slowly on this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well David, you must have missed the announcement that was made on Friday made about the establishment of the Victorian aged care response centre. That is what Professor Kelly announced from that very platform, that was one of the measures that were put in place because of the need to bring together the joint response. What had occurred over the weekend, in particular, which rapidly escalated the situation in a number of these facilities as I said was the complete withdrawal of the workforce. That is not something that happened in Newmarch in New South Wales. This was a new situation, that had not been anticipated or foreshadowed at a state level or considered at a federal level, that an entire staff of an entire facility where there had been a significant Covid outbreak would be completely removed. Effectively almost immediately. And so that placed an incredible strain on getting the continuity of care, staff that had to be drawn from not the usual sources, at different levels of training. Doing the best they possibly can, could under the circumstances but it is very distressing what those events lead to. And so what you are seeing David is that these circumstances that we are facing, constantly change. And they present new challenges. The challenges that we have in Victoria are very different to those that we experienced In Newmarch. In Newmarch, the majority of the staff were able to be retained in the facility to ensure that there was a continued continuity of care in those places. There was not broad based community transmission that led to what occurred in Newmarch. In Victoria, there has been and that means that more facilities are at risk and the fact that more facilities have not resulted in the circumstances we have seen in these, this small number of facilities in Victoria is welcome news, and encouraging news that by and large across the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of facilities, that those protections have proved sufficient to date, but we are not complacent about it and that is why we are taking the additional measures now. So we will continue to make the response, we will continue to respond to the cases that present, and we will continue to work together to get the right response.
We’ll come back over here to Andrew, and then Phil.
JOURNALIST: Professor Murphy, welcome back, I bet you’ve missed it. Can I ask you to update us on the ICU capacity down in Victoria and what thinking there might be or what planning there might be to boost that from other states and territories, perhaps by transferring patients? And Prime Minister can I also ask one about pandemic leave? Clearly you have resolved the issue in aged care but extending pandemic leave to others to ensure they aren't at work if they are told to be isolated. Can I ask that one as well?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So I haven’t got the actual data on ICU capacity, but we are very comfortable with that situation at the moment. The outbreak in Victoria has seen some hundreds of people in hospital but ICU occupancy is still well within its base and we have already substantial plans to expand ICU capacity in the public and private hospital system in Victoria. I don't think there would be any foreseeable need in the next - unless we had a very significant increase in the number of severe cases - to do that. This is one of the challenges at the moment in Victoria is that we have seen this problem in aged care but the hospital system has otherwise been coping very well. We can get back to you on the current data today on the ICU capacity. I have come prepared for aged care but all of our reports are that we are very comfortable with the ICU capacity in Victoria at the moment and with the already planned expansion capacity. There is a lot of potential expansion. That is not a current concern. Obviously we are watching it carefully.
PRIME MINISTER: I think that’s one of the biggest differences between now dealing with this Victorian wave and when we were dealing with the broader first national wave is the concerns we had in those in that first few months was we had to build up those ICU capabilities and not only is there that capability in Victoria that has been built up but obviously around the rest of the country. As you say, you can put a respirator on a plane and you can move it between states very quickly. So that is I think a welcome assurance to people that we have a much higher level of confidence today than we had back in April and March when it came to those issues. On the issue of pandemic leave, it is a matter I have discussed with the Minister for Industrial Relations and as you know there are ongoing discussions between the government, employer groups and employees about a range of issues around managing the pandemic. And that will be one of them.
JOURNALIST: PM, you spoke about the effect of Victoria on the economy more broadly. Until the Victorian outbreak, we were sort of on track to reopen a large amount of the domestic economy by now, mid to late July. Can you even estimate or guess when we might reach that point that we were supposed to be at now given what is happening in Victoria, at what stage we might get to having all the borders open and most of our commerce…?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at this stage Phil, with the status of the Victorian waive. I'm significantly encouraged by what we have seen in New South Wales. Where there has been a real test of the system with a number of outbreaks and the capability to get on top of those quickly should give all of the country great encouragement, that it is not an inevitable consequence that where there are outbreaks, it can result where, sadly the Victorian situation has come to. That's not a criticism, that’s, they’re just an observation of facts. So I think that is encouraging. It says that, yes, we can get on top of this when it occurs. So you know, there are a couple of cases in Queensland today. And a school has been closed for a short period of time to deal with that. I have a lot of confidence as expressed to me by the Chief Medical Officer this morning, the Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Kelly about the response to that situation and the readiness of their tracing capabilities in Queensland. So I think once we get a better read on where these numbers are in Victoria and hopefully we will see better numbers from Victoria today but we don’t know. But what I do know Phil, and I have got another meeting with that group of what was known as First Movers later today, is that a number of those are facing similar challenges to Australia. A lot of countries that went through that first period, as successfully or almost as successfully as Australia is now seeing this again. So this is not unique to Australia. But you know, I was at Walker Seafoods, a visit I made yesterday, it was tremendously encouraging because it just showed a business that was adapting and changing their business model, making use of the supports that were available to make decisions, keep people in work, grow their business get themselves out of it and when businesses are doing that and governments are doing what governments are doing, then it is my hope that we can have a better read on that in about a month from now. But I think any time before that, I mean, that’s I think a cautious estimate - a month from now, if we get a better read on that in the next couple of weeks then I will be the first to celebrate that.
Mark?
JOURNALIST: A couple of matters for Professor Murphy. Professor, it is reported this morning that you made a direct request to the Victorian government last week to further restrict elective surgery to free up nursing staff for these aged care facilities and that when that hadn't been done by Sunday, you are said to have been shocked that that was the case. The Victorian Government says the first communication they had with you about this matter was on Sunday and you didn't make any direct request. The first direct request came from the Prime Minister in a text message on Monday. Can you clarify those events please for the record? And secondly, the operators of Epping Gardens have distributed a memo to resident’s families saying that they wanted to transfer the elderly residents to state run hospitals and the Federal Department resisted that. Can you clarify that for us please?
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: So the, I have no evidence that the federal Department has resisted that at all. The Federal Department has been cooperating with the Victorian Department to find private hospital beds as quickly as possible, and we are in the process of transferring a significant number of residents. We have got to obviously comply with the residents wishes and their concerns. I have been in discussion with the Victorians authorities about elective surgery and I first discussed it with a senior official in the Victorian health department I think on the 15th July wondering what they were doing with elective surgery. I have had many informal discussions with people late last week, certainly on the weekend on Sunday I did say that this has become really crucial that this is stopped now and I did make a very formal request. But we have been discussing this over, late last week and on the weekend. So I think it is a bit of a storm in a teacup. They did, they had a Cabinet meeting and they have made a decision and that is the most important thing.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, WA Premier, Mark McGowan has said he won't be lifting the state's borders until he can be confident there is no community transmission in the Eastern States. Clearly there still is widespread community transmission in the situation in Victoria, given this and given the fact that you have said part of your suppression strategy, the goal is no community transmissions. Why is the Federal Government supporting Clive Palmer in his High Court challenge against WA’s hard border?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me be clear, we are not supporting Clive Palmer. An action has been brought in relation to the WA border. It goes to quite serious constitutional issues which the Commonwealth could not be silent about and my concern is that it is highly likely that the constitutional position that is being reviewed in this case will not fall in the Western Australian Government's favour. And what I am keen to do is to engage with the Western Australian Government to ensure that we can have appropriate health protections for the people of Western Australia to ensure that there is not transmission from areas associated with outbreaks, that was the basis of a position that I have been consistently putting to Premiers. It is absolutely critical that we do not get transference out of outbreak areas. That is our Government's policy. And so my fear is, is that if an all or nothing approach is taken to the border question, then that will not serve the people of any state well. And so I would welcome the opportunity to come to a position where we can address the genuine concerns that people might have in any other state, but particularly in Western Australia, to ensure that they are covered off and that is my only real objective here. The constitutional position is one that provides for there to be free movement of Australians across borders, that’s what a Federation is, and that that free movement should not be prevented. There are much more broader consequences of this case that go beyond specifically the pandemic and that is why the Commonwealth responsibly has to be able to put the responsible constitutional position. This is not done in aid of Mr Palmer in any way shape or form, in no way at all. I warned the states and territories that if they make arbitrary positions on borders that they are likely to find themselves in this situation, that someone is likely to bring a case and that this may well crystallise a constitutional position that would not be to their advantage so as I think the Finance Minister and our Senior West Australian has made the point in the West today, very keen to engage in a way with the Western Australian Government that protects the health of Western Australians and protects the health of Australia and the prosperity of Australia and so we are not seeking any sort of conflict here, whatsoever. We would like to have a very productive outcome here but I fear a sort of an all or nothing approach on the case is not the best way forward here because I think the constitutional position is fairly clear. Now it is not for me to bush lawyer that. I'm not a lawyer let alone a bush lawyer so, that is the advice I have from the Attorney-General, who is also a Western Australian. So I'm concerned about the sort of combative way that this is unfolding in Western Australia and I would like to find a much more productive way forward.
JOURNALIST: One of the consequences on your role as PM, of COVID, has been your ability to travel overseas to meet global leaders. We obviously know that is incredibly expensive and we've seen that virtual summits have been quite effective in the interim. After the crisis, do you intend to travel normally, or do you think that virtual summits will be a part of the future?
PRIME MINISTER: I hope they, virtual summits, are part of the future. I think there has rarely been a more frenetic period in which an Australian Prime Minister has engaged with other leaders, particularly as we have been dealing with the pandemic matters and most of my recent calls have particular been going to the issue of accessing vaccines and their production and things of that nature and we have another set of those calls later today. But the traditional method of leaders coming together also cannot be underestimated. I mean I don’t think it is a question of either or, I look forward to a time where you can do both. I note that European leaders now are starting to get back to face-to-face meetings under controlled circumstances, I indeed hope to be part of a series of those meetings in Washington later next month. But that is still scheduled to proceed and I'm looking forward to attending that and intend to, should it go forward. So look I think you have got to get the balance of both of them together but I think there has been, I mean just, I think this morning there was a meeting of the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and our Deputy Prime Minister on these issues and once again the Canadian Government have been very complimentary of Australia’s approach to the pandemic. A lot of countries have looked to see what we have done here. You know we mark ourselves very hard in Australia, and we should. We should mark ourselves very hard when it comes to the care of the most vulnerable in our community and particularly the elderly. We should mark ourselves hard and so we should be concerned about the distressing circumstances that have unfolded in Victoria and that is a good thing, but we also need to understand that you are better being in Australia than anywhere else at the moment.
Kieran?
JOURNALIST: Queenslanders have declared Sydney, hot spot, the entire Sydney region a hot spot, so from Saturday residents from Sydney will be blocked from travelling to Queensland after two returned travellers tested positive. What is your reaction to that? And another question just on AUSMIN and China because Secretary Pompeo in the last few days has said that democracies like ours need to try and induce change within the Communist Party leadership. Is that a reasonable proposition? Would you get on board with that?
PRIME MINISTER: I think it is wise to ensure that there is no transfer of people from outbreak parts of the country to those where there isn’t an outbreak. That is as true from ensuring that there is no transfer from someone in a suburb of Sydney to another suburb of Sydney, to another state or territory. I think it's important to sort of put borders aside when it comes to those things. If you are not in an outbreak zone, well you don’t want people moving to where you are and otherwise you end up in the situation that we have ended up in broader Metropolitan Victoria. So I think that is very sensible that you limit movement of people out of outbreak zones and I support that very strongly. That is the basis of the position I have been advancing to the states and territories from the very outset. I talked about the need for testing, tracing and managing outbreaks. That is how you manage the pandemic and you keep your economy running. Now, on the broader issue of the AUSMIN meetings which have been very successful in Washington and these are good opportunities, as the G7-plus as it effectively will be when it meets hopefully later next month, and other meetings of that nature, these are great opportunities for like-minded liberal democracies of developed economies to come together and share common views about how we work with each other, how we develop our economies and how we work together to promote peace and stability globally and particularly in the Indo-Pacific region and that has been the focus of these talks that we have had with AUSMIN on this occasion in Washington. And so I would agree that the more that like-minded liberal democracies, particularly those developed economies, but broader than that. The participation, I think, of India in these discussions which both Prime Minister Modi and I were able to attend in France last year, this is very helpful. The like-minded partnership that has increased, which is strengthening between Japan, Australia, the United States and India, not just on economic issues but broader strategic issues, I think contributes to a strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific which promotes peace and stability, which is what we want. We want a successful Indo-Pacific prosperous region. We want China's economy to be strong and successful. We want Malaysia 's economy to be strong, we want Indonesia’s, we want Australia’s, we want Japan’s, Korea’s, Myanmar’s, we want all of these places to be strong and for that to happen it has to occur on the basis of a stable balance within the region and I think the cooperative way which like-minded developed economies, liberal democracies are coming together, I see as a very positive force of peace and stability.
I suspect Chris has a question along similar lines.
JOURNALIST: You answered so magnificently I’ll move on. You mentioned the 30-year bond issue. There has been a lot of talk recently about modern monetary policy essentially so the government can borrow from itself forever. Are you compelled by that idea?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
Paul, you have been very patient.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, on pandemic leave, when did you ask the Industrial Relations Minister to consult on that issue? Does that indicate now you are inclined to provide it and why now when unions have asked for this for months?
PRIME MINISTER: I've spoken about that in recent days.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask, Senator Holly Hughes attended one of the COVID implicated Sydney restaurants and has chosen not to self-isolate, I understand.
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not aware of the circumstances of that so I can’t really comment on it.
JOURNALIST: How is the staffer forced to self-isolate?
PRIME MINISTER: I suspect he's been giving Netflix a pretty good workout. Hopefully he is doing a lot of work on other briefs and things of that nature which I suspect he more likely is. But I think what that demonstrated was the rapid nature of response of the New South Wales tracing effort. He was contacted very readily and I was informed on that on Sunday evening and immediately made the decision that he obviously would not be travelling the next day when I was going to Queensland and, sorry, on Tuesday when we were going to Queensland. And then we took the appropriate advice from the Acting Chief Medical Officer about how that was managed. As you probably observed, we are a bit more strict on how we practice social distancing than clearly the Press Gallery is today and as they are on most occasions when we’re standing out here. But we do follow that and I want to thank, particularly, my staff and the medical support I’ve provided and my own doctor here in Canberra who takes regular checks on me and that’s practiced pretty significantly here to ensure that I do not provide (inaudible) just the once.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are we in danger of being caught in a pre-election vortex with the Trump administration…
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear you.
JOURNALIST: Are we in danger of being caught in the pre-election politics in the United States? Is that why we are slightly at odds on some points in that AUSMIN letter and not as strong as the United States had hoped?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia sets its foreign policy on our own national interests and while we have the deepest and most lasting friendships and alliances with the United States, that doesn’t mean we always share every view to its minute detail and there is often a difference in nuance or emphasis or timing and on occasion in substance. And part of that is because our economic composition and relationship with our region is different to the United States and so those economic issuances will be different. But there is no doubt about the core of that friendship and that partnership or about its objective. Now, we are both passionate, vibrant liberal democracies and thank God for that. And that means that in the seasonal politics, which is the electoral cycle, as is occurring wonderfully in New Zealand as well and many other democracies around the world, there will be elements of politics that comes into that. We see that in our own domestic situation, there are some state governments going into elections and there others that are not and that influences the policy and political debate here in Australia as well and I think we are all capable of separating those issues and I have no doubt in the engagements I have with leaders around our region that we can factor out what is the noise of politics and be able to focus clearly on the issues of substance.
JOURNALIST: Your Government has commissioned reports following the outbreaks at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and also at Newmarch House, why haven’t those reports been made public yet? Have they not been finished or are you looking at them internally and just to Professor Murphy, you have today said that you are going to be sending infectious disease experts into all the aged care facilities. Why was that not done until now, given the deadly impacts we have already seen?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll ask Brendan to update on both of those.
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: The Newmarch report is not completed yet. The Dorothy Henderson Lodge report has been provided to the Royal Commission. That will make it in the public domain because the Royal Commission into aged care has had a significant interest in these aged care outbreaks. So that will be published on the Royal Commission website. But the Newmarch report isn’t even completed yet. So that study is still going on.
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible)
PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Well, there’s… you do not do these reviews until things are completely settled down and there is a calm. You don't do a review when things are still active. So the Newmarch review was a very long and complex process and it obviously had to be done remotely because people were in different states. So it has taken about three or four weeks and it is being written up at the moment. It will also be provided to the Royal Commission and it will also come into the public domain. The lessons we've talked about on many occasions. The lessons are that you need to cohort people, you need to obviously do communications. Newmarch, the most important lesson was communication with families was the biggest breakdown. The care and the infection control was strong. One of the lessons that Newmarch was bringing in very good infection control experts, which New South Wales Health did, and having really good PPE. So in terms of the Victorian infection control, there has been a lot of infection control training already. There was lots done early in the pandemic, there were roadshows, there were online modules, facilities did their own. What we are now saying is that we have freed up some workforce with the cancellation of elective surgery of some experienced theatre nurses, so that we have got a larger pool of people who can go out and just repeat the training that people have had already.
PRIME MINISTER: We have time for two more. One and two.
JOURNALIST: Given, following up on the pandemic leave, given the urgency of the situation in Victoria, can we expect to see something on that sooner than the October Budget and have you looked at the cost of not doing it, the cost to the broader community and not just the actual dollar cost of doing it?
PRIME MINISTER: Those discussions are continuing and when they are completed we will make some announcements.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, just deflation, first time in 22 years. Is that a good thing or bad thing for households?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, look, these most recent numbers are, I think, quite unique to the rather extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in. What I know is good for Australia is people getting back into work and what I know is good for Australia is business having the confidence to open their doors again and what I know is good for Australia is that when there are more people in work, then that is providing the revenue to support the essential services that Australians rely on. We're going to see lots of numbers that will be interpreted many different ways and I'm not going to provide a commentary on that. A good example is a point I was making last week and this is the issue of unemployment. Now, for a long time we have always looked at the headline or the published rate of unemployment, measured rate of unemployment, as being the key indicator of unemployment in what is happening in the economy. Now, we know that is not the case in this pandemic. The measured unemployment rate understates the amount of unemployment that we are seeing in our economy at the moment and what we have occurring at the moment is we have the effective rate of unemployment actually falling while the measured rate of unemployment is rising. And I'm sure that some will take the opportunity to pick their figure, as to make whatever case they would like to make. But why the effective rate of unemployment is so important is it takes into account those you may have gone out of the workforce but in ordinary cases would still be in it, those who are working zero hours but may not be considered unemployed. I think we have to have a real, honest understanding of what's going on with unemployment in this country and that is why the Treasury have advised and we agree that the effective rate of unemployment is the right way to assess where the labour market is at the moment. And what is concerning to me is, more concerning to me, I must say, is the payroll data which shows that the Victorian wave is having this broader impact on the national economy and is in some cases slowing and in other cases reversing the upward trend that we were seeing in employment in the country. That is of great concern to me and so, you know, inflation traditionally shows a level of activity in the economy, a letter of positive, in acceptable bounds, of positive tension in the economy and clearly, the impact of the pandemic which has produced the COVID recession is having a negative impact on the economy and I think everybody understands that. So what do you do about it? What you do about it is get Australians back into jobs. You provide JobKeeper, you provide JobSeeker, you provide cash flow support, you give the instant asset write off, you do HomeBuilder, which is proving to be a great, a tremendous success, you provide support to the entertainment industry, you go and get films to come and base in Australia, you put $1 billion into skills training and create 340,000 places and support 180,000 apprentices. That is what you do and that is what we are doing and in the Budget there will be more. But for now, we are now focused on delivering the supports which are keeping people in jobs and keeping people in business and we are focusing on the health of the pandemic so we are saving lives and we’re saving livelihoods. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Sydney, NSW
27 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: ...National COVID Commission and its re-formation as a Prime Minister's advisory body, an advisory board. But before I do that, I just wanted to make a number of comments in relation to the COVID-19 situation, updating on my statements after the National Cabinet meeting on Friday. Over the weekend, and today, the emergency response centre has been stood up in relation to aged care. That brings together all of the key agencies involved in supporting the aged care sector at a state and at a federal level and that’s being headed up by the National Chief Nurse Alison McMillan and we thank them for the work they have been doing, particularly over the weekend. The situation in Victoria, of course, the Premier will be updating Victorians and the country more broadly on those matters in his regular press conference, but just to suffice to say that the Federal Government continues to provide every support. The increasing deployment of ADF personnel across a broad range of tasks including as foreshadowed the door-to-door operations, right through to the tracing supports, logistic command support, supporting testing centres and that will continue.
It is important to understand that the challenges, and they are significant in the aged care sector, are a reminder that when community transmission occurs with COVID-19, the aged care sector will always be impacted. That is certainly the experience we have seen in other countries. When you have problems in aged care, it is a function of the community transmission. Now, this is an important point to note because it involves all of us, if you want to protect the most vulnerable in our community. That is why it is so important that those of us who may be in a less vulnerable position are continuing to follow the advice, performing the safe distancing and other practices about getting tested and remaining isolated when you are a close contact. All of this is incredibly important because when community transmission takes place, it is inevitable that it will find its way into the more vulnerable parts of our community and the aged care community is certainly one of those. Now, one of the key things being done in the aged care sector currently is transferring people who have contracted COVID into hospital facilities and we are making use of the private hospitals agreement that we put in place some months ago to free up beds in the private hospital area so we can transfer people out of those facilities into those beds and we are working closely with the Victorian state government about that process. I was in contact earlier today with the Premier on those issues. The other part of it is ensuring that the infection control management in aged care facilities is being closely monitored. We have already put 1.5 million masks into aged care facilities and about that number and a bit more are also further going into aged care facilities. That is part of a broader provision of personal protective equipment that has been deployed in Victoria. I should stress that the Commonwealth is not the only level of government that provides PPE material into the health system. Of course, the state governments also do that and, in fact, are the primary providers of that equipment into healthcare facilities in their jurisdiction but the national stockpile is being drawn upon to support their efforts to ensure that is in place. It is vital that in those aged care facilities that those infection control procedures are being followed. The Commonwealth put in place training for infection control in relation to COVID-19 in recent months and it is a matter now of ensuring that those infection control procedures are being adhered to strictly in those facilities. Because, obviously, in aged-care facilities you are dealing with the most vulnerable members of our community and that is where you see the most awful of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is where the loss of life, in particular, occurs, far more significantly than any other part of the community. Although it is true to say that others who are younger can be susceptible and it can prove fatal in some circumstances, as we have already seen.
So all effort is being deployed to ensure that we are doing what is necessary in the aged care sector. We’re also working closely with families. I note that the Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck last night was on a Zoom call with one of the facilities and family members from those facilities. There is a single person which is identified for each family who is the contact person and I am advised that they are being kept up-to-date on a daily basis. That single-family contact member, obviously, who then rely on that family member to update other members of the family and that is what is put in place across, not just there, but all parts of the country, is my advice. So we will continue today to focus our efforts, particularly as we have been now for some time, on providing whatever support is necessary in the aged care sector.
The news in New South Wales is better, a lot better, and the work that is being done to trace cases to known sources has been very effective that gives us, obviously, a lot more cause for confidence in New South Wales. In Victoria, there is still a long way to go. We are still seeing case numbers at elevated levels and so, as we have seen from other jurisdictions, when you get community-based transmission, it does take some time to get that down. We saw that in the UK. We saw it in Europe. We have seen it in other places that have gone through sustained lockdowns and it does take some time. So, we just ask for the continued cooperation and goodwill of the people of Melbourne and Victoria more broadly to ensure that we can get on top of this and everyone will continue to work together to that end.
Now, moving to the purpose of today's announcement, I am pleased to announce that the COVID Coordination Commission, as it was known when it was first set up, was set up to assist and be an important channel of advice and channel of action to help the Commonwealth Government deal with difficult problem-solving tasks that were arising because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That extended in everything from ensuring that we had production capabilities for PPE and getting access to testing equipment, through to practical issues about ensuring that we were getting supplies to regional stores and things of that nature. And, at the time, I appointed Nev Power to head up that group and they have done a fantastic job working across so many different sectors and keeping me and keeping my Cabinet informed and up-to-date about what was happening on the ground. We believe that the Commission needs to now move into a new gear, as we have sort of moved through a lot of the early problem-solving tasks and as a result I have decided to re-establish it as an advisory board to myself as Prime Minister to work across the full spectrum of our JobMaker plan. Our JobMaker plan is designed to look at the post-COVID recovery and to set us up for that post-COVID recovery. The work we are doing in deregulation and approvals, on skills formation and skills support, on industrial relations, on infrastructure and transport, on energy, on taxation - all of these areas and key reforms of how we make our Federation work better. This is the JobMaker plan that is designed to get Australians in jobs to keep Australians in jobs and for those who have been unfortunately put out of a job because of COVID-19, to get them into a position where they can get back into work. It is all about the recovery process and you need changes and initiatives across a broad range of supply side elements of the economy.
Now, we draw our advice from many sources over the course of the pandemic. We have been careful to listen and to listen carefully. We obviously have listened to the health advice, but also and equally we have been listening to the economic advice, whether it be from the official institutions such as the Treasury or the Reserve Bank or it’s been listening to those in the industry sectors, the unions and others who we have drawn advice from, through the various processes we have had. But equally, we have been listening carefully to those in the economy who have had tremendous experience in many different sectors. And that has come through the COVID Coordination Commission. And so today, as I said, we are re-establishing that Commission and drawing together some new members who we believe will give it a broader spectrum of experience and expertise. So, Nev Power will continue on, in the role of Chairman of the COVID Commission Advisory Board, joined by the Deputy Chair David Thodey. Paul Little and Jane Halton, who have all been serving on it until now, and they will be joined by Mike Hirst. As you know, Mike was formerly head of Bendigo Bank and has a very good understanding of regional economies. Samantha Hogg from Tasmania who has been very active in the resources and the infrastructure sector and advised on and played roles in many government, as well as private sector, boards. Su McClusky is well respected in regional Australia and in the agricultural sector. She will be joined by Bao Hoang who has been very successful as founder and group CEO of the Roll’d Australia Proprietary Limited Organisation, working as a franchised outfit and working with small businesses across the country. Paul Howes, I have invited to join the group. I have known Paul for many years. We certainly haven't always agreed on everything, as he and I can attest to, but what this is about is getting people to work together. Paul can bring his experience in superannuation, workforce and workplace relations, to assist the work of the Commission and I thank him for agreeing to join. Laura Berry, who works in Indigenous business and Indigenous business procurement, will be joining the COVID Commission.
This is just about ensuring that we continue to listen and get the best advice, that experience to draw on and the expertise that is there. It is not to replace or supplant any other channel of advice I am drawing together - the industry bodies, the union organisations, all of those will continue through their formal channels to be putting their input into the Government as we continue to roll out our JobMaker plan and add further additions to that plan as we move forward into the Budget. The COVID Commission will work within government. It won't be an external agency. It will work within government and can form part of the Cabinet deliberative processes, which is an important innovation. So, as with work through particular submissions, we can be drawing on the expertise and the experience of the COVID Commission as with fashion those plans, as they make their way through the Expenditure Review Committee process, the Cabinet process and the decisions that are taken there and what is ultimately placed in this year's Budget and other decisions that are made.
We are about creating jobs. Jobs is the way out economically for Australia. This is an Australian plan, based on Australian values, based on Australian challenges and Australian solutions and that will continue to guide our efforts, practically dealing with the problems that we face, bringing the best minds together, bringing the country together to get behind the effort to ensure this we recover strongly from the COVID pandemic. We are still very much in the midst of it. We are still very much in the fight over it, against this pandemic and the impact it is having. But we also have a very strong plan to see us recover strongly on the other side. And with that, I'll ask Nev to make a few comments and then happy to take broader questions.
NEV POWER, CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 COMMISSION: Thank you very much, Prime Minister. Thanks, everyone. Good morning.
First, I would like to acknowledge the great work that all Australians have done across community and business in helping manage with the coronavirus and maximise the amount of business activity and jobs that we can sustain during the pandemic. As the Prime Minister said, we are in a transition now to focus much more specifically on creating jobs and accelerating the return of our economic activity, so that we can restore as many people’s lives and livelihoods black to where they were or as close to as we possibly can.
The Commission's really gone through three phases. The first was that problem solving, fixing phase that the PM mentioned. That was about the procurement and manufacture of PPE, was keeping material flowing through our ports and solving industrial relations issues that came up there, about ensuring supply to remote supermarkets and more recently supply out of the distribution centres that were impacted by the Melbourne outbreaks and looking for and developing alternative means to supply people in those suburbs. In addition to that, we have also worked to connect displaced people into areas of priority, to help work with health workers, to resolve issues in those areas. As part of this work, we have developed four task forces, which are working in addition to the commissioners and these are in energy, advanced manufacturing, not-for-profit and industrial relations and they are also providing an extended field of advice back into the commission to help us provide the best solutions that we can.
As we move into this third phase, we are very much focused around the recovery of the economy, but of course there will still be problems to solve and commissioners at various times will continue to do specific tasks. For example, Jane Halton’s task at the moment, looking at hotel quarantine nationally. We also recognise that as we come out of the virus, or as we learn to live with the virus, parts of the economy are going to be impacted for longer than other parts of the economy. So we need to focus on helping those people, but also on growing and accelerating those parts of the economy that can grow as fast as we can to create as many new jobs as we can as well as restoring old ones.
Clearly, the health and safety of all Australians is the number one priority. In parallel with that, we will be looking at how we can create as many jobs, get as many people back into work as possible and learn to live with the restrictions of the coronavirus, of physical distancing, personal hygiene and quick response to outbreaks in businesses across Australia, whether they are in hospitality or mining or infrastructure development or housing construction.
So, I would like to add my welcome to the new Commissioners. It gives us a very broad range of experience and networks across Australian business and, in particular, the addition of deepening skills in small-to-medium-sized businesses, agriculture and regional Australia. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the great work of our existing Commissioners and the people working on the commission and thank them for their continued effort, as we all try to do our very best to get people back to work and to restore as much of our economy to normal as we can.
Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks Nev. Just hang on, on that note, can I also particularly thank Cath Tanna who is standing- not going to the next stage. Cath obviously has a very specific role within Energy Australia. And we need to manage conflicts going forward and Cath has done a great job up until now. We thank her very much for that. Greg Combet as well. Greg stood down about a month ago, I think it was now, about three weeks ago. Greg is still working with the Attorney and Industrial Relations Minister as working with the government representing the industry fund sector and we thank Greg very much for the work that he's done, both as a member of the Commission, but also the very practical work that he is doing as part of the other process that the Attorney is working through at present.
But Andrew, go ahead, mate. You are all fired up ready to go.
JOURNALIST: More than 500 cases today in Victoria. Are you concerned about the ability of the Victorian government to get on, be on top of this outbreak? We are hearing stories of people taking up to 9 days to get their test results back, particularly in regional Victoria. That makes contact tracing difficult. When you set up the bushfires royal commission, one of the terms of reference was when the Federal Government can intervene in terms of an emergency response. Are we heading that way here, first of all? And second of all, does Victoria need to go even harder lockdown?
PRIME MINISTER: Let me pick up on the last point first. The Premier also has been pretty clear about that. We are several weeks in, now to a six-week lockdown period in Victoria. The advice to me is it is premature at this point to be making those calls, but it’s also important to keep all of the options on the table. I heard the Premier say over the weekend that effectively mandatory masks indicated a whole other level and I would agree with him about that. He will take advice and make assessments, I would think, over the next week or so about what further may be required at the end of the period that he's set out. But, I stress again what I said in my earlier comments, and that is, we need to be patient. There has been significant community transmission in Victoria. That will take some time to get on top of and that is what the actions are directed to addressing right at this very moment. On the broader issues the Federal Government has just one job and that is to support the Victorian government in all of these initiatives. That is why there’s more than 1,400 ADF personnel in Victoria right now, supporting across a whole range of tasks, to give Victoria every effort, resource that they need to get on top of this. Tracing is clearly a challenge and that is why so much of the effort and resource has been put into that area. It is vital that the marks that are set, and that is - and I welcome the fact that particularly in recent days they have been able to seek to make contact with every positive case and then there is the further task of beyond that, of making that contact and then identifying any further contacts of those cases and trying to do that within that first 48 hours. They are the metrics that we set out last Friday at National Cabinet and that is what the goal clearly is. So, the Royal Commission that you make reference to is looking at a very similar issue when you are involved in national crises and I'll let the Royal Commission do their work on that. Whether that has broader application to circumstances like this, I am sure people will form judgements about that at the time but I’m certainly not going to pre-judge that. The royal commission is looking at that in the case of natural disasters and pandemics and natural disasters are, can be one and the same thing and, if not, they are very close cousins, that is for sure. I think there will always be lessons out of all of this. But right now, I just have one job and that is to give Dan Andrews and the Victorian government every support I can to help him, help Victorians and that is certainly what we are doing as a federal government.
JOURNALIST: What would your message be to the New South Wales community and indeed communities in other states? Watching, anxious now (inaudible)?
PRIME MINISTER: To stay alert. We have got to keep the tension in the cord in all the other states and territories. The virus is still out there. It hasn't left the country. It is still here. It is not going to go anywhere. And our only defence against it is to ensure that our testing, tracing and outbreak containment capabilities are at the highest possible standard and, for that to be effective, there are certainly things that governments need to do and are doing. What we have seen in New South Wales has been a very effective tracing operation. Despite the threats and challenges that we have seen, they have been able to get on top of that, but they would be the first to tell you they are not out of the woods yet and there is still a bit of distance to travel. Those cases are still less than about 20 at the moment each day, but they could raise higher than that. That’s not out of the question, but the fact that they have been able to get on top of that so quickly is important. So governments need to do what they need to do, but equally for the rest of the country it is just a matter of continuing to practise the discipline, to stay in the habit about contacts and about keeping distances and about washing hands and downloading the app and doing all of these things. We must keep doing that until there is a vaccine and that vaccine has been introduced into the community to establish the immunity that is necessary. That is still some time away. But you have to do that while keeping your economy going, while keeping people in jobs, and the way you do all of that and protect the most vulnerable in your community is by following the very straight forward and disciplined steps that I have outlined.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the organisers of tomorrow’s Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney say they will go ahead even if they lose an appeal in the Supreme Court today. How would you describe that decision?
PRIME MINISTER: The decision of Black Lives Matter or the decision of the court?
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] to go ahead with the rally even if they lose in court?
PRIME MINISTER: I would describe it as breaking the law. That is what I would describe it as. That is what it is. We are all subject to the law. So I would encourage everybody to follow the law.
Sorry we might - there are five journalists here. I was happy to go around and get a question from everybody then come back to you.
JOURNALIST: On the economy, the Federal Government is spending $2.5 billion on a contract for detention, asylum seeker detention centres in Australia. How do you justify that level of spending, given there are only just over 1,000 people in detention centres onshore and we are facing the worst financial crisis in 100 years?
PRIME MINISTER: The detention network is an important part of a comprehensive Border Protection regime that has been the most successful in the world, in countering illegal entry into Australia. That is how I justify it.
JOURNALIST: Mr Power, actually, how heavily focused will you be on IR reforms as your remit shifts to creating jobs?
NEV POWER, CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL COVID-19 COMMISSION: Our focus is primarily around workplace trends and workforce trends and how they are going to be impacted and particular focus around transitioning skills and helping people upskill and re-skill into the roles that are created and are restored in the economy. The Attorney-General has a specific group looking at the industrial relations reforms. So, we may have an opportunity to input to that, but it is not our primary focus.
JOURNALIST: Do you concede the Victorian government has let this get out of control? That the Victorian government is responsible for the fact they haven't done the contact tracing and testing quick enough on top of the hotel quarantine debacle?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to respond the same way I did to the earlier question, Andrew. It is my job to support Victoria, to help Victoria and that is what I am going to do.
JOURNALIST: 532 cases though Prime Minister, just how worried does that make you?
PRIME MINISTER: It is concerning, and of course we're concerned and that's why we're putting so much effort into it, but there nothing to be gained by the Federal Government engaging in some sort of commentary about this. People don't want commentary from their Prime Minister. They want action and the action we're putting on the ground is to give the Victorian Government every resource and support they need to get on top of this. And I know that's greatly appreciated by the Premier and I greatly appreciate the support that's been provided by other states and territories who we're working with closely to address the resource needs in Victoria. This has been a national effort. I think one of the things that has really marked Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the way the states and territories and the Federation has worked together like never before. Now, it's not perfect, we all know that, but as someone who's been around public life for some time, I have never seen the Federation work this well together and in such a constructive way. What we're announcing today with the COVID Commission is we want to keep that going. States and territories working together with the Commonwealth in the national interest, that's what's needed right now and that's what's happening right now, I believe, and we're seeing that work in the worst of cases like in Victoria, but equally in some of the best of cases as well to ensure that they can continue on in that vein and so I'll continue to lead a process that brings people together whether it's the advice that we're drawing from those in our economy, small business people, in the workplaces, those representing employees, those representing employers, investors, whether here or overseas, listening to our health professionals, our medical professionals. You’ve got to draw all this advice together when you're making these decisions and we're doing that as an Australian Government in our National Cabinet that draws together all the states and territories, and in our federal Cabinet which is the Government I lead.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the Treasurer's comments about a Reagan and Thatcher-style approach, do you agree with that? Is that the sort of approach you're after in terms of the recovery?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we're leading an Australian response to this. A uniquely Australian response and that Australian response requires us to address the supply side issues in our economy. And I've gone through them. And this is why the COVID commission today is so important. Already, it was a few weeks ago- a few months ago, I talked about the need to move on deregulation and approvals, and we've already seen action on that. We announced that all states and territories moving towards a single touch process on environmental planning and assessment, on skills I said we needed to do more there. And we now have seven states and territories signed up to a billion dollar programme to create 340,000 training places. Within weeks of me announcing that, I've said we need to take action when it comes to keeping flexibility in our workplaces. Now, we've had that flexibility under the JobKeeper arrangements, and I believe it is very important that in the next phase of JobKeeper, which runs out till the end of March, that it is very necessary for those firms that have been on JobKeeper, to continue to have access to those flexible arrangements. Now, I'm not proposing that as a permanent arrangement. I'm proposing that as a temporary arrangement to deal with the next phase of JobKeeper, because there will be firms who have been on JobKeeper, who have graduated out of it, but will still benefit greatly from having that flexibility. And what that will do, as we've already seen, is it will keep people in jobs. It's jobs that drive the Australian plan. Nothing else. Nothing else. What will create a job? What will keep people in a job? And this is why I've turned to people like Nev Power and the others who sit on the advisory board, as well as so many others right across the country to ensure that that is our focus.
JOURNALIST: On tax reform, do you think it's the state's responsibility to come up with that? Or are you going to take leadership on that and sort of indicate to the states what taxes you'd like to see them get rid of?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, state taxes are a matter for state governments. And so it is important that if states wish to make changes in that area, that they form a common view about what they would like to see happen. Otherwise, you can distract yourself from other important priorities by going down a path that may lead absolutely nowhere. So I think it's important in the first instance for states and territories to be clear about what they want to do and how they would seek to make changes. When they've come to that, and that's what we've tasked through the National Cabinet process, the group of Treasurers known as the Council of Federal Financial Relations. It's for them to reconcile that amongst themselves. Last time around, when there was reform in this area, I think there was some scepticism that followed with the time it took for many of the state taxes to go when the GST was introduced. Now, I think that's an issue that needs to be addressed in the community. I think people would need some confidence that there would be change there. So that's the process. I'm very happy with that process. I've made that very clear to Premiers as well, that if there are changes they want to make, if their Treasurers want to make, well they need to get together and they need to sort that out and they need to present a united position that we could actually move forward on. But in the meantime, I won't be distracted from what we can do in our own budget, in our own tax system to ensure we can drive the investment that is necessary to create the jobs that are necessary.
JOURNALIST: What’s the risk of, what’s the risk of increasing tensions with China by sending two Ministers overseas for talks with the US during the height of this pandemic?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't think there's anything extraordinary about the Australian Foreign Minister and Defence Minister attending AUSMIN talks face-to-face with our US counterparts. I intend to visit Washington myself and should the G7-plus meeting go ahead, which will be held in Washington. These are important opportunities for Australia. It would be extraordinary if we didn't seek to attend these meetings. Our alliance with the United States is the bedrock of Australia's defence strategy. So would it be highly irregular for us not to seek to take every opportunity for those meetings to be held face to face and I'm very pleased that they are proceeding on that basis. This is a regular dialogue that we have with the United States and it's a timely opportunity for us to be talking about the many issues that are involved in our partnership right now, and not just defence issues. In the foreign foreign affairs space there are many issues that Australia has an active interest in at the moment and we are keen to pursue those with as many like-minded countries as we possibly can.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on aged care, do you think the Federal and Victorian governments were too slow to intervene in the aged care workforces, given that we know that it was taking hold about three weeks ago?
PRIME MINISTER: No, we've been taking action on this for weeks now, for weeks and weeks. And I outline those actions to you, in particular, taking the initiative to train the workforces in aged care, particularly in infection control practises, to put in place the PPE equipment that was necessary in these aged care facilities and to move now as we are. The important thing, I think, to remember is we've just got to keep, got to keep learning. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer was making this point on the weekend that this is a virus that continues to throw up new challenges every single day. And you've got to take those learnings, you've got to share those learnings, and you've got to apply those learnings each and every day. The Australian people and the Australian governments all around the country are ensuring that Australia is arguably one of the most successful developed countries in the world in response to this coronavirus and that doesn't mean we're immune from challenges. Of course, we're going to face them each and every day. But when we face them, we need to bring together all the best minds, all the best will, and bring Australians together to confront those challenges. And that's why I've established the COVID commissioners, an advisory body to myself as Prime Minister, to ensure we're getting those perspectives, we're getting that feedback on all the decisions we're taking. We’ve got to make the right calls and we're putting every effort into making the right calls, which will keep Australians safe, which will keep as many Australians as possible in jobs, but most importantly, to keep keeping Australians together. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
24 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. Another important and successful meeting of the National Cabinet today.
There is no country in the world that is not dealing with the issues of COVID-19, over the course of just this past week, I've had the opportunity to speak to Prime Minister Trudeau, as well President Macron last night, and Prime Minister Netanyahu last night as well.
One of the key challenges we all have is, whether we're Prime Ministers, Premier, Chief Ministers, you've got to continually be learning about this virus, how it spreads, how you stay on top of it, how you get on top of it. And the swapping of information, the collegiate approach that is being taken from everything to how’s the best way to run a testing and tracing regime to working together to ensure, as Australia is, to achieve a vaccine and not just achieve a vaccine, but ensure we get access to the licensing arrangements to ensure that CSL can be here and producing the vaccine at the required quantities to ensure that we can vaccinate the Australian population. And then working with other countries to ensure that that is also occurring.
There is no shortage of issues that we must address, and that was also the case today as we came together as a National Cabinet. And of course, we focused first and foremost on the challenges that are in Victoria and New South Wales, and again expressed our strong support to Premier Andrews for all the work that is being done there, and the tremendous resource that is being applied to that, not just by the Commonwealth, but all states and territories. And once again, Premier Andrews was appreciative of that support and the collegiate way in which all Premiers and Chief Ministers and the Commonwealth are working together to assist with dealing with the outbreak in Victoria.
While there is some better news today out of Victoria, that is not something that we can assume will continue. And so we must maintain the full force of effort in Victoria. In New South Wales, the news is better. And I think what this demonstrates is that we're in this fight and in some fights, we'll be behind and in some fights we'll be ahead. But we're always in the fight in Australia. And what it demonstrates is that you can deal with outbreaks, you can get on top of them. But you've got to be constant about it and you've got to throw everything at it. And we will get on top of it in Victoria, because there is the determination and the cooperation to achieve that. And that was reinforced today.
Also, I want to stress that all other states and territories remain on alert and there is very much that sense around all of the other Premiers and Chief Ministers today, where in many cases, like in Western Australia and South Australia, they haven't had community transmission cases for over 100 days. They are just as alert to the risks in their jurisdictions as New South Wales and Victoria are. And that's important. I think the events both in Victoria and New South Wales are a reminder that the virus is still out there, it will still make its way and it will still throw everything at us and we must be prepared to respond. And so in relation to that, there are a number of measures that are continuing.
I just want to update you that there are currently, we have some 3,105 ADF personnel which are deployed around Australia under Lieutenant General Frewen's command, that are actively engaged in dealing with COVID-19 related issues. Now, the majority of those, just under half of those, are actually in Victoria. But we have 550, for example, in Queensland. We have 672 who are in New South Wales. There are 141 working federally on this issue directly. There are 114 in South Australia, 57 in Western Australia and 102 up in the Northern Territory. So the ADF is involved both in the frontline of outbreaks as well as in the operations rooms and command centres all around the country providing the support that is needed. The tasks they are involved in; everything from tracing and to as you've learned today, and I indicated earlier this week, knocking on doors. Where the manual tracing over phone and technology related, is unable to reach people, then we're knocking on doors in Victoria. And this is a challenge in particular communities and that's the experience in other parts of the world as well.
A couple of other points that were agreed on today was an affirmation of the suppression strategy that we've been working to nationally now for many, many months from the outset. The goal of that is obviously, and has always been no community transmission. There will always be cases that come because Australia has not completely shut itself off from the world. To do so would be reckless, but that no community transmission, when the vast majority of states and territories have been at now effectively for some time. And that's certainly where we want to get back to in Victoria and New South Wales, and that's where our efforts are focused.
We also adopted an important principle. But as is particularly relevant in times of outbreak is the need to ensure that your emergency response and your health response are integrated. There is a health response which Professor Kelly can speak to you about, but there is also emergency management responses, supporting towns particularly in regional areas and things of that nature and there’s a lot of logistics and coordination that needs to go into the emergency response. So the health and emergency side of these things must be fully integrated. That is substantially occurring and we've just decided to tighten up those processes and procedures to ensure that that occurs even more so in the future.
We agreed to an even more comprehensive set of national data measures which are necessary to ensure that we are collectively aware of what is occurring in all the states and territories and that we're picking up at the earliest possible opportunity where there may be some vulnerabilities. And Professor Kelly will speak more to that. That not only goes to case numbers and things of that nature which we've had for some time. But how quickly cases are being identified, contacts are made, isolated, tracing done for known contacts and then isolation and testing of those. Our testing regime remains very strong, and particularly in terms of reagent and the kit that is required to do all these things. But given the scale of testing that is taking place, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, we're working to further upgrade the support that we have for labs around the country to ensure that we keep up that pace - which we will.
We also agreed and adopted a freight movement protocol, and it particularly relates to the movement of large freight across borders and the protocols that are needed for the drivers and how they act and how often they're tested and all of these types of things. And we agreed that we needed to go further than that - not just a protocol, and we have accepted the advice of the AHPPC, the medical expert panel, on that protocol. But all states and territories and the Commonwealth agreed that that needed greater enforcement and it needed to move towards a code, and that's where we'll be moving in the days ahead to formalise that further. And the enforcement of that will obviously be put in place by the states and territories who have those resources. Now, how they do that, whether that's by legislation or public health order, that will be a matter for them. In Queensland, for example, they have public health orders that can attend to that. But the states and territories will move on that.
Now on the economy, we heard from Steven Kennedy, Dr Kennedy again, as is the normal practice at National Cabinet, where we were able to brief on yesterday's, sorry, Tuesday's announcement on the JobKeeper and JobSeeker, and of course the economic statement that was released yesterday. And the Treasurer will be speaking to at the National Press Club very shortly. Those measures have been greatly appreciated by the states and territories. Combined with our health response, the Commonwealth balance sheet and direct fiscal measures now is in excess of $300 billion. The states response which builds on top of that, is around $42 billion. And so, there is a strong platform for states to take additional economic measures where they see the opportunity to do that, and there's a very, very significant platform of fiscal support and balance sheet support that the Commonwealth has provided, enables every extra dollar that they spend at a state level to go that much further.
We also agreed today, and I think this demonstrates, just how effective the National Cabinet is, not just directly on the health measures, but today, we agreed to fast track processes for those 15 major projects I spoke to some weeks ago. There's some 66,000 jobs in those 15 projects and they're worth about $72 billion in economic activity. So 15 major projects agreed for streamlined approvals processes to get these happening as soon as possible. It was also agreed amongst all the states and territories to move to a single touch process under the EPBC Act and that we would now be moving to deal directly for interim standards with some model jurisdictions and forming bilateral agreements with all states and territories to action that agreement. Seven out of eight states have also signed up to the skills agreement, the JobTrainer agreement, and we welcome that. And that has moved very quickly in the last week or so.
And the final point that was made in Dr Kennedy's briefing, and I'll pass on to Professor Kelly is, in relation to our goal when it comes to jobs. Our goal is to create jobs and to reduce the effective rate of unemployment. Now, I know there's been quite a bit of commentary and the Treasurer has addressed this also, and I'm sure will do more so in his presentation today. I can understand that Australians would be concerned, rightly, about seeing the measured rate, the headline rate of unemployment set where it is in the forecasts that have been released by Treasury. What the headline rate or the measured rate of unemployment doesn't take into account is changes in labour force, people who are on effectively zero hours. What the effective rate of unemployment does is that it does take that into account. And one of the key differences in this pandemic is the quite significant gap that exists between your effective rate of unemployment and your measured or headline rate of unemployment. And I would urge, because I can assure you that's the figure I'm looking at. Because the effective rate of unemployment means who has got a job and who is working and who is getting paid. That's what it means. And that's what we have to focus on. So while the headline rate of unemployment has been moving up and is expected to continue to move up, the effective rate of unemployment back in April was around 15%. It fell to 13.9% in May and it fell to 11.3% in June. That shows the improvement in the labour market. You will see a difference between the movement in the effective rate of unemployment and the measured rate of unemployment. And that's what Dr Kennedy was briefing the Premiers and the Chief Ministers on today. So our goal is to see that effective rate come down. And we've said right from the outset, the Treasurer and I, when we talked about the figures on the headline rate some months ago, we know that rate was higher. So we've done the work to actually assess that and identify that, and they're figures I've referred to.
So with that, I'll pass you on to Professor Kelly. Thank you.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you, Prime Minister. So what we discussed in National Cabinet today was the normal update of the epidemiological situation in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic here in Australia. I'm sure everyone knows that the major issues that we're facing at the moment are in Victoria, and particularly in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire. And there is a much smaller number of cases that have been appearing in the community in New South Wales. So I gave that update, we talked about what that meant in terms of the capacity and capability to respond across the nation, but particularly in Victoria, and so that was the update from me.
The main issue today was to recommit to that suppression strategy, but to really demonstrate how aggressively we need to chase down every case, every day, to ensure that they are isolated, to make sure that the contacts of every case are also contacted themselves, and where necessary, be tested and isolate as soon as possible. That is the crucial component of our public health response. It has been from the beginning. And what has happened in Victoria over the last few weeks has demonstrated, firstly how difficult that is, and also when you get a large number of cases, that really exacerbates it. But that is the crucial component that we need to stress and everyone at National Cabinet agreed to that.
The second component is to continue with those personal issues we've been talking about all along. Those personal protective measures about hygiene, about physical distancing. If you're sick, stay at home and all of those messages remain important, even in the states where there is no community transmission. And all the Premiers signed up to that as well. There are other measures that may need to support that public health approach and that, those personal protective measures, and that was also part, has always has been, of the suppression strategy with that aim of no community transmission. That's our ultimate goal. Six out of eight jurisdictions are in that spot at the moment and our absolute focus now is to continue to work particularly with Victoria to get back to that situation.
So to support that plan, that continued suppression strategy, a series of Metrics to give a much more granular picture of what is happening as the PM has suggested was agreed, and that will lead to a much better sharing of that information to guide the public health response where it's needed, and particularly to guide what sort of supports can be put from other states and territories from the ADF and other resources, where we are in that situation as is occurring in Melbourne.
So to give you some examples of that - it's really about cases, how long between the test being done to the test result being related? We will want that regularly from all of the states and territories to make sure that that testing regime is remaining as it should be. How long from when that test is made available to the local authority until that case is contacted? And the aim there, absolutely, to really stress it is every case, every day. So we're really pushing hard and making sure that that information is available.
On aged care, because that is such a crucial component, and we know from all around the world that our most vulnerable people are our elderly, and particularly those in residential aged care. And we've seen some of those issues really emerging in the recent days and weeks in Melbourne. So we're asking for very granular information about that to guide our response. Similarly with the tracing and contact tracing and contacting those, and some other measures related to healthcare and particularly intensive care.
So those are the flags. That's the Metrics we've agreed to. We've agreed to certain flags that will demonstrate that there are issues, and a commitment again to sharing and transparency across the nation so that we can assist where we need. The commitment to being ready, even if we do not have community transmission, and assisting across the nation wherever that's required, whether that be the Defence Force, other Health Departments, or others as is required, and particularly in relation to our emergency management colleagues.
So I might leave it there, PM.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Professor.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on JobKeeper, some industry groups have said that the tougher eligibility test under JobKeeper 2.0 will be the death knell for them. So I'm wondering whether you'd be willing to consider changing that eligibility test so they only had to show a 30% reduction across the two quarters, June and September, rather than in both of them?
PRIME MINISTER: The test that’s been set out is over the quarters over which the program has been running. And JobKeeper is intended to be there for those businesses who have had a sustained fall in revenues as a result of COVID-19. That's the measure that has been established. I note that in other jurisdictions, they've applied an even tougher test on the second tranche of their measures. We didn't agree with that. The whole point is, here, is to support businesses that have had that significant impact. That's what it's there for, for those most impacted and that's what the policy is designed to do. But it's also why we believe for all firms that have been on JobKeeper up until now, that we believe it's very necessary for them to continue to have the industrial relations flexibility post the end of September. Now I also stress that the existing rate of JobKeeper will continue until the end of September. So that is still several months away. And we would certainly hope that as events unfold, that many of those businesses would see an improvement.
JOURNALIST: In the month of June, for example though, the automotive industry had a weird uptick in sales, something they weren't expecting because of a variety of reasons. They say that in itself, that one month of uptick in sales is going to make them ineligible for JobKeeper 2.0 but they're in dire circumstances and in a very bad position in most of the June quarter and the September quarter. So how do you respond to an industry that just sees no future beyond September 27?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I'm very pleased that they had that uptick in June and I believe that that probably had a fair bit to do with the instant asset write-off arrangements that we put in place to actually encourage people. So I'm glad that they've been significant beneficiaries of the tax incentives that we gave to businesses to actually go out and support them. That's what all of our measures are designed to do. We want businesses to be able to graduate out of JobKeeper. That's the point, not for them to be able to remain permanently dependent on JobKeeper. And businesses will be making lots of decisions over the next couple of months. The Government is making lots of decisions over the next couple of months. We need to get, as soon as we can and as best as we're able to, in a situation where we have fewer businesses dependent upon JobKeeper and that's the plan that we set out. Of course, the ATO, just as they have right now, to deal with distortions I suppose in the data or unusual events that occur in the data. We went through a lot of that early on in the process dealing with businesses that had had turnover impacts because of bushfires, and because of drought. And the ATO took that into account in making their assessments.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister what was the tenor of the EPBC Act discussion? Were all states in agreement on that? And what time frame are you looking at for single touch approvals and bilaterals between the states and commonwealth?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the tenor was really positive, I've got to say. There was a great deal of enthusiasm. I had hoped to have a group of first movers, and they were all first movers. They all wanted to be first movers on this, and I think that's great. And I think what that demonstrates is the states and territories and the Commonwealth want to get on with it. We want to create jobs. We want to get projects happening. We want to remove the impediments that are unnecessarily preventing investment and development from taking place. Now, this process will enable standards to be upheld, but to ensure process doesn't destroy projects. And, of course, I'm not surprised that the states and territories would be so enthusiastic and supportive of it, because they want jobs and they want to protect the environment, just like I do. So we will start the process now and in particular, WA has been very enthusiastic about this, as I've mentioned for some time. But equally, Queensland was very enthusiastic about it today. New South Wales, I mean, I can run through the lot, because they were all very keen to get moving on this. And so, there's still a lot of work to do on this. And so the next phase is that we have to move to put interim standards in place. We have got to move to put bilateral agreements and so that work starts now. It's a green light.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on that, would you be happy to devolve decisions to the states? And what's your view on whether there, on who or what at the federal level would have some power to check any decisions to make sure there's no dilution of federal...?
PRIME MINISTER: There's an assurance process in all of these things, David. But the whole point is to have a single touch decision. If we're both going to make decisions on it, what's the point in having a single touch decision? You have to get your standards right and you have got to get your assurance processes right around the holding of those standards.
Tom?
JOURNALIST: On the issue of a vaccine, in the event that the CSL and University of Queensland option doesn't eventuate, what discussions are you having with which countries about getting Australia's hands on a vaccine? Are you confident that we'll be at the head of the queue if there is an overseas vaccine available?
PRIME MINISTER: This is a topic I was discussing last night with President Macron. It's a topic that I've been discussing with the UK, particularly around the Oxford developments, which are very exciting. We're partners in programs like Gavi and so on, so we're very confident about our ability to move on those issues from all of these like-minded countries. And there are protocols in place for that to be achieved. And you're right to say that CSL has the capability in the majority, I would say, of the cases, where, how vaccines are progressing, to be able to reproduce that. There are, some vaccines research that is being done in the United States where there are very few places that have that capability. But no, we're working together on that. There’s, I've got to say, right from that first G20 meeting that we held many months ago, there was quite a strong commitment to ensure that if someone finds it, we've got to make it available. And any country that would hoard a vaccine discovery, I think, would not be met with welcome arms by the rest of the world. I think there's an absolute obligation on whoever finds this to share it with the world and you know, it was Australia through the Doherty Institute, was the first to genetically reproduce the COVID-19 virus. And we shared it. We didn't sell it. We didn't restrict it, we shared it. We made sure that everybody could get it. And we did it as soon as we found it. And that's the attitude, that's the leadership Australia has shown and that's what we'd expect from other countries when it comes to a vaccine.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you say the states agreed to no community transmission as the goal. What does that mean for that 3-stage exit strategy which was supposed to be the end of July. What would be your new thinking on that timeframe more broadly? And Professor Kelly if I may, we're two weeks in the Victorian lockdown. If the goal is no community transmission, how much longer would you have to see that lockdown put in place in order for that to be effective?
PRIME MINISTER: Well on your question - there's no change. Because there's no change in the strategy. This has always been our goal. There's no change. And this is what we've always been working to and you can expect that process to continue. Now, in Victoria, they've had to move back some steps. That's I think fairly obvious, and I think that Dan made the point well today that particularly when you're coming back out of a situation like they're in, then you've got to be confident about the protections building up more broadly as they re-emerge. So I'm sure that’s something and I know it's something that the Victorian Government is, will be looking at very closely. But I want to stress again, and Professor Kelly will make his own comments - this has always been the plan.
PROFESSOR KELLY: Thank you, PM. So firstly on the 3-step strategy. It was always designed to be a strategy for opening up, and if necessary, closing down. So we've seen that happen in Victoria in recent times, and to a certain extent in some parts of New South Wales, south-west Sydney and so forth, where those cases have been found. But all the other states have also committed to reconsidering their complete opening up. So there is no state in Australia, for example, that's going as far as New Zealand has done and basically getting back to a pre-COVID normal. Everyone agrees now that that alert phase that we're in at the moment is important, and so everyone has slowed down their three or four or five-step plan in the case of WA. In terms of what might happen in Victoria - I don't have a crystal ball on that. All we know is that we're continuing to see large numbers of cases that are being diagnosed every day. And I would just stress, again, the absolute importance firstly of chasing down every single case, every day and making sure that they are isolated. That is how we're going to get on top of this. How that works out into those other supportive things which are decreasing mobility, decreasing mixing across the population and some of those other measures in the retail space and so forth. That's a decision for the Victorian Government. But my absolute hope is that with data driving what we need to do and data supporting what we need to do, being shared with people that need to know it so that those absolutely important public health measures can be done, that will help.
JOURNALIST: Just on the Close The Gap reform committee, can I ask was there any discussion of this in today's National Cabinet meeting? And when are you expecting the states to sign off on the new targets and for those to be publicly released?
PRIME MINISTER: It was noted, it's all on their desk right now. So it is all with the states and territories right now. So I would hope that they will be able to progress that as soon as possible. Our Cabinet has signed off on it, and it is now with each individual state and territory.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, only today, the Victorian Government has moved to have the ADF knocking on doors in confirmed cases. Are you frustrated that that hasn't happened sooner? That there haven't been more take-up of ADF capability in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: It's my job to make that available. It's my job through Commodore Hill and Lieutenant General Frewen to make sure that we are providing every support we can to the Victorian Government. And that's exactly what we're doing. As I set out, it’s not just in Victoria but it's happening all around the country. All states, as you know, are very keen to stress their authority over these matters and the decisions that are taken, and the Victorian Government are doing that and we'll give them every support.
Michelle?
JOURNALIST: One area of substantial failure has been aged care. Now, I know a number of measures have been taken and there's been action to try to stop staff taking in the disease to those facilities. But, are you confident now that you're getting on top of this problem, that you're ahead of the game here. You're asking for more information, but obviously more and very fast action is needed. What are you planning to do?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So in aged care, I wouldn't say that it has been a failure up to now. It has been certainly a large number of aged care facilities have had either cases in staff or in residents in recent times in Victoria. When we look around the world, this has been a major issue for all countries, and so we're learning as we go. We certainly have had very rapid action wherever a case has been found, and we've put in place prevention in terms of the compulsory use of masks, for example, for all residents.
JOURNALIST: It's still pretty bad?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Yes, it's a real concern and so, actually, today in Melbourne, there is a, we're combining everyone who is involved in aged-care in Victoria so that they're in the same room and working through what else can be done to coordinate that action, there will be announcements over that over the coming days.
JOURNALIST: Today Dan Andrews talked about 25% of Victorians not answering the phone when called for contact tracing. Earlier in the week, it was half of people not isolating after getting a test. At the start of it, it was 30% of people in hotel quarantine refusing. Are you concerned at how Victoria is handling those very basic protocols? And does that raise your concern in terms of the Treasury assumption that that state will only be locked down for six weeks and back up to stage three by December?
PRIME MINISTER: Of course, that's concerning. And that's why the Victorian Government is taking the action they've been taking, and that's why the Australian Defence Forces are providing them with that resource to be able to go and knock on those doors. There are challenges in parts of Melbourne. That’s, I think that the Premier has been very clear about that, and that's why we genuinely seek everybody's cooperation. And all we can do is to give Victoria every support that we can to get the results. If they don't answer the phone, we'll knock on the door. If they don't come for testing, we'll drive a truck to the end of their street and we'll test them there. The way that you deal with this is you don't get frustrated about it. You don't wallow in concern about it. You just take action. You've just got to deal with what's in front of you. You can't deal with things as you'd like them to be. You've got to deal with things as they are and that's very much how we're all addressing this issue. So if there's a challenge, we've just got to get on top of it and you learn every single day. I mean, the aged care question that Michelle mentioned - the learnings that we've had from what occurred in New South Wales earlier with Newmarch, and particularly on the communications. I want to commend Minister Colbeck for the great work he's been doing to ensure that we're meeting the marks that we've set on communications with families around these issues. And that would be terribly distressing, terribly distressing for families with people in aged care facilities, and one of things we learned at Newmarch is that you've got to work very hard to maintain that communication. Communication is a big challenge when it comes to community adherence - particularly in some communities. That's why we're taking the additional steps. It's not just Australia that's dealing with this. Australia is facing the same problems that Bibi Netanyahu was mentioning to me last night, in Israel, and the same problems in parts of France and Paris. We've got outbreaks in Tokyo. We've got challenges in Hong Kong. So we're all dealing with it. But the way you deal with it is, you just deal with what's in front of you each day and you work your way through it. And Commodore Hill working strongly together with the leadership of the public health, and the emergency management in Victoria is certainly doing that on a daily basis.
Now we’ve got time I think for one more. No you’ve had one already Tom, so John, and then I'll leave you to the Treasurer.
JOURNALIST: To Professor Kelly. About the virus's infection rate. The Kirby Institute’s done some preliminary serological tests of random blood samples indicating that the actual infection rate might be more like 1 to 2 percent of Australians, which is much higher than what we're led to believe so far. Ms Chant from the New South Wales, Chief Medical Officer, she says it might be more like 1 percent. What do you think that the actual infection rate is? And what work is being undertaken to actually work out what the true infection rate is?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So there is the serological testing that you’ve mentioned, it is being led by, out of New South Wales on New South Wales data. I think that we have to be careful interpreting that data. I haven't seen the actual results yet, it's still in process. And whether that can be extrapolated to the whole of Australia is unlikely. Because this is based on our original, our first wave back in March and April which were mostly overseas cases, mostly people coming into Australia being isolated quickly. So the spread in the community, the community transmission was very low at that time. I would be extremely surprised if it was 1 percent. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay well thank you everyone, and for people as we go into this weekend, obviously, if you're in Melbourne, you're staying home. But elsewhere around the country, I'd just encourage everybody to exercise the appropriate caution and the social distancing practices which are so necessary for us to stay on our guard. We're in this fight. We are going to win this fight and we'll win it every day. Thank you very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
21 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Well good morning everyone, the Treasurer is going to join me and he’s joining us in accordance with the arrangements that have been determined by the acting Chief Medical Officer and the ACT Chief Health Officer. There is a set of correspondence which we can make available to you to explain, but again as I am looking out at this crowd, can I please ask you to observe the social distancing arrangements, I should not really have to keep reminding people about these things and it's very important that that occurs, whether we are meeting in the courtyard or any other place, so thank you for your cooperation with that.
Welcome Treasurer, it’s nice to have you here, and to everyone in particular in Melbourne and across Victoria, we continue to stand with you each and every day, and while today is about making announcements in relation to JobKeeper and JobSeeker, I can confirm that I have spoken with Commodore Hill overnight and Lieutenant General Frewen again this morning, the ADF resources are in place in Victoria now, working closely with the Victorian government, making some real ground in terms of the arrangements they are putting in place, I intend to speak to the Premier later today, and have been in regular contact as you would expect, but today, it is to address the other significant element of the crisis and the challenge that our nation faces. We have always been addressing this crisis as a dual headed one. The health crisis and the economic crisis. The COVID-19 recession that it has become, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, and our national response to both of these challenges.
All throughout these crises, we have maintained a disciplined, focus on the principles that we have set out for dealing with each of them. In the economic area, ensuring that our measures are scalable, that they are targeted, that they are measured, that they are tempered, that they are temporary, that they are addressing the information as we know it.
One of the great challenges that all countries are facing in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the recession that has been consequential to that, has been that things change and they change quickly, and there is always new information, and while you seek to give as much forward planning as you possibly can to help businesses and individuals, households, families, to be able to plan for their future, I think there is a genuine understanding in the community that this is a virus that will plot its own course, and it will wreak its own havoc where it chooses to do so. What we are in charge of is our own response, and we need to calibrate that response, carefully, and to ensure that we are using the best possible information and advice to do that, when we are making those decisions, and it is always a trade-off by giving people as much time as you can but also waiting to ensure you get as much information as you can in to assess the effectiveness of your measures and how you can appropriately adjust them for the next phase and that is indeed what we have sought to do here. As a Government we have been very focused on providing practical problems, practical solutions I should say, to practical problems. That has been our focus. All options are put on the table, careful considerations apply, and we will deliver what is practically needed, whether that is directly from the Federal Government at a Commonwealth level, or it is providing the supports into the states and territories as they need it to deal with the challenges that they are facing. Another important principle has been that we have been working together. Sure, there will be differences from time to time between states and territories, and there have been those, but what we have also demonstrated as a federation that has been prepared to work together through some of the most difficult times, and to provide the support that is needed, to share the information that is necessary, and to give each other the encouragement and support, and that is true as a national population. As I know whether people live in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Tassie, right across the country, they are as equally I believe, concerned about the welfare, particularly of Victorians and those across the border towns at the moment, or across the Murray, and in those outbreak areas that we have seen in New South Wales.
What we have also said is that we don't set and forget when it comes to these arrangements. We continue to look at them and we continue to calibrate them to ensure they are being effective, and where they need to change, we will change them. Where they can work better, we will make those changes. But where they are proven to be effective we will maintain them. And we will respond to the circumstances as best as we understand them and we seek to understand where the direction is heading so that we can respond as needed. It's also important to note that these are very complex issues. There is no one thing that can remove from us this heavy burden that is on the country at the moment. All things have to be pursued. All partners have to be worked with, to ensure that we can put Australia in the best possible position that we possibly can. And it is true to say despite the hardship that is being felt, particularly in the southern states, in Victoria, New South Wales that Australia's performance has been a standout around the world, both from a health perspective and from an economic perspective because we have always seen the task to address both of these issues and we will continue to do so going forward.
And finally before I come to the measures, I said this yesterday, Australia is a country that just doesn't look to survive these things. We don't go through challenges with our heads looking down overwhelmed by the circumstances, that is not who we are. Who we are, is an innovative, adaptive people, supporting each other, reaching out to each other, drawing us all through, not for survival, but to be on the other side in a position where we can emerge strongly. We have been saying that since the outset and we're seeing that in the responses of Australian businesses, their employees, families, health professionals, bus drivers, checkout workers right across the country they're all doing their job and they will keep doing their job.
Now, something that's been doing its job in recent months has been JobKeeper and that is what the JobKeeper Review found. JobKeeper is doing its job and will continue to do its job through the decisions we're announcing today. Already just over $30 billion has been provided in support through the JobKeeper Program to almost 1 million businesses - 960,000, thereabouts - supporting some 3.5 million employees. The review has found, and I'll allow the Treasurer to go into more of the details of this, that it has been well targeted, that it has been effective in stemming the loss of business closures and job losses, that it has saved businesses and it has saved livelihoods. That is the feedback that I have been getting direct as I have spoken to Australians, employees, employers, all around the country. It has been the game-changer for them. Their businesses would not be here, their jobs would not be there were it not for the intervention and the way it was undertaken so quickly and so effectively. The report recommends that we should continue JobKeeper and we shall, but it needs to be done in a way that is responsive to the circumstances, that it needs to be done in a way that's aligned with changes that we make to JobSeeker, and it needs to be reflective of the conditions and how they can change and we have built always into the design of JobKeeper that potential. When I was asked here a little while ago about what was occurring in Victoria and will we be having a specific set of measures for Victoria? Well there was no need, because JobKeeper is designed to reflect where businesses are hurting the most and that's what the extension of the JobKeeper arrangements do today. Whether you're in Far North Queensland and have been hit by the devastating impact of the loss of the international tourism business, whether you're in the entertainment industry, whether you're in the business events industry, which I was meeting with yesterday, whether you’re in the film business, doesn't matter which sector you're in, the aviation sector, JobKeeper is designed to find its level with those businesses who need it most and the employees who need it the most. And it has been apparent to us for some time that there will be businesses who will continue to be affected heavily by those restrictions and as a result they'll be in a position to continue to get access to JobKeeper going forward.
The changes that we're making are several. The first of those is to apply the JobKeeper test for the 30% turnover reduction across the past two quarters and into the next quarter for continuing eligibility out to the end of March of next year. So there'll be the next quarter after September and then there'll be the March quarter. In both cases, businesses will have the test reapplied in relation to their turnover and it will be looking at their performance over this first six month period of the program and that will provide where it's needed, the gateway into the next phase of the program. The payment for JobKeeper will be reduced to $1,200 per fortnight and there will be a lower payment for those working less than 20 hours a week of $750 at the change over period towards the end of September. That will be revised again for the March quarter down to $1,000 for a full rate at 20 hours a week or more and $650 for less than 20 hours a week.
Now, I want to address this issue of the dual payments. One of the reasons JobKeeper was so successful is it was designed to be done as quickly as possible using existent payment methods. Even to deliver the two payments that we have here, there is still several months of work that need to be done by the Australian Taxation Office to enable a two-tiered payment system to be put in place. That was not available to the Government back in April. We needed to move quickly and get these payments in place. But I'd also say that we made the conscious decision to have a flat rate payment because we understood at that time that people were losing second and third jobs. The report points out some 39% loss of income from other jobs, and JobKeeper was designed to only be provided through one employer. So you couldn't go and get it from all your other employers if you had multiple jobs. You could only get it from the one employer. And so that meant we could concentrate the delivery of income support to people who were losing second and third jobs by ensuring that they got their income support through one employer. Now this also had an important aggregate demand impact of ensuring that we were channelling those payments to, at a flat rate right across the labour force. It was also meaning that in supporting that aggregate demand, that had a broader impact across the economy, we were also focused on ensuring that we did not get the crush on the Centrelink system, on the Services Australia system, and we were effectively using private payrolls to deliver social security support to Australians. If people who had been on reduced hours and part-time employment had otherwise not been receiving that JobKeeper payment, they would have been lining up at Centrelink and they would have been receiving an $1,100 payment and possibly more because of the other payment supports that were there. Ensuring that we had one flat payment across the entire labour force ensured that we were protecting our social security system and you will all remember the great strains that that system was under early during the crisis. So a key part of the design was to ensure that we leveraged private payrolls to ensure that we did not crush the Centrelink system. Had that system not been able to stand up and record levels of assessments and payments - two years' worth in the space of months - meant that we could get that support to people, we could continue to build up the system. Now, we're in a position where we can run a two-payment system and we can also ensure that people can make applications earlier in the JobSeeker arrangements which enables them to move on. So it was simple, it was deliverable, it protected the social security system. It ensured that a level of income support that would otherwise had been provided through other methods was coming through a single method. And at the time, of course, we were very concerned about where the economy was heading at that time. There were no jobs and so this was about just getting income support to people that were in desperate circumstances. So they're the changes that we're making to JobSeeker - JobKeeper, I should say.
Let me move to JobSeeker. The changes we're making there and we would otherwise be joined by the Minister for Social Services today but because of the restrictions that are in place and upon us today, she sends her apologies, but will be available for interviews later.
For JobSeeker, we're increasing the income-free area that is available to those who are on JobSeeker to $300. That means you can earn $300 without it affecting any of your JobSeeker payments. We're adjusting the COVID supplement down to $250. So that means you can earn $300 where you may have been getting $550 before, you can earn $300 and then there's the $250 supplement that will come through the COVID Supplement and that will run out till the end of this year. We will be reintroducing mutual obligation in two phases, from the 4th of August we will be requiring people to connect again to employment services and to undertake four job searches a month and the penalties regime will kick in if people refuse a job that has been provided and offered through that process. So if there is a job to be taken and a job that is being offered, then it is an obligation, a mutual obligation, for those who are on JobSeeker to take those jobs where they're on offer. This is important as we move through the next phase.
In the second phase which will be at the end of September, we will be moving to a higher rate of job search. We'll be reintroducing the assets test for eligibility for those payments and we'll be reintroducing liquid assets waiting period at that time. We will be maintaining the eased restrictions around sole traders for their eligibility for JobSeeker. We will be retaining that support for people to access it who are part-time and casual. We will be maintaining the waving of the ordinary waiting period waiver and we will be maintaining the partner income test thresholds that were introduced earlier as part of our response.
And so they're the changes we're making to JobSeeker. We will make further decisions about JobSeeker closer to the end of the year or potentially even in the Budget. It is our intention that we would expect that there would be likely a need to continue those supplements post-December, but there is a difference between JobKeeper and JobSeeker. JobKeeper requires that 6-month period for employers to be able to plan. For those who are on JobSeeker, their plan is there and that is for us to assist them where possible to get them back into employment, or as we announced last week with the JobTrainer program, to get them into skills training and skills training will obviously satisfy those mutual obligation arrangements. So our plan for those who aren't in a job is to help them get into a job or train them for a job. Our plan for those who are on JobKeeper in a business that is still eligible for that, is to maintain that support. But we are expecting to see fewer businesses on JobKeeper because they're making their way out. And we're looking forward to the time when they won't need it. When JobKeeper is not necessary, that will be a good day for Australia because that will mean our economy is getting back to a much higher level of performance and businesses are able to support their employees.
I should also stress that the existing arrangements for all of those who are watching, who are on JobKeeper now and are on JobSeeker now, these arrangements run out that you are currently on till the end - towards the end of September. Okay. So you will continue to get those current arrangements now. If you're in Victoria and worried about being shut down or you're unable to go to work or earn, the arrangements you're getting right now for JobSeeker and JobKeeper will be in place towards the end of September. And that was also a recommendation of the review.
Now, I apologise for the lengthy introduction and the Treasurer has even further comments to make so I'll allow him to do that. But this is about ensuring that we move to the next phase, we take the next step. This is the next step in our journey and it's the step on the journey that is back to keep Australia in a position where we have been able to mitigate, we have been able to prevent the worst of the impacts of this crisis wherever possible and we will continue to work night and day to ensure that's the case.
Treasurer.
THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thank you, Prime Minister. Well, coronavirus has hit the Australian economy harder than any other event in the last 100 years. Between February and May, more than 2 million Australians either lost their jobs or saw their hours reduced. Now, the official unemployment rate stands at 7.4 per cent. But the effective unemployment rate is at 11.3 per cent when you take into account those who have left the workforce or those who are on zero hours. As we stand here today, 5 million Victorians are in lockdown. And it's against the backdrop of that very difficult and challenging economic environment that we are announcing the extension of JobKeeper. JobKeeper 2.0, together with the extension of the coronavirus JobSeeker supplement, will assist Australians right around the country.
As the Prime Minister alluded to, Treasury undertook a review of the JobKeeper program at the mid-way point. It was legislated for 6 months and they undertook a review at the mid-way point. They found that JobKeeper, which is the single largest economic measure that any Australian Government has ever taken has supported some 960,000 businesses and 3.5 million workers. It comprises around 30 per cent of the pre-COVID private sector workforce and Treasury's review found that JobKeeper met its three primary objectives, namely to save jobs and businesses, to maintain the formal connection between employers and employees, and to provide income support. It cited ABS data that 44 per cent of businesses on JobKeeper said that JobKeeper influenced their decision to keep their staff on. It has a number of cameos from various businesses on JobKeeper who have said that the JobKeeper program is why they remain open today. Importantly, the review also records females received, made up 47.1 per cent of the recipients under JobKeeper compared to 44.9 per cent of the private sector workforce. And that JobKeeper helped stabilise the loss of jobs across the economy. In the four weeks to mid-April, payroll jobs decreased by 8.1 per cent and after JobKeeper, jobs started to stabilise.
So today, as the Prime Minister said we're extending the JobKeeper program for another six months until the 28th March 2021. It comes at an estimated cost of around $16 billion. JobKeeper 2.0 will provide a two-tiered payment at a new rate depending on the hours worked. It was a conscious decision to introduce the flat $1,500 payment as it enabled us to get money to people who needed it most as fast as possible. However, one of the consequences of the flat payment equivalent to the minimum wage was that some recipients were receiving more under JobKeeper than they were pre-COVID. The two-tiered payment better reflects the pre-COVID income of these recipients. From the 28th September until the 3rd January next year, the two payments will be $1,200 and $750 with the lower payment for employees who work less than 20 hours a week in the month of February pre-COVID. From the 4th of January to the 28th of March, the two payments will be $1,000 and $650. To be eligible for the initial phase of JobKeeper, businesses had to see a reduction in turnover of 30 or 50 per cent depending on their size and charities a 15 per cent reduction. These tests remain the same but they will be reapplied at the end of September and again at the start of January. Employers will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in turnover in both the June and September quarters to be eligible for the JobKeeper payment in the December quarter, and employers will need to demonstrate that they have met the relevant decline in each of the previous three quarters ending on the 31st of December 2020 to remain eligible for the payment in the March quarter 2021.
As the economy gradually improves, Treasury expects that the number of JobKeeper recipients will reduce substantially. With around 1.4 million people remaining eligible in the December quarter 2020 and 1 million in the March quarter 2021. We know that the economic pain caused by COVID will end and that many businesses now struggling will be viable once again. This is why we're extending the payment to buy time to get businesses and employees to the other side. In conclusion, JobKeeper is the largest single economic measure any Government in Australia's history has undertaken. It's come at an extremely difficult time, but the Australian public know that the Morrison Government has their backs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, this is the largest economic package as the Treasurer said. It's just gotten bigger. How much is this going to cost?
PRIME MINISTER: The Treasurer just addressed that and the full reconciliation not just of these measures but other measures that have been announced by the Government over these many months will be summarised in the economic statement on Thursday. Now, I want to stress again, the economic statement is not a mini-budget, it's not a Budget. The Budget is in October. What the statement on Thursday will do will reconcile and bring together the many programs that have been announced by the Government and implemented over these past months.
But, Treasurer? Did you want to answer that Josh?
TREASURER: Well, as you know, the original estimate was around $70 billion. And so this brings it to around $86 billion.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we’ve seen now a year of JobKeeper, could we see some manifestation depending on the virus, of this scheme until the next election? And is it possible that the next election could be later next year or are you committed to going a full term?
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, politics is nowhere near my mind. I mean, I don't think Australians could care less when the next election was and, frankly, right now it's got nothing factoring into my thinking not at all. I know it may totally fascinate people who stand in this courtyard, at least some of them, but it is just not a factor. I mean, we have got an outbreak in Victoria and people are dying and you're asking me questions about when the next election is. I think we need to focus on what the real issues are here and it’s not when the next election is.
Lanai?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you found that close to 900,000 people were paid more than their normal salary by getting JobKeeper. Do you accept that will still occur even with the changes that you're making today?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Treasurer may want to comment on this as well. But look I think the scope of that will be diminished. But, again, I stress - JobKeeper can only be paid by one employer and many people who are either in casual employment, longer-term casual appointment or part time employment can have multiple jobs. Many do. They were the first jobs to go under this COVID recession and the delivery mechanism recognised that. So while they mightn't have got any income support from the other jobs they were working for, that was channelled through the one employer they did do it through. But by moving to a two payment system because we're in a position to be able to a that now and we have been able to extend and boost the capability of Services Australia to respond to the request - because we will now have people who are on a lower payment, on the $750 payment or the $650 payment. They'll also have an eligibility for JobSeeker as well. Had we not done that earlier, they would have been getting JobKeeper and applying for JobSeeker at exactly the same time putting inordinate stress on the JobSeeper system. And so we are now in a position having bolstered our systems over the last months to enable a two-tiered payment to be put in place which will diminish those - those outcomes that you have mentioned.
But, Josh?
TREASURER: Thanks, PM. Forecasting is difficult at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a pandemic. It's Treasury's forecast that that income transfer will be halved under the new arrangements with the two-tiered payment. Bearing in mind, as the Prime Minister has said 39 per cent of jobs lost across the economy were secondary jobs. So the income transfer numbers that the Treasury paper refers to does not take into account how many people lost a second job, nor does it take into account that under the flexible industrial relations changes that came in with JobKeeper, some employers and employees agreed for the employees to do more hours. And so they were doing more hours, which meant that they were making up for that otherwise income transfer.
JOURNALIST: What is the logic in reducing the JobKeeper rate just after Christmas and removing that JobSeeker supplement, isn't that, at Christmas, isn't that a very tough time to be reducing the payments to those people?
PRIME MINISTER: As I said earlier, we'll be making further announcements about what happens with JobSeeker post-December in a few months. We need to make those decisions closer to the time to have a better understanding of where the economy is at, remembering the JobSeeker arrangements has more an impact on incentives on the labour market. JobKeeper does not have those same disincentives and particularly given the redesign that has been put in place because it new can be done. So we want to be in a position to better assess where the situation is closer to the end of the year. We have always said that the JobKeeper and the JobSeeker COVID supplement were temporary measures. And, look, I think Australians understand that. They know that a current scheme that is burning cash, their cash, taxpayers' cash to the tune of some $11 billion a month cannot go on forever. Australians understand that. They also understand that JobSeeker at the elevated levels cannot go on forever. It was introduced at those very highly elevated levels because of the severe economic situations that were in place and the fact that there were no other jobs at all out there for people during those times and we wanted to boost that level of income support both for the economy, but also obviously to reduce hardship for individuals themselves. And so it has always been our view that it has to taper back. It has to scale down, we have to work ourselves off these supports because they're not enduring, they cannot be permanent, they were never designed to be permanent and in terms of longer-term arrangements around income supports, those decisions will be made at another time. What we're dealing with now is the next couple of months which the JobKeeper Review said these arrangements should stay in place until - well, it’s the 25th of September I think it is - and that the JobSeeker arrangements and JobKeeper should move in sync and so we'll be looking at that issue with JobSeeker closer to that time, but I want to be very clear - I am leaning heavily in to the notion that we would anticipate based on what we know right now that there would obviously need to be some continuation of the COVID supplement post-December.
PRIME MINISTER: Andrew, I think you had your question. Andrew?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you told us that mutual obligations is going to return in some form in August. What do you say to those people who think that would be quite a burden given that it's not an uncommon story to hear people applying for jobs where there are hundreds applying for the same job? And what flexibility will there be for states like Victoria or possibly other regions in months ahead, heaven forbid, that do have substantial lockdowns?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, this is why the design of the scheme, I think, it finds its level wherever a state or a particular area is, and the immediate, more immediate elements of the mutual obligations, no, I don't believe are onerous. It’s it's looking for four jobs a month and it is to reengage with employment services and it is to not to refuse a job if you're offered one. Now, I think they're very fair - very fair expectations that taxpayers should have. I have, I can't even nominate a conversation that I have had that I recall where Australians have not wanted to help other people in these circumstances, but it's not unreasonable once we get into this next phase for there to be some basic requirements. I think the ones that are initially coming in are very fair and reasonable. Remember last week though and I stress this, we understand that there are fewer jobs available for people now, of course there are, that's obvious. That's why we put in place the billion-dollar boost to training programs last week with the states and since I have stood here last week, Victoria have indicated they'll be coming on board. So that's seven states and territories that are signed up to that program and that will mean that there'll be training opportunities for people to upskill, reskill, to get themselves in a position if not in the next couple of months, but perhaps later to be able to get themselves into those positions so the JobTrainer works with JobSeeker which works with JobKeeper. All of these programs are designed to work together to give people the help they need.
Phil? And then Shane. And then Clare.
JOURNALIST: You may have partly answered this in Lanai’s question, just wondered if you could clarify - the Treasury said that JobSeeker should be reduced so it's no higher than JobKeeper so it doesn't act as a disincentive. The new level, the tier 2 level of JobKeeper is slightly lower than the new JobSeeker. Is that - is that contrary to Treasury’s advice that people would rather stay on JobSeeker than JobKeeper? Or you said people would be able to do both on the lower tier? COuld you explain,
PRIME MINISTER: Well they have been reduced by commensurate amounts. They have both been reduced by $300. So they’ve been reduced, so the existing complementarities have been maintained with the new arrangements. And remember, that on JobSeeker it's just not that payment that people receive and there'll be cameos that you'll have available to you which demonstrate with rental assistance and other payments even under with these changes, families or those depending on the dependents and other circumstances, will continue to be getting support above what those basic JobSeeker arrangements are.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] JobSeeker and JobKeeper, is that the point,
PRIME MINISTER: It will all depend on people's circumstances, Phil. I mean it’s you know how complex the social services system is. And so depending on where people's circumstances are and their level of need, then there are a range of other payments they're entitled to. So it has - one of the reasons this has been a very complex exercise, it has not just been a matter of determining, "Well, what do you do with JobKeeper post-September?" You need to look at the integration between JobKeeper and the welfare system, and you also need to look at the training system. And so these announcements we have made over several days I think should demonstrate that this is an integrated package.
Shane? and then Clare.
JOURNALIST: Treasurer, the $16B for the, that's the cost of JobKeeper, what's the cost of the JobSeeker extension? Does it - will it continue for, say, parenting payments and other, I think, family farms household payments? And just finally, when you get to end of September when you reduce, is there an expectation that there will be firms laying off staff because they won't be able to keep on with the, $1,200 isn't quite enough? Do you expect that there'll be a lift in unemployment around that point?
TREASURER: Well, you'll see the employment numbers and the job- and the unemployment numbers when we get to the statement on Thursday. That puts out a couple of years worth of forecasts. It's fair to say the unemployment rate will continue to rise. That's also a factor of the participation rate increasing. When it comes to the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement, that's going to cost around $3.8 billion to extend it out to December. And again the total cost of that supplement is around $16.8 billion. And I have mentioned the cost of JobKeeper. So these are very substantial financial commitments.
PRIME MINISTER: Clare?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Treasury found the supports would potentially blunt the incentive to return to work, was that based on evidence of that happening now, was it speculative as to when the economy opens more? And did they have any findings around businesses who maybe resisted reopening because they knew their workers were on JobKeeper? Do you think this will push more businesses to reopen?
TREASURER: Thank you, Prime Minister. Well in terms of Treasury's analysis, obviously this has been conducted at the mid-way point when the economy's just opening up. Their comment on the disincentives, particularly around labour mobility, is more acute as the economy opens up. And what we know is that the National Cabinet had agreed on May the 8th for three stages - in three stages for the restrictions to be eased. So Treasury's numbers are based on assumptions from that 8th of May Cabinet decision outside of Victoria. I just want to be very clear, what Treasury has assumed in the basis of these numbers is that that lockdown goes for 6 weeks in Victoria and then restrictions come back, stage 1, and then stage 2 out to December. Treasury have very much tried in this very difficult environment to take into account what is happening in Victoria but also taking into account National Cabinet's decisions.
And your other question was?
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] with JobKeeper, were businesses happy to remain closed given the uncertainty?
TREASURER: Well I think businesses want to open. And indeed the more money they bring in through customers is money that the business can use to hire more people and maintain more staff. What JobKeeper is, is a wage subsidy, effectively, and also income transfer but effectively a wage subsidy to that employer so that they can keep on their staff and that has been proven to be the case.
PRIME MINISTER: The inclusion of sole traders too, I think is very important point Clare, for them to keep their businesses open. The fact we're maintaining the easing of eligibilities for sole traders both on JobSeeker and their continuing access to JobKeeper out to the end of this year I think is important.
Sam?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can we just step through the turnover changes to the test because that's important for businesses to know whether they're going to qualify or not. You’ve got 900,000 businesses now, 3.5 million workers. How many, you know you must have a fair idea how many are going to be on this after that date. And also in relation to the overpayment of casuals, it looks like you've overpaid them $6 billion. Now I take your point that you're rolling out the system quickly but do you think that that $6 billion dollars that you overpaid casuals at a rate of about $550 a fortnight could have been better spent?
TREASURER: Well as you know that doesn't take into account the 39 per cent of jobs lost that have been lost that have been secondary jobs. That doesn't take into account what has happened in particular workplaces with more hours being worked under the flexible IR arrangements. But, to your question, Treasury's forecast is, as I said, for the December quarter 1.4 million recipients of which about 175,000 would be on the $750 payment and, for the March quarter, about 1 million recipients, of which around 125,000 will be on the $650 payment.
PRIME MINISTER: Just to pick up on Sam's point also, I mean the alternative, Sam, was to not have those payments to those people at all. And so if you were a part-time worker or a long-time casual, the only option to us in those circumstances at that time is they would not have received JobKeeper and they would have gone into the JobSeeker queues and that would have crashed the JobSeeker system. We're in a position at the end of September to put that two-tiered payment in. So, no, I wouldn't agree that that was something that could have been done differently or better because the alternative would have been to leave people exposed and, potentially, a stress on the government services system, Services Australia system, that could have proved absolutely chronic for that system to be able to work through the unprecedented demand they were receiving for those who were going to have to rely on the JobSeeker system.
JOURNALIST: Is there modelling on the poverty impact of reducing the JobSeeker payments, there’s been that prediction that it could send you know hundreds of thousands of families with children into poverty, what’s the impact of taking it down to $815?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's not our advice. What we've done on JobSeeker is to increase the income-free area. Which is a really important part of the change. We want, we know there's not a lot of work out there. But where there's some work, we do not want people not to take that work because they're on a JobSeeker payment and think that will threaten it. So this will enable people to take a bit of work where they can get it and not have that threaten their JobSeeker payment. And we think that’s really important for the certainty of those individuals who want to work, I mean JobSeeker and JobKeeper are not do nothing payments. JobSeeker and JobKeeper are payments that support people's incomes but also do not, and are not designed to prevent them from going out and seeking work and to improve their circumstances. I mean I was in my own electorate yesterday and in my electorate we have more Qantas employees than any other electorate in the country. They've obviously been devastated by the impacts on the aviation sector. I have got pilots who are working stop-go signs, working at distribution centres, and they’re also continuing to be connected to their employer. And they'll fly again one day. But in the meantime they're not seeing JobKeeper as do-nothing money, they’re seeing it as a very helpful income support that keeps them connected to their business but at the same time doesn't prevent them from going and doing other work that’s out there. So you've got to get the combination of these incentives right. And that’s what we’ve attempted to do here.
Yep, here, and then John and then I’ll come back, yep?
JOURNALIST: Prime, Minister, you mentioned the aviation industry there. It is one of the industries that realistically isn’t going to be back up on its feet by March, live entertainment is another one that springs to mind, international tourism, do you anticipate that there might be a need to extend JobKeeper beyond March for certain industries?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that's premature. I’ve said before when we’re only a couple of months into a 6 months programme, now we’re 3 months into a 12-month program. I think where the world will be at the end of March is not something that we could speculate upon at this time. But I think what people - I hope what people see today was several months ago when these questions were put to both of us in this courtyard and the suggestion was that somehow the Government would not be extending arrangements, all we were simply saying was that we'd be looking at that at the time, we'd make judgements on where the country was at, where the economy was at, what the health situation was, and that's exactly what we've done and we've made decisions to continue to provide support, based on the evidence, based on the expert advice, based on what we believe the economy needs. Now when we make the next set of decisions, we'll be doing exactly the same thing. We'll be assessing it and we’ll do what we think is best for the country which is what we've sought to do today.
John?
JOURNALIST: Thank you Prime Minister. An unemployed person on JobSeeker will get $800 a fortnight untaxed plus other social welfare benefits. A part-time worker on JobKeeper working up to 20 hours a week will get less, $750 a fortnight. I’m just interested in understanding the thinking behind that because it sounds a bit counterintuitive?
PRIME MINISTER: What you're assuming is that no-one is doing any work. That's not an assumption you can make, and it is certainly not an assumption that Treasury has made. Treasury have made the point that on JobKeeper, for example, those businesses that may still require it, they will be making payments in addition to JobKeeper to staff doing additional hours. This is why it's so important that the industrial relations side of all of this is also brought into focus. These payments have given enormous support to people when they've needed it most. But the industrial relations flexibility that has been afforded to employers has also enabled those employers to keep people in jobs. I, I was at businesses yesterday where this was exactly the case. Where hours had been reduced so two people could have a job rather than one person could have a job. This flexibility will be vital to employers to keep more people in jobs, post-September, and in this next phase of JobKeeper. And we believe not just those who are eligible for JobKeeper but it will be needed more broadly as those who have graduated out of JobKeeper are getting more and more on their feet. I don't want to see people lose jobs post-September because of an industrial relations system which is so inflexible that it says to one person, "I have to employ you full-time", and says to the other, "so I’ll have to sack you." But that's the circumstances we are looking at in what will be a very challenged economy post September.
Yep?
JOURNALIST: Just on Victoria, we've seen another 300-plus cases of coronavirus down there, sadly 3 more deaths overnight, given that in the contact tracing teams there is no ADF support down there in Victoria picking up the phones unlike what New South Wales Health had early on in this pandemic. Would you like to see Victoria ask for the ADF support in that contract tracing teams given the numbers of cases they're seeing now are overwhelming their contract tracing teams. And what confidence do you have that Victoria can get on top of this virus down there?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we are in the fight in Victoria. And we are in the fight with them in Victoria and and Commodore Hill, who's been in place now down there since the weekend, I met with him over the phone last night he has been pulling together plans to address the very issues that you've raised and the use of ADF resources to support that effort. I want to be very clear: The ADF are not running these programs in Victoria. That is the responsibility of the Victorian Government. Their role is to advise, and assist, and support. And that is the tasking they've received from the CDF and myself. And so, they are working very closely with the public health officials in Victoria, sorry?
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] tracers,
PRIME MINISTER: This is what I'm saying. The ADF, where they believe that the ADF resource will be necessary to support that effort, then they'll be making that recommendation. But the challenge at the moment is getting the tasking right and getting the organisational structures right, and to ensuring that the resources that are there are being put to best use. And that's the great skill of the ADF. They bring an ability to manage complex tasks. And the complexity of the task in Victoria has risen to a level that I'd say we have not quite yet seen and, arguably, have not yet seen during the course of the pandemic. And so I'm very pleased Commodore Hill is down there and I have every confidence that Premier Andrews would be taking the advice, and he has been very open with me about how appreciative he is of that ADF support, and I would have no reason to think that the Victorian Government would stand in the way of that sort of support. It is an open account they have with us and they've been very appreciative. So I’d expect that to flow through. But we're still very much in the hard part of this fight, as you can see from the daily case numbers. I'm not expecting that to change a lot in the short term. And we just need to keep working the problem.
Yep? Then I'll come back over that way.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister you're saying you don't want to speculate about what it’ll look like what the economy will look like come March, but Treasury forecasts there's still be a million people who’ll be supported by JobKeeper come March. Doesn't that suggest that JobKeeper is going to extend well into 2021?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it doesn't mean any of that at all. Treasury needs to make estimates of where things are at, at different points in time. They'll be making estimates for this statement on Thursday, they’ll be making estimates for the Budget, they’ll be making estimates for the midyear statement, they’ll be preparing estimates for next year's Budget. So and they will continue to adjust those. I really do think, particularly in the middle of a pandemic, they can make the best estimates as they know the situation now but I think these circumstances are very open to change.
Josh?
TREASURER: And can I just say PM, we are in the fight of our lives. I mean, this is, this is a huge hit to the Australian and to the global economy. In the United States there has been 51 million jobless claims. The international labour organisation says over the 2 quarters March and June, some 600 million jobs have been lost globally. I mean, our friends in the region, and broader, in Europe and the United States, I mean, they are going through the most difficult times economically and from the health side. And Australia, as the Prime Minister has said, has performed so much better than pretty much any other developed nation on both the health side and also on the economic side. And the IMF singled Australia out as the only country to have its forecasts upgraded for this calendar year. So what we've seen from the Government is a full court press in terms of our comprehensive economic response but we're not out of the woods yet, and what we've outlined today should be of great relief to the Australian people.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay I'll go Rosie, Katherine, and then finish up with Michelle.
JOURNALIST: It’s Katina,
PRIME MINISTER: Oh sorry Katina!
JOURNALIST: You've said previously, and several of your Ministers have said that you are expecting that in the final quarter of this year, there would be a portion of people would move from JobKeeper to unemployment payments. What proportion of that 2.1 million people who won't be getting JobKeeper in the December quarter would you expect to be unemployed?
PRIME MINISTER: A couple of figures I think we need to bear in mind during the pandemic about how we're assessing the unemployment situation and the economic situation. I think the most important is the effective rate of unemployment. The headline rate at 7.4 [per cent] we know does not reflect the real unemployment situation that's happening on the ground. We did see a fall in the effective unemployment rate, as we said last week, and that is welcome because the effective unemployment rate washes out the movements of people between different types of payments and definitions, but their circumstances are often, essentially, the same. So we, of course we will see some people move from JobKeeper to JobSeeker - I expect that. I expect those who are on the second tier payment, I expect to see quite a number of those come into the JobSeeker arrangement, and Services Australia has stood up that ability for applications to be made pretty much from now, in advance. They won't trigger until circumstances are confirmed at a time when JobKeeper would terminate for that firm if they're in that situation or if they're at a lower payment. So I would expect that to that to happen.
I would also expect, not because of JobKeeper but we saw this decision recently with Qantas, I would expect businesses now, several months into the pandemic to be making their own decisions now about those who are going to be continually working in their businesses. They weren't in a position to do that back in April and that was one of the key reasons we did JobKeeper. We did it because no-one knew what the next day would bring let alone what the next month would bring. And we did not want to see businesses forced into the position to have to lay off workers, crystallising entitlements which would then create payments which would force them out of business as well, and you would have this snowball effect. And we've avoided that. We're many months, now, into the process. And so, I anticipate, just like businesses already have, they will make judgements about who they're going to keep on and then who they won't be able to keep on. But JobSeeker will be there for them. The additional training places will be there for them. And the ability to move to those over the next couple of months, if that's what they need, that will be there for them. So let's keep focused on I think what is the effective rate of unemployment, don't you agree, Josh, that is a better picture of what the situation is. But there'll be people moving around, in and out of the workforce, people who are moved from stood down completely to maybe a few hours a week. These are not normal times when it comes to these economic statistics but I can tell you which one I'm looking at, I’m looking at the effective rate of unemployment and the one I'm trying to take down.
Katharine?
JOURNALIST: Given the decisions you were just referencing in that answer that employers are going to make over the coming weeks and months and given the economic outlook, you're obviously tapering out the coronavirus supplement - you're cutting it - but do you now accept that the old base rate of Newstart was too low?
PRIME MINISTER: That's not a matter that we're looking at, at the moment. We've increased JobSeeker significantly through the pandemic and we're still in the pandemic phase. And given that we have no real - well, certainly no intention of that going back to the original JobSeeker base payment certainly by the end of December and as I've flagged, I would be very surprised if we weren't to extend it beyond then, then I think those sorts of issues are not ones that the Government is contemplating at this point. At some point I imagine that will come into our calculations but in the meantime, people are getting paid more on JobSeeker and they will continue to get paid more for some considerable time yet. But with the changes we've made today, particularly the reintroduction of mutual obligation, connecting people back up to employment services, getting them into training, getting back into that mode, I think is really important. Getting people on to this next step, as difficult as things might be we've got to get to the next step. We’ve got to keep moving forward.
Michelle?
JOURNALIST: You emphasised a number of times the importance of more flexible industrial relations arrangements and you're seeking to get these through the consensus talks that are going on. But if those talks don’t produce something that goes far enough or if they break down, are you willing to bring forward the industrial relations changes you believe are necessary?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, when I stood up at the Press Club and first mentioned that longer-term process, Michelle, as well as, as we've been working through these pandemic-type arrangements, these temporary arrangements, I can assure you, we'll put forward what we think is best for the Australian economy and for the Australian people. That's what we'll do. We'll seek to legislate that through the Parliament. We've been adopting a highly consultative approach. And I commend the Attorney and the Industrial Relations Minister, Christian Porter. And I thank Sally McManus and the whole dialogue that we've been having. But none of us are so naive to think that this will result in a complete agreement on all measures, and I can assure you the Government, the Government I lead, will continue to do the right thing we believe for the Australian people and for the Australian economy.
Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Miranda, NSW
20 July 2020
DYLAN RETIF, CEO DISPLAYWISE: So we’d like to thank the Prime Minister for coming out to our business today, DisplayWise, we design and build custom displays for the exhibition and event industry. Today we’ve had the opportunity to talk to the Prime Minister about the effects that COVID has had on the exhibition industry. He has given us his time today to talk through with a few industry bodies, so I’d like to welcome him to chat a bit more.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much Dylan. Well it’s tremendous to be back home here in the Shire today. But more importantly to be back here with Dylan and Jason who I have known for some years. I was in this business a couple of years ago, and a couple of years ago it was almost doubling every year in size, it was one of our great thriving small businesses, becoming a medium business, becoming a large business. And COVID-19 really put the shocks on that. But what has been tremendously encouraging about what Dylan and Jason have been able to achieve here at DisplayWise is that they have been able to keep everybody onboard. And you can see them working here behind us. Over 50 staff here have been kept here as a result of the JobKeeper program which has enabled DisplayWise and so many other businesses, almost a million businesses around the country, have been supported through this program. They have adapted, they have innovated, they have survived. And they have changed their product lines, they have reached out, and across their sector they have been creating, using the incredible tools and equipment that they have built up here, the capital they have got here to open new product lines, go online. And that has been one of the most inspiring things I have seen as Prime Minister all around the country, is the way that businesses have sought to adapt and to innovate to see themselves through.
As a government, we have been very pleased to be able to provide that support, whether it has been through JobKeeper, or our business cash flow supports, and indeed, the measures we will be announcing today with the Treasurer extending out those loan guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses. $1 million over a longer period of time, five years, and not just for working capital, but also to extend into new investments and as I have spoken to industry leaders here today, the exhibition and business events sector, not unlike the creative sector, the entertainment sector, significantly hit by COVID-19. But they are looking forward to the time ahead where they can plan and they can get their business moving again.
So it’s been a very good opportunity for me to come along here today, a place I know very well, and just to listen. One of the ways we have been able to be effective as a country, has been because we have been listening to what is happening on the ground and we have been adapting our policies and fine-tuning them over time. COVID-19 has been uncharted waters for the entire world. And here in Australia, we have been very focused on trying to stay head of the game, listening very carefully to what the needs of businesses and employers have been so they can keep people in jobs, and that has been our task and that will continue to be our task. The Treasurer and I will soon be making announcements about JobKeeper and JobSeeker, but we know how important JobKeeper has been. And there will be many businesses who, from when we first put JobKeeper in place, that they have been able to improve their conditions and they’ve been able to lift their turnover, and that is fantastic news and that is welcome and we want them to have continued success. But there are other parts of the economy, and here DisplayWise is no different, for whom their turnover will continue to be down because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because of the restrictions that have been put in place on the economy. And they will need continued support, and they will get continued support. And many businesses like them, as we work through those changes we will be announcing this week. And they will continue to adapt, they will continue to innovate, they will continue to employ and they will continue to look forward. And that’s our way through this.
That is why for Australians, in this matter, even though with the difficult situations we have down in Victoria at the moment, particularly those in Melbourne, and staying and getting on top of the issues here in New South Wales, where they are doing a great job, it is about doing that but it is also about lifting our heads and looking to the future.
So Dylan and Jason, thanks for the opportunity to come today and listen through the issues in the business events and the exhibition sector, this is a sector that can get back on its feet. We can get business events running again, we can get exhibitions running again, they can be done safely, they can be done economically and viably, and so today was a good opportunity to consult with the industry and get a good handle on some of the obstacles they have, some of the challenges that they will have to get across. And I look forward to raising those with the Premiers again this weekend, sorry, this Friday, as the National Cabinet meets, and working through with my own Ministers as we meet as Cabinet this week as well.
So we are going to keep looking forward. It's not just businesses in the Shire that are continuing to power on, although I am very proud of my Shire businesses here. I know that’s happening all around the country, and that is the sort of attitude and spirit we need. The sort of spirit that is on display here at DisplayWise.
Happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the Treasurer says the economy is transitioning away from the original support payments, JobKeeper and JobSeeker. What time period are you aiming to complete that transition?
PRIME MINISTER: We will have more to say about the next phase. But we have to look our supports and our programmes as a series of phases. And how many phases there are it is very difficult to say because there are so many uncertainties associated with COVID-19. Australia is faring better than almost any, if not every other developed economy in the world today. And the way we will continue to be able to try and stay ahead and minimise the impacts is by listening carefully. And to ensure that we can support businesses to make investments, to keep their staff together, where that is viable, and to be ready for when things change in their industries. Or to retrain workers, like we said last week with the JobTrainer program, some 340,000 places as well as $1.5 billion dollars of support for apprentices. I met a young apprentice here today, exactly the type of apprentice we are supporting through those programs, 180,000 of them, to stay in jobs and to keep up their skills and keep supporting businesses just like this. So it will be phased, and we will be announcing this week the next phase post September. It will be targeted, it will be temporary, it will be effective as the first round has been, but we do know that this first round has been very important. I mean, almost 1 million businesses, around 3.5 million employees, and there’s still 2 months to go on the current set of arrangements. What the Treasurer and I will announce this week won’t commence the day after we announce it, it will be several months from then. So there will be several months for businesses to adjust to the next phase. But the supports that have been in place since April will be in place until September, and then we'll move into a new phase. But I can assure you that businesses like the one we are standing in today and employees that depend on that business, will continue to get support.
JOURNALIST: Is it feasible to transition the majority of those 3.5 million JobKeeper recipients off their payments say, by Christmas?
PRIME MINISTER: The way the economy is rebuilding and moving through the COVID recession is where their own turnover is lifted, where their own business is growing then their business is in a stronger position to support people in jobs. And that's the way it should be. Where businesses have been unable to do that, then that is where we have stepped in with JobKeeper. And there are businesses that are down 90 percent still, there are businesses down even more than that in the most affected sectors. In the business events and the exhibition industry we have seen that and that is the feedback I have had this morning, but the same is true in the aviation sector, in the entertainment sector, many parts of the hospitality and the tourism industries, although it has been encouraging, I was in Queensland on Friday and I was pleased see and hear about the improvements that they have been seeing there with increased visitation. But my message to all Australians is the same. We want to keep moving forward. But to keep moving forward we have to remain disciplined, we have to keep doing the essentials right, we have to stay in the habit when it comes to social distancing and when it comes to downloading the COVIDSafe app, when it comes to ensuring that we wash our hands and sanitise, and that if we are out in the retail sector or out and about in the community, particularly in Victoria where it is mandatory in Melbourne, to wear a mask, and the message in Melbourne is to stay home. If you are having to go outside, that should be an exception. And if you are having to go outside, then you need to be wearing that mask and in New South Wales the recommendation now is that where, if you are not in a position to socially distance, particularly if you are in one of those areas that have been impacted, then the advice is you may wish to use a mask. But it is about staying in habit and staying disciplined, and the more we do that, the more businesses grow, the more certainty we have, the more jobs we have.
JOURNALIST: How much of your economic statement on Thursday requires legislation, and do you have a contingency plan if the medical advice says there should be no sitting of Parliament before the end of September?
PRIME MINISTER: The decision for the parliament not to sit for the next sitting fortnight was done on the basis of medical advice. It was frankly a no-brainer when it came to the medical advice and what was necessary, and I conveyed that to the Leader of the Opposition on Friday night. And he agreed that for that next sitting fortnight that was not good sense to bring people from all over the country, particularly from Victoria, and to create that risk. Not just for the ACT, but more broadly. We will continue to manage these issues carefully and exercise our responsibilities carefully. We know how important it is for the Parliament to meet and to sit. And I think there is also somewhat of a consensus across certainly the major parties that it’s important that it sit in person. That is an important part of how our Parliament functions. And we will be seeking to do that when the Parliament next sits which is on the 24th of August. And I would hope that we will be able to sit on that day, that is certainly my expectation and planning that we will be. And, but I will be consulting with my Manager of Government Business in the House of Representatives and the Leader of the Government in the Senate to work through those options and to make whatever contingency plans that are necessary. And we will consult the other parties in that process, but it is for the Government to determine those things as we have on this occasion and we will continue to consult on those things as we have.
JOURNALIST: Mr Morrison, a million dollars is a lot of money for a small to medium business to borrow, is it wise for them to do so when they have such limited cash flow at this moment in time?
PRIME MINISTER: Decisions that businesses take about what capital they need, and how much they borrow, are judgements for them. And they work that out with their banks, and they work it out with their accountants and their financial planners. And they make sound judgements. And what is exciting being here at DisplayWise, as Dylan tells me, is they’ve taken space across the road, because they are looking forward. And we do look forward in our economy, and I think Australians can be optimistic. I'm certainly optimistic, it's my natural disposition. But it's important for Australians to be optimistic. They will be looking sensibly at what their commercial opportunities are, and then they will make those judgements. So, see I have a lot of faith in Australian small business people. I have a lot of faith in their judgement about their business, and to make sound judgements about their future. What the Treasurer and I are seeking to do with our entire government is to back them in, to give them the support they need. And it's a challenging time for them. What I'm excited about with the announcement the Treasurer is making today, is that it’s allowing them to invest. Not just to get by. See, I just don't want Australia to survive the COVID recession, I want us to emerge strongly from it. We're not a country that just survives, we are a country that always seeks to thrive. That is what I know to be the culture and attitude of small businesses and medium sized businesses like the one we are in here today. And we want to back them in for that, and to help them lift their heads and look forward.
JOURNALIST: Has the government done it’s own assessment of the numbers who were pushed into poverty, poverty rather, as a result of changes to the economic statement announced Thursday?
PRIME MINISTER: The reason we’ve put in place the record income supports that we have, and provided the record level of fiscal stimulus and other incentives through the economy is to avoid that very outcome. Everything we are doing is seeking to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 recession on Australians, on Australian businesses, on employees, on businesses and employers. That is what we're doing each and every day. And every decision we are taking is to that end. And that is why Australia has been doing better than most, and many, if not all developed economies around the world. I mean, it is still tough, it is extremely tough out there. But at a time like this, I think all Australians will be pleased they’re in Australia and nowhere else.
JOURNALIST: PM are you comfortable with the tightening of the New South Wales-Victoria border that was announced yesterday and is coming into effect tomorrow, are you comfortable with that policy setting that’s in place?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah I am, and this has been something that has been done cooperatively with Victoria. I spoke to Premier Berejiklian at length this morning about a number of issues. And this was one of them. And I think what we have seen in New South Wales with the cases that have presented, is the government really getting on top of the contact tracing very quickly and the isolation. I understand cases today announced have all known sources, that’s incredibly important. I was on a call as I am pretty much every day, most days, with our Chief Medical Officer and the Secretary of the Health Department, with Lieutenant General Frewen, who is heading up COVID Assist operations, and we’ve got Commodore Hill down there in Victoria, he has been in place for a few days now. He has been able to make a good assessment of the situation and I will be speaking to him later today or early tomorrow morning. I know that they have been making recommendations as to what needs to take place, and I'm sure that will get great support from Premier Andrews and his entire team. I got a text last night from Dan. They very much appreciate the support they are getting, and we're very pleased to provide it. I mean Victoria has an open account with us, an absolute open account. They will get what they need. I made the same point to New South Wales this morning. Their need is not as great, but we have hundreds of ADF personnel involved in supporting the New South Wales government, particularly around the border operations there with Victoria. And containing it around the border towns is very important. And that we don't get cases leaping forward out of those border towns and into other parts of New South Wales. So it is a sensitive time, it is an important time. I would ask particularly for those in Melbourne, I thank them for their patience, I thank them for their endurance, and in advance I continue to thank them for their kindness to one another. I think that is something we have to be very mindful of. As we go back into, as we are now back in lockdown in Melbourne, we need to be very careful of each other, we need to be mindful of each other's mental health and particularly the elderly in the community. There are a lot of services and supports in place, being provided by both the Commonwealth and the state governments there. And everyone who is delivering those services, wants to be as much help as they possibly can be and get that support to people who need it. So keep an eye out for each other, that’s what it means, by getting through these things together, and know once again whether you are in Melbourne or in the border towns along New South Wales, the Victorian border or elsewhere, if you're going through these difficult times, then the whole country is in behind you.
JOURNALIST: Is there anything more that the federal government can be doing to help with mask distribution in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: For some time now we have been aware of what would become a possibility with masks. I have received assurances for months now that there is a retail and wholesale capability to meet consumer needs. It is something we have tracked, but we have also built up mask production capability. The Commonwealth has been doing that, the states have been doing that, and there is the ability, my advice is, to meet that. It might require a bit of patience at the outset, if there’s a bit of a rush on. A rush hour, no matter how big a bridge you build, it will get a bit congested at the start but my advice is, we will keep doing that through the coordinated mechanism, that will ensure those supplies are there, and for the State Government who has decided to make that mandatory, I have no doubt they would have considered the supply issues when they made that decision.
Apart from that, thank you very much. Thanks for being here Dylan and Jason and the rest of the team. It's great to be back here in the Shire.
Press Conference - Molendinar, QLD
20 July 2020
ANGIE BELL MP, MEMBER FOR MONCRIEFF: I’m Angie Bell, Member for Moncrieff, Well I’m absolutely thrilled to be here today in the beating heart of the Gold Coast, that is Creative Productions here in Molendinar, the owner, a local small business Dave Jackson, is, at his business here today to make a great announcement and I welcome with great gusto our Prime Minister to Moncrieff and also my Gold Coast colleagues and Minister Michaelia Cash also for this announcement today to support local jobs and to support local business in the movie industry so with no further ado I’ll introduce our Prime Minister, welcome to Moncrieff.
PRIME MINISTER SCOTT MORRISON: Thank you Angie, thank you Angie it’s great to be here, it’s great to be back in Queensland, it’s been a while since a Sydneysider had been able to be in Queensland so, I know many are enjoying that opportunity and it’s great to be here on the Gold Coast, it’s certainly warmer than it was in Canberra earlier this morning, and I know many southerners are enjoying that as well. Sadly, our friends in Victoria are unable to do that, particularly at this time. But before I say much more. Let me just open by saying it's six years since MH17 was felled and shot down. 38 Australians perished, were killed, in that attack. Some 298 souls were lost. And it is still a tragedy that continues to affect us all, and in all of the many meetings I've had with Prime Minister Rutte from, the Dutch Prime Minister, we have spoken about this constantly as we continue to seek justice for those Australian lives that were lost and were taken from us. And we are as outraged about it today as we were many years ago, and we will continue to fight for their families and all of their loved ones in remembrance of those who were lost.
But the reason for being here today is a much more positive one, and that is because we're about jobs. Our JobMaker plan is about ensuring that we have jobs right across Australia. And whether that is in the home building industry, whether that is in any parts of the hospitality; the tourism sector; the entertainment sector, where we announced some $250 million of support to get shows back on the road recently. We are about creating jobs and a big part of the jobs that we can create, which we've known, has been in the film and screen industry. So much of which is represented here on the Gold Coast. I've been here on many occasions, particularly with Cowboy Dave who I got to meet on the first occasion when I was here with Bert, and we made announcements about our support for the film industry. And every investment we have made as a Government in the film industry here and right across the country has been a good one. It's produced the results we had hoped for. It has produced the jobs. And jobs and everything from sanitation to water supplies; to sparkies to traidies; to actors; to special effects; and particularly Dave's business here. Our other Dave here today in the lighting industry and the technology side of this incredible business, with so much more of that business going down that path.
It creates jobs. And today we're extending and putting a seven year programme in place to the tune of $400 million to ensure that we can attract those big films and productions and screen events for them to be produced right here in Australia. Earlier today I was able to meet with Baz Luhrmann over at the Village Roadshow studios where they're filming Elvis, and was so encouraged by Baz's great passion for Australia, which is well known, and great passion for the Australian film industry. But I'll tell you what he's even more passionate about, I think, is he's so proud of the jobs that he creates in the productions that he puts here in Australia, and is so passionate about the further jobs that are going to come. Already since making this announcement this morning, we've heard from Screen Australia, some, Jerry Bruckheimer's outfit and Ron Howard's outfit have already reached out to Australia, on the basis of the announcement we have made today. There is serious interest in basing films here in Australia. We've already got Disney making films here; and we've got the Marvel syndicate; we've got Paramount Studios. All these big studios know our potential and capability here in Australia, and they've known it for many years. But they also know that this is a safe place to make a film. This is an industry that can be drawn on here in Australia to produce world-class productions. And whether it's Hollywood or Bollywood, or wherever they're coming from, they know they can come here and make the films that will create great success, that will generate the jobs. Whether it's from making coffees or, the quite sophisticated work which is done on prefabrication of sets, the film industry, reaches into so many different sectors. And people who work in the sector also work in other industries, particularly here around the Gold Coast, and so this is an investment in jobs. 8,000 jobs every year, every year supported by this investment alone. And that, combined with the many other supports that are provided, will mean that our film industry, our screen industry will be a key part of our COVID recovery.
There is a COVID recovery. We saw yesterday with the jobs numbers and Minister Cash will talk more about that. 210,000 jobs came back in June. They came back in June. The effective rate of unemployment fell from over 13 per cent, just down to just over 11 per cent. And we're seeing when we can open up our economy and get things moving again, then we see the jobs come back, and that gives us all hope. And particularly for those down in Victoria doing it so tough at the moment. I mean, world class studios, world class facilities, world class people down in Melbourne and in Victoria, who also have that capability to host these productions and provide that support. Just like in New South Wales or anywhere else around the country. And that's what we want to see happen. When you combine the $250 million we've already put into the entertainment sector with the $400 million we're putting in here, and the jobs that will come from that, we know we're investing in a strong and positive future. That's why we can lift our heads as Australians and know that we have a bright future ahead of us. And so we're very pleased to be part of bringing this not just to the Gold Coast, but all around the country today. And I want to invite Minister Cash to talk more about the job creation initiatives we're pursuing as a Government and how this fits into that broader JobMaker plan. Thanks Michaelia.
MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, SENATOR THE HON MICHAELIA CASH: Thank you Prime Minister, and it is fantastic to be here today on the Gold Coast with Angie Bell, the member for Moncrieff; the Prime Minister; and my colleagues, to talk about this important job-creating announcement.
And I want to acknowledge Dave from Creative Productions, who is hosting us here today. Dave started as a DJ at the age of 16 and he has built his business up. It's now located in three states in Australia to what it is today. He employs 30 full-time staff, and he's told the Prime Minister and my colleagues today, JobKeeper itself has enabled him to keep that important connection with those 30 staff throughout COVID-19. And that's what this Government is all about, job creation. Today, we're announcing a $400 million jobs boost for this screen industry. Often as Australians what we see is the final result of a production, and we don't necessarily remind ourselves that there are thousands and thousands of small businesses that really are the building block to get to that final production. And many of those small businesses are represented here today. Whether it's Linda and Chris who are making the fantastic coffee for us. Or we look at Floyd, really important part of it, Serious Waste Management, all the way through to Cowboy Dave, you've got to have somewhere to stay. And that is, of course, those fantastic caravans that are out there. Thousands and thousands of small local businesses are part of the screen industry. And as the Prime Minister said, this is about providing a pipeline of work, stimulating local jobs, stimulating local industry. But more than that, giving people the opportunity to upskill and reskill into an industry which provides so much to Australia each and every year. 8,000 jobs a year. That is what this $400 million investment boost for the screen industry is going to provide.
But it also backs in what the Prime Minister and I announced yesterday, which was of course, an additional investment of $2 billion in skills and training in Australia. So many people want to do a vocational education. They want to do an apprenticeship. And so yesterday we announced an additional $1.5 billion to extend and expand the supporting apprentices and trainees wage subsidy. Currently, that wage subsidy is supporting around 80,000 apprentices across Australia. That's a good thing because those apprentices are still in training and they are still in jobs. But we also recognise that people are still doing it tough, and that is why we have extended the wage subsidy for another six months. But we've also expanded it from just not just small businesses, but through to medium businesses with 199 or less employees. That's now going to cover around 180,000 apprentices throughout Australia. We want to see those apprentices kept in training and on the job. And that's why we've announced that $1.5 billion extension. And of course, yesterday we also announced a half a billion dollars put up by the Commonwealth for a JobTrainer fund to be matched by the states and territories. The Prime Minister and I were delighted that within one day, six states and territories already put their hands up and said, we're going to match that funding - we want to be part of promoting skills training across Australia. And that's why we're here today. A $400 million jobs boost for the screen industry. It's all about creating jobs.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Michaelia. So lights, camera, jobs. That's what this is all about. Happy to take questions?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how do you expect the effective unemployment rate to change over the next few months? And do some people just have to accept working less hours?
PRIME MINISTER: What we saw in yesterday's jobs numbers was that the effective rate of unemployment actually did fall between May and June. And we welcome that. But obviously, with what's occurred in Victoria, and we know that there is still some difficult months ahead of us out over the next few months. The unemployment rate, the official unemployment rate, 7.4 per cent, that's well short of where Treasury thought that would be at around 10 per cent by this time. So we're going to keep monitoring this, but our economic performance is bettering our estimates at this point. But we've still got a long way to go. And there are two things that we will continue to do. We will continue to support those businesses who are doing it incredibly tough and the Treasurer and I will have more to say about that next week and then particularly the employees who depend on those businesses for their livelihoods.
The second part of that is we need to maintain the flexibility in the workforce during these difficult times. We saw over 200,000 jobs come back into the economy. A majority of those were for young people and for women and that's welcome because they were they were the groups most affected by the downturn as a result of the coronavirus. And we had 20- just over 20,000 less people on JobSeeker at the end of June than we had at the end of May and the Minister for Government Services here, he can talk more about that. But that is welcome. And but the only way we're going to continue to get jobs back into the economy and reduce that rate of unemployment, particularly that effective rate of unemployment, is by seeing businesses succeed. It's businesses that create these jobs. And that's why we're making these investments. And investments, whether it's in the screen industry and in the residential construction industry, in the entertainment sector, in the aviation sector, which we've invested in heavily, who have been so, so especially impacted by the COVID virus and how it's impacted on on both their international business and their domestic business. It's great to see that there are more people in Queensland now in the tourism and the hospitality sector taking the opportunities that are here. And we're hoping that that's going to see an improvement in their turnover in their businesses. But you know what? Australian businesses, particularly small and medium sized businesses, they've been fighting back. They've been adapting. They've been overcoming. And it's that spirit of resilience that is going to see Australians get back into work. Stay in work. And that's where we're putting our trust and our faith. And it's in those hardworking small businesses and medium-sized businesses.
JOURNALIST: You're back in Queensland today and with an election coming up here, have you met with the Queensland Opposition Leader during your visit today?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I spoke to Deb Frecklington last night and let her know I was coming up here today. And she was very pleased with the announcement we're making today for Queensland. I also spoke with the Premier last night, and I filled out my, well I had the paperwork filled out, so I can tell you I'm certified and available, able to travel into Queensland and, and so that's that's welcome news. But we hope to see these arrangements a lot more easy to deal with in the future. We look forward to our economy continuing to open up because the more it opens up, the more jobs there are. The more jobs there are, the stronger we'll all be. And and we need every part of the country to succeed, for Australia to succeed, we need Victoria to succeed. We need Melbourne to succeed. We need the Gold Coast to succeed. And that's why we're here. The Gold Coast has done it tough in the tourism and hospitality industries. My colleagues here have shared with me on a regular basis, doing it really tough, and so today, I hope was a real shot in the arm for the Gold Coast. A big GC shot in the arm. And that will boost local businesses and give them that greater confidence to keep going out there.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister did you have to fill out a border pass to get here today?
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry I couldn't hear you.
JOURNALIST: Did you have to fill out a border pass to get here today?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I did.
JOURNALIST: Was that a smooth process?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, it was.
JOURNALIST: Is this the first time you've been in Queensland since the borders re-opened?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes. I wasn't able to come before, the borders were shut. I was, I was not able to come to Queensland.
JOURNALIST: Since the borders re-opened rather?
PRIME MINISTER: This is the first time, yeah.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister on that, the Queensland Government and Queensland Police want to see the border crossings moved into New South Wales. The New South Wales Government is pushing back - do you think…
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a matter for Queensland. I mean, the difference here is that New South Wales and Victoria and the Commonwealth Government worked quite closely together to make the decision together on what was done on the New South Wales-Victorian border. And we have the Defence Forces which are supporting that arrangement on both sides of the border. Queensland made its own unilateral decision about its borders here. So really, how Queensland manages its borders is a matter for the Queensland Government.
JOURNALIST: In terms of Queensland wanting to move the border further south. Where would you stand on that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's a matter for Queensland. Because Queensland has made their own decision about their border closures. And so it's it's a it's an issue and a problem for Queensland to sort out.
JOURNALIST: Similar to Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, would you like to see the Queensland and New South Wales Governments working together on this?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh well, I think the way that New South Wales and Victoria, and indeed the Commonwealth, work together on managing that very difficult issue has been very positive. I mean, I've worked closely with the Queensland Government. The National Cabinet has been a strong team working together. And right now, whether it's here in Queensland or down in New South Wales, states and territories all around the country are supporting the Victorian Government. Whether it's in testing or public health official's support or the Defence Forces from the Commonwealth, we're all working together to support Victoria at the moment. And whether it's up here or anywhere else in the country, we want Victoria to succeed. And while we can all be here in the way we are here today, those of, those Australians in Melbourne, across Victoria, are doing it a lot tougher. So we, they are very much in our thoughts.
Sorry one at a time, who would like to go first?
JOURNALIST: When will you release the local content quotas for broadcasters?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a discussion paper that is currently being pursued by the Minister. That process is still in train, so he'll update you when he's in a position to provide further details.
JOURNALIST: 428 new cases in Victoria, 3 additional deaths. Do you foresee any further lockdowns in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that'll be a decision for the Victorian Premier and his Government. At this stage, he has indicated publicly, as well as to us, that that's premature to be making any decisions on that. We would not have expected to see the results of the lockdown measures put in place in Victoria as yet. And I made very clear earlier this week, as indeed the Premier has, that we would expect to see some rather concerning numbers for a while, and we have, and as concerning as they are, that's not unanticipated, we would hope to see that change. And and we'll be watching that very closely in terms of any further supports we are called on. We have an open account with Victoria. I've said that to the Premier. He's got an open book with us. He can pull down what he needs as is required. And I've got to say, all the Premiers and Chief Ministers have been equally supportive to the Victorian Government. So it's a problem to solve in Victoria by the Victorian Government, but they're getting no shortage of help and assistance from the rest of the country. It's a national effort.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister we're told President Trump responded positively to Australia's defence update?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, he did.
JOURNALIST: What ways was he positive?
PRIME MINISTER: We had a very good discussion this morning. We speak reasonably regularly. It was about a half hour discussion this morning. We covered a lot of issues, a lot of regional issues, of course the pandemic issues, the work that is being done by like-minded partners across the region, a lot of the global economic issues. And we were both able to speak of in recent times, both the US economy and the Australian economy, our recent jobs numbers were encouraging, just as they were in the US. And you know, we both want to see our economies go forward. We want to see people back in jobs. And we share a lot of common views on those things. But the United States is a is a, it's our most important alliance and it will always continue to be along those lines, and it was good to be able to update on what we've been doing on our front. We have troops on rotation now out through the Northern Territory. That's proceeding incredibly well. And this remains a big part of our joint effort. But I mean we have a very respectful and a very mutual partnership with the United States, and we appreciate the opportunity to engage regularly.
JOURNALIST: Did the President express any concerns about the amount of cases arising in the US, with you?
PRIME MINISTER: No. We know this US situation very well. So it didn't require a lot of discussion on that. And I was also able to say how 7 states and territories were going in Australia, which is extremely well. I mean, Australia's success in managing COVID has been well recognised around the world. And Australia is not the only country who is dealing with an outbreak like we are in Victoria and we've seen similar cases throughout Europe, Israel and the United States have also got their challenges. China has their challenges. And so the world is dealing with this, and outbreaks are not uncommon. The challenge is how you deal with them. And Australia is dealing with those challenges better than many, and better than most.
JOURNALIST: Was he complimentary of our response to the situation?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, he was.
JOURNALIST: Can you elaborate on, was he envious of our response?
PRIME MINISTER: No, he was just very, very complimentary of Australia's response, not just on this issue, but on the responsibility we take in our region. I mean Australia, not only have we targeted 2 per cent of the size of our economy in our defence spending, doing our own heavy lifting on our own defence. But that is now a floor, it's not a target. And this is something that we believe is very important for stability and security in our region. The United States is a key partner in that stability and security, and working with many other like-minded countries in the region. And, you know, you want to have a partner that carries their own water, that carries their own weight. And Australia certainly does that. We're no passenger in any relationship that we have. And and that is greatly appreciated by our American friends.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister the Gold Coast Theme Park operators say they were in the final signing stages of a deal, a funding deal, with the federal government when that fell through can we expect anymore support for our theme parks?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're here with $400 million of support for the screen industry. And the financial markets, and the banks, and others, where they can provide that support to sectors where they've got bankable proposals, they do. The Commonwealth is not an active lender in this space, and we do, by rare exception in these circumstances, and those things are looked at very carefully. And we wish the theme parks all the very best with their re-opening. And I'm I'm sure if there are things that the Queensland Government want to do to support them, then I'm sure they will. But the Federal Government looks at these issues on a national basis. And the first port-of-call on these things is always with the state governments. So we would encourage them to continue the very good discussions I think they've had with the Queensland Government. But it's great to see the parks re-opening. It's great to see Australia re-opening, because Australia re-opens, Australians are going back to work. And that's where we want to be. COVID-19 is going to be with us for some time, until we can find a vaccine, and mass produce that vaccine, and distribute it, we're going to be dealing with these uncertainties. But what's so fantastic is the resilience, the innovation, the determination, that we see from Australian businesses, just like the one we stand in today. And their heads are up, they're looking forward, they're looking for opportunities. And today we are backing that in with $400 million in investments to see those jobs come, 8,000 jobs a year. And that's a great return on an investment for an industry that has so much to offer this country.
Thanks very much everyone.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
16 July 2020
Prime Minister: Good afternoon, everyone. The Australian economy is fighting back. The jobs of Australians depend on that fight. The incomes of Australians depend on that fight and we are in it and we are making progress. It doesn't mean we don't have setbacks. We are currently experiencing some right now. The unemployment figures that were released just within the last hour have been for June. In July, I expect that we will see an impact from what is occurring in Victoria. But what it has demonstrated in June that as Australia has opened up again, as people have gone back into their businesses and opened their doors, as Australians have been endeavouring to live with this virus and to press on, then we've seen Australians get back into work and this has been a core objective of our approach over these past many months and it remains the focus of our approach, together with managing the health situation in Victoria and other states as outbreaks and other challenges emerge.
Of particular importance in the figures that we've seen today is that of the 210,000 jobs added in June, 60 per cent of the jobs regained were for women and 50 per cent of the jobs regained were for youth. Underemployment has fallen and we've seen an improvement in hours. The majority of jobs obviously were in part-time employment, not in full-time employment. That's to be expected in the economic situation that we've seen emerge over these many months. But what I'm encouraged by about that is the flexibility that we've seen in the labour force has meant that it's been able to keep people in jobs, maybe not as many hours as they once had, but they’re still in jobs and even better, the people who are working alongside them are also still in a job because of those flexible arrangements that have been in place for employers to keep more and more people on. Now, these are not ordinary times, still by a long shot and the Government's responses, both in our thinking and the measures that we've delivered, have certainly not been ordinary. We must continue to adopt this approach as we deal with the virus as it impacts us here in Australia as indeed as it impacts around the world. We've got to deal with what is in front of us each and every day as we are with the situation in particular in Victoria but as well as in New South Wales, where I've been in constant contact with the premiers and health officials in recent days as is our normal practice.
But we’ve also got to plan for the way ahead. We have delivered much needed support over these many months through a raft of programs; JobSeeker, JobKeeper, HomeBuilder, the important programs we put in for the entertainment sector most recently, the supports we’ve provided in the childcare sector, the supports provided with the cash flow assistance to businesses. Right across the board, we have been providing the necessary support that has provided a shock absorber for our economy, for people's jobs, for people’s incomes, for people’s businesses which has meant that in Australia, while the blow has been harsh, compared to what has been seen in most other developed economies around the world, we've been able to mitigate a lot of the blow. But there are still difficult challenges ahead, both on the health front and certainly on an economic front. One of the key challenges we've been working through as a Federal Cabinet, our Cabinet, together here with Michaelia Cash, with Senator Cash, but also in the National Cabinet with all the state and territory leaders, has been the need to ensure that as we build back and through the COVID-19 economic recession, that we are not only providing the economic supports for people to get through each day but we’re helping them to make the adjustments for the future. A key part of that will be the training and skills that they will need to re-skill and up-skill and get those initial skills as they are coming out of school to ensure that they can look for and find work both in a COVID and post-COVID economy. Now, we know that there are fewer jobs available for the number of people who are out there and now is not a time to be standing idle. And so what we’re announcing today is ensuring that there will be additional support to ensure that those who are unable to get themselves into a new position, that we are providing the opportunity for them like never before to get greater access to skilling and training in the areas they need to get that training to find those jobs that will be prevalent in the COVID and post-COVID economy.
And so today we are making a very big commitment of some $2 billion in two particular areas to support the upskilling and reskilling of Australians. The first of those is something I've flagged when I spoke at the Press Club many weeks ago when I spoke about JobMaker plan. It has many components and one of those was the skills Australians need and I flagged we would be seeking to move towards a new way of working with the states and territories to deliver on the skills that Australians who were looking to get a job and be trained for a job and businesses who are looking for people to do those jobs. The way it's been done in the past, we don't believe has been effective. We were prepared and are prepared to invest more but in a better system and what we are announcing today with $500 million for investment this year between now and the end of the financial year, starting at the beginning of September, is to create those places for Australians to get access to that vocational educational training right across the board, but particularly in those skills areas that the National Skills Commissioner has identified where there will be the greatest needs for those skills. It is sad and it is upsetting for many Australians that the industries and the places where they've been working, they will find it very difficult to find new employment in those sectors with those skills, potentially for some time. And so we want to ensure they have the opportunity to make decisions so they can take on new skills and be able to find employment in other sectors, potentially, so they can actually move forward with their own lives. Similarly, for businesses in those sectors, they will need skilled staff and those businesses will need to rely on a system delivering greater levels of training.
Now, it's not just for young people. It's worth pointing out that half of VET students are aged above 30. Half of those training in vocational education and training are aged over 30 and over 15 per cent are aged over 50. So this program we are announcing today, $500 million from the Commonwealth matched by the states and territories. This will mean training support for whatever stage of the labour market or your life-cycle you are in. You may have been at a job for many years and you are now having to make a change. You may have been running your own business, you may have been a sole trader. You may have been doing something completely different and one of the things I've been so encouraged by, despite the difficulty of the times, as I've gone around and spoken to people and I've heard their stories about the changes they've been making and the adjustments they've been making, understanding the situation they are in, being honest about the reality of the situation they face and making many difficult decisions about how they are going to make their way forward. Today's decision, today’s announcement, working with the states and territories, is going to make those decisions that little bit more easier for them, knowing they will be getting the training and skills support that they will need.
Now, the other decision we are making today is to extend the arrangements we have for apprentices and that means we’ve already supported some 80,000 apprentices and small businesses at a cost of some $1.3 billion. We are extending that now to small and medium-sized businesses which means 180,000 apprentices, we believe, will be supported between now and the end of March. Now that provides for a wage subsidy of up to $7,000, half of their wage. That would be extended to small and medium-sized businesses. That will come at a cost between now and the end of March of some $1.5 billion.
We are very determined to look ahead and I would say to Australians, as difficult as these times are, let's not look down, let's look up, let's lift our heads. Today's employment figures shows there is hope. Today's employment figures shows that we have done it before and we can do it again. We will continue to apply every resource we have available to ensure we get on top of the health situation with the virus in Victoria and supporting the many needs that are there and across the other states and territories. That is our absolute commitment. But equally, we need to ensure that we don't allow these setbacks to hold us back. Australians are incredibly resilient and even as we go through these difficult times, let's lift our heads, let’s keep looking forward. Today's announcement on these skills supports are about looking forward to the jobs into the future and to ensure Australians can make the choices they need to get into those jobs by getting the training they need right now.
Michaelia?
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small And Family Business: Thank you, Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, skills reform, as the Prime Minister has said, is a fundamental priority for the Morrison Government. At the election in May last year we took to the election a comprehensive agenda for skills reform in Australia. That was endorsed by the Australian people since that time I've been working cooperatively with my state and territory skills counterparts on a roadmap for reform. Earlier this year, you will be aware that both the state, territory and Commonwealth governments announced $80 million in matched funding for a new skill set in infection disease control. Why? Because we understand that as a result of COVID-19, this is a skill set that is now needed and so that was developed and funded in record time and is now already being rolled out to market. We also announced earlier this year as a result of COVID-19 a $1.3 billion wage subsidy for apprentices and trainees. That was for small businesses with less than 20 employees. As the Prime Minister has said, that is currently supporting around 80,000 apprentices. That means those apprentices, despite the impact of COVID-19, are still in training and still in a job. That is a good thing. And what we are announcing today is a further $2 billion investment in Australians and in their skills and training. $1.5 billion is an extension of the original support for apprentice and trainee wage subsidy. We are now extending that to small and medium businesses, businesses now with up to 200 employees. We now expect that apprentice wage subsidy will support around 180,000 apprentices across Australia. That's an opportunity for 180,000 apprentices and trainees to remain in their job and in training, which is exactly where we want them to be.
But we are also announcing today a matched funding commitment of $1 billion, $500 million from the Commonwealth and $500 million from the states and territories, to support training in areas of real demand. I am now working constructively, as I have done now since the election, with my state and territory counterparts to put in place bilateral agreements. This funding will support the creation of in excess of 340,000 new training places, and the key to this announcement is that we will work with the National Skills Commission and state and territories to ensure that the training that is being funded is in areas of demand. We want to ensure that Australians, when they put their hands up and say, yes, I want to undertake a vocational education and training qualification, they know they are training for a job. And as part of this reform process, states and territories have agreed to sign on to a new heads of agreement setting out a clear process forward between now and August of next year to completely reform vocational education and training in Australia. You’d be aware that the current funding arrangement is just not getting the outcomes that Australians and employers deserve. Under the agreement that Labor put in place, the Commonwealth merely places $1.5 billion into it each year. There is no line of sight, there is no transparency, there’s no KPIs. There is also no commitment from the states themselves to actually have to put any funding in. So we are now going to work again cooperatively with the states and territories to put in place a new funding agreement that ensures that funding is directly linked to skills, relevance and ultimately jobs. Because that is what we’re all about as a Government. Ensuring that Australians are trained for the jobs of both today and tomorrow.
Prime Minister: Phil?
Journalist: PM, a couple of months ago in this courtyard when we spoke about or you spoke about lifting the economic restrictions in three steps towards mid-July. You said there would be setbacks and mistakes made. At the time, did you anticipate something of the scale of Victoria in terms of the size of the outbreak and the need to reimpose restrictions to the extent they have been reimposed?
Prime Minister: The extent of the outbreak in Victoria is beyond what we would have, hoped would have occurred. I think that's fairly self-evident. And that is why you have seen the scale of the response from the Commonwealth to support Victoria, and that has resulted now in over 1,000 now, ADF personnel now being rolled out. Which we’ve been speaking to the Victorian government about for some time, and we appreciate them accepting that, and that's now been put in place. A key part of that task - the thing that the ADF can often bring is when problems moved to a whole new scale, their logistics and management capabilities are very strong, and we've got to get on top of the tracing challenge in Victoria and ensuring that we have senior level support out of the ADF to support the Chief Health Officer in Victoria and Deputy Chief Health Officer, who is running that task. I think it is very essential. I made a comment yesterday, I think it was, that it's important that we get on top of those regional cases as well, particularly while they are still at relatively quite low levels, and I'm keen to see the statistics improve on that front as well. But the Victorian situation is very concerning. But as I think the Chief Health Officer in Victoria was remarking today, they are, I think, hopeful that what we are seeing is those figures starting to level out. I said yesterday that I thought this would still be at a high level for some time, but as the effects of the lockdown I think kick in, then hopefully we will see those new case numbers fall. And so, yes, it is a big setback in Victoria. In New South Wales, I am encouraged by the information and news that I'm getting from the Premier there and from the Health Minister, who has just been in a meeting - I think is still in a meeting - with all the other health ministers around the country right now looking at how they can further support the situation in Victoria. But in New South Wales they have moved incredibly quickly, I think, to do the detective work on what has happened at the Crossroads Hotel, which will always be known both literally and I think figuratively by its name. That demonstrates I think in New South Wales how effectively the states can respond to this, and the best protection against the virus, to live with the virus, to live alongside the virus, and to open up your economy - you don't protect your economy by continually shutting things down. That's what you have to do when things get to the point they have in Victoria. But you can continue to move forward in the way that New South Wales is demonstrating by building that capability for tracing, for testing and so on, and that's been quite effective in this case, and hopefully we will see that situation continue to improve as well. But as we know there are no guarantees. We are always in uncharted waters.
David?
Journalist: The package today offers the wage subsidy for apprentices who are in work today, but it doesn't have an incentive for employers to take on new apprentices in the months ahead. But are we going to see school leavers who leave who don't want to go to university who might otherwise be jobless if they didn't have the chance to take up an apprenticeship? So are you looking at further help for those who are going to be leaving school at the end of this year who will need more options?
Prime Minister: Well, there’s 340,000 training places in this package that runs from September through to the end of June. That doesn't just support those who have left the workforce through no fault of their own, but that also is supporting school leavers as well at the end of this year. It's important for people if they want to take on new apprentices that they are able to hold their current apprentices, and that is the most urgent need as we speak right now. But Michaelia, do you want to add to that?
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small And Family Business: David, certainly in terms of the types of courses that will be funded, we will be working with the individual states and territories, depending on what their labour market needs are. You may find some states would prefer to fund pre-apprenticeships and short courses, whereas others states I’ve been talking to have said we would like to fund full qualifications. So certainly there is the spread of courses depending on what your particular state or territory has in demand, and in particular, as the Prime Minister has said, for young school leavers at the end of this year, doing a pre-apprenticeship, what a great way, what a great entre into what could potentially be an apprenticeship.
Prime Minister: I can confirm that so far New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT have all either fully signed up - completed the paperwork - or the pen is heading to the paper as we speak. Victoria, obviously, is dealing with many other issues at the moment, and Dan and I have had quite a few very good discussions about this. In fact, it was Premier Andrews very early on in the piece in the National Cabinet together with myself who was really pushing this as an item that really had to be firm on the National Cabinet’s agenda. So we are having very positive discussions with Victoria, but we appreciate they’ve got some other challenges.
Journalist: What evidence has there been in recent months that apprentices have been laid off? And, PM, what would you say to someone who is approaching the end of school, what sort of job they should be looking for, given what you know about the challenges ahead in the years ahead?
Prime Minister: Michaelia, do you want to cover those?
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small And Family Business: In relation to apprentices, the data, the most recent data that the Commonwealth has shows that just under 6 per cent of apprentices - and there are around 260,000 currently in training, apprentices and trainees, in training in Australia - have either been suspended or cancelled. So that's around 16,000. But that is why the wage subsidy, the support for apprentices and training wage subsidy was so important, because it is currently supporting around 80,000 of those apprentices - bearing in mind some will also be on JobKeeper. But it also shows why the decision, the announcement today to extend the wage subsidy will ensure that up to 180,000 are kept in their job or in training. But it is around 16,000 or just under 6 per cent have been suspended or cancelled.
Prime Minister: 80,000 supported by the programme -
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small And Family Business: Absolutely, 8,000 supported by the programme, we also obviously have the rural and regional wage subsidy, that was snapped up overnight when it was announced. That created in excess of 3,300 places. We obviously had the incentive in terms of our election commitment last year to create an additional 80,000 places. So the figures are looking OK.
Prime Minister: JobTrainer works hand in glove with JobKeeper, JobSeeker they all work together to deal with those who are either in a business that is able to keep them connected to that business, to those that have to go onto JobSeeker. This provides both two pathways, one into training through JobTrainer, one into hopefully new employment in those sectors which are in a position to take on new staff. In relation to your second question, my advice to young people is to look forward, not to look back, and that's what the National Skills Commissioner initiative and the National Careers Institute initiative is all about. These were reforms that came out of the Joyce review that was done before the last election and that we have been implementing since that election and having the National Skills Commissioner legislated and come through the Parliament in our last sitting, what we knew was absent, particularly for young school leavers and those going through career transition over the course of their lives, was the lack of helpful information for them to make the exact decision that you are talking about and too much of our skills identification which has been done both through the migration program and through the employment programs has been looking in the rear vision mirror, and it looks like what has been needed in the past rather than what is needed in the future and so the research and economic work which has been done by Adam Boyton as the Skills Commissioner is to actually give young people the answer to that very question. And there are a whole range of new opportunities. If you are down in South Australia Premier Marshall is building that state and particularly Adelaide as a cybersecurity hub. There's also the National Space Agency there, and I could talk a lot more about Lot 14 it’s an exciting project. But premiers are pursuing a different focus in each of their states, and the skills that will be identified as part of this process will match that process that the states are doing. But the problem in the past has been that it's looking too much in the rear vision mirror rather than through the front windscreen. As we come out of this COVID crisis and work through the COVID crisis and the COVID recession we must keep looking forward.
Journalist: Just on the JobTrainer, even prior to the pandemic there was a fairly large decline in the number of businesses taking on apprenticeships and internships. One of the many reasons they gave for that was that there weren’t jobs on the outside of that. Once they finished, there just were not the jobs there and they were concerned that if they took on apprentices there would not be anywhere for them to go once they finish their training. How confident are you that this program will reverse that decline first of all but second of all actually create those jobs on the outset?
Prime Minister: Jobs are created by businesses and an economy that is growing. They are not created by training programs. They are created by businesses opening their doors, employing people and doing better than they are today. Certainly before we went into the COVID crisis and the COVID recession we had seen 1.5 million jobs and more created since we were first elected, and a large number of those jobs were for young people. So we were seeing employment created in our economy. It was one of the biggest successes of the economy at that time. What we've seen in today's job numbers is the ability of the economy to restore those losses. We have seen a restoration of, there’s 210,000 jobs. We’ve returned about a third of the jobs lost by youth by June and around a quarter of the jobs that were lost by women. Now that was after, of those 874,000 jobs that were lost overall. We have seen the biggest return of those jobs in June in those sectors most affected, and you would have seen that in the payroll data that came out earlier in the week, where you saw the strongest surge being back, among young people. Now this something we thought would happen, and I'm very pleased to see that it has happened, but it could just as easily be impacted by more recent events, and we will keep monitoring that closely. But where there is a need to further invest to support young people or people of any age as they are looking to transition as a result of the economic shocks that we've experienced in recent months, then as a Government I think we've demonstrated time and again that we have been prepared to do what it takes. We have not been locked in thinking of the past or constrained in any way. We are just solving practical problems with practical solutions.
Kath?
Journalist: Prime Minister does, you've said that the unemployment numbers or the employment numbers today give cause for hope and just picking up the analysis you’ve just made about the recovery in the jobs market, do they also underscore the importance of having income support that ties workers to jobs in the way that JobKeeper does.
Prime Minister: Income supports I've said now for months, they've been very necessary over the course of this COVID recession and they will continue to be necessary and I've flagged now for months that there would be a further phase of this but it will be targeted it will be demand driven it will go to those most in need and the Treasurer and I will have more to say about that next week. We have been putting further touches on that just over the last few days to ensure that the decisions we've made are as timely and targeted as possible. One of the great challenges as we manage through this crisis is there are so many unknowns, there are so many uncertainties and to have a very clear eye view about what the world will look like in a few months from now is not an easy task but we believe we've been able to fine tune those decisions well over recent weeks, taking into account the advice that we've received from the review and I look forward to making those announcements next week.
Journalist: Victoria's Chief Health Officer has said that he would love to have a debate about elimination versus suppression. Is that up for debate? What is National Cabinet's position?
Prime Minister: National Cabinet’s position has always been an aggressive suppression strategy and that remains our view and it's certainly the view of my Government. I’d refer people to the Deputy Chief Health Officer's article today which I think sets out the arguments very well. If you're looking at an eradication strategy, not just the economic impacts, and let’s note that those countries that have pursued that have suffered far greater economic hits than Australia has, so you're talking about hundreds of thousands of more people unemployed for a start and other businesses closed and livelihoods destroyed and then you got to weigh that up against what it actually achieves. Let’s not forget that in Victoria they had the hardest lockdowns of everybody and theirs is the state that has succumbed to that outbreak and the outbreak was initiated by a failure in hotel quarantine by returning Australians. Now the idea that people wouldn't be allowed to return to Australia or exporters can't sell their products overseas or we halt all shipping to Australia, that's where the risk comes from and the great risk of an eradication strategy is, if you pretend to it, and you are overwhelmed by any confidence that comes for it, all you need is one break and it rushes through your community very quickly because people become even more complacent and so it is a very risky strategy and one that can be very illusory and it's one that the AHPPC and particularly the Chief Medical Officers both prior, and acting now have been very consistent on and the discussions we have had around the National Cabinet table have been very supportive of that approach and I’ve got to say that the states that have been most supportive of it particularly have been New South Wales and Victoria and so that’s the path we are on. If you get to elimination as a result of this process, well, well and good. If that's the byproduct, well and good but you can't mortgage off your economy for what would prove to be a very illusory goal by that process. That is certainly the health advice that I have and it’s certainly also the economic advice I have.
Journalist: ...Industrial relations working party meetings, what do you hope comes out of that to add momentum to the jobs recovery and just to clarify, you said before that you expected full-time jobs to go down in June, that doesn't quite sound right when June was meant to be the month where restrictions were easing people were rehiring, why would full-time jobs go down then?
Prime Minister: Because there are still going to be, I mean we are still living in a COVID economy and what I’m pleased about is when the choices were made about people staying in jobs or there being more full-time jobs, that employers decided for more jobs and what we are seeing is if you like is a sharing of hours across existing employees and there will be many employees who are, who have been on JobKeeper and on JobKeeper, their hours have been able to be reduced as a result of the industrial relations changes that were part of that programme and that as much as anything else, including the income support payments, has kept people in jobs. We've got to be very clear about this, if we return to the inflexibility during the course of this crisis of the industrial relations arrangements that existed prior to the introduction of JobKeeper, then Australians will lose their jobs. It will put people on the unemployment queues because businesses will not have the ability to ensure that that work is able to be provided to more Australians to keep them in their jobs. Now we are working constructively to that end and as economies particularly, sorry businesses particularly those who are rebuilding, and they would have seen their turnover improved, they will still, I think, benefit from having those flexible arrangements which will keep more and more people in jobs. There are two parts to what we've been doing on income supports, there’s the fiscal side of it, there’s the cheque, but there is also the flexibility that has been provided to employers that has enabled them to keep people in jobs and I think what you've seen today in today’s employment numbers is exactly that outcome, it’s the combination. Now, as we know, the effective rate of unemployment is likely to be far higher than what is illustrated here in these numbers and the Treasurer and I and the Employment Minister have not been shy about pointing to that fact, we’re not seeking to understate that. Of course, that is disappointing but another fact that is important in today’s numbers is the lift in the participation rate. That is very welcome. That means that more people went back out there and we want to keep seeing more people going back out there and that's why it's important to keep going forward and to not put our heads down and not to adopt a defeatist attitude in relation to the virus. That is not the Australian way and it’s certainly not my Government's way.
Yep, Rosie.
Journalist: Does Australia back the US in saying China has no legal grounds to its nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea which it's using to impose its will on the region and what will Australia do to safeguard the rules-based order in the South China Sea and the territorial rights of Southeast Asian nations?
Prime Minister: Australia has played a very constructive role in relation to the South China Sea. We had an observer status when the matter was being considered and we have continued to advocate very strongly for freedom of navigation through those waters and we've been very supportive, whether it's been of Indonesia or I remember standing next to Prime Minister Phuc in Vietnam and commending him on the strong position that he has taken in relation to their interests being compromised in relation to the South China Sea. So look, Australia will continue to adopt a very supportive position of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. We back that up with our own actions and our own initiatives and our own statements. But we will say it the Australian way and we will say it in the way that’s in our interest to make those statements and will continue to adopt a very consistent position. It is a matter that is frequently raised when we have dialogue with our colleagues, whether it's been at several East Asia Summits or other opportunities I have in bilaterals with my counterparts in the region. It is an issue of keen interest, and it is one that Australia has taken a keen interest in. But we've engaged respectfully and we've engaged proactively and we've engaged practically.
Journalist: Prime Minister and Minister Cash, WA is struggling with one of the worst unemployment rates around the country at 8.7 per cent, the second highest. It's a state that contributes a significant amount to the Federal bottom line through resource exports. Why do you think its unemployment rate is so high? Has the state's border policy contributed to it? And what are you doing to help WA specifically?
Prime Minister: Well, I’m going to defer to my Western Australian colleague first I think, given that question.
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small And Family Business: Look, obviously it’s disappointing as a Western Australian Senator that Western Australia's unemployment figure is so high. And certainly, I think the Federal Government's been very clear that there are no health reasons to keep the borders closed. However, that is a decision the McGowan Government has made and they are entitled to make that decision. Certainly, in terms of what we're doing as a Federal Government to assist Western Australia in creating jobs, you only have to look at the infrastructure spend that we are bringing forward. When you spend money on infrastructure, you create jobs, and certainly that is something that we've been working very well I would say, Prime Minister, with the McGowan Government to bring forward projects.
Prime Minister: The HomeBuilder program, for example, Western Australia was the first out of the blocks in backing up that program, and the Western Australian construction industry has had some of the more difficult times and that was pre-COVID. And so they are very quick to do that. I welcome the fact that the Western Australian Government is particularly moving on the deregulation agenda on planning and approvals. I also welcome the statements today and the action being taken by the New South Wales Government. At National Cabinet last week the Productivity Commissioner joined us and spoke of the priority of having a flexible arrangement when it comes to deregulation, to aid the recovery and aid the generation of jobs. So every state and territory has its challenges. As you know, I've been very consistent in my view when it comes to the Federation and what was agreed over 100 years ago when it came to the free movement of Australians across our nation and where there are needs to take precautions for health reasons and that should be done on health advice. But we're one country and will succeed by being one country, and that's the way forward for Australia.
Got time for one more.
Journalist: Can I question about interstate freight…
Prime Minister: Sorry, you might start that again.
Journalist: Sorry, just a question about interstate freight, which is important to our economy. We've learned that a truck driver from Melbourne brought the virus to the Crossroads Hotel. Now, truck drivers are exempt from border closures. Should they be subject to a new public health order to stop them from going to pubs and interacting with lots of people?
Prime Minister: Well, look, there's a couple of issues here. One is how an initial outbreak is first identified and where individuals are appropriately traced on contacts then that is your first defence against the very things that you're talking about, that people don't get in the truck in the first place because they've been a known contact of someone with a case, then that is your defence against that. And that wouldn't just apply to truck drivers, it applies to pharmacists, it applies to doctors, to nurses, to police officers, Members of Parliament, everybody. This is why the tracing is so important. And to have the capability not just to make the calls and to trace the calls and but it is also to ensure that the way that workload is managed is appropriately tasking all the resources there to make sure you keep up to date with it. And so the key defence as we move forward is to ensure that you have the testing and the isolation of those cases that are positive and the prompt tracing of all those cases. New South Wales has done incredibly well on that on the Crossroads case in recent days and I think that will have prevented the flow on, potentially, of other cases that could arise in the type of circumstances that you're talking about. But the industry, I'm sure, will continue to look at that, as will the chief health officers, as will our Chief Medical Officer and if there is a need for any further measures along the lines that you said, I have no doubt that they will make that recommendation to the premiers and I and we would act on their advice, as we have been very consistent in doing all the time.
But for now, we will leave it at that. And for all those young people, for all those older people, for whatever age you are in our workforce, we know that this is one of the hardest times, if not the hardest time, in your life you've experienced out there in the labour market. And we want you to know that through JobTrainer, through JobSeeker, through JobKeeper, the Australian Government is right there. We’re there quickly, we’re there with the sort of support that you need to enable you to hopefully get back into a job. But if not, to give you the skills you need to get into that job, that will be there. But most of all, Australia, let's keep our heads up. Let's not allow our heads to go down. Let's keep our heads up. Let's keep going forward. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
10 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Today I’m joined by Professor Paul Murphy - sorry, Professor Paul Kelly. I’ve got Brendan Murphy still on the brain. You are not far from us, Brendan. But it is great to have Professor Kelly with us today, he has taken over, of course, the role of Chief Medical Officer and attended his first National Cabinet meeting today. It is the 23rd time the National Cabinet has met in the last 4 months.
Before I go to the details of that, I just wanted to note that last night I held a very productive summit meeting with Prime Minister Abe from Japan. We had a very warm and constructive discussion. Very aligned on our goals, both for the region and more broadly on the global issues that we discussed and had further discussions regarding our ongoing defence cooperation and particularly following on from the agreement we signed this week on space cooperation, there are many other topics that we covered. But it was about an hour and a half long meeting which is well over what we had originally planned and I think that just goes to the depth of relationship that we have been able to establish. Of course, we discussed at length our various experiences with COVID-19 and Japan currently has been experiencing an uptick, a spike in their numbers in not too dissimilar way we are seeing in Australia, which I will come to now.
The news from Victoria remains very concerning. The Premier will stand up later today and he’ll update the situation there, but it is concerning. They have called for help, they are getting help, but the key here is that all states and territories again reaffirmed their support for Victoria in providing whatever resources they needed to deal with the outbreak in Victoria. To stick to the plan, to stick to the strategy, and to ensure that is well resourced and well implemented. And that was the focus of the briefing that Premier Andrews gave to National Cabinet today and he received strong support from all of his colleagues. The resourcing that is being put in, whether it is in testing or tracing or the support particularly in New South Wales and in South Australia in managing the border town issues is significant, and of course, the Commonwealth is supporting that strongly as well.
Another key part of the discussion today was that we need to be very careful to protect against complacency in other parts of the country. Now, this is particularly true behind closed doors, not just out in the open. This is a lesson outside of the Victorian experience. It is important that we're seeing in organised venues, those sorts of activities, in the main, although there are some examples to the contrary, that the rules are seeking to be followed. But when we're at home and there are people around, we still have to practise the social distancing. It is still not OK for hugs and handshakes. It's important to maintain the discipline of the social distancing behind closed doors, not just out in the public space. The restrictions on people being able to go to each other's houses have been eased, right across the country, with the obvious exception of Victoria. And to ensure that continues, then it is important that social distancing is the norm, it is not the exception, it is the norm and it is going to be the norm with us for a very long time, until at least we have a vaccine that can be mass-produced and made available across the population. So even in places like in Western Australia, for example, where there is a considerable easing of restrictions, it is very important that the social distancing practices, the washing the hands, the no handshakes, all of these things, downloading of the COVIDSafe app, is important. Because if there were to be an outbreak in any of those places in Queensland, in South Australia, in Northern Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, then if social distancing is no longer the habit then we would see outbreaks in those places spread more rapidly. So just because everything's okay now does not mean you go back to the way you were doing things before in terms of social distancing. So I say that as an encouragement and I say that as reflecting the views of the National Cabinet. We will do everything we can to ensure the protections are in place should those things occur, but the community also has a role to maintain their discipline when it comes to social distancing and the things that are attendant to that. That is also true, particularly for the younger population, particularly for the younger population. And we would encourage that disciplined practice to continue. Of course, welcome the Queensland reopening today which is now effective, to all states and territories except for Victoria, obviously, and that is another reminder as to why it is important to maintain the discipline around the social distancing protections.
We also agreed today a reduction in the number of inbound arrivals into Australia across those ports that are able to accept visitors- sorry, I should say returning Australian citizens and residents. Of course, there are no flights going into Melbourne, into Victoria, for obvious reasons, and to ensure that we are mitigating and managing that risk, they will be cut by just over half across all the various ports that are taking those visitors. Sorry, those residents returning to Australia. There is also a view across the National Cabinet that they are all effectively moving to a charging system for the hotel quarantine that is in place for those returning visitors. Some states already have it, some states are moving towards that, and I will leave that to them to make their announcements at the appropriate time and where possible, we will seek to have some sort of national uniformity across those pricings and we are sharing that information with the states and territories.
We also agreed today that there would be a nationwide review of hotel quarantine. That will be undertaken by the former Health Secretary Jane Halton, she currently sits on the COVID commission. As part of that group, she will be undertaking that review working with states and territories and that again is an important step in providing reassurances, making sure that as we look into each of the states and territories and how they are managing their quarantine, that it is meeting the standards that the AHPPC have advised upon, and as our country opens up again, with the exception of Victoria, that we can ensure we have even greater confidence in those quarantine arrangements as they are being put in place.
Other issues that were discussed, we had a very productive discussion today on economic issues around skills and the skills needs and skills training needs for Australians over the next 6- 9 months. Also we had Michael Brennan from the Productivity Commission come and present on the regulatory challenges. He made I think very important points that more flexible economies would be the most successful in recovering from the COVID-19 recession around the world and how we manage regulation and deregulation is very important to maintaining and achieving that flexibility to support our economic recovery. We have referred a series of recommendations that he has made to the Treasurer 's grouping, the council of federal financial relations, in particular, we have asked them to come back to us as quickly as possible on the, what they call the time-based deregulations that have been in place. The changes that have been made to regulation for a limited time in relation to COVID-19 across a whole range of economic activity, and the potential for those to be extended out further and potentially even extended indefinitely. Because in many cases they have had quite a positive economic impact.
Just finally, I also took the opportunity while I had Premiers and Chief Ministers with me to update them on the announcement I made yesterday in relation to arrangements for Hong Kong, and that we were not anticipating large volumes of people seeking to enter the country following the announcement we made yesterday. As I explained yesterday, that is not the nature of the arrangements we put in place yesterday. But it received a strong encouragement for the actions and decisions that we’ve taken and in addition to that, a keenness for states and territories to work with us as we seek to attract footloose businesses and industries that may be seeking to relocate. And we will work closely with the state and territory governments to ensure we can give effect to that plan.
And with that, I will hand you over to Professor Kelly.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, ACTING CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thank you Prime Minister. So we are in a very different phase compared with the last National Cabinet meeting. As the Prime Minister said, this is my first one but I think it is very clear now that there is a community transmission issue in Melbourne. The good news there at the moment, it is confined to Melbourne and all of the things that have happened in the last week or two in relation to controlling that pandemic, we are very much all of one mind as to what needs to be done. The Prime Minister mentioned that all of the states and territories, in terms of public health response are assisting, particularly in this very difficult and time-consuming contact tracing exercise, for every case that we see and we have seen many in the last week, there are contacts that also need to be phoned, given advice and also isolated for their own protection and the protection of the wider community. So this increase in cases, particularly locally acquired cases, particularly those that are not related to known clusters, are a concern. There are differences compared with that first peak that we had back in March - April, in terms of the people that are being affected by the virus, there are many more younger people. This reflects one large cluster in a particular college in Melbourne, but also the fact that there are large families and interrelated clusters as well as in those public-housing towers that we know about in north Melbourne. They are doing a lot of testing, that is leading of course to finding cases and that will continue to be a major focus. The Prime Minister mentioned, we have good modelling advice now about this which backs up that issue. We are all at risk regardless of whether we are living in Perth, if we are living in a rural area, those messages we have been giving all throughout about the physical distancing, the hand hygiene, the cough hygiene, etc, people need to continue to listen to that. We can see what happens very quickly, with this incredibly infectious virus. It can spread throughout the community and unless we're taking note of those very simple but effective ways of stopping that transmission, then we are all at risk. So we are all in this together, we know that what we need to do and we are well prepared and now we're enacting those plans in Victoria and all states and territories and the Commonwealth are here in support. I might leave it there. PM?
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much Paul. I’m happy to go to questions.
JOURNALIST: How quickly do you want to see the results from Jane Halton's review of what’s been going on, and I'm assuming that you are not waiting for that review before you offer more Federal assistance on hotel quarantine or on contact tracing? Can you just step us through what more you will do?
PRIME MINISTER: Sure, on hotel quarantine, in Victoria that issue is more moot because there are no planes coming in. So that is not a pressing issue in Victoria. The pressing issue in Victoria, and Paul might want to add to this, is on the tracing. That support is there right now and that support is being provided by every State and Territory jurisdiction has offered those resources. New South Wales is doing the lions share of that. They have an excellent capacity there. It means that a lot of this resource presently, in a lot of States and Territories where there are virtually no cases, certainly in community transmission, only as a result of returning travellers, a lot of that capacity has sat idle which means it doesn't need to sit idle now, it can be put to work in Victoria and is being put to work in Victoria. The challenges of those many months really did create a very capable workforce in this area and that is now at the disposal of any State or Territory that could find themselves in this situation. There is no hesitation in the standing offer that the Commonwealth has for all States and Territories. The decision that we took to reduce the number of returned travellers to Australia at this time was to ensure that we could put our focus on the resources needed to do the testing and the tracing and not have to have resources diverted to other tasks. We will review that as the weeks go by but for now, that is where we have reduced it. It is a reduction of over 4,000 people coming each week and that is spread across those ports of entry and that will take effect from Monday.
But Paul, did you want to add anything to that?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Just to say that there are, we have developed guidelines at the national level at the AHPPC in relation to quarantine. They are very detailed. We have had close looks at this at the national level already through the AHPPC and also the communicable diseases network of Australia. Various states have done their own internal reviews and just to be clear that the quarantine is with the States, but this is a way of looking at quarantine in a more detailed fashion and we have given some suggestions to Jane Halton about the types of things that we would really like to have checked. To be clear, there have been a lot of people who have come into hotel quarantine, there have been very few breaches but we have seen, as has been reported in Victoria, a single breach, even if it's low risk can lead to a catastrophic outcome. So we absolutely need to know that this is working as best as it can and that is the reason why we definitely support that.
PRIME MINISTER: Just to be specific, what has been recommended to be included in the review by the AHPPC, the medical expert panel is infection prevention and control training for clinical, hotel and security staff, compliance with infection and controlled requirements of the same staff, evidence of community cases and attributed to cases in international travellers in hotel quarantine including cases in hotel and security staff, rates of compliance with testing, legislative and contractual basis for mandatory testing, management of suspected and confirmed cases, provision and effectiveness of support services in medical, mental health, Social Services and financial support. Management of vulnerable people, management of cultural diversity, logistics arrangements and administrative arrangements and changing capacity requirements related to changes in border restrictions. So you can see there it is a very comprehensive set of issues that Jane, who was well known and well respected in this field and she will give us a, I think a very good steer early on about the time she will need to conduct that review effectively.
JOURNALIST: Dr Kelly, What is the advice now on wearing masks?
PROFESSOR KELLY: The advice has, for places where there is ongoing community transmission, so this for the moment is greater Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, is that people - of course, the overarching advice is people should stay at home unless they need to go out. But assuming that people do need to go out, what has not changed is if people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, which we would definitely encourage, they should wear a mask. Other people, where physical distancing cannot be guaranteed, they should also wear a mask in Melbourne and Mitchell shire.
PRIME MINISTER: The National Cabinet - in those circumstances that the Chief Medical Officer has outlined, it is not a broad application across the country but in designated areas that have been affected in the way that they have in those parts of Victoria, that is the advice and that was adopted by National Cabinet today.
JOURNALIST: Just to be clear Prime Minister, if you're going out in Melbourne today, you should be wearing a mask?
PRIME MINISTER: Paul?
PROFESSOR KELLY: That is the advice if you cannot guarantee physical distancing. So in these circumstances, some of you might want to consider that. But from here to where you are, no.
PRIME MINISTER: Paul and I don't need to. However, you are all clustered together as usual.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] is there a hard figure as to how many people are allowed to come into Australia? Will that change when Victoria begins to reopen its borders and do you concede it will be more difficult for people to come home?
PRIME MINISTER: It will be more difficult because there will be a reduction in the available capacity for people to be coming back to Australia. So that is the consequence of this decision today by the National Cabinet. More broadly, when Victoria is in a position at some stage in the future to resume receiving flights, well, that will obviously change the capacity at that time. I would say also, at a time when Victoria was able to take flights again, then obviously the challenges to the system presently caused by the outbreak in Victoria would have subsided and that then, of course, would mean that there would be less pressure on the system nationally. So until that is under control, or even beyond that, it has been under control and Victoria is able to take up those flights again, then we will be in a restricted capacity for the foreseeable future.
JOURNALIST: Could you just detail some of those recommendations?
PRIME MINISTER: Which recommendations?
JOURNALIST: Michael Brennan’s? And what was the response from the premiers to those recommendations?
PRIME MINISTER: Very welcoming. This was the presentation we had hoped to have a fortnight ago but we were obviously dealing with the Victorian situation which was as acute then as it was today. But it went across a series of areas from heavy vehicle arrangements, planning and development approvals, ease of starting a new business. These were the areas that were highlighted...
JOURNALIST: Industrial relations?
PRIME MINISTER: No, these were, they were not measures he put on his agenda today. They are matters that are dealt with by the Federal Government. This was a report to states. It was focusing largely on state government approval processes and business regulation processes. And I think there is quite a bit more work to do there. He gave a very good summary of a lot of the work that is already taking place in the states and territories and gave some good examples of those initiatives, whether they be in Queensland, New South Wales or WA or anywhere else. But his point was that if you want to have a stronger recovery, then your economy needs to have flexibility and the regulation that can constrain that flexibility can constrain job creation and the economic performance of the country.
Greg?
JOURNALIST: With JobKeeper, will you extend that based on the level of distress of a business, or will it be extended based on the sectors that are suffering the most in this crisis? And Professor Kelly, do you know why the Victorian health officials did not conduct follow-ups with, daily follow-ups, with the close contacts of COVID-19 cases and is that out of line with best practice?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ll let you deal with that first Paul, if you want?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So, as I mentioned earlier, there, with a large number of cases, there are a large number of contacts. That is particularly in the case where people are moving more around the city and in close contact with people. So every single case can generate 20, 30 other people that need to be called. So this is a large logistic exercise. It is the reason why we have come in with support from all of the other contact tracers from around Australia and now as of today from the National Incident Room, as well, in the Commonwealth. We are giving all the support we can. Definitely the key performance indicator here is finding the people that have proved to be positive and making sure that they know about that and that they are isolating themselves at home as quickly as possible. So we are doing everything we can to support the Victorians in this effort and we will continue to do so.
PRIME MINISTER: On the other question, just as when we initiated what has been the largest ever level of income support any Government has ever provided to the Australian community at any time, it was targeted for those who needed it most. The next phase of our support will also be targeted nationally to those who need it the most and we haven't and when we're...
JOURNALIST: Is that based on a loss of revenue rather than...
PRIME MINISTER: The details of our decisions will be set out at the time of releasing the economic statement, as I have been saying for some weeks, and there is no change to that timetable. I do note today, regrettably, that the Labor Party has engaged in fearmongering during a pandemic and I think this is disgraceful. They are saying things that are blatantly untrue. I have made it very clear that there would be a further stage of income support and to make people feel more uncertain in this climate I think is disgraceful and I think it reflects badly on their leadership.
JOURNALIST: PM, the cap on Australians returning home. How will that actually be administered? Have the airlines been told, been given quotas that they can only return so many people? Will there be a sort of a triage system, priority given perhaps to women, children, the elderly, the sick, things like that? How do you envisage that?
PRIME MINISTER: In the same way that it has been put in place until now. So there will be no changes. There already are restrictions on it right now and it will be handled the same way with the airlines and the priorities that are done through the Australian Border Force that exist right now.
JOURNALIST: Isn't the effect of the cap that Australian citizens will be effectively barred from coming to Australia? Is that unfair to some, do you share frustrations of people...
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you have to make judgements in the national interest. There will be capacity for people to return to Australia, as there has been now for months, for many months. So there will be continuing access to Australia but the number of available positions on flights will be less and I don't think that is surprising or unreasonable in the circumstances that we find ourselves in. We have to put the national interest first and the health of Australia first and Australians and that is the basis of the decision we have taken. And if we are in a position to expand that capacity again in the future then we will do so, but we will do that on the basis of the advice that we are receiving, on the quarantine task that is there, but the many other tasks which right now are focused more on the issue of testing and tracing to contain the outbreak. So we will respond to the health needs.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the ADF has been offered to boost Victoria's tracing and monitoring team. Has that offer been taken up by Daniel Andrews yet, and if not, are you confident that they have the ability to control this outbreak? And just on the review of hotel quarantine, do you have any reason to believe that any other states have had any significant breaches, do you believe that there is any issues in other States?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I have no reason to. The review is not being initiated because of that suspicion, the review is being initiated on the basis of good advice from the medical expert panel and good practice. That is why we are initiating that review. If there are issues that are identified as part of that process, that would be its purpose, to discover those things and to address them where necessary. I think that is a matter of good practice. In relation to testing and tracing support, the Victorian Government will have everything they need, not just from the Commonwealth, but also from all states and territories. So they are not short of anything they need, from any part of any government in Australia. That was reaffirmed to them today and which requirements the Victorian Government seek to be filled is a matter for them and that question is better directed to the Premier.
JOURNALIST: It still seems that the gold standard is human beings rather than technology. Do you think that you oversold the benefits of the app, is there any emerging signs in Melbourne that the application is becoming more useful? And if Professor Kelly could also answer in relation to those claims that the two clusters in the towers and in the college are linked, do we know where it started?
PRIME MINISTER: In relation to your first question Sam, no, I don't share your view. I think the two work together. They were always intended to work together and they are working together. That is why I would continue to encourage people, wherever you happen to be, to download the COVIDSafe app. In most parts of the country, I mean, there are no community transmission cases, so therefore, you wouldn't expect it to be having a high level of use. It is being used in Victoria and the other methods of tracing are also being used and the two work together.
Paul?
PRIME MINISTER: So firstly, on contacts, with the lock down restrictions that have come into play this week in greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, there will be less movement around towns. So those incidental contacts will be less. Having said that, the app has been used. It is being used in Victoria. At this stage, it hasn't actually led to a large number of contacts over and above what has been captured by the other...
JOURNALIST: [inaudible] any contacts?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Yes, it has, but it has been a very minimal number because it has really been that person to person contact by phone that has given most of the detail.
JOURNALIST: So 19 aged care facilities in Victoria have positive cases, what are you doing to prevent another Newmarch?
PRIME MINISTER: Paul, did you want to respond to that?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So aged care facilities, obviously, are a major concern to us and we have seen issues, very few issues, so Newmarch and Dorothy Henderson Lodge, pretty much the only large outbreaks we’ve seen. Very different to many other countries. And we should be clear about putting this in context. Yesterday in the US there were 60,000 new cases. We are nowhere near that at the moment. But in terms of aged care facilities in particular, yes, we are remaining very vigilant with that. I get a daily report, our Victorian colleagues and also the Commonwealth officials in Victoria are very closely monitoring the situation. We have regular contact with the aged care sector and specifically with aged care facilities in those areas of concern, so Greater Melbourne. At the moment it is going very well.
PRIME MINISTER: Michelle?
JOURNALIST: We have heard a lot of discussion about schools at these press conferences. So I wonder whether you're surprised or even shocked at the extent of the outbreak in the school in Melbourne and what are your thoughts about schools more generally now in light of that?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So there are several aspects to that question, and I will go through each of them. There is an outbreak in one particular college in Melbourne and some smaller ones related to other schools. I didn’t answer your other question about those linkages, I don't have the details of the linkages, but I know our Victorian colleagues are looking very closely at the various clusters and as they look more closely, they are finding linkages. So it is possible they are closely linked. In terms of schools, I’ll just reiterate my position which I am absolutely certain of on the basis of evidence, and we look at this continually, about the risk to children. So the risk to children of this virus is much less than in adults and that is very clear right around the world in terms of the severity of the illness. In terms of this particular cluster in this college in Melbourne, most of that appears to be related to family interactions rather than interactions at the school. After all, they are on school holidays in Melbourne.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what does this mean for plans for a trans-Tasman travel bubble and international students coming to Australia? Is there any modelling in terms of the cost to the economy and keeping international borders closed and on returning travellers, is there any support for those that can't afford two weeks in a hotel?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the latter point, that’s a matter that would be addressed by the states and territories as in terms of any hardship support that they wish to provide to offset any of those arrangements, then that is a matter entirely for the states and territories and I will leave that to them. In relation to the trans-Tasman safe travel zone, I will be speaking to Prime Minister Ardern about that again this afternoon. We had contact this morning, in particular, because I was pleased to see that Helen Clark had been appointed as part of the independent panel for pandemic preparedness and response, to lead the evaluation of the international response to COVID-19. We had a brief text exchange on that and we will discuss that further this afternoon. There is no sort of imminent starting date. There is still a lot more work to be done to get to a point of having that trans-Tasman safe travel zone. We discussed that today at National Cabinet about what states and territories could or would participate in that so there is a bit more work to do there. Obviously the Victorian situation, although it is isolated, I mean the rest of the country's seven states and territories would be potentially in a position to be involved in that. But we will hear further from the New Zealanders. It is an issue of interest in terms of how we can engage again with the rest of the world, but I think we will have to be very patient about that. It is a topic that Prime Minister Abe and I discussed last night and it is pleasing to know that Japan, for example, would be seeing Australia as a potential place where there might be opportunities to reopen some very, very restricted and limited form of travel. I mean, particularly for scientists, business interests, these sorts of things. So we welcome that. But I think there is still quite a bit of way to go. What will determine this ultimately, Brett, is the health advice and the arrangements that can be put in place to achieve that. Now, I think it is self-evident that the fact that Australia cannot have international flights is damaging to our economy. That is obvious. You don't need modelling to tell you that, and the sooner we get some arrangements that are workable and safe, well obviously we would seek to achieve that.
JOURNALIST: Overnight, China Daily came out with an editorial saying that Australia is not irreplaceable. Obviously the Chinese...
PRIME MINISTER: With what, sorry?
JOURNALIST: Australia is not irreplaceable, in regards to the announcement yesterday in relation to Hong Kong. How concerned are you that we will see further retaliation in relation to trade from China in consequence of the announcement in relation to Hong Kong?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia will just continue to stand up for our interests and we will continue to pursue our policies consistent with those interests.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on Malaysia, there are five Australian journalists that are facing potential sedition charges for their reporting in Malaysia at the moment. How concerned are you about those developments and have you had conversations with your Malaysian counterparts over that?
PRIME MINISTER: I haven’t been briefed on that matter so I am not in a position to respond.
JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, could I ask, what did the medical advice say about the current capacity of hotel quarantine and did the AHPPC recommend a cut of just over a half in international arrivals, to focus on testing and tracing?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Well, firstly I’d say the absolute focus needs to be at the moment the situation in Melbourne and as I’ve said the testing, tracing and isolation component is a key component to that. So in terms of public health elements, that needs to be the main focus. Not only in Victoria but everyone else that is assisting with that process right throughout Australia. In relation to hotel quarantine and its capacity, that is a really a matter for the states and the Prime Minister has discussed that and the discussions that happen in Nat Cab and they will be worked through on the public health capacity but also other capacity, security and so forth, which is outside of my remit.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] the current number of arrivals?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Well, the advice was that we should be concentrating where the main game is and the main game is in relation to the community transmission that is happening in Melbourne. That is the way to protect the Australian public's health.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay last one, Clare?
JOURNALIST: Professor Kelly, given that Victoria has just recorded 300 new cases today, when will we know for sure what the impact might be on the New South Wales border towns and should there be more targeting testing on those areas where Victorians cross the border a lot?
PROFESSOR KELLY: So certainly there is more targeted testing. That is happening not only on the border but in rural and regional Victoria. The key component of that will be whether it can be contained in Melbourne. At the moment, 99 per cent of the cases are in greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. So at the moment that appears to be holding. There have been some cases in rural Victoria. They are all related to Melbourne. There’s been a couple of cases as you know, a small number of cases here in the ACT related to Melbourne and so that is what we need to keep a close focus on.
JOURNALIST: How long will it take epidemiologically to know if it has crossed the border?
PROFESSOR KELLY: Oh I see. So we know that the usual incubation period is about a week so within a week we may be seeing, be able to see something. But it will take a couple of incubation periods, even four incubation periods, to know whether this is under control. Hence the six week lockdown in Melbourne.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay. Now, just on a practical issue. As you know, it is school holidays and Jenny and the girls are going to be taking some time next week on the outskirts of Sydney but given the changing and critical situation we have got, a serious situation in Victoria, I will not be joining them for that full time. I also won't be standing aside from the tasks I have each day. We have the capacity now with technology where I can be with them where they are and at the same time continue to take the briefings and the calls and meetings that I need to in the middle of dealing with the situation, whether it be Victoria or the many other situations that we are facing around the country. Look, as a dad, as you’d expect, I will take some time if I can get it during that period to wet a line or whatever the girls want to do, but at the same time I can assure you that we will remain absolutely focused on the things we need to focus on over the next week. We are in the final stages of preparing the economic statement for the following week. I will be returning back here to Canberra late next week, where I am sure you will get to see me again out here. But as I am sure people know who may be watching at home, just because I am not standing in front of a camera it does not mean I am not behind my desk or doing what I need to do on a daily basis. So I would ask for people's understanding on that, and a lot to do over the course of the next week and I thank you again, Professor Kelly, for joining me here on this occasion.
And a reminder everyone, again, to everybody down in Victoria, the whole country is with you. All of the country is with you. The resources of the nation are there to support you at this very, very difficult time, to do what is necessary to get life as closely back to normal as we possibly can in the shortest period of time. But it will require your continued patience and your continued discipline which you are showing, in the research that we say today from Professor Kelly, we saw that there was an immediate response from those in the outbreak zones and those areas when these measures were announced and there was a very swift response from them, and we appreciate that. And for the rest of the country who are not in that situation, let’s guard against complacency, let’s make sure that we maintain the social distancing, following all of those good habits when it comes to a COVID safe community and a COVID safe economy. Lives and livelihoods, of course, depend on it. Just because there may be very few cases where you live, do not think for a second that there aren’t sets of circumstances that could see the virus outbreak again and find its way. So we all continue to have this important responsibility and this important discipline that we have to be able to maintain. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
9 July 2020
Prime Minister: Good afternoon. I’m pleased to be joined by the Acting Minister for Immigration Alan Tudge today. But before we go to today’s announcement regarding matters in Hong Kong, let me make a couple of comments about the continuing situation in Victoria.
Again, I want to thank all Melburnians, all Victorians, for your patience and those who live in the border towns along the New South Wales-Victoria border, I want to thank you for your patience in managing what has, I'm sure, been a very disruptive last few days. What we're calling for across Victoria, particularly in Melbourne but along those border town areas as well, is continuing patience as issues settle in terms of the arrangements that are in place for movement of people necessarily across those borders, dealing with freight movements, things of that nature. I've spoken to the Victorian Premier again today. Around about 25,000, on average, tests are being done every day in Victoria, and particularly obviously in those key areas in Melbourne. That is an industrial scale of testing, which is an essential part of dealing with the outbreak in Victoria, and the Premier obviously will make further comments today about the situation as it sits presently.
But I do want to thank Victorians for how they're responding, and thank them for their continued patience. They know the drill. We all know the drill when it comes to social distancing, making sure we wash our hands, and download the COVIDSafe app, and all of the necessary parts of staying safe, COVID-safe, in the community. And I'd say more broadly across the country that we must guard against complacency, that we must continue to follow those social distancing protocols all around Australia, even in states or territories where the number of cases is effectively zero. Please don't think that any of the states or territories are immune. And if there were to be issues that presented in any of those states and territories, the best defence that we have, especially in the first instance, is that all citizens, all residents right across the country, are continuing to practise the appropriate social distancing and other measures. We've seen the images in many parts of the country where I think we are seeing some of that lapse. And it's important, because we do not want to see the situation in Victoria repeated in any other part of the country.
The National Cabinet will meet tomorrow and obviously go over these issues once again. And so I'd thank all of those, particularly around border towns, as the New South Wales Premier has been stressing today to stay away from those border towns, if that is something you can do and exercise that discretion, exercise that judgement. That would include for family gatherings or things of that nature. I think it will assist everybody else who's involved in managing the border there, if they don't have additional pressure or additional demand on them, that will certainly help them do their job and it will make the circumstances for those in those border towns less stressing. Although, no doubt, it will continue to be stressing for some days yet. So, a thank you again to everyone in Victoria and a reminder to everyone else around the country against complacency, to stay on our guard, to be patient and to be conscientious.
The purpose of being here today, though, is to make a number of announcements that have been considered and agreed by the National Security Committee of Cabinet and, indeed, by the Cabinet earlier this week. Firstly, let me say that our Government, together with other governments around the world, have been very consistent in expressing our concerns about the imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong. Today we have agreed to announce that that national security law constitutes a fundamental change of circumstances in respect to our extradition agreement with Hong Kong and so Australia today has taken steps to suspend our extradition agreement. We have formally notified Hong Kong and advised the Chinese authorities. I also note that our travel advice for Hong Kong has been updated, and we'd encourage Australians to refer to that travel advice.
The other issue that we are addressing is one that, as a result of changes that have occurred in Hong Kong, that there will be citizens of Hong Kong who may be looking to move elsewhere, to start a new life somewhere else, to take their skills, their businesses and things that they have been running under the previous set of rules and arrangements in Hong Kong, and seek that opportunity elsewhere. Australia has always been a very welcoming country to such people from all around the world, and our immigration system is the best in the world. It has the best controls, it has the best targeting, it has the best focus, and immigration as a result has been a pillar of the strength of our nation, not just our economy but our society as well. We are a great immigration nation. I would argue we are the best. And many countries have learned from our success in managing immigration in the national interest, and we will continue to do that. But our immigration program provides some particular opportunities for those who have been living as citizens in Hong Kong, and around 10,000, or thereabouts, of Hong Kong citizens and residents are currently in Australia on student visas or on temporary work visas.
What we've agreed to do is we've agreed to adjust the policy settings to ensure that for skilled and graduate visa holders, we will be extending visas by five years from today, with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of those five years. Now, that means if you're a current or future student, you'll be able to stay for a total of five years once you've graduated with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of that period. Now, if you're a temporary graduate or skilled visa holder, your visa will be extended to provide an additional five years from today, in addition to the time you've already been in Australia with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of that period. And we will also provide a five year visa with a pathway to permanent residency for future Hong Kong applicants for temporary skilled visas, subject to meeting an updated skills list and appropriate labour market testing. We will also put arrangements in place to ensure we focus on Hong Kong applicants to study and work in regional areas, to help address skills shortages in those areas, with express pathways to permanent residency, as already applies after three years. And we will also look at new incentives and arrangements to attract export-orientated Hong Kong-based businesses to relocate to Australia, particularly where they have a strong potential for future growth and employment of Australians.
So, for existing temporary work visa holders, student visa holders, and graduate student visa holders, they can be here for five years. Five years. And that is an extension from their existing arrangements that they would have now. Some of them would be some way into their current visa, they're already here - another five years. Those who are looking to the end of their study and they would normally get two years, that will be extended to five years. And the other part is, of course, through our global talent program, to be working with states and territories, and I'll be discussing this with states and territories tomorrow at National Cabinet, at ways where if there are businesses that wish to relocate to Australia, creating jobs, bringing investment, creating opportunities for Australia, then we will be very proactive in seeking to encourage that and to see that business activity, those jobs, created here in Australia.
Now, I want to stress that we are not expecting large numbers of applicants in any time soon. What we have in place is the normal application mechanisms for these visas. The same rules apply to getting a student visa, the same rules apply to getting a temporary work visa. The same market testing restrictions are in place in terms of labour market testing for the awarding of temporary skilled visas. All of that remains the same. What we are doing is extending the opportunity for those visas out to five years in total and looking to recruit, if you like, other businesses that may become footloose as a result of the changes that have occurred in Hong Kong. And I imagine that there will be many other countries in the region and around the world that would indeed be seeking to attract those businesses to Australia and talented applicants as well, as they make their own decisions about where they wish to live in the future. Australia will be part of that group of countries which will be both encouraging, welcoming, and taking steps to ensure we're actively engaged. And so with that I'll hand it over to the Acting Minister for Immigration and many other things, Alan Tudge, and ask you to go through the details. Thank you.
The Hon. Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs: Well, thanks very much, Prime Minister. As you'd be aware, Hong Kong has immense global talent and great businesses there, and we want to attract more of them to Australia. Because that will generate more wealth and more jobs for Australians. Now, we already do very well in terms of attracting people from Hong Kong, but today we're outlining some further opportunities for skilled people, for entrepreneurs, for significant investors, and for businesses to come to our country. Let me go through some of the specific measures which the PM has touched on. First up, in relation to students, so the current and future students from Hong Kong will be eligible for a five year temporary graduate visa on the successful conclusion of their studies and that will come with a pathway for permanent residency. So, former students who are already on a graduate visa will have up to five years from now as well. Now, students who decide to study at a regional campus will be able to continue with the current regime, where they can get permanent residency after three years.
In relation to temporary skilled visas, current temporary skilled visa holders from Hong Kong who are in Australia at the moment will be eligible for an additional five years in Australia, with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of that period. And that is about 600 people in Australia at the moment, not a huge number. Future Hong Kong applicants for temporary skilled visas will also be eligible for a five year visa, provided they meet existing criteria. Now, that is that you must fit with one of the skills shortage criteria, and that list will be updated shortly and it's going to be a significantly reduced list compared to what it is today. Of course, there will need to be labour market testing as well from the sponsoring employer to prove that they are unable to find an Australian to do the job. Of course, a person can also qualify through the global talent temporary visa scheme, which is where we really target the exceptionally talented people, particularly in the IT fields, to come here on a temporary basis, if the employer particularly is willing to pay above the high-income threshold. These future temporary skilled visa holders will also have a pathway to permanent residency after five years. Now, in relation to, you know, what I call the super talent, of which there are many in Hong Kong, we started the Global Talent Scheme Visa not that long ago, with the idea of providing a permanent residency visa for the absolute super global talent. And we certainly know that there is some of that talent in Hong Kong, and we will be continuing with our program there, but we'll be prioritising applicants from Hong Kong for that scheme and providing some additional resources there as well to target those particular individuals who are real job-multiplying people, who create businesses, who are entrepreneurs, who have that tech talent that the world is looking for, frankly. And they will then have a permanent residency visa to enable them to come into the country. That will be the same as well for our Business Investment Programs as well, where again we'll be prioritising some of the applicants from Hong Kong to come into Australia. Same criteria still applies for those applicants. But they'll get priority if they're applying from Hong Kong. We'll also be supporting future applications, we'll be reopening the visa application centre in Hong Kong, which was shut down during the COVID-19, at the beginning of the COVID-19 period.
Finally, just in relation to attracting businesses from Hong Kong. As the PM mentioned, we believe developing new incentives for export-oriented Hong Kong-based businesses to relocate to Australia. And with these economic incentives will also be visa pathways for all critical staff to come to Australia and have a pathway to permanent residency. Now, we know that there are over 1,000 international businesses who have their regional headquarters presently in Hong Kong and we also know that many have already signalled that they're looking to relocate elsewhere in the world. And this includes media businesses, financial services businesses, large consulting businesses, which have already signalled that they're looking elsewhere. And we want them to look to Australia, to come to, and set up shop. And so we'll be developing incentives for them to do so, but with that a package of visas as well, so that all the critical staff can come and potentially relocate in one of our cities or a region, and be able to get pathways to permanent residency. So, that, I think, is a great opportunity for Australia. These companies will be looking elsewhere, so we'll need to be competitive, but that's what we're going to be looking at and developing those incentives over the next period, the next few weeks.
Just let me repeat again - there is so much talent in Hong Kong. There are great businesses in Hong Kong. And we know that many individuals now might be looking elsewhere, because they do want to be in a freer country, they want to be in a democratic country, and we want to make it attractive for that super talent to consider Australia and that's what these measures do.
Prime Minister: Thank you, Alan. I should also stress that the refugee and humanitarian stream remains available for those who are seeking to apply through that channel and that is available to people all around the world. What we're announcing here today relates to the existing components of our immigration program and this will all be accommodated very comfortably within the existing caps that we have on the overall level of visas for permanent residency into Australia. And that is particularly the case because of the significant decline in intake that has occurred because of COVID, and we don't expect that to change quickly and so there is ample room. But I want to stress again that this is being done with continued strong labour market testing, and this is about creating jobs in Australia.
Journalist: Prime Minister, [Inaudible] visa arrangements, critically also the suspension of the extradition agreement. What statement is the Australian Government making about China's adherence to One Country, Two Systems principles? And if it is a system fundamentally defunct now, where does that leave other agreements with an autonomous Hong Kong, even the free trade agreement?
Prime Minister: Well, our decision to suspend the extradition agreement with Hong Kong represents an acknowledgement of the fundamental change of circumstances in relation to Hong Kong because of the new security law. Which, in our view - and this is not just our view, this is, I'd say, a shared view of many countries - of that it undermines the One Country, Two Systems framework, and Hong Kong's own basic law and the high degree of autonomy guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration that was set out there. And that is a matter of public record from Australia's point of view. What we are announcing here today, both with the extradition agreement, there's an update to our travel advice, but in particular what we're doing here in the visa arrangements is recognising that that has taken place. And so Australia is adjusting its laws, our sovereign laws, our sovereign immigration program, things that we have responsibility for and jurisdiction over, to reflect the changes that we're seeing take place there.
Journalist: Prime Minister, do you expect this is going to put any extra pressure on international arrivals? I know yesterday you were saying there's not a good case for any redistribution of arrivals from WA to other states. Will WA see more arrivals, not less? Or are you considering, you know, the prioritisation of those who are overseas, maybe people who couldn’t come back three, four months ago are going to have to wait a lot longer to do so in the future to start taking that pressure off states, regarding those international arrivals?
Prime Minister: Well, I'll be doing exactly what I said I was going to do yesterday. Tomorrow I will be taking to National Cabinet a proposal that would ease the pressure on our points of entry, whether that's in Sydney or Perth or Brisbane or Adelaide, in particular. Those four ports are the ones that are taking the majority - or all, I should say - of those returning Australians. New South Wales, by far and away the most. And all of this will be accommodated within those restrictions. And we are not anticipating a surge of arrivals as a result of this. I mean, the decision to relocate your life, your business, where you're going to study as a new applicant is a significant decision. It's not something that I'm sure people would do overnight. The most significant impact of the decisions we've made today are for those around 10,000 people who are already in Australia, they're already here, they're studying, they're working, they're part of our community. They won't add one additional person to the population of Australia because they're already here. There's about, I think, 3,000, or thereabouts, Alan, about 3,500, who are existing visa holders in the areas I've noted, and the Minister has noted, who are currently outside of Australia. And they would be able to return to Australia under those visas, under the normal arrangements, and that is within the restrictions that we've put in place.
Journalist: The situation in Melbourne, how concerned are you that people are avoiding having virus tests because they can't afford not to work while they wait for the results? And what consideration is your Government giving to paid pandemic leave?
Prime Minister: Well, we've put in place JobKeeper, we've provided JobSeeker. These are the supports that the Government has provided, which are at record levels. This country has never seen a level of income support provided by a federal government like they're seeing now. And we will continue to provide that. I mean, during the course particularly of these next six weeks, that is entirely within the current set of arrangements for JobSeeker and for JobKeeper. And so that support will continue. And the support for placement, the Victorian Government has also put some arrangements in place to support other members of the community, as other states have. And this is a shared responsibility and the Commonwealth is certainly doing overwhelmingly its share of the heavy lifting in providing income support to people all around the country.
Journalist: [Inaudible]
Prime Minister: No, I’ve answered the question.
Journalist: Prime Minister, just back on Hong Kong, I know you're obviously saying you expect low numbers to begin with. Have there been any projections on how many people you are expecting, based on recent visa applications, inquiries into the consulate in Hong Kong? Are we talking about hundreds rather than thousands?
Prime Minister: Well, I'll let the Minister respond. You shouldn't draw any, I suspect, parallels between what Australia is announcing here than with what you would have seen announced in the UK, for example. The UK has a very special relationship with Hong Kong and a very special set of responsibilities. And they're talking about numbers which are not in contemplation in Australia. We're not seeing anything along those lines. As I say, most of the changes will impact on those who are already here in Australia. And at this stage, having just announced it, there's no indication, obviously, as of yet, about the level of interest. But I would be very confident that it will be able to be accommodated within a reasonable, whether it's in the hundreds, or we’re certainly not talking about tens of thousands, or anything of that nature. We're talking at a modest level I would have thought. And if it were to ramp up over time then we would make whatever adjustments we had to ensure that that could be accommodated and absorbed. Alan?
The Hon. Alan Tudge MP, Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs: I’d just add further to that, I mean in a typical financial year, we would have about 4,000 people from Hong Kong who would arrive, and about 3,000 of those would be students, and about a thousand who would be in the temporary skilled or graduate visa - or temporary skilled categories. Is this going to change markedly? It's difficult to say. But obviously the limit is still going to be on the quarantining arrangements here. I mean, the students aren't coming into the country until we've got those situations opened up. We've had the pilots, et cetera. But it also points out that these aren't things which will happen overnight, because you have to put in your application, that needs to be processed, you need to get your affairs in order. For a permanent residency visa, that often takes 6-9 months. For a temporary visa, that's sometimes shortened. But I think you're talking in the hundreds or low thousands rather than the figures which the PM mentioned.
Journalist: Prime Minister, has Australia basically made a judgement that it no longer believes the citizens of its largest trading partner are safe? Are you prepared for further trade strikes and retaliation from Beijing in response to this?
Prime Minister: Well, I don't agree with your assessment of the nature of the travel advices that have been provided. I'll let the travel advice speak for itself, rather than it be editorialised on. And those are matters entirely for the Chinese Communist Party Government. They're not matters for Australia. We will make decisions about what's in our interests, and we will make decisions about our laws and our advisories, and we will do that rationally and soberly and consistently. And that's exactly what we've done, and we will continue to do that on that basis.
Journalist: In regards to Victoria, there are growing claims that the Victorian Government chose to use security guards to guard hotels in order to cosy up to unions. Can I ask you what your thoughts are in regards to that? And also the idea that some of the democratic principles in Victoria seem to be under threat, with the Labor Party taking control of the state wing down there and not necessarily telling voters which minister is responsible for what's happened? Does that concern you?
Prime Minister: Well, my practice in relation to what's been happening in Victoria is the same that I've applied in other states when they've had troubles. I haven't seen myself as a commentator on those state governments. I've seen myself simply seeking to help them deal with the problems that they've had. And there have been challenges in other states before Victoria, admittedly not as significant as this. But I'd never found it terribly helpful to get into a commentary on those state governments. It was much better, I think, for me and my Government just to provide them every support we can. Now, I can understand that many, many people in Victoria will be feeling very frustrated at the moment, and many are very angry and I'm aware of where they're directing that frustration and anger. But it won't help the situation if I were to engage in any of that. I have a good working relationship with the Victorian Government and it's our job just to work together to solve this and to get on top of it and we'll continue to apply our resources to that end. Now, as is a matter of public record, the Commonwealth has made available the offer, consistently, about ADF support in Victoria to assist with any of the tasks, which included quarantine, if that was what they wished. But ultimately state governments have got to make decisions about how they want to use those resources and deploy those resources and, of course, they're accountable for the decisions that they make, and who they contract to do the job is a matter for them. And they've got to explain those decisions in their jurisdiction, like I have to explain the decisions I make in ours. Sorry, one at a time.
Journalist: Prime Minister, the announcement mostly focuses on people already here in Australia. But for those future applicants, do you expect any countermeasures from China that might make it difficult for those people to come to Australia to take up that offer? In effect, preventing or making it harder for people to leave Hong Kong to take up this offer?
Prime Minister: Well, I don't. But if that were to occur, that would be very disappointing.
Journalist: Home lending figures came out today. Huge plunge, double-digit plunge. This is a time with record low interest rates as well. We've also seen a couple of months of sliding house prices. Do you have any concerns about the housing market? And what can the Government do to avoid a house price collapse?
Prime Minister: Well, the thing about the Australian housing market is that demand has always outstripped supply, particularly in those markets which have been most heated and we're talking largely about the eastern seaboard markets there. I mean, the situation in Perth and Adelaide has been a bit different. But even down in Hobart more recently, we've seen an undersupply of housing and oversupply of demand. And that has always been what's driven the housing market. It hasn't been driven by speculative investor bubbles or speculative credit, things like that, which we've seen occur in other countries. And I think one of the problems about the commentary about the housing market is too often the analysis has appropriated the conditions of other places and applied them to Australia and that application has been completely misguided. Of course you're going to see a resistance, a concern amongst consumers during the times we're experiencing right now. It would be surprising if we did not see that. But I think, fundamentally, the structural position of the housing markets in Australia would tell a far more stronger tale in terms of their resilience. That's why I welcomed particularly yesterday the decisions by the banks to be able to continue to roll over and defer payments in relation to debts. That's important. That's one of the many changes that have been important to date and will be important later in the year and we're working through very similar issues. So, I think it would be presumptive, or a little premature is probably the better word, to be making medium or even short-term forecasts about the Australian property market at the moment. I think we'll see issues work their way through, and this is why it's important that we continue to deal with these crises as a dual, two, that is, economic and health. Getting on top of the health supports, the economic performance and vice versa. And that's why around the rest of the country, which isn't in isolation, it's important that we continue to open up our economies between states and the trade and commerce that takes place between states and territories, because that's how the jobs come back. The jobs come back, then the strength of markets, particularly housing markets, are supported by that. I'm encouraged that in the housing markets, in particular, that those who have taken advantage of the opportunity to draw down on their super balances, I'm advised by the banks that many have actually put it into their mortgages to improve their resilience with their mortgage and in the housing market. And that strikes me as a fairly common-sense thing to do.
Journalist: Prime Minister, Greg Hunt has said that seven out of the eight states and territories have done hotel quarantine well. So, why is there the need to ease that pressure on the system? How low do you think the cap on arrivals should go? And how will it be allocated?
Prime Minister: Well, I'll be discussing those matters with the National Cabinet tomorrow.
Journalist: Prime Minister, have you had discussions with the ACT about getting Victorian MPs and staffers and ministers into the ACT? Are we going see ministers moving here to get around the border closures?
Prime Minister: Look, it's still early days today, but I'm pleased that the ACT Government enabled my colleague to join me here today, under quite strict conditions. And I appreciate Andrew Barr’s and the Chief Health Officer here in the ACT's practical management of those issues. But there are still many more to manage. Parliament doesn't return until August, so there's a bit to sort out between now and then. So, we'll deal with those issues carefully and there is an engagement between the Parliament and the ACT Government about how those issues will be managed for the return of Parliament. And, indeed, for ministers, some ministers were already here when the decision was taken in relation to Victoria. But their families are in Victoria, so there will need to be, I think, some practical arrangements put in place. I can tell you they'll all be well-behaved and will follow the rules, as you would expect, just as Minister Tudge has today. Thank you all very much.
Press Conference - Canberra, ACT
8 July 2020
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon everyone. At this very podium some months ago I said that Australians would be tested like we have never been tested before but we're a strong nation. And that we would meet those tests. And that will be true again now with the situation we're facing in Victoria. This is a global pandemic. There are no guarantees in a global pandemic. You have to deal with the situations that are in front of you. You need to deal with them consistent with your strategy and your plan and you need to bring the country together to focus every resource on fixing the problem and ensuring that we can keep Australians safe and that we can protect lives and we can protect livelihoods. This is the challenge we still face. There has not been a day of complacency when it has come to dealing with this challenge, I can assure you, on behalf of the Australian Government. And through the National Cabinet we have worked together to address all of these challenges and that will continue.
For the people, in particular, of Melbourne, this is hard. This is a hard call on you. It's tough. And it will test you and it will strain, but you have done it once before and you will be able to do it again because you have proven that. You have demonstrated your ability to deal with this. It's happening in Melbourne now. Of course, there's always the risk it could happen in other cities and every step is being taken to seek to prevent that wherever possible. But we're all Melburnians now when it comes to the challenges we face. We're all Victorians now because we're all Australians and that's where the challenge is right now. And so I want to thank all the Premiers, I spoke to most of them yesterday, I’ve spoken to more of them today, for the great support they're giving to Victoria whether it's in managing the very challenging issues now on the New South Wales/Victorian border or the testing that is being done in Tasmania or in South Australia, or indeed, New South Wales or Queensland, the tracing work that is being done drawing on the health professionals from Western Australia all the way to the east coast, this is a national coordinated effort and over the last several days that has been where my focus has been, working with those Premiers, working with the Chief Medical Officer, working with those on the ground as we are coordinating our response to support the efforts in Victoria. And so that's why there are 350 ADF people down there supporting the New South Wales effort on the border. That's why there are already around 200 ADF who are already supporting in the area of medical testing and other logistical support. That's why there is some several hundred, in fact the numbers of Commonwealth public servants up about 800, 900, supporting the door-to-door efforts. So it is a very significant Commonwealth effort to support what is happening in Victoria right now and we will prevail and we will get on top of it and we will protect the rest of the country because, as I have engaged with other leaders around the world, they are facing the same challenges, whether in Europe or elsewhere, they are seeing as they're opening up their economy again and fighting for the jobs of their own citizens just as I'm fighting for the jobs of our citizens, then they find there are outbreaks and there are cases, the one in Melbourne is particularly serious, but on an international scale, it is well within the band and so it is not surprising and that's why we need to continue to apply our focus and our effort and just work together as we did in March and in April and in May and in June and so we will do it in July, and August, September, October, November, December, and into next year if necessary. That is what we will do and that's what we'll continue to do. So I do reach out to those people - families, young kids, older residents, people working in essential occupations and just reach out to them and say the nation is with you and we will be with you each and every day because your success is our success. Our success depends on how well you're able to get through and so whether it's the mental health support that needs to go in, whether it's the housing support that needs to be in place, these are the issues that over the last several days we have been dealing with to ensure that Victoria gets all the support they need. So with those remarks, I hope that addresses, as it should, the very significant issues we're now facing.
And now I'd like to turn, if you indulge me to the reason I have asked the Aged Care Minister to join me here today. And I think this is important because as we deal with the challenges of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 recession that is attendant to that and has created these two great crises Australia now deals with, the work of Government continues. The needs out across the country are just as present as they were before and one of the most significant areas of need that we have been addressing as a Government since the 2018-19 Budget in particular, has been the challenges of in-home aged care. Now, it was only last year after the receipt of the interim report of the Aged Care Royal Commission that we immediately responded to the immediate request that there be additional places provided for in-home aged care and we immediately moved to put an additional 10,000 places. Today I'm announcing with the Minister an additional 6,100 in-home aged care places which will bring to an additional 50,000 places at a cost of some $3 billion that we have announced since the 18-19 budget. And every opportunity we have had as a Government to increase the number of in-home aged care places since the 18-19 budget, the midyear update that followed, the Budget that followed that, the mid year update that followed that, and now where we are here today, where we had hoped to have a Budget obviously earlier this year, but that won't be until October, we believe that was necessary to make this announcement now and we will take every opportunity in the future including the Budget and the midyear statement that follows to continue to address this task. This is about ensuring that Australians, as they age, have greater choices, that families have greater choices. We have many challenges in this country at the moment, but we will see our economy strengthen, we will see Australians kept safe whether it's from COVID or the many other threats that this nation faces, and we will guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on and this is a very good example of that in meeting the needs of our elderly and the in-home aged care places that they need and there'll be more. And we will do that in a responsible budget management which the Treasurer and the Finance Minister and I and other members of the Cabinet will continue to apply the discipline to, so we can meet all of those challenges.
But with that, I'll ask Richard to make a few comments about the specifics and then I'm happy to take your questions.
SENATOR THE HON. RICHARD COLBECK, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND SENIOR AUSTRALIANS: Thanks, PM. So the additional 6,100 packages is evenly split between levels 1, 2 and 3 packages. Their rollout will commence immediately. And as the Prime Minister has said, that takes our investment in home care packages to 50,000 since the 18-19 Budget and investment of over $3 billion. And as the Prime Minister has said - it continues our commitment to providing choice for senior Australians as they age, but also the opportunity for them to stay safe, be at home and age at home if that's their choice. We're also announcing today that the royal commission reporting date will be extended to the 26th February. So that's a 3 and half month extension to the royal commission - the commission having had to close down for about three months due to COVID, had requested an extension and we're announcing an extension to the 26th of February. And Commissioner Pagone will become the chair instead of the acting chair of the commission as part of the announcement we are making today with respect to the extension of the commission.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, our second most popular state is now shut-off from the rest of the country. There are increased caseloads by the day. Is this more than just the localised outbreak that you have talked about, or are you confident that this is under control?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there are three rings of containment and the rings of containment has always been part of the Government's national plan together with the states and territories. There are those suburbs specifically where we are seeking, I should say the Victorian Government is seeking to ensure that containment measures are there. Then there's the broader Melbourne metropolitan area and including the Mitchell Shire and then beyond that there's the Victorian border. And as each of those rings does its job, it puts less pressure on the ring external to it. And I know that the New South Wales Premier, I spoke to her again this morning, is very focused on ensuring that there is appropriate protections around those border towns and - you know, I saw the same queues as everyone else this morning. And as I flagged on Monday afternoon in a radio interview, there will be some, there will be some disruption for a period of time as these arrangements are put in place. That's, I think, to be expected and there will be some inconvenience and that's regrettable and we ask for people to show patience about that. I mean, the case numbers today, slightly less than what they were yesterday and we would hope to get better news on those case numbers. I mean the level of testing has been significant and we need to stay on top of that, but the isolation of those who are found to have had COVID is important as it always has been. I'd be saying to those particularly in New South Wales and those in the border towns that, particularly in the border towns, we're not seeking to see people move from there up to Sydney or places like that. I think for the time being, it's wise and good common sense that if you live in and around those border towns, that you’d stay close to those towns at present and not be going off to family events or other things more broadly across the state. The Premier has indicated similar sentiments this morning and I support that. Similarly people living elsewhere across New South Wales, now is not the time to make your way to close by the Victorian border. That's just not good common sense. And we’d ask people to exercise good judgement about those things. There's lots of family events and other gatherings that take place and if people could exercise some judgement about their attendance of those particularly around border towns, then I think that's the right thing to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, given the breaches with hotel quarantine in Victoria, is there any case for slowing down the arrival of people into Australia at international airports? Is there a problem with the sheer load of, that’s coming there? Should that be considered?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the short answer to that is yes and I'll be taking a proposal to that end to National Cabinet on Friday and I have been discussing that with Premiers over the last sort of 24 hours. I had a good discussion with Premier McGowan about the same thing yesterday. I mean the fact is that New South Wales has been bearing the largest burden of people returning to Australia and they're people, they're Queenslanders, they're Western Australians, they're Tasmanians and New South Wales has done the heavy-lifting on that and foot the bill for it too, I should say. And I thought that was one of the, another good example of how the National Cabinet was working. No-one was squabbling about money about who was going to pick up the bill for quarantine. The large states, which were New South Wales and Victoria, accepted that and got on with it. And I commend them for that. Now, in Victoria, we have suspended those flights coming in and that has meant that people have moved on to other flights going into other capitals and we have looked at that and as I said I'll be taking a proposal to National Cabinet to slow that down as of this Friday.
JOURNALIST: You previously been opposed to border closures and you’ve said the borders should reopen. So is it safe to say that you have now changed your position on that in light of the community transmission in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, it's not.
JOURNALIST: And in relation to JobKeeper, there will obviously be a lot of anxiety now about when that runs out. Is it potentially an option to extend JobKeeper for longer by geography, just in Victoria?
PRIME MINISTER: Two points. First of all, no my position on borders hasn't changed. We need to understand what's happened here in Victoria. What we have effectively done is Victoria has self-isolated. So that creates a protection for all the other states and territories at the one time and it doesn't leave it to the arbitrary decision of one Premier or another Premier. I mean, my view about people moving from New South Wales to Queensland or to South Australia or Western Australia has not changed. When you have a situation of an outbreak, you contain the outbreak. And that outbreak is presently in Melbourne. And to ensure we don't get further breaches of that, that outbreak is being contained now at the Victorian border. And that has always been the approach. Arbitrary decisions about state borders is a separate issue and we'll continue to maintain our position that Australia is one country, and that response that is needed in relation to outbreaks, well, that will be put in place and that will provide the appropriate protections and that's what's being done. This is about Victoria isolating itself, not other states shutting itself off from Victoria. And there is a key difference in that.
JOURNALIST: If the situation escalates will there be a need to be...
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, on JobKeeper on the other issue. I’ve answered this question many times. And I have been consistent in saying that there'll be a further phase of support that goes beyond September. So there's been - and there will be, and I said that to the Victorian Premier and as I said to Alan Joyce some weeks ago when the specific issues of Qantas were raised and the Treasurer has said the same thing. There will be a further phase of how we continue to provide support and as I was able to assure the Premier the other night, just like I can assure people in, in industries or in businesses or parts of the country that are more affected by COVID than others, then where there is the need, then there will continue to be support. And so this is about tailoring a national program to provide support where the support is needed and because of what has happened in Victoria, obviously the need there will be far greater than was previously and that need will be met.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the McGowan Government did ask for the Federal Government to help enforce those caps on international tourists into WA. Is that something you will do? And just on Victoria - Ministers Porter and Cormann say the AFL grand final should be held in Perth if it can’t be held at the MCG. Is that something you support, that you’d like to see, and also the Minister for Sport, maybe can I have your opinion as well?
PRIME MINISTER: I spoke to Premier McGowan yesterday. The issue is not redistributing the load from Western Australia to other states. I mean Western Australia has been taking about a quarter of what New South Wales has. So I don't think there's a strong case that Western Australia should carry any lesser load than it has been up until this time. I mean, Queensland and New South Wales are taking far more than Western Australia and, you know, the same issues need to be managed there and Western Australia is a strong and competent state and I'm sure they can manage their share of the burden. The issue is what the overall level of returning Australians are and that's why I'll be bringing a proposal on Friday to reduce that load which means it's - that's a lesser load for everybody rather than shifting Western Australia's load on to someone else. I'm sure Western Australian pride would prohibit any suggestion that another state would have to carry Western Australia's water on something like this.
JOURNALIST: On the grand final, and Ministers Porter and Cormann said if it can’t be held at the MCG, which is more of a likelihood now...
PRIME MINISTER: To be honest, where the AFL grand final is being played at the moment is one of the furthest things from my mind. It really is. I mean, the AFL, I'm sure will sort that out and states and territories will sort that out. Right now, we're dealing with a pandemic outbreak in Victoria - right now.
JOURNALIST: If the situation escalates, will there be a need to reimpose some of the nationwide restrictions?
PRIME MINISTER: That is not something that is being put to me now, that's not the advice that we're receiving. Let's remember that seven states and territories around the country remain in a very strong position when it comes to our response to COVID-19. That's what we're seeking to continue to protect. That doesn't mean there won't be cases in any of those states and territories, but the rest of the programs in those states and territories are, outside of trying to deal with some of the issues around the border towns and New South Wales and Victoria, I'm sure the Premier will say more about that when she's in a position to do so, but more broadly - I think the rest of the country is getting on with it which means they're opening up and their jobs are coming back and that's welcome news but obviously the impact in Victoria is significant and very disappointing, but it's something that we will work together to build up again just like we did last time.
Yeah, Michelle?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on your proposal to restrict people coming in, are you thinking of a pause or of just containing numbers? And would people be likely to have to pay for their own quarantine?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's more a containing numbers, I mean, there is a volume that can be accommodated by the states and territories currently, but they certainly wouldn't want to see that increase. With Melbourne shutdown from that point of view, then taking on higher burdens is what we're seeking to avoid. In relation to paying - that is a decision for the states and territories. The states and territories can send people a bill today if they wish and if they wish to do that, then the Commonwealth would have no objection to that. They'd be acting solely within their rights to do that. I think that would be a completely understandable proposition for people who have been away for some time and there's been many opportunities for people to return. If they're choosing to do so now, they have obviously delayed that decision for a period.
JOURNALIST: Any idea of the pipeline of numbers?
PRIME MINISTER: Compared to normal volumes, Michelle, it's very, very low to what you normally expect and it's still very low now. But at this time, we don't want to put any more pressure on the system than is absolutely necessary.
Rosie?
JOURNALIST: Just on the rings of containment, to clarify, are you supportive of Daniel Andrews's six-week lockdown of greater Melbourne? And on JobKeeper, are you suggesting that someone in a job in Victoria may be able to get income support for longer compared to someone in the same job in, say, Brisbane because of what has happened there?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not suggesting that at all. We're running a national programme of support. That national programme of support will give people in the same areas of need the same support. So it's not a state-based programme or anything like that, in the same way it has operated up until now. It's been something that has operated nationally and something that has been directed towards businesses that have had that fall-off in turnover and to their employees, and similarly JobSeeker is applied across the nation. So these programmes act very much as automatic stabilisers in these circumstances and that's the design element that will continue. I mean, what we have done in providing the support we have, is we have been very careful about the design of the support we have provided. We haven't made the mistakes of trying to invent new systems because of the great difficulties that presents, as we saw during the GFC. And I note that the Deloitte report that came out this year which showed that we were able to get the support out there significantly and sooner than happened last time. And I think that was because we followed that very disciplined position of using existing channels, making sure it was well calibrated and targeted and temporary and that's what we have done. I think all Australians know that level of support can't go on forever. But the needs are continuing and we understand that. We have understood that for some time and we have been preparing our next phase on the basis of that understanding.
Shane?
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what would bringing forward the 2022/23 tax cuts to, say, the October Budget do for the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, any decisions on those matters are matters for the Budget and other budgets beyond that. So that's a matter that the Treasurer and I will address in the context of the Budget, not today.
JOURNALIST: Face masks, Prime Minister, there does seem to be a shift in thinking on this from the World Health Organization, citing growing evidence, they say, that the virus is spread through the air. In view of that, I think the AMA is adopting a position in Victoria as well. Have you sought any revised or updated medical advice on whether they should?
PRIME MINISTER: The medical panel gives us advice on this issue pretty much every time we meet and sometimes more often than that. So it has been a constant stream of advice from the medical expert panel, from the AHPPC, and they will continue to provide that advice and we will continue to follow it.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on China, the updated travel warning about Australians facing detention in China, are you expecting any, sort of, criticism from the Chinese Government about that? And can you provide an update on your consideration of resettlement options for Hong Kongers?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we are still considering that matter, to go to your second question, and I'll have more to say about that soon. In relation to the other matter, officials upgraded that advice as it's been communicated and as yet I haven't had anything put in front of me, but from time to time travel advisories are changed and on this occasion, the officials have upgraded that advice.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you confirm that your preference for supporting the people of Hong Kong is to use existing pathways rather than creating something new? And secondly, to follow-up Rosie's question, are you supportive of the lockdown of greater Melbourne?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we continue to be concerned about issues in Hong Kong, as many nations are, and we have remained in close contact with other like-minded countries about this issue. This is about how we, as a nation, are responding domestically to these issues. So these are decisions for Australia about who we provide visas to and on what terms and over what period of time. They're Australian sovereign issues. They aren’t about other countries, they’re about our country. So we'll make decisions about our visa program and how we run that in accordance with the rules that we set and as I said before, I'll have more to say about that soon, not today. On the issue of the broader shutdown of Melbourne, this is a matter that the Premier advised me of and, of course, based on their advice and the advice that I have received from the Chief Medical Officer, then this was necessary. I hope it isn't for that long. I hope it's for as short a period as possible. But given the seriousness of the issue and the containment that was occurring in the initial postcodes and what was occurring there, that this was a more practical measure in the Premier's view and the advice that he had received. So it's not my job to second-guess Premiers on these things. It's my job, as the Prime Minister, to rally the governments of Australia and our own Government and the people of Australia to support Victorians in this time of need.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I note your earlier comments before. Can I just ask, are you considering bringing forward those tax cuts? I note your comment before. Are you considering bringing forward those tax cuts? It would seem from what the Opposition said today with Jim Chalmers that they’re seeking some clarity on that. And once we start to establish travel bridges with other nations, would you be looking to impose a tax on those Australians looking to travel overseas to help recoup some of the expenses the Government has paid here, locally, and also to encourage people to travel at home?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's a lot of speculation on all those questions. So I don't intend to engage in what is the normal budget speculation when you lead up to a budget. Those matters will be addressed in the Budget. So, I mean, we haven't even concluded any arrangements with any other countries at the moment and it will be some time yet before we even were able to achieve that even for New Zealand or potentially any countries in the Pacific.
JOURNALIST: Would you think about it?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not here to tell people what I'm thinking about, I'm here to tell people what we're doing. The Government is focused on dealing with what's happening right now in Australia. Those issues are not matters that are pressing upon the Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a large proportion of the new cases in Victoria of community transmission have come in the younger population, people in their 20s.
PRIME MINISTER: True.
JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about creeping complacency within the community? And what would be your message to those young people in Victoria and around the rest of the country who think this virus is not their problem?
PRIME MINISTER: Doesn't matter what age you are, it doesn’t matter what job you have, it doesn't matter what your income is, it matters that we all just together, continue to follow the sensible medical advice that has kept Australia in one of the most envied positions in the world in relation to our COVID-19 response. And we all have responsibilities there and we all owe it to each other to keep exercising them. As a Government, it's our job to ensure we're continuing to follow the strategy we put in place and support that with resources. Whether it's in supporting people through incredibly difficult economic times, whether it's supporting our elderly with the announcement we have made today and getting on with the job of providing the Government that we promised to deliver, whether it is supporting through the ADF on the ground the measures that are necessary to contain the spread of the virus. We will keep doing our job and I know Australians will keep doing theirs. And right now, that job is if you're a Melburnian, is to tough it out and it will be tough, but know the rest of the country is with you. The rest of the country knows that the sacrifice that you're going through right now is not just for you and your own family, but it's for the broader Australian community. And I want to thank Melburnians. I mean, I want to thank them very much for how they're dealing with this right now. I can imagine the frustration. You can imagine a business that had just started opening up again and now they got to close down again. Heartbreaking. Frustrating. Talking to their staff, kids were about to go back to school, the uncertainty that is attached to all of that, we all understand. But this is a virus that doesn't, you know, communicate itself in terms of its intentions or how it's going to behave. We're dealing with a lot of unknowns here and that means that there will be circumstances like this and how we respond is what we have control over. We don't have control over the virus, as such, but we do have control over how we respond and I think how Melburnians, in particular, and Victorians more broadly, are dealing with this very hard news is commendable and I thank you very, very much for it. And we will stay on the job in supporting you and giving the Victorian Government every help they need, not just the Australian Government, but all the other state and territory governments as well. On Friday, the National Cabinet will meet, as it does, on a fortnightly basis. There'll be a number of matters that will be considered in relation to this and I'll be able to update you more about those things on Friday. Thank you all very much.