TRANSCRIPT: TRIPLE M NATIONAL NETWORK INTERVIEW, 30 March 2020
E&OE
Subjects: Coronavirus;
LEIGH RYAN:
Poppy and Leigh with you this morning. Very lucky to have this man on the phone to give us a bit of an update on what's happening around Australia with coronavirus, with COVID-19. Deputy Prime Minister and Member for the Riverina Michael McCormack joins us. Good morning, Michael.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Good morning, Leigh. Good morning, Poppy.
POPPY PENNY:
Now tell us a little bit, last night we had some more restrictions announced and changes to what was currently in place. Can you give us a bit of an update on what's current and what people need to know?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, it literally is two's company and three's a crowd. That is so correct. National Cabinet agreed to limit both indoor and outdoor gatherings to two persons only. Now, the only exceptions Poppy, to this are going to be people of the same household going out together, funerals a maximum of 10 people still, weddings a maximum of five and family units but apart from that, parties, no longer. Please, just keep it to your own household and if you're going outdoors and you're not amongst your family, then you've got to keep it to two people. If you're indoors and it's not members of your own immediate household, keep it to two people.
So the days and nights of inviting people over to your place for a meal or a party, well, that's just got to stop. The social distancing rules have to be adhered to and of course, for those people in self-isolation, importantly those people in quarantine measures, they have to stick to the rules. And anyone self-isolating, anybody coming in from overseas and of course, much international travel is ceasing today at any rate, they have to go into quarantine. But if people aren't practising those social distancing rules and if people aren't practising self-isolation, if they've been in contact with somebody who has been overseas or the like, then they just need to think of others. I mean it's as simple as that. Look, we can get through this.
The important thing is just a few weeks ago we were doubling the number of cases every three days, well, now, it's only every five days. So the curve is flattening. The incidence of infection is actually slowing. So that's a really, really good thing and yes, we've had 16 deaths and that's very, very sad, but compared to overseas, we seem to be going, you can't say okay, but we're going better than others and we need to continue that. The only way we continue that and the only way we continue it is to do the proper social distancing and follow the rules.
LEIGH RYAN:
Just to clarify on that two people meeting at a time indoors, what's happening with shops and shopping centres? Is that just still the four metres squared and the stay a metre and a half away?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes, that's indeed right. One person per every four square metres and you know, keep – just keep your distance. Just use common sense. We need to keep these shopping centres, takeaways and that sort of thing open because people still have to eat, people still have to go to the supermarket but, as the Prime Minister said, only go when you absolutely need to and for those people who are over 70, you know, probably the best thing to do is to actually stay at home and try to get somebody in your community or a family member to drop the food or the necessities off at your door and just make arrangements in that way.
I mean I know it's going to be difficult. It's going to be difficult for the next, probably, six months, but we've got to get on top of this and we are slowly but surely doing that. But we've got to stay on top of it and we've got to make sure that we don't overload our health system. We've got to make sure that we, as best we can, stay infection free. Of course, that comes down to proper hygiene, washing your hands, doing all those sorts of sensible things. Sneezing and coughing into your elbow. You know, just practising good, common hygiene traits that our mothers all told us we needed to do when we were little.
POPPY PENNY:
Now yesterday there was a big announcement from the Prime Minister about some health funding that focuses not just on physical health but also on mental health. Can you run us through a little bit about what people can access?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Yes, $150 million and look, there will be money available and I know the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and other health providers will be providing a lot of that assistance and resource. I would urge and encourage people again and I know I made this point last week, Australia.gov.au, 1800 020 080, they're the two contacts for people to see what resources, what measures are available and for mental health, $150 million package.
I was pleased on Saturday to announce out at the Wagga Wagga Airport $198 million to subsidise the 138 or so country centres which get regional aviation services and $100 million to underwrite regional aviation companies, airline companies. Everything from REX down to our charter companies can take advantage of that nearly $300 million of assistance, which takes our total aviation package to more than $1 billion. So that's really important because aviation is going to be so important and people are out there thinking yes, but we're told not to travel. But regional airlines, they're ferrying, they're carting so much of the pharmaceuticals and of course, medical health professionals and goods around the country so we need to keep those things in the air and where people absolutely need to travel, we're going to have a very restricted service but that service is continuing thanks to that nearly $300 million of assistance that I was able to announce in Wagga Wagga on Saturday.
LEIGH RYAN:
Now, there's been a lot of talk about wages and wage subsidies from the Government. It's been flagged that something is coming. Do we have any details or when are we likely to get details on what is being put into place?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
I had a very long meeting last night. Yes, expect an announcement in coming days. Of course, there's been a lot of talk too, Leigh, about rental arrangements with tenants, both commercial and of course, people in their houses who have lost their jobs and they rent and they can't afford to pay what they would normally do to be able to have that roof over their heads. So expect announcements on both of those in coming days.
POPPY PENNY:
For people who have lost their jobs, and we had a call this morning, people who are over the age of 65 and they've had their jobs sort of suspended or they've been stood down given that their workplace has closed, are they able to access their superannuation and if so how can they go about doing that? Because I know a couple of people have had issues being able to access their super at this time.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
They should speak to their super provider, their super company but also they should talk to their accountant. Yes, they can access, there's a whole category of people, several categories of people, actually, who can access their super: $10,000 in the first financial year and $10,000 in the second. So up to $20,000. Take that measure, put a lot of thought into it because, of course, you know, you're taking your super out. That's going to be, at the other end of the scale, difficult for people to then make up. But desperate times require desperate measures.
Again, I say to people who want to know what they're eligible for, go to Australia.gov.au. It spells it all out for them. So for those people who need to access their super, and they could be people who have lost their jobs, they could be people who are really struggling financially. If they feel as though they need to make that step, then talk to their accountant, talk to their super provider but go to that website or ring that hotline and see what provisions are there for them.
POPPY PENNY:
Very quickly, before we let you go this morning, you mentioned the numbers of new cases aren't rising quite as quickly. We've actually seen the numbers of new cases each day sort of decreasing, at least for a couple of days here in New South Wales, which is fantastic. Is there a concern that people may get complacent at this time and think oh great, it's working and head back out, despite these stronger measuring being put in place?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
You couldn't have said it any better, Poppy. There is that concern and that's why the numbers are now restricted to two people because we want to not only stay on top of things but we want to get completely over this dreadful and deadly virus. There's 3,980 cases across Australia, 16 people have died and worryingly, if you look at what has happened overseas, young people, a young person has died in America and a 37-year-old diplomat died in Britain. Now they're very young. They're very, very young.
So the virus affects different people in different ways. For some it might be just a mild case of the flu. For others who are perfectly healthy and well, it could be the onset of something that leads to death. So, you know, it's like anything. It affects people in different ways and somebody who is completely healthy – it could lead to their demise. So we need people to be their best selves. We need people to think of others and we need people to, if they can, stay at home. If they absolutely can, make sure they work from home. So I know your station has been doing this diligently. You're leading by example and others need to do the same.
LEIGH RYAN:
Deputy Prime Minister and Member for the Riverina Michael McCormack, thank you for joining us this morning and giving up some of your time to talk to us about the latest on COVID-19.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Talk soon. Thanks, Leigh. Thanks, Poppy.
LEIGH RYAN:
No worries.