3 June 2021

Press Conference, Parliament House, Canberra

Note

Joint press conference with

The Hon. Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister

The Hon. David Littleproud MP
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management

PRIME MINISTER:

Thank you, everyone. I'm joined by the Treasurer and the Minister for Emergency Management, to make some announcements regarding support for locations defined as a Commonwealth hotspot that are impacted by state public health order decisions that extend for more than seven days.

We don't have to fear this virus. We haven't got where we are till now by fearing this virus. The success Australia has had compared to so many other countries around the world, both from a health perspective and from an economic perspective, has been achieved because we worked together. Australians have been resilient, they've gone about the things that have been asked of them time and again that can be very demanding and come at great personal cost. And they haven't done that out of fear, they've done that out of determination and resilience and out of strength and their good character. And that's what we as a government continue to rely on and draw upon as we continue to make our way, our Australian way, through this COVID‑19 pandemic, which as we know, continues to rage and it continues to seek out opportunities here in Australia to spread. But it is not something we fear, it is something we fight. It is something we address and we do it safely, we do it effectively, we do it collaboratively and we do it together and that is why we have had so much success to date. But the challenges keep coming, as we have seen and Victoria, as we saw indeed earlier this year, whether it was in the Northern Beaches of Sydney or south‑western Sydney, up in Brisbane, over in Perth, and now again here in Victoria. And we know that Victoria, more than anywhere, has suffered greater than any other part of the country. That is a simple fact. And they are going through that even again now.

What is important, is that we ensure that the decisions that are made are commensurate with the risks that are faced to avoid any unnecessary hardship on Australians and that there is a balance of those risks assessed so that the harm we seek to prevent is not exceeded by the harm that is imposed by the various measures that could be put in place. And that is a decision that governments honestly have to make. We respect those decisions. Commonwealth, State Government, Territory Governments, all have got to make those calls. Doing it on the basis of the best possible advice and the judgement of those who are making them. The Commonwealth doesn't seek to intervene in those decisions of those of the state but as we have demonstrated over the course of this pandemic we have stood strongly with the Australian people to support them through this. JobKeeper, JobSeeker COVID supplement, cash‑flow bonus, all of these things, have played such a huge role in Australia get into where we are now, that our economy is bigger today than it was during the pandemic and there are more people employed than there were before the pandemic. So we have always understood the role of the Commonwealth.

And what we are proposing to do in this situation, in fact what will be done in this situation, is we will be putting in place a national framework for circumstances where there are lockdowns imposed by state, public or health orders in areas that are defined as a Commonwealth hotspot by the Chief Medical Officer. Those arrangements will provide support for periods of time where the lockdown has been greater than seven days. So the first seven days, they are matters entirely for state and territory governments, as they wish to provide support. If a lockdown, as a result of a state public health order continues in an area that is also defined by the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, then we will be providing support for payments for those affected in those affected areas. Now that could be a particular suburb, defined by postcodes. It could be an entire metropolitan area as is indeed the case in the Melbourne metropolitan area right now. Or even more broadly, if the Chief Medical Officer was of the view that a hotspot encompassed an entire state jurisdiction. So the Commonwealth's decision to provide that support will be based on the medical advice received by the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, which is only reasonable, given that the Commonwealth has no part in the decisions made by state governments when they are coming to their view as to how they might impose their restrictions. Now, clearly, the Chief Medical Officer works closely with the Chief Health Officer of every state and territory jurisdiction and is in a position to fully understand the basis of decisions made at a state and territory level, and that can assist and inform their decision, and it is indeed the case that the greater Melbourne metropolitan area is a Commonwealth hotspot and is expected to be so over the next seven days for the extended period that is being announced by the Victorian Acting Premier.

So, what we will be putting in place is what we are calling the temporary COVID disaster payment. The temporary COVID disaster payment is made on a week by week basis. It is using the disaster recovery payment framework, which I will ask the Minister for Emergency Management to go into more detail on. That will be a payment of $500 for those who would ordinarily work more than 20 hours in a week and $325 for those who would work less than 20 hours a week. It will be available to a person who is an Australian resident, or holder of a visa class permitted to work in Australia. The person is 17‑years old. The period occurs from the date of activation for an area which has been locked down for more than seven days. I should stress, this is a similar arrangement that exists in New Zealand where their payments for this type of support kick in after seven days, not before. The person resides or works, resides or works, in the area defined as a Commonwealth determined hotspot, the person was immediately prior to the state health order and Commonwealth determined hotspot, engaged in paid employment and is unable to attend work and therefore unable to earn an income as a result of state health restrictions.

Now, you'll be aware that we already have a pandemic leave payment for people who are required to isolate for a 14‑day period. And that could be because they are a close contact, testing or any other number of reasons determined by the State Government. The person self‑declares that they would normally have worked in the relevant period. The person self‑declares a loss of income for the relevant period. The person will not be required to use annual leave, and must have insufficient other appropriate leave entitlements, including special pandemic sick leave and have exhausted those entitlements. So you don't have to get into your annual leave, but if your employer is already providing you leave for these types of purposes, than it is reasonable that people would use those in these circumstances. The person self‑declares that they have liquid assets of less than $10,000. Remember, we are talking about somebody getting through the next week, who would ordinarily be in an economic situation where every dollar counts. Where those have independent means of supporting themselves for a week then I think they would agree that reaching out for Commonwealth taxpayer funded assistance is not something they would consider reasonable for such a short period of time. The person must not be receiving an income support payment or pandemic payment. So, if you are already receiving support from the Social Security system, on JobSeeker, remember we have relaxed the rules around JobSeeker, you're getting your support through that channel. If you want support through this channel, then this channel is not available to you. And the person must accept and acknowledge that they meet the above criteria with the possibility of retrospective compliance activity, as you would expect as we apply in all of these circumstances. The financial arrangements for this, I discussed with the Acting Premier last night and the Treasurer has discussed with the Treasurer in Victoria.

Victorians just want to know that they are getting help next week. That is what matters and they will be able to do this from Tuesday, in making an application online with Services Australia and there will also be a number they can contact and there will be further information provided about that. They want to know they will get that support and if you meet that criteria you will get that support next week and you will get that payment next week. It will be provided into your bank account as all of these payments ordinarily are. Who is paying for it and how that is being worked out. Well, there are two options and I will be discussing these with National Cabinet tomorrow. Costs should be shared. Presently the Victorian Government is doing that directly and 100 per cent with the business support they are providing. What I put to the Acting Premier last night was that we should split 50‑50 both payments. Go 50‑50 on household and go 50‑50 on business. Alternatively, the states can agree that in these circumstances they will always provide the business support and we will always provide the household support. Either way, we will work it out. And at National Cabinet tomorrow, we will have a good discussion about it. What matters is that businesses get the support they need and households get the support they need and the politicians don't need to have a discussion in public about how that is going to get done. They just need to know it is going to get done, they’re going to get that support and we just need to get on with it to ensure they have the confidence about moving forward into the next week. Now I would hope, and I know that the Treasurer as a Victorian would certainly hope, that these restrictions go for as limited a time as possible and be lifted as soon as possible. The Emergency Management Minister would also know as a regional representative that we are pleased that restrictions are being lifted on regional Victoria. But there are still very strong restrictions in Greater Melbourne. In fact, the kids won't be going to school next week up until Year 11. That is going to be tough on families, tough on people working from home. That is going to be tough on essential workers who still need to go to food processing jobs and health jobs and nursing and aged care and all of those health support. That is going be tough, and so of course I'm sure the Acting Premier agrees that we need to get to a position where we can lift these restrictions as soon as possible.

Now, where a Commonwealth hotspot is no longer applied, then the payment ceases, which is reasonable and I discussed that with the Acting Premier last night and he had no objections to that and it's understood. We will work through those details with the Acting Premier, as will the Treasurer, but what is important to understand in the same way that as we step up when it comes to floods, when it comes to cyclones or when it comes to bushfires or any of these other areas and payments are made through this channel, this is where this temporary COVID disaster payment is made. Just before I hand over to the Treasurer, I am pleased to report that 141,000 vaccinations took place in that last 24‑hour period. That takes us and continues to keep us over 700,000 doses over seven days and that is a third of those over 50 and half of those over 70 who have had that at least first dose of the vaccination. This is welcome news and I want to thank Victorians once again for going out, getting tested. Going out and getting vaccinated. Thank you, thank you. Resilience, strength, character, determination. That is what beats a virus, never fear. Josh.

FRYDENBERG:

Thank you very much, Prime Minister. These are very difficult days for more than 6 million of my fellow Victorians. Kids out of school, families apart and of course businesses that have been closed. It is a painful reminder that the pandemic has not ended but neither has the support from the Morrison Government. The Morrison Government has already delivered more than $45 billion to Victorian families and businesses. This is around three times the amount that has been provided at a state level and more on a per capita basis than has been provided to any other state. Now, the Budget delivered just over two weeks ago assumed there would be more outbreaks and indeed lockdowns. That is why we kept the foot on the accelerator with $41 billion of further COVID‑related support. And that support continues to roll out. And that support has helped see the Australian economy, as the Prime Minister referred to, recover so strongly, where we have seen yesterday in the national account numbers, Australia outperform the rest of the world. Now in Victoria, the economy and Victorians are remarkably resilient. Unemployment reached a high of 7.4 per cent last year but came down to 5.5 per cent just recently in April. This fourth lockdown has hit Victorians very hard and that is why the payment the Prime Minister has announced is so important. It is going to support Victorians at a time that they need that support. We will all get to the other side of this crisis and the Morrison Government will help Victorians and Australians do exactly that.

LITTLEPROUD:

Thanks PM, thanks Josh. Today the Australian Government takes its next step in standing shoulder to shoulder with those impacted by this insidious virus. We are using the disaster payment mechanism because of its agility and speed to be able to provide dignity and respect to those who have been impacted. This is a long‑held mechanism that has been proven through natural disasters, and abates any need for having to bring any legislation through Centrelink. So therefore we can build on their relationships, the partnerships that we have with the states, but be able to do this with speed and agility to those who need it most. To that extent, we'll be working with Services Australia to make sure that [inaudible] those people impacted that are in the defined Commonwealth hotspot will be able to contact Centrelink and to be able to make their application. This is a well worn path. Unfortunately, we know very well over the last couple of years from the disasters that we have faced as a nation. But, as a nation we have come through each and everyone of them but this is another step we will have to take and there will probably be more. But what we're trying to do is provide that speed and agility that is required to make sure that nobody is left behind, and obviously we'll be working with the states to make sure that this partnership is national. And that is something I think as a nation should be that in times of tough episodes in a nation's history, we have all come together and we have made sure that we work together. This is the opportunity the Federal Government has seen as we see this virus evolve and our response is evolving, and so Centrelink is ready to go and they will have their people ready to move on Tuesday morning, so that these dollars can hit people's accounts as quickly as possible. Obviously, Centrelink is making sure that they have the resources. We would have liked to be in a day or so earlier but there are some upgrades taking place over the weekend that were already in place to be scheduled. And so therefore it has actually been delayed a day or so. People can be rest assured that the money will be in their account as it was during the fires, floods, cyclones and bushfires.

JOURNALIST:

Can we get a reminder of what the Commonwealth hotspot definition is and will you talk to the States about this tomorrow? Is it a take it or leave it deal [inaudible] given James Merlino didn’t sound too happy a little while ago?

PRIME MINISTER:

I will refer you to the official definition of the Commonwealth hotspot, the number of cases average over a number of days ‑ i think it’s 10 per average (sic) day over three days off the top of my head. On the other matter, look, I think this is a very sensible and fair proposal. I’ve already had the opportunity to discuss this with other premiers who consider either approach as a reasonable way to deal with this. It was our hope, and I'm sure it was every Premier and Chief Minister's hope that having lockdowns for a period of greater than seven days is not something any of us would like to see. As a result, being able to deal with a few days, as has been the case for those post the end of JobKeeper where those other states and territories made no request of the Commonwealth. They dealt with those in Queensland and Western Australia. And in this case I think this is a fair way of doing it and it's using a very practical mechanism to get the job done. And whether we do it by sharing both costs of both payments or a portion each payment, one to the state and one to the Commonwealth, I think they’re practical ways of doing it and they don't need to be issues of controversy or conflict. I think we can sort it out.

JOURNALIST:

The statewide lockdown is statewide at the moment, but your position is that the hotspot definition, so I presume that wouldn’t include areas like Mildura which the Treasurer has mentioned before, is an area in lockdown but has no cases. So are we going to see differences of opinion between Canberra and states about whether an entire state should qualify for the emergency payment?

PRIME MINISTER:

Regional Victoria isn't being locked out post seven days. Regional Victoria is not going into a second seven days. Metropolitan Melbourne is. So there is an alignment in the defined areas between what the state is doing. I see nothing wrong with there being the Commonwealth where we are making the payments, we have no part in the decisions made by state governments and they can choose to do as they remind me regularly what they like to do, when they like to do and for how long they like to do it. Where it comes to federal taxpayers money in place, we will be relying on the medical advice of the Chief Medical Officer. Rosie?

JOURNALIST:

Isn't today’s announcement an admission that the Federal Government is at least partly responsible for the lockdown in Victoria?

PRIME MINISTER:

No, not at all. It's an admission that the Commonwealth responds to disasters. That is what it is an admission of. The Commonwealth responds to disasters, whether they are floods, fires, things that are beyond the control of individuals and they are suffering loss and they need help. It is an admission that the Commonwealth Government understands that and is prepared to do what is necessary to support those Australians who need our help.

JOURNALIST:

You say that resilience, strength, determination and character are what is required to beat this virus but isn't it the case that only path out of the situation is the vaccine, and given James Merlino has said the vaccine rollout is woefully slow, and Allen Cheng saying they are running short of the Pfizer vaccine and the rest of the world is starting to travel between their countries because of their vaccination rate, what more is the Government doing to expedite the vaccine rollout?

PRIME MINISTER:

I'm pleased that when we brought National Cabinet together back in April, when we had weekly vaccination rates of 320‑330,000 a week and we put in place a plan together to address those challenges, that has now seen that rise in the space of one month to over 700,000 a week, and that has been a very significant scaling up and we've done that together with states and and I appreciate the work states and territories have done. On not one occasion has the Acting Premier raised the issue of doses of vaccines with me, I've had several discussions and the only time it was raised was when we provided the additional 130,000 and he then assured me of that point that they had no further requirement or no further ask and he hasn't made one since then. They get around 71,000 Pfizer per week and as they understand on the most recent information that was released on Monday, I'm sure some of those have been used since Monday, but someone 180,000 doses available right there in Victoria as we speak, but if there are issues that need to be addressed there then we are happy to address them. As we said, 130,000 will be made available immediately to support those requests. We are working closely with the Victorian Government. That’s I think what people want to see.

JOURNALIST:

Three linked cases today in Melbourne, like, not many cases. Is your personal view that maybe they don't need to lockdown for another seven days or is that the view of the Commonwealth CMO?

PRIME MINISTER:

The Commonwealth CMO has confirmed to me that that hotspot arrangement will be in place, he expects for the next seven days.

JOURNALIST:

Prime Minister, I note that [inaudible] starts tomorrow at National Cabinet, the attribution of costs. But do you have an estimation about how much these disaster payments will actually cost over the next six months?

PRIME MINISTER:

Certainly not the latter, because we have no way of knowing what likely lockdowns might occur over that period. I hope there are none, that is my hope. I hope we are able to move through any challenges that may present, that is often what occurs in New South Wales, there will be some cases and they will get on top of it fairly quickly and a lockdown hasn't proved necessary. And in other states they have had different experiences, that is just a summary of an observation of history. It is our hope and expectation that lockdowns would be unnecessary in many, many cases and that they won't occur. The Budget itself though, as the Treasurer has confirmed on many occasions, expects that this will happen from time to time. In relation to this payment, no we don't have an estimate of what this one might cost over the course of the next week. That's the same as when we are faced with any other disaster payment, isn't it David? We don't ask that question when it comes to helping people who are in immediate need and we don't do it in a cyclone, we don't do it in a fire, we don't do it in a flood, we make those disaster payments available and we seek to do that as quickly as we possibly can, and that's the model we are using to provide this support on this occasion because we think that best reflects the circumstances that Victorians have found themselves in, through no fault of their own and as a result they will receive that support in the same way.

JOURNALIST:

Sort of a linked question, what is the best estimate of the six million that you talked of, Treasurer, who would be benefiting from this, and if the CMO, I'm just wondering, what is the guesstimate there, given that a lot of people will still be working from home and if the CMO were to change his view on a hotspot during that week and people go back to work, do they still get the payment or is it always on a week to week basis?

PRIME MINISTER:

It’s done in advance. So, people will go online next Tuesday, there will be a 1800 number as well but the most effective way to do it is online and for most people that would be the most convenient way to do it. That payment will be made. It will be paid for that seven days from this Friday forward over that seven day period, and if things go beyond that, then a further payment would have to be initiated in that process, done again in some form, but it is not our expectation that those restrictions would be in place beyond that next seven day period. I don't believe it is remotely the expectation of the Victorian Government that that should be in place and the Acting Premier and I discussed last night, that would not be something that they would welcome, not something that they would be hoping would occur and I would share his view about that. I want to see kids get back to school, I want to see people being able to go back to work and to do that safely and those case numbers, as you say Andrew, have come down and that is much better than the alternative, I can assure you, and that's great. That's great. So let's hope that continues and people can get back to work and importantly kids can get back to school, but on the other point, Treasurer?

FRYDENBERG:

Well Andrew, it is a demand driven program as the Prime Minister has said. For every 100,000 people that will be $50 million per week. It is the estimate, there is around a half million casuals in the metropolitan Melbourne area and obviously bearing in mind that this relates to the Commonwealth definition of a hotspot, so Treasury and Finance are working the numbers through, but as the Prime Minister has indicated, it is a demand driven program as other emergency payments are.

JOURNALIST:

Picking up on what you said about available doses across the state, there has been a huge spike in people taking up the vaccine in Victoria but that hasn't really been reflected in other states where there is that availability. Are you concerned that a motivator like a lockdown seems to be the only thing driving people en masse to these vaccine sites? Is it time for something else the government can do to get people to access what is already available in other states before they get to a lockdown?

PRIME MINISTER:

We will continue to promote it, we will continue to work with GPs around the country, we will continue to work with state and territory governments and continue to urge all Australians who are eligible for receiving the vaccine at this time to go forward and do so. There are many points of access where they can do that and we would be strongly encouraging them to do that, and we certainly hope that they take that up. I would say though, Clare, that even prior to this, we had already seen the weekly vaccination numbers rising very steadily and that was in response to a series of decisions we took about bringing forward over 50s. We have now supplemented that with work on those who are getting it between the ages of 40 and 50. There has been the opening of those additional sites. In fact, the Victorian Government, I was only commending them when I was down there, when they were opening up a further one that will increase in the rollout. Of course that was always going to go out over the course of this year and it will continue to hasten as the year progresses and particularly as those Pfizer doses start rolling in and much greater numbers in the second half of this year.

JOURNALIST:

The liquid assets test, will that apply to just those individuals assets or will that be household assets?

PRIME MINISTER:

Individual, which is the case for social security.

JOURNALIST:

Should Dr Cheng be surprised that there was a shortage of Pfizer, he was so [inaudible] AstraZeneca can be handed out to over 50s and would you catch a football that was kicked into a crowd by a Victorian?

PRIME MINISTER:

Well, I would attempt to. Josh would be better style at catching, I think, because he plays that code and not badly, I understand. But yes I certainly would and I'd be happy to handball it back too, but on the other matter, I can't speak to his state of surprise or otherwise.

JOURNALIST:

Prime Minister, when are you going to bring the chemists in? Because for many people, the chemists are a much more easier access point than a doctor, and secondly, are you satisfied now that the rollout arrangements for aged care are adequate?

PRIME MINISTER:

On the first matter, it was in the second half of the year that I'm advised that we had been preparing to include pharmacists in that arrangement, and that is still our understanding, and we will continue to monitor those arrangements, but I think when we are able to bring in that tier of points of access, that will be very useful. That is not part of the rollout at this point but it was always intended to be part of the rollout at a later point. We have 4,000 GPs, mass vaccination centres that are there, so there's plenty of points of access for vaccination.

With aged care, are you talking about residential aged care facilities? In the case of Victoria, every single one of them that are the Commonwealth's responsibilities have been provided those first dose opportunities. With the residents, at the meeting of National Cabinet some six weeks ago, this was discussed, and that's why we created the additional points of access for workers such as aged care workers which most states and territories have been doing since that time and I welcome the fact that Queensland is now doing that as well and that greatly assists. The issue often comes up about whether aged care workers should be mandated to take the vaccine, as in many states, not Victoria, I understand, on the flu vaccine where it is not mandated either, whether that should be the case. That has been put to the medical expert panel on another occasion most recently and my understanding is their advice does not support that recommendation and that that is something that I think Premiers, Chief Ministers and I, will need to consider when we meet together on Friday. We've always listened carefully to that medical advice. I know that in Western Australia, Lanai will know this, that Premier McGowan, when there were challenges in getting quarantine workers vaccinated and that occurred in other states, he introduced a public health order there quite swiftly to ensure that that could be done. Premiers can introduce public‑health orders any day of the week to do that, and they would be relying on the advice of their Chief Health Officer to do that. They could do that unilaterally, independently if they so wished. They don’t have to rely or wait on any decision of the National Cabinet. Although it has been our discussion as a National Cabinet, but wherever possible, you would try to make things of that nature as nationally consistent as possible. So the challenge with aged care workers is the same for many important workers in the community, and we need to continue to encourage those. But the most important is the ring of protection that is provided around the aged care residents themselves. They have always been our top priority, that’s why they have always been part of the program that was involved in inreach services to ensure that we were able to get through those as our first priority and that has by and large been achieved, and particularly in Victoria, there will always be difficult cases towards the end of any program of this size and there is any number of reasons why, on occasion, a centre may not have had their first dose offered on a particular day. That can range from everything from flu vaccines to gastro situations that we have had in particular facilities, that is very specific, that is very granular and you just work those issues.

But to conclude, you just have to keep working the problem. Just got to keep focused on supporting Victorians and Australians in a nationally consistent way. We don't have to fear this virus, we just have to keep beating it. And we have been beating it and we will keep beating it and Australians will keep beating it when their governments continue to work together as the Commonwealth with the states and territories all the way around the country and focusing on what Australians need, whether they are businesses or trying to keep their employees in work, whether it's employees who are trying to keep in jobs, families ensuring they can support their families and get kids to school, and people supporting elderly residents, elderly parents or others in their family or those with disabilities, remote Indigenous communities. Royal Flying Doctor Service out there, some 80,000 Australians benefited by the work that they are doing. We have just got to keep working the issue, working together, working collaboratively and keep Australians safe, save lives and save livelihoods. Thank you.