Prime Minister
TOM ELLIOTT: As promised, the Federal Government is standing by to impose all sorts of biosecurity measures in an effort to stop or curb or contain the Coronavirus. Joining us on the line now from Canberra is the Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Mr Morrison, good afternoon.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Tom.
ELLIOTT: I noticed this morning, I went to my local supermarket and people were staggering out with all the toilet paper they could handle. You’ve spoken to the big supermarkets. What do they say about their supply chains?
PRIME MINISTER: They’re, it’s quite positive. I mean they also mentioned to me Kimberly Clark which actually manufactures the toilet paper down in South Australia. So, I think as people sort of return, I would hope they're going about their normal daily business, then, you know, hopefully we can, you know, calm that down and people can just get on about their day. They're very aware of that in the short term. You know, they'll be seeking to restock those shelves and they've got supplies in Australia and they'll be sourcing others. So I was happy with the arrangements that they have in place. They're obviously matters for Coles and Woolies, not for Government. But I was pleased with the very sort of open way they dealt with us, and, you know, they're dealing with the issue on the ground.
ELLIOTT: What would you say to the average punter who is panic buying things though? What's the message to them?
PRIME MINISTER: I’d say call 1800 080 020. I think it's important to get the right facts and information about this. I mean, there are reported this morning some 34 cases current in Australia. 21 of those have already cleared the virus. They've come from quite specific outbreaks, whether that's in Iran or in Wuhan or on the Diamond Princess. There is a case here of human to human transmission, community transmission, and that is has been treated as a sort of non-typical event at the moment. And so, I think the information suggests and all the advice we have is people can just get about their daily business. And Australians are not, I mean we're not immune from this, but we are certainly very well prepared for it. We've got a very advanced health system and we've got very strong border protection measures in place. That doesn't mean we can prevent it ultimately from coming into Australia, but it does give us a lot of control measures. I mean, particularly for young kids, too. There's no evidence, as the Chief Medical Officer was saying this morning, that it has a particular severity for children. I mean, the people most at risk are the elderly, and that's why we've been working over the past week, in particular on the emergency response plan, the arrangements, if necessary, that we'd have to put in place for aged care facilities.
Look, just on that number it's 1800 020 080. Let me just correct that 1800 020 080. That's the incident response centre. I mean I visited there many weeks ago when it was first stood up. And there's no people there with the medical expertise who can give you the real facts and avoid all the sort of, you know, extreme stories that people are seeing on social media and online and all that sort of thing. I mean, when these things happen, everybody wants to make a name for themselves by coming out with the most outlandish prognosis and speculation. That doesn't help anybody. Just get the real information and exercise, you know, just normal common sense, which Australians are good.
ELLIOTT: I’ve got an article in front of me pointing out how the Government has these reserve powers with respect to quarantining people. Do you stand ready to enforce compulsory quarantine measures on large groups of people?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, if we have to go into those sorts of responses and they're not anything that is being anticipated at this point, then obviously those powers are there for a reason. What we'll continue to do Tom, is just deal with the information we have, which comes in each day. And the world is sort of responding to this virus on the same basis. But we've been getting the calls right. I mean, we called this more than a week out from the World Health Organization, initially back in January, and started putting the first, one of the first to put the travel bans in place on mainland China. We called the pandemic response plan well over- the WHO hasn't got there yet. So, you know, we're getting ahead of it and we’re working to stay ahead of it. And that includes the economic response as well. The Reserve Bank today has cut rates by 25 basis points. That is in direct response to addressing the Coronavirus and I’m pleased to see that Westpac and Commonwealth have responded fully to that rate cut pass on. And I'd be expecting the other two major banks to do exactly the same thing.
ELLIOTT: I was gonna ask you about that. I mean, it's good that the Reserve Bank has done that. And we hope that NAB and ANZ also pass on the rate cut in full. But I mean are you and Josh Frydenberg gonna do something to try and stimulate demand in the economy?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well look we said this last week. I said it last week, last Thursday. And I discussed that also with the Reserve Bank Governor earlier this week. I mean, there'll be responses from the Commonwealth and the federal Government, and we'll do what we will do with the Reserve Bank doing what it's doing. But I think we have to be careful to not sort of treat every crisis the same. This isn't like the Global Financial Crisis. We haven't had the banks fall or fail. We have got a problem with financial stability or credit extensions.
ELLIOTT: A lot of businesses are doing it very tough you know…
PRIME MINISTER: That is my point. What is causing that is that the virus is disrupting supply chains. So we need to focus on the cash flow of particularly small to medium sized businesses. We got to focus on ensuring people can remain in their jobs because the virus will eventually run its course. And on the other side of that, the economy will bounce back. We need to make sure that the businesses and jobs are in place to benefit from that bounce back.
ELLIOTT: Ok. Well, what do we do? I mean, for example, would you have a moratorium on say tax payments by small businesses so they can preserve cash flow or something like that?
PRIME MINISTER: We're still bringing that program together Tom, and when we're in a position to make that announcement, which won't be too long, we'll be making that, those announcements.
ELLIOTT: Now, what about big gatherings? I mean, I know that in Geneva, for example, the big motor show there was cancelled just a few days ago. Sporting events. There was a rugby match between Ireland and Italy that was cancelled. And of course, here in Melbourne in just over a week, we've got the Grand Prix. Should that go ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: There’s no advice to suggest it shouldn't at all. But we'll monitor this all the time. I mean in Australia where you've got you know 34 cases, I suspect that number will rise, as does the Chief Medical Officer. But there is nothing to suggest that mass gatherings in Australia should be postponed at this point. And obviously, those who've returned from areas where, you know, whether it's in the Middle East or in Japan or Korea or places like that, if people are exhibiting symptoms that the first thing they should do is contact their doctor or contact the emergency department. And then if they were presenting at one of those places, they can put the appropriate arrangements in place to receive them and to check them out. But it's people who would be potentially have been in a place where they would have been susceptible. They're the ones who shouldn't go to places of mass gathering. For the rest of us, it’s fine. I'm looking forward to going to the season opener for my beloved Sharks up here in Sydney in a few weeks.
ELLIOTT: Just on the coronavirus. I mean, if we just said it was the flu and just took it as an out of season flu, I personally don't think people would be panicking about it, because we're used to the flu. Are the medical experts telling you, is this any worse than the normal flu that strikes every winter?
PRIME MINISTER: I mean certainly on the data it is. I mean, it's not as bad as SARS and MERS, which were very deadly viruses. This is nowhere near that level of acuteness. But it is on the evidence we have in front of us at the moment, stronger than a normal flu. But we lose, we lost about 900 Australians last year in relation to the flu. And those are people who are normally more vulnerable with their health otherwise. And those are the people most vulnerable. Most people, as the Chief Medical Officer tells me, who contract the Coronavirus, certainly it's been the case here in Australia, with the sad exception of Mr Kwan in Perth, they've had very mild cases of this. As I said, 21 of the 34 have already cleared the virus. And you know, if someone our age, I suppose Tom, and you were to contract it the advice I'm getting is you wouldn't expect it to be terribly severe. And that you would have to isolate yourself and do all of those things. But that's why I said this morning people should exhibit the same common sense that they exhibit in relation to a bad flu season. It's the same things you do. And it is just common sense things which Australians would be well familiar with. They don't need to go around, as the Medical Officer has been saying, stockpiling things or running around in masks. I mean, the only people who would need to wear a mask is someone who's got the virus.
ELLIOTT: Indeed. And that is where I would say that the panic is because this is a new thing [inaudible]. Look we’ll leave it there. I do appreciate your time, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: No worries Tom, thanks for the opportunity to chat.