Prime Minister
7.21 PM
OLIVER PETERSON: Welcome to Perth Live.
PRIME MINISTER: G’day Ollie, it’s good to be with you, look, thanks to all the West Australians for the great job they're doing. We're getting ahead of this and we wouldn't have got there without everybody's efforts and, you know, been working closely with the Premier, Mark McGowan. It's been great to have him as part of the National Cabinet. And look, as you say, there's no teams in all of this, just one. Team Australia.
PETERSON: WA schools are set to reopen for term two on Wednesday, Prime Minister, there is understandably still some apprehension in the community. But what's the health advice you’re able to pass on and assist children getting back into the classrooms next week?
PRIME MINISTER: Safe to be at school for kids. It's that- that's been the same advice all along. And when it comes to teachers and how we set up the schools, the 1.5 meters for kids in classrooms and the four square metre rules. They don't, that recommendation, the advice is that's not necessary in the classrooms. And so the kids can go back to school, they can go in the classrooms, they can learn in the classrooms, that’s the best place for kids to be at school, learning in a classroom.
PETERSON: We also, though, hear from some of the state school teachers' unions, like here in WA, the Independent and Catholic Schools Associations, they are providing a little bit of mixed messaging at the moment. They're telling parents that if they can keep their children at home, they should do that. So is there any further advice or update, Prime Minister, you can help to alleviate some of those fears that our teachers might have?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, first of all, that advice that they're providing is not based on the medical advice. The medical advice is it's safe for kids to be at school. And so anyone suggesting otherwise, that is in contradiction to what the expert medical panel and the Chief Health Officer of the Western Australia, in South Australia, right across the country, our Chief Health Medical Officer. That's the advice we've consistently had. So it is safe for kids to go back. What we have to be careful of in the schools is for teachers’ health is that they, like anyone going back into work, whether they're in an office or in a, you know, on a factory floor or something like that, that the social distancing principles are observed between the adult population, so for pick up and drop off, well, that's going to have to be observed at the schools. But the teachers' risk is in the staff room, not in the classroom and that's where the normal practices would have to be employed like they would in any office, which is like is being employed in my office here.
PETERSON: You talk about getting back to working and getting more people back to work. Have you got a time frame on that, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, ASAP. Subject to what's happening with the health advice. In many areas that is happening right now and in many areas, you'll see people starting to go back to work in their offices. You'll see retail shops opening up again. You'll see all of this happening. But it'll be different. And we will have learnt a lot during this period of where we've been in isolation or staying at home. I think people should have their built in instinctiveness around, you know, the social distancing and those sorts of things. And you go into retail shops, as it already is if you’re going into some of those big shops or just the small ones for that matter, they're already practising these things. So we can go back in what I'd call a sort of a more COVID-safe environment, whether it's in the workplace or whether it's elsewhere in the community.
PETERSON: Do you think we'll get to a stage this winter where young boys and girls will be playing netball, footy or social community sport?
PRIME MINISTER: I hope so. That's certainly what I'd like to see, and particularly outdoors. Indoors, it presents more of a risk for obvious reasons. But outdoors, that'd be great to see that happen. I can't tell you how soon, but today at the National Cabinet we agreed to get a set of principles together nationally for that, as well as for elite sport, which is, you know, our Olympic sort of level sport as well as our professional codes. But also for recreation, you know, people going for a walk in the bush or going for a surf or a paddle or wherever they happen to do, riding bikes or that sort of thing. That's that's all part of it. And it’s an important element of our way of life in Australia. But look, we just want to get back to the way of life that we know as soon as we can, but we're not going to be silly about it and we're going to have the common sense rules in place to ensure that we don't see the break out in the virus that has devastated so many countries. I mean, in France, they have a death rate compared to Australia which is a hundred times higher. Now, that's a sophisticated developed economy with a good health system. So, you know, we're not immune from this virus running rampant in Australia and we can't be complacent about, when it comes to protecting Australian's health.
PETERSON: And you talked last week about those 3 criteria required to ease these restrictions, a testing regime, the tracing capability, the local response. So who is going to qualify for COVID 19 tests and will frontline workers be included in that when the track and tracing app is also going to be made available? Prime Minister, should that be downloaded by all Australians in the next week or two? Do you imagine it'll be available soon?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, I do. And it will be available very soon. And I would, I would just ask Australians to do that, to download it. I mean, we talk about what can you do to say thank you to those health workers? Well you can download the app. What can you do to keep yourself safe? In a COVID safe workplace? Well you can download the app. How does that protect your family? Well, downloading the app means that if someone's been in contact with you, which has had Coronavirus, you'll find out, and you'll find out sooner, which means you can take decisions which protects other people and your data is completely safe. The only person is going to see it is the health officer who would be ringing the person who has contracted coronavirus and asking you for exactly the same information. Getting it off your phone just means it's going to happen sooner. It's going to happen more accurately. And it's going to mean that we're able to contact those individuals who have been exposed, and make sure we can isolate them as well so others don't get sick. So it's, that's what it's for. That's the only, that's the only job it has.
PETERSON: Prime Minister on aged care centres, I’m disturbed by a lot of the correspondence I’m receiving from my listeners because they're being locked out from visiting frail loved ones, particularly those who are suffering with dementia or Alzheimer's. It's just heartbreaking, but you're going to intervene?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, it's not okay. I mean, we said originally, and our view hasn't changed, and this is the expert medical advice that there can be visits to people in nursing homes, in aged care facilities. And it would, it should happen. It can happen twice a day or thereabouts. It happened in the residents rooms. And it's for those who, you know, they would see regularly. So it might be a loved one, a carer, a support person who would normally be doing that. We're not saying there should be 20 people in their room and the entire extended family. No, that was not what was proposed. But these other contacts are very important to these residents and it affects the quality of their lives and they should have access to that. And we have never recommended that that should be taken away from them. We left it to the discretion of aged care facilities to exercise their judgement on these things. And disappointingly, there have been a few too many cases where this has been a bit overzealous. And so unless there's, the sector can get it sorted out, well, we will require aged care facilities to apply for an exemption to the access that people should ordinarily have. And if there's an outbreak like we've had that in Tasmania, we've had a couple here in New South Wales. On the other, on the East Coast. Well, yeah you've got to lock down those. You've got to deal with outbreaks. That's common sense. But otherwise, it should be okay.
PETERSON: Turning our attention to ANZAC day, it's gonna be very different tomorrow, but possibly even more special. I think hundreds of thousands of Australians are going to light a candle, stand at the end of their driveway, because Prime Minister, were you aware that the most downloaded song, on iTunes in Australia this week has been the last post?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, I was. And I think that's awesome. And it shows that Australians are thinking about how they're going to celebrate Anzac Day this year to commemorate Anzac Day and to, in a in a COVID world. And I think that's tremendous. And I'm not surprised, in the same way people get up early on Anzac Day and put themselves out to go and do that as a mark of honour and respect and remembrance. Well, they're thinking about other ways they can do that this year. And I just think that's awesome. And I reckon our diggers past and present will be pretty proud of that and and having a bit of a smile about it. And that's that's great. Let's not forget on Anzac Day, too, that so many of our veterans who get together on that day won't be able to do that this year. And so let's just make you know, put a post on on your social media just saying thank you for your service or if you know a veteran who lives in his street or something like that, just let them know that you're thinking about them and you appreciate them. Because, you know, I think it's wonderful on Anzac Day and I know they appreciate it when they hear from, just you know, rank and file Australians. Thank you for your service. It means a lot to them, we should say it every day, not just on Anzac Day.
PETERSON: Absolutely. Can we use the speakers do you reckon tomorrow morning? Can you give us a little bit of permission to go beyond the local councils or local rangers? You know, noise restrictions come into effect from 7:00 a.m., But if it's 6 a.m., if I'm blasting the last post at a reasonable level through my speakers in the street, I'm not going to get a knock on the door am I prime minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'd certainly hope not. I mean, there was a great Western Australian who became Prime Minister. And Bob Hawke has said anyone who does that or anyone who was, you know, given a hard time over something like that by someone, they'd be a bum! So I reckon it's a bit of the same thing here. I'm sure people will look the other way on that thing. I've probably just earned the ire of every local mayor in Perth, but, or elsewhere. But I reckon you should be up 6.00am, light up the dawn. I'll be at the commemorative service at the War Memorial at 5:30am on the East Coast. That might be a little early for for the West Coast, but I'm sure that is being relayed at the appropriate time in the West.
PETERSON: It sure is, Prime Minister. Really appreciate your time this afternoon on Perth Live. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you to all those Western Australians doing an awesome job. Let's keep doing it Australia.