Australia coronavirus: government to pay airlines to continue domestic flights – as it happened

Scott Morrison on the first condition, of more testing:

So beyond those who are symptomatic, if we are to move to a different phase when it comes to the restrictions, we need an even broader testing regime than we have at this point.

Now, we have one of, if not the most, extensive testing regimes in the world today.

But we need to do even better than that to make sure that we can have greater confidence that when we move to a lesser restriction environment we can have confidence we can identify any outbreaks very, very quickly and respond to them.

Scott Morrison says there are three main conditions that need to be in place before the governments will look at lifting restrictions:

1. Increased testing.

2. Better contact tracing “lifted to an industrial capability” - ie, they want you to download the app.

3. Local response capabilities – the ability to lock down localised areas, which include multiple agencies, like the ADF.

Scott Morrison:

Turning to the health issues considered today, we remain [optimistic] after receiving advice again on what we describe as the suppression phase – we are not in an eradication mode or where we see herd immunity approach, these are not the approaches we are following in Australia, we are not at the Sweden end or the New Zealand end when it comes to how we approach things.

Our data and information shows that in that phase we are doing relatively very well, especially over countries that are using even more extreme forms of lockdown.

But we can’t overstate the success, there is a high number of internationally acquired cases, and that means that we need to look at the numbers in that context, but it is pleasing to know, it is estimated more than half of those who have contracted the coronavirus in Australia have overcome it, and that is also good news, in terms of the actual number of people currently suffering from the coronavirus.

So it looks like the economic ‘snap back’ is on the back burner for some time now.

Up until now, the government has been determined to keep a ‘business as usual’ on its election promises stiff upper lip.

That is no longer the case.

Which means anything the Coalition went to the election on is now up in the air.

We noted today’s unemployment rate showed only a modest change from the figures for February but as we all know those figures were largely based on the middle of March and that was in particular before you put in place the restrictions across the economy towards the back end of March, and while that figure is welcome we know that is the best figure we will see for some time.

We know what the end expected impacts will be on employment and from the figures you have seen released from Treasury, and the RBA have similar views as we have also seen in some of the IMF reporting as well, and so that is a figure we can note but it is not one we could expect to be held going forward, and in saying that we do need to prepare ourselves as a country for some very sobering news on the economic front in months ahead.

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The national cabinet has agreed on a set of “national principles” on school education when it comes to handling the Covid-19 issue. In short, leaders emphasise the value of providing education within classroom settings, but acknowledge that it is up to state and territory governments and the non-government school sector to make operational decisions.

There is also a need for schools to offer teachers and staff a safe working environment.

The full list of principles is as follows:

1. Our schools are critical to the delivery of high quality education for students and to give our children the best possible start in life. Our education systems are based on the recognition that education is best delivered by professional teachers to students in the classroom on a school campus.

2. It is accepted that during the Covid-19 crisis, alternative flexible, remote delivery of education services may be needed.

3. Our schools must be healthy and safe environments for students, teachers and other staff to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of education to students.

4. State and territory governments and non-government sector authorities are responsible for managing and making operational decisions for their school systems respectively, subject to compliance with relevant funding agreements with the Commonwealth.

5. Decisions regarding the response to Covid-19 in the schooling sector must continue to be informed by expert, official, national and state-based public health and education advice, consistent with these national principles.

6. All students must continue to be supported by their school to ensure participation in quality education during the Covid-19 crisis.

7. The health advice consistently provided by the AHPPC is that attendance at a school campus for education represents a very low risk to students.

The advice also notes that appropriate practices must be employed at schools, like at other workplaces, to provide a safe working environment for school staff, including teachers, and that the specific AHPPC advice regarding school campuses should be followed.

This is the first time Scott Morrison has admitted that the policies he took to the election can’t stand up in a post-Covid Australia:

They also highlighted, though, the need to make sure on the other side of the virus, as we make our road out, that any sense of business as usual when it comes to the policy framework we had at the election will need to be reconsidered on the other side.

To make sure we can achieve growth that will be necessary for our economy to get people back into work, economy back on track, it will be a different world on the other side of the virus and there will be many challenges, and the national cabinet has a very good appreciation of this, and there has been some talk about its role on the other side of the virus, and that is a discussion for another day.

But between now and as we continue to work through the impact of the virus, the national cabinet will have on its agenda the types of things and policy measures take together, working at federal and state level to make sure we can give our economy every support and more importantly every freedom to be able to get on and see businesses grow on the other side.

Scott Morrison:

Our intention has now been turning to the road out, having worked through the road in.

That road to recovery on the other side as well.

Importantly today at national cabinet we received quite extensive briefings from the governor of the Reserve Bank and the secretary of Treasury, Dr Kennedy.

At those briefings it was reinforced again to the national cabinet on a point that we strongly concur with the need to synchronise our health and economic responses to the virus. We must consider these responses conjointly.

We must understand the impact of each, whether that’s in the modelling work we’re doing, with responses and measures we are putting in place, this has to be considered together and understood together.

This press conference is going to be, as reported, on schools.

Scott Morrison is at the podium:

Let the preamble begin.