Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced a funding package that will provide regional airports with a much needed cash injection to upgrade.

The DPM made the announcement at the Tumut Aerodrome along with the Nationals candidate for Eden-Monaro Trevor Hicks.

Keating Media made the trip over to Tumut to film and photograph the event. Below is a short video from the press conference along with some photos. More photos from the event can be viewed at the Keating Media photos website. Photos are available to purchase without a watermark.

Inside Canberra subscribers can view the full video inside of the membership site.

The Snowy Valleys council is receiving $152,984 for various upgrades.

Mr McCormack opened by saying, “Well, it’s great to be here at the Tumut Airport to announce the Commonwealth Federal funding for right across Australia, $41.2 million as part of the regional airports upgrade program.  Sixty regional airports are going to benefit from this money, including the Tumut Aerodrome where there’s going to be $152,984 spent and I know how much this is going to mean for the Tumut community. 

I’m here with The Nationals’ Candidate for Eden-Monaro, Trevor Hicks, who is just behind me.  I’m here with the Mayor of Snowy Valleys Council, James Hayes and John Larter, who is also on the council.  Jon Gregory, who is the district manager for the Rural Fire Service is also here and Craig Cullinger is here, he’s the President of the Tumut Aero Club.”

China has announced that after an 18 month investigation that it will levy punitive anti-dumping tariffs on Australian barley from today.

It said the anti-dumping tariff would be 73.6 per cent, while the anti-subsidy tariff would be 6.9 per cent.

China said the product has been imported against trade rules and the tariff will be imposed for five years. This will wipe out the export market to China for Australian barley farmers.

Trade Minister Birmingham issued a statement in which he said, “Australia is deeply disappointed with China’s decision to impose duties on Australian barley.”

Australia could take the case to the World Trade Organisation.

In the video below you can hear Simon Birmingham talking about another trade issue involving China, this time to do with the suspension of beef imports from Australia.

As thousands upon thousands of Australians queued up at Centrelink offices around Australia or attempted to access services online the Australian Parliament met in Canberra to pass legislation to allow money to start flowing.

The government had on March 12 announced a $17.6 billion economic stimulus plan but as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rapidly increased the government moved to announce additional measures.

On March 22 the Prime Minister and Treasurer held a press conference at Parliament House to announce a further $66 billion package which the Treasurer called at safety net package.

The most recent package announced the doubling of the job seeker payment formerly known as Newstart and also an increase to $100,000 for small businesses.

This came on top of measures announced by the Reserve Bank where they pumped in $90 billion to support credit within the financial sector in Australia.

All of the details from the announcements made by the government were shared with the opposition ahead of Parliament sitting on March 23 to enable the speedy passing of the required legislation.

The Parliament opened with a limit of 100 people to be in the chambers. That saw a smaller amount of members present in the House of Representatives with the Prime Minister made a statement.

The PM opened by saying, “

Mr Speaker. We gather today at a time of great challenge for our nation and indeed the world. We are a strong nation and a strong people, but in the months ahead this will put us all to the test like, at no time since the Second World War. But together, Australia, we are up to this challenge. The coronavirus that is sweeping the world will continue to change the way we live. But we must not allow it to change who we are as Australians. I know, we all know, that Australians are very concerned at this difficult time. 

It is the understandable fear of the unknown. And there is much that not known about the coronavirus. But we must not let that fear overtake us. We must instead focus on what we do know, what we can control. We know who we are as people and the legacy and inspiration that has been given to us from those who have come before us and shown us the way through challenge and tests just like this. 

So we summon the spirit of the Anzacs, of our Great Depression generation, of those who built the Snowy. Of those who won the great peace of the Second World War and defended Australia. That is our legacy that we draw on at this time”.

He closed by saying, “This will be a test of all Australians.

It is a test of our nation. Of our spirit.

There are some who believe liberal democracies and free societies cannot cope with these sorts of challenges.

We will prove them wrong here in Australia.

Today, we are saying that we both can do this, and we will do this together. May God bless us all, all Australians, at this very most difficult time.”

The debate started and the opposition was pushing to make an amendment which would prevent Australians from accessing their superannuation if under financial stress.

During the 22 March press conference the Treasurer had said, ” those affected will gain access to their superannuation capped at $10,000 this financial year, and a further $10,000 next financial year.”

At the end of the day the government was able to have their package pass through the House of Representatives and then late Monday night the Senate.

The Treasurer fronted the media in the Blue Room close to midnight as he announced the passage of the legislation as well as that in separate legislation, the government set aside a further $40 billion for urgent and unforeseen spending associated with the pandemic, likely to cause a recession.

The Parliament also amended the sitting days and will not return to Canberra until August 11.

The Prime Minister was joined by the Treasurer and Chief Medical Officer to provide the latest update about the coronavirus situation in Australia. During the press conference he advised that the budget will be handed down in October.

Below is the transcript from the press conference as well as photos taken during this time. You can view more photos at the Keating Media photo site as well as purchase non-watermarked copies.

PRIME MINISTER: There is a way through this. We all need to keep going. I need all of you to keep going. And we’re going to keep going to keep Australia running. All Australians have a role to play as we make our way through. And there is a way through. There is a bridge over this. And if we continue to work together in the way we are, all around the country, then Australia will bounce back strongly, you will bounce back strongly, your family, your business, your community. There is a way through. 

Life is continuing to change. And together we’re going to have to continue to adapt to those changes to keep Australia running. Australians, we will all continue to see more information. There will be additional cases. This is something we should be continuing to expect. This is anticipated. The presence of additional cases is not something of itself that should cause alarm, because at the end of the day, you don’t stop this virus, but you can defeat it by slowing it down. And that is how we save lives.

Today, the National Cabinet met again on our commitment to work together to keep Australians healthy as we can, to protect them, and to ensure that we keep Australia running together. Today, we made further decisions, many of which we’ve had flagged from our last meeting, that are both scalable and sustainable to ensure that we can continue to implement for the many months ahead. As I’ve said we’re looking at at least six months to be working through over the course of this year. Of course, it could be longer. No one really knows, but we’re taking decisions on the basis that we need to move at least through the next six months. At today’s meeting, we began with this focusing on the the economic issues and with the presentation of the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr. Lowe, who briefed Premiers and Chief Ministers and myself on the measures that were announced yesterday, as well as providing a general overview of how the Reserve Bank was seeing the economy and the impacts. And this was also done by the federal Treasury through Dr. Kennedy, who provided the same advice. 

We were able to share information between states and territories on what we’re each doing to provide support in our economies, the various stimulus initiatives that have already been announced and further work we were doing together to ensure that we could provide further support. Now, as you know, as I said here with the Treasurer yesterday, we are working on a package that will cushion the blow over the next six months and will provide the necessary support so people can get on that bridge to get them to the other side. That is focusing heavily on small, medium sized businesses, sole traders, and it is also providing for the income support that will be necessary for those most directly impacted by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. I want to particularly welcome the decision which the Treasurer will go into in more detail that was made by the banks today, which showed that they are pulling together with everyone else to ensure that we can get Australians through this. These are important decisions that will provide real and genuine relief. It’s a great start and we will continue to work closely with the banks and all others to ensure we all work together to provide the most support to Australians as we can to get them through this over the next six months at least. States also agreed today, and further work will be done on this, are working to identify how relief can be provided for tenants in both commercial tenancies and residential tenancies to ensure that in hardship conditions there will be relief that will be available and ensuring the tenancy legislation is protecting those tenants over the next six months at least. That work will be done by states and territories as it is a state and territory matter, and that work will be led by Western Australia, together with New South Wales, working with all the other states and territories to bring back some model rules that can be applied in hardship cases. So understanding what the trigger might be and how in those circumstances that tenants would be able to maintain their tenancies. Now I know that will mean something for landlords, just as the decision taken today means something for banks, just like the decisions we have already taken as a Commonwealth Government means things for our balance sheets and as a people for the Commonwealth Government as it does for the states. It will also mean something for those, who sadly, might be stood down from their employment and have to look at their annual leave arrangements and sick leave arrangements. All Australians are going to be making sacrifices obviously, in the months ahead, and everyone does have that role to play and that will include landlords, at the end of the day for people who are enduring real hardship. 

It was also agreed today that putting Budgets together at this time with the great uncertainty that exists is not something that any Commonwealth or State Government should be doing. As a result, we’ve already decided that we will not be now handing down a Budget until the first Tuesday in October, on the 6th of October. The Treasurer will be having a bit more to say about that. All other states and territories will be working to similar timetables. The idea that you can actually put together any sort of forecasts around the economy at this time is simply not sensible. And as a result, we will be putting in place the necessary measures with the support of the Parliament on supply and other continuances to ensure the proper functioning of government services and the continuation of vital programs. On Sunday, I will be meeting with the Leader of the Opposition and the leaderships of both the Government and the Opposition. I spoke to him earlier about this today and we’ll be working through those practical issues around the functioning of the Parliament, both now and over the next six months. And I think the Leader of the Opposition for his support on those arrangements as we work them through.

On health, and I ask you to bear with me as we go through this, and Dr. Murphy will be joining us to answer questions, also make some statements on these matters. The rise in the number of cases means we need to continue to take action to suppress the growth in these cases and to flatten the curve, which is something more Australians are becoming more familiar with. That means we’ve got to work even harder to keep a healthy distance between us all. We agreed to further rules today regarding indoor non-essential gatherings. Earlier, I announced the 100 limit on non-essential indoor gatherings and I went through the list of those things that were essential. I won’t do that again today. It’s the same list. But what we are now moving to is an arrangement for gatherings of less than 100, is that there would be 4 square meters provided per person in an enclosed space in a room. So that’s 2 meters by 2 meters. So for example, if you’ve got a room, you’ve got premise, if you’ve got a meeting room or something like that, that’s 100 square meters then you can have 25 people in that room. Now in addition to that, you should continue to practice wherever possible the meter, meter and a half of healthy distance between each of us to ensure that we are limiting the contact and limiting the potential for the spread of the virus. Now these are quite practical rules. Out there in the community, whether it’s licencing laws or fire laws or anything like this, there are already these types of arrangements. The number of people who can be in outdoors seated areas that relates to noise controls. So these I think are very practical and sensible arrangements that venues and others and commercial premises and in public premises that we can manage. It just simply means understanding how big the room is and then simply advising how many people can be in that room at any one time. And we’d also be seeking the cooperation of patrons and others to ensure that they can do the same thing. If you’re looking after your behaviour, you’re saving lives. You’re helping other people who are more vulnerable. In many cases for the young and the healthy, it is true that the majority of cases, 8 out of 10 people only have a mild illness. But if younger people in particular, and those more generally in the community follows these rules, it won’t be all life saving because you’ll be fine, you’ll be healthy. But by you doing the right thing, you’ll be saving the life of someone who is more vulnerable. So do it for your fellow Australians. I know these rules will take some time for people to get used to, but I’d ask people to move as quickly as they can. I know it means a lot of change for a lot of venues, whether they be cafes or restaurants or clubs or any of these other places of public gathering, including in this building here. We’ll be working to ensure that people know how many people can be in the various meeting rooms in this place. Next week, the Parliament will have less than 100 people in it at any one time in the Chamber. So even in essential areas, it is practical to try and observe these, but that won’t always be possible for… essential gatherings – they have an even higher purpose and in some cases that will be more difficult to implement. But if we do it more broadly, then we’re slowing the rate and we are saving lives. I also want to make the point that self-isolation means self-isolation, and Dr, Murphy will be speaking more about that issue. We are hearing reports of some who are saying they’re in self isolation and they’re out and about.

Self-isolation means exactly that. For older residents also, earlier this week, we also provided the advice through the AHPPC, through the medical experts panel, that older residents should be refraining more from public contact than others in the community. That doesn’t mean they need to self-isolate. It just means that they should practise greater caution than those else otherwise in the population. Now on travel, there’ll be further discussion about travel issues before the school holidays. The National Cabinet is now meeting every Tuesday night and every Friday morning. That’s what we’ve done this week and we think that’s a good rhythm of meetings to ensure we can consider all the recommendations that are coming up through our various agencies. The advice is to reconsider the need for unnecessary travel. And if you’re unwell, stay at home, unless seeking medical advice. Further advice has been taken to the National Cabinet next Tuesday night, and that will be available before people go on school holidays. And so we’ll be considering those issues further, and I’m just flagging that for next week when we consider those issues on a broader scale.

In relation to schools and preschools, the situation has not changed. It is in the national interest to ensure that we keep schools open. I want to thank all of those schools who have been putting those arrangements in place. For those schools who have moved to distance learning for their students, I want to thank those schools who have ensured that even in those circumstances, they have arranged for students of parents who have essential responsibilities, they may be nurses or doctors, child care workers, they may be teachers themselves. They are providing for the students to be able to continue to receive lessons in that facility, and that is what we want to see happen.

On aged care, the Government, the Commonwealth Government, made a number of decisions yesterday and to further support the workforce in aged care. We are providing $444.6 million. I’ll say that again, we’re providing $444.6 million of additional funding from the Commonwealth to support aged care facilities. Now, that is on top of the more than $100 million that I announced last week in relation to workforce support across the country for aged care. That includes $234.9 million for a retention bonus to ensure the continuity of the workforce for staff in both residential and home care. There’s $78.3 in additional funding for residential care to support continuity of works or supply. There is $26.9 million to supplement the viability of residential aged care facilities, including in the national Torres Strait Islander aged care program, and the multi-purpose services and homeless providers. There’s $92.2 million being provided in additional support for home care providers and organisations which delivered the Commonwealth home support program, including for services such as Meals on Wheels and $12.3 million to support the My Aged Care Service to respond to the needs of older Australians. National Cabinet agreed that states and territories will also issue nationally consistent public health directions on visitor restrictions for aged care facilities to complement the regulatory standards adopted by the Commonwealth. This additional funding is being focussed on those who are most vulnerable, to get them the additional support so they can get access to the essential things they need, particularly through things like Meals on Wheels and home care support and the other things older Australians will need going through this time. 

Another very significant issue, which I flagged earlier in the week that we’ve been considering is in relation to remote Indigenous Australian areas. Under Biosecurity Act, we’ll be using the Health Minister’s powers to ensure that we’ve taken action to restrict travel into remote Indigenous communities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The way this will work is states and territories will nominate prescribed areas, that is communities in consultation with Indigenous communities as an emergency requirement as determined under BioSecurity Act that will restrict persons from entering or leaving those prescribed areas. Now there will be a number of exemptions that will apply for the purposes of obtaining medical care or medical supplies into those communities, in the event of an emergency, including the purposes of providing medical care. That would include things like medivac, of cases or others who are seriously ill from those communities, for the purposes of applying or undertaking critical services, such as medical care for mental health or domestic violence support, police and emergency services, food and medical supplies, educational and maintenance and repairs of essential services. And there are a range of other measures there which are done at the discretion also of the relevant exempting authority in those states and territories. So that will be a further important set of measures, and I particularly want to commend Minister Wyatt and Chief Minister Gunner up in the Northern Territory, working together. They’ve done an outstanding job and working through those issues, consulting with Indigenous leaders where they can, but you’d understand, given the urgency of this issue, that that consultation has had to be quite short circuited. Now, I thank people like Pat Turner and others who’ve been very helpful in working with Ministers to come to these appropriate arrangements. 

As you can see, again another long list of issues discussed today. There are also issues discussed relating to prison populations, as well as coordinating action in relation to supermarket supplies, food chains and supply chains across the community. And that is everything from a consistency of tracking laws to enable deliveries at any time of the day. I appreciate all the states and territories moving on those issues, on trading hours arrangements, and again, the states being very constructive when it comes to those matters. 

What’s next? Where do we go next? What are we considering? Well as I said on Tuesday night, we’ll be considering further decisions on travel advice prior to the school holidays and there’ll be further advice on managing critical hospital resources – an enormous amount of work has been done there. There is work we’ve tasked to the medical expert panel about what we would call localised responses. Now bear with me as I just make this point. There will be, as we have already seen, parts of cities or places that will be more susceptible because of quite localised outbreaks. What we’ve asked for advice on is the density of those cases, how many cases in a particular area that triggers actions over and above what these general rules are that apply to those areas, and that would be staged up according to the level of that outbreak and what needs to be done wherever possible to shut that down. Now, the reason I say that is we need a consistent approach to how this would scale up in the event of outbreaks in particular parts of particular areas, because that means just because you might see under those rules something being done in Tuggeranong or in Tamarama, or anywhere else, that doesn’t mean those rules need to necessarily apply in Gymea Bay or down in Hawthorne or anywhere else. Where there are more specific outbreaks, there will be more advanced measures that would need to be put in place. And we want a clear set of rules across the country to support states and territories to make those rules and that advice will be coming forward on Tuesday evening. We’ll also be considering the needs of other vulnerable groups. We’ve been focussed on aged care and remote Indigenous populations, but the Minister for the NDIS has been doing an extraordinary amount of work with the disability community and we’re expecting further work to come forward on that, as well as more general discussions about maintaining continuity of supply and essential services in areas like telecommunications and energy and so on. But I must say at this point, the reports and advice that I’ve been receiving on these issues is at a reasonable level. And better than that, I’d have to say. But as time goes on, we’ll keep a close watch on that. So I thank you for your patience again. I’m gonna pass you over to the Treasurer to make some comments on the measures put in place by the banks and then Brendan, Dr. Murphy, will speak on the matters I’ve raised and they’re happy to take questions and I’ll get round everybody as best as possible. 

THE HON JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Well, thank you, Prime Minister. 

Yesterday, the Reserve Bank and the Australian Government injected $105 billion of new funding into our financial system in a move that Standard & Poor’s described as decisive and coordinated action. The Australian people can be reassured that our financial system remains strong and our actions have made the system even stronger. 

Today, the Australian banks have stepped up to the plate and are playing their part in Team Australia. Their decision to defer payments by small businesses for six months will be a substantial boost to confidence and the spirit of millions of Australian small businesses. It’s a game changer and it’s part of our efforts with industry, with the states to build a bridge to the recovery, to the time after the global pandemic, the coronavirus, has hit. We have also seen a need to make some changes around regulation of lending to business. And we’ll be cutting some red tape because it’s critical that businesses not just have access to capital, but the speed at which that capital is delivered by the banks is as fast as possible. 

Finally, the Prime Minister referred to a new date for the Budget. Forecasting for Budgets is difficult at the best of times, let alone when we’re in the midst of a global pandemic. And I understand the states are making similar arrangements and it’s important that we are able to deliver a Budget at a time where there is more certainty about the economic environment and that is planned for the first Tuesday in October. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Josh. Congratulations on the work you’ve done with the banks. They’ve worked closely with you. And I appreciate your rather determined approach to ensure the outcome. And I think the banks also for stepping up. Brendan?

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

So as the Prime Minister said, we’ve seen significant further growth in cases of coronavirus in Australia. We expected to see that. That’s why we’ve been taking and announcing measures over the last week. And before that, it’s important to note that we are still seeing a large number of imported cases from other countries. We’ve now stopped foreign nationals coming into the country, but there are still a lot of Australians coming home, some of them coming from countries with a high risk and outbreaks that we think are probably higher than reported and a high risk of importing the virus into the country, as we have seen in the last few days in every state, pretty much, in this country. So this issue of quarantining when you come home is serious. This is not an advisory. This is your civic duty to your fellow Australians to stay home for that entire 14 days if you’ve come back to Australia, no exceptions. And if you see anyone who is not abiding by that, a recent traveller, make sure they do, because we are really serious about that. Is it such a big impact on our outbreaks in the last few days? But we have also seen community outbreaks in a number of states. Again, we expected them. That’s why we put in the social distancing measures first announced late last week and progressively further announced this week. They are expected to start hitting in about a week, a week after they were first announced. We always expected a bit of a delay. But as the Prime Minister’s announced, we have to make sure that people are very clear about what they mean. What we mean is that you should be distancing yourself from every fellow Australian where possible. That’s why we have guidelines for people in gatherings of less than 100. It’s no point having a gathering of 20 people if it’s in a tiny room and you’re all together, you’ve got to practise social distancing. Keep that metre and a half away from each other. Practise good hand hygiene all the time and stay away from work or the community if you’re unwell. This is also incredibly important. Whilst people who are high risk of contacts and return travellers if they get symptoms must be tested there will be cases of community contact where it’s not suspected and they might just get a sniffle or a cold. The sort of thing that many of us have soldiered through and gone to work in recent years. We can’t do that anymore. Nobody should be going to work or mixing with society or friends or going out if they’re unwell at all. Stay at home if you’re unwell, only go out when you’re feeling well. Go to work when you’re feeling well. Practise good hand hygiene and practise that social distancing at all times. 

This is critical now, we have to slow the curve, as the Prime Minister said. We are well prepared. We’ve had very few deaths so far, they’re tragic, and we’ve had very few people in intensive care. But there is there’s a risk that if we don’t do what every one of us has to do as our civic duty to control this spread it will grow significantly greater. Thanks, Prime Minister. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you Brendan, remain there, if you would mind. David?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister there are, [inaudible] Australians who are very worried about their job, and have to face the prospect of being unemployed, what’s your position on whether you could increase the Newstart allowance by something like $95 which is what some people have called for? But also really to make it easier for people to get it, because there will be so many people who won’t have navigated the Centrelink system before, can it be easier for them to get it? Can it be increased? And can the mutual obligation requirements be waived? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, David, these are exactly the issues that the Expenditure Review Committee, together with the Treasurer and I, that we have been addressing in a great amount of detail as we’ve worked through those. And indeed, we’ll be meeting again this afternoon, be putting the final touches on the package of measures that are designed to provide, to cushion the blow for exactly the blow that you’re talking about. 

There will be Australians over the next six months who, through no fault of their own, will find themselves with less work, with less income. And in the worst case, without a job, that is that is going to happen. And that’s going to happen to quite a number of people. And it’s our job to ensure that we do as much as we possibly can to cushion that blow and to put the other arrangements in place, like what has happened today with banks and others and what we’ll seek to do working through the states and territories for landlords and so on, to ensure that we can provide that support to people through these difficult next six months, through this transitional period, through this temporary period. And I can assure you, David, we are giving very close attention to the very things you’re talking about, because it will be a difficult time. People who have never known themselves to be out of work will be confronted in some cases with that prospect. And we want to make sure that we can help them as best as we can through what will be a difficult period for them and their family. 

Chris?

JOURNALIST: PM there’s the Ruby Princess off the coast of New South Wales at the moment. It had confirmed cases of coronavirus, it let some people off in Sydney. This is the same liner that had the Diamond Princess experience before. So a couple of questions. What are the plans? What do you do with the Ruby Princess? Is there anything that we can do about this company? Has it behaved in an irrational way in continuing to run cruises? And of course, we, like you, are hearing stories from Australians who are now around the world demanding that the Australian government get them home. What’s your message to those?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, I mean, we will apply the same rules in relation to this vessel that have been applied to people getting off planes and things like this. There’s the 14 day isolation. There are a small number of cases, my advice is, that were identified on that ship, four I understand. Three individuals and one crew, where there are Australians on that ship were disembarking well they will be going into self isolation, which means self isolation. Just do it. Would be my message on that, to support what the Chief Medical Officer is saying and those who are internationals will face different rules. 

So we have got the international ban now coming into place around the country in relation to cruise vessels, and that will be enforced. In relation to those Australians who are in other places, as I said earlier this week, Qantas will continue to be maintaining flights out of a number of key hubs – and that’s Los Angeles, and London, and Hong Kong I understand, and Auckland and a few other places around the world. And we thank them for continuing to do that. And we are encouraging Australians to make their way home. Air New Zealand I understand, will continue to operate and the arrangement that Prime Minister Ardern and I came to yesterday means that Australians can transit through Auckland from other places and across to Australia, and likewise Kiwis can make their way home through Australia on the same basis. So we will just continue to respond to each challenge as it comes is my response. 

We have a good framework for dealing with it, a clear set of rules and we’ll seek to apply them. There’ll be some exceptional circumstances and cases here and there, but for those Australians who are finding themselves isolated in parts of the world, well the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I’m particularly aware of the issue that was raised with me yesterday around Lima, where there are Australians who are in places which have already been cut off and you can’t get a flight up to L.A.X. or something like that, then the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Foreign Minister are bringing forward some matters for consideration by the National Security Committee. 

We’ll just go around, so I’ll go to Phil and then I’ll come back here and then over to you Mark, we’ll get around to everybody.

JOURNALIST: You’re sort of flagged further restrictions if you like on travel pending the school holidays. Should people who have flights booked, domestic flights booked now start seeking refunds in anticipation of what you might announce next week? And just sorry, if I may. Secondly, on the potential lockdown of some neighbourhoods and so forth that you flagged, would that be confining people to their homes, closing businesses, that sort of thing? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me deal with the first one. If there were further advice for me to provide on travel today based on the National Cabinet, I would have certainly done that. We are saying that people should reconsider any unnecessary travel. That’s what, that is the clear advice. And that comes also with the backing of the medical experts panel but we will consider further advice on that and we know that is necessary in, to do so in time for the school holidays. And we agreed today that we need to do a bit more work on that and we’ll be getting that back on Tuesday. 

I should stress a couple of things around travel, as I did earlier in the week, as Dr. Murphy has said, the risk of being on a plane is very low. It is very low. The issue is not being on the plane, the issue is moving to different parts of the country and potentially large volumes of populations moving around the country. Now, states and territories are, as you’ve seen, the, Tasmania has already made their decision about how that will be treated. Other states may take those decisions for particular parts of their states, and that is entirely appropriate that they may consider doing that. And that’s why as we work through some of those issues, we’ll have further advice after the meeting on Tuesday night.

JOURNALIST: Just on schools, a year 8 student in Adelaide got the virus from a teacher. How can you leave schools open when this sort of transmission is occurring? And what’s your concern- what’s your response to concerns from teachers, particularly, 40 per cent of which are over 50, that their well-being maybe isn’t being considered? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I might let the Chief Medical Officer respond to that question. But in terms of the decision of Premiers, Chief Ministers and myself in taking that advice, that outcome that you mentioned with a single transference, that would not be unexpected when you’ve got the number of cases increasing. But it still remains the case that the facts are that the incidence of cases amongst younger people is much lower than for the rest of the population. And it is still very much the case that 30 per cent of our health workforce would be compromised if schools were to be shut around the country. Now, we will continue to take advice and we’ll continue to monitor the situation closely. But the very clear decision of premiers, chief ministers and myself is that schools should remain open. Did you want to add to that, Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So I think it’s really important to recognise that, as we said before, we think the risks to children with this virus is very low. Only 2.4 per cent of all the cases in China in Hubei Province were under 19. And there have been very, very, very few significant cases. Obviously, we do have some concerns that children may have a role in transmission, but most children who get the virus seem to have got it from adults, as you’ve seen in this case. We think that keeping children at home when there’s relatively low community spread is probably disproportionate, given that they probably won’t stay at home anyway. They may be cared for by elderly grandparents. There may be circumstances where outbreaks in an area are such that we do need to close schools for a period of time. Our view at the moment that this long haul strategy for the next six months, it is in the best interests of everybody to keep schools open and we think that risk is proportionate. 

PRIME MINISTER: I think Mark was next.

JOURNALIST: Dr. Murphy, can I just ask you, and I have a second question, a few cheeky one. But Dr Murphy, what is the latest advice on whether once you’ve recovered from COVID-19 that you can contract it again and my second question is you talk about indigenous communities being particularly susceptible. What arrangements, if any, are being made in Alice Springs where you do have a particular arrangement with the Americans where they can, Americans can fly in without quarantine or customs to service Pine Gap? What are we doing there? Are we expecting more of the Americans, given that the United States has been a big cause of infection around the world? 

PRIME MINISTER: Let me deal with the second question – no, is the short answer to that question. The rules we are applying, we are applying across the board. But in terms of going into more detail about that facility, you wouldn’t expect me to do that. Brendan?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So in terms of re-infection, we can’t be absolutely sure, but we think it’s very unlikely. There have been a couple of cases of people who have supposedly tested negative and then tested positive, been reported around the world, including one in Japan. But they are very isolated cases. We think it’s unlikely that a virus like this that isn’t mutating a lot, you would be susceptible to re-infection. But we don’t know for sure. Our assumption is that once people have had the infection, that it’s unlikely they will get it again. 

JOURNALIST: What is sort of a tenants relief are you looking at? Would it be rent deferrals? Would it only apply to people who lose their jobs or the businesses are in distress? And when you want the states to have a decision on this, so it can be enacted? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m not going to go into too much detail there because the states are only just commencing the work. New South Wales has been doing already quite a bit of work on this and so I’m going to allow them appropriately to take the lead on that and to define, I think, a lot of the issues you’re sitting out there, Mark, and in what circumstances, what would be the hardship triggers? Would this relate to waivers or deferrals? Would it relate to deductions or there are a range of different issues, remembering also that those who become eligible, I should note, this sort of I think goes to a point I think one of you were asking, I think it was you, David, that in those circumstances you would also trigger if you were to go on a Newstart payment or this jobseeker payment, that you also trigger eligibility for a range of other things like the family tax benefit for rental assistance and things like this. So it’s not just the Newstart payment, as important as that would be, it is also a range of other payments that you become eligible for. Even if under the Newstart taper rates, your eligibility for the actual Newstart payment is relatively low. You still trigger all the other eligibility to a range of other payments, which can be quite helpful. Michelle, Michelle and then I will keep going. 

JOURNALIST: There’s been speculation running that the government might be willing to take over, to nationalise large companies if the crisis reaches that point, like Virgin for example. What’s your comment on that? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have no plans along those lines, Michelle. I mean, what we are seeking to do and in a number of cases where we’ve provided great assistance to private companies to support important supply production in Australia, it is essential. And the Minister for Industry, Karen Andrews, has just been doing an outstanding job and in progressing a number of those issues. Those broader questions, Michelle, at this stage, there are no plans from the government. I wouldn’t want that to be misinterpreted. I mean, we are in unprecedented times, but we have no plans to be involved in those sort of nationalisation programs. That is a response that is not justified by what we’re seeing or anticipating at present. Kath? Make way, clear some healthy space.

JOURNALIST: Will workers be able to access their superannuation savings as an income support measure during this crisis?

PRIME MINISTER: Again, we’ll be making further announcements on the next round of measures to cushion the blow for those who are directly impacted, whether they be small businesses or individuals soon. We continue to consider the composition of that package and when we’re in a position to make those announcements, we will. Sorry, over here, we haven’t had questions over here.

JOURNALIST: Dr. Murphy, do you mind if I ask a slightly personal question, you’ve been working on this coronavirus since January. Are you finding the pace of the job exhausting?

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: It is very intense, but it’s such an important job to provide advice to our governments collectively. And all of the state’s chief health officers, all of the experts we have have been very consistent and unanimous in their advice. So it’s a cause that’s worth pursuing, but it is pretty intense.

PRIME MINISTER: We’re working hard to keep up with him, that’s what we’re doing. But also, I want to say this. I want to thank all of those members of the medical expert panel and Dr. Murphy and Dr. Kelly. There’s been quite a lot of commentary about them, but by all means, have a crack at politicians. We’re used to it, we’ve got broad shoulders. These guys have got a very important job to do and I would ask you to support them very strongly. We’re relying on them so you can rely on the decisions we’re making. The medical experts are giving us incredible advice, very timely. They’re working very hard and they are carrying great responsibilities. They deserve our great respect and our support. 

JOURNALIST: On the charity sector, so the charities and non-profit sector employs around 10 per cent of Australian workers at the moment. They’re estimating that their donations and income streams are going to go down by about a third, which translates to potential job losses of around 300,000 people. Is your government going to be doing anything to support them, given that at the moment they’re saying that they can’t access business grants?

PRIME MINISTER: I understand. A job is a job and we’re going to support people in jobs and if people find themselves out of work, regardless of where they’ve been working, then obviously we’re seeking to support them. But we’re taking a very broad view of the economy. I mean, these are not ordinary times. That means the ordinary rules and the ordinary measures that would apply in these circumstances will need to be changed to reflect that. And so that is very much in our thinking here.

JOURNALIST: Just to get a sense of the scale in terms of the indoor bans, this courtyard would be less than 100 metres long and it’s certainly less than 100 metres wide. Are you saying if we put a roof over it, there are too many people in here at the moment?

PRIME MINISTER: Not right now, I wouldn’t have thought, on quick maths, but this is an outdoor gathering, so 500 people could technically be here. But let me but let me say this. These are rules that we’re putting in place, I think, to support people making good decisions and enforce appropriate healthy distancing, social distancing to slow the rate. But you have a role to play, too, as does everybody in how they congregate together and ensuring that appropriate distance is being maintained between people. Sure, governments have got to put rules in place and we want to see that enforcement in place. But equally, every Australian has a role to play to slow this virus. Don’t wait to see a sign. Don’t wait for any other specific instruction, do the right thing, do the common sense thing and support each other and you will save lives. Over here. 

JOURNALIST: On the testing criteria, is there going to be any discussion around relaxing them? It’s still a set of people overseas….

PROFESSOR BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: So we are looking actively at relaxing the testing criteria. We are now testing all aged care workers because aged care is such a crucial area. We will be testing healthcare workers with influenza like illnesses, all people presenting to hospital with pneumonia, in addition to the usual criteria of return travellers and contacts. And we will look at all, as this pandemic develops, we will be continually reviewing the testing criteria.

PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to leave it there because we have some other meetings to get to this afternoon. The key thing we’re saying today is we’re going to keep Australia running. There is a way through this and we need everybody to keep going forward. We need every single Australian to do what they can, whether they’re a parent, whether they’re a teacher, whether a nurse, whether a member of parliament, whether a journalist, whatever your job is or whatever you’re doing. I need you to keep doing it as much as you can, because if we keep doing it, if we keep holding together, then we will continue to make our way through this. We will get to the other side and on the other side, Australia will be stronger. Thank you all very much.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was joined by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to talk about the latest financial situation and other measures as the coronavirus takes a deeper hold of Australia.

Below are photos from the event. More photos can be viewed at the Keating Media photo site. Non-watermarked copies are also available for purchase.

Below is the full transcript from the press conference.

PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. I’m pleased to be joined by the Treasurer. 

Our plan is to ensure that over the next six months, or as long as it then takes, that we can effectively build a bridge to ensure that Australians, Australian businesses, those that are impacted, we can bring them across that bridge and get them to the other side. Which is where on that side the economy is rebounding, Australians health has been rebounding and Australian life can go back to what it was. As a result, there are a range of measures that we continue to put in place. Measures that address both the health issues, matters in our aged care, as I addressed earlier this week. And importantly, there are measures that we have to put in place in relation to our economy and the Treasurer will speak to some of those. As you know, the Reserve Bank has made some important decisions about this this afternoon. The Reserve Bank Governor and the Deputy Governor met with myself and the Treasurer yesterday afternoon. And this notion of the bridge is what we discussed. It was described in these ways by the Reserve Bank Governor, and he’s absolutely right. Because there is a period through which we will have to move. That will be difficult. And the best way to get there is the measures that we’re putting in place on a sustainable and staged basis. So that we can do them and scale them up as necessary to ensure we bring as many people as possible with us and to ensure that we minimise the impact on their lives. But as I said, there will be impacts and we’ll be seeking also to cushion those impacts along that journey. The Treasurer and I will be making further announcements about that in the next few days, and we’ve had another important day as we’ve worked through some of those more specific things that the Government will be able to do that will cushion the impact for as many as we possibly can as a result of the economic impacts of what we’re seeing with the coronavirus. But let me just announce a number of other measures that we’ll be moving on and then I’ll hand over to the Treasurer to deal with the issues that we’ve already issued a statement on regarding the office of the Australian Office of Financial Management. 

After further consultation with the National Security Committee this afternoon, tonight we will be resolving to move to a position where a travel ban will be placed on all non-residents, not Australian citizens, coming to Australia. And that will be in place from 9:00 pm tomorrow evening. We have already seen a very significant reduction in the travel to Australia by non-citizens and residents. It’s about a third of what it normally would be at this time of the year. And we’ve seen reductions, even in the last few days when we put in place the bans which required people to self isolate for 14 days. And so as a result of that decision, we’ve seen that the traffic reduce quite significantly. And we believe it is essential now to take that further step to ensure that we now no longer will be allowing anyone unless they’re a citizen or a resident or a direct family member in those cases, as is applied to all the other travel bans we’ve put in place previously. Now, this is a measure that I’ve been consulting also with the New Zealand Prime Minister on. We’ve been seeking to align our arrangements across the Tasman and I appreciate the consultation that I’ve had with Prime Minister Ardern over these many months when it deals with these issues. 

This arrangement will enable, over the next 24 hours or so, for people to make other arrangements if they were intending to come to Australia. We won’t have people then and the vast majority of cases who will find themselves on planes en route here, unless they are going along a rather protracted route, and that means they will be able to make other arrangements. Now for Australians, of course, they will be able to return and they will be subject, as they already are, to 14 day isolation upon arrival back in Australia. Now, the reason for this decision is consistent with the decisions we’ve already made on this issue, and that is we now have around 80 percent of the cases we have in Australia, that either are a result of someone who has contracted the virus overseas or someone who has had a direct contact with someone who has returned from overseas. So the overwhelming proportion of cases in Australia have been imported and the measures we’ve put in place has obviously had an impact on that. And this is a further measure now that will ensure that that can be further enhanced. I want to thank Qantas also who are offering to work with us to ensure that they maintain flights from particular parts of the world that can assist Australians to return to Australia. And we’ll be working closely with them and those Australians who are overseas. We’ve been encouraging them to return to Australia. Those that are in more remote parts of the world that could prove more challenging. But for those who are in other places, then it is our intention to ensure that we can maintain flights to enable them to come home as soon as possible. 

Now, there are other measures that were announced today by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer to reduce panic purchasing of medicines at community pharmacies. Specifically, what is being provided there is that pharmacists enforce new limits on dispensing and sales of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. I won’t go through those measures again. You’ve heard the Deputy Chief Medical Officer outlined them to you earlier today. 

I also want to say to Australians that there are no issues with Australia’s food supply. What there is an issue with is the behaviour of Australians at supermarkets. That is what is causing the stress and the strain. The food supply in Australia, from the meetings that we continue to hold, is something that I think we can feel quite confident about. And if Australians can respond to that in a responsible way, then that won’t lead to the sort of shortages that they’ve seen on shelves. And it will mean that all Australians will be able to get access to the things they need when they need it. And I would ask Australians for their cooperation on those issues. 

Now, finally, the other matter I’d respond to before throwing to Josh, and enabling others to ask questions, is the actions taken by the Reserve Bank today, I’d simply say we welcome. They are highly aligned, completely synchronised with the actions that we’re taking as a Government and that increasingly state and territory governments are also acting to address the issues that we’re finding in our economy. Their actions of over $90 billion to support credit within the financial sector in Australia, topped off by the additional $15 billion from the Commonwealth means that this is a very significant injection to support Australians, to support our economy, to support business, to support jobs, as we all go across on this bridge together to the other side, where on the other side we know that the Australian economy will be stronger, Australians will be healthier, and Australian life can return to what we knew it to be. Josh. 

THE HON. JOSH FRYDENBERG MP, TREASURER: Thank you, Prime Minister. Well, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. And today, the Australian Government, together with the Reserve Bank, have injected more than $100 billion into Australia’s financial system. It reflects our collective determination to do what it takes to support Australian jobs and Australian businesses. And acting in concert with the prudential regulator APRA, we are not only supporting Australian jobs and businesses, but we are doing what we can to lower the cost of credit and to increase the flow of credit. 

Now today the Reserve Bank made four significant announcements. The first was to announce a reduction in the cash rate to a quarter of a percent. The second was to target the yield on three-year Treasury bonds to also a quarter of a percent. That is below what they have been trading at. The third is the $90 billion dollar term funding facility for the banking system, which will focus on lending to small and medium sized businesses across the economy. What the Reserve Bank has endeavoured to do here is not only to increase the flow of credit, but to incentivise the banks to even provide more money to the small and medium-sized businesses across the country. The hairdressers, the mechanics and all the other small businesses that form the backbone of the Australian economy. And finally, they are increasing the interest paid on exchange settlements. Now all of these measures, as I said, are designed to do two things. To decrease the cost of credit and to increase its flow. As the Prime Minister referred to today, the Government has also acted by allocating up to $15 billion to invest in residential mortgage backed securities as together with other asset backed securities. This action, again, in concert with the Reserve Bank of Australia, is totally complementary to what they are doing because it ensures that some of the non-bank lenders are getting support to provide extra finance to the SME sector. This is a very volatile time in global equity, debt and credit markets, but Australians can be reassured that our financial system remains well capitalised and strong. It was referred to today by the Reserve Bank Governor in his statement. The Australian financial system remains strong, but the measures announced by the Morrison Government today and the Reserve Bank and the Prudential Regulator will even enhance this strength further. 

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Josh. 

JOURNALIST: Just to explain to the viewers, listeners, in easy terms to understand, if you’re say, Betty, a hairdresser, and people, your business dries up. No-one’s coming, because they’re scared of human-to-human contact or whatever happens in weeks ahead. Betty’s got no customers. How does this, how can she borrow money to pay the employees? How in practice would it work? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, let me make one point and then Josh I’m sure, will make further points. Now and already, what we decided over just over a week ago was through the measures that would enable small businesses to get access to up to $25,000 in grants that will support their small business cash flow. When in the case you’re talking about, that business would certainly have eligibility when it comes to those payments and that always can assist. That’s not going to cover all the bills. We understand that. But it is going to go some way to provide some assistance, because that payment is actually linked to how many people they employ, ultimately because it’s done through the BAS. What today’s announcements do, is actually making sure that the banks themselves are in a position to get access to money at a lower cost, which means they’re going to be in a better position and stronger position to be supporting small and medium sized businesses in particular, around the country. What they’ve said today to the banks is we’re going to let you get money at a much lower cost, and you know, if you go and help and support small business, you’ll be able to get more money at a lower cost. When the banks can get it at a lower cost, then obviously that’s good for those who are in a position to seek it. Now, not every business is going to be in that situation. And we will have more to say about the broader measures that we want to put in place to cushion the blow and to support small business and to support individuals directly impacted by the coronavirus’ economic impacts. Josh? 

TREASURER: Thanks, Prime Minister. Well, the interests of small business and the banks are aligned. The banks want their customers to be there on the other side of this and the small businesses want to survive and get through this and they want to continue to provide jobs to the millions of Australians that they employ. So the banks are working with their small business customers to ensure that that money is available. What today’s announcement makes clear is more money will now be available to the banks to lend. And the best illustration of the significance of today’s announcement is that the Commonwealth Bank has announced a reduction of a full percentage point in their small business lending rates, a full percentage point. Now, the bank, the Reserve Bank, has only reduced the cash rate, while significant, by a quarter of a percentage point. Commonwealth Bank has gone four times bigger than that today with small business lending, and that’s a direct result out of the announcements today. 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister can you ensure all COVID-19 pathology requests from GP’s are being processed and tested and that everyone who needs a test is getting one?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’ve had some, we’ve had 85,000 tests that have been conducted, and I think that’s a good indication of the answer to your question, because people are getting tested. Those presenting for tests who need tests are getting tested. And the Health Minister has been working with industry and others to ensure that the supplies continue to be made available for those who need tests. But I would say this to people, have a test where you need to have a test. And the rules for that, have been well set out, I think in recent times. And these testing resources are not ubiquitous, nor are they designed to be. They’re there for those who need them most. And so we would continue to encourage both the medical profession and others to use those testing kits where they are most needed. 

Phil. I’m going to Phil, thanks for your question, I’m going to Phil.

JOURNALIST: There’s been speculation in the banking sector about the prospect of the government even possibly underwriting a proportion of existing small business loans, a bit like the Bank of England, is that something you were entertaining or that, have you drawn a line through that? 

TREASURER: We are talking to the banks about a number of measures to continue to support their activity. No decisions have been taken. But what our focus is on, is supporting those small and medium-sized businesses, get through this health crisis, which is having a significant economic impact. So we continue to look at a range of measures. And as the Prime Minister has said, our second package will be substantially different to the first package. In fact, since that time, we have seen the economic impact globally as well as here in Australia become much more significant than was evident even just a week, or two weeks ago. And so our second package is designed to support, in the words of the Prime Minister, to cushion, you know, the challenges being faced by many Australians, to support them through this. And that includes backing small business. 

JOURNALIST: I appreciate this is a work in progress and you will have more to say, but for the Qantas workers today they’re probably worried about their incomes in future. So are you working on income support and Treasurer, obviously, are you talking to the banks about not foreclosing on people’s mortgages? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the answer to both of those questions is yes. That’s exactly the sort of thing we’re working on. That’s what cushioning the blow is all about. Now, my understanding of the arrangements that Qantas have gone into, when I was able to speak to Alan Joyce, there is a period still for many of these employees, about four weeks at the very least, in which their existing entitlements and things of that nature will mean that they’ll be in a position, at least for that short period of time. For others, that can be up to three months. One of the things that Qantas, I understand is doing, is seeking to keep people on and connected to the company. Because they want to ensure that on the other side of this, that when the business returns and the flight’s return, then they can quickly activate their workforce on the other side and that’s very important. What we’re seeing here, as I understand, as it’s been explained to me, is the stand down of quite a number of staff simply for the obvious reason that Qantas planes aren’t flying anywhere. And what this means is for a period of time, they won’t be drawing a salary from Qantas, for those who have exhausted their leave under their leave arrangements. 

So what that has meant for the government is when we say we want to cushion the blow, we’re looking at those issues around income support. We’re looking at the issues around people’s obligations and working really constructively, whether it’s with the banks or whether it’s with businesses or others, to ensure that we’re putting them in a stronger position to look after people and where they’re not in a position to be able to do that, then the government is stepping up where they can, to try and cushion that that impact as much as we responsibly can. Josh?

TREASURER: Well, thanks, PM. Chris, talking to the banks, day and night, about what can be done to bridge the circumstances that many Australians find them in, themselves in to that point of recovery, and that includes for the banks to be very generous towards their customers at this difficult time, because it’s in the banks interests, it’s in the economy’s interest. It’s in Australia’s interests that the bank stand by their small business customers. 

JOURNALIST: New Zealand’s also announced it’s closing its border to non-citizens. What does this mean for a million Kiwis living in Australia? And did you discuss this with Jacinda Ardern before you made this move today?

PRIME MINISTER: The New Zealand arrangement, in the same way as it has in the past, doesn’t apply to Australians living in New Zealand as New Zealand residents and equally for New Zealanders who live in Australia as Australian residents. They are the same rules that have applied to all of those travel bans whether they were imposed for China or Iran or South Korea or Italy. These are the same rules that apply in both countries and we have worked today to align what we’re doing. And I appreciate that openness. Sorry, just one for everyone if we can?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister yesterday, you were as blunt as you could be about hoarding in supermarkets and you’ve said, you’ve shared your thoughts on this again today. I mean, this morning here in Canberra, we saw a huge queue of people waiting for Costco to open. Is it that people are just not heeding your message? Is this because of the lack of trust in democracy we’ve seen over the last couple of years? What more can you actually do? 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it’s because people are anxious and we all need to work hard together to reduce people’s anxieties. And I think we all need to sort of encourage all Australians to act responsibly. There are not supply issues that relate to these items and nor, as I said yesterday, is there a need to hoard them. That is just simply not necessary. And we will just each and every day, calmly go about the business of assuring people about these supplies. And what I’m very pleased about, though. And while I did have a few stern words to say – and my daughter said to me yesterday, it sounded like that’s what you sometimes say to us, Dad. And it was a bit like that, I gotta say. 

But what I am pleased about, some of you may have heard me make remarks on this in morning radio today. I’m also seeing amazing acts of generosity and kindness. And I’m hearing those stories and I would encourage media to, it’s not a criticism, I just encourage you to tell more of those stories. You know, neighbours looking after elderly neighbours and making sure they’ve got things that they need, or if they need meals cooked for them, and that’s being provided that wonderful story about the note in the lift; if you need help, call this number, I live on this level – I think it was something like that. These are the wonderful stories of Australians. 

Yeah there’s some Australians who, frankly, aren’t giving Australia a very good name at the moment with their behaviour. I understand they’re anxious. I understand all that. But for the next six months at least, we need to work through this together. So we do need to moderate our behaviour. We do need to understand that things have changed. Things are different. Life is not like it was before. But the phones still work and they will, the power still goes on, the buses still run, the hospitals are open, the shops are open, the trucks are getting to the shops. All of that is there. What we’re dealing with here is a virus, and the virus will slow the country down. It will mean people will have to self isolate. It will mean we’ll have to behave differently. And that will happen for quite a period of time. Six months, I believe, based on the advice I have, at least. So we can do it. I have no doubt we can do it. We just have to apply ourselves to it and encourage each other to do the right thing. Kath?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister it’s obvious from what the government’s been saying for a couple of days and what, certainly what you’re saying today, that income support is on the table for the next tranche of economic support. I deduce from what you, the answer you gave me yesterday that it’ll be delivered within existing programs, so for current beneficiaries, people who are currently on Newstart before this, before this crisis hit. Will, whatever the new arrangements are, also apply to current beneficiaries or only to a cohort of recipients who have lost their jobs temporarily as a consequence of this economic shock?

PRIME MINISTER: When we’ve completed the important work we’re doing at the moment, and we’re working through very carefully the design of these measures, what I know is that for those Australians who have been on what has been known as Newstart, going to the job seeker payment is that one of the things that has always been available previously in the economy with the very strong growth we’ve had in employment, is that the task of the government is to get people off the job seeker payment, off the Newstart payment and get them into a job where they are much better off. Now, we understand that certainly over the next six months, that is a very different looking economy. And when the facts change, when the circumstances change, you need to adjust your packages and the way you’re delivering support in the community to reflect that. So we’ll have a lot more to say about these things in the not too distant future. But just like last week, we’re working hard to get the detail right. So when we say something is going to be done, it will be done and it can be done and it won’t be attendant with lots of other different new forms and new processes and things that can go wrong. And we can ensure that the support and the cushioning impact of this can get to people in the best and the most effective way that is possible. But Josh did you want to add to that?

TREASURER: Well, obviously, the details of our package are being finalized right now. But as I said earlier, the situation has changed and it’s got much more difficult across the economy since even two weeks ago. But our focus has always been on getting to the other side and getting Australians to the other side.

PRIME MINISTER: Last one here.

JOURNALIST: PM are you aware of the situation of Australians stuck in Peru and some other countries where there are local lockdowns?

PRIME MINISTER:  I have become aware of that issue. And there will be Australians in many places around the world who will find themselves finding a lot harder to get back to Australia than otherwise. The coronavirus has been a matter of public record now for several months, and many Australians have taken wise decisions to get back home sooner. In a number of occasions, Australia has had to put in place flights that have brought people back obviously from Wuhan but as well as from the Diamond Princess up in in Japan. We’re working with Qantas to ensure that we continue to get a flow of flights and keep flights open for a period of time so Australians can make their way back. But those who find themselves in an, a more remote location than we’re obviously going to have to work closely with them through our consular offices, like our very professional consular officials do on each and every day. So there are no specific responses on that matter just now. It was only brought to my attention very recently, but what our DFAT, wonderful DFAT team, has been doing, they will continue to do and they’ll seek to assist Australians wherever they practically can. 

But there are obviously limitations to what can be done. But we would hope they were safe and, but they are finding themselves around the world in circumstances that all people around the world are finding themselves. And I think people hopefully will be able to provide assistance in those, in those settings. But we’re going to leave it at that because the Reserve Bank Governor, I understand, is making a further statement. I think he’s made an outstanding point on us all getting to this bridge from here, where we are right now to the other side. Where on that side the economy comes back, people’s health comes back, and Australia bounces back stronger than ever. 

Thank you all very much.

The Prime Minister was joined by Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy to brief the media about coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Blue Room at Parliament House in Canberra.

Below is the transcript from the press conference along with photos inserted into the transcript.

More photos from the press conference are available at the Keating Media photography website. Non-watermarked photos are available for purchase.

PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. The National Security Committee met again this morning, around three hours, to consider a lot of the report-backs on the matters that we considered last week and to continue on with their preparedness under the national emergency plan for the coronavirus. The first point I want to make is this, every Australian, all of our citizens, whether you’re the Prime minister, the Minister for Health, the Chief Medical Officer, mums, dads, school teachers, nurses, paramedics, childcare workers, boys and girls, we all have a role to play in containing and managing the spread of the coronavirus and ensuring that Australia is best prepared and best able to deal with this global virus. We all have a role to play. We all have responsibilities to play. To support each other, help each other, inform each other, assist each other, as we all get through what will be a difficult time in the months ahead. 

The Minister for Health and the Chief Medical Officer will speak to the various statistics on what we’re learning around the world. But we all have a role to play. Today we made a decision in relation to travel bans to, of course, continue the travel bans in relation to mainland China and in relation to Iran. We have also today decided that we will put in place a travel ban in relation to the Republic of Korea. We will also put in place what are enhanced screening measures to deal with those travellers that come from Italy. And I want to be very clear about what those enhanced screening measures involve. Travellers will be asked mandatory questions at check-in and anyone failing those checks will be denied approval to board. If anyone gets sick on board, biosecurity and health will meet the plane on arrival and manage those people directly. On arrival, travellers will not be able to use the smart gates. They will have to be dealt with directly by an officer and they will be asked further detailed questions. They will undergo health screening at the airport, which involves temperature checks and associated checks. If necessary, Health will make a decision on what is to happen with that passenger and Border Force and biosecurity officers will also be placed in the baggage halls to conduct a further questioning and checking. These are the enhanced screening measures. They are they require a much greater deployment. The cohort that we’re seeing coming from Italy, as opposed to the Republic of Korea, we have about five times, in fact, just over that five times the number of people coming from Korea than we do coming from Italy. The other issue is that with Italy, this more broadly feeds into the issue of Europe and travel from Europe more broadly. And we’ll be watching closely those developments over the days and weeks ahead. In relation to the Republic of Korea, we will also be upgrading the travel advice to Level 3, which is to reconsider the need to travel to the Republic of Korea, and it will be at a Level 4, which is do not travel, to the province of Daegu. Now in relation to Korea, the reason we’ve taken the decision to put the travel ban in place is because of the much higher level of visitation and travel we are seeing from Korea, than we have from those who are coming out of Italy. And that means the ability to immediately put in place the enhanced screening measures that I’ve talked about for Italy, to do that for Korea would be far more difficult. And so the better decision is to put that ban in place, because we believe that affords the best protection and will enable us to, as has always been our objective, to slow down the rate of transmission, which means that the health system and all the other plans that we’re putting in place will be able to deal with the virus here in Australia.

Today also, the National Security Committee has reviewed the progress on potential pandemic  preparations. That has gone from everything from the availability of surgical masks, in particular to working with the aged care sector. Tomorrow, there will be a rather intensive workshop with aged care sector to be working through the issues in relation to aged care. Later today, I think even as we speak, there’s one currently going on with Indigenous community, to ensure that the plans we have in place will be effective in those communities. We’re also standing up from today what is known as the national coordination mechanism that is being stood up through Home Affairs. They’re the arrangements that are normally put in place through Emergency Management of Australia in relation to national disasters and things of that nature. That will coordinate together with the states and territories, the whole-of-government responses to what needs to be addressed outside the direct health management. So issues around hospitals, and primary care, and working with the aged care sector, that will continue to be a direct responsibility working out of the Department of Health.

But broader issues, when it comes to power, continuity of services, working with state governments, the execution of powers, all of these types of things, ensuring we’re supporting workforce needs and how those issues can be managed on the ground, and working with state and territory police forces. There are a broad range of other issues that have to be managed which are not directly health-related, and this coordination mechanism will mean that we’ll have the best possible interface with states and territories well ahead frankly, of many of these issues which are not present at the moment, but if they become an issue that has to be managed into the future, we will have mechanisms in place to be able to address those issues. So Australia, as I’ve said many times, we’ve got ahead of this early. We intend to stay ahead of this. The measures that we’ve announced today following the NSC meeting will assist us to continue to stay ahead of this issue.

But I say to all Australians, you can help too. You can help by keeping calm and going about your business. You can help by supporting those who may be undergoing self-isolation. I think it has been an extraordinary thing to see Australians who have complied with and cooperated with the self-isolation requirements that we’ve put in place. We’ve got tens of thousands of Australians who’ve been subject to those. And indeed today, those who are quarantined under the Diamond Princess will be returning to their families. And I know they’ll be looking forward to that. And I know their families will be looking forward to seeing them. We want to thank them for their patience and cooperation, and all of those who have been involved up there in Howard Springs and providing support and care to them. And I particularly want to thank the Northern Territory Government as well, for the great job they have done in supporting us as we’ve put these quarantine arrangements in place.

So to all Australians, let’s get through this together. Let’s help each other. Let’s stay calm. Let’s go about our business. Let’s continue to enjoy the most wonderful country in the world in which to live, and that doesn’t change under these circumstances. And we’ve always worked well together. We’ve always understood what our responsibilities are. And we’ve always gone about our business with common sense. And that’s what we’re known for. So let’s do that, and I’m sure, I have no doubt, Australians will get through this like we get through everything else. Greg.

THE HON. GREG HUNT MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH: Thanks very much, Prime Minister. Let me start by thanking all of those involved in the

Howard Springs temporary quarantine process for the passengers from the Diamond Princess. I particularly want to thank, as the Prime Minister has, the Northern Territory, but also Australian Border Force and especially the AUSMAT team. The Australian Medical Assistance Team, where many of them have been within the quarantine environment themselves. We know that there have been 10 patients who have been diagnosed during the course of that, none for some days now consistent with the incubation period. Because they were in quarantine, two things happened. Firstly, they were able to be cared for and given the best care immediately. Very sadly, of course, we lost one gentleman, Mr James Kwan from Western Australia, but that care has helped save and protect them, and at the same time it has helped protect the broader community. And there were questions at the time as to why we imposed that quarantine. I think it’s now absolutely clear that it was the right, and sensible, and appropriate thing to do. More broadly, around the world, we see that the coronavirus COVID-19 has spread to 80 countries now. Over 95,000 cases have been diagnosed, but we expect that the real number is somewhat higher than that because of undiagnosed cases. We know that very sadly, over 3,250 people have lost their lives.

In that context, Australia has experienced its second life lost, the 95-year-old woman who has been in the Baptist Care aged home from Sydney. I referenced her case yesterday. That has now been confirmed as being related to coronavirus. And so, we are very sad for her and her family. And at the same time, we know that the total number of diagnosed cases in Australia has now reached 53. I want to thank all of the health authorities involved, not just in that case, but particularly New South Wales health and the Government there in assisting, but around the country. The state and territory Health Ministers and health departments for taking their role in helping to provide care and protection. And we’re working with primary care, aged care. We’re working with our dental community, we’re working with all of the different health and medical providers around the country in constant communication. But we’ve further plans to, and this builds on the work which the Chief Medical Officer started in January, the travel bans that we put in place. Today’s actions are the latest step in what is a carefully considered plan, which is being implemented as circumstances require.

DR. BRENDAN MURPHY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks, Prime Minister and Minister. So, clearly the community has had some concerns about the outbreak in Sydney.

The small community outbreak. But this is a very small cluster of cases. It’s being very actively managed by New South Wales Health. I have the highest confidence in New South Wales Health – all through this outbreak, the Commonwealth, all of the states and territories have been working closely in collaboration, and I have great confidence that they will chase down, track the source of that outbreak and contain it. The risk around the rest of Australia, as I’ve said on many occasions, all other cases have essentially been imported cases. There is no other evidence of community transmission anywhere else in Australia. The importation risk, as we’ve also said recently, has been significantly greater outside of China in recent weeks, particularly Iran, where we’ve seen most of our recent imports coming from. We are very worried about Iran. But clearly the two other highest risk countries are South Korea and Italy, where they have large case loads. And in the case of South Korea, where there is significant travel to Australia.

We know that we will get more cases. We are seeing a couple of cases identified every day, but we have very robust systems to detect. As we’ve said many times before, we’ve tested well over 10,000 people. The great majority have been negative. We will continue testing anyone with a return travel history, or indeed now as New South Wales Health did, people with us who may have had been in contact with someone who have a suspect disease. We need to broaden our testing capability. But we need to also remember the most important thing, and I say this every time I talk to the media, is that any return traveller from any part of the world, where there’s a COVID-19 outbreak, who develops symptoms, should isolate and seek medical attention. That is the most important way we can deal with and stop spread in Australia. But at the moment, and I’ve said this on many occasions too, there is no reason to put a mask on when you’re walking around the shops. There’s no reason to stop going to football matches or community activities. There is no reason to denude the shelves of lavatory paper in the supermarkets. We should continue our normal activity. We will watch the development of this and we will focus on any outbreaks and control them. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Dr Murphy. Questions?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, the travel ban, I presume only applies to non-citizens and residents –

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, same arrangements in place for mainland China and Iran.

JOURNALIST: Will there be the enhanced screening measures or self-isolation requested of Australian citizens returning from Korea?

PRIME MINISTER: Correct.

JOURNALIST: And is that enforceable?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, in the same way that the arrangements have been put in place so successfully for mainland China and Iran, which has been very effective, and I would expect people to be absolutely complying with those very, very straightforward requests. Mark.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, considering what the RBA and Treasury have said about the potential economic costs of this virus and the spread of the virus, are you now reconsidering perhaps direct stimulus through families and seniors in addition to the support for businesses and the affected sectors? Or are you keeping up your sleeve for a second phase?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ve said all along that what needs to happen is targeted, I’ve said it needs to be measured by proportion, and it needs to be scalable. And that’s certainly the response that we’re working on at present. You would have heard the evidence provided today, the report provided today by the Secretary of Treasury. You have heard from the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank last night about the impacts certainly in the March quarter that they anticipate. And not only just from the coronavirus, but also the bushfire affect as well, you have heard from Secretary of Treasury today. So for the coronavirus, a serious global health crisis that has very significant economic impacts are equal to that that we could have anticipated really from what happened with the Global Financial Crisis many years ago, but with very different causes. And the task that we have is very different from the one that was in place 12 years ago. And that’s why we’re working very swiftly to put those measures in place. And we’re considering a wide range of options. And when we finalise that, then we’ll obviously make our announcements.

JOURNALIST: With the Grand Prix coming up in Melbourne, the announcement today of the Republic of Korea and Italy will have impacts on that. Are there any special arrangements being made for that? And perhaps one for the Minister, do you have any plans for the production of face masks and any additional measures for nursing homes?

PRIME MINISTER: Well firstly in relation to the Grand Prix, obviously that’s a matter for the Victorian Government, how they’re managing those things on the ground. But in terms of the travel ban, well it has an obvious impact for the Republic of Korea. That kicks in from 9:00 o’clock this evening. In relation to visitors from Italy, which is less than a fifth of the sort of travel that we’re currently seeing out of the Republic of Korea. And so I’m not really anticipating any great impact there in terms of what we’ve seen up until now and the level of travel. 

We all need to remember that as this virus has gone on, we’re already seeing very significant reductions in the number of people travelling, regardless of travel bans. Australians will be travelling less out of the country. Those coming to the United States, they’re travelling less out of the United States, out of Europe, out many parts of the world. So we’re already seeing a reduction, and that will obviously have the impact on major events and tourism and those things, and that’s part of the economic impact that we’re going to see. But those enhanced screening measures will be in place for those as visitors have been coming through Italy, and indeed Australians that are coming back from Italy, and those self-isolation arrangements will apply to them. So in terms of what the Victorian Government is seeking to put on the ground, then I’m sure the Premier would be able to elaborate further. But on the masks issue, I’ll throw to the Health Minister.  

MINISTER HUNT: So currently, we have 20 million masks as part of the national medical stockpile. We’ve made supplies available to general practices through two rounds of allocation to what are called the primary health networks, where those general practices that have needed them for their purposes have been able to obtain them. Part of tomorrow’s work with the general practices is to identify any further and additional needs.

So I think we have already been assisting in allocating. Tomorrow we’ll be looking at additional needs. And I’ll explain it this way, that we’re making very good progress on any additional procurement requirements for Australia.

JOURNALIST: Based on the current information that you have in terms of spread and transmission, do you have any figures as to how many people are estimated in Australia to contract the disease? And what the health system is facing?

PRIME MINISTER: I might ask Dr Murphy to speak to that.

DR MUPRHY: So there’s a range of modelling. Modelling is just mathematical predictions. But we, and we’ve got those predictions from best case scenario to worst case scenario. And then looking at what impact that would have on every part of the sector. Primary care sector, emergency departments, ward beds, critical care beds. And we’re looking at our current capacity, and we’re going to compare that with the model capacity. But we’re looking at scenarios from the most benign through to, you know, some millions of people being infected over a period of several weeks, and we think our health system is well-prepared to cope with that. But we’re making sure, the Prime Minister has been very clear to us, that we need to be sure that we plan for every eventuality and build capacity where we think it may be under pressure if we have one of the worst case scenarios.

PRIME MINISTER: So yeah, we’ve been careful not to be speculative about this in the public domain. What we have done all the way through this global health crisis, I think, to be very candid and upfront with the Australian people, and we’ll continue to do that. But what we won’t do is, I think is be speculative about these sorts of things because we were not in the position of creating unnecessary anxiety. What we’re in the business of doing is making plans to ensure that we can deal with any gaps or suspected shortfalls or have contingencies in place that address what we may be seeing coming through the modelling. But the modelling at this stage, you know relies on a lot of data. Some of which is being sourced from experiences we’re seeing overseas, where you have to have a degree of scepticism about a lot of the assumptions you put in place. Katharine?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just back on the travel ban, just for a sec. Can I get the rationale for it, because I may have erroneously thought that once there were community transmissions, or once we were in a period of community transmissions that bans were no longer effective in the sense that the horse had already gone and so forth. What is the rationale for the Korean travel ban? And also, if I may, just to Professor Murphy, just picking up on something you said in Senate Estimates yesterday, just that we would need more pathology capacity down the track for testing. That we might have to go into the private system in order to have that capacity. I’m just interested in whether or not the Government’s done any costings of what that might cost?

PRIME MINISTER: Sure, I’ll allow Dr Murphy to address that issue. That was another issue that we actually considered again this morning.

DR MURPHY: So we’re actively engaging with the private sector over the coming days. We will be expanding the testing capacity into the private sector. Commercial tests are available. They’re keen to help. And we’re just working out the logistics of how to make that happen. At the moment, the public labs are coping brilliantly with the load that they have. But if they’re- we will need the private labs, we’re going to do more testing as further cases emerge. So that’s being finalised and sorted out over the next few days.

MINISTER HUNT: Both Dr Murphy myself have spoken with the private sector and as he says, they are very willing and keen to do their bit for Australia and to help. And so that’s not just an option, that’s a plan which we are seeking to implement and we’ll be able to do that.

PRIME MINISTER: So they’ll be bringing back estimates to that effect and then we will be moving to act on those. But it’s quite clear that this will enhance the capability for testing. But as Dr Murphy says, I mean people if they are turning up to their GP, or going to an emergency department, or if they’re indeed in an aged care facility, and there’s a test that’s being conducted, that’s being turned around within a day. And I think the public labs are doing a great job on that. But it will certainly help to get more labs involved in this process.

On your other question Katharine, the AHPPC, you’re right. They have said that travel bans, once you get into sort of broad community transmission, you know, have it have a different effect. And Dr. Murphy I’ll ask to speak to that specifically. The issue for the Government though today was the ability to put in place enhanced screening measures for both the Republic of Korea and Iran. I’m sorry, Italy. And given that the volume of travellers coming out of the Republic of Korea was more than five times what it is out of Italy, that may well be possible, within a matter of days or weeks to be able to ensure that we can deal with that. Right now, when I put the direct questions to Border Force about what can be stood up, absolutely, they can do that in relation to the volume we’re seeing coming out of Italy and we’ll do that. And until such time, they’d be able to do that for the Republic of Korea, then certainly the ban is the best way that the Government felt was that was the way to go. But you might want to speak to the advice that we received, Brendan.

DR MURPHY: So certainly the AHPPC advice, as you said, is that at this stage, travel restrictions won’t prevent all new entry. But certainly the AHPPC were of the view that the Iran travel ban was a good delaying tactic. And in this case, I think Government’s decision, as Prime Minister has said, was based on- the Government was very keen to introduce enhanced border screening, because Italy and South Korea are high risk countries. AHPPC has confirmed that they’re the two highest risk countries. Government was keen to put in enhanced border screening and because Border Force felt that that would be difficult to do for both countries at once, a travel ban does stop about half of the traffic coming and it just makes it easier for Government to do the border screening.

JOURNALIST: Financial markets are sort of hanging on your words around internal restrictions on travel and activity. They want a sort of a yardstick or a number of deaths or a number of infections, at which point you would start to become more strict about using the Commonwealth’s powers of restricting activity or people’s movements.

PRIME MINISTER: Within Australia?

JOURNALIST: Within Australia. Can you give them some sort of yardstick or a number of deaths at which point you start to think more severely about that?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, I can understand the interest, but what is also important is that we’re dealing with a situation which has a lot of unknowns in it. And I think it would be unwise for the Government to constrain itself in how it would deal with this issue going forward. There are clear powers, but the purpose of briefings such as this is I think to set out what is the context. And the context at present remains, and I’ll allow Dr. Murphy to comment on this, is that compared to other countries around the world at the moment, we are not experiencing some of the more difficult challenges that they are. And the work that is being done both by the Federal Government and the state and territory governments in containing, and particularly in aggressively tracing any cases to contain them also, has been very effective to date. But there are obvious limitations to that. And I think Katharine’s question goes to those limitations. I mean, as the Health Minister said, 80 countries now. That’s double what we were talking about last week. And so, when it moves to that level, then obviously, as we predicted, I mean, what we’re seeing now is what we anticipated would happen. That’s why we took the decisions we took last week. It’s why we took the decisions we did in advance of the rest of the world some weeks ago. We will continue to do that. And what I think investors, what I think the markets, I think what business can be confident about, is that the Government is acting on the best possible advice. We’re getting access to the best of possible information. We are meeting regularly as a Government, as a National Security Committee of Cabinet. The national coordination mechanisms that we put in place today further extends that coordination and management of the Government’s response. So for example, in more extreme situations when you would have to deal possibly, but I certainly don’t see any risk of that at this present time, on issues around mass gatherings, for example. I mean, there are no suggestions there should be no mass gatherings in Australia. The only advice that I think Dr Murphy has wisely said is the only people who shouldn’t turn up to mass gatherings are those who have got symptoms. They should do the right thing by their fellow Australians, exercise their responsibility that they have as citizens, and follow the medical advice to prevent the spread of the virus here in Australia. So we’ve got good plans in place, good responsiveness, good preparedness. We’ve got the resources to be able to address both the health requirements and the economic impacts and the goodwill, and good faith between ourselves and the state and territory governments to do what is needed to be done. Phil?

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the measures you’ll be announcing in your stimulus package. Do any of them require legislation? And if so, I think there’s only one Sitting Week after this in the next couple of months, would you envisage maybe to bring back Parliament for special sitting too?

PRIME MINISTER: Well Phil, when we’ve finalised the package, we’ll make announcements about the package and any arrangements we would need to put in place to ensure that we could get those things in order. Michelle?

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry, Michelle. Dennis [inaudible]. Michelle, and then we’ll go to Dennis.

JOURNALIST: Mr Hunt, can you update us whether there’s been a solution in the argument between the New South Wales Government and the Federal Government about, I think, financing any temporary workforce?

MINISTER HUNT: So I’d respectfully characterise that very differently. Last week at COAG, there was agreement between the Commonwealth and the states to work very constructively, and in partnership, and that was recorded in the COAG Communique. I know that the –

JOURNALIST: Isn’t New South Wales complaining now though?

MINISTER HUNT: With respect, I know that whilst we’re in NSC, Senator Colbeck, on my behalf and his own as Aged Care Minister, had a very constructive conversation with the New South Wales Health Minister. And I believe we’ve made very significant progress on that. And I know that the Prime Minister has spoken with the Premier. So we’re working in partnership with all of the states and territories. What actually happened yesterday was the plan was implemented. There was an aged care facility which did have an issue because of transmission. What occurred was New South Wales Health delivered on what had been agreed and what had been prepared for, and their response was exemplary. And I want to thank and honour them for that. And what that means is that the first thing, our great task, is to protect everybody and to put human health and safety above all else. And then as we agreed with COAG last week, we’re actually making very significant progress on ensuring that we’re sharing the responsibility.

PRIME MINISTER: And so, to add to that answer, we will share the costs of what is necessary and we will do that constructively and cooperatively, and we’ll do it in good faith. The Premier and I had a good conversation about those things today. The Treasurers will work through those details. This is a challenge for both Commonwealth and state governments. We all have our special responsibilities that we have to meet, and there are those that we have to do on our own. We’ll meet the border arrangements. We’ll deal with all those sorts of issues. We’ll deal with the national stockpile of masks and so on. And we’ll also share the burden with states on our shared costs that we have, whether it’s in the hospital system or other places. But what I want Australians to be very encouraged by is everybody’s working together. There’s no quibbling about this sort of stuff. We’ll just get on and do it, because that’s what we all owe it to you to keep you safe. And I can assure you that leaders will continue to operate in that way in good faith. And I want to thank all the Premiers and Chief Ministers – I’ve had a lot of interaction with them lately, constant communication on these things. And they’re focusing on what they need to do in their states, and so we’re not tripping over each other. They’re doing what they need to do. They know what we need to do. And this national coordination mechanism, which I announced today, which is being stood up, will only make that even more effective on things beyond the health responses. That coordinating mechanism supports the health responses, but it extends across to a broader range of issues that are really joint responsibilities, or supportive responsibilities, between state and territory governments. Dennis.

JOURNALIST: I was actually going to ask questions as Michelle, but given all of this great federal-state cooperation on the coronavirus, is that actually continuing with the bushfire recovery that you’re not being distracted by coronavirus?

PRIME MINISTER: Not distracted. And the cooperation continues in relation to the bushfires. Absolutely it does. And I pay credit to former AFP Commissioner Colvin. I mean he’s out there today doing exactly that. I made comments yesterday in the House about the work we’re doing, working with the states in revising the, particularly the small business program. But the other areas of the program, particularly for primary producers and so on, that’s progressing very well. The states do all of those assessments, and determine the eligibility, and make the payments, and the Commonwealth provides the resources for those payments. So, you know that, that I think is progressing well. And that will be obviously another issue that we’ll discuss. I mean COAG meets at the end of next week and these will be substantive items on our agenda next week. 

JOURNALISTS CROSSTALK

PRIME MINISTER: Sorry. You guys sort it out and then decide. Well done.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned there would be intensive workshops for aged care providers. Are you able to give any detail of what you’re actually, practically going to be advising them? And also, back on the issue of broader education, you’ve mentioned there’s no need for panic buying, but when can we expect the Government’s public health campaign to really kick off in terms of that mass media messaging to actually get people, I guess, doing the right thing? Both in terms of health and also other social behaviour?

DR MURPHY: So in terms of the aged care, we clearly need to work with the aged care sector to look at their needs in managing outbreaks. As we’ve seen in that facility in Sydney, there are demands on a facility when they have to isolate people, they have to make sure they have the right protective equipment and that we have to look at how we can support them in the workforce space. And those are all of the things we’re looking at. Looking at how they would test people, which people if they became unwell, would be transferred to hospital, which people if they were very mildly unwell might be able to be nursed in the facility. Because as we know and we’ve said many times, a lot of people with this condition have very, very mild conditions. In terms of the communications package, the Prime Minister might want to talk to that, but he’s authorised a very significant communications package, which is being developed at the moment across the whole community, not just the healthcare sector, but the broad community.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s correct, and that’s being developed as we speak. It’s an important priority for all the reasons that you’ve said. But I would like to pay credit to not only Dr Murphy, but Dr Kelly, the state health officers that have been, I think very upfront, holding regular briefings and that information is being reported by you all, and hopefully helping Australians as they seek to understand what the ramifications are for them. And the truth is right now, the ramifications for individual Australians, except if you’ve been in an area where there’s been outbreaks of the virus or if you happen to be more elderly or have other frailties, then for the rest of Australians, right now there really isn’t any great impact on your daily life, other than, for you personally, and your own health. Obviously, the economic impacts are certainly there, and that is why the Government’s pulling together a package. And we’ll be announcing that once that’s finalised and that will be sort of addressing the needs of business in particular, for people to stay in jobs, for business to stay in business, and for business to invest, to ensure that on the other side of this, because we will get through this.

MINISTER HUNT: So I’ll just add one thing here. From the very first day that Dr Murphy made the declaration of this as a disease of pandemic potential, we’ve been engaged in public information, both in terms of the decisions. Informing people, I think we made the decision to be transparent, early and frequent. And so those three principles of transparency, early provision of information, and frequency, have governed what we’ve done. We’ve also engaged in direct communications with the Chinese community, which was the most affected from the outset. We are working with different communities throughout it, and then providing specific information as we have worked with all of the medical sectors throughout. So we’ll continue to do that. The aged care and primary care roundtables are tomorrow. But in addition to that, what the Prime Minister has signalled is that there’s further direct public communication in terms of express information, on top of the daily briefings that we’ve been providing.

PRIME MINISTER: Mark, I think we have time for one more. Mark.

JOURNALIST: It’s in relation to that. Does that mean a mass communications program along the lines of what the British Government’s launched? Advertising just to ensure that people don’t panic?

PRIME MINISTER: It’ll be a comprehensive communications program, Mark. And that’s important to give people practical information about what’s occurring. And the whole purpose is to ensure that Australians can go on about their daily lives. 

As I said at the start of this briefing, we all have a role to play, to ensure that Australia comes through this coronavirus, a global crisis. So that on the other side, we’re healthy, we’re together, that our economy bounces back and bounces back strongly. Of course it’s a big challenge. And the Government will do what it needs to do, and we have been. We got ahead, we’re staying ahead, working closely with the state and territory governments. But all of us as Australians have a role to play, by staying calm, by supporting each other, by listening to the advice, by acting on that advice. And for those who are affected by the virus, helping them out too. If people are in self-isolation the Deputy Prime Minister was saying today that if someone is in a rural and regional area, you know there isn’t the same access to UberEats for example, as there might be in cities. So, you know, make them a curry and take it around if they need one, and so they can be looked after if they’re self-isolating. That’s what communities do, and I have no doubt that’s what Australians will do. We all have a role to play. And together we’ll get through this. Thank you very much.

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